Homestay

 I had the privilege of staying at a farm on my trip.  It reminded me a lot of Robinson Crusoe because the house was very open. 

 I had been looking for this lizard for a few days and finally got to see it in a palm in front of the homestay.  It's common name is the Jesus Christ lizard because it can walk on the water!  What adaptations allow it to do this?  It was an amazing creature!

 This is the free ranging family pet, Pancho!  They exclaimed his name, so I can't really write it without an exclamation point.  Like our pets, Pancho! likes to try to eat his owner's food, including meat.  He sometimes disappears for days and the host thought it was funny when I said, "El tiene muchas novias!"

 Here's a view from upstairs.

 Here I am in front of the house.

 Here is Don Douglas (pronounced Don Dooglas).  Here we were feeding the tilapia. 

 Here we're about to go on a hike on their land through the rainforest to the river.  In English the river was called Two Calves because two giant gold calves had been discovered in the river.  Local people were trying to prevent the gold from being pillaged by the Spanish.

 This tarantula was caught by Don Douglas' son and here we were letting it go.  The boy told us that it was "a small one." I touched it and it felt just like it looks, kind of fuzzy. 

 Here are two other teacher who were on our homestay.  We had fruit and rice and beans and coffee and very hot hot sauce for breakfast.  Yum!

 The family farms these yam like tubers mostly to eat.

Don Douglas is holding a fruit here that is poisonous, but is useful when boiled and the vapors are inhaled.  It clears the sinuses.



All in all, these people were so kind and generous. It was an adventure to stay with them and it pushed the bounds of my Spanish as I spoke the most Spanish of the four teachers.  Luckily humor is universal.

Tobias Bolanos Airport

Best internet access ever at a very remote Carbon neutral airport.

Food question

AT asked about the food. Costa Rican food is MUCH less processed than our food. There's rice and beans for breakfast and lunch and often dinner too! It sounds like it would get old, but I've enjoyed it very much. There's often lots of fruits and veggies on the side. As far as genetic engineering goes, there has been lots of artificial selection by people over the last few hundred years, but not much genetic engineering. Good question AT!

Kitchen to Swine to Kitchen

The pigs at Earth University eat food scraps from the dining hall. Their waste is processed in the pond by aquatic plants, which are used to generate methane gas. The methane gas is used to cook the food in the dining hall.

Thanksgiving

We had a Thanksgiving surprise. These characters in giant heads showed up to dance with us. It was truly unforgettable.

What's this?

Banana Plantation

Lots of people asked about the bags and those who hypothesized that they were to protect the bananas from insects (and spiders) were correct. They pick them when they reach a light green color and a marketable size. They get hung on the banana train, which carries them into a processing plant. They are being dipped in a dilute chlorine solution near the end (because fungi and insects are so prevalent here). Lastly, people break them into bunches of 5 or 6 to be shipped. Earth University supplies Whole Foods with all their bananas.

A visit to a rural school

We visited a local school on Thanksgiving, which was truly fitting. The teachers and staff treated us with such generosity even though they didn't have much. It made me reflect upon my life and how blessed I am and it made me want to do more to help others. They fed us a traditional breakfast and were so friendly. The kids were shy, but I could converse with them a little in Spanish. The students performed for us and helped us understand what their lives were like. The time flew because it was all very interesting.

On the road

On Wednesday we traveled from San Jose to Guayabo National Monument and then to Earth University. On the way, we saw black vultures.

We started to see lots of plants with ephiphytes growing on them. These plants derive nutrients from the rain and the air. Biology students, what kind of a relationship do the tree and the ephiphytes have?

Don't try to get a bunch of teachers to jump in the air at once. It just doesn't work.

Here's a typical lunch for a vegetarian. It's called pinto gallo and it's rice and beans and here I have a salad made from a cukecumber like plant that grows locally. I also had mashed plantains, which are a like a starchy banana. I think the last dish was potato.

Here's a hog nosed viper that I saw in Guayabo. I wish it were a better picture.

This is the work of leaf cutter ants. I hope to do an entire entry on them at some point because they are really cool!

This is what the countryside looked like. There were many small farms. The road was very, very windy and I came close to getting sick. It was an extremely long day of travel to get to Earth University, so I was relieved to arrive.

More on Blue Valley School

This is a picture of a student- made recycling bin made of plastic bottles ans chicken wire.

This is a super cool student art project. What do you guys think, can this person draw better thn me:)?

This girl gave a presentation on the environmental club and its projects on campus and in the community.

He presented on the literacy program. Is students are from more wealthy families. They spend 80 hours working is more disadvantaged schools on a weekly basis trying to help the kids become more literate. They also help them to see that they can be anything they want t

Finally, this girl presented on a program that worked with less advantaged peers in a nearby neighborhood to teach them how to speak English.