A Film About How We Think:
My friend and teacher Dale from Taiwan posted this. A great way to teach some very interesting information!
And here my favorite one, it's about the education system.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Here is a paper I wrote about my exerince at Loy Krathong, the "new years" holiday in Thailand. It feels like so long ago now that I am here at the border! The paper looks at my own judgments upon travelers like myself. The festival is beautiful! Lanterns in the sky, little boats made of banana trees called Krathongs floating in the river.The parades are amazing as well, as pictured below!
Loy
Krathong. For all I knew two weeks ago this was an exotic Thai dish I probably wouldn’t
order for fear of spicy content. As I heard the word more and more I began to
think, well I don’t think this is a dish anymore, you don’t usually have a
parade for a dish. (Unless it’s the street Pad Thai, in which case I find a
parade totally rational if not necessary). In class one day I came to an
amazing discovery: Loy Krathong is a holiday! As Friday drew nearer I realized
that it wasn’t a little holiday ether, but one synonymous with new years in the
U.S. I began to see people on street corners poking flowers into hunks of
banana trees and fireworks stands seemed to multiply by the hour. The streets
grew fuller, both with tourists and Thais, and I could feel the atmosphere
escalate. Finally,
as the full moon of the eleventh month of the year rose, Loy Krathong
arrived. It surely didn’t enter like a dancer enters stage left, there were no
graceful moves, no planned performance, no star, but it certainly didn’t enter
like an drunk enters a bar, attracting unneeded attention to itself. Loy Kratong
entered Chiang Mai like a student enters a the back door returning from school,
as if it always belonged on the crowded streets and just now was coming home
after a long year away.
Crowded
was definitely the right adjective to use above. The streets were packed as the
parade passed us by and people swarmed around us like jackals surrounding their
kill: “the perfect photo” .The more I walked the
more I noticed the foreigners. I live in a tourist area of Chiang Mai, I am a
foreigner and avid traveler, you would think I would be okay with foreigners
and usually, I am. At Loy Kratong, however, it was overwhelming. Though I would
see groups of Thais, mostly children, middle school aged students, and families,
around every corner I saw a foreigner’s face and heard English. Guidebooks and
maps were open and I couldn’t help but wonder if I could actually experience
this holiday with all these other people trying to take pictures for their
Christmas cards. Already annoyed the ratio of locals to foreigners I made
another realization: only foreigners were carrying Krathongs, the pieces of
banana tree covered in flowers, candles, and incense I mentioned earlier. It is
tradition to send them down the river along with all of ones worries and
hardships from the past year. What was this, a hoax? I felt like I was just
taking part in a festival designed for tourists that held no local value.
To
investigate if my sentiments were valid I asked a few people what Loy Kratong
was, pretending to not know a thing about it. Thais shyly explained that is was
a festival for the water and that, yes, they did attend ever year. The foreigners
I talked to varied in their responses. Some had clearly read their guide books
and were happy to basically recite the Lonely Planet explanation: It is a Thai
ceremony that happens ever year to celebrate the water god and send off the bad
of the past year and praying for good in the year to come. It is a Thai new
year. Others mumbled something about setting Krathong in the water or lighting lanterns
and a few outwardly confessed they had no idea what it was, but were having a
great time. Needless to say, talking with these people didn’t make me feel
better about being there. I inwardly cursed western society for the umpteenth
time, wondering at how tourism can strip local value from most anything, and
wandered off to my hostel to sulkily write about my experience.
What
the locals and foreigners alike explained to me is true. Loy Krathong, as
professor Mike had explained earlier that day during our Krathong making lesson
the festival is a national celebration that happens on the full moon of the 11th
month of every year. Krathong, made out of banana trunks and flowers take to
the rivers and moats, taking with them the struggles of the past year and
lanterns take to the sky, creating ever-shifting constellations that hold good
wishes or prayers for the year to come. The most widely accepted meaning of the
festival is that it a tribute to the water gods, but some tie religious meaning
to it, some environmental meaning, and some just treat it as a good excuse for
a good time. No matter the individual’s view, it is a festival that celebrates
the water, the moon, and a new year to come.
Before
we can analyze my (maybe slightly overdramatic)
negative response to a beautiful and well-enough-intentioned festival, I have
to look at how I define the term foreigner. I like to fancy myself an educated traveler,
if for no other reason then because I am in school when I travel and my school
studies the culture where I am traveling. This puts me is a different category
than the ex-pat who has simply moved away from the U.S., the vacationers who
travel for a few weeks to “get away from it all” and especially the backpackers
who drink and enjoy their way through their host country at their own pace. If
you can’t tell from my language use, let me spell it out for you: I am bias
against other travelers- especially foreigners. I have studied many ways in
which tourism hurts local communities; in fact I dedicated a research project
to the topic. Maybe so that I can justify my lifestyle to myself or maybe to
remind myself I am in school I mentally set myself apart from foreigners. I
search for flaws and when I see they travel differentially (less educationally)
then I do I brush them off as ignorant. This language is harsh and is not
always true, I have met an accepted many a foreigner as an intelligent being
and friend, but as a general rule I judge foreigners negatively more often the
not. The fact of the matter, however, is that I am just as foreign as the
backpacker, tourist and ex-pat. More importantly, even in the first few
paragraphs of this very paper one can see I can be just as ignorant and bias as
the next person.
Milton Bennett has
developed a test called The Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity
(DMIS), a way of measuring an outsider’s intercultural competence in new
cultures. Bennett suggests that there are six stages of development, though
they are not always experienced sequentially or individually so I hesitate to
call them stages. This process begins with denial; refusing to see anything
other then ones own culture as a legitimate culture. A person in denial sees
their own culture and the others. A person in the second stage, defense, acknowledges
that outside cultures exist but are of the opinion that his or her culture is
better or that his or her host culture is better. Minimization of differences,
acceptance of differences, adaption to the new culture, and integration of that
culture into one’s identity follow as the final stages of cross-cultural sensitivity.
(Bennett 63). I have found that these “stages” have helped me understand what I
am feeling on many occasions in my travels. After breaking out of an exhausting
cycle of defense and minimization last year I now strive toward the acceptance
and adaption stages of intercultural development in my travels. I try not to
judge other cultures too quickly and not judge my own. I search for differences
and similarities. I always try to adapt to a new culture instead of expecting
the culture to adapt to me.
As I sat on my bed
reading about Bennett’s test after Loy Kratong I had a realization. In my
flurry to understand Thai culture, Taiwanese culture, Latin Culture, Italian
Culture, and other cultures I have been exposed to I sill remain rooted in the defense
stage with one culture: the foreigners culture. Foreigners don’t have a
specific language, they aren’t all from a specific place (in fact that is what
defines them), they don’t follow the same religion, and many are not
permanently part of the foreigners’ culture. Nevertheless, there is a foreigner
culture. It can be more difficult to spot on the surface because there are
fewer physical signs (skin tone, language, religious practice, birth place),
but as long as a person travels they are part of it.
As Bennett describes
it the defense stage is “Defense against cultural difference is the state in
which one’s own culture (or an adopted culture) is experienced as the only
viable one - the most “evolved” form of civilization, or at least the only good
way to live.” (Bennett 65). I acknowledge my cultural identity as an educated
traveler, I actually identify with it more then I do with my country. I am an
educated, traveling student. I acknowledge that there are other travelers;
backpackers, vacationers, ex-pats. But never have I been accepting of these
other ways of travel. Being a traveling student has shaped so much of my
identity that any other way of traveling seems useless in my eyes. I can’t
believe that someone could achieve such a rich experience from a new culture in
any way but my own. As you, the reader may have noticed this sentiment is hypocritical.
I am judging people who do the same things as me and range from being less to
more educated then myself. I am generalizing an entire group as being all one
thing, ignorant, but conveniently excluding myself.
I acknowledge that
this is hypocritical and a practice that will just exhaust me, but I still
can’t bring myself to accept that there are other ways to travel that are just
as good or even better then the way I travel, my three years of experiential
travel education hold me in place. I am not sure if I will ever be able to
accept that other types of travelers are equally as justified in their travel
and actions, but I can try. After realizing this I try to observe my judging
mind and let my negative, judgmental blanket thoughts pass without clinging to
them in typical meditative fashion.
I suspect,
however, that what will help me most to release this newly realized internal bias
is not meditation, mindful breathing, or sending compassion toward others, as
useful as these things can be. I think my most useful tool in this struggle is
a sense of humor. I can’t count how many times I have been reminded about the
importance of laughing at others and myself. I did something that makes me seem
culturally insensitive and feel like a foreigner? I laugh now, because I am a
foreigner. I
encounter a group of ex-pats and discuss their sentiments toward the U.S.?I laugh
because I can see myself in them. I see a backpacker drunk at two in the
afternoon? I laugh
because, well, because it’s funny. I go to Loy Krathong with a sea of foreigners?
I laugh because I judge them and I am a part of them, I laugh because of the
surreal experience of setting my own Krathong in the river, I laugh because the
lanterns create a whole new set of shifting stars around the full moon, I laugh
because I am with my friends, I laugh because I can’t believe how lucky I am to
be alive, I laugh because I am studying in Thailand and this is part of school
for me. Mostly though, I laugh because it is reminder to not take myself too
seriously. That is the best way to view a bias you aren’t ready to get rid of
just yet- with humor.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
I am in a town called Mae Sot where most people are from Burma. The border not just in this area but on the whole Thai border, as well as in Bangladesh and China, is lined with refugee camps. There are also around 550 thousand Internally Displaced People (IDPs) inside Burma. Why are there so many people fleeing Burma? Because since 1962 Burma has been ruled by a brutal military regime. It has been a struggle, to say the least. Two major uprisings, one in 1988 and one in 2007 (known as the saffron revolution) were met with extreme brutality. In 1990 the government allowed the people to have democratic elections. Aung San Suu Kyi, the people's leader and a noble peace prize winner won the elections by a land slide. She was never given power, however, and was released from house arrest only in 2010. This release followed the "elections" that are widely accepted as having been rigged. The previous military leaders resigned from their military positions and then promptly "won" the election. This means the people in power are the same as before, they are just no longer employed by the military.
There is a movie called Burma VJ that I watched last night that really is amazing. It is an amazing documentation of not only the Saffron Revolution of 2007 but also of what it is like to be a reporter in a censored country. Two or three of the reporters are in prison and the others are in hiding. They aren't the only ones though- there are tons of political prisoners. I met with one woman who was jailed for almost six years and that is a short term. Monks too are political prisoners. In this part of the world monks being imprisoned is a huge deal because their social status is so high. Not to mention monks being shot and beaten during the Saffron Revolution.
I could write more now but I really have to run. More updates to come! I also will be posting some of my papers I have written over the semester.
-g
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Life in the City
Hello there!
So, my last two weeks have been madness in the city. I have been spending 8-12 hour days at the center and working on a ton if interesting, yet stressful projects. I am writing a paper about the food crisis and how sustainable, small-scale farming can be affective in preventing it for my writing class, which is very interesting. A lot of my work after my service learning has been centered on agriculture and I am already planning out WOOFing adventures for my future. On the topic, I am also writing about the actual agricultural techniques and their specific environmental impacts for my environmental sciences class. The other paper I wrote this week was about colonial Latin America women in the church, and it was fascinating!
School has been stressful and I have a bit of a cough, but I have been provided four different remedies from an assortment of tico and gringo friends, so I am feeling better already. :) Other than that, life in the city has been repetitive: get up, go to school, do homework, eat dinner, do homework, sleep. Last weekend I went into San Jose at 4:15 IN THE MORNING (ewww) to this farmers market. Oh man, it was spectacular. One thing about Costa Rica is they only have one kind of cheese, squeaky cheese as my friend Kristy calls it. Though a lot of people don't like it, it is fine with me, but they eat it with EVERYTHING. It sorta looks like a hunk of tofu and it squeaks when you eat in (hence the name). But at the farmers market we found goat cheese!!! We also found amazing banana bread, bread bread, chocolate, vegetables, fruits, and flower. It was so refreshing to get some all-natural, fresh, organic food! This weekend Lorna, one of out teachers and my advisor, took us into San Jose for a reggae concert, which was great. I have missed live music!
That is about all I have to tell about MY life for the last two weeks, it has been a lot of work and a lot of fun. Oh, and Spanish classes ended, which is very sad! I will miss my mornings with Ariel!!!
So manana I leave for Panama! I know I say this like every blog entry, but I can't believe how fast my time is going. The next two weeks are packed with travel and fun! We were going to start in Costa Rica and move down the coast, but now we are going to Panama first and than working our way back due to the damage of the landslides that have been hitting the area. It would take me forever to list off all of the things we are doing, but here are some highlights. We are going scuba diving, getting an ocean tour, staying with indigenous host families and learning about their life styles, visiting the cloud forest, and watching some traditional indigenous island dances. I fell so lucky that this is my school! I think the neatest part of all of this is that we are learning all along the way, moving every few days, oh it reminds me of my TTS days!
Last, I don't know what kind of news coverage (if any) Costa Rica is getting right now in the international community, but there have been a ton of very bad landslides and floods that have ruined many people's homes. I went to the community of Bajo los Anonos with Gail and a few students this Saturday to see the damage and it was overwhelming. Often the poorest people live by the river and so people with barely anything now have nothing. It is all very difficult to see and hard because the rains are still coming. I want to get the word out about it though, so check of the pictures. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96824&id=1269311946&saved#!/album.php?aid=96824&id=1269311946
You don't have to be on facebook to view it, just to comment. check it out and stay informed!
Alright, I will get you guys a update about Panama when I get back. Hope you are all doing well, I miss you all and hopefully will see some of you over Christmas!
xo
Greta
So, my last two weeks have been madness in the city. I have been spending 8-12 hour days at the center and working on a ton if interesting, yet stressful projects. I am writing a paper about the food crisis and how sustainable, small-scale farming can be affective in preventing it for my writing class, which is very interesting. A lot of my work after my service learning has been centered on agriculture and I am already planning out WOOFing adventures for my future. On the topic, I am also writing about the actual agricultural techniques and their specific environmental impacts for my environmental sciences class. The other paper I wrote this week was about colonial Latin America women in the church, and it was fascinating!
School has been stressful and I have a bit of a cough, but I have been provided four different remedies from an assortment of tico and gringo friends, so I am feeling better already. :) Other than that, life in the city has been repetitive: get up, go to school, do homework, eat dinner, do homework, sleep. Last weekend I went into San Jose at 4:15 IN THE MORNING (ewww) to this farmers market. Oh man, it was spectacular. One thing about Costa Rica is they only have one kind of cheese, squeaky cheese as my friend Kristy calls it. Though a lot of people don't like it, it is fine with me, but they eat it with EVERYTHING. It sorta looks like a hunk of tofu and it squeaks when you eat in (hence the name). But at the farmers market we found goat cheese!!! We also found amazing banana bread, bread bread, chocolate, vegetables, fruits, and flower. It was so refreshing to get some all-natural, fresh, organic food! This weekend Lorna, one of out teachers and my advisor, took us into San Jose for a reggae concert, which was great. I have missed live music!
That is about all I have to tell about MY life for the last two weeks, it has been a lot of work and a lot of fun. Oh, and Spanish classes ended, which is very sad! I will miss my mornings with Ariel!!!
So manana I leave for Panama! I know I say this like every blog entry, but I can't believe how fast my time is going. The next two weeks are packed with travel and fun! We were going to start in Costa Rica and move down the coast, but now we are going to Panama first and than working our way back due to the damage of the landslides that have been hitting the area. It would take me forever to list off all of the things we are doing, but here are some highlights. We are going scuba diving, getting an ocean tour, staying with indigenous host families and learning about their life styles, visiting the cloud forest, and watching some traditional indigenous island dances. I fell so lucky that this is my school! I think the neatest part of all of this is that we are learning all along the way, moving every few days, oh it reminds me of my TTS days!
Last, I don't know what kind of news coverage (if any) Costa Rica is getting right now in the international community, but there have been a ton of very bad landslides and floods that have ruined many people's homes. I went to the community of Bajo los Anonos with Gail and a few students this Saturday to see the damage and it was overwhelming. Often the poorest people live by the river and so people with barely anything now have nothing. It is all very difficult to see and hard because the rains are still coming. I want to get the word out about it though, so check of the pictures. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96824&id=1269311946&saved#!/album.php?aid=96824&id=1269311946
You don't have to be on facebook to view it, just to comment. check it out and stay informed!
Alright, I will get you guys a update about Panama when I get back. Hope you are all doing well, I miss you all and hopefully will see some of you over Christmas!
xo
Greta
Monday, October 25, 2010
Farms! Wahoo!
What up kids?
So, life is crazy. I can't believe how fast time goes, in seven weeks I will be flying back to Bozeman for big Christmas trees and snowy walks. It seems like another world to me as I write in my room, the rain pouring down and the patio outside reflecting thousands upon thousands of city lights. I hope I will get to see most of you when I am back, it is going to be fast and fun!
Anyways, to updating you on my life. WELL. I spent the last week on an organic finca (farm) planting seeds, making garden beds, and cleaning, than rubbing decomposed cow shit on trees. Among other things. Roderick Sell and his wife own this finca and they are the kindest, most inspirational people I have ever met. They took me and three other GC students in to their family for the week, and oh man was the food good! Roderick know so much about farming and is willing to share it all with you as long as you are willing to listen and maybe use a machete for a few hours. I learned how to make compost, what times of day as well as what times of year are good to plant, how to naturally protect from insects, and so much more. We would get up around six everyday and work until eight when we would go into the house for some amazing gallo pinto, (Costa Rican rice an beans dish) fruit, and eggs. Than we would go out and work until around one, and by that time we were very tired and hungry. We would wander back into the house for an amazing lunch, mostly all their food they grow or get from other local organic farmers, and so it is all really healthy and good quality. We didn't eat any meat which I actually sort of liked! Crazy right?
After lunch was the best part of the day, siesta time! We would sleep for at least two hours and than wrap up the workday with a few more hours of work. Dinner was always small, unlike the huge (but well needed) breakfasts and lunches because we didn't need a ton of energy to sleep. We would pass out after dinner, I think one night we may have made it until ten. So in short, the farm turned me into a hard-working vegetarian morning person who has a strangely strong love for compost for the week. I totally loved it.
It inspired me so much because this grass roots organic farming idea affects everything that I am interested in, and I didn't think such a thing existed. Organic farming is a political statement, a social statement, environmental statement, a spiritual exploration with a strong connection to nature, an art form, physically challenging, promotes strong local communities and it is FUN! I mean, how could it get any better than that? I am so excited about this! Oh and check out this link, I want you all to watch this movie. It is the first documentary I have ever seen that has left me more hopeful than when I started the film. It amazes me how we believe we are all so powerless in the world's problems when in fact, we have all of the power. The consumers have power over the producers and the cultivators have power over the middlemen and corporations. Instead of more laws and regulations being made upon the massive food industries (which our government has a monetary dependence on so you have to question how strict those regulations are) and small scale protests by specific groups, we need a simple grass roots movement. We as consumers have the ability to only buy local and organic, start cultivating some of our own food, and make educated communities. And the amazing thing is that it is already starting. It isn't hopeless or imposable for a single person to have a huge affect on the world by paying an extra buck for a organic tomato, or even growing their own. If you knew all the stuff they put in GMO tomatoes, you probably wouldn't want to eat them anyways.
So, that is the end of my little rant on that, go and plant some trees or something! But before you run out to get a pack of non-genetically modified seeds, I want to let you know what is up next in my life. I am going to be in school working lots and lots for the next two weeks. Than I am gone for two whole weeks, my class is going through Costa Rica and Panama to study. Then I will be back in school, finishing my major projects and getting my portfolio ready. So, I will blog for sure before I go to Panama, hopefully next week. We shall see how stressed I am. Until than, thanks for all the support and I hope you are all happy and healthy!
much love!
Greta
tweet: Got back on Friday from service learning. I love and am inspired by organic farming! Lets save the world now guys!
So, life is crazy. I can't believe how fast time goes, in seven weeks I will be flying back to Bozeman for big Christmas trees and snowy walks. It seems like another world to me as I write in my room, the rain pouring down and the patio outside reflecting thousands upon thousands of city lights. I hope I will get to see most of you when I am back, it is going to be fast and fun!
Anyways, to updating you on my life. WELL. I spent the last week on an organic finca (farm) planting seeds, making garden beds, and cleaning, than rubbing decomposed cow shit on trees. Among other things. Roderick Sell and his wife own this finca and they are the kindest, most inspirational people I have ever met. They took me and three other GC students in to their family for the week, and oh man was the food good! Roderick know so much about farming and is willing to share it all with you as long as you are willing to listen and maybe use a machete for a few hours. I learned how to make compost, what times of day as well as what times of year are good to plant, how to naturally protect from insects, and so much more. We would get up around six everyday and work until eight when we would go into the house for some amazing gallo pinto, (Costa Rican rice an beans dish) fruit, and eggs. Than we would go out and work until around one, and by that time we were very tired and hungry. We would wander back into the house for an amazing lunch, mostly all their food they grow or get from other local organic farmers, and so it is all really healthy and good quality. We didn't eat any meat which I actually sort of liked! Crazy right?
After lunch was the best part of the day, siesta time! We would sleep for at least two hours and than wrap up the workday with a few more hours of work. Dinner was always small, unlike the huge (but well needed) breakfasts and lunches because we didn't need a ton of energy to sleep. We would pass out after dinner, I think one night we may have made it until ten. So in short, the farm turned me into a hard-working vegetarian morning person who has a strangely strong love for compost for the week. I totally loved it.
It inspired me so much because this grass roots organic farming idea affects everything that I am interested in, and I didn't think such a thing existed. Organic farming is a political statement, a social statement, environmental statement, a spiritual exploration with a strong connection to nature, an art form, physically challenging, promotes strong local communities and it is FUN! I mean, how could it get any better than that? I am so excited about this! Oh and check out this link, I want you all to watch this movie. It is the first documentary I have ever seen that has left me more hopeful than when I started the film. It amazes me how we believe we are all so powerless in the world's problems when in fact, we have all of the power. The consumers have power over the producers and the cultivators have power over the middlemen and corporations. Instead of more laws and regulations being made upon the massive food industries (which our government has a monetary dependence on so you have to question how strict those regulations are) and small scale protests by specific groups, we need a simple grass roots movement. We as consumers have the ability to only buy local and organic, start cultivating some of our own food, and make educated communities. And the amazing thing is that it is already starting. It isn't hopeless or imposable for a single person to have a huge affect on the world by paying an extra buck for a organic tomato, or even growing their own. If you knew all the stuff they put in GMO tomatoes, you probably wouldn't want to eat them anyways.
So, that is the end of my little rant on that, go and plant some trees or something! But before you run out to get a pack of non-genetically modified seeds, I want to let you know what is up next in my life. I am going to be in school working lots and lots for the next two weeks. Than I am gone for two whole weeks, my class is going through Costa Rica and Panama to study. Then I will be back in school, finishing my major projects and getting my portfolio ready. So, I will blog for sure before I go to Panama, hopefully next week. We shall see how stressed I am. Until than, thanks for all the support and I hope you are all happy and healthy!
much love!
Greta
tweet: Got back on Friday from service learning. I love and am inspired by organic farming! Lets save the world now guys!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sarapiqui
Hey kids!
SO, sorry sorry sorry that I haven't been posting. I swear I haven't forgotten about you, I just have so much going on. Also, I didn't have too much to report for the week I didn't post. Life has been going well, all is right and good. Lots and lots of work and school. It is refreshing to be back in a place that challenges me, but it is also a surprise to realize that an argumentative essay isn't quite as fun to right at a seven-page narrative about eating apple pie.
NOW, however, I do have something to right about other than the norm, which is school and school and studying and more school. (but interesting school!) Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I went to Sarapiqui with my class. I am still exhausted and overwhelmed by everything that went on there. We started out with a guided nature walk through the rain forest. It was very interesting and we saw all kinds of birds, an iguana, spiders, and insects. We saw the bullet ant, which injects poison into its victim, and if it bites a human there can be sever pain for up to 24 hours. Uh yeahh... not getting near that one. But I still think it is pretty neat they can do that. Oh, and we saw a sloth! The area we visited wasn't a park, per say, but more of a protected area. Our guide told us the reason why we didn't see many big animals was because there was not enough room for them to live. This is a recurring issue in the preserved areas of Costa Rica, they are small pockets surrounded by fincas and urban sprawl, so many big animals still lack places to live. Anyways... it was very educational and fun!
From there we all piled into our cramped little microbus and hit the dirt roads to go visit Alex Martinez. This was an unexplainable experience. Alex is an activist who owns a small part of land in Sarapiqui and in his spare time (when he is not out catching illegal hunters in the parks) he rehabilitates animals. Usually they have ether been captured and were going to be sold as pets or they have injuries that were human-inflicted. He talked to us about his experiences and his thoughts on the declining environment. I left with a ton of new ideas blending and mixing with mine. He has a volunteer program there if people what to come help the animals with rehabilitation and give tours of the area. Future plans? I think yes.
The next day we were bombarded with information. Seriously, it was a full on attack that left me exhausted and convulsing on the cold ground with no hope of survival. Okay, maybe not THAT extreme, but it was a lot. In the morning we went to a Dole banana plantation, which was fascinating. Since my semester in Central America Junior year I have had a strong, invested hatred towards Dole and so this was a good practice of mindful speech for me. Carlos, our guide was actually very nice and took us around the plantation showing us how the bananas are grown, cut, washed, and packed. Usually he gives this tour to cruse ship groups, so we were a little more educated than his usual audience. Of course he worked his way around some of our questions but we actually got a good amount of information from him. For example, did you know that the man who owns fox news also owns over half of the Dole's stalks?
After lunch we learned more about bananas. We had a meeting with another Carlos, but he had a very different viewpoint. He was the leader of the workers' union for Dole (which Dole is strongly apposed to) and talked to us about Dole's dirty deeds over the years. We learned all about how pesticides with known side effects had been used on plantations, making workers sterile, and how the land has been used and misused. He also talked a lot about pineapples, which usually have about 18 pesticides sprayed on them and are a crop taking over Costa Rica. They pollute the water and destroy the soil and are a huge environmental threat to the area. This is something for us to keep in mind as consumers when we pick up a pineapple at the store. There is tons of information on it, let me know if you want more.
Moving on... the next day we went to a small organic farm with the best bananas I have ever eaten. Ever. It was amazing to see where our food really comes from. I saw all sorts of different trees and plants and tried all of their fruits. I never knew there were so many kinds of limes! It was inspirational to see that someone is out there making a living and food for his family with environmentally sound means. It gives you hope that you can do it too, ya know? We ate more food than I thought was possible there, but it was so good! It felt like every fruit imaginable was fair game! After the farm we went back to the hotel for one more spectacular meal there (are you getting how good the food was on this trip??) and than has a exhausting processing meeting to try to understand the condensed information from the last three days. After than a ridiculous bus ride home and sleep.
Today I have successfully done very little; homework, hanging out with a few friends, all that jazz, and tomorrow (or today when I post this) I will be back in school. Oh my, so much going on! I can't believe how quickly my life goes and how much I care about it all. I want to have more time to breath, but at the same time I love this fast paced way of life. I feel so alive and passionate and I am trying to stay present. After this week I will be away for a week at an organic farm for my service-learning project. Wahoo! Yep, I get to farm for a week as part of my classes. Yes my life is spectacular. Oh, one last thing, I stupidly forgot my camera for the Sarapiqui trip. If it is any consolation there wouldn't have been many pictures anyways due to how much was going on. So sorry kids, no pictures! But I will take lots and put up a new batch after the service learning. Until than hope you are well! You are all in my thoughts!
xo
Greta
SO, sorry sorry sorry that I haven't been posting. I swear I haven't forgotten about you, I just have so much going on. Also, I didn't have too much to report for the week I didn't post. Life has been going well, all is right and good. Lots and lots of work and school. It is refreshing to be back in a place that challenges me, but it is also a surprise to realize that an argumentative essay isn't quite as fun to right at a seven-page narrative about eating apple pie.
NOW, however, I do have something to right about other than the norm, which is school and school and studying and more school. (but interesting school!) Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I went to Sarapiqui with my class. I am still exhausted and overwhelmed by everything that went on there. We started out with a guided nature walk through the rain forest. It was very interesting and we saw all kinds of birds, an iguana, spiders, and insects. We saw the bullet ant, which injects poison into its victim, and if it bites a human there can be sever pain for up to 24 hours. Uh yeahh... not getting near that one. But I still think it is pretty neat they can do that. Oh, and we saw a sloth! The area we visited wasn't a park, per say, but more of a protected area. Our guide told us the reason why we didn't see many big animals was because there was not enough room for them to live. This is a recurring issue in the preserved areas of Costa Rica, they are small pockets surrounded by fincas and urban sprawl, so many big animals still lack places to live. Anyways... it was very educational and fun!
From there we all piled into our cramped little microbus and hit the dirt roads to go visit Alex Martinez. This was an unexplainable experience. Alex is an activist who owns a small part of land in Sarapiqui and in his spare time (when he is not out catching illegal hunters in the parks) he rehabilitates animals. Usually they have ether been captured and were going to be sold as pets or they have injuries that were human-inflicted. He talked to us about his experiences and his thoughts on the declining environment. I left with a ton of new ideas blending and mixing with mine. He has a volunteer program there if people what to come help the animals with rehabilitation and give tours of the area. Future plans? I think yes.
The next day we were bombarded with information. Seriously, it was a full on attack that left me exhausted and convulsing on the cold ground with no hope of survival. Okay, maybe not THAT extreme, but it was a lot. In the morning we went to a Dole banana plantation, which was fascinating. Since my semester in Central America Junior year I have had a strong, invested hatred towards Dole and so this was a good practice of mindful speech for me. Carlos, our guide was actually very nice and took us around the plantation showing us how the bananas are grown, cut, washed, and packed. Usually he gives this tour to cruse ship groups, so we were a little more educated than his usual audience. Of course he worked his way around some of our questions but we actually got a good amount of information from him. For example, did you know that the man who owns fox news also owns over half of the Dole's stalks?
After lunch we learned more about bananas. We had a meeting with another Carlos, but he had a very different viewpoint. He was the leader of the workers' union for Dole (which Dole is strongly apposed to) and talked to us about Dole's dirty deeds over the years. We learned all about how pesticides with known side effects had been used on plantations, making workers sterile, and how the land has been used and misused. He also talked a lot about pineapples, which usually have about 18 pesticides sprayed on them and are a crop taking over Costa Rica. They pollute the water and destroy the soil and are a huge environmental threat to the area. This is something for us to keep in mind as consumers when we pick up a pineapple at the store. There is tons of information on it, let me know if you want more.
Moving on... the next day we went to a small organic farm with the best bananas I have ever eaten. Ever. It was amazing to see where our food really comes from. I saw all sorts of different trees and plants and tried all of their fruits. I never knew there were so many kinds of limes! It was inspirational to see that someone is out there making a living and food for his family with environmentally sound means. It gives you hope that you can do it too, ya know? We ate more food than I thought was possible there, but it was so good! It felt like every fruit imaginable was fair game! After the farm we went back to the hotel for one more spectacular meal there (are you getting how good the food was on this trip??) and than has a exhausting processing meeting to try to understand the condensed information from the last three days. After than a ridiculous bus ride home and sleep.
Today I have successfully done very little; homework, hanging out with a few friends, all that jazz, and tomorrow (or today when I post this) I will be back in school. Oh my, so much going on! I can't believe how quickly my life goes and how much I care about it all. I want to have more time to breath, but at the same time I love this fast paced way of life. I feel so alive and passionate and I am trying to stay present. After this week I will be away for a week at an organic farm for my service-learning project. Wahoo! Yep, I get to farm for a week as part of my classes. Yes my life is spectacular. Oh, one last thing, I stupidly forgot my camera for the Sarapiqui trip. If it is any consolation there wouldn't have been many pictures anyways due to how much was going on. So sorry kids, no pictures! But I will take lots and put up a new batch after the service learning. Until than hope you are well! You are all in my thoughts!
xo
Greta
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