Service Learning Project on a Sustainable Farm

    

 

     Today, we met Guillermo (which is Spanish for William).  I've spoken with three other people here in Costa Rica whose name is also William and it is much easier for Spanish speakers to say as opposed to "Grady."

In the coffee field with Guillermo

     Life Monteverde is a sustainable 42 acre farm that grows coffee and vegetables.  The farm is owned by a group of family members and one friend.  The farm's main focus is conservation and organic agriculture while always keeping in mind how to minimize the farm's impact on the environment. Guillermo invited us all to walk around the farm for 15 minutes asking us to notice how the farm attempts to be sustainable.  After this, we all met back at area that they use as a cafeteria and classroom.  We talked about the many things that we had seen such as composting areas, rainwater collection, alternative energy in the form of methane gas (collected from the pig droppings),  reforesting and much more.  There was even a machine used in coffee production that is operated by a bicycle! 

My new friend at Life Monteverde

Shannon!

     Guillermo asked that we form groups and come up with questions for him about the farm.  There were lots of great questions and he wrote them all down.  He divided our group in half and sent us to work on the farm!  My group worked a little garden area while I used a machete to cut plants to feed the farm animals.  It felt good to be outside working and learning with our new friends.  Afterwards, we toured the entire farm with Guillermo as he educated us all about sustainable farming and ecology in general.  We ended the day with a group discussion in which he addressed all our questions while we drank the coffee from the farm and snacked on fruit and goat cheese!

Maggie!

Cloud Forest School

 
Today, we visited the Cloud Forest School which has 230 students who study English much more extensively than the public schools do.  The school is also focused on sustainability and reducing the environmental impact which I found to be a common theme here in Monteverde. With grade levels from preschool to 11th grade, the facility is diverse both in ages and population. It is located on 106 acres which are protected from development by a permanent easement. The children learn much here, and our two guides were well versed in English as well as ecology.  The school has many native plant gardens and a nursery, organic vegetable gardens, a greenhouse, recycling centers, a worm composting house and a biodiesel shed.  All in all it's a wonderful model for ethical living as even the germination beds use biodegradable containers.  Dr. Powell pointed out some trees  (reforestation) that were planted by her students from earlier visits.  These students learn not only how to meet the needs of their local community but also the process of becoming a "global citizen" in our world. I can't overemphasize how well they meet the requirements for teaching our youth to understand the necessity to reduce our global footprint on our world.
     More than 90% of the students are from the local community, however the school is an open door to children from all around the world.  International students come to learn here and English/Spanish is taught regularly.  While most of the natives can't afford to pay full tuition, there is an opportunity for scholarships and 75% of the students receive financial support.




composting

the garden and using biodegradable containers

No cafeteria and eating

the soccer field with astro turf

the steps with staained glass

teachers

La Fortuna...Arenal Volcano

    

Learning with Javier.

It was a long bus ride from Monteverde to La Fortuna.  In order to get there, we had to drive around Lake Arenal.  Corey spotted the volcano long before we reached our destination and there was a tiny wisp of smoke that we could see off in the distance.  The drive around the lake was very beautiful and since the road is not paved, we had to drive more slowly which gave us an opportunity to see more of the local homes and even some wildlife.  At one point our driver (now Julio) had to come to a complete stop and navigate around a giant pot hole of mud that nearly covered the entire road.  I watched out the window as Julio carefully guided us around this obstacle and little did I know that we would all come to know why the local inhabitants have been pleading with their government to pave the roads between Monteverde and Arenal.
 

My wonderful lunch!

   After stopping in La Fortuna for an excellent lunch (I had a great pork casada meal) we all hopped back in the bus and headed to our hiking destination; Sendero Silencio.  Javier led us on a narrow path through the forest and once again pointed out its inhabitants (many of which would have otherwise gone unnoticed)!  I have to say again how much he impressed me and I was thinking about how lucky we were to have him as our tour guide.  Here in the forest, we saw several exotic birds and some monkeys as well.  As the path begin to wind around I noticed how our pathway had been very carefully constructed so as to prevent any erosion from travelers hiking here.  Ecology and sustainable resources were common theme on our entire trip and while this is something I actively study, I learned a great deal.  For many of our group these ideas were new and I'm confident when I say they were also impressed and will be thinking of how they can implement some of the strategies we learned once they get back home.  It was a little humid that day and one member of our group began to feel a little lightheaded, so Javier stopped for her and gave her a little bit of candy.  In about 5 minutes her blood sugar came back up and we were off...Javier to the rescue!  He would have made a good member of our boy scout group in Springfield as he was always prepared and knew just how to handle a sticky situation.  As our hike was nearing the end I was walking with Matt at the very back of the group and we saw some monkeys high up in a tree.  While we watched the monkey leaping from branch to branch I was impressed with how agile and powerful he was.  I told Matt that I thought it would be funny if the our driver; Julio had snuck around to the end of our hike only to spring out of the forest and surprise us all!  We snickered about this and much to our surprise Javier had hidden himself behind some trees.  As we rounded a corner (now way behind the front of the group) Javier laughed as he startled us by shaking some branches and making an animal sound.  Ha!  What a great time!

Our cabin!

     After our hike we headed to the Arenal Hot Springs resort that was the perfect ending for our long day.  There are several pools of differing temperatures and our cabin was excellent.  I especially liked our shower which had a skylight that gave it a feeling of being outdoors.

All of cabins were top-notch and the
buffet-style dinner and breakfast were absolutely fabulous!  I could not get enough of the Costa Rica coffee and I must have bought ten bags that I brought back home with me.  The waters of the pool provided us all with some relaxing down time and I spent the rest of the afternoon walking the grounds and admiring the gardens (there was even a greenhouse filled with vegetables used for the resort meals).  Julio took the opportunity to clean the mud off the bus and we spoke for several minutes.  He was very patient just like Andres and was happy to let me have the opportunity to practice my Spanish.  As the sun began to sink and the light was fading, it was time to meet for dinner.  I enjoyed more excellent native food and good conversation with our group members and some of the resort staff.

More Teaching

    

Working on English "family" vocabulary.

     Yesterday, we did an observation at a local elementary school and then worked some students.  The students were working on their English and studying vocabulary for family members.  It was a great lesson to watch as they came to the front of the class and wrote sentences in English.  One boy was very proud of his knowledge and showed off by writing sentences using; "mother-in-law, and father-in-law" yeah!

Recess!

     Most of us taught a lesson on body parts in English outside.  I enjoyed my student very much and he was very interested in the books that we had brought to school that day.  Later, during recess we interacted with the kids and Matt and Corey played a little soccer with the boys!  The lessons went well for all of us, but I was most impressed with some of the girls who sang a "body parts" song to the children!  "Head and shoulders knees and toes" is still rattling around in my brain which shows how effective a song can be.

My student.

Trapiche "Typical" Farm Tour

Our tour guide and comedian; Jairo!

     This morning we traveled to the El Trapiche farm tour.  Our guide was Jairo and he is a university student who is very intelligent in regard to the farm and local history.  Jairo also has an excellent sense of humor and kept us laughing the entire time we were with him.
     Our tour here was one of the best parts of our program as I learned a great deal about the farming of coffee, sugar cane and how coffee beans are dried, roasted and packed on the farm.  I also took advantage of Jairo's good nature to quiz him about the families of Costa Rica and how the children learn English in the schools.  My action research topic was greatly helped by my conversation with Jairo.

Learning with Jairo.

     Coffee plants are cut down to regrow every 5 years because the beans will not grow in the same place twice.  Also, the plants get to tall for the pickers to reach the beans.  The migrant workers from Nicaragua are the people who are responsible for most of the coffee bean harvesting.  A fast worker can make about $2 per hour during the harvest and while this might not sound like much, people in Nicaragua are lucky if they can make $5 per day back home.
     In the past, the school children used to pick the coffee beans and school vacations were scheduled for the harvest.  But as children spend more time learning English in schools and have less vacation, they no longer work on the farm much.  The individuals who learn English well very often work in the tourist industry which pays much more.

Our Second Host Family & Spanish School

     Last night we arrived in Monteverde and it was raining fairly hard.  We all piled out of the bus and met our host families.  My new family is a very modest one.  Chillo is a few years older than me and his wife; Maria is a few years younger than me.  Brandon (be sure to accent the last syllable) is 12 years old.  Chillo gave me a firm handshake and we jumped in the car while Brandon rode a scooter home.  With the rain coming down and the dirt road becoming very muddy by the minute, I could tell Chillo was a little worried as he kept an eye on Brandon in the car mirrors.
     Maria met me as we came in and showed me my room.  This stay would be much different than my first tico family, but I could already sense that Maria was warm and genuine.  She turned out to be a wonderful communicator and we talked nightly.  She was very patient with me as I practiced my Spanish and we shared a great deal even when neither of us knew the right words to use in English for her, Spanish for me.  I feel confident that I could do very well in a game a charades after my stay with the Costa Rica families.  Here, I would not have my own bathroom and the family enjoyed the television very much.  I learned some new words watching the movie; X-Men as well as several cartoons with Brandon.

Maria's daily breakfast

     Every morning Maria served me a meal of fresh fruit and a cup of coffee.  Pineapple, banana, apple and papaya was the standard breakfast for my stay with them.  Each night we would have rice and beans along with chicken or pork.  The house was smaller than Wagoner's and Maria would ask me about the upcoming morning every evening so we could plan out how we would share the shower.  It was different from my first host family stay, but we managed just fine.
     After breakfast, I had a brisk walk up the road to the dentist clinic where the group met every morning to catch our bus.  Andres, our driver has been a joy to know and he and I shake hands, fist pump or high five every time I see him!
     Today, was our first day at our new CPI Spanish school.  This too proved to be different than the first week and our new teacher; Cynthia does not speak any English during class.  She also expects all of us to speak only in Spanish during class.  This proved to be a challenge, but in some ways it helped me learn more Spanish.  I especially appreciated how she kept her class on topic and moved forward with our language learning daily.
     As a teacher, I saw how easily it is for language learners to become frustrated and once again, I was very glad for our daily 20 minute break (recess).  I think all school administrators who favor reducing recess time for children should experience something like this so that they could regain the perspective of the students.  Sometimes the lessons were rough and I learned how important it is for the teacher to keep the assessment ongoing in order to guide her teaching.  There were times that I really didn't understand the lesson until I got home and  read about what we were doing in a different textbook that I brought with me.  It forced me to use my translation dictionary and the software on my iphone much more in order to clarify what Cynthia was teaching us.
     This school is much busier than the one in Heredia as we have a large group of middle school children here.  There are so many people here with laptops and smartphones that we are having trouble getting on the school's wifi.  I think it would really help if everyone would disable their smartphone's wifi setting when they aren't needing to use the internet.  Today, we had another cooking lesson and everyone enjoyed making tortillas and preparing the vegetables.

Manuel Antonio National Park & Beach

     Today, papa walked me to the church where we meet for our bus rides and it was a somber walk.  Last night was rough as the neighbors had an argument and woke us all up.  My tico parents got involved and took the neighbor's teenage son to our home and he stayed the night.  This kept everyone up much later than normal and when I got up the next morning, I told papa that I would walk to the church--he didn't need to drive me.  However, he insisted on walking with me while helping me with my luggage.  I really hated to leave that day, I had come to feel like a part of their family and I felt that whatever lay ahead of me would struggle in comparison with my time with Wagoner and his family.  I was already missing mama and her wonderful coffee, but later, as I was on the bus, I would discover she had come into my room while I was in the shower and put some breakfast food in my backpack...I could not have asked for a better tico mama!

Our last walk together

     It was a long bus ride to Manuel Antonio, and I used that time to write extensively in my journal.  I thought about my tico family in Heredia and wondered how my next family stay would turn out.  That week passed so fast, and yet here I was heading to a new adventure with so little time to think about what had just transpired!
     We arrived at the park in the afternoon and Javier was in perfect form as he led us on our tour through the park.  He is so knowledgeable about the local fauna and flora.  Often, it takes us an hour to travel a half-mile because he imparts so much information to us regarding our walk!  This has caused us all to look more closely at nature as we attempt to discover new things to share with our guide.  I'm beginning to develop a closer relationship with Javier and I really like him as a person.  On our walk, we found crabs, butterflies, monkeys and many other new wonders.

     Finally we arrived at the beach!  What a wonder, it is so beautiful!  I put my backpack down by Corey's stuff (because I planned to walk along the beach and talk to my wife), I figured it was the safest place.  It was a good thing too, because he was the only person to recognize that the tide was low and would eventually move up to where we all had left our belongings!  Kudos to Corey for moving all our stuff away from high tide and preventing it all from being soaked!

    The beach was wonderful and I saw an iguana while sitting on a log.  The water was perfect, not too cold and not too warm--just perfect for jumping in or wading!  The entire area was so peaceful and beautiful!  I sent a lot of time talking with my family back home as well as speaking with Dr. Aram as we watched the waves roll in.  It was so very nice to relax and soak up the sun as we shared our thoughts about our Costa Rica experience so far.