2019 FFT Fellow - Costa Rica

What an interesting hike in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve! I took too many great photos to share on this blog but will include a few that I think were really interesting. We stopped to look at so many things that it took us over 3 hours to walk only two miles. We hiked on a trail to a beautiful waterfall. Nature is truly a wonder.   I thought it was raining the entire morning, but it was essentially just the moisture dripping from overhead. Approximately two miles from Santa Elena, it is actually a different world. There were many different types of vegetation and the climate in the cloud forest which is different than in Santa Elena. It was cooler. The area receives more rain - typically about 2 1/2 to 3 m (8-10 feet) of rain per year! Compare that to the amount of annual precipitation in the Mojave Desert. We typically receive about only ten inches annually.   In the cloud forest, there are numerous examples of epiphytes. Epiphytes grow on other...

After school on Friday, I went on El Trapiché Tour. On this guided tour, we learned about the process of sugarcane, coffee, and chocolate on a small five acre Costa Rican family farm. This was another great excursion with a lot of extras thrown in.   First, we walked to an exhibit showing how coffee beans grow. Seeds are scattered on top of the soil. They do not need to be pushed down into the soil. The seedlings grow for about two months before they are individually planted in plastic bags with nutritious soil. They grow in these plastic bags for about eight months before they are planted in rows in the fields.   Coffee grows throughout Costa Rica both in the flat lands and in the mountainous areas. Costa Rica only allows Arabica Coffee to be grown in their country to keep quality and consistency high. Coffee beans are handpicked typically by Nicaraguan and Panamanian immigrants. They make about $2 per 13 kg (28.67 pounds) box of coffee beans picked. The workers are...

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A Wonderful feeling Wonderful Day James Basket What a wonderful day! On Wednesday, I went on The Original Canopy Tour . This was the first canopy tour offered anywhere around the world and was started back in 1994. I was able to view the canopy level of the rain forest in an amazing manner. - via zip lines. This adventure included zip lines, rappelling, the Tarzan swing, and a hollow tree climb.   I couldn’t find anyone else from CPI to go with me, so I decided to go alone. Knowing my husband would worry if he knew I was going on this tour, I didn’t tell him. He will learn about my adventure as he reads this! At least I opted for the tour that was not as extreme as several others. This was a great place to START zip lining.   I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to go on the tour as it began raining just as I arrived and they were worried about lightning in the area. Obviously, if there is lightning, they cannot run the excursio...

There is nothing better than a friend. Unless it is a friend with chocolate . — Linda Grayson We have been working on present, past, and future tenses. Oh, my goodness! I am getting a bit frustrated that there seem to be so many exceptions and differences which makes learning Spanish confusing. I now can relate more to some of my students who struggle with what I am teaching. I have to remind myself that I have been on this journey to learn Spanish a short time. I am definitely progressing. I just wish it would come along a lot more quickly. I also know that English has so many more exceptions and words that do not make any sense when we change tenses. At least the spelling of words in Spanish is pretty straight forward.   After classes on Tuesday, I decided to go on the Caburé Chocolate Tour. Unfortunately, they needed more people to attend the tour to make it happen, but I walked to the restaurant, ate lunch, and was given an abbreviated tour by Bob for a discounted ...

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference . — Robert Frost I love it here in Monteverde. It is much more walkable and for some reason it doesn’t seem so isolated. It also abounds in the lush green flora and fauna that I love. I thought all along that Monteverde was the name of the town I was going to. However, I learned today that Monteverde isn't a town at all. It is actually the area composed of several small towns. My new home is in the town of Santa Elena and is near the city center. Houses seem to be built on terraces cut into the side of the mountain. I am living in the top house shown here. There is actually another house right above us. The house below belongs to the eldest daughter, her husband, and their daughter, Mia, who is an absolute delight. I am trying to take the various roads around here and explore. I want to show you the roads. You can see how steep they are. This isn’t the steepest ...

I went to church with Magda on my last evening in Brasilto. We walked into the church and I sighed. Ahh! Air conditioning! We arrived around 4:45 p.m. and the services started at 5:30. Magda showed me the Patron Saint of Costa Rica. He was in a glass box and truly a treasure to behold. Shortly after 5:00, the power went out for an hour. Oh, no! My little bit of cool air was quickly gone. It became stifling hot in the church and it was almost hard to breathe. There wasn’t any wind and it became hot and humid so fast. The priest and the speakers used their cell phones to shine light on the words they were reading. There weren’t any musical instruments but the parishioners sang a cappella. I understood only a few words including amen, caminar, and Jesus Cristo. Still working on that vocabulary! I really needed everybody to slow down their speaking and I might have been able to double the number of words I understood! During the last half hour the electricity came back on but it was alrea...

My classes have been going well although I am still working on learning over 100 verbs now in both past and present tense. I can speak to Magda more but mostly in short phrases or words with actions. I have studied vocabulary for fruits and vegetables and professions, but it is no surprise that my favorite topic was mathematics! I am learning to count and use numbers up through the millions. Makes me feel so proud! Classes can contain up to four students, but since I was at such a beginning level and others were more advanced, I actually received private lessons. There was no hiding in my class and hoping someone else had the right answer.   Thursday afternoon I went on a four-hour Panache sailing tour. It was absolutely amazing! There were about 35 of us - plus four crew members - on a large catamaran. The crew brought us drinks from an open bar and a snack of fresh pineapple and watermelon. (Yes, I definitely gave away my watermelon even though it looked juicy.) I had a...