Nice to mee you section:

Welcome to my travel blog while I study here in Costa Rica! As an intro, I'm from Beloit, WI and am a Junior at Ripon College. I will be here in Costa Rica until May 23 conducting a research project about organic and nonorganic banana farms. I've never done anything quite like this before and hope to share with you my experiences as I venture about Costa Rica. Hope you enjoy!

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Bzzzzzz

Thursday April 9, 2009
It's 10:13 pm--37 minutes into a battle of will with a mosquito। Most nights I spritz myself with 100% Deet to confuse my flying friends, but I've been fearing the accumulated neurological effects. Instead I spent the last half hour under the covers growing light-headed as a mosquito buzzed within ear-shot. It's literally been waiting for me to come up for air. Never have I felt so much like prey before. Eventually I resorted to poking only my nose out of the covers and am considering investing in snorkeling gear for sleeping. How long can a mosquito can fly anyway?. When I turn the lights on, the mosquito hides. The minute I turn them off again, it returns to taunt me.

In spite of its annoyance, I have come to respect the mosquito as a predator or parasite, sneaky and patient. Among other fascinating insects is a particular lightening bug that likes to climb around on my bed at night. It must think that the flowers on the bedspread are real. But it quite reminds me of a cat, spending exaggerated amounts of time cleaning itself and chasing imaginary pollen grains. I am usually the last one awake at night, my host mom and sister turn out all the rest of the lights, so my room becomes an insect zoo of sorts. It's still difficult to accept the giant spiders that also like to crawl dangerously close to the faux flowered meadow I sleep on. There is a student here who is studying bugs in coffee plants and she intentionally sleeps with her larvae every night, in the hopes that one will bear a fly which she believes are home to another worm. She was telling the rest of us ACMers that the first time a worm emerged she went around telling everyone "I have worms!"
Her family is very proud।

Beyond the confines of our insect zoos, the rest of Costa Rica is currently celebrating Holy Week। Today and Friday almost everything shuts down. All buses stop. My family here tells me that the only thing moving this week is the spoon to stir the palmito soup, which is traditional on Good Friday. I found myself trying to explain scalloped potatoes the other day to my host mom, and I got so caught up in the salt and pepper details that I forgot to include the milk! Outside of my research and Spanish classes, food recipes are the third most common item of scholarly debate. I'm hoping to get a little exchange going. I'll collect the best fresh fruit drink and dessert recipes from my family here, but need readers to leave recipes for me to pass along. Lasagna is quite popular with my family.

I suppose I should probably put things into perspective। I've now been living in Costa Rica for more than two months: half way through the program with little time left to finish up my studies here. I stay for two more weeks in Turrialba, my study site, and then when April turns, all of the other ACM students and I return to San Jose to live with our other host family the final month. That month consists of writing and editing the research paper.

Writing and living in the city will certainly be a change from daily life the past two months। Almost every day, I begin by putting on my farmer wear. Hat, long-sleeve shirt, light pants, sunscreen, bug spray and most importantly, my size 37 rubber boots. As far as Costa Rica goes, rubber boots and machetes are the most essential tools of any campesino. Naturally I replaced the machete with a camera, pen and notebook. My bus leaves at 6:00 am and if I catch it I can make it to an interview by 7:00 or 8:00. It is almost lunchtime for most farmers by about 10:00 and after hacking at grass all morning with a machete the energy is welcomed. Work until 4:00, dinner at 5:00. Now, I must admit that I don't work quite the same as a farmer. Usually I walk with him or her in the plot and ask questions about practices, and extension services, like soil analysis that reach the farm while trying to write it all down.

For all the visits I've made, the country is beginning to feel more familiar, especially the rural areas. It's easy to love a place that's full of orchids, naturally occurring botanical gardens, cloud covered mountains, and friendly people. Of course all the nouns generally associated with the city also form part of Costa Rica. High rises and mass transit litter San José among others government offices, theatres museums and street vendors. Everything I thought, that a first world country has. I suppose the proper terms are developed and developing states, or so would say an International Relations Professor. Regardless, what defines the difference between these two types of states is basically infrastructure and economic activity based on resource extraction. For example, Costa Rica's work force is made mostly of small farmers. In rural places, near to where I am, the roads become more impassible the further one gets away from politicians or major cities (this is the theory of one of the producers I worked with.) Resource extraction is certainly the main activity. Whether it be bananas for export or pineapple or coffee, Costa Ricans are well aware of what they take from the soil. Perhaps who is not aware lives across the sea where the cargo boat is heading. The categorization of countries such, as has been said, perhaps is archaic. The system has origins in the Cold War--where all NATO countries were considered first world, Russian and Warsaw allies were considered second world, and any country uninvolved was thrown in the third world category for differentiation purposes. But the terms definitely hold another meaning. First is generally better the second, and so forth.
It's definitely been interesting to experience such another perspective। There are pieces of a culture that seem to run in patterns by country. For this reason, when a young north american arrives in the land of magical nature, a little bit of culture shock is to be expected. I didn't really think that Costa Rica would be shocking, but the number of gray hairs on my head is growing. Though some say this is just wisdom sprouting. Whatever the case, it's best to stay away from electric fences.

For now, I'll try to fight a little more with this mosquito. There is a plant called "Big man" that some say repels mosquitoes for its bitter qualities. After I tried a leaf, I was left feeling a bit light-headed and my tongue covered with vanilla extract as mosquitoes feasted regardless.
Goodnight to all and best luck,

Pura Vida

Anna

2 comments:

  1. So love,
    Brilliantly done. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world but the capital still looks as if it would be a first world country-minus the pollution. So, in all, it is in fact true that when one goes away from major cities and all, they depend upon nature and clay and soil much more.
    Hope all is well.

    Take care,
    Pras

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  2. Whow, I am learning about another country from my lovely granddaughter. What a nice experience you are having. You won't know what to do when you get home!!!
    We are trying our hand at a garden this year. Lora and I will be working it. ( MY hands don't want to hit the right letters )
    Out trip to VT was nice even if it was under sorry circumstances. My sister Sandra passed away Jan 17, 2009 and Lora and I went to Vt, to have her service. It was a grave site one we had it April 3rd and I was able to officiate it. Rained the whole time there but did take a lot of pictures of where we or I should say where I lived. There were a couple places I didn't find because of all the houses that were built since I was there.
    Lora watched my brother Gary collect maple syrup and she took pictures of that also. They are in an area that have lot of trees.
    The place where your grandfather and I lived in Winooski, Vt was completely torn down and hugh apartments were in its place. It was strange to see. Vt is getting as busy as WI with all the traffic, but they have the winding roads that we don't have here. Beautiful scenery every where we went.
    Believe it or not I am having some test done today to see if I am doing OK with my ticker.
    I am happy to hear from you and don't let the bugs bit you too bad. Can you use a netting material over your bed? Love you, Grandma M

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