Eco-Finca (ANDAR part 1)

This past week was an absolutely life changing event. We traveled to Santa Rosa and Cartageno, two very small rural towns with a completely different lifestyle. The people there were passionate about life, and about their own unique culture. We spent 5 days living with a family, and really getting to know life on the farm.

The first day, I woke up and gathered eggs with my homestay mom, and helped her prepare the eggs for our breakfast. Then we went to a neighbor farm to help milk the cows, however no one in our group was successful. As in I did not get a single drop of milk. Then the Tica daughter stands up and finishes milking the cow in less than three minutes and all of us gringos felt so stupid. It was hilarious though, and the family got a kick out of watching us struggle.

Later that day we went to the eco-finca, a local farm that is completely organic. The farm utilizes the forest land around it, and the owners know the farm inside out. Julio, the owner of the farm is so passionate about life and about his farm. To him, the land is not money, the land is his life. He has over 64 types of fruit on his farm, as well as many medicinal plants. He pays town citizens to work on the farm, and to cook for the visitors of the farm, in order for the women to make a living. In the area, jobs for women are very hard to come by, and have very low wages and harsh conditions. By allowing them to cook a few days a week on the farm, and by opening their homes up to us, Julio helps them become independent and help support themselves and their family.

We cut down 1,300 plants of a medicinal plant used to make tea and help with upset stomachs. It was hard work, and really muddy because of the rain, but it only took a few hours for us all to cut and bundle and hang out to dry in the drying building. The next day we planted organic pineapple and cleared some fields to plant rice. The food we planted will go to help feed the town, and the students in the school. The school in Santa Rosa is tiny and only has 7 students. (12 live in the town) and high school students must take a 40 minute bus ride to get to the high school in a larger town.

My favorite part of my time in Santa Rosa was playing soccer with the ninos. We played two different nights, and it was so much fun to talk and play with the town people. We had a huge group the first night, but even more came the second day. By that time, we all had our favorite ninos who would want us on their team, and it was an absolute riot. We took pictures and the kids went crazy. They cam running to see their image on my camera, and were so excited to spend time with us. The town has only had electricity for 20 years, and telephones for 2. They still have no internet, however they do have potable water.

Learning about life here was absolutely amazing, and I grew as a person talking to the townspeople. the culture they have, and the close relations they share with everyone is so uplifting. The families help each other and work together to create changes in the town.

Hope everyone is great at home, and I will finish the rest of the week in later posts. It feels so weird to be back in San Jose, and to have class for the first time in a week!