¡FIN!

I just submitted my final paper, and am now officially done with the semester! This past week has been crazy busy! On Thanksgiving we spent the day cooking and working on our internship final reports, and then we went up to the biological station to feast with the other CIEE program! Despite not being with my family, it was a really wonderful holiday celebration!

We spent the day Friday creating our PowerPoint presentations and preparing for our symposium on Saturday.  Saturday morning was our symposium, during which we did formal presentations about our internships. Afterwards, Julia came over to watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and then I took a nap before heading out to the bars for our last weekend out in Monteverde.

On Sunday we went to the study center to prepare for a family tea, which we had at 4pm with all the families. We played musical chairs, charades, put on a slideshow, had food, and did art projects with the kids. It was a fun way to say thank you to our families.

Yesterday and today we have been working on our last two essays, our final drafts of our internship reports and an essay for SEES assessing the sustainability of either organic pineapple or organic cacao. I chose to write about pineapple. Yesterday during our SEES wrap-up we saw a sloth right outside the study center! It was a super exciting moment, and we all stopped what we were doing to go observe it. Last night I went to Jon’s house (since we’re cousins) and he and I made everyone quesadillas for dinner.

We are now hanging out and relaxing. Some people went home to pack, which I am about to do as well. Later we have a pizza party and a slideshow to end the program. Tomorrow morning we leave for the beach to party. It’s hard to believe this is all over. This has been the most rewarding and academically demanding semester of my life.

EXAMS ARE OVAHHH!!!

RAINBOW!

PHEW! I just finished my last final exam. It’s hard to believe that this program is coming to an end. We only have one week left before we part ways. Last Friday at the bar we started talking about this, and it ended up turning into a tear fest! I was a mess thinking about how much I’m going to miss everyone. We truly have established life-long friendships, and I feel like these people are my family. I had never before been in a group where we hang out all day every day and love one another’s company. It’s really hard to explain the bond we all have, but parting with these people is certainly going to be one of the hardest things about this semester’s end.

ratón

So what have I been up to the past week? STUDYING! Last Wednesday we took our TCB final, which I felt much more prepared for than I did the last one. Hopefully I did well. Then on Thursday we spent the day at the study center writing our internship reports, which were due at 2:30, which is when we had CRNH with Matt. Karen wasn’t here all last week because she had to go to the States for a conference, so Matt ran shit while she was away.

starting out on our walk

Our CRNH class was about mammals, and Thursday and Friday were mammal days. After class we had a few hours to go get dinner, so we all went to a Mediterranean place right near the study center before going up to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. When we got to the reserve, we learned about bats from a bat expert, and we each got to hold a bat! It was so cool! I let one bite me, which didn’t hurt because it was just a little nibble. After learning about bats and catching a few in the mist netting, we went to the hummingbird sanctuary to see a few bats visiting the feeders.

what a view!

Then we began our walk back! We had spotlights and were scanning the trees to try to see different mammals because most mammals are nocturnal. We were looking for illuminated eyes because most mammals have tapetum licidium, a reflective layer in their eyes that helps them to see at night and makes their eyes shine in the dark.  We were lucky enough to see an Alingo, a raccoon, and most importantly, A SLOTH! It was a wonderful night! We got back home around 10pm.

inside of the fig tree

The next morning we went to Matt’s house for the second part of mammal day. On our way to the bank to be picked up, Libba and I saw a gorgeous rainbow, which was a sure sign that it would be a good day. When we got to Matt’s, we checked the traps he had set the night before, and it turns out he had caught a little mouse in one of them. The other ones were empty, and one had definitely been tampered with. We made a pancake brunch at Matt’s and hung out waiting for mammals to come by while we shared information about the mammals we had each researched. We saw a squirrel, but that was it.

After mammal day we walked back to the study center and hung out a bit before heading home. That night Julia came over to get ready and we went out to the bars. Somehow, even though we were all emotional messes, it ended up being a really perfect night. The next day, Saturday, I woke up super early and went to a long hike with Julia and Carrie. Our intention was to study, but it didn’t end up happening. Instead, we just walked and enjoyed our surroundings.

That afternoon we went to the Common Cup and met up with John and Jenny. We then went home for dinner, and that night John, Libba and I went out to the bars, but it ended up being a fail because, although the bar was full of people, we were simply too tired from the night before to do anything. We ended up going back to my house and hanging out instead.

Ze next morning, I woke up and studied a bit and then John, Libba and I met up and went down to meet Chris, one of the Tican boys we met here, who said he would take us to a fig tree that we could climb. We also snagged Korey and Carrie and we all went to the fig tree. It was the coolest thing! The fig tree had strangled its host and the host had died, leaving a ladder-like enclosing (the fig) that you could climb to the top from the inside. Too cool! The rest of that day was also super fun. We just hung out and walked around, and SOMEHOW ended up going to every single food place that had ever served us food in Monteverde: the pollería, the panadería, the Common Cup, Sabores, and the pulpería.

On Monday I woke up early again and hiked to a gorgeous lookout with Libba, Carrie, and Julia to study for our SEES final. That day was somewhat unproductive because we had the whole day to study and nobody was able to focus. When we took our exam on Tuesday, however, I felt pretty prepared. After three and a half hours, I finished my exam and felt pretty good about it. I then relaxed by watching a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother before heading home to take a nap and study for the CRNH exam.

This morning I woke up, worked out on my mama tica’s stationary bike for a bit, and studied all morning before taking the CRNH final exam at 3. The exam went fairly well. We shall see what I get on it.

the view from our study spot

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! In the morning we are going to talk about our symposium for presenting our internships to the public, and then we’re going to cook in the afternoon before heading up to the Biological station to feast with the Bio program. We’re supposed to dress as pilgrims and they’re supposed to be Indians, since there are more of them and we’re coming to them. Should be a good time.

working hard? Hardly working?

I can’t believe I’ll be home in a two and a half weeks. CRAZY! 

Last week of classes/Beginning of Finals

We have finished all our classes and are starting finals. I simply can’t believe it’s almost over L. On Monday we had the morning free to work on our internships and then we had Spanish from 2:30-6. 

Libba teaching the 5th and 6th graders about solar light tubes

On Tuesday, while everyone was discussing the differences between the Yorkin and El Castillo in terms of capital and assets, Libba and I went to Friends School to teach about our solar products. In the morning, Libba taught the 5^th and 6^th graders about solar light tubes, and each student had the opportunity to make their own light tube models using cardboard and plastic bottles. It was a beautiful sunny day, so after making the light tubes we went outside to test them using Libba’s observation box. After class we went back to lunch and a SEES lecture about Coffee in Costa Rica. After the lecture we returned to Friends School to teach the 7^th and 8^th graders about solar space heaters. I explained the components of the solar space heater I had crated, the function of it, and the basic concepts behind it. Then the class did an activity in which they designed their own solar space heater using recycled aluminum cans and PVC tubes. It was super rewarding teaching students about the solar systems we had created and seeing them get excited about solar energy.

After teaching we had Spanish from 3-6. During Spanish we took our last quiz on La Loca de Gandoca and played bananagrams in Spanish.

Spanish class on the last day

On Wednesday we had our last 3 TCB lectures/classes. The first two lectures were on Protected and unprotected areas and Climate Change, respectively, and then we had an informal discussion during which we reviewed the mini ungraded quiz we took during our first class to see our progress and discussed the class as a whole.  After TCB we went to CPI for our last Spanish class. It was a really fun class. We reviewed the topics that will be on the final exam and then we went to Sabores, a really delicious café down the street to get some treats.

Thursday was our last day of SEES. We had a few lectures in the morning about tourism and then went to talk to a representative of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve about how they manage tourism. We then interviewed a woman named Mary Rockwell, who was one of the first Quakers to come to Monteverde in the 1950s. She was 18 when she came, so she has seen the community transition from a quaint little closed community to one dominated by tourism and development. It was really interesting hearing her recount her experiences and share her perspective on tourism in the area.  

The view here is incredible!

On Friday we went to a tree farm to measure some trees that had been planted by some program. Then we had a lab where we calculated our carbon footprint from our field trips and our plane rides to and from Costa Rica. We did a mock planning exercise where we calculated the carbon sequestration of a variety of different trees and then determined which trees we would pant and where based on a variety of factors such as the carbon sequestration of each tree species, proximity to rivers and intact forests, land tenure of the different plots, life zones, etc.

I spent most of the day Saturday at the study center finishing up some last-minute internship stuff. Then from 4-7 we had an informal open-house type of thing where people from the community came to see our projects. After that we went out to the baah and met some of the students from the CIEE Biology program, which was fun!

The sunsets have been unreal!

I spent all day Sunday studying for finals and took a break only to eat and take a run.

Yesterday, Monday we spent the day studying and then had our Spanish finals. The Spanish final was way easier than I expected it to be, which was really nice. This morning I woke up at 6 and took a run, which was a great way to start my day.  We have a review session at 10 and then the rest of the day to study for our TCB final tomorrow and write our internship reports.

Travels from a Coral Reef to an Indigenous Village to the Capital City and back to Monteverde: Field Trip #2 Comes to an End

Snorkeling was an incredible experience! Actually, at first I struggled with my mask because my head is so damn small, but once I was able to find a child-size mask, it was an unreal experience. Viewing coral reefs is like entering a different world. The fish that live by the reef are absolutely stunning. There was this one fish (my favorite) that was blue with these bright green polka dots that glowed. We saw a sea turtle, a stingray, anemones, many cool fish, and a nurse shark (yup, that’s right, we were swimming about four feet away from a 5-foot shark!) By the way, the whole sharks can smell blood and attack from miles away is a myth, because I was bleeding right above the shark (I had accidentally kicked the reef) and it didn’t even move. But it also depends on the species, so still be careful if you ever decide to go swimming with sharks. I wish I had a waterproof camera to capture the incredible beauty of it all! Seeing such rich and unique biodiversity made it all the more devastating to know that worldwide coral reefs are fast declining due to threats such as overfishing, climate change, pollution, eutrophication, sedimentation, recreation/tourism, invasive species, and bleaching. I’m really grateful I was able to experience the coral reefs before they disappear completely, which is a very real possibility if nothing is done to reduce these jeopardizing threats to the reefs.

SLOTH!

After snorkeling as we were walking back to the bus we saw two sloths in the tree! We have been looking for sloths since we first entered the country, so this was a MONUMENTAL event for the group!  After watching the sloth literally do nothing in the tree for about 10 minutes (except it did move it’s arm once…SO EXCITING!), we went back to the hotel to eat lunch and gather our stuff before heading off to the Yorkin. To get to the Yorkin, we traveled up the river that borders Panama for a few hours in dugout canoes with motors. On the way, we stopped on the other side of the river, in Panama, to pee. So in the span of about a week I visited Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. That evening when we arrived we settled in and ate dinner. After dinner we talked a little about cacao production.

PANAMA.

The next day we went to a cacao agro-forest to learn about organic cacao production.  After lunch we went down to the river to swim for a bit and relax. Then we met back to make chocolate from cacao seeds. We each got a chance to grind the seeds to create a powder and then pass the powder through a manual machine that turns the powder into a chocolaty paste. The paste tasted quite bitter before adding condensed milk. We ate the chocolate we had made with bananas, which was a delicious combination.

The following day, we all broke into groups of 3 students and 1 teacher to conduct an experiment to compare biodiversity in agro- and low-disturbance forests. Each group studied a different taxonomic group that they studied: plants, insects, or birds. My group, which consisted of Korey, Carly, Karen and myself, studied insects.

most of the houses in the Yorkin looked like this

We examined the insect biodiversity at two different habitats, a cacao agro-forestry plantation and an intervened forest interior. We conducted two different censuses at each site. Each census consisted of one minute of sweep sampling using nets done by 2 people for a total of 2 minutes of sweep sampling per site, and 15 minutes of focal sampling where we looked for insects and pursued them. In addition, I took a shit and split the fecal matter evenly between the two sites, and we monitored the poop during the censuses. During each census we captured insects and put them in kill jars with acetone. Samples we kept separate according to habitat. The samples were divided into order and then further subdivided into morpho species (which are individuals that appeared identical). We then counted the abundance of each morpho species and the total abundance and species richness from each site.

Each group spent the day doing similar experiments to study the relative biodiversity of their taxonomic group at the two sites. That night after dinner each group presented their experiments to the entire class.

night tour of San Jose (with our police escorts)

The next day we left the Yorkin and headed down river to where Ronny was waiting to take us to San José. We spent the majority of the day traveling, and when we arrived at San José, we had the opportunity to shower and clean up. Once we were all fresh and clean, we went on a walking night tour of the city led by Ayal. It was somewhat of a culture shock going from a remote indigenous village to the capital city in one day, but it was super fun hearing about the history of the city and the different monuments. We ended the tour at a restaurant where we had a delightful dinner of lasagna, wine, and a mouth-watering kiwi lime dessert thing! Mmmmmm!!!

  

The following morning we returned to Monteverde to reunite with our host families and return to reality. As the program comes to an end, the next couple weeks will be extremely busy with final papers, exams, and presentations. It’s unreal how fast this entire program has gone by.

Fungal Fun and Halloween Hysteria

Sunday was fungus day for CRNH! We went on a hunt for “stinky penile fungi,” as Karen called them, which were essentially mushrooms that looked like penises. Considering we have 8 girls and 1 guy in our group, it was pretty hilarious walking around making jokes about our search for the “perfect penis.”

stinky penile fungus

our array of fungi

jack-o-lanterns!

After our penis hunt, we broke into teams of 2 or 3 and went on a scavenger hunt to find different fungi. The list was as follows: a lichen medley, a jiggly jelly fungus, a poofy (not popped) puffball, a cute cup fungus, a colorful coral fungus, a fungal-infected insect, grand and glorious gills or petite pores, terrifying toothed fungus, a dead man’s hand, and a ghost fungus. Bonus points were given to any group that found a Halloween fungus (by Karen’s judgment). After the scavenger hunt (which Carly and I won), they broke us into groups and we played a type of charades in which we acted out different fungal dispersal methods.

limbo

We were then set free for the remainder of the day to prepare our Halloween costumes for the night. That night we all celebrated Halloween at Giovani’s, which was super fun! We got to carve pumpkins and everyone dressed in costumes! I was a bug, Libba was a leaf cutter ant, Korey was Waldo, Carrie was a genie, Julia was a gipsy, John was a wizard, Carly was a LOL cat, Lindsay was a cop, and Jenny was a pineapple plantation worker. Natie was a panda and Ronnie was a doctor. The teachers came out half way through the night dressed as little people with giant heads. It was hilarious watching them dance around!

Carrie getting low for "bite the box"

The night was incredible! We played limbo and a game called “bite the box” that John introduced. The way it works is that you go around the circle and each person tries to pick up a box that is sitting on the ground using only his or her mouth. The person cannot touch the ground with any body part except his or her feet. Each round gets harder and harder because after everyone goes the box gets cut so it’s a little shorter. Most of the group did really well, and it was quite impressive to see how low people could bend to bite the box. Though it was somewhat weird being in another country for Halloween, the teachers did a really great job putting together a great celebration!

Karen and Matt dancing around in their costumes!

The next day was a recovery/travel day. We boarded the bus and headed to a hotel in Cahuita. That night we were given a lecture about coral reefs. In case you havn’t noticed a pattern in these field trip entries, our nightly lectures usually prepare us for the following day. The next day we went snorkeling near the coral reefs! It was my first time ever snorkeling and it was AMAZING! 

Adventures at Giovani's

The time we spent at Giovani’s was arguably the best part of the second field trip.  On Friday morning after breakfast we toured a nearby organic pineapple plantation and learned about the social, environmental, and economic aspects of organic pineapple production. After viewing the fields and the packaging plant, we ended the tour with piña coladas and a variety of pineapple treats.

When we got back to Giovani’s we hiked down to the river for a swim. It was raining, but we swam anyway, being sure to watch for signs of flash floods. Luckily we didn’t encounter any flash floods, but the current was quite strong. We swam upriver and then let ourselves float down in the current over and over just for the fun of it! It was super entertaining. There was also a rope swing that we kept grabbing onto and trying to climb, but it was nearly impossible to get it to the side of the river because the current was too strong. I was able to climb part way up the rope and hang there for a while before letting myself fall back into the water.

Giovani's Cabin

On the way back from the river, John and I were gathering large leaves to make his Halloween costume (he wanted to be some sort of jungle man). UNFORTUNATELY we didn’t realize that the leaves had some built in defenses, and our hands started to sting. By the time we got back to the cabin we had discarded our leaves and were running to find Karen to ask her what was happening to our hands! Apparently the stems of the leaves we were picking had nettles that had irritated our skin. So THAT was an adventure!

We washed up, hung out for a bit, and got ready for dinner. After dinner we had a lecture from Matt and Natti about reduced impact logging (RIL) and forest certification. Our hands stopped stinging by the end of the night. The next day, Saturday, we went to talk to the owner of a farm who is involved in both an Environmental Service Payment (ESP) program and a Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) program in Costa Rica.

How is this possible, you ask? Well, what happens is that for the RIL program a 15-year fallow period is required between logging periods during which logging is prohibited. During this time, many farmers receive environmental service payments for not disturbing the forest. The contracts for these programs are renewed every 5 years. Thus, landowners collect money from these payments while they are waiting the 15 years until they are allowed to log again. This isn’t quite sustainable for a variety of reasons. First, the 15-year period between logging events is not enough time for the forest to regenerate, thus leading to the gradual decline of the forest. In addition, because these “protected” forests are owned by farmers, the forests are surrounded on nearly all sides by agriculture without sufficient buffer zones, which intensifies the impacts of edge effects and problems associated with agriculture (e.g. runoff, decreased biodiversity due to monoculture, effects of cattle, etc.)

"Nine companions" watching Lord of the Rings

After our visit we returned to Giovani’s and had a discussion about all of the different protected property, ESP and RIL programs that we had learned about. After the discussion we had dinner and then had a lecture about fungus. That night we all hung out and watched Lord of the Rings on the projection screen. It was super fun having a family movie night with everyone!