Homestay, sweet homestay.

Numero dos is going smoothly. Marshall, Swagnon and I did a little rotation, so I’m currently living with the charming Marco and Lorena who were Sarah’s last homestay family. Not only does the couple have four kids of their own, but Lorena is one of ELEVEN brothers and sisters. Thus, it’s rarely just the three of us. Lorena and Marco’s youngest, seventeen year old Neybi, has not been home yet because of a school trip, but she should be coming tonight so I look forward to meeting her.

Marco and Lorena are so sweet. They're like adorable teenagers, they love each other so much. Lorena works in the kitchen on campus, so she’s very busy. In fact, the first night I was in bed before she even came home! Marco was very welcoming and we were able to maintain solid conversation, which was awesome. He explained to me both the dynamic of the family and the general sense of work in the community. Turns out, the dire struggle for employment is far from limited to the United States. Although a man of all trades, Marco doesn’t have a consistent job. He explained that because he’s older (yet in better shape than most guys I know), it’s nearly impossible for him to be hired over someone of the younger work force. People his age are often let go from their jobs when they reach his age. So basically, Lorena works for the financial income, which is sufficient for their basic needs of food and electric bills. Marco does just about everything from cooking to cleaning to farming to car repairs (which Lorena and I witnessed yesterday as he fixed his truck in between his other quehaceres), along with other odd-end jobs in Finca La Bella.

La casa and the pretty yard!

My room.

Yesterday morning our group had a scheduled mini-tour of Finca La Bella. We learned about the history of the community, general farming practices, how to make juice from sugar cane, and finally the production of coffee, which included a complimentary cup o’ joe from a coffee producer who happens to be my next door neighbor. The history part was pretty interesting. Finca La Bella is a little community of about 20 or so families, all with roughly one hectare of land. The idea is that each family uses their land for what is very close to subsistence farming for Finca La Bella, if that makes sense. Originally, families would concentrate on raising a variety of crops and some cattle/dairy, and whatever one family lacked it could trade with another. Pesticides and herbicides are absolutely forbidden, and artificial fertilizers are used by most only once or twice a year, as they are trying to wean off of the unnatural chemicals and move towards completely organic farming. However, the desirable certification of “Organic” is very hard to attain. It requires absolutely no unnatural farming along with a hefty sum of money for the title. And, even if the land is able to sustain itself naturally and the farmer can afford the fee, the certification is only good for one year. Regardless, the go-green trend mentality is manifested here and many are working towards the organic certification.

"Don't look at me."

What a weird tree!

Tyler luvz flowurz

Makin' dat juice

Another interesting thing I learned is how the times are changing for these families that are so heavily invested in the idea of self-sustaining agriculture. First, as towns such as Santa Elena are growing, so is the demand for commercial produce to fill the Compra Supers and Supermercados. Thus, as expected, many farmers are being run out of the market as competition increases, and trade between individual farmers is dwindling. Not only that, the booming tourism is causing the agricultural work force to decline, as many young people are seeking higher education to work in hotels and shops. There have even been laws passed in Costa Rica that forbid a parent from forcing a child to work the land. Whereas it used to be a right of passage to receive your first machete from your grandfather on who’s land you were working, the practice is now very rare and often looked down upon.

This walking stick was crawling up my leg.

Sean, Shamar, and sinister Marsha.

This was taken right after I got back from practice.

The Jesus of coffee.

Good ol' cup o joe.

Our new teachers arrived for class on Friday. I just realized I never put a word of what happened a couple of weeks ago into my blog… the skinny is, two of our teachers were dismissed from the program right before we left for San José. The remaining faculty was very vague about the details in order to respect privacy, but whatever happened must have been serious to be followed by immediate dismissal, which has never happened within the program. Anyway, I had class with only one of the teachers who had to leave, which was my Inter-American Relations course. The replacement seems well qualified, to say the least. Dr. Araya is a retired professor and department head in international relations at the University of Costa Rica. He’s hosted a political-related TV show, and has also taught at universities in the US, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Our first class with Dr. Araya was… interesting, as he has a very different style from our previous teacher. We have to be patient with him as we’re still working through the obstacles that come with a teacher picking up in the middle of a course. I like that he’s from Costa Rica, which will give us an authentic feel for inter-American relations from a point of view outside of the US. Also, he talks pretty slow—which is to my benefit—as I often find myself playing catch-up because almost all of my other classmates are either INTL majors or have had several classes in the subject, and this is my first.

I’m about to go for a run. It kinda stinks that I’m in the middle of a mountain, so no matter which way I go it’s going to be either all up or down hill one way, and the opposite coming back. The past three days I’ve opted for down hill first because this house is so close to The Trocha, aka a paved, up hill suicide that takes you to Santa Elena. Random: Marco y Lorena have two pigs, one of which is SUPER pregnant right now. She’s due in two weeks. I’m for sure coming back to visit as soon as I get word of the chanchitas. They’ve also got about 67 roosters that crow from circa 5am until… yeah they’re still going at 10:30am. There’s a cat that practices the same ritual as Moe, which is killing a rodent and bringing the head to the front door as a trophy. Gross. Then there’s the two puppies, tiny Sassy and big Dukie, who looks like a lab with HUGE ears. And I can’t forget all of the bugs!

Dukie! 

So preggerz.

Marshall, Swagnon and I are currently on the porch doing homework/facebooking and playing music/stealing all of Frank's internet so he can complain about not being able to do his stupid thesis. I'm actually actively choking on the poison that is Marshall's citronella spray. Holy moly.

Ciao for now!
Pura vida.