Getting to Know the Ngöbe and San José

After driving for 45 minutes or so on Tuesday, we arrived at the Ngöbe territory.

The Ngöbe (in the sign referred to as "Guaymi," but this is a more derogatory term) are an indigenous group of Costa Rica and Panama, and they've been here for thousands of years...way before Christopher Columbus "discovered" Costa Rica on his fourth trip to the New World in 1502. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike how we glorify the man and the mission that brought disease, warfare and exploitation to lands that were chillin contently beforehand? Intensely instigating the detrimental decrease in population size of the indigenous people of Costa Rica from about half a million to merely 7,000 within a tad more than a hundred years? Yup).

Anyway, the Ngöbe have some really interesting cultural practices that would delightfully dumbfound some members of the close-minded class. Por ejemplo, remember when you were a kid and you would have contests to see who would count the highest and it would end in you going "infinity!" and your friend going "infinity plus one!" and so on? No, nobody else did that? It's more of a test of endurance, or frustration when that one party-pooper kid insists infinite is a concept, not a number (it's more fun in the game if you just pretend it's a number). I digress. This issue would not exist for the Ngöbe: they don't really have numbers for quantities more than 40, as there rarely arises a situation where they need to describe numbers past that. Even more interesting is that they have different words to describe numbers based on what subject they are describing. So the word for seven if describing corn husks versus tubas might be two different words. Even though they're both seven. Additionally, polygamy is a-okay with the Ngöbe. There are no official marriage ceremonies and no official divorces. Getting married means living together and ending the living arrangement is the end of a marriage. Everyone, for the most part, gets along swimmingly with this arrangement. Whatever works.

Right, back to my visit. So, after briefly visiting the EBAIS of the territory, we tryingly traversed a slightly-swaying suspension bridge. But, its bark was worse than its bite (plus it contained no actual bark, probably enhancing its structural soundness).

Once around the river bend, we wandered to meet a Ngöbe man who is committed to keeping the flame of the culture burning brightly. He runs a small school (one room, open air, four desks) that teaches the children and adults of the community the language and culture, subjects that are neglected in the public (state-run) school.

Ngöbe culture school

Corn! 

Our Ngöbe friend also has status as a healer in the community and showed us some plants he uses for medicinal purposes, and a sacred place where he prepares medicines. We wafted the enticing odors of plants with hints of mint, licorice, and more.

We returned to Las Cruces for our last day there for the moment (although we return later in the semester). Remember how I mentioned how the food was magnificent? This was the most deliciously, mouth-watering, colorful meal. I could eat this meal with my eyes continuously, and am thankful I had the opportunidad of eating it with my taste buds once. Beet salads are very much a thing here, and it completely beats me why we don't eat them every day for every meal in the States! They're splendid.

On Wednesday, we made our way via bus to San José where we met our host families for the next few weeks as we take Spanish classes at the Costa Rican Language Academy. My host mama is a very kind, grandmotherly figure (she has 6 grown children, whom she mentions (in the most quintessentially grandmother-like fashion) are too busy to visit often even though they live in San José too). She also has two pet turtles named Tutty and Frutty though, and a very nice housekeeper who lives here too. I've been trying to practice my Spanish with them (especially the turtles...they seem most forgiving of mistakes and speak the slowest!). I take a city bus to school--the buses thrown into the traffic madness of San José remind me a bit of the Harry Potter Knight Bus, being jerked around through traffic circles and fitting into spaces smaller than what seem possible for a sizeable bus. This thing ain't the magic school bus, but it's definitely a ride!

Rockin' the Rainforest...and the Healthcare System!

Well, Las Cruces is proving to be as reliably beautiful as its daily afternoon rain showers! After lunch every day, the ominous clouds and striking thunder roll in hand in hand for a delightfully cooling downpour. The region averages 4 meters of rain a year...that's over 13 feet, or approximately 2.5 times my height. Easily enough to safely fill a diving well!

On Friday, we went on a walk around the grounds. The station is located in the midst (and sometimes the mist) of a botanical garden, and then the forest surrounds the garden. There are so many cool animals and plants around the grounds! Here are a few highlights...

First to step up to the plate is the agouti! I had never heard of these funny mammals, and have yet to snap a photo, but here's what they generally look like:

They seem to be the equivalent of squirrels, except less frenetic and don't climb trees (as far as I've seen!). They casually stroll around the greenery, scoping out the food scene. They're the chill, vegan scavengers, it seems. 

Moving down to the insect world, the leaf-cutter ants leave me super impressed!

There are long lines of busy pathways of ants moving their leaf cargo from their tree origin to their colony--think DC Beltway-sized volumes of vehicles (in ant form) moving, but with about 10 times the efficiency. Although, it might help that these ants don't seem to mind crawling over each other, and a similar situation would leave the beltway with some nasty lane closures. I watched an ant gnaw away at the leaf, gingerly carving it out and beginning to whisk it off its stem. It was dreamy.

Other highlights include multiple varieties of bananas growing on trees, sky-high bamboo that will leave you bamboozled as you strain your neck to see the tops, among other insects and plants. 

Apparently commercial bananas grow hanging downwards, while natives grow upwards!

Non-native bamboo reaching upwards

Among rainforest living, we have multiple classes daily, and field trips too. Today we went to a local EBAIS. Since I'm studying health for the semester, how would you like to get a real quick run down od the Costa Rican health care system? Ready? Ready. Let's go.

Basically, having healthcare is mandatory for all Ticos (this is what Costa Ricans are called...because they like to add -itos (meaning little) onto words. Like instead of being gordo (fat) you'd be gordito (kinda an oxymoron, but go with it). So "itos" sounds like Ticos. Thus the name). Both employers and employees contribute to the system. For every 5,000 people or so there is an EBAIS (a health clinic team--Equipo Básico de Atención Integral en Salud) with a doctor, nurse, pharmacist, medical records technician, and ATAP (someone who gives vaccines and goes into the community to do health surveys).  And this works. Hard core. 

So today, we toured one EBAIS. The whole building is very open, with both waiting areas inside and out. Each client gets 15 minutes with the nurse then doctor. There's education information in the waiting room. If someone just needs a vaccine, the ATAP will give it to them, no hassle. Also, what impressed me was how people receive their prescription medications before leaving, since there's a pharmacy on site. About 80% of Ticos are satisfied with the system, the government spends $634 per capita on healthcare, and the system is ranked 36th in the world. The US spends $6,347 per capita and ranks 37th. Apologies for getting so technical...don't they say stats are worth a thousand words? No? Whoops. But still, Costa Rica must be doing something right! #gettingitdone

We also went into a local Red Cross and talked to a staff member (in Spanish!) about their role as a private organization in Costa Rican care. They have ambulances and will transport people to larger hospitals if need be.

Tomorrow we go to Ngöbe indigenous area to check out health over there, and then bus back to San José Wednesday to our homestays!

Las Cruces, the Rainforest, and Red Pineapples tou...can you believe it?

After a six hour long bus ride, we arrived at Las Cruces field station a little after noon on Wednesday just in time for lunch (I'll leave you to do the math about what time we departed San Pedro!). For your geographical enlightenment, here's a map of Costa Rica. We came from the central valley where San José resides (the valley is where over half of the country's population lives) to the southern part of the country in the highlands. 

Meals are served family style here and are delicious. Always some sort of salad, meat, side/vegetable...and of course the cornerstone without which the meal (and perhaps the whole sociopolitical system of the country as well) would tumble violently...rice and beans! If you're ever in the neighborhood I recommend stopping by here...

And not just for the food! (Although it's about a hundred times better than a McDonald's road stop. Point made enough? Nah). It reaches the stop branches of the tree of all the beautiful things I have seen. The greenery is engulfing. Against the palmy fronds, the fauna of the ferns, there are little splashes of colorful flowers that pop out nicely for some eye candy (more desirable than a Nestle Crunch, if you can believe it). 

Red pineapple! 

What is even more exciting is that scrumptious meal time and mind-blowing beauty come together in the happiest of marriages. And I'm not talking about eating these plants (although we will learn much about different uses of them in the ethnobiology class!). Eating breakfast this morning on a deck outside, we saw a toucan! Actually two of them. The throw their head back when they do their call. Seriously, call up Willow Smith, cause these birds can whips their heads back and forth like no other. Or more front to back. But the sentiment remains. 

After breakfast we made a trip to town (about a 10 minute car trip away) to run errands and make sure everyone had a pair of rubber boots, which are important for protecting against snakes in the field! Contrary to what I assumed, it's not that they're too thick for snakes to bite through. It's that snakes look for their meals by heat, and the rubber boots act to hide the heat of our feet, making them more invisible and less appetizing to snakes that we might encounter! 

After our trip to town, we finally had our first classes...a little raindrop of everything for today! Discussed ethics in our research practicum, learned about the history of Costa Rica, and got an intro to enthobiology. And then in a very nonmetaphorical sense, the rain came pouring down as per expected in the afternoon and evening. It's so soothing (and sleep inducing). It's like having one of those calming sound tapes with nature noises...except this is the real deal! 

Beginnings!

After a successfully smooth day of travel, I arrived in Costa Rica Monday afternoon! Rain was streaking at the window as the plane touched down, reminding me that I am indeed here for rainy season (or kindly renamed to woo more tourists, the Green Season). But, looking out the window as we drove from the San José airport to the hotel we're staying at the first two nights, the landscape even around the city was so enticing...everything is so green! And the buildings are colored in playful hues--pastel reds, yellows, greens--that make US cities seem so monotonous, comparatively.

As more people from the program arrived at the hotel the first day we indulged in the Costa Rican delicacy of...Pizza Hut! Definitely a cultural lesson in reinforcing the reach of franchaise like that. And a lesson in how similarly one company can make pizza worldwide! But, we were reassured that we'd soon enter the world of rice and beans, where we will stay forever and always.

Today, we went to the OTS (Organization for Tropical Studies) headquarters in Costa Rica, which is on the research campus of the Universidad de Costa Rica in San Pedro.

OTS Costa Rica headquarters

Through a day of being oriented to our classes/schedule/life, we learned about the four classes we are undertaking during our 15 weeks here: Spanish (with a three week homestay) in San José, Enthobiology, Tropical Diseases and Public Health, and a Research Practicum. We took a mid-day break from learning about our upcoming learning and went on a walk to the main campus of the university. There, one of our professors showed up this awesome little waterfall, casually cascading, surreptitiously hidden among some university buildings.

Urban waterfall!

Building at the Universidad 

Spanish placement tests ensued, and we had a delicious dinner as a group with our three professors and teaching assistant. And I had one of those "everything I ever knew was a lie!" moments...apparently the meaning of a fajita isn't just to stuff all of those delicious accoutrements into a tortilla (as I discovered when I was given two tiny corn tortillas for a generous mound of toppings). Instead, in Spanish, faja means belt, and the word fajitas refer to the mini belts (the little strips) that the meat is cut into! #palabrapower #lifelessons

On a different note, in our group of 19, there are a few people very knowledgeable about yoga! So a bunch of us followed their lead, as they taught us some yoga in this open space on a terrace/roof area in the hotel. Not ever having done much yoga before, it was quite the experience to get my tree pose on while looking at all the trees and mountains surrounding the area in the distance among the city lights of the night!

We're heading to Las Cruces field station tomorrow in the southern part of the country. Very excited to see what the field station is actually like!

Hello!

Hello and welcome! 

To help myself keep track of my wanderings and adventures, and to keep you wonderful people in the loop, I will be blogging about my semester abroad in Costa Rica! I will be leaving Monday morning to make my way down to my home for the next few months. After spending many an hour jumping between metro area outdoors stores (just holler at me if you need to know the current inventory of REI, LL Bean or Hudson Trail Outfitters...), I'm down to the final stages of packing. While I could detail the minute moments of this precise procedure, I'll spare you. Likewise, with my future posts, I'll focus on the highlights and post photos along the way!

So, get as pumped as I am. It'll be like you're following me around in Costa Rica from the comfort of your computer chair--just think of all the money you'll save from not needing to douse yourself in DEET!

¡Hasta Costa Rica!