Feed the birds

Hola todos!

     Yesterday, I took the 2 O'clock bus to San Jose instead of the 3 O'clock, anticipating having an hour of extra time to do a bit of shopping. Instead, I got an extra hour and a half, and I didn't know what to do with myself after purchasing my sweater and rain jacket. I walked around a lot and ate my first POPS ice cream sundae (delicious). I eventually made my way over to the plaza in front of the national theatre, where there were lots of pigeons, and a woman selling dried corn. She imediately reminded me of the bird lady from Mary Poppins who sells bird food on the steps of the cathedral, so I asked to take her picture.

I will admit that I bought some and fed the birds, some even sat on my hand/arm while they ate (and then I washed my hands).

Nicaragua Trip

Hola Todos!

     I have returned from my trip to Nicaragua, and am happy to say that it was AMAZING. Heidi and I went on this trip with another study abroad program, ICADS (Institute for Central American Development Studies) since I am the only one in my program with Valpo. Since so much happened, this will be a long post, so I will break it down day by day and include a link to all of the photos that don't appear here, the album will be updated as I get ahold of the group photos that were taken on the trip. 

SUNDAY 9/18

     Today I had to leave with Heidi at 5:50 AM to get to ICADS and leave by 6:20 AM. We rode in a bus for 7 (ish) hours, not including our lunch stop, and stopped in Managua for the night. Before stopping in Managua, we made a pit stop at la Laguna de Apoyo, a really cool lake in the crater of an old volcano. At first, it was pouring, but then it mostly cleared up, and was beautiful, and we could see parts of the city of Granada across the lake.

MONDAY 9/19

     Today we spent the morning talking to former banana workers (bananeros) from Chinandega who are living in Managua to protest their situation. These people worked on big banana plantations owned by multinational companies like Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte, and were severely harmed by the use of Nemagon (one of the dirty dozen pesticides). The bananeros were not warned of the dangers of working with Nemagon and were not given protective clothing. Many now have cancer, and deal with hair falling out, tooth loss, infertility, miscarriages, blindness and birth defects in the children that they manage to have. They are protesting because the companies have not given them any kind of compensation, or even an apology. Personally, I am disgusted at the treatment these people have received, and will no longer but bananas once I return to the states. I urge all of my readers to please do more research regarding this topic and consider writing a letter to these companies letting them know that citizens of the United States know what is happening, and aren't happy about it.

     After talking to the bananeros, we visited a museum dedicated to Sandino, one of the leaders of the revolution against the government in the 20s and 30s. This museum is located next to the ruins of the Somoza family's national palace, which was destroyed in an earthquake in 1972.

The museum also has information about the torture of Somoza's prisoners, one of which involved keeping prisoners in a room adjacent to a room with hungry pumas, and removing the wall between the rooms. According to Heidi, Somoza would have his guards dress up as roman centurions and invite his friends to watch this "entertainment". Today was full of hard information to process, but it was incredibly important.

     After visiting the museum and the bananeros, we traveled to Matagalpa, where I met my host mom, Paula, her daughter Erika, and her granddaughter, Andrea.

TUESDAY 9/20

     Today we visited a co-op coffee farm in San Ramón (about 30 minutes from Matagalpa) called Danilo Gonzalez, and we learned about their history. They named the farm after a local boy who was killed during one of the revolutions in Nicaragua, and it was founded 9/6/1986. The co-op is now part of UCA (union of agriculture and livestock co-ops) San Ramón, to learn more, you can visit their website, but it is in Spanish. About 3 years ago, they lost around 80% of their trees and crop due to some kind of leaf rot. After removing all of the infected trees, the co-op planted new, more resistant trees, and are getting their first crop this year. After the talk, we went for a 3-hour hike around the farm, some parts were super steep and muddy, but it was lots of fun. Especially since our other leader, David, is a biologist (this meant stopping to look at birds, plants, and poop).

 

WEDNESDAY 9/21

     Today was mostly just talks given by various people, one woman talked about the Nicaraguan Communal Movement and its organizations, and another woman talked about a program for kids who have been taken out of school so that they can work full time. The program works with the parents and educates them about the importance of sending their kids to school, and provides full scholarships (uniform, supplies, tuition) for 21 kids. The other kids in the program get basic school supplies to help lower the cost. After lunch, 2 Nicaraguan women who migrate to Costa Rica for work talked to us about their experiences. Today was full of really interesting information, but not much movement.

THURSDAY 9/22

     Today we left Matagalpa at 7AM and traveled to León, where we met a war veteran, Francisco, who fought in the revolution during the 60s and 70s and again during the contra wars during the 90s. His talk was incredibly interesting, but one of the things that surprised me most was his openness. Not only did he talk about something that must be very difficult to talk about (the death of his girlfriend in their first battle) but he was also very open about his PTSD, his triggers, and his medication. This was very different for any conversation in the US, because most people keep their mental illness and medications a secret. Francisco also spoke to us in English, it wasn't perfect, but he is self-taught. He taught himself English by reading book both in English and in Spanish, and by reading the subtitles in movies.

     Thursday afternoon, I climbed the youngest volcano in Central America, Cerro Negro. It was definitely a challenge, but it was also a lot of fun. I discovered that if you sit on a volcano for too long, your butt gets burnt because it is so hot. The view from the top was incredible, and the pictures don't quite do it justice. As we neared the top and at the top we saw the heat vents where the smoke was escaping (the technical term has escaped my mind) and we could smell the sulfur. The scariest part was that a friend, Bianca, and I went down the way we went up, and realized too late that we were alone. It was really stressful as we raced down the volcano as it grew dark. When we got back to the trailhead, we had to run and search for the bus, luckily I chose the correct fork and we made it to the bus. Unfortunately, we missed out on sliding down a volcano :(

FRIDAY 9/23

     Today was pretty uneventful, we visited a honey co-op, and I bought wild honey for my Costa Rican host family. Friday night was miserable because I got food poisoning. Thankfully, I feel much better now.

SATURDAY 9/24

     Today was full of traveling, and I'm very thankful that I was no longer sick, because we had an 8-hour bus ride, plus a boarder crossing. On the Nicaraguan side of the boarder, I bought a hammock for my host mom, and some leather key chains for souvenirs.

FINlAL REFLECTION

     This trip was amazingly eye opening and I loved (almost) every second of it. One thing that I noticed right away when we entered the country is the propaganda, it is everywhere. You can't walk 100 feet without seeing a poster with Daniel Ortega's (or his wife's) face plastered on it. In the cities, there are bilboards with their campaign slogan (something about going forward in victory, I dont quite remember). It was very different than in the United States, where people are very outspoken against the government. Here, the people seem to be afraid to speak against the government. This is very diferent from Costa Rica, where I have never seen a picture of the president. Another thing that I noticed, especially in León, is the difference in modes of transportation. There are cars and trucks and buses, but I also saw a lot of carts pulled by horses. And this wasn't just in town, we passed a couple horse drawn wagons/carts on the highway. One of the biggest problems that Nicaragua (and the reset of the world) is facing is climate change. The last few rainy seasons have received very little rain, making it hard to grow anything. I also saw crops of corn on super steep slopes, as well as places where there was so much errosion that the land is no longer suitible for growing anything. This was a completely new experience for me, and it's one that I won't quickly forget.

Hasta luego!

Caylyn

https://goo.gl/photos/VrRzZm3tMKxqdjey9

Week 3 Update

Hola Todos!

     This past week has been a whirlwind, between writting multiple essays and doing various homework assignments, I would have been busy anyways. But then we threw in 2 lectures, 2 classes, and a lot of running around.
     My most exciting news is that I have mastered using public transportation to get to class at the UBL. I take a bus from Santa Rosa to San Jose, walk a few blocks, turn and walk a few more, and then I catch a bus from San Jose to Cedro, which drops me off about a 1/8 mile away from the UBL.

Tomorrow morning, I leave for Nicaragua at 5:40 AM. I won't have an internet connection most of the time, so no news is good news.

Hasta luego,

Caylyn

Weekend in the mountains

¡Hola todos!

At some point, this will show up on the Voyager's website, but since there is so much lag time, I'll just post it here as well.

              This past weekend was my first free weekend, so my family took me up to la cabaña (the cabin), and it was amazing. Mamá inherited the cabin from her mom, and it is one of her favorite places to be. I really can’t blame her, the cabin is made of wood and corrugated tin and is a wonderful place to relax and listen to nature.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the outside, but I did remember to at least take a picture from the doorway before we left.

The cabin is amazing and very simple. All of the water is stored in a big tank, and the “spouts” are pipes. The coolest part is that everything is cooked on a wood stove.

In order to reach the cabin, we have to do a lot of off road driving through a cow pasture. The property is fenced off in the middle of the pasture, so there are cows practically in the front yard. According to Tío, one of the cows is pregnant.

Soon after we arrived, it started to rain, but once it stopped, I went on a hike with Mamá, Papá, Abuelo, and Santiago. We stopped at a waterfall, and Mamá took my picture. An interesting aspect of the hike was that Papá used a machete to clear the path of overgrown weeds as well as a fallen tree. Santiago carried a thin stick that he used like a machete.

After our hike, Santi and I searched for worms, and found lots! (look at the leaf)

During dinner Saturday night we were visited by Lobo (Wolf), a local dog who knows that Mamá will feed him. Lobo got a couple of the soup bones as well as the meat from our bowls. Light was provided for the picture by Santiago’s giant flashlight.

  

              Saturday night, I learned that it gets really dark really fast in the mountains. It was pitch black by 6:30, and we ate dinner with the small amount of light provided by the battery to see by. After dinner, we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows, but didn’t make s’mores, I might have to buy some graham crackers and chocolate next time we go to the cabin.

When I woke up Sunday morning, I quickly realized that I had forgotten to put bug spray on my hands before going to bed.  My right hand wasn’t as bad since I used it to rub the bug spray in, but it still got eaten.  At least I put bug spray on my legs, arms, and neck!

Sunday was really rainy, but we were visited by a rooster named Gallina (chicken)

 who ended up coming home with us.

                        

And a blue morpho butterfly, this was the first time I’ve seen one outside of a butterfly garden!

Shortly before we left, Ashley returned from a walk with a friend.

              Sunday afternoon, I had a very new experience, I caught a chicken. This was really big for me because I don’t particularly like live chickens (I prefer them cooked and on my dinner plate). Originally, I was just going to watch Ashley and her friend Allison catch Gallina, but they were having a hard time, and neither particularly wanted to touch him. So I grabbed the bag he would eventually be put in, and used it like a giant glove to catch him, I managed to grab him and then carried him inside, where Abuelo picked him up while I opened the bag. I really wish I had a picture of me holding Gallina, but we had to move quickly, so no photos. We brought Gallina home with us, and Mamá gave him to her sister. Having a chicken in the car was interesting, especially when he tried to escape.

This weekend was amazing, and I can’t wait to go back on my next free weekend!

Hasta luego,

Caylyn Anne

You Learn Something New Every Day

Hola Todos!

     I have now been in Costa Rica for a whole two weeks, I can hardly believe how quickly the time has gone by! Last night I actually had a nightmare about going home. It was a nightmare because I am not ready to leave, and everybody was different when I returned, the scariest part was that Layla didn't greet me. For those of you who don't know, my dog Layla is always overjoyed to see anyone who has been gone for more than 5 hours, so not getting a greeting was terrifying. I love it here in Costa Rica, and I can't wait for all of the adventures that I will have.

Sadly, this Blue Morpho was dead, but it was the only one
that held still long enough for me to take a picture

     This week has been full of learning, both academic and not academic. On Tuesday, I learned that I actually like shrimp when I ordered spaghetti with shrimp in white sauce at a sea-food restaurant in downtown San Jose. After my sea-food adventure, I went to the National Museum with Alfonso to see all sorts of exhibits. The first thing you see in the museum is a butterfly garden, very much like the one at Meijer Gardens for those of you who have been there. After the butterfly exhibit, we saw lots of exhibits about ancient people and artifacts of Costa Rica. After seeing all of the artifacts, we saw the commanders' rooms as well as a display on "the magic of photography". After going through the museum, Alfonso dropped me off at class.

Santiago and I love to color!

     while traveling to my classes at the UBL on Wednesday, I learned how to take the bus from where I live in Santa Rosa to San Jose and where to catch the next bus from San Jose to the UBL. Last week, I was late to class both days, but this week I was an hour early on both days. While taking public transportation, I have learned that I can survive traveling alone, and that I can get just about anywhere I need to go using public transportation.
     While writing this post, I have also learned that I can speak in Spanish with mi hermanito Santiago while typing in English.

Hasta Luego,
Caylyn

Field Trips!

Hola todos!

     Sorry for the delay in posts, I've been super busy these last few days. So, this weekend (and Thursday) was full of new experiences. On Thursday Heidi took a friend's parents and me to a rose garden, which was super cool (more on that when my Valpo Voyager blog is updated) and I'll include a link to the photo album of all of the amazing flowers. https://goo.gl/photos/YoyVtyuCwa4JdyP58

     Saturday was crazy, I left at 7:30 AM with Moises (a friend of Heidi and Alfonso) and his sons Moises and Jose to meet Alfonso and two others at the UBL so that we could follow Alfonso to Guayabo National Monument. Guayabo National Monument is a great place for a hike and also has a really amazing archeological site. In an open space, there are huge rings of rocks, which were the bases of houses and the height and diameter of the rings showed a person’s status in the community. Leading into the village there is (what looks like) a perfectly smooth cobblestone road that is multiple layers thick in some places. Before someone would have been able to enter the village, they had to pass between twin checkpoints that were elevated above everything else. According to Heidi, this community was probably at the point of building pyramids if the conquistadors hadn’t come and wiped the people out. I don't have any pictures though because I accidentally left my phone in the car, so I'll share the pics that Alfonso took of me when I get them. 

     After Guayabo, we drove to a really cool viewing point that overlooks the "valley of gold"/Orosi where the oldest church still in use is located.

The church is a Franciscan Mission and there is a museum full of furniture, clothing, books, and more. Again, no pictures because I was too busy looking at everything with my own eyes instead of through a camera. 

     Finally, we stopped at the Basilica of Los Angeles which was built to honor La Virgen de Los Angeles, the patron saint of Costa Rica. Inside, you can see the rock where the figure was found, and in another part, there is water from the river coming out of various spouts. There is also a worship area, but we didn’t stay long since mass was in progress. To read about the legend of Los Angeles, follow this link: info about la virgen de los angeles. Again no pictures, but lots of memories.

Hasta luego,
Caylyn