Spiders in Costa Rica: Day 2
10/16/2023 | General, Women's Lacrosse, Academic Services, Spider Leadership, Spider Performance
Hello Spiders,
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To start off the day, we had an early wake up at the Gran Hotel, in San Jose, Costa Rica. We ate a beautiful spread of local fruits and foods such as tamales and French toast a la carte. Now, we were fueled and ready to experience another day in beautiful Costa Rica. Shortly after, we got back on our bus and traveled east through the mountains to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. Along the way, we learned about Costa Rica's natural landscape, local animals, and the types of crops grown in the area. As we traveled through the mountainous terrain our tour guide (Jose) told us about the seven volcanoes around San Jose and three of which are still active. He also mentioned that the highest mountain that one can climb in San Jose is Mt. Chirripó and at the top of which, you can see both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts on a clear day. Furthermore, we learned about the many different crops that grow naturally in Costa Rica, such as rambutan, plantains, pineapples, and bananas. Jose shared a myriad of information along our four hour journey, telling us about the national bird, a clay colored thrush, manatees, jaguars, and crocodiles that inhabit the surrounding areas. Learning about the natural wildlife of Costa Rica allows us to create a better connection and understanding of the place as a whole.
Learning about the logistics of pineapple and banana plantations was fascinating. Costa Rican pineapples are produced in a sustainable and organic way because the climate is perfect to do so. The banana plantations are equally as impressive of a process. Each plantation of bananas are 200 hectors large (500 acres) and are extremely frequent in the Caribbean half of Costa Rica. The most interesting part of the banana industry was learning that the banana tree sprouts where the banana grows are covered in a blue perforated bag to expedite the growing process. Along our route, we pulled over to see this up close, as we observed the scale of a banana plantation with our own eyes. Originally, I didn't understand the true size of these plantations and now understand how these major distributors of bananas ship them globally.
Next, we entered Puerto Limon, home to the Afro-Costa Rican community. Our first stop was Parque Balvanero to visit the G&E Chocolate Company and its owner, George. Before visiting the shop, we witnessed a true solar eclipse at 12:03 pm. We had eclipse glasses, and our guide had a telescope for us to view the eclipse with a special lens. It is said that Limon, Costa Rica is one of the best places to view the eclipse, and we witnessed this with the abundance of people all around the town. After the eclipse, we received an explanation of the building G&E Chocolate Company is now in. This building was huge, with a lot of character and cultural activity. From chocolate tasting, to a local book library, this building was the former home to Minor Cooper Keith, a Texan who brought the railroad system to Costa Rica. In this space, we were treated to an amazing Latin-American lunch that included rice and beans, chicken, ground beef, sweet plantain, patacones, and pasta to add Italian flavor.
After lunch, we needed to work off some of the delicious foods and we were greeted by a man named Claudio who came to teach us Afro-Caribbean dance. The Afro-Caribbean dance forced us (in a good way) to get out of our comfort zones. The best way I can describe it is that there is no perfect way to dance it, you have to be free and just feel the movement. While there are some native moves that have various meanings, but Claudio told us that it is very free-form, so we were able to improvise a few parts. While improvisation is a huge part of the culture of this dance, we improvised to create choreography. While none of us were trained dancers, we had so much fun – maybe one day the videos of our work will surface for you all to see 😊. Claudio was so enthused with us and we were as well. What struck me the most was his explanation of the dance and how movement is extremely important. He said, "things that don't move are dead." I could see how everyone was impacted by Claudio as we finished class with a reflection circle. He was truly an amazing teacher. Â
Next, we were off to the Carnival de Límon, the largest cultural street festival within the province, which serves to demonstrate the cultural unity of the province. Jose provided us VIP tickets to sit in a mini grandstand to watch the carnival happen on the road below. We observed the main road filling with people left, right, and even those on their balconies. The music was mixed with pop, reggae, Spanish and more. Groups of dancers were walking on this main road and dancing with drummers and other instruments behind them. Think of it like the band from basketball games, marching down the street in a parade-like format. There was so much passion and joy on not just the performers faces, but also from those within the audience. Everyone was dancing, and it was a true example of cultural heritage. The best group that passed were the Brasileiros. They were last and dressed in costumes colored with yellow and green. Each of these groups adorned elaborate outfits while they danced and played instruments in electrifying ways. What an experience! Once the carnival parade was over, the celebration did not end, as many people still lined the streets of the town.Â
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Today proved to be a great culturally immersive day all throughout Costa Rica and we are looking forward to continuing to learn more about this country, along with the people of Limon.Â
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Pura Vida!,
Brian Reinke
Esteban Rodriguez
Baseball
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