On thursday we arrived home from our Nicaragua trip, then right away on friday a group of us headed out to Manuel Antonio foe fall break where we have been enjoying the national park and beaches and zip lining! We have free internet here at the hostel and Nicaragua was the most amazing experience of my time so far, so I guess I should blog about it, even though I dont even know where to start.
Nicaragua is a completely different world than Costa Rica. The people are far more poor (over 70 percent live on less than 2 dollars per day) there country's history is pretty violent, with military dictatorships, violent revolutions, earthquakes and hurracanes that destroyed the country and power hungry corrupt leaders. Nicaraguans are very passionate, especially about thier politics.
For 2 days our group studied some history in politics in the capital of Managua, then we headed out in groups of four to little villages outside of the city. My group traveled about an hour, further and further away from modern conveniences. I didnt know what to expect, but when we saw people legitimately travelling with horse and buggy instead of cars and when we got out of our taxi and began our trek up the dirt road, i knew i was in for a crazy different experience. I live in La Montanita. Our toilet was an outhouse, i showered with a bucket of water and a bowl, all my food was cooked over a fire and there were chickens and other animals everywhere.
I loved my experience so much. My family was so excited to have me. They hosted one other student 2 years ago and they still talk about her all the time like she is one of the family's nearest and dearest friend. They people were asking months in advance when we students would be coming, and i think it was the highlight of the year that we went. I really enjoyed the slow pace of life there. I just sat and was quiet at times, other times i played baseball and cards with the kids. My family always serevd me first and gave me the best food (the boughtfresh cow milk from their neighbor evey morning so that i could have milk in my coffee...woah) They poured traditional nicaraguan gifts on me like hairclips, earrings, a hammock and hand made sandals, even though they were poor and im sure these gifts required sacrafice. I just felt so loved by my family there and in those 6 short days I really fell in love with them too.
Since LASP teamed up with a church denomination called Brothers in Christ to find us our Christian host families, the villages we all visited just assumed we were missionaries, despite us saying we were really just students. They had us sing in front of church, teach kids' sunday school and my friend McCall actually preached in Spansh on Saturday night. We led a special youth group meeting and they had a special food sale and invited a neighboring church on sunday. Church is a very important part of their lives. They have 4 or 5 services a week. There were things i really liked and things I really didnt like about the church. One of the things I didnt like was the pastor's attitude that we could teach them so much and enlighten them with our spiritual ideas just because we were from the U.S. as much as we wanted to live on the same level as the Nicaraguans for the week, they always wanted to draw lines between us and them. We were the rich people they were poor. They thought we had so much to offer them, financially and spiritually, but they didnt realize what they were giving us.
There are a lot of difficult issues my experience in Nicaragua brought up. Many members of the community worked in sweatshops owned by American clothing companies. Often times foreign involvement in Nicaragua involves giving money, while ignoring the economic and political structural problems. Nicaraguans just expect other countries to give them stuff and they are never empowered to be self sufficient. These are things I will struggle to think about, along with many more.
Already I feel i am fogetting some aspects of my trip, as now my mind is filled with this gorgeous ocean view in Manuel Antonio. Tomorrow we go back to classes, I will be starting my literature classes and another round of spanish classes. I am forced to "move on" from nicaragua. But if any of you ask me about my trip when I return, please ask me about this awesome part of it.
prayer request: there are still boy drama issues with my host family here. My mom and sister are both moody and angry with each other. I feel really ackward and sometimes just wish I didnt have to be there so please pray for peace for my family and that I would feel loved and there.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
So I have been avoiding blogging because there is just too much to say. I could go on and on about how lovely the beach was and how I saw monkeys and ate good food etc. that’s not really the heart of what is happening. I am changing. My perspectives are changing. One of my biggest fears is that when I return I will have so many ideas I want to share but I won’t know how to communicate them and I don’t know if I will find anyone who truly wants to listen. But I guess if I am worried about expressing myself, I might as well start now.
We went to a Del Monte banana plantation when we went to Limon last week. We had to come in unannounced and ask if we could look around because they have stopped giving tours because they have suffered some inconvenience over things tourists have seen in the past. We saw the bananas hanging from the trees in plastic bags covered in pesticides. We saw them spraying chemicals on the bananas so they wouldn’t mature until they reach the US, where they will spray more chemicals on them to make them ripen. They workers we were working really hard, and there was just a strange atmosphere, really kind of heavy. Our professors didn’t know exactly how much the workers were paid, but they knew it wasn’t much and that they were paid by the banana, not by the hour, which is not exactly ideal. The workers live on the plantation in little houses. When the airplanes pass over to spray the trees with chemicals, they spray the houses along with the plants. The chemicals cause some health problems for the workers, but who is going to complain? They could lose their job for complaining, and if they lose their job, they lose their house. They essentially lose everything because they are so dependent on their employer. Additionally, “monocropping” is not good for the land. Because the land is stripped bare except for banana plants, there is a lot of run-off. Dirt in the tropics is not like dirt in Iowa. So the earth washes away, together with a conglomeration of chemicals that have been sprayed on the plants, into a nearby river. It is quite likely that just downstream from this river live some indigenous people or another type of people without running water. This river has always been their food source but now they can’t use it because it is filled with chemicals because bananas are the #1 most consumed fruit in the U.S. Who knew that’s where our bananas came from?
As I believe I have mentioned before, Costa Ricans eat beans and rice every day, 2-3 times a day. In the past, they grew their beans and rice here in the country. Now, however, much of the farmland has been taken over by big fruit companies or coffee growers because these crops can be exported to the U.S. for much more money. The U.S. doesn’t want beans and rice, they want pineapple, bananas and coffee so that’s what Costa Rica grows. In the mean time, people in Costa Rica have to pay more money for their staple foods because they now have to import them from other countries. You may be saying, “but Laura, it’s ok that they have to pay more because they are making more money by exporting” (the economic term is “competitive advantage”) False. The people who own the land (US companies) are getting richer. The poor remain just as poor and can now afford even less food.
This is just one example of a perspective change that I have been undergoing here in Costa Rica. I hope people don’t think I’m a paranoid, over-the-top health nut when I get back and want to eat organic or locally-grown food, but I am aware that it is a possibility. ( I know this because I have thought it about other people) But I will leave you with this: Where does your food and clothing come from? Do you have any idea? How do you know that the workers who picked your food or sewed your clothes were not being exploited? Do you know what all those things we can’t pronounce on food labels actually do to your body? I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I’m starting to think that I should.
We went to a Del Monte banana plantation when we went to Limon last week. We had to come in unannounced and ask if we could look around because they have stopped giving tours because they have suffered some inconvenience over things tourists have seen in the past. We saw the bananas hanging from the trees in plastic bags covered in pesticides. We saw them spraying chemicals on the bananas so they wouldn’t mature until they reach the US, where they will spray more chemicals on them to make them ripen. They workers we were working really hard, and there was just a strange atmosphere, really kind of heavy. Our professors didn’t know exactly how much the workers were paid, but they knew it wasn’t much and that they were paid by the banana, not by the hour, which is not exactly ideal. The workers live on the plantation in little houses. When the airplanes pass over to spray the trees with chemicals, they spray the houses along with the plants. The chemicals cause some health problems for the workers, but who is going to complain? They could lose their job for complaining, and if they lose their job, they lose their house. They essentially lose everything because they are so dependent on their employer. Additionally, “monocropping” is not good for the land. Because the land is stripped bare except for banana plants, there is a lot of run-off. Dirt in the tropics is not like dirt in Iowa. So the earth washes away, together with a conglomeration of chemicals that have been sprayed on the plants, into a nearby river. It is quite likely that just downstream from this river live some indigenous people or another type of people without running water. This river has always been their food source but now they can’t use it because it is filled with chemicals because bananas are the #1 most consumed fruit in the U.S. Who knew that’s where our bananas came from?
As I believe I have mentioned before, Costa Ricans eat beans and rice every day, 2-3 times a day. In the past, they grew their beans and rice here in the country. Now, however, much of the farmland has been taken over by big fruit companies or coffee growers because these crops can be exported to the U.S. for much more money. The U.S. doesn’t want beans and rice, they want pineapple, bananas and coffee so that’s what Costa Rica grows. In the mean time, people in Costa Rica have to pay more money for their staple foods because they now have to import them from other countries. You may be saying, “but Laura, it’s ok that they have to pay more because they are making more money by exporting” (the economic term is “competitive advantage”) False. The people who own the land (US companies) are getting richer. The poor remain just as poor and can now afford even less food.
This is just one example of a perspective change that I have been undergoing here in Costa Rica. I hope people don’t think I’m a paranoid, over-the-top health nut when I get back and want to eat organic or locally-grown food, but I am aware that it is a possibility. ( I know this because I have thought it about other people) But I will leave you with this: Where does your food and clothing come from? Do you have any idea? How do you know that the workers who picked your food or sewed your clothes were not being exploited? Do you know what all those things we can’t pronounce on food labels actually do to your body? I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I’m starting to think that I should.
pressing on
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Well, I have completed a month here and I am still alive. This week was kind of rough as far a being homesick goes. I was doing really good at focusing on one day at a time, but i realized that this week I had been saying the words "Jesus get me through this day, I need your strength" but I wasn't really believing that he is all I need. However, I feel like I have gotten back on track. Keep praying for me guys!
I have one more week of "core seminar" and then we all go to Nicaragua for a week. Nicaragua will be more rural and the families will be poorer. We will each be living with our own family just doing what they do for those 10 days. I'm nervous and excited. From what I hear, their life is a lot more simple so it may involve a lot of just sitting around, which will actually be really challenging for me. After Nicaragua we have fall break and then our schedules change up a bit. Its good to have changes in schedule so that I have little goals to look forward to.
For your viewing pleasure, I included this picture of about half our group when we went to visit the ruins of the first Spanish colony in Costa Rica
I have one more week of "core seminar" and then we all go to Nicaragua for a week. Nicaragua will be more rural and the families will be poorer. We will each be living with our own family just doing what they do for those 10 days. I'm nervous and excited. From what I hear, their life is a lot more simple so it may involve a lot of just sitting around, which will actually be really challenging for me. After Nicaragua we have fall break and then our schedules change up a bit. Its good to have changes in schedule so that I have little goals to look forward to.
For your viewing pleasure, I included this picture of about half our group when we went to visit the ruins of the first Spanish colony in Costa Rica
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