Reflection

As you've noticed by now I was unable to blog while at the resort and it was a blessing in disguise. Our time there was relaxing and adventurous. We went on an excursion where we went white water tubing,  zip lining (amazing!), horseback riding & waterfalls/hot springs. This was just a great ending to a trip of a lifetime! Having the opportunity to break out of my comfort zone and truly enjoy life was a one of a kind experience. While being able to see another culture and landscape we also had the the privilege of learning alternative ways to conduct business. After the trio, I cannot wait to finish school in December and continue my education beyond that so I can have my own business venture "outside the box"! 

Not only were the opportunities unbelievable so was the group of students I had the pleasure of spending the trip with. Each person taught me something about myself and what I need/enjoy about others in my life. This trip would not have been as life changing without them or Dr Lanier. 

Can't wait to continue my education and business ventures! 

Last Day in San Jose

I'll apologize in advance ... I had to sit through more lectures & so do you :) enjoy! Ha 

   Today began with a slow wake up and a relaxing breakfast. Our first meeting began at 9:30 with the head of the restaurant industry and an entrepreneur, Mr. Manuel Burgos.  In 1982, a socialist party came in and decided to open up the economy to the world with the widest offer of exports. Things continued to go in a positive manner when CAFTA was signed. 10 years ago he helped his 2 oldest sons start a business. He put up the money for the business and owns 1% of the company. His objective for the business was to not have an inventory or accounts receivable. The company is ticoshopping.com which can be found online through Facebook and search engines. They send a wide variety of local products throughout the world. Ticoshopping.com has paid for his sons' college tuition, travel funds, expenses, and many of other extras that would not have been possible any other way. He has 3 successful sons and one on his way to college. One is a lawyer, one a President of a private bank, and the other an executive for Coca Cola here in Costa Rica and will be traveling for the company soon. He encouraged us to think outside the box and sometimes simple is the best thing. 

    Our next speaker was Ms. Liza Fendt, an Economist from Costa Rica. We discussed the history of Costa Rica. Costa Rica accounts for 25.6 % of the world's biodiversity. In pre-colonial times there were 13 organized human groups that produced a variety of products such as corn, yucca, and sweet potato. Land rights were passed down from mothers to their children with the high influence of political and religious standings. Small farm's surplus was used for trade. 1821 was a turning point for the community when their independence was granted thus allowing for commerce with other nations to continue to export tobacco. The economy of the country fluctuated great with multiple times of crisis for many decades. In 1948, the revolution brought forth a socialist and democratic government. In the 90s the average export rate was 6.6% and now have tripled. The value of the US dollar significantly decreased from the past. It's now 500 colones for $1. 

Side note: happiest place on Earth is Costa Rica. The key to happiness in life here in Costa Rica is family. They value their family and close-knit lifestyle more than money. Ms. Fendt recently did a study to prove these factors true.  

    As always lunch at the hotel was delicious from the soup to the dessert. 

Soup

Meal

 Dessert 

    Mrs. Gayle Nystrom who is the President of the Foundacion Humanitaria. Ms. Gayle came to Costa Rica 35 years ago after joining the Peace Corps. This lecture was an insightful and humbling one. You forgot just how great of a life you have until someone reminds you of the less fortunate. Yes, I've gone without meals but never because I could not afford it or never had one provided. 

      Ms. Gayle works to end poverty with the Nicaraguan's and in La Caprico. Her two objectives are 1: to aid in ending and helping poverty stricken people ams 2: to educate the supporters and volunteers of the program. Here in the country, poverty is a systemic failure because even the people who try to find a job that could support their families are unable to do so since their imagine does not march this status quo. In La Caprico, the population is 34,000 with a high rate of poverty. Ms. Gayle's goal can be a success by approaching the problem in a 3 step process.  Step 1 is to start with the children. Reaching and teaching the children of the community is a much simpler task than reaching out to the elders in the community. The children learn and become enthused about the matter and bring it home thus educations their mothers. This then creates a bond with between the educator and the mother. Step 2 is to invest in these women. Women are the strongest in the community because they are mainly single mothers who are forced to provide for their families. By getting these women involved it and providing  counseling to them increases their self esteem, etc. Step 3 is to help them become entrepreneurs even in the smallest since of the word and watch them succeed. 

    I'm now running low on fuel and we have two meetings left  ... I'm behind ready for this to be over with. Things are becoming repetitive and the worse thing ever has happened - we lost our wifi connection 

   Our 4th speaker, Dr. Fernando Duran Ayanegui who is from Alajuela is a chemist, author, and a retired Dean of the university in Costa Rica.  While his personality was something to be shared his English was quite broken and difficult to understand. He brought us back in time to his path and travels throughout his life. 

   Our last guest speaker was phenomenal. Giving us a blast from the past with the history of the cultures that have come together to build the foundation of Costa Rica, foods of each, and how our mind has been told to worked to see things in a very narrow path.  

Tomorrow we leave for the resort and I am ecstatic - ready to get my tan on! 

 

Sticky Day!

Thankfully today started off as a slow morning with breakfast then a walk through the market down town. The market in Costa Rica was similar to the one in Cartago. Here we were able to see a traditional dress that is worn by children for gatherings when they do traditional dances. 

  After leaving the market, we killed time and walked pass the Teatro Nacional built in 1897. Then pass McDonalds which may not sound like a big deal however it is the original building from 1970 which was also the first McDonalds in Latin America. & P.S. Louisiana is famous down here - we have seen 3 Popeyes (haha). Fun fact about Costa Rica is that they no longer have an Army and have not had one since the 1900s. 

    We walked roughly 10 blocks to meet with Congress. Here we met with the director of personal relations who is also a congress man. He discussed with us the way they hold elections, political parties, scandals, and the way congress meets. They hold elections every 4 years and the process is quite similar to ours. As for as the presidential elections things are a little different. One part is that they hold 4 year terms but are not allowed to run for consecutive terms. My favorite part is that they have such pride for their fellow Costa Ricans that they make themselves heard and the President listens. For the most part, everything else is almost identical to our system of checks and balances. 

Blue Castille 

 Background = awesome

President's Room 

   We then headed off to the Souvenir shop for lunch (delicious burgers and dessert)! After shopping we went into the factory where they hand make the wooden jewelry, bowls, place mats, and many other decorative items. Another fun fact about this business is that the factory has been family operated and owned for decades. 

 Unfinished hand crafts 

 Smoothing process of wood 

 Finished Inventory 

      Then off in a rush to an amazing part of the day; the bubble gum factory! Chiclera Costarricense was founded in 1962. It's target market is all of the Americas and the Caribbean. Here we walked through each process of the manufacturing stages! First they mix all the ingredients. Once they have "gum" they send it to machines to cut it into the sizes they need & it's heated to hold its shape then off to cool it down in a climate controlled room! After its been cooled for 24 hrs it then goes to the coloring  process I'm a room filled with huge mixers. These then head off to packaging then out to its market. 

Sanitary Necessary 

 Beginning process of gum

 Coloring process 

   We finished off our agenda with another lecture. The speaker was from Lubbock, Texas. While he was educated on medical tourism and his presentation was great - he was so self-centered! Literally told us that he looked good surfing oh but he had lipo! Definitely not a fan of that personality. 

As promised last night, here are some photos of supper! 

View 

 Entertainment 

Wet & Raining

     Today was an early and rough morning. I was up at 5:30 am with very little sleep & still with an upset stomach! After breakfast, we were on the bus for 7 and heading towards Izaru volcano. The drive up to the volcano at 11,260 ft was picturesque with a winding road with homes, livestock, & potato farms just to name a few. Upon our arrival at Izaru, the clouds were rolling in thus making it a rush to view the crater. We were able to see where the lake would be and the rough terrain surrounding the crater but not actually able to the greenish lake. Oh and let's not forget that being inside a cloud is extremely cold & wet! We rushed back into the souvenir shop for a glass of hot chocolate to warm us up. 

On our way up to Izaru. 

   On our way back down the mountain we were able to stop for a few pictures thus allowing us to snap a shot of the Leprosy colony that once lived on the hill. While we were unable to tour the grounds or the remaining buildings - being able to see a piece of history was a one of a kind feeling!

(The Leprosy Colony)

Finally we approached the bottom of the volcano we made our way into Cartago. While in Cartago we had the pleasure of walking through the railroad station. You may ask why that was an honor - it's because they are trying to get more people to take the train as the transit system into the neighboring provinces (states as we would call it) and they are still adding the finishing touches and will celebrate with the President tomorrow at the station's Grand Opening! Only a block away from the station is their market. Not a supermarket like we have but a true old fashioned market where they sell fish, beef, chicken, fruits, vegetables, clothes, dog food, and many other products. Other than the smell of the assortment of meats it was in interesting exploration! 

Train Station

Train Station

 Train station 

 Market 

 Steaks at the Market 

    We then headed into town where we were able to see the Ujarras church which is more than 300 years old today. The Spanish missionaries began construction of the church in 1860. Every time they tried to finish the build the weather would prolong the completion. Today it sits in the center of town with only 4 walls. Legend has it that the Priest and the Mayor of the town were brothers and in 1910 the Major killed his brother in a disagreement regarding the church's construction. The ruins that remain today are available to tour on the weekends - it encloses a garden that brings about such peace and serenity. 

 

         At this point, we are all getting a little hungry and we head off to Casona del Cafetal. The trip there was yet another winding road with a significant change in elevation. While this trip should have only taken roughly 30-45 min it took us much longer. The first path we tried had a landslide and the road was blocked with the dirt from the side of the mountain. So on to our second path and as our luck would have it we must cross a bridge ... And the bridge has a height limit and our bus did not fit within the limit - of course! Three strikes and your out and thankfully our third option got us right where we needed to be! The sides of the roads were filled with coffee bean farms and after being served a delicious lunch (I ordered rainbow trout) next to a beautiful lake with a mountain scenery in the background. After lunch we talked about the coffee bean plant ... So here's a little education for you - a coffee bean plant will produce a prime selection for 25 years. The bean is harvested by hand for 5 months. They pick the coffee cherry which protects 2 coffee beans and they earn up to $2 a basket and the main "employees" are Nicaraguans. 

 Coffee Bean Plant 

 View at lunch 

   After our lesson we headed back to Cartago and thankfully this trip was much shorter than the last. We then toured the Basilica which was built in 1912. The story of the Basilica is that in August 2, 1635 a little Indian girl went to the forest to pick firewood. While out she found a statue of a small figure resembling a doll she took it home and placed it in a box. The next day it had disappeared and while out looking for firewood again she found the statute in the same place on the rocks. After this she bought it to the Priest and he locked it away only to have it disappear from him as well not once but twice. After the last time he had to retrieve it he realized the statue had something supernatural going on and that it desired to remain in the forest on the rocks. He decided to build a church to protect the statue of the Holy Virgin. The Holy Virgin is still today the "mother and patroness" for all the Costa Ricans. Every August 2nd people make a pilgrimage to the church to be prayed for and blessed. Many people can be seen crawling to the alter on their knees while praying. 

 

 Basilica de Los Angeles 

 

 Inside Basilica 

 Statue of Mary on the Altar

 One of the many statues in the Basilica

    After being able to experience the beauty of the Basilica. We returned to the Tryp Sabana for a night of relaxation which is extremely easy with the night view from the window in our room!  

 View from room 

An American Sport made Possible

      Today started late with a beautiful view and a filling breakfast! We began the educational meetings at 9:30. The first lecture began with CINDE. CINDE is a large non profit organization marketing company for the country that attracts investments of high technological services.  They do not promote companies such as oilfield. They try to focus on preserving their natural resources for the needs of later generations. 80% of the country's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) relies on foreign trade and investment. The education within Costa Rica is free. They were able to make that happen by eliminating their Army in 1948. Costa Rica desires to be completely carbon neutral by 2025! (Sounds like something we should try - even though I love that black smoke -- whoop whoop) 

       The second meeting was in regards to tourism. The tourism sector offers 260 million jobs in Costa Rica. Ecotourism is the largest type of tourism focusing on sustainability. Again, sustainability is the development that meets the needs of today's generation while preserving the needs of future generations. Europe brings 51% of the tourism to the country. Tourism effects the population both directly and indirectly. While Costa Rica is a major tourism place in today's economy it was not always that way. It once was only a secondary place of tourism. It was not until 1978 that it was viewed as a destination of tourism by well educated people who could see the beauty and importance of Costa Rica. In 1984, they introduced soft tourism AKA ecotourism. However, it was not until 1987 when they won the Nobel Peace Price that it became a major attraction due to the publicity it received in the states. 

        These meetings were followed by a great lunch! We began with a tomato and basil soup which was delicious & of course the bread was my favorite! After soup, we had a buffet style lunch with the best tasting Maui Maui I've ever had!! And to top it all of we had dessert which had a rich caramel flavor & this light whipped topping! Our break was short but much needed to return to another 2 hours of lecture. 

       Our first lecture back introduced us to the trade protection in Costa Rica and I must admit this was my favorite speaker and topic for the day and the explanation is to come! Our speakers was from the Export Agency Institution  which is part of the public sector and not necessarily under the government. They use 7 steps to help companies become internationalized in four sectors (agriculture, food, industrial, and service). The EAI has many locations thought the world with only 2 people in the small business office. To give some insight of how well this program works we can now talk about some of the most interesting parts. Costa Rica is home to the manufacturing plant for Intel processors - yes that's correct the processors we have in our computers and phones - we can thank Costa Rica! The extremely soft and well made leather that are in most of our luxury cars are made right he. Costa Rica. Now to my favorite part - if you know me you'll understand my enthusiasm right away ... 

The Rawlings baseballs are hand made in Costa Rica. Yes, that is correct - the ball you get to take home from home runs and foul balls have been made by hand here in a factory at Costa  Rica!! 

   Our last meeting of the day was with Estrado de la Region (State of the Region). They produce the social, economical, and educational research for 15 years. Their first publication in 1999 highlighted positive balance of product performance. In 2003, it covered the large groups of populations that were still behind on current opportunities. In 2011, it covered the most risky and complex situations that Costa Rica had in the last 20 years. Costa Rica is responsible for less than .5% of greenhouse gas emission. While Costa Rica is a strong community it does have a weakness in its infrastructure. Although, I'd much rather deal with infrastructure weakness as oppose to being in Honduras with the largest homicide epidemic. 

      While today wasn't that much fun it was educational and by writing this blog overt drinks made it even better!! 

  

 

 

Money Does Grow on Trees!

Our day began with a white water rafting adventure through the rainforest. Pozo Azal was a great host for our adventure. The trip was roughly 13 miles with the break including jumping off of a 10 ft cliff and a fresh pineapple! The river pictured is where we rafted. The water was cold but we passed a great time - even saw a Toucan!  

After completing the trip we were served lunch including delicious tilapia. Upon the completion of the rafting adventure we traveled to Tirimbina to learn about sustainable Ecotourism and the preservation of the forest and the wildlife. Tirimbina protects about 400 acres of forest, wildlife, and the river. This trip included a tour of the "chocolate factory" and I use that term loosely! After a 20 minute hike on the edge of the mountain & across one of the most terrifying bridges that you would only expect to see in the movies; I.e. Jurassic Park! :) The following picture is the horror movie bridge that I absolutely loved. 

(View of the canopy from the bridge)

We made it to the "chocolate factory" where we learned about the cocoa plant, seeds, fermentation process, and preparation process & were also able to enjoy each step!

(Cocoa plant) 

(Cocoa fruit)

Peyton, is pictured holding the cocoa fruit that contains roughly 40 - 60 seeds. The bean is protected by the tangy pulp, which we were able to taste. After opening the fruit, they remove the beans and put it through a fermenting process which takes roughly 7 to 14 days. 

 Chocolate after the all the hard work is completed & delicious!! I'll need some of this in the states - it's said to make you "happy" but I'd like to picture the Robertson's saying "Happy, Happy, Happy!"

We then repeated this hike and had a lecture on Sustainable Business & Ecotourism! Tirimbina is classified as a 4 leaf business in CST (Certification of Sustainable Tourism). 4 leaf is similar to the U.S.'s 4 stars thus representing how much the business meets their standards of sustainable business practices. The trip back to the hotel was a little rough with most people getting sick! If the driving st home freaks you out .... You haven't seen anything yet! We played "chicken" twice today!

Loving the place & the people I'm with! 

Can't Escape the Rain

After a long flight & much turbulence we made it to San Jose - only to have brought the rain with us!!! May is the beginning of Costa Rica's rainy season and yet it is still a beautiful place. Our hotel, the Tryp Sabana, is one of the top hotels in the city. From our room we can see the "old" airport. The airport was once located in the heart of San Jose (now located about 20 min out of town).

After arriving we were able to walk around town and view some of the many interesting Culture differences - such as the manner in which they walk across the streets (run- as fast as possible), the Spanish architectural buildings, and the pride they have in their city. Costa Rican flags are located all over town in honor of their independence from Spain which is celebrated every September. 

Tomorrow will bring yet another early morning with breakfast at 6 & leaving for the white water rafting @ 7 only to be followed by a tour of the chocolate factory! 

Ready to see what tomorrow has in store!! :)