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!