Mi Pura Vida: New Memories!

Hey guys!

Today was certainly a day to remember!

In the morning Kilian and I met up with Lina and Paula for breakfast. I introduced Kilian and we all got along really well. Shortly after that, Kilian and I went to Cecilia's office for a quick rundown on the rules, the same rundown I got when I first arrived. Cecilia wasn't there so her assistant, a kind man whose name I've forgotten, gave us the speech. I was there to make sure Kilian understood the rules and found out what week he had to clean the bathrooms, which shower he needed to use, etc. The meeting went well and I can say that I understood all of it. There were a few parts that Kilian needed clarification on, but other than that he did really well (much better than I originally did).

After getting Kilian's appointment sorted out we went looking for Sofia since she had a meeting with Kilian after Cecilia's. We went to Sofia's office and saw that it was closed we realized that we were supposed to meet Sofia in the same building Cecilia's office is. So we basically went a quarter of the way across campus only to realize that we needed to go back. Once we got back to Cecilia's building, her assistant explained to us that Sofia wouldn't be able to meet with Kilian at 1, but Arnoldo (aka Pops) would be able to meet him at Aromas coffee shop which is under the library. So we went to the library, Kilian sat and waited for Arnoldo, and I headed off for a meeting with Profe Moro.

That meeting was really interesting and had a lot of information in it, so I'm going to dedicate tomorrow's post to our discussions.

Once I finished my meeting I went back to Aromas to see how Kilian and Arnoldo were doing. They were just finishing their conversation when I showed up and we started talking about yesterday's historic win, the beach, and other things. Arnoldo was going to bring Kilian to the organic farm, la finca organica, which is also known as the FIO. Since I didn't see it yet, I tagged along with them.

This farm is amazing. It's really far up campus, about a mile or more away from the library. Arnoldo explained to me that there was a bus that picked students up and drove them to the farm so they wouldn't have to walk the whole way. Once we pulled into the camp we went to Arnoldo's office. He's the manager of the farm which is pretty cool considering that he's only 33 (but that's a lot older than us so Marianna started calling him Pops). He explained to us that the 2 buildings next to his office were houses where professors and researchers can stay while studying at the farm. Apparently these houses can hold up to 16 people! Once Arnoldo got his boots from his office, he led us across the street to the Cacao area (Note: It's not pronounced Cocoa. It's pronounced Ka-Cow).

Entrance to the farm

A cacao tree

This area was a project that was originally started by a student here at EARTH. Arnoldo explained that years ago there was a shortage of cacao plants due to destructive insects that would eat the plant. Eventually someone bred a cacao tree that was resistant to these bugs, a student at EARTH introduced them to the organic farm, and started this farm. There were also plantain trees in the same area because cacao trees take a while to produce pods and plantain trees mature and produce fruit at a younger age.

Arnoldo (left) and Kilian (right) talking about the cacao farm

Once we walked through the cacao area, we went back across the road and started to look at more of the farm. One part of the farm that I really liked was this area with a duck pond. This area was a big circle with smaller circles within it and a pond in the center. Arnoldo explained to us that this system of farming was a smart way for subsistance farmers to run a farm. The duck pond is an area for farmers to raise ducks for meat or eggs. In the inner ring that was a foot or so from the pond you plant the vegetables that you're going to eat the most, such as rice, beans, corn, and other important crops. This allows the farmer to keep these crops for themselves. The next ring is for cash crops that the farmer plans to sell, such as cacao, pineapples, bananas, plantains, corn, and whatever popular crops sell well in the country. The outer ring is a mixture of crops that the farmer needs to sell and crops that they could use for food. This system is really great because this gives the farmer plenty of option to diversify the crops, make money in a reasonable way, all while maintaining a good food supply for the farmer's family.

Not many people know that pineapples are grown from a bush, not a tree. The more you know!

The gate to the duck pond

Ducky! If you look towards the fence you can see the inner ring

Then we went to my favorite part of the farm. The animal areas! The animal farm that I work on doesn't have chickens. On the FIO there are 450 or so free range chickens that are used for laying eggs (and possibly meat production, but I can't remember). These eggs are used in the cafeteria and are served for breakfast every wednesday morning. Guess what I'm eating tomorrow! When we passed by the chickens they were in their coop. Arnoldo pointed out that they were in their coop because some of the farm workers were cutting down the grass in the area around them. Arnoldo explained that they'd usually be outside, but for the next few hours they'd be in their coop (which was huge I might add) for their own safety.

A shot of the chicken coop

Past that, we saw the pasture and pen area for the horse and cows. The FIO doesn't have as many animals as the animal farm does, so their pasture is very small and their pen area isn't as big as the pens on the animal farm. The most interesting thing about this pen area was that it was made out of wood and the planks had tires on them. I was really confused at first, but then Arnoldo explained that these recycled tires make the area more comfortable for the livestock and that rubbing up against the tires won't hurt them as much as rubbing up against the wood would. He also explained that the pen had been there for about 10, 20 years or so. It was in really good shape! A few paint jobs and the occasional new plank really made it look new. THe pasture however wasn't looking too hot. Arnoldo pointed out some brown spots in the pasture that indicated that there wasn't enough grass for the animals to graze. Recently they have been harvesting sugar cane and other plants to feed to the animals, but Arnoldo and the other workers want the pasture to recover quickly so that the animals are back on their usual diet. Further back on the farm there is an area for pigs. After working on the pig farm this farm was peaceful and didn't smell nearly as bad. It didn't have a smell at all! The pigs were covered in mud and as happy as can be. There were 3 or 4 pregnant sows that we saw who were really close to their due date. They were so quiet and calm. I even pet one!

When you walk out of the pig area there's a big composting area on your way back to the farm. We actually walked past it on the way to the pigs and stopped there on our way back. Here there is a lot of projects dedicated to compost and decomposing microorganisms. This area seemed to be Arnoldo's favorite. He's really passionate about what he does here at EARTH and it really shows when his faces lights up at the word "microorganism". There were 3 big compost boxes that were filled with different plant material. The box on the right has cacao shells in it, the middle has pineapple leaves and whatever else is left of the pineapple plant, and the left has corn leaves and stalks. Arnoldo went through each of these compost boxes with us and explained why each of them were separated, why they should be composted, and other really important information.

The 3 compost bins

Pops talking to us about the Cacao compost

Arnoldo explaining how the tank at the bottom of the box collects any water that flows through it, thus preserving the nutrients that would've been lost through runoff.

The pineapple compost

The compost pile I remember the most is the pineapple one. Arnoldo explained to us that there used to be, and in some places there still is, a problem with pineapple waste. Farmers would take their tractors, bulldoze the dead pineapple plants, and push them into a river. The river water didn't decompose the plants, it actually caused the plants to rot in the water. Rotting is different than decomposing because rotting releases more bad things whereas decomposing releases good nutrients. The rotting pineapple plants would harm the water system and attract flies to nearby livestock farms where they bite cows, lay eggs in the wounds, and ruin the meat. The government eventually stepped in and told farmers that they needed to do something. Some farmers have started to compost the leftover pineapple leaves the same way that they do at the FIO. It was interesting to hear how plant waste could make such a big problem.

In addition to the compost piles there were these big blue barrels filled with microorganisms that were used to break down animal feces, break down dead plants, kill any bad pests, and so much more. These barrels had this strong smelling, fermented liquid that held all the microorganisms in. Arnoldo loved talking about the microorganisms and I completely understand why! They have so many beneficial uses!

Once our tour was done, Arnoldo, Kilian, and I went back to campus for lunch with Marianna, Lina, and Paula.

Fast forward to 8:00 at night. Today was Lina's birthday and Marriana and Paula bought a cake and planned a surprise party! I just found out about it after dinner and Kilian and I were told to distract her. I think our epic ping pong matches that lasted for an hour or so kept her busy while Marianna and Paula got the cake together, told people about it, and put on music. I left our ping pong session early because I was "sick" and tried to see if I could do anything to help set up for the surprise. As we waited for Lina to arrive at 8:30 I started talking to some students that I never met before. I met one guy who was from Lebanon! He told me all about how he might go back to Lebanon for an internship, or go out to California for an internship at a vineyard. When 8:30 came around, Paula and Kilian brought Lina to the party! It was so nice. We sang "Happy Birthday" to her in 3 languages ( Spanish, Lebanese (I think), and a language I didn't recognize at all). The cake was really good, Lina was happy, and I hope she had a great birthday!