Donald works for the government to promote and teach Ticos how to create sustainable farming. Occassionally he goes out into the communities and lectures in workshops. Today he is taking Megan and me with him to one of these workshops to help teach the participants about composting. We ate at quick breakfast of piña (pineapple) and papaya before jumping in the car and heading out. Today's worshop is located near Buenos Airies which is a 2.5 hour drive from the farm. (and only an hour from the Panama border.)
The sun was shining and we enjoyed seeing the lush countryside. We also got to see hundreds of piñas growing. Apparently pineapple is the third largest agricultural product produced here after coffee and sugar cane and we drove passed many of Del Monte's fields and plants. We also got to see a waterfall and a few rivers that were very brown due to the soil erosion in the country. The last 30 minutes or so of the trip was off road and pretty bumpy but we arrived at the school, escuela, where the workshop was being held. Waiting for us when we arrived were Donald's coworkers, several teachers, some parents, and a few members of the community. In all there were about 40 people there to learn how to make compost to create soil they can use for planting fruits and vegetables. The most important person there, for Megan and me, was Katherine the English speaking teacher from the school.
After grabbing another quick bite to eat, a frijole empanada, we headed out to the school's greenhouse to get started. The participants had already been given a list of the items that were being used to build the compost pile. 13 sacks of dirt, leaves, maneure, sugar cane, fiber and a couple bottles of molasses were then layered in a proper order and lots of water with instructions given why by Donald for each layer. Katherine did an outstanding job translating what was going on for us. After about an hour and a half later the layers were complete and the pile covered for the next 15 days before the next step. The entire process may take up to 24 days but the end result will be about 40-45 sacks of potting soil. Since I'll still be working on the farm for the next step I'll get to come back.
After the pile was complete all the participants had lunch, some type of rice dish, before heading into the classroom for a presentation. Katherine continued to translate for us; however, this part of the day wasn't holding my attention quite as much as building the pile. The heat, the food, and the spanish combined just made me want to take a siesta. Since about half the participants were teachers they had tons of questions. Donald was very pleased with all the participation and involvement from the community. Although we couldn't understand him it was apparent he loves his job and helping teach others to farm. It was also great for the teachers and community to participate. The teachers willpass this on to the kids so that they can learn to recycle and grow their own food.
When the Q&A finished we had another snack provided by the school. li dont remember the name of the snack but literally translated it was a 'dry pancake.' after we were done and Donald finished his socializing we were back in the car about 2pm for the long drive home. We hadn't even made it off the dirt road when we stopped to pick up a man, women, and little girl - maybe 4 years old. They'd been working all day and were walking home. The mom and daughter sat in the backseat while the man crammed in the back of the little suv. Donald continued along the road until he came upon a little market where he abruptly jumped out and started talking to the people. Megan and I just looked at each other. Several minutes later he called us out of the car to look at some of the papayas and gave us a baggie of juice. Megan and I drank our juice in between fits of laughter over the scene. "Let's pick up some people and then stop for while and leave them crammed in the car!" We definitely weren't in the States any more. After about 15 mins or so it started raining and we said our goodbyes and piled back into the truck. We drove for quite some time and even made it back on to the asphalt before dropping off the picked up family. I was amazed at the distance the family was walking. It would have taken them over 2 hours to get there by foot.
We made it back to the Super Weber where Donald dropped us off for 1/2 hour. He needed to take his work car back into San Isidro. Outside the market was a man we spent the time talking to. His name was James Weber and we later learned his son owns the store. He was very interesting to talk to although I've never heard anyone talk so softly. Donald had said he didn't like speaking English but we didn't have any problem getting him to talk. James was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and came to Costa Rica 63 years ago. He stopped in this area because this is where the road ended. He bought property and raised his family here. He still has the truck he drove down here with all those years ago. It's parked behind the Super Weber. He was telling us about his family when Donald returned and we had to go but we enjoyed the conversations.
Once we got home we helped with dinner making Patacones to go with our Sopa Aztec and stuffed ourselves yet again. It was a good day!
