Friday September 6th we left Casa San Benito at 8am to visit Volcán Poás! On our way we stopped at a coffee plantation. In front of the coffee plantation there were two bulls attached to a decorated cart, this is considered an important trade mark of Costa Rica. My friend's host brother was contemplating on getting a tattoo of two bulls with decorated cart because it means so much to the Costa Rican people. I think it represents how Costa Rica became more financially stable due to the coffee bean business. It represents the hard work put into their main source of income, coffee.
At the coffee plantation we learned about the coffee beans. The Costa Ricans hand pick their beans making the coffee better quality. In the past, children would pick the beans while on break from school, now many immigrants from Nicaragua come and pick the coffee beans. Diego, our tour guide for the day was explaining to us that coffee beans are ripe when the exterior turns red. If the exterior is green the coffee will be more sour and tart (not as tasty). The beans are also only picked once a year (I'm guessing he meant only during one month of the year, but I am not sure).
After the coffee plantation we headed to the Volcán Poás. Volcán Poás is over a million years old. It is said if you stood a couple of yards away from it, your skin would burn instantly.
After we saw the volcano we took a thirty minute hike to a pool of
water (Lagoon). No one is permitted to swim in it (although people do
when the rangers are not looking.) At the bottom of the pool of water,
there are rocks that can be used as a sort of medicine. Many people dive
to the bottom (of shallower parts) to get the rocks. While hiking the weather changed drastically. It went from freezing cold to burning hot to rainy. I had to be prepared and wear many layers. The hike brought back memories of hiking around Mount Blanc with my mother.
After the hike we headed to a dairy farm that was growing strawberry as well. We got to milk cows and eat freshly made cheese yum! While on the farm we also went into a part of the Cloud Forest (how cool is that?)! I was so amazed at how close everything was. Nature was all around us that day. Our group definitely experienced the typical (tropical) stigma of Costa Rica.
We finally headed back to San Jose. The trip back took us four hours, when it would usually take two. It took so long due to the soccer game with Costa Rica vs. the U.S. On our way home we encountered FIVE automobile accidents which is a lot! The ride back was long, but it let the group bond more which was nice. I arrived back home and ate with my host mom. I gave her my present from Pittsburgh and she loved it! I got to show her where I live and trade marks about Pittsburgh. Mind you this was all in Spanish. My Spanish has improved drastically in the span of four days. Hearing it all the time and needing to use it to communicate with my family forces me to practice (which is just what I need). My host family told me I look like a Tica which was a compliment!
*Here is Costa Rica they call males Ticos and females Ticas. It's just another way of saying males and females, but its signature to Costa Rica
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