Doka Coffee Plantation

Friday, August 3, 2012

After leaving Volcan Poas, there were only 3 of us continuing with an all-day tour: Gary, from Washington D.C., Dona from Germany, and me. 

From the volcano we headed back down the mountain to the Doka Coffee Plantation. Unfortunately, I have no pictures because the camera battery went dead after I took the picture of Botos Lagoon. Gary, however, is returning to Washington D.C. tomorrow and said he would email me the pictures he took of the rest of the day. It will probably take a couple of weeks for him to sort through his pictures and send them to me, so for now, I'll try to give a visual description of the plantation. I'll upload the pictures when I get them.

You're probably wondering why I went to a coffee plantation. Well, that's a valid question. The choice was a 1/2 day tour to Volcan Poas or an all-day tour to the volcano, coffee plantation, and the towns of Grecia and Sarchi. Since my excursion was free and I wanted to see something outside of San Jose, I chose the all-day tour. Back to my story -

We turned off the main road leading down the mountain onto a narrow road, that seemed to go on forever and get narrower until it eventually became a dirt road. We passed lots of coffee fields, run-down shacks and then eventually came to a beautiful plantation that consisted of 12,000 acres of coffee, a processing plant, and a restaurant. As we entered the area, a large sign read: Doka Coffee Plantation, Home of the Best Coffee in the World. The flowers and trees lining the road were absolutely beautiful. We saw the largest hydrangea flowers I've ever seen, and bird of paradise everywhere. There were orange trees with ripe fruit, lemon trees with fruit, a mango tree, and banana trees mixed in with the coffee plants to keep the wind from damaging the flowers.
And rows and rows of arabica coffee:


Pictures from:  http://www.bijlmakers.com/fruits/coffee.htm

Ripe and ready to pick.

Doka Coffee Facts
Doka was the first coffee plantation in Costa Rica. It was started in 1949 and is owned by the Vargas family. Coffee plants live and produce up to 80 years. The best coffee is between 3 and 5 years. The Doka Plantation cuts down its coffee bushes when they are 20 years old. Harvesting occurs from November through January each year.They farm 12,000 acres and 70% of their coffee is sold to Starbucks. Starbucks pays $50 for each 50 kilo bag.

We toured a small portion of the field and then learned about how the coffee is processed. First, it is washed, then sorted, then fermented for a couple of days. Next, it is placed in the sun for 5 days to dry out. Then it is roasted and bagged. I learned that the amount of time spent roasting the coffee is what determines the flavor. For example, French roast takes less time in the roaster than an Italian roast.

Samples were given. I heard they were good, but I don't know since I don't drink coffee.

After the tour we ate a complimentary lunch in their open air restaurant. A lovely breeze was blowing while we ate a traditional Costa Rican casado: chicken stir fried with onions and peppers, various mixed salads made of native vegetables, fried plaintains, fresh pineapple juice, and yes! You guessed it: black beans and rice!  Afterwards, we had cajeta, a cake made of coconut, molasses and vanilla.

Today was the first day in all the time I've been in Costa Rica that I actually felt like I was on vacation. It was a lovely interlude from the hustle and bustle of San Jose's traffic jams, my daily classes, the graffitti, and the dirty streets.

Tomorrow I am going to Monteverde Cloud Forest to see the wildlife preserves, the forest and butterfly farm.

Volcan Poas

Friday, August 3, 2012

I went with a tour group to see the Poas Volcano today. Since San Jose sits in a valley completely surrounded by mountains, we had to work our way out of the valley up to the volcano. What a beautiful drive!  Looking back over San Jose was a spectacular view! The weather was nice, only partly cloudy with plenty of sunshine.

View of San Jose

We passed one coffee plantation after another with fields of flowers and ferns interspersed.

A coffee plantation

Fern Farm (ferns are covered to protect them from the cold night air)

 When we arrived at the Volcan Poas National Park, the sun was shining. It was breezy and cool, but very refreshing. We walked along a path for about 10 minutes or so until we came to a wooden barrier marking the end of the path and the start of the crater. All we could see were clouds. We were so disappointed, but decided to take pictures of the fence and clouds just to show we were there:

Nothing but clouds...

 Al of a sudden I thought I saw something through the camera lens:

Wait a minute! I think I see something!

The wind was blowing and as the clouds were quickly blown away, the crater came into view:

  

Literally, in a matter of just a couple of minutes, the view went from total washout to crystal clear:

The crater is filled with mud, water, and sulfuric gas. It bubbles and churns and occasionally sends up a geyser.

Facts about Volcan Poas

The main crater shown in the pictures above is at 8,500' altitude. This crater is one of the largest in the world. The biggest eruption occurred in 1910. The last eruption with lava was in 1954. The volcano is carefully monitored. The park was briefly closed in 1989 and off and on in 1995 for minor eruptions of ash.

There are two other craters, but we only had time to view one of them: the Botos Lagoon. I thought I was going to die hiking up a hill to get to the lookout. I think they said the path was 100 meters long. I don't know if it was the altitude or something else I don't want to admit, but it was a rough hike for me. I had to stop several times to catch my breath. The view, however, was worth the hike:

Botos Lagoon. Very peaceful, filled with clear blue water.

We saw several squirrels along the way and some lovely blue hummingbirds. The squirrels look very different than what we see in the northwest. The hummingbirds were too quick to catch in a foto:

Can you see the squirrel? He's just about right in the middle on a small log.

A few follow ups

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Two members of my class made the romeria (walk) to Cartago last night. They left at 7:30 p.m. and arrived at the Basilica at 1:00 a.m. It was a madhouse getting back as everyone fought for a place on a bus so they didn't have to walk the 16 miles back. They didn't get out of there until 4:00 a.m. and were a little bleary-eyed when they dragged into class this morning. They said it was interesting and worth the experience.

Apparently, the President of the country, Laura Chinchilla (yes, that's really her name, just like the animal) also made the hike and pictures of her making religious were all over the news today. The mama in our house, Mayra, is not a big fan of the president and was grumbling everytime it was on TV. She is normally a very gentle woman, but doesn't care for the president's politics.

President Chinchilla walking to Cartago.
http://noticias.kolbi.msn.com/la-presidenta-visit%c3%b3-a-la-negrita-en-la-bas%c3%adlica-de-los-%c3%a1ngeles

Pauline, the French student in our house, is leaving tomorrow morning for a two week volunteer project at a beach on the Pacific Ocean. She will not return until the 19th; Kesa and I leave on the 18th, so we said our goodbyes tonight and took pictures:

(L) Pauline Kibler
(R) Kesa Ford

Kesa's last day of classes was today. She starts a 2 week volunteer stint tomorrow at a children's soup kitchen in the mornings and at an orphanage in the afternoon.She will stay local and stay at the house here. However, I will now be on my own at school as far as bus rides and lunch, but I've had 2 weeks to get the routine down and should be just fine.

As part of my tuition, I am entitled to one excursion, which I have decided to take tomorrow. I am leaving at 7:20 tomorrow morning by bus to see the Volcan Poas (Poas Volcano). I've been told it is about an hour and a half from here. I am excited to see it and hope the weather (clouds) will cooperate so I can actually see the steaming, bubbling crater. Along the way back, we will stop at a coffee plantation and a few small towns. I am supposed to be back by 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night. Hopefully, I will have some good pictures to share, and I'm sure the bus ride itself will be an experience to write about!

Computers and Other Electronics

Thursday, August 2, 2012

The days are beginning to settle into some routine so not too many surprises at this point. However, I still notice the everyday differences and it is sometimes amusing trying to figure out how to use things.

For example, computers. I've used several different computers while here: the computer in the home where I stay and several at school. Each keyboard is different. They have the basic layout of the letters, but the extra stuff, the symbols, are located in different places. Take for example, the @ sign. It is located on the same key as the number 2, right? Well, not here. I've found it in several different places, depending on whose computer I am using. I have to press a key that says, "Alt Gr" while simultaneously pressing the key with the @ sign on it. I've noticed that the dash (-) and underline ( _ ) keys are not in their usual spots. And there are some extra keys and symbols I've never seen before. It takes me a little longer than usual to type things. I'm either looking for a key or trying not to hit a key that has the wrong letter, number, or symbol on it.

And of course, the home page is in Spanish. I am learning a lot of computer-related words in Spanish. La computadora (computer); el raton (mouse, the small furry kind as well); el virus (virus); and el internet (internet).  The @ sign is called the arroba.  Does it have a proper name in English? I've always just called it the "at" sign. For those of you who use Google for your searches, you may have noticed there is a button that says "Search" and another that says "I'm feeling lucky." In Spanish it is buscar and Me siento con suerte.

When I use the computers at school, it is always a surprise to see what language is going to pop up on the homepage. It's never in English, though. I'm getting pretty good at navigating around in French and German.
The electrical outlets are also different. The good news is they are the same as the U.S.: 110v. The bad news is there are hardly any that accept the three prong electrical cords that are used, for example, on computers.  Everything is just the old-fashioned two prong variety. I bought a fancy $20 converter before leaving the U.S. It will convert to whatever system is in use in any part of the world. Nice, but I just needed the little plastic part (that looks like it should cost about $3) for Costa Rica. There are not a lot of outlets here, either. None in the bathroom. And one of the outlets in the bedroom does not work.

My cell phone from the U.S. couldn't find a signal here, so I had to buy an inexpensive pre-paid variety so I wouldn't be walking around the city without a way to call for help should I get lost. It's all in Spanish, which is ok. Most of the words I know, but I still can't figure out how to check voice messages. Text messages yes; voice messages no. Today, I had 3 missed calls and a notice that there was a voice message. I know how to retrieve text messages, but neither Kesa nor I could figure out how to get to the voice mail system. Finally, Marcia came to the rescue, told me the number to access voice mail, and helped me set up my voice mail password. Turns out the phone system was down and I couldn't check the messages.

Fortunately, the toilets are not electronic and function the same as they do in the U.S.!

Making Chorreadas

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

The cooking class takes place every Wednesday afternoon at 3:00. Today we made chorreadas. I like the class because it is conducted entirely in Spanish, gives me an opportunity to learn cooking terms in Spanish and a chance to try some new foods.

Los ingredientes:
8 elotes (corn on the cob)
2/3 de taza leche (milk)
6 cdas. deharina (flour)
6 cdas. azucar (sugar)
2 huevos (eggs)
1/8 de cta. de sal (salt)

The first thing you have to do is desgranar the elotes:

Next, you put the remaining ingredients in the liquiadora and blend it until it is about the consistency of pancake batter:

Melt a little butter or margarine in the sartén, add the batter, and freír as you would pancakes:

Serve with natilla (very light sour cream with the consistency of yogurt) and enjoy*:

*Digestive caution: according to the teacher, these can be heavy on the stomach and require frequent trips to the bathroom, if too many are eaten. They eat them in the afternoon; NEVER for breakfast.

Culinary Critique
These were not my favorite. I can eat them, but would probably not make them for myself. They had the strong taste of corn and of course, bits of corn in each bite. If you like pancakes, which I don't, and you can imagine them with a strong flavor of fresh corn, you would probably like these.

La Virgen de Los Angeles

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Tomorrow is the religious celebration of La Virgen de los Angeles (the Virgen of the Angels is the rough translation), a very important Catholic holiday in Costa Rica. La Virgen de los Angeles was ordained the patron saint of Costa Rica and protector of the Americas by Pope John Paul II.
Every August 2nd the faithful walk from all parts of the country to the city of Cartago. It is about 16 miles from San Jose to the Basilica in Cartago. The pilgrimage begins as early as July 25th, depending on how far one has to walk. About 2,500,000 people make their way to the Basilica during this time period.

Today we had to make sure we were on our bus home before 5:00 as the main road coming out of San Jose (and our bus route) will be closed for the pilgrims at that time. We were on the bus by 4:30 and there were already masses of people making the romeria, as it is called. In fact, the school had organized a group that would leave at 6:30. They said it would take about 5 hours. I decided not to take that walk!



Pilgrims making their way to Cartago today.

History of the Holiday
The story goes that on the morning of August 2, 1635 a mullato woman was collecting firewood in a forest near her home. She came across a small dark figurine in rock, almost like a doll. It was the image of the Virgen with a small boy in her arms. She took the figurine to her home and put it in a special box to protect it. The next day she found the same figurine in the woods again and took it home, thinking she would have 2 figurines. However, when she opened the box, the figurine from the day before was gone! This time she placed the figure in the box and locked it. The following day she once again found the figurine in the woods and took it to her home only to see the box was again empty.

She quickly ran to the local priest in Cartago and told him the story. He put it in a very strong, safe box, but the next day he, too, found an empty box, went to the woods and once again, found the figurine there.

They decided that la virgen wanted to have her house in the woods and they constructed a small church in her name. Over the years the church has been destroyed numerous times by earthquakes, rebuilt, only to be destroyed again. Finally in 1930 the Basilica de los Angeles was constructed using the latest technology available to protect it from earthquakes.

Basilica de los Angeles in Cartago, Costa Rica

For the past 229 years or so, on August 2 each year, many of the faithful have made the pilgrimage to the church in Cartago that was built to La Negrita (the black woman), as she is known because of the dark color of the figurine. They ask for help with their problems and cures for their illnesses.

La Negrita: La Virgen de los Angeles

Archeologists have discovered that the image is made of graphite, jade and volcanic rock. It is almost impossible to unite these 3 types of rock. Additionally, graphite was not found in Costa Rica at that time, only in Europe. And, jade and volcanic rock were not found in Europe. http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgen_de_los_%C3%81ngeles

Whether you believe or not, you have to admit, it's an interesting story!

The San Pedro Mall

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

With a couple of hours to kill this afternoon while waiting for the conversation class to begin at 4:00, I decided to walk to the mall and look around. I went to my favorite ice cream parlor, Pops. It is conveniently located just inside the entrance I use to go in the mall. I say it's my favorite, but in reality, this was only my second visit, but I have enjoyed both trips. So compared to the other ice cream shops in the mall, which I haven't tried, this one is my favorite! Rather than have a cono today, I asked for a copa sencillo (1 scoop in a cup) of chocolate. As always it was delicious. It cost 1.350 colones.

Front entrance to the San Pedro Mall

After eating the ice cream, I decided to check out the 1st floor, which I haven't yet experienced. There are many cell phone dealers, clothing shops, and so forth. I was surprised to encounter an adult store behind the children's toy store! I guess that could be convenient if you are pre-disposed to buying both children's and adult's toys.

At the mall you can find many of the brands you find in the U.S., whether it is cologne, sports gear, or some of the clothing labels. Rather than one food court, there are fast food restaurants on the second and third floors, and other smaller snack kiosks scattered on all 3 floors. There are several banks inside the mall as well as a bookstore, a dentist and doctor's clinic. The movie theater is on the 3rd floor. Epoca Hielo 4 (Ice Age 4), El Hombre Cabellero Oscuro (Batman: The Dark Knight Rises), and Hombre Arana (The Amazing Spiderman) are currently playing. Sometimes you can catch them with English subtitles.

I've been in the mall probably 5 times now and it is always crowded. On the other hand, everytime I go it is during the lunch hour. With all the businesses around, there are probably a lot of people there for lunch.

View inside the mall of all 3 levels of the mall. There are about 4 more floors above the mall. I think they are various offices.

Another view of the mall.

Quiznos, McDonalds and Burger King. Wendy's and Popeye's Chicken are to the left of Quiznos. KFC is across from Quiznos.