Sunday, December 25, 2011

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Tonight's picture was taken around Christmas of 2006. We took Mattie to Boston to celebrate Christmas with Peter's family. One of the toys Mattie got that year from his grandparents was featured in the picture. Basically the toy allowed Mattie to build a robot of his own creation. If he put the parts together correctly this structure would actually move by a remote controlled battery powered device. Mattie loved it and created all sorts of robots that December! Mattie was all about creativity, but he also had an analytical side to him because he actually understood how to assemble structures and objects so that they were sound and operational. Which was why I nicknamed him early on as "my little engineer."

Quote of the day: And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. ~ Nelson Mandela

Peter and I hope that our blog readers, who celebrate Christmas, had a very happy and memorable day with your families and friends. However, we are also well aware of the fact that Christmas is a challenging time of year for all of our readers who have lost a family member (regardless of the amount of time that has passed by or where you are in the healing process). I know that despite being away from our everyday reality, our reality follows us EVERY where we go. I woke up in a bad mood this morning and missed the presence of Mattie in our lives. The ship is celebrating Christmas in many wonderful ways for the children aboard. Santa visited this afternoon and literally there were craft tables set up throughout the ship’s floors, along with designing your own sugar cookies and ice cream. Mattie would have loved all these hands on activities.

When the Ship docked in Costa Rica, I was greeted with amazing bird traffic right outside our window. There were Frigate birds, pelicans, seagulls, and buzzards. This is the first port we have entered on this trip which provided me with this wonderful sight.

Christopher Columbus landed near Limon, Costa Rica in 1502 but the town was officially founded in 1854. Costa Rica is the third smallest geographic land mass in Central America (with El Salvador and Belize being first and second). Limon is TROPICAL and is normally hot year round with temperatures in the 80s and 90s. However, you should note that it rains everyday in Costa Rica, which makes sense since it hosts an amazing and lush rain forest. Two thirds of Costa Rica’s specifies live in the canopy of the rainforest.

We went on a tour today that involved boarding the banana plantation railway. Our tour guide’s name was Percy and our bus driver was Gabriel. Percy was bright, humorous, and engaging and made our tour time fascinating and it passed by very quickly. In fact, Percy also introduced us to several Costa Rican expressions, the first one being Pura Vida! Pura Vida means pure life. Basically he told us that Pura Vida is a response you can give to someone to answer just about any question. For example, if someone asks you how you are.….. you can respond back with pura vida. If someone asks you how was breakfast or your day….. you can answer back with pura vida too. However, it is your facial expression and how you deliver these two words that will indicate to your recipient if you answer is positive or negative. Obviously if you deliver it with a smile and happiness in your tone, it is clear, that your pura vida is positive in meaning.

Some fun facts about Costa Rica are: 1) it has 50 different species of hummingbirds, 2) it has four different types of monkeys, 3) it is the 3rd largest banana producer in the world (Ecuador being the first), 4) it is the 70th largest coffee producer in quantity, but one of the first in quality!!!, and 5) 25% of the territory is dedicated to the national park system or biological, marine, and land reserves.

As you can see, Costa Rica is a very lush, green, and mountainous Country. Around 160 miles of coast line are on the Caribbean Sea and 1100 miles of the Country’s coastline are on the Pacific Ocean.

While we were in Costa Rica, it was gray and overcast, and rained multiple times while on tour. In fact, the Country receives 200 inches of rain fall in a given year! Percy showed us what a typical cemetery looked like, all the graves are above ground. This is a law, because with the given amount of rain fall, underground burials are not possible.

Percy showed us what coffee beans growing on a tree looked like. He brought the tree to us, because in Costa Rica coffee grows 2000 miles or higher above sea level. This altitude provides the right conditions for optimal growing of Arabica coffee (the type of coffee prepared in many Arab countries). Brazil and Colombia are the first and second largest coffee producing countries in the world. Though Costa Rica can’t compete in quantity it makes up for this in quality. It takes four years for a coffee bush to mature, and only then can beans be picked (when they are red).

At one point during our tour, Gabriel stopped the bus and walked outside in the bushes and minutes later came back with a red frog in a glass. This frog was a poisonous dart frog. NONE of us on the bus were allowed to touch the frog, because if the “sweat” from the frog gets into your pores or in any cuts on one’s hand, it is fatal. Why Gabriel was magically able to touch this frog was beyond me!

Gabriel also retrieved for us a “banana butt.” It is the purple pod like thing that hangs beneath a bunch of bananas. Notice however that around each bunch of bananas is a blue plastic bag. This bag serves multiple purposes. For example, the bag provides heat inside of it to accelerate the growth and ripening of the bananas. However, the bag is a deterrent to animals, especially monkeys. Why? Because NOTHING editable in Costa Rica is BLUE. Therefore, animals know to stay away from blue. It is almost like a repellant. Percy said that even bugs stay away from people wearing blue, rather than orange and reds.

When you peel away the outer layers of the banana butt, you can see these yellowish flowers. It is from these flowers that bananas grow. A banana butt can produce hundreds of bananas, and they develop and ripen in layers. If you continue to peel away the layers of the “butt” you will find more and more layers of flowers. The yellow flowers that you see here are the female portion of the “butt.” The male flowers are within the “banana butt” and help provide nutrients to the female flowers. But it is ONLY the female flowers that produce the banana fruit.

We went on a two hour train ride today through an amazing, lush, and tropical banana plantation. This train was built by an American from Chicago named Minor Keith. Mr. Keith NEVER received a dime from the Costa Rican government for his work, but in lieu of payment he asked for land. What land did he request? The land on either side of the train tracks!!! One smart man!!! With that land he planted banana trees and then asked the Costa Rican government to allow him to transport his bananas to port using the train. Needless to say this man became very wealthy and developed the Dole, Del Monte, and Chiquita companies! Keith hired thousands of former Jamaican slaves using working contracts, who arrived in 1871 to build the railroad which links Limon with the coffee plantations of the Country’s Central Valley for European export. Though the railroad was built for coffee transportation, Keith used it for banana exporting and made his fortune.

I do want to impress upon you that many people live along the railroad tracks. In fact many of the houses sit right in the mud and dirt, have no running water or electricity, and frankly I am not sure how these people survive and thrive given their surroundings. Remember it is always raining, there is no sewerage and
standing water is everywhere.

Bananas in a bunch are very heavy, specifically over hundred pounds when ready to be picked. So to prevent the plant from falling over or from limbs breaking, the trees are supported with this rope like system.

Peter captured what our train looked like while we were crossing over one of the many canals. The train was open air and it was like being transported through a sauna. I loved it, but I realize I am in the minority.

While on the train, we had the opportunity to see some fascinating sights. Actually we HEARD this sight before seeing it. It was a sound I have NEVER heard in my life. It actually seemed more like a person making Halloween spooky sounds than an animal. But today I got to hear the shrieks of howler monkeys. They can be heard up to 3 miles away. These monkeys are matriarchal and the females are even louder than the males. They like to hang out on fig palms and they were very vocal while we stopped and took pictures of them. In fact, Percy told us that these monkeys can be spiteful and fling poop at tourists at times. Luckily we missed this potential happening/hazard.

These monkeys are black and brown, have long and slender fingers, and tails that curl around trees in amazing ways.

We were also introduced today to the two toed sloth. This gal blends in beautifully with the tree. I learned that two toed sloths are nocturnal, unlike the three toed sloth which is up and about during the day! The sloth is a mammal and related to the anteater of all things. At around age 7 (they live up to 40 years), sloths are mature and begin having children. A female gives off pheromones to attract a male. However, after the act, she dismisses the male and carries the baby for 8 months independently. In fact, she gives birth to the baby while hanging from a tree. She holds the tree limb with one arm and uses the other to catch the baby she is birthing and then eats her own placenta. Beautiful no?! She raises the baby for over a year and then teaches it how to fend for itself and eat, and then the child and parent separate for life and the mother then releases pheromones and begins the cycle once again. She repeats this cycle for the remainder of her life. So much for my notion that sloths were slow and lived a sedentary life!

Costa Rica is very lush, beautiful, and its natural beauty captures your mind and heart. There is something very special about visiting a rain forest and it is definitely something one should try to do at some point in one’s life. While in a rainforest you realize that there are forces at play that are much bigger and more powerful than our man made worlds, items, and priorities.

At the end of the tour, Percy introduced us all to Banannitos. Or in other words, lady finger bananas. They are real cuties and taste just like a regular banana, though they are the size of one’s ring finger.

As we set sail tonight, the birds of Costa Rica were singing and giving us a bon voyage. I can’t remember the last time I heard SO much bird traffic. It was wonderful. We will be at sea all day tomorrow as we head for Jamaica on Tuesday.

WE WISH YOU…… PURA VIDA!