Our learning this week consisted of a laundry list of topics including: non-timber and animal forest products, methods of data analysis in ethnobiology, basics in tropical forest ecology, bioprospecting, malaria, tuberculosis, leishmania, lab observation of the three parasites responsible for malaria, TB and leishmania and a discussion on the efficacy of foreign aid on health in developing countries. We also went out and made our own sampling plots for ethnobiology in the garden, collected samples, identified them and will analyze them in the next couple days and got some new and different exposure to Costa Rica's indigenous people.
Tuberculosis = red in a sea of blue. Do you see it?
Collecting plant samples in the garden
We visited an indigenous group on Thursday, the Boruca. This visit was an interesting contrast to the visit we made to the Ngöbe village earlier in the semester. On the whole, the Boruca have adapted very well to life in modern society while still maintaining their cultural identity. They earn their livelihood by selling handcrafts, which they market primarily to tourists. Their trademark products are hand-carved wooden masks. Traditionally, these masks symbolize demons (or diablos) and are used in a three-day ceremony that starts on December 30th, but since they started selling these masks to tourists, they have evolved from their religious symbolism. They are now painted very colorfully and often include quintessential Costa Rican symbols like tree frogs and toucans. They also weave, making purses, table runners, scarves and belts from fibers that they dye themselves with natural plant and animal dyes they collect from their surroundings. They demonstrated natural dying techniques over wood-burning fire and allowed us to dye pieces of our own clothing if we wanted.
I spotted Boruca, the town, from the road. Do you see it?
Some results
Dyed yarn, naturally
The Dying Setup
Boruca Masks, for sale
Though it’s easy to see how the Boruca have adapted to modern society and to subsequently conclude that they’ve sold out and sacrificed their cultural values in order benefit from tourists’ curiosity, there are many aspects of Boruca culture that remain intact. The native language is taught to children in school, the handcraft traditions are passed down generations and ceremonial traditions, like the balie de diablos with the masks persist. It’s also clear that, in general, the Boruca people (and their dogs) are a much healthier community than the Ngöbe community that we’ve observed. This state of community health seems to be due to multiple factors, arising from a healthier diet (more protein, less starch), a viable economic livelihood, and an educational system that sends young Boruca to university. And many of them return to Boruca to serve the community with the skills they gleaned from their education – an indication, I believe, of the strength of their cultural identity despite the pervasion of mainstream culture.
Yesterday, we entertained two Ngöbe visitors. Don Alejandro and Doña Maria are from La Casona, the Ngöbe territory that we visited earlier in the semester. Don Alejandro is a traditional healer in his village and Doña Maria is a midwife. We had the chance to ask them questions about their practices, the cultural ideas behind their practices, and how they relate to conventional medical practices. We also went out to our sampling plots with Don Alejandro and asked him what he knew about the usefulness of the trees we sampled. In the afternoon, Doña Maria opened shop selling from her collection of handcrafts including traditional Ngöbe dresses, then they roasted cacao beans for us.
Roasting Cacao
Traditional Ngöbe Dress: the latest fashion trend in our class
Last night, three of us went out to a small bar in San Vito. It was packed with Ticos and even though there were just three of us, we were most certainly a spectacle. Everyone in San Vito seems to know everyone, so when strangers come into town, it’s painfully obvious. When we arrived, there was really bad karaoke, but thankfully, the music evolved into something a little more dance-friendly which was much more enjoyable. Even though San Vito doesn’t have much to offer in terms of weekend entertainment, by the end of the week it’s almost necessary to go out and get off-station for sanity’s sake. It’s certainly nice having all of our activities in one place during the week, but the lack of variety gets wearisome – especially when there’s not much opportunity to take advantage of the outdoor opportunities available at the station. Sadly, I have not been down to the river or on any of the hiking trails at Las Cruces since we arrived almost two weeks ago, and unless I find some time today, I probably won’t before we leave on Wednesday. Goes to show just how much of our time here is already spoken for when we can’t even get out on the trails that are right in front of our noses.
Looking ahead to this coming week, we’ve got several assignments due, including our final research proposals and our analyses for our ethnobiology sample plots. Our research group will also be going out to a Finca Sana on Tuesday evening to observe the data collection for the survey we’re going to help analyze. On Wednesday, we’re leaving Las Cruces for San Jose to spend the night before heading to Nicaragua for a few days at 4 am on Thursday morning. Following a few days in Nicaragua, we’ll be traveling to OTS’ field station in Palo Verde National Park in Guanacaste. We spend another handful of days in Palo Verde where we’ll take our midterms (yes, midterms) before they let us loose on fall break on October 11. The next two weeks will be busy, and will go by fast for sure. It should be interesting, and I’ll do my best to post accounts of our adventures in these places.
And here I am, sitting at the top of the waterfall where we ate lunch in Boruca. Just as evidence that yes, I am in Costa Rica and no, I'm not always behind the camera!
:) I Love reading about your adventures! :) Wishing you the best! Miss you!
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