I have been in Costa Rica for a little over two weeks at this point. I am staying with a wonderful host family just outside of the busy center of San Jose. Here, we are taking a Liberation Theology class, meeting with many speakers, presenters & people of religious, ecological, governmental and other organizations. You will learn more about these experiences in a later blog post. To see some "touristy" pictures & to learn more about Costa Rica, check out the tab for Costa Rica!
So, as part of our experience in Costa Rica we stayed with another host family Longo Mai, a community in southern Costa Rica, to explore how immigration, Liberation Theology & permaculture has influenced & continues to influence their lives.
History & Current Situation of Longo Mai
Long Mai was a community that started in Europe as an alternative lifestyle that promoted self-sustaining, country side living. These, now 11, cooperatives began in the 1960s to promote & build a better life for the children of persecution after the Holocaust. After many years, the idea of the cooperative was recreated in Costa Rica. Longo Mai, Costa Rica quickly became the home of many refugees or immigrants from Nicaragua and El Salvador during their times of political unrest. Although many of the Nicaraguans have moved back to Nicaragua, many of the El Salvadorans have stayed.
During the 80's, El Salvador was facing a Civil War between the military-led government & the left-wing guerrilla groups. The UN was helping Salvadorans flee the country & find refuge in Canada & other Central American countries. A catholic priest led a group of people to Long Mai. Another friend from my group & I stayed with a family from El Salvador (picture here). The parents had moved to Longo Mai when they were young children & now consider themselves, along with their daughter, to be Costa Rican. |
El Campo & El Bosque (the field & the forest)
When the Salvadorans arrived there was only yucas, plantains & bananas growing on the land. The families were given some land & were able to choose what they wanted to grow. Now they grow many different crops like, sugar cane, coffee, cocoa, rambutans, limas (different color/flavors of limes), oranges (also different colors/flavors) & other fruits/vegetables.
Permaculture: "is a system of agricultural and social design principles centered around simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems"
Or simply put, "going with the flow." Long Mai uses this approach by utilizing the land to grow many different types of plants/trees that produce fruits/vegetables or allow insects/animals to utilize also.
Or simply put, "going with the flow." Long Mai uses this approach by utilizing the land to grow many different types of plants/trees that produce fruits/vegetables or allow insects/animals to utilize also.
Makin' Chocolate
We learned about the process of homemade chocolate. This chocolate is different than the processed chocolate that we buy in this stores. It is more of baking/hot drink kind of chocolate, still very tasty!
Click/hover on the images to view the process!
UPDATE on MY TRAVELS: Our stay in Costa Rica is rather short. This weekend we are spending a few days with another community (La Carpio) before we move back into La Universidad Biblica Latinamericano where we will finish our class next week. After that we have a fall break, yay! I will be splitting my time between Caribbean beaches of Costa Rica & Panama.