It doesn’t feel like I’ve been in Costa Rica for almost two weeks already. If someone asked me how long I felt it’s been, I would say around 5 days and not 13. My attitude about the wildlife shows my experience here, though. During the first week, I would stop and stare at almost anything that moved because I had never seen it before, and while I still appreciate them, I rarely stop to look at animals for very long now. The people I have met are more interesting to me, and I have learned a lot about sustainability in Costa Rica from them.
The tour guide at the banana plantation was one of the people who affected me the most. I had a small understanding that the mass production of one crop had negative effects on the environment, but the classes I have taken in the past focused more on meat production than plants, so my knowledge didn’t go past “pesticides and monocultures are bad for some reason.” Seeing someone so passionate and knowledgeable about the crops they were growing and the history behind them was inspiring because it made me realize how disconnected from the world large plantations are. I doubt the people who run the large plantations don’t care half as much about what they are growing, especially the workers out in the fields who can’t care because they need the work. I have found myself judging the Costa Rican government for not doing more to punish large plantations for what they do to the environment and their workers, but hearing about how Nicaraguans have to come work at pineapple plantations because they are not able to find work reminded me that those plantations are unfortunately necessary for so many people. The more sustainable plantations we visited were great, but it is depressing to think about how they are not able to provide the same economic benefits right now. Hopefully more and more small sustainable farms are created to provide more jobs, and the hold large plantations have on the Costa Rican economy will go away.
The story about turtle hunting in Tortuguero makes me think it is possible for the economy to change. I never would have guessed that hundreds of turtles were killed every night there only a couple of decades ago or that their economy relied on it. It showed me that things can change, but tourism-based economies still stress me out because if I were another country, I wouldn’t trust anything that involves rich Americans that much.
Hearing about the struggles of running plantations without chemicals also encouraged me to make more changes in my personal life. I often considered buying more organic and local produce at home but never fully went through with it because I was worried about the cost and ease of shopping from large grocery stores that aren’t affected by the seasons. It will be easier to shop more sustainably now because I can compare my small sacrifices with the sacrifices the plantations make. I can’t even imagine the amount of planning it takes to run a farm with multiple crops in different stages of growth, bees, and a tourism aspect, and I respect them for not being discouraged while being surrounded by large plantations that produce more than they could. The pineapple farm even uses garlic and chili instead of pesticides. The plantations are still successful despite these less effective methods, and farming is much harder than going grocery shopping. It is nice to have time at hotels in Costa Rica where the food is provided so I can avoid the responsibility for a little bit and plan it out in my head better.
The people I met in the hotel at Tortuguero also taught me about sustainability here, but more about people’s attitudes towards it as opposed to agriculture. I talked to two other American tourists from the hotel, and they were both older and were in Tortuguero for vacation, but they were both really interested in our class and the environment when I talked about it. I didn’t think they would care that much or would say climate change was real or something along those lines, so I appreciated them asking me about what I’ve learned. One of them did tell me good luck because climate change is something for young people to deal with which I thought was interesting. My grandparents say similar things about climate issues like that they won’t be around for it, so they don’t care. I think people sometimes see climate change as a far away problem as opposed to something that’s happening right now, so they say that it’s a young person’s problem instead of doing what they can to be more sustainable. Overall, it was fun talking to them and learning about their lives. One of them even ended up having a friend in my hometown which was random because she lives in Washington D.C. and is from Louisiana. I’ve had something unexpected in common with everyone I’ve talked to, and it has made my time in Costa Rica a lot more fun and meaningful.
I haven’t gotten to speak to many locals that don’t work at the places we are staying at. The only time I really got to talk to someone that didn’t work in tourism is when I went to the doctor to get a blood test, which I didn’t think would be a significant event. The person who took my blood didn’t speak English, so I got to practice my Spanish and charades a little. I also think she undercharged me because I swear she said two thousand more colones than she took from me. I always get surprised by how nice the people here are. I asked her about her life, and she told me her dad worked on a plantation for a long time and has health issues because of it. I normally focus on the impact of conservation and sustainability on the environment, but going around town and meeting people made me value how it affects them more. Talking to the people who harmful practices affect has been a lot more impactful than watching videos about them in a classroom.
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