Costa Rica Day 6 - Yoga And Gardening

        We woke up this morning to some relief, as our 7 am yoga class was moved back to the 4pm slot. As for us, that meant that we got to sleep in for an extra hour and wake up at 7:30 instead. We had breakfast at 8, which consisted of the usual rice and beans, eggs, pancakes, French toast, and orange juice.

 

After our meal, we had an energy production workshop with Melanie. She took us all around the farm (Spanish Lesson: La Finca) and showed us how they create their renewable energy. They do this through hydroelectric energy production via their generators that they have next to the river and through pipes that they run from other water sources. We learned the importance of placement, and how one hydroelectric generator can produce many times the energy of another solely as a result of the angle of the water coming through. We also saw that even though they have a commitment to clean energy, they also want to ensure safety of all guests, so they do have a backup diesel generator if necessary, should all three of the other generators fail. She again reiterated that the main generators would never really fail, but one reason, and additionally the most likely, why that possibility would happen would be that during the rainy season, there would be an overload of water that would overwhelm the machine. But in the case that that happened to all of them, it would only take an hour of diesel to get the generators up and running again.

 

After some lunch, we had a short period of free time before we had a vegetable garden hands-on workshop. This workshop was lead by Jackson, a native Costa Rican with a permanent smile on his face, and Jacob, an American volunteer from Toledo, Ohio. We worked hard to remove all dead leaves and stems from the chicken wire that holds up the chayote, a squash-like fruit that they grow here.

 

After a short bit of free time, where I was able to convince Mr. Roddy to come play soccer, Post soccer practice, we had yoga. We got to meet Mason, another American volunteer who I forgot to ask where he’s from, but he was very charismatic and inviting, and ensured that we knew that it was our practice and to try our best while mixing in some humor with his instructions.

 

Another hour of free time later, we had a guided night hike of the property by Gabriel, where we learned about the little bugs and other animals that run around at night. The tour ended conveniently at dinner.

 

The last thing we did for the night was have community meeting at the dock where we got to look at the stars while reminiscing on the day.