The Ride by Genevieve Biggs

           The buses in Costa Rica are like the crowed subways of New York.  A body of a stranger is bumping you not out of rudeness, but because the bus that is made to hold 30 seating passengers if filled with and extra 20 standing. A light shove can be felt here and there as passengers pass getting on, off, or merely moving to a more spacious area. “Its no use” I think to tell the later but my Spanish is too limited.

            It is hot and humid and I can smell the man three people behind me. His cologne is way to strong for my taste. I try to ignore it as I bounce my head to the music streaming from my headphones. A woman is making her way back toward the back of the bus shoving around people as she chats on the phone in rapid fired Spanish. She’s teetering in her heels that seem to be the normal traveling shoe for the women of Costa Rica and hold onto the railing with the hand not currently occupied with her phone.

            The bus slows to the next stop and we keep moving as no one is getting on. I feel pretty accomplished in a way. This is the first bus ride I am catching with my roommate and we are heading home without getting lost. I’m on such a good vibe I don’t care that the woman talking bumps passed me with a ‘pardona’ or excuse me.  I was on such a glow that it took me a minute to notice the bus stopping and not moving for sometime.

            I noticed the angry rise of “Que pasa?” fromt the passenger when the bus remain still. After a few minutes the cries be came “Vamanos” and explanations of more important things to do. I began to notice the press of bodies and heat as I tried to communicate with my roommate about what could be happening.

            “What the Fuck!” the woman who was earlier chatter on her phone cries out. I couldn’t help but wonder where she picked that up from.  Soon the crowd turns angry and my roommate and I began to call out to the driver “Vamanos senor, vamanos por favor.” Still the bus sat.

            Close spaces, humid atmosphere and angry people are not a good mix for a safe environment.  Nor for Claustaphobia. My roommate began to push here way to the front when we noticed the back door had yet to open to let anyone out.  She was out the bus and breathing cool air (well coolish, its is after all Costa Rica). I was almost to the front and breathe a sigh of relief at the exit when the doors shut and my way was block by a man.

            “No Abierto! I was taken aback. A man was pushing me toward the door while another shouted about a woman who got on the bus without paying and intended to ride. As far as I was concerned that had nothing to do with me. My roommate was outside the doors looking in trying to get help from those outside. I was inside looking out trying to get help from the people within.

            After 15 minutes of shouting, and pushing the doors were open letting in cool air and a freedom I longed for. The walk home was long and uneventful but the relief of looking at our house was almost a fulfilling as the first day.

            

?Tienes Empanadas?

In an effort to fully immerse ourselves in the Costa Rican culture, outside of daily interactions with our host families, conversations in Spanish both in and outside of the classroom, dance classes and picking up sayings like, "solo pollo" or "con mucho gusto!", we took a COOKING CLASS!!! In this class, we learned how to make empanadas with plantains, cheese, beans, and oil! What we received, was a patty of "deliciousness!" ;) Take a look!

Cahuita, Limòn...Conversations with an Afro-descendant.

Cahuita National Park

Limòn is a province along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.  It is a province known for its beautiful natural areas and diverse cultures.  Limòn is the home of many Afro-descendants, indigenous and Chinese immigrants, this is because the largest port in Costa Rica, Puerto Viejo, is located in Limòn. The  Afro-descendants of Limòn primary language is "Limòn Creole"or English.  However, in school students are taught Spanish.  

On Friday May 20th, my Bennett Sisters and I had the opportunity to travel to Cahuita in Limòn.  In Cahuita we enjoyed fun in the sun at Cahuita National Park and a "delightful"game of soccer with a group of adolescent girls.  However, the most significant event was our dinner with three Afro-descendant families.  After a traditional home cooked meal, we were able to have a intimate conversation with our host families concerning the culture, social and economic problems facing their race etc.  My host mother, Laura Wilson-Robinson, was very excited to have us in her home and answered all of our questions without hesitation.  In chatting with Mrs. Laura many of my sisters and I concluded that black people around the world face the same, or similar, problems.  For the purpose of this blog I will focus on drugs in the black community and maybe in later post my sisters will write on the other issues that came up during our conversations.

"If you ask every family in this area, everyone of them has someone in their family that is on or has been on drugs," Mrs. Wilson-Robinson.  Does this informal statistic sound familiar?  It should because it is very similar to a statistic concerning the African American community.  If we really think about it, we all know someone in our family, community etc that is or has been on drugs.  While chatting with Mrs. Wilson-Robinson I found that, similar to the African American community, a foreigner (who exactly, we are unsure) was responsible for introducing drugs such as cocaine, weed, crack etc into the community.  As a result, families and communities are torn apart and the mentality of "It takes a village to raise a child," changes to one of "every man for himself."  Although, we can say it is the "foreigners" fault, at what point does the black community have to own up to the fact that we too have our own roll in this?  In other words, yes the "foreigner" brought the drugs into the black community but one black person took it upon him/herself to spread it throughout the community.

Consider this quote that resonated with myself and many of my Bennett Sisters: "You buy one black man, you buy them all."  When will the black community stop allowing outsiders to buy us, not just with drugs/narcotics but with technology, fashion, music anything?  Until we stop allowing this to occur we as a people will forever be in bondage.  It is is indeed something worth thinking about.

Street art in Puerto Viejo

~Kimberly Johnson 

Explore, Learn, Explain.

It has officially been 9 days in coasta rica. learning about ourselves as students, women, travelors, and consumers. our espanol classes have challenged us to make the most of our time in Costa Rica. explore and understand how we may not be as different as we may have once thought although we live in different countries. we are navigating easier, speaking more fluently, and comprehending what is being said to us and asked of us in Spanish on a more Enhanced level.

A part of the group was able to explore San Jose central this past Saturday it was great we visited the national museum of Costa Rica  we visited a market which had everything from coffee to jewelry. there was some amazing finds. the market is the place to bargain not down to the point where it is only a deal for you but also a deal for the seller. in between the market and the museum was a LGBT rally. At the rally they they had speakers and music and also booths  for information about the LGBT community in Cost Rica. The National museum of Costa Rica is a site to see there are so many different sections of it when you first walk in it is the sections for butterflies. you are able to walk freely among the butterflies and if your lucky they will be attracted to you and attach to your clothing. other section of the museum include a replica of prison cells, history of the native of Costa Rica, gold that was adorned upon chiefs or people of high importance, art/pottery, and also modern Costa Rica. after a long day we venture home to our Mamatica's to eat dinner and explain the day that we had.     

As a class we have learned about Eco-agricultural planning processes, sustainable harvest for conservation. knowing about the different organizations that help with these projects are important. the actions that we take affect our environment but if we are not knowledgeable about these effects then we will not be able to change what we do.

The list of actions that affect conservation practices include:
-Road Expansions
-Logging
-Poorly Planned Development
-Solid Waste
-Aqua Cultural Growth
-Mining

These are all apart of what problems that people face when they are not able to access the resources to eliminate these actions from taking place. It is important to understand and recognize the importance of biodiversity. People need to be trained and equipped to deal with issues of conservation and willing to move in the directions of accessing the necessary materials.


Ahvee Veasley

Hola Everyone!!! I hope everyone is having a exciting and productive day!

This is day 8 of our wonderful adventure in Costa Rica. This experience is teaching me alot about myself and boarden my horizons.  Studying abroad should be an experience that everyone should know about at Bennett Collge.

I agree with our president that at least 50% of all Bennett College women should study abroad by the time they graduate from undergrad. This experience teaches you about other cultures and how you should respect each culture.

I am in the beginning course at the Costa Rican Language Academy and I am learning more and more everyday in my class. Spanish is not an easy language to comprehend when all you know in the United States is English; so trying to adapt to another culture can be challeging and frustrating at time. This whole experience is worthwhile and you get to understand a vast amount about yourself.

I had the priviledge on last Sunday to visit one of the major volcanoes in San Jose called the Poas with Tatiana Walker and Sheronda Wilson. We also got a chance to tour the coffee field and actually get a closer look to the way they make coffee and seeing it grow.

We learned during the visit that Costa Rica is called the pura vida country, which means PURE LIFE. This country has the 2nd best quality of coffee in the world.

Again, hope everyone is having a fun and productive day!!!!

This is Danielle Duncan checking out!!

Day 7: Second Day of Sociology and The Arrival of Los Profesores

Hello Ladies!!!!!!

Siera Toney here, with up, up, updates from the Belles on the Maymester in Costa Rica!

So we've been in San Jose for 7 whole days, UNA SEMANA! Started classes last Thursday and it's been a blast thus far! Our eleven student-delegation is loving their host families and has even begun to take Costa Rican public transportation to and from school. We are taking advantage of all the positive experiences that this experience will reap.

As the only Black person, let alone the only Black woman in my Spanish class, I've been having some amazing discussions in Spanish about the differences between American, Costa Rican (tica) and German culture and systems, as there are two German students, Alex (pictured at left) and Nadine, another American name Joan, and lmi maestro Gabriel (pictured at right) in my class. 

Immersion is very much about conversation here. Five hours of Spanish everyday is no joke! Luckily thanks to the delegation of professors that traveled to Costa Rica from Bennett today, namely Dr. Bookman and Mr. Maghee students like me who have completed their general education Spanish requirements can receive credit for BOTH of the classes we are taking in these three weeks. THANK YOU DR, BOOKMAN AND SISTER, AND MR. MAGHEE!!!!!!!!! 

Whether we're in class, taking a break, or discussing the sociology of global citizenship and eco-tourism with Dr. McLucas, we are having some great discourse. Yesterday, I had a really enlightening conversation about the differences between America, Costa Rica, and Germany in terms of health care, education, politics & government, and crime & punishment. The question was simple: " I learned a lot about the perspectives that "extranjeros," people from countries outside of the US, have about America and Americans. My German counterparts were astonished to find out some of the realities about the United States, and I was intrigued by the social and political practices and mores in Costa Rica and Alemania (Germany).

Today, my classmates and I designed a language school, well a language university, as an activity for learning the passive voice. Interestingly enough, signs in America that say "Se hablan Español" are grammatically incorrect. The class was muy interesante, and on top of that I finally learned the rules for using tildes in Spanish words, a burning question I've aways had. :) 

After the first session. we had a delicious lunch, complements of two beautiful ticas that can throw down! 

The menú was as follows 

-tílapia (fish)

-frijóles (beans) 

-arroz (rice) 

-ensalada (salad)

-jugo del banano (banana flavored juice)

Tan Delicioso! (I wish I could find the upside down exclamation point on this thing....) 

Despues del almuerzo (After lunch), we dove into our first class with Dr. McLucas! Heavy discussion about global civics. What is it? What is it for? Who needs it? How can we achieve it? Should we be striving for it? We analyzed all of these questions in the context of our trip, especially the community service aspect. We reminded each other that we are entitled to our opinions and perspectives as Americans, African-Americans, women, and the unique combination of the three that defines a large part of our human experience. However, we also reminded each other that to experience and/or evaluate an international experience in the same way that we would evaluate an experience in the States is to partially disregard and misunderstand the perspective of the indigenous people. 

We decided that Black people, Black women especially, need to be exposed to opportunities to have a global experience and then to travel abroad with humanitarian and/or academic aims. The grew also adopted a new motto, coined by Ms. Sierra Cotton, for promoting study abroad programs: "IF YOU DO NOT KNOW, YOU WILL NOT GO!" We need to do both!!!!

Finally to close out the day we viewed a presentation, to be continued tomorrow, by engineer and environmental issue specialist Mauricio Blandino about what Eco-tourism really is and what role women play in its growth and developement.

We're really learning SOOOOOOOO much, and we are going to savor this experience for years to come! Sharing it with our sisters and spreading awareness about globablization!!!!

Fully Immersing Ourselves in the Costa Rican Culture...step 1: Learn the language!

La Pura Vida!

Costa Rica is known as the country of the pure life, "la pura vida!". When you approach a Costa Rican and ask them how they are doing, very seldom will you hear a response of: fine, sad, sick, etc. Instead, they will respond with, "LA PURA VIDA" and maybe even couple it with a thumbs up. La Pura Vida is not just an expression, it is also a way of life and an attitude. In other words, regardless of how life may be treating them in the moment, they are ok, they are cool, they are happy and content. No matter what, life is good.

Sunday, I was able to experience this pure life for myself. Myself, Tatiana along with Danielle and Sheronda had the distinct privilege of taking a tour of a volcano. We visited the volcano named, Poas. There are 112 volcanoes in the country of  Costa Rica. Yet, only 7 are active. It is important to note that at any moment, any of the dormant volcanoes can become active because at any moment, they can have an eruption. During our time, we were able to see the volcano "burp." It was a moment we will appreciate for the rest of our lives. We only hope the photographs can tell a portion of the experience.

However, our day excursion was not limited to the beautiful sight of the volcano. We were also exposed to a lake; the most serene and picture perfect that we've ever seen. We were fortunate enough to be blessed with a gorgeous day free of the usual cloudy and foggy sky. Ordinarily, those who come to the sight, are unable to see both the lake and the volcano due to the fog. We can gloat because we saw both! We were worn out by walking up the mountain and going above sea level but the beauty we experienced was well worth it. Along our tour, our wonderful tour guide, Miguel who preferred to be referred to as, Miza, pointed out some beautiful plants and flowers special to Costa Rica. We learned a lot of interesting facts.

Our tour ended with a tour of a coffee field. Turns out, Costa Rica is number two in the world for having the best quality coffee. We learned the entire process of coffee making. Included in this explanation was how the beans start off, how they're planted, how the bushes are cared for, how they peel the beans and so much more. Miza even showed us the cover that is placed over the bushes to avoid rain exposure that will damage the coffee beans. One fun fact is that the coffee beans come from bushes and not trees. The trees in the fields merely serve the purpose of shade. The beans on these bushes can provide coffee for up to 50 years! As mentioned previously, Costa Rica is second in the world for quality with Colombia being number one and Jamaica number three. In terms of quantity, other countries produce more, however, Costa Rica does not compete for quantity, their biggest concern is quality. We were sure to make purchases to bring back to the states! :)

Indeed, our experience thus far has been one of, THE PURE LIFE!!! ;)

Day 2-Journey to Costa Rica's Legislative Embassy

May 12, 2011

With this being most of the groups second day, and me (Aziza) having finally arrived to Costa Rica; I was exhausted  but looking forward to all that was in store for me here in Costa Rica. 

After having lunch, we took the bus to Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly. 

Here we met up with our tour guide Rocardo. He led us into a conference room where we were given quick history lesson on their Legislative. The Legislative Branch was created on January 25, 1825 when Costa Rica finally became an independent republic from the Spanish Empire. The function and organization of the Legislative Assembly are outlined in the Constitution, which was adopted on November 1, 1949. In February of last year, Costa Rica elected its first Female President, where she won 46% of their votes. 

We also learned that their legislative is pretty similar to ours. They have the same three branches of government ; the Legislative, the Executive and the Judicial. After having sat for about an hour, learning Costa Rica's history, we continued our tour of the rest of the building and learned about the significance of each room as well as the different plaques, statues and pictures in each room. . 

Bennett College For Women Maymester Study Abroad Program

Summer 2011