River's Senior Project

 Day #15 Today was a pretty busy day. After getting a little bit of a sleep-in, I got to work on finalizing my Academic Concentration and preparing for my review that would be happening this afternoon.  After a morning filled with writing, I was excited to hear that the mountain kids were back and I headed down to say hi to everyone. After that, my day was filled with more writing as well as recordings. My review happened at 5:15 and it was great to hear feedback and talk with Heidi, Derek, Gordon, Hunter, Tom, and Patty about my project. Everyone was very supportive and it really meant a lot when Gordon surprised me with a valve cover cap he had made for me in the machine shop for my car. After the review and a nice dinner, I headed back to my room and worked on completing the narrative reflection for my Senior Project. After that was all completed. I headed to the gym and did a nice workout before getting back and writing this post. 

 Day #14 Unfortunately, our time in Costa Rica has come to a close. Duffy and I woke up at 4:00 am on Monday to head back to the states. We had no issues getting to our gate and we had plenty of time to get some breakfast. After landing in Miami, Duffy and I had to go through customs and another round of security which took way longer than expected. With that out of the way, Duffy and I arrived at the gate only to find that our flight had been delayed. We decided to get a couple of burgers, something we had refrained from doing in Costa Rica due to the fact that the burger meat is just not the same there. Even though the burgers were sub-par, they still tasted amazing. Additionally, while at lunch it was very amusing to hear Duffy mistakenly say, "Hola" to the waitress who gave us a weird look. In what felt like no time at all, we were boarding our flight to Boston. It was great to arrive back on campus and see some familiar faces. 

 Weekly Reflection #2         We just made it to San Jose today and are flying out tomorrow morning on a flight that leaves at 7:00 am. After so much time spent waiting to do this trip, I cannot believe we are at the end of it. These last two weeks have been such a great time as well as provided me with some very valuable learning experiences.            This project turned out to be very beneficial in preparing me for having success in the future. It helped to reinforce proper time management skills and frequent goal setting. The responsibility of booking travel and hotels, cooking meals, getting assigned tasks at work completed, writing blogs, and writing my Academic Concentration research paper was all put on me a no one else. I would be lying if I didn't say that it was quite a lot, but it was a challenge that I was prepared to tackle.            It is also amazing to see how little h...

 Day #12 Today was sadly our last day working at the Institute. We met Victorino in Calandria this morning. The plan was to plant trees today, but unfortunately, the sight was not quite ready, so we did some organizing in the tree nursery. There was a lot to resort after last week's large tree delivery from Tranadora. We used wheelbarrows to relocate sapling bags with seeds that had been stacked to save space. We also helped load people's cars that were doing pickups although it was not nearly as busy as Monday. After our morning in Calabria, we headed back to the institute, ate a nice lunch, and said go bye to everyone before we headed out. Everyone was super thankful and invited us to come back soon. I know I have said it before in my posts, but it is really crazy how fast the time flew by. It felt like just yesterday that we were getting started! After work, I was finally able to meet up with my host family who I had not seen for two years. It was really great to see them an...

 Day #11 Today was another day filled with logging data. We set up our office outside on a patio at the institute and got to work. It was the first day with bad weather. It poured the entire day so it was nice that we had the cover of the roof to be under. We were able to cruise through the rest of the data sheets in what felt like no time at all. I was shocked to look at the time and see it was already 1:00 pm. Once finished with the data logging, Duffy and I had some great fried rice that Duffy made the night before for lunch. We finished off the work day filling bags. In the evening, we went to a great dinner at Alida and Wyatt's house. I am sad it is our last day tomorrow but looking forward to planting some trees! Daily time: 8 hours Total hours: 71 hours  

 Day #10 Today was the first day we did work that did not involve getting our hands dirty. Before leaving, Randy gave us two large assignments. One was to laminate an immense stack of flashcards that would be used to teach children in Monteverde about some of the endemic tree species of their home and the important role these plants play in upholding a balance in the ecosystem. Duffy and I, along with Wyatt and Alida, spent a good portion of yesterday afternoon working on this project and were all able to get it finished by mid-morning. This left us with one more task that was a little more daunting. Over the past year, data from hundreds and hundreds of saplings had been taken down for research but was all recorded on paper. Our job was to transfer all of this data to an online spreadsheet that will allow it to be easily analyzed. This proved to be very laborious work that took way more concentration than I was expecting. Through many cups of coffee and a variety of music and podc...

 Day #9 Today we had a nice sleep-in and started work at 9:00 am instead of our usual 8:00 am start. Duffy cooked some great bacon this morning that we enjoyed with our breakfast before we headed out for the day. At the start of the day, we listened to a talk about the Ocuteious Monteverdencie tree, which is a tree we had been working with very closely over the last week. We learned that although there is very little known about them, it is estimated that it takes them at  least 50 years to first begin producing fruit though it is estimated it is most likely around 100 years before they are able to reproduce! They have extremely strict growing conditions and so far have only been found in Monteverde, Costa Rica. They are a type of avocado tree and have extremely high-calorie fruits. The are a huge source of food for many organisms. One more interesting discovery about the tree is they flower on a 3-year cycle and will only do so when conditions are perfect. The institute ...

 Day #8 The first day of week two came up fast! Today we spent the morning working in Calandria, a plant nursery ten minutes away from the institute. Duffy and I spent the time helping load people's trucks with plants they were picking up. By noon, we had distributed well over 1,000 trees. The great thing about what the Institue is doing is that all of the trees that people picked up were completely free and customers were allowed to take them without any conditions on how and where to plant them. This allows for the distribution of tens of thousands of trees every year that are used to restore fields back into forests that can support a greater amount of biodiversity.  The second part of our day was devoted to filling sapling bags with dirt and although it is not as glamorous as handing out trees, it is still an important and necessary part of the process.  At the end of the day, Duffy and I went to go visit his host family he stayed with two years ago. They were very we...

 Weekly Reflection #1 This has been a fantastic first week in Monteverde! I can’t believe we are already halfway through our trip. It feels like so much has happened in this past week and yet, I am still struggling to find where all of the time went. There have been many significant takeaways for me from this trip so far and not just around working at the institute. I have also gained very valuable lessons in returning to the community in Monteverde as well as living alone in another country for the first time. My first lesson is based on teamwork and dedication. Growing up, I have had jobs that have challenged me both mentally and physically. Our work at the institute was no different although there is one aspect of our work that I had never encountered before; a genuine love from the employees towards what they were doing. Here, the reforestation program is part of a lifestyle that extends way beyond a paycheck. Employees are not only invested in the health in the health of the f...

 Day #5 Today felt much more mellow than the busy rush we had yesterday. After meeting at the institute at 8:00 am, Duffy, Alida, Wyatt, Randy and I headed down to the tree nursery on the other side of Monteverde. There, we spent the morning working with the trees we had dropped off the day before. We reorganized the bags, replaced missing dirt, and replaced damaged sapling bags. After a fun morning at the nursery, we all headed back to the Institute. Alida and Wyatt headed out for the day and Duffy and I spent the afternoon planting seeds and filling bags with dirt. In the evening, Duffy and I headed out for a fun dinner with Randy, Wyatt, and Alida. I cannot believe this week is already over and that we are nearly halfway through senior project. I do not want our time here to end. This weekend Duffy and I are headed to the beach and then have another busy week up ahead.  Here are some more photos from yesterday: Daily time: 8 Hours Total time: 40 hours

 Day #4 Today was by far the biggest day we have had yet. It was an early morning with the alarm clock going off at 4:50 am. Duffy and I quickly ate cereal and packed a couple of sandwiches for the road. We swung by Alida and Wyatt's place to pick them up and then headed to the institute. We all rolled out of  Monteverde at 6:00 am in a big, 1980s Toyota Land Cruiser. We headed out for Tronadora, a small town about an hour and a half away. The drive down there was pretty silent as everyone was very tired. Upon arriving, an entire team of about 12 of us spent the next few hours loading 5,000 saplings into the back of an immense truck. The tree nursery where we were picking up the plants is funded by an organization named The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE). ICE is a government-run electricity and telecommunications provider that oversees all of the renewable energy resources programs in Costa Rica. The nursery where we picked up the trees currently had over half a...

 Day #3 Day number three was just as fun as the last two. We started at our usual time of 8:00 after going to the Monteverde coffee shop and getting a Nutella Croissant and a Chicken and mushroom quiche for breakfast. Our day started in the medicine garden where we spent the whole morning weeding. We got the chance to learn about a few new plants and their medicinal properties. After weeding, Wyatt, Alida, Duffy, and I worked on filling bags again, a task that we had all become very quick at. In no time at all, it was already lunch. Duffy and I spent the afternoon planting seeds. We started by working in a test area that our leader, Randy, was using to study the effects of microorganisms in the soil for promoting plant growth. After that, we finished up the day by planting a whole bed of trees (around 200 bags). Getting home, we had a bit of downtime and then cooked dinner. We have an early morning tomorrow so we are heading to bed early tonight.  Daily time: 7 hours Total tim...

 Day #2 Today was another successful day at work. Patrick and I spent the entire time at the Monteverde Institue. We spent the day working with Wyatt and Alida filling bags of dirt that would become homes for the saplings as well as moving full-grown saplings from the greenhouse out into the sun. It is amazing to see the number of trees that are present in the Institute and how they are grown on such an immense scale. The bag packing turned out to be a little more difficult than originally expected, but after a bit of practice, we began to get the hang of it. After work, we had a great time meeting up with the group of Proctor students studying in Monteverde. It was great to see them and hear about some of their experiences. We also got the chance to see Kathia, our coordinator when we were on the Costa Rica trip, and her sons, Ernest and Celimo. It was so nice to see them after two years and it reminded me of the close friendships I had made during my previous time in Monteverde. ...

Day #1 Our time in Costa Rica got off to a great start when we arrived in San Jose this past Saturday. After going through customs and picking up our rental car, we headed out for the mountains of Monteverde. We had a very scenic drive up to our house, going up steep, winding roads that looked out over the ocean. After getting settled into our  house, we went out to a great seafood place we  had  frequently gone to two years ago. It was amazing to see how little had changed since our last visit. The next day we had a fun celebration for Patrick's Birthday. We drove down to a small town called Guacimal to go swimming in a river. To our surprise, there was not as much water as we had in the past, despite the fact that it is the rainy season right now. Regardless of the water levels, it was still a great adventure. Today was our first day of work. We arrived at the Monteverde Institute at 7:30 and met up with our leader, Randy. We also met the other two volunteers working wi...