Adapting to a New Schedule and a New Culture in Monteverde

Many of the young people, and I like to include myself in that, have reported of the new experiences directly with and around their slumber. I let them know just as steadily as the sun slowly rises over the horizon similarly do the sounds of the Central American jungle get louder and more populous. With those aforementioned phenomena also come daily tasks and chores that must be accomplished if one wants to experience the luxuries of back home. Here in Monteverde one of those tasks inlcudes milking cows that provide milk for our locally grown coffee and delectable homemade baked goods. 

The experince is voluntary and only six people at a time, not to mention having to get up with many of those jungle birds at the early hour of 6am. Each student is eagerly crouches close to hand milk a born and bred Monteverde bovine for the very first time. They each quickly catch on and help each other through an experience filled with odd handlings, sounds, and especially smells. Milking them ourselves is one thing, but then to see how quickly the men who guide them and take care of this task day-in day-out fill a bucket fill of frothy fresh milk is truly a sight to see. 

Yesterday and today the young people of the Climate Change Mitigation program got to experience what a "normal" day is like. Mornings are filled with hands-on academics at ground-zero of a landscape filled with people dealing directly with the changes of the earth and our atmosphere quickly and abnormally warming. Every other day durign the week, early in the afternoon they sharpen their Spanish speaking skills to a razor's edge using immediate practical language with each other orchestraed by seasoned Professors in the form of fun-filled challenging games.

Like a perfectly executed latin ballroom dance, the students are rewarded with free time to both relax and share these experiences with loved ones back home or organize play time with each other, tossing a frizbee or kicking a ball back-and-forth. Just as quickly as they show that wide-eyed expression when a new experince appears in front of them do these young people dive in, head first with constant support and positive attitudes.