Saturday: Work Experience Day, or morning (mañana). Every Saturday and Wednesday morning, at 6:30 AM, most EARTH students bike to different farms and fields to work for experience in their desired areas. Fio goes to work with animals (specifically buffalos), but other students work in the food processing center, on the banana plantation, in the genetics lab, etc. At the moment, I do not participate in this program, so I pretty much had the campus to myself this first Saturday morning.
The first thing I did was laundry. I did not want to be seen not knowing how to do laundry in Spanish. But when I went, there was another person there 😰. As I loaded my dark clothes into the washer and attempted to read the knobs, he eyed me. “Do you need help?” I nodded with an embarrassed expression. I asked him what the labels meant and he instructed me on which knobs to turn, but I’m still pretty lost. I also don’t have laundry detergent. He lent me some soap for my first load, but I was on my own for my second (I didn’t use soap).
(Washing Machine in Spanish - 06/08/24)
My next activity of the day was taking a trip to the pool. I knew it would be empty and needed the workout and a place to cool down. But instead of swimming laps, I found myself planning out my day and rescuing drowning bugs from the pool. Wow, I guess I’m desperate for friends. Just kidding (no I’m not), I think later I’ll eat lunch with some friends from my Intro to Natural Science Course (Int. Ciencias Naturales). They truly have helped me by introducing me to more people, taking me to extracurriculars like swimming, and explaining more about the EARTH lifestyle. They also taught me new Spanish vocabulary, though some words (palabras) are a bit too crude for this post. It’s sort of like a trade-off, sometimes I’ll help them practice English, but most of the time we speak in Spanish.
But back to the classes, I must update you about the studies I’ve been doing here. For this first week, I’ve been sitting in on classes covering a wide range of topics, including plant pathology, introduction to natural sciences, entomology, and genetics. Though the classes are taught in Spanish, the lectures typically have slide shows that help me follow along, and the content is fascinating and hands-on. For example, in genetics, the professor brought in three different colored bunnies to show how cross-breeding changes their genetics and thus, their colors.
(Cross-Bred Bunnies in Genetics - 06/10/2024)
My favorite class has by far been entomology. The day I went, we took a trip to the banana plantation to install pheromone-based pest traps. This type of trap is especially advantageous because of its cost-effectiveness and simplicity (simplicidad).
The trap is literally just a recycled gallon bottle with two rectangles cut out on each side and a packet of the pheromonal solution hanging from the center. The pheromone chemicals work by mimicking mating chemicals that insects send to attract a mate of the opposite sex. But in this case, the insects are attracted to the trap instead. What a shame (Que lástima!) – for the pests. But for humans, this pest trapping system is ingenious because the pheromonal chemicals used are based on a natural process (mating), so pests will not build up a resistance to it, and it will only target a specific organism without harming other beneficial insects. So our class time was spent doing, not just learning about pheromones’ attractive properties.
(Pheromonal Pest Traps in Entomology - 06/06/24)
The banana plantation we worked on is crucial to life here at EARTH, for both educational purposes and a source of income for the university. And for the students, that means fresh bananas, all the time, in every meal :)))
I mean every meal. When the bananas are not directly cooked or fried as a part of the main course, there is a separate table of bananas to grab. Let me tell you these bananas are the sweetest, richest bananas on EARTH (haha get it). The cooked banana dishes are equally as rich (rico) and flavorful (sabroso). I especially love the fresh fruits and veggies here because I am vegetarian (vegetariana), so they are pretty essential to my meals. Another good thing about being vegetarian: I still don’t know the names of some of the dishes here (especially the different meats), but as a vegetarian, I have a better idea of what I’m eating (really well-flavored plants).
Overall, I feel that my meals, studies, and free time have been well-balanced here. I do have to fix (arreglar) my late sleep schedule so that I’m not tired during class and can understand the professor’s technical Spanish (there are many niche terms like “petri dish” in Spanish in the lectures).
My schedule this past week has been as follows: Wake up at 5:30 AM; take a class from 6:30 AM ~ 10:30 AM; eat lunch and chill; take a class or work/clean in the lab from 1 PM ~ 4:30 PM; find something to do before dinner (usually bike ride); eat dinner at 6 PM; either go to the library to write, practice Spanish with my friend Fhernando, or hang out with friends until finally, shower and sleep at 10-11 PM. I have a feeling, however, that this will all change next week because now that I’m more accustomed to campus, I will be planning and beginning my research :) EARTH is doing so much cutting-edge environmental work, and I can’t wait to take a greater part in it.
But back to the showers: Though they are cold, they are refreshing, especially during the mid-day (~11 AM – when the sun is the strongest), and I love hearing all of the different types of music other students play while they shower. The songs range in anything from Bad Bunny to Katy Perry’s “Firework.” I’m so glad I listened to popular Latin music this past year. Now I can jam to everything.
As I end my daily schedule, I will end my tale, but first, I will share some personal goals I have during my time at EARTH to end on a promising note. (1) Learn more about tropical bird watching and/or tree identification in my free time. (2) Buy my own laundry detergent. (3) Stay confident when speaking in Spanish (though I sound a bit goofy - I keep using the “you” pronoun instead of the “I” pronoun, so I accidentally keep saying “You didn’t understand” instead of “I didn’t understand). (4) Keep smiling!
Week one is done :) I have learned an incredible amount about different sustainable, more eco-friendly agricultural practices, and I have learned just as much about different customs (aduanas) and norms here (for example, some people greet each other by hugging and kissing each other on the cheek). I am definitely becoming more used to living here, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop learning. Thank you for keeping up with me :)
!Ciao! !Nos vemos (See you)!
ADDED LATER IN THE DAY
Quick update about my laundry (I just picked it up): There was bright GREEN gum in the pocket of my WHITE pants in my LIGHT load of laundry. I’m going bananas.
Wait! Another update: That Saturday, I texted my friends from my natural science (ciencias naturales) class to meet up for lunch. After, we took the bus to the supermarket (I got laundry detergent!); grabbed ice cream (el helado), watched movies (las películas), and then practiced our Spanish and English together. :) So I did end up spending the day with friends! Takeaway: I need to step out of my comfort zone and reach out to make these fantastic experiences and genuine connections.
(Fhernando and I Learning Spanish and English - 06/09/24)