June 15, 2024

Today we watched a documentary called, “Kiss The Ground”, which talked about the effects of deforestation and how the soil is being polluted with man-made chemicals. This documentary gave us a broader knowledge about conservation and helped our discussion with our guest speaker, Karla Gomez later this morning. During Karla’s presentation we learned how Costa Rica is actively changing their practices. Costa Rica is the only country that has reversed deforestation by implementing more conservation practices. Karla’s presentation was really important because it brought a light into perspective about how we can actively change our ways and think about our effects on the climate. Tourism is a contributing factor as well because tourists come to see the natural beauty Costa Rica brings, but without conservation Costa Rica is not able to upkeep its beauty.

After our presentation a few of our glimpsers weren’t feeling too well and others were. Our program coordinators sent a group to the clinic for check-ups and the others went on a walk into the local town. On this walk they were able to see the sugar cane plants and many other beautiful flowers, plants, and animals. We saw a cool old hotel, which we later found out was run by one of the richest men in Turrialba, who lost all his fortune to gambling. On th walk back it began to rain, but this didn’t phase us, it just contributed to the natural beauty. For those at the clinic, they were able to be checked on with the Medico and diagnosed or prescribed anything to help alleviate their symptoms. Around 7pm, we had our nightly meeting and discussed our roses and thorns for the day as well as putting our quote of the day into perspective. “We are not only rich by what we posses but by what we can do without,”(Immanuel Kant). Many of our glimpsers agreed that this meant we don’t need to have a bunch of chemicals to mass produce foods, we don’t need to have a mass production of clothing, and we don’t need to rely on advanced technology for everything. Around 8pm, our glimpsers had the option of a few movies and were able to enjoy The Nun 2. Buenos!