Día 4 – Working Like A Local

¡Buenos días (o noches) a todos!

These are your hosts, Cruz Heredia and Brady Hogan; thanks for tuning in to the Monday stream of the GG 2023 Trip!

Today’s forecast was a hot, sunny day with a 100% chance of information showers. We learned a lot today, focusing on the theme of Working Like a Local. Before being able to dive into that, however, the Glimpsers had to be gently woken up at 6 am with a simple knock and a solid play-through of “Here Comes The Sun” by The Beatles. We then had to get the energy pumping with a delicious breakfast containing French toast, eggs, and an assortment of fruit and juice, provided by the amazing cooks, Diego and Emilia.

With that newfound energy, we departed on foot to the coffee mill in the lovely town of Santa Rosa, where we learned about the interesting history of how coffee arrived in Costa Rica and gained its importance, along with the fascinating folklore of Santa Rosa. We then toured the mill itself (led by Memo) to see the engineering and machinery behind the production of coffee, where we learned about the unfortunate truths regarding pay, working conditions, and the influence and impact of big corporations on local businesses. We finished our tour a little early, so we were able to stop at a corner store on the way back to the base house where we picked up some much-needed snacks and supplies.

We returned to the base house for lunch and free time before departing to the cheese farm (this time by bus). For lunch, we enjoyed sautéed chicken, bell peppers, and onions, with a side of steamed vegetables and mashed potatoes.

After arriving at the cheese farm (called La Florita) around 2:30 pm and meeting our lovely tour guide, Karla, we began to explore the sustainable farming practices employed there. We were split into two teams: The CheeseTouch versus Blue Cheese. The competition was kickstarted with a memory game based on the different plants that are fed to the cows, and each plant’s specific function for the cows. Nearing the end of the tour, James H was able to scrape a narrow victory for Blue Cheese by defeating The Cheese Touch in the cheese-making competition, resulting in a final score of 59 to 58.

We came back to the base house and wrapped up the day with another fantastic meal and our regular nightly meeting, where we passed the torch to Kara and Cynthia after they proved themselves worthy with their artistic talents. We wish them the best tomorrow when they will lead the group through Community Day!

With that, we bring our Monday stream to a close! We hope you have a great rest of the night, and we hope to see you back tomorrow on the Tuesday stream of the GG 2023 Trip!

Brady and Cruz OUT!