Fifteen days

From July 4-15, it was vacay time for TEFL volunteers in Costa Rica. Well, not totally, I could have been doing any sort of thing during vacation-but my two ideas-English brush-up course for older students or English conversation lunches, were both vetoed by teachers/students with whom I spoke. Not that they weren't interested-don't get that impression, just that they were honest and told me no one would come. Because, from July 4-15, it was mid-school year vacation, or quince días (fifteen days) as it's known around here. It's not summer vacation, or winter vacation-we're right in the middle of the rainy season, and it's not for any real holiday-it's just fifteen days off, because, well a little break in the middle of the year isn't a bad idea. Most people I talked to were going to their grandparent's house/farm, or the farm of some other relative. 

Now, if this doesn't sound very much like Costa Rica, then you're the reader I'm thinking of. Because, something I have come to realize more and more, is how much  a big part of Costa Rica (geographically and culturally) isn't what a travel brochure or the first 12 pages of Google images displays. I will not even begin to suggest that tourism isn't the most important sector in the Costa Rican economy: it is. Costa Rican's workforce is divided as follows: 64% in services, 22% in industry, and 14% in agriculture. It's even more skewed if it's measured by economic impact. Yet, especially in Sarapiqui, the region where I live, and many of the places where Peace Corps workers live here, agriculture plays a big role in the culture and a substantial one in the economy. Bananas, pineapples, coffee, timber, beef, dairy, and melons are some of the most important products in the agriculture sector (in roughly that order). Bananas, pineapples, beef, and timber (as well as ornamental plants) are the big products in my region. 

In between all of Costa Rica's famous beaches, biologically rich rain forests, and stunning waterfalls are a lot of farms. Lots of coffe, banana, and pineapple plantations, yes, but also lots of farms. Lots of cows. Costa Ricans are pretty big cheese fans (albeit of only one type), take in plenty of sour cream, and throw a couple spoonfuls of milk into each of the four cups of coffee they drink every day. (Everybody drinks coffee, from about age five up.) As a result, dairy farms are an almost ubiquitous site here. On my three minute bike ride into the center of town, I generally see as many cows as I do people until I cross the bridge at the edge of town. I doubt this is true for most tourists visiting, and that's why I wanted to highlight it-because it's very true for the 1/3 of Costa Rica who doesn't live in the Gran Área Metropolitana (San José and surrounding areas).

A little research shows that about 27% of Costa Rica's land is used for beef or dairy production, with 1.3 million cows and bulls making my previous estimate about right-as there are less than 2 million Costa Ricans living outside the San José metro area. My quick glance also showed that cattle raising and dairy farming are declining rapidly in this country-there are a million less cattle here now than there were twenty years ago. Which, even better explains the cultural part of it to me. Many kids I talked to went to their grandparents' farm-or maybe the farm of the one uncle who is still raising cattle. Farming has become less and less important as plantation agriculture becomes more important and as technology and education open up other, more lucrative industries. Yet, Costa Ricans still hold the family farm, the early morning wake-up to milk the cows, dear to their hearts. Maybe this isn't so true in and around San José-but in the rest of the country-even close to the beach, it's still very important. 

This really sunk into me during the vacation because I spent a long weekend near Puerto Soley, Guanacaste. Up in the most northwestern part of the country, near La Cruz, Puerto Soley is the penultimate town before the Pacific Ocean and Nicaraguan border. I was invited to and stayed at the family farm of Hector, the principal I work with at the night school. It was a delightful and relaxing few days. I read on my Kindle on a rocker on the front porch, watched the sheep, pigs, chickens, and cows do their thing, walked down to the beach and swam, and watched soccer. With Hector or his siblings doing all the cooking and me only occasionally able to help clean up (they usually blocked or refused my help), there was plenty of time to do all of this and still be very, very relaxed. But, being on the farm (primarily dairy-the sheep, pigs, and chicken are pretty much just fed and killed when necessary) reminded me how much many Costa Ricans enjoy the countryside. In fact, a fair amount of wealthier Costa Ricans who live in San José maintain country houses to remind themselves of the bucolic nature of their family's history. I'll throw some pictures of the various beaches I visited up soon, but for now, I'd hope that everyone is aware that, in between the beaches and down the hill from the rain forests, Costa Rica has lots of farms-plenty of plantations too-but lots of cows and bulls out there and over here, munching on the green green grass and slowly but surely making all that cheese for all those empanadas.
*(Oddly, I don't think I took any pictures of the cow's at Hector's family's farm-probably because they're so common for me...oops...never claimed to be a professional).