Limón was neat

On Friday we got up early and listened to a very intellectual afro-carribean guy that was raised in Limón and has some huge experiences under his belt. He explained the education system, reiterated about the history of blacks in Costa Rica, and encouraged us to dream big and not let money keep us from doing so. Afterwards, we loaded up into a mini-bus and two cars to head to Limón. On our way, we stopped at some coffee crops, a banana plantation, and some pineapple crops. The banana plantation/facility was really interesting to see and although we didn't go out into the banana lines, we were able to drive by other plantations. I was amazed to see fields of banana trees stretching as long as any field of corn might in Indiana. The pineapples grow from little shrub thingers that literally just come from the "tops" of pineapples.

Costa Rica is really huge on exports of coffee, banana, and recently, pineapple. We learned that this can create big problems because if the developed world ever faces disaster and can no longer afford to be importing luxuries like pineapple, banana, and especially coffee, Costa Rica is going to be at a huge loss.

Anyway, Limón was not really much like what I was expecting, but my expectations were pretty uneducated. We stayed right in the city of Limón, Limón and after we arrived we went out in small groups to interview, check out the city, and eventually get dinner. The resounding problem for Limón that Costa Ricans seem to agree on is a lack of jobs in Limón... combined with poverty, drugs, and decades of governmental neglect.

That night a lot of us went to a nearby bakery to get some pastry things for the breakfast tomorrow. While I was there I noticed a blind man with a cane who was brought up to the big opening of the bakery and was just standing there. The security guard on duty and the blind man began arguing and after a few moments the security guard pushed the man away from the entrance. The blind man began beating his cane on a window, cursing, and then walked a few steps back over to the entrance and began bickering while standing there. I noticed at this point that he had a knife in his right hand (the cane in the left) and the security guard was getting very noticeably tense. I watched as the security guard sized up the blind man and then quietly got behind him before grabbing the man's arms and forcing him out across the street to get him away from the store. Probably in an effort to not get shanked, the guard let go and pushed the blind man away once they were in the middle of the street. The blind guy fell to the ground and lay there lifelessly and after a few moments some bystanders walked over to help him. I was genuinely at a loss for what the 'correct' response might have been.. so I just walked away with the group I was with. I guess to elaborate- had I tried to help him, it's possible I might have gotten stabbed.. it's likely that the guard and store have seen this man around before and I have no interest in being the naive American that thinks he can fix all the problems in a place he doesn't know. In all, it was a pretty intense thing to witness and a good reminder that they real world just isn't always as pretty as we try to paint it to be.

On Saturday we went to an indigenous reserve and heard from a renowned leader of the community. She explained the issues that her community has had with their land being bought by private individuals/companies  and the government's unwillingness to intervene. They had an iguana project with tons of iguanas that they breed and have been reintroducing into the wild since their natural habitat was previous destroyed. So a bunch of peeps held iguanas... I was more interested in looking at a sloth that some people spotted near the road. Afterwards we went to the beach. I saw a few more sloths during this time and we also had some interactions with some small monkeys and racoons that wanted our food. The water in Limón (Atlantic Ocean) was colder than the water that I went to a few weeks ago on the Pacific.. but still really comfortable.

Saturday night we had some traditional Limón food and then danced to live music performed by a local band. Musicianship-wise, they weren't that fantastic- however, they were tons of fun and we all had a great time dancing.

We went to a local catholic church this morning, for the English service.. and they had maybe 40 local english speakers (all afro-caribbean) and then our group of almost equal size. A few of our group members got asked to read stuff for the service. It was pretty interesting.. better than the Spanish services I have been to for sure (because I could read along/understand what was happening). After church we headed back to San Jose. On our stop for lunch I ended up sitting with the minibus driver and had some conversation about Limón and his opinions on it. He was the first Costa Rican that I've met who doesn't like the Limón food... I mean, I didn't really love it all that much, but it wasn't bad by any means.

Okay... that's a lot of stuff. And kind of anti climactic... oh well, thanks for reading :p