Professor Troy Abel from Huxley College of the Environment and his students share their insights on ecological citizenship, political biogeography, and immersions in one of the most biologically intense places on the planet. Costa Rica is translated as rich coast, a name originating from Spanish conquistadors who mistakenly thought the land was filled with gold. Many now recognize that Costa Rica’s riches are more green than gold with more than 4 percent of the world’s estimated biodiversity. Costa Rica has universal health care, a longer life expectancy than the U.S., and no military. Only by expanding our attention to all of these facets can one begin to see “Ecotopia’s Prism,” or Costa Rica’s intersections of ecology, economy, and culture fostering and inhibiting sustainability.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

erica´s blog

Hola from the jungle!

I have had some amazing experiences here so far.

One of my favorites is when my group (the environmental education group) got to visit an elementary school here. It was a little tricky communicating with the children because of the language barrier, but we managed pretty well. It was also interesting to see how the schools here differ from ours in the U.S., they only have one class for all the grades and the ages in the class range from 6-14 or so. We got to do a presentation and science experiement about tree planting. Afterwards we got to then plant trees with the children, since their school in loctaed in a flood basin. The trees will help slow floods, and the roots will help clean their drinking water since they get it from the groundwater. It was such a great experience!  When it was time for us to leave the school, a little girl ran up to me and gave me her bracelett to remember her by and it made my day! I can´t wait to further my environmental education experiences.

Another great time I had was the macaw monitoring. Although we had to wake up at 4:30 am, it was definitely worth it! We counted around 147 individual macaws. The sunrise was gorgeous as well. It was awesome to see so many macaws fly overhead!

Today we got to go on a boat through the mangroves and the first thing we saw was three white-faced monkeys which are my favorite! We also saw a few crocodiles!

I am really excited for the "Carara Olympics" tomorrow that Sarah D., Bonnie, Mitch and I have been planning. Go Environmental Ed. Team!
- Erica Roeglin
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1 comment:

  1. doshimaitriJuly 19, 2009 at 8:19 AM

    Learning a new language or a Language immersion forces the brain to think in new directions.It gives us invaluable insight into other cultures.Languages have a sociological impact beyond simply communication. The language is a reflection of the culture. So learning them is a cultural experience as much as it is a practical exercise.Since teaching languages is much more than syntax it stands to reason that our efforts, with that language, should deal with other, more cultural, encounters also. With any learning activity we should know why we’re studying it. Is there a good reason, or are we just trying to appear educated to look good for the neighbors? There is no right age to start a language either. Anybody can learn, and it doesn’t matter the age.

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