The Costa Rica: Sustainable Service Learning Project was a trip to Costa Rica that involved a variety of different jobs and activities. We stayed with local residents in their rural homes, built a biodigester, and toured EARTH University. Some fun things we did included seeing Cahuita National park and Arenal Volcano.
Costa Rica is a beautiful country with amazing landscapes, wonderful people, and advanced agriculture. The beaches have clear water with white and black sand and the mountains are covered with vegetation from bottom to top. I could spend endless hours describing the specific nature of Costa Rica and it would still lack in comparison to the experience of actually seeing it for yourself. I recently visited Costa Rica on a sustainable service learning trip and despite many hours of education on various topics regarding Costa Rica and more hours of video footage of the country, I was blown away by the actual place. On this trip I had the privilege of staying with a local resident deep in the jungle, I got to see many sights across the country, including Cahuita National Park, and I was exposed to the campus of EARTH University.
Through all of these experiences I have learned a lot of things about how I want to live my life. One of the most important things I learned was that enjoying nature and taking time to relax is very important. We are always racing around in American society and never stopping to be mindful and enjoy what we have. I now think that taking some time every day to be mindful is very important. I also learned a lot about how sustainability can be an important daily exercise. The people of Costa Rica care deeply about the environment and therefore they live very sustainable lives with a small imprint on the earth. I now want to live more like this.
The first big influence that I had on the trip was staying at our home stay with the owner, Douglas. Just sitting in silence at such a beautiful location gives one a sense of peace and joy. I thought constantly at Douglas’s farm about how to replicate this feeling back in America. When one is confronted by the ease and beauty of a lifestyle in rural Costa Rica it is easy to see why we are all so unhappy in American cities. If I filled my whole apartment with flowers and paintings it would not even remotely compare to the magic of Douglas’s home. It seems to me now that that is why we spend so much of our energy on pointless and self-defeating exploits. The real things that would make us happy are completely out of reach. Our families are hundreds of miles away and we all live in little boxes surrounded by concrete. It reminded me of the time I drove from the Zion wilderness straight to the Las Vegas airport. It seemed so obvious to me at that moment that everyone in those casinos was wasting their time, chasing something that they could not find anywhere near a neon sign.
The second big influence for me on the trip was our time at EARTH University. At EARTH University we learned about many new sustainable farming initiatives. These initiatives are leading the way for the world to live more sustainably. I was inspired to be a leader in environmental initiatives here at home as well. This experience also inspired me to be a leader in other kinds of social initiatives. The people at EARTH University have devoted their entire lives to sustainable research and education. That was enough to inspire me to give a little more of my life to the same cause and other important causes.
The third big influence I found on the trip was the people of Costa Rica and the students at EARTH University. What all of these people have in common is their devotion to sustainable initiatives and their shared care for fostering strong communities. In Costa Rica, especially the rural areas, different people grow different things and then come to the market to trade them with each other. This process makes sure that everyone has what they need and removes the need for big grocery stores. The students at EARTH University have a great social network that is free of a lot of the problems that we have in America. I can take many lessons from these people back to my life here in America.
I am not an environmental or agricultural major but I did find many things on this trip that will benefit me for the rest of my life. The important lessons I learned at the homestay with Douglas will help me find peace and serenity even in the most stressful times. I know from talking with him and observing his life that we need very little to be happy. The most important thing is to have a good mindset and be surrounded by good people. The experiences I had throughout Costa Rica have given me a better perspective of how communities can operate and how people can work together to create a better world. I feel that I can apply this information to every aspect of my life, both in work and at home.