Day #6 - Pineapples & Cows (Zhou)

Today we started by going to a pineapple plantation where we were greeted by a family who owns the place. They were very hospitable to us and taught us the history of pineapples and how they grow the pineapple on their farm. For them, it takes a year for the pineapple to grow from a seed to the harvesting. We were so close to seeing the pineapple growing from the ground, but sadly they already harvested it yesterday and so no pineapple was there. Did you know that pineapple grows from the ground, not the tree? I mean, pffft, I already knew that, but possibly others didn't. It was interesting, except for these flies that tried to keep eating me over and over again and so it probably looked like I was disrespectful since I kept swatting the air and kept my head down. But no I was actually listening the whole time. After their speech, they let us try and plant a pineapple in the ground, and from what I saw, it was easy. They said they usually plant 5,000 a day and the record is 8,000 pineapples a day. I could never imagine to do that! But it's worth it in the end once you get to taste it. They let us sample a ripe one in a type of sorbet and it tasted AMAZING.

After we had our introduction with the pineapple farmers, we took a 20 minute hike where we were led to a waterfall. Unlike most of the girls, I was one of the brave ones who took a dip. And all guys went in too except for Corey. It had pretty scenery and we got to chill while we ate some fresh pineapple. But it was pretty interesting because I had to keep my glasses on and I kept it on the whole time, including the time when I was underneath the waterfall where the water hits down hard. But getting my clothes on was NOT fun because of the mud and the mess.

As I said earlier, the family was very hospitable. So when they served us lunch, they were super kind and generous. For example, as my family would know, I am an extremely picky eater. So the only thing I ate was the mashed potatoes and I kept asking for some. And a woman in the family actually kept giving me some (even though her family kind of laughed at me). The lunch was decent, at least for someone who is as picky as me; I should appreciate all the food I'm offered because when am I ever going to Costa Rica again?

Once lunch was over, we walked over to the cows (which are all in the same location) and learned how to make the cows their food and how to get the cows over. The farmers showed us how they milked the cows and then all of us started milking the cows too. In my opinion we were all terrible, especially compared to the farmers who started to show off their milking skills. But Mr. Hess was decent because he was already a farmer as a kid. Then we went back to the tables where we ate where we witnessed the change from our milk to cheese, although there were several pieces of the "stages of our natural cheese." There were two types: once that was the natural cheese, and one that was the natural cheese boiled which had the consistency of mozzarella. Both were pretty good, but it could have more flavor.

As part of our giving back project, we planted some trees that are almost becoming extinct but are essential in the Green Macaw diet. They were extremely small and we only needed our hands to plant them. Mine sucked though because I planted it sideways and you're supposed to plant it straight up. Mine's gonna be the odd one out, of course.

We finally said goodbye to the huge family after spending a good few hours with them. We left for a hot spring where we got to relax in several pools, ranging from 90-100 degrees, and relaxed after a vigorous day. It felt so good on my body, and it's interesting because the water just flows through without any cleaning of it or anything. It goes through and out back into the river on the other side of the pools. Then we ate dinner and left and now we're at the hotel.

PS: If you're reading this Mom, just know that once I come home, I'm going to be covered in mosquito bites because Costa Rican bugs just love to eat me.