#nsfreu

Our first weekend in Costa Rica, we left at 8am in the morning from La Selva Biological Research Station to the Costa Rica-Panama Border to visit the Bribri Indigenous community in the Talamanca Mountains for the weekend. It is about a 5 hour trek which eventually leads to the coastal highway--stunning views-capes of beaches, agricultural fields, banana herbs and Caribbean life.

Road tripping it to the Bribri Territory (14 June 2014, PC Lelemia Irvine) Upon our arrival, we were greeted by our guide, Rafael Angel Carbraca Selles. He welcomed us to the Bribri Territory. He shared to us some of the names of the mountains around them, and requested us to be mindful of our surroundings as the land is sacred to them.

Bribri Indigenous Territory, view of the mountains We had lunch and a tour of the "Finca Educativa" (Farm Educational Resource). We were served a delicious meal from local providers and the farm itself.

Lunch: rice with corn, plantain, mashed yucca, chicken, steamed squash and vegetables, tomato & cucumber, natural juice beverage

We were traditionally welcomed to the Fina Educativa with a Bribri song that gave thanks to Sibu (their creator), blessed and welcomed us into their land. The open air longhouse that we ate lunch was made from resources in the mountain and with the hands of the community. It is one of two traditional building styles: longhouse, and circular.

Finca Educativa Welcoming in Bribri in the traditional longhouse

The farm began with special funding from CATIE institute as a way to determine the best cultivation varieties of cacoa for the region. The garden is filled with mixed varieties of plants for functional and medicinal purposes. The "finca educativa" served as the first site and model for the community on small-scale cultivation incorporating both traditional and contemporary methods. Cacao holds an important place in the Bribri community relationship to the plant. It is used in their traditional ceremonies as well as medicine as well as their traditional stories. There are more than 5 varieties grown at the finca. After the tour, we help make chocolate from scratch with a Master Chocolate maker. Here's some pictures from the Finca Educativa Visit:

Tsiru, Bribri word for cacao in the family of Esterculiaceae

Mikal and students taste testing the fruit of Cacao

NAPIRE 2014 students learning about Cacao growth process and the deep relationship Bribri have with the plant (June 14, 2014)

Master Chocolate maker sifting Cacao beans. She shares the story of the entire processing of chocolate from picking the beans to consuming the final product (June 14, 2014)

Kirena, NAPIRE participant and member of Navajo Nation, hand churning delicious fresh dark chocolate (June 14, 2014).

NAPIRE 2014 students take a visit to the Acomuita Women's Cooperative Chocolate Farm and Factory (June 14, 2014)

On our way from Xi'an to Yanchuan County, we made a pit stop at Yan'an. Yan'an is significant in Chinese history because it was 1) the end of the Long March (when Mao's army retreated for 368 days across China gaining favor of the people 2) it is basically where the deal was sealed that Mao and the Communist party would be the next leader of China.

I might have interpreted this all wrong, I've studied it too many times. I do know that he lived in these cave houses, and that we went to the museum where the houses are still standing. They didn't feel like caves at all, and in fact felt more modern and comfortable than pioneer's cabins out west. (Yeah, I've been to those museums too, haha!) It was a neat experience and a really nice park.