Mr Draper
Mr. Draper's Wiki Page!
Click on the comments page to see my daily entries.Go to this web site for my pictures. http://www.flickr.com/photos/51054449@N02/
Day 15 July 3rd: Leave San Jose and Head home to Virginia Packed up my stuff and headed down to meet Mike, Tim, and Mar. We met Jollio for a tour of his home and chocolate factory. It was a really cool location about 15 km outside of San Jose. We had a great time tasting chocolate and learning about his business. Went to the airport around 11 am and both flights went well. Carol picked me up at the Richmond Airport around 11:30pm.
Day 14 July 2nd: Leave Arenal and head to San Jose We left the Hotel Aurola at 8am. We had about a 4 hours bus ride back to San Jose. Quick lunch in San Jose and then went to curriculum meeting. Today was the day where all the small groups presented their environmental lessons. It was amazing to see the teachers at work. They were all fantastic and had some really creative ways of helping students learn. I personally liked the “Human Graph” which was a neat way of getting the students to critically think about certain environmental topics. After the curriculum meeting we went to our final group dinner at La Verbena. The dinner was awesome and about one million pictures were taken.
Day 13 July 1st: Hanging Bridges and Sky Zip Lines We arrived at hanging bridges around 9:30am. Hanging bridges is a privately owned rainforest park. It is a 2 mile loop where people travel over 8 suspension type bridges (kinda like the ones in Indian Jones). It was a really cool way to see the area. We had an amazing tour guide who was an expert on reptiles (especially snakes). We saw 5 pit viper snakes that are very poisonous. They came in many different colors (bright yellow, green, brown). The second part of the day was Sky zip lines. These zip lines were amazing. They had people going around 55 mph on a 1000 ft line. The view was so cool I don’t know if I can describe it. WOW!! Top 3 things I did today!!! 1. Sky Zip line 2. Taking cool pictures of Pit Vipers at hanging bridges. 3. Chilling out in Hot Springs
Day 12 June 30: Finish Home Stay and travel to Arenal Wake Up! Bus picks us up at Finca Maria Jose (Home Stay). Today was a travel day. We left Finca Maria Jose a little after lunch. It was a great time and I really enjoyed meeting and staying with the family. At around 1pm the bus picked us (Nat, Tim, Carrie, Nancy) up and we headed to La Fortuna. La Fortuna is a town just 10 km outside of the Arenal Volcano. We arrived at the Hotel Kioro at around 7pm. We all checked in headed up to our rooms to get ready for dinner. Our rooms were amazing. When we walked in there were two queen beds, huge walk-in shower and a 8ft by 8ft hot tub. The patio faced the Volcano which was rumbling and smoking. I was in absolute awe at what I was looking at and how beautiful this mountain was. Dinner was amazing. We had fresh fish and a really nice salad. After dinner about 15 of us decided to hit the pool. It was a great way to finish off another great day in Costa Rica. Top 3 things today: 1. Seeing the Arenal Volcano right outside my room. 2. Swimming in the pool and hearing the Volcano rumble. 3. Eating with Jennifer, Mamasita, and Folsita (bus-driver).
Day 11 June 29: Earth University Tour and Home Stay This morning I got up at 4:15am and went on a bird watch. It was a beautiful morning however I was extremely tired from the late night of dancing with Costa Rican teachers. After the morning walk, the group had breakfast and started the day with a tour of Earth University sustainable farming techniques. First, we went to the pig and cow area. The pig manure was washed and sent to the bio-digester. Bacteria in the biodigester breaks down the manure in an anaerobic reaction. Methane gas is produced and used for electricity at Earth. Finca María José This was my overnight stay. We lived in a very nice en casa (house). The owner’s names were Rogelio and Anna. They have 4 daughters. Two of the daughters still live in the house. Laura is 18 year old daughter and attends night school. She had a chemistry test that night that she was studying for. Rogelio and Anna also have an 8 year old daughter named Maria Jose. Maria Jose likes to play soccer with her friend Gabriel. Both children are 8 years old. They also like to ride bikes. There also was a 2 year old girl named Mariana. Mariana is the grand-daugther of Anna. She is very cute and opened up to us right away. This morning I was the first one up and Anna made me breakfast. I had huevos y arroz y pinto. It was delicious. This morning we are going to work on the farm. We are going to help take care of the animals. The animals we will feed are vaca (cow), cerdo (pig), pescado (fish), conejo (rabbit), pollo (chicken), pato (duck), perro (dog). Maria Jose favorite animal is obeja. After feeding the animals, Tim and I went out to the Talapia pond and I weed-wacked the perimeter. I didn’t have any I protection so I was very careful. It was an amazing stay. I love the simple life they have and they seem very happy. Mi tres favorite at Finca Maria Jose 1. Jugar bola con Maria Jose 2. Carrying Mariana on my shoulders to see the Talapia pond. (It brought back great memories of doing that with Abigail & Hailey) 3. Feeding the animals (pigs made lots of noise)
Day 10 June 28: School Visit Colegio Techico Profesional De Guacimo. Wow!!! Visiting the school today was amazing. I jumped right in and started talking with the students. Some warmed up to me very easily and others were more introverted. The drama class did an amazing dance for us. They had so much energy and happiness in their faces. One thing that did bother me was that to many students were just hanging outside the classrooms. I was told that they were on recess but about 200 were just hanging outside. I can’t see how learning is going on in such a setting. The teachers were very nice and trying to do a good job. I talked with them and they seemed upset about the truancy issue. Top 3 things I did today!!!+ 1. Drama class performing a Costa Rican dance!! 2. Talking to the students in a small group setting. 3. Dancing with everyone at the dinner party. (I was shaking my booty!)
Day 9 June 27: Leave Osa and Arrive at Earth University Earth University is a 4 year institution. Students attend school for three 15 week sessions. Earth students are typically recruited from low-income, rural areas across the world in an effort to ensure their return to their communities after graduation to implement the skills they learn during their time at Earth. Students that attend Earth are all on scholarships between 50% to 100%. Graduates are taught ways to manage sustainable businesses which often includes family and small farm operations, particularly in poor regions and communities. In the US, Whole Foods market sells bananas and pineapples grown at Earth University. Top 3 things I did today! 1. Was given organic tea in the coolest boxes made of banana paper. 2. Beautiful views of the Pacific coast on Nature Air plane. 3. Checking out the Earth University campus
Day 8 June 26: Went to the Osa Association of Fisherman (ASOPEZ). The ASOPEZ is a local association of fisherman that has been involved in conservation projects around Osa and is currently advocating for the creation of a Colibri-Caballero Wildlife refuge, an area that is currently home to many rare and endangered species. We took a boat trip in the “Verde Azul Golfo Dulce”. We boarded small boats and navigated through three different ecosystems (marsh, riparian forest, and coral reef). Top 4 things I did today!!! 1. Planted 862 baby mangrove trees. 2. Freestyle race vs. Stacia off an amazing island. 3. Observing a school of Black Tuna jumping out of the water. 4. Rainbow Crab clamping down on my hat.
Day 7 June 25 Trip to the Mangrove Forest and Housing Development that went sour! Today it rained all day! We went on a 3 hours drive to the Gulf side. It was a long drive in the rain. My favorite part of the day was taking a boat ride in the mangrove forest. See flickr for a picture of the two different seed pods. Mangrove forest are sometimes called natures kidneys.
Day 6th June 24th Heading to Osa Got up early today and went to the airport to catch a flight to Osa. We flew on Nature Air which is known as a carbon neutral airline. They use biodiesal to power all of there ground vehicles. The flight to Osa was amazing. The views were breathtaking and we went in and out of clouds. After the flight, we got into a bus and van and headed out to Neotropica. Neotropica is an private non government organization. Their mission is to promote the fair and intelligent use of natural resources through innovative initiatives that promote human development. After dropping off our bags we got back into our vehicles and headed to La Gamba. La Gamba locals have come together and created some business practices to help with development.
Day 5th June 22nd San Jose and US Embassy In the morning we visited the US Embassy and in the afternoon we went by Nature Air. Nature air is the first carbon neutral airline.
Day 4th June 21th San Jose It is a 2 hour flight and we had no issues. We went to our hotel (Holiday Inn Aurola in San Jose, Costa Rica). We had an amazing authentic Costa Rica meal. (See flickr photos page) The meal was black beans and rice (very typical of every Costa Rica meal) and shredded beef, chicken and potatoes. For dessert we had a sugary type Dof brown fudge. No chocolate just milk and sugar. After lunch, we had a 2 hours presentation from an environmental Costa Rican expert named Dr. Pedro Leon. He discussed an idea about Costa Rica becoming Carbon Neutral by 2021. Costa Rica does have 93% of energy produced by Hydroelectric power. They are also researching geothermal energy. However, the best location for Geothermal is in one of the national preserves. Many social issues also must be taken into account, for example immigration of many people from neighboring Nicaragua. After the presentation we went for a 2 hour walking tour through the city of San Jose. It is a very crowded city with over 33% of the country’s population residing in it. We saw many govt. buildings and also went through the central avenue.
Day 3 June 20th 2010Everglades National Park It was an awesome day. We started off at the main office in shark valley. Had an overview with the director of Everglades National Park. He discussed several social problems with everglades which include development, water use problems, and invasive species. Check out pics.
Day 2 June 19th of Toyota Grant. Today is a training day. Rhonda from Toyota – spoke about the Toyota program and discussed the history Toyota’s has with teacher development. She was a 5th grade teacher who later switched careers and started the program about 10 years ago. Mike from iie – discussed the itinerary of the 2 weeks. Mike also introduced the 4 trip leaders (Rhonda, Mardestinee, Nikki, Brownyn) Selection Process – 800 entries, most application ever for the Costarican program. Application were sent to an independent selection committee. 3 different people grade using a rubric and give you a score, finally they have a panel discussion. Top 3 % of the applicants. More than 600 people have gone on Toyota International Teaching Programs. Nikki Gilmore works for Toyota, spoke on “Moving Forward with Sustainable Business Practices” What’s its Worth? Why should large corporations be concerned about being sustainable? Founding Principles 1. Respect for People 2. Continiuos What is Muda? (Waste) Waste of time, waste of movement, waste of materials page 5 Toyota’s Guiding Principles Be a good corporate citizen “The Toyota Way” Toyota House Environmental Kaizen Project – Kaizen Project Results: If you don’t achieve your Environmental goal after the 5 year period you restart the objective. Idea: Would love to see pictures of side skirts, belly pans, bio-filters, changing gear oil, (trucking joined EPA smart way program) Treasure Hunts?? Look at electricity – track electricity use, lighting?, motion detectors, LED, et5 flourencences, Green Buildings Brownwyn Macfarlane – curriculum development instructor. She had use brainstorming ideas for our classroom. I picked energy use in Costa Rica and govt. run vs. privatization. Also, I am going to look at how Costa Rica wants to become the 1st carbon neutral country.
Day 1 June 18, Hello This is my 1st entry for the 2010 Toyota International Teacher Program. I arrived in Miami this morning around 10am. Cindy Hasselbring and I rode together to the hotel (Intercontinental Miami). It is a fantastic hotel. We went to lunch at Bayfront Mall and ate at Mango's. I am very excited to meet everyone tonight.