by Hannah Nevitt, Greenheart Travel volunteer abroad participant

The property of Costa Rica’s Proyecto Asis spans over eight acres of protected tropical rainforest, bought and preserved by Don Jaime Castillo and his family. He is a trained veterinarian and has dedicated the property to be a haven for wild animals, either injured or unable to survive in the wild. His son, Alvaro Del Castillo is the director of Proyecto Asis, (Project Asis, named after Saint Asis, who cared deeply for animals) and started the volunteer center and language institute. They are a wonderful family and take great care of the animals that are often injured by cars, or abandoned and left at their doorstep.

Walking around the property you can see monkeys, toucans, and parrots in cages built for rehabilitation. Some are being rehabilitated to be released back into the forest, while others will remain on the reserve because they have been raised in captivity or are otherwise unable to survive due to injury. Beautiful flowers and exotic plants grow freely next to cacao, banana, plantain, and fruit trees. As I cross the bridge over the small lagoon, a train of ants are hard at work carrying small green leaves. To my left the lagoon is filled with lily-pads, perched ducks, colorful fish, and swimming turtles. It is also home to a few crocodiles…which are apparent as soon as I see quickly moving lily-pads and a pair of yellow eyes pop out of the water.

In the center of the property is a large hacienda where Don Jaime and his wife live. This is also an open space for volunteers to relax and have lunch or coffee breaks. As we sit and enjoy a cup of tea and crackers the two raccoons scurry by us playing with the dogs. On few occasions they join in for my Spanish lessons…sitting in the chairs curled up in a ball or sleeping on the porch of the hacienda.

The whole concept that they would roam around freely took some getting used to. My initial response was to run away or jump onto a chair…but I quickly learned to observe the reactions of those around me; if the people who work their everyday are not afraid of them…aka, if they are not jumping onto chairs…neither should I. Needless to say, I still keep a foot or two away.

The monkeys on the reserve, performing in their cages like acrobats, are incredible. They have Spider monkeys that will hold your hand and are always eager to say hello in the morning. Last week, Teniente and another volunteer finished building a new cage for them; however a white-faced monkey arrived just in time to claim residence. I watched excitedly as they released the new monkey into the pristine cage…he tested all the accommodations by running around and jumping from branch to branch. He looked the like the monkey from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies so Alvaro let me name him “Jack.”

Walking back to my office, I pass other cages of boars, kinkajous, and “Hedwig” the white owl (he looks like the owl in Harry Potter). How different it is for me to interact so freely with animals that normally I would be 20 feet away from in a zoo!

My job here is unique and exciting. I am here to provide orientation programming and to be an on-site director for incoming student volunteers. Proyecto Asis has a number of volunteer programs at varied durations including working in the wild animal rescue center; feeding animals, building and cleaning cages, etc. They also have social programs where students can teach English or Spanish in local schools, work on recycling projects, or work on other construction projects in the community. We highlight specialty programs for veterinary students or professionals as well as programs in reforestation and conservation.

by Jes Stayton, Greenheart Travel high school abroad participant

 
photo by madehealthier.com
    Even if the ingredients are the same, the way foods are served are also very different from what I’m used to in America. In Japan, there is hanbaga and hanbagu. (Both are pronounced like ‘hamburger’.) Hanbaga is a hamburger, but hanbagu is just a hamburger patty, treated a little like a steak. As I mentioned before, mayonnaise is often used as a condiment, along with lemon or lime juice. I have yet to see either of my host families use salad dressing. (I moved to a new host family last week. ) Cheese is almost never eaten alone; it is always inside sandwiches, or cheese balls. Sandwiches are often a trap for the unwary. Unlike in America, where sandwiches may contain a few tame pieces of meat at best, sandwiches here may contain noodles, chicken patties with ketchup, fish and any number of strange things. So far, my favorite has been peanut butter with banana. It was delicious.

     Although a few brands of candy are common to both Japan and the U.S., they are the exception, not the rule. Kit-Kat and Snickers bars exist in Japan, but most brands of candy are different. Sadly, there is no candy corn here at all. (I love candy corn. ) My host aunt at my previous host family told me that Japanese people don’t eat a lot of chocolate because they get nosebleeds. That seemed a little strange to me at first, but it appears to be true. I have never seen any of my friends eating chocolate here, and most of the chocolate available in stores comes in tiny little squares. This is very convenient when you just want a little snack. You can buy these tiny little chocolate pieces, about 1 inch square, that you can buy for 20 yen. (Roughly 20 cents.) There is a lot of hard candy, though, sometimes in very interesting flavors. I have eaten green tea flavored candy, and seen (although I haven’t yet been brave enough to try it) both ginger ale and green bean flavored Kit-Kat bars. When I first got here, I was surprised by the amount of people who freely gave out candy to their classmates and friends. I’ve since lost count of the amount of people who’ve given me candy. Gum, surprisingly, isn’t nearly as popular as it is in America. Unfortunately, eating candy during class is against the school rules, so I have to save it for later. (Perhaps that’s lucky, since if it wasn’t I would be a lot heavier than I am now.)

    Japanese table manners are also very interesting. We say ‘itadakimasu’ before eating and ‘gochisousama deshita’ afterward. ‘Itadakimasu’ is showing gratefulness to the zen spirits, and ‘gochisousama deshita’ means something along the lines of ‘thank you for providing us with this food’. If you ever go to a restaurant in Japan, say ‘gochisousama deshita’ to the staff as you are leaving. This might seem strange to a foreigner (I know it felt strange to me.) but it’s the polite thing to do. As for other table manners, sometimes, Japanese people adhere to Western rules, sometimes to traditional Japanese rules, and usually to a mix of both. I am always grateful that my current host family tends to lean toward traditional manners. It is a lot easier to eat with chopsticks if you can lift your bowl to your face. Although slurping is okay in certain occasions, such as when eating soba (noodles), usually making noise while eating is rude. If you burp, the polite reaction is pretty much the same; say 'sumimasen‘. (Excuse me.)

   The traditional Japanese way of setting the table is really neat looking. Usually five or six small bowls are used, with a tiny serving of each dish in its own separate bowl. If rice and miso soup are served, they are nearly always in the front. Chopsticks usually go in front of the rice and soup, closest to the edge of the table. The ends used for eating also always point to the person sitting’s left. (I don’t know why.) The thing about table settings that always confuses me is that there are no napkins. If you want to wipe your hands on something, use a tissue. Even if you buy lunch at a restaurant or a McDonald’s, there are no napkins. If you are lucky, you get a damp wipe used to clean your hands before you eat. I never know what to do with those.

 There are many delicious foods and ingredients eaten in Japan that we don’t have in America. Many types of seaweed are eaten here; it is a common food. So common, in fact, that the Japanese do not use one general word to refer to seaweed, but rather have different names for each type. Konbu (sea kelp), and nori (sea weed) are completely different things in the eyes of a Japanese person, much the way I would talk about corn dogs, sandwiches, and croissants as completely separate entities. (The Japanese refer to these three things as if they were the same. Anything remotely bread-like is referred to as pan (bread). ) Squid and octopus are also eaten here, but they don’t usually enter into home cooking. I suspect that they are expensive.

There are also a number of strange Japanese vegetables and fruits. I often sit down to eat with my host family and see one or two unrecognizable vegetables. Japanese people don’t see vegetables as any more inherently distasteful than meat. In fact, when I told my friends that most Americans dislike vegetables, they seemed surprised. I have never been very fond of vegetables, but I find myself enjoying them more often than I used to. Maybe it’s because mayonnaise is often used as a condiment here. (I love mayonnaise.) Umeboshi (Japanese plum) and kaki (persimmon) are common here as well. Kaki is delicious, but umeboshi is very sour. They often lurk inside onigiri (rice balls) waiting to surprise the unwary person.