Our Trip to the Wood Factory

We were privileged to take a field trip to the Sr. y Sra. Ese wood factory during our last week at school. The store is a third generation family owned business that has manufactured woods for over 45 years. They supply wood products to gift shops and venders not only in Costa Rica but in other countries as well. This past week as we returned from a conference in Mexico, I found the same wood jewelry in the Mexico City International Airport, with it's made in Costa Rica label. The field trip allowed us an inside look at all the steps required for manufacturing the beautiful products we see in the local gift shops.

Due to the high levels of dust, we were required to wear masks as we started the tour. I didn't mind so much as it provided me a bit of anonymity as I walked as far away from these characters as I could! The pictures below show the different types of wood and their beautiful grains. The logs are dried outside for about 4 years before being cut and stacked for another drying time. After, the logs are planed and cut for specific uses and then sanded for a smooth finish.

Here you can see the variety of beautiful woods as well as the different sizes of pieces. Nothing goes to waste as plastic buckets of tiny pieces and beads are used as embellishments or for jewelry. The pieces themselves are put into a tumbler where the natural oils in the woods surface to give a beautiful shine without the use of any chemicals or finishes.

The pieces are categorized according to the products being made and each worker makes the individual product of his or her choosing - whether it be a purse, decoration, or jewelry. The more complex the item, the more time required to assemble it. Therefore, the worker is paid not only by quantity, but on a set quota determined by the complexity of the item. The woman below making these pens topped with small butterflies assembled one per minute. The woman assembling the wooden bowl below created one every 4 minutes! In addition to manufacturing wood products, Costa Rica protects it's national forests (there are 13 forest reserves) and practices conservation to protect against deforestation - a problem we witnessed while in West Africa where wood exports are a source of income as well.

School Begins & Ends for the Graefs

Well, since Dave and I just graduated in August, I got a bit behind in my posts. So I thought I'd tell you a little about our last month of classes, as well as a little about the education system of Costa Rica. Above is a photo of Aidan and Abby on their first day of school last week. They attend a private school on an American schedule, so classes start in the end of August. The typical Costa Rican school calendar starts in February since their summer (dry season) is from December until April.

Below is a photo of Aidan's schoolmates and teachers from last year. Sojourn Academy is a private school that educates the children of missionaries passing through the language school on the same campus. However, it is also an accredited Costa Rican school. Sojourn is a bilingual school where classes are taught in English and non-spanish speaking students are taught SSL (Spanish as a Second Language). The teachers are either nationals or teachers from the states who commit two years to teaching in a foreign field. So, if anyone knows a teacher that is considering missions or is willing to serve, please send them our way!

Costa Rica requires that every school have uniforms for it's students. The public schools of Costa Rica have taught English as a required class since 1994. However, due to the lack of qualified teachers, these classes are not available in every school. In addition to English classes, the President at that time started a computer literacy program. Although many of the schools do not have sufficient computers or technology for the demands of the program, Intel has agreed to donate 1000 computers to the public school system of Costa Rica. Intel is one of several industries here which has built up the economy by the manufacturing of exports in Costa Rica. Lastly, classes in the public schools have tests every month to review what students have learned. They have a final set of tests that students must pass in colegio (high school) in order to graduate.

As for Dave and I, our official Spanish education has come to an end. However, we are still students of the language since mastery doesn't come in one year! In August, we went through a series of three tests to evaluate our language efficiency. We had an ECO, which is an oral exam lasting about 30 minutes with one of the language professors at the institute. We also had an ECO with an external professor required by our mission and a 3 hour grammar test. Dave and I both passed the grammar test and received an advanced level for our ECO's. It is hard to believe sometimes since I seem to get tongue-tied when I speak Spanish! There will always be times where we make errors or forget vocabulary, but it is nice to be finished with the formal training! We will continue with a tutor and conversation partners, and of course, the daily practice that life in Costa Rica offers.

It was a blessing for us to have the Roughts attend our graduation ceremony. Dave spoke at the ceremony (in Spanish) in front of all our professors and did a great job. The Roughts were visiting their son and daughter-in-law who are our teammates but also come from one of our supporting churches, First Baptist Church of Hart, MI. Although we couldn't have family at our ceremony, it was a blessing to have them there as surrogate parents, wishing us the best. Thanks for coming!

Unwelcome Guests

This week we found our largest tarantula yet in our house! We have found smaller versions of the Aphonopelma moderatum in our house over the last 6 months but this guy spanned a few inches when his legs were fully extended. Here, he has pulled his legs over his torso in a defensive position but you can still get an idea of his size. The photo below was downloaded from a spider species website to show what he really looks like!

Costa Rica has over 500,000 thousand species of animals and insects within its borders, making it one of 20 countries with the highest biodiveristy in the world. This small country (about the size of West Virginia) contains 4% of the world's species due to its neotropical climate and geographical position. Of the 500,000 species, over 300,000 are insects.

Costa Rica is well known for its varieties of butterflies and moths as well. There are 1,250 varieties of mariposas (butterflies) and 8,000 varieties of moths. This 'little' guy was found in our room on vacation but we have also seen them in our garage as well! As you can see by the size of Dave's hand, we started referring to him as our 'pet'.





The variety of animals is incredible here, although I prefer seeing them in the zoo rather than in our home. Two weeks ago I had insomnia and went downstairs at 4 a.m. to watch a little TV. After I saw the small snake scurry under our TV cabinet, I woke Dave up to help me get it out. Regrettably, we discovered it was a harmless type after we killed it. However, with the three most deadly snakes living in Costa Rica, as well as a young baby who crawls on the floor, I decided not to take any chances. Needless to say, I never went back to sleep that night!

Giant cockroaches, snakes, an endless variety of ants - they've frustrated us at times but made life entertaining here as well. If you're a bug lover, please come see us and we'll be happy to show you around our lab, I mean our house!