Que cansada... not a fan of computer work

Que cansada = how tiring.

My back is not a fan of all of my computer work this week, especially considering the less-than-deal seats I have been working in... But hey, there are exciting things happening!

I am going to turn in my undergraduate thesis (for the Schreyer Honors College) this weekend... just a few more revisions and additions and that baby is gonna be all done! Wohoo! The irony of the whole thing is easy to forget at times when I'm sitting at a computer for hours at a time, trying to figure out how to format "fields" and tables in Word.

What is so ironic about it? Well, my thesis is titled: "Describing Secondary Agricultural Education in the Central Valley Canton of Turrialba, Costa Rica: A Case Study." This, of course, is where I lived 2 years ago (2012) when I first came - I visited local high schools that offer agriculture courses and collected a LOT of data (in just 2 weeks). That data was transformed into a superfluously (note: word of the week) long description of local agricultural education. I didn't have much time to work with the data until last spring (2013) and I really didn't get my first draft done until I was BACK in Costa Rica for the start of my EARTH University study abroad experience. Then, I really didn't get time to do anything with it until I received some revision feedback and began working on it again in the last two weeks... here, again in Costa Rica. So - it's a thesis about agricultural education in Costa Rica that was started, worked on, and completed while in Costa Rica - each time for an agricultural education experience! Talk about #irony. My computer is now accustomed to being stared at for hours on end in the hot tropical weather and probably wouldn't work for me if I tried to work on my thesis in the States.

This week, therefore, was much devoted to thesis work (hence back pain).

What else? Maybe something more exciting? I am still working regularly with the students at the local primary school - we are getting to know each other more and more. On Tuesday, I helped them pick up trash around the school yard! Although the appearance is still not that appealing due to the scorched grass, it looks much nicer! (note: these are the only photos I have for this week's blog - sorry, I told you I am not a fan of computer work - no photo opps!)

Clean up time!

Scorching sun = brown school yards

After a bit of time at school on Tuesday, I received a call that I could join a group of UTN animal production students to tour a feed mill and processing plant! It was pretty cool... maybe I am growing an interest in animal nutrition? I felt pretty knowledgeable of the content that the tour guide employee was reviewing - even in Spanish! I guess it helps that I just finished a 5 week animal nutrition/digestion unit in Wellsboro before coming here :) Either way, it was cool to learn about the processing techniques - I had never visited a feed mill in the US. They compared the corn of the US to Brazil and discussed ethanol production. The common, exported byproduct of ethanol production is DDGS - Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles. It was cool to learn that, not only is this English acronym universal, but that Central American animal feeds source this protein-rich product from the US.

Educationally-speaking, from the tour, I was surprised that more students (in their 2nd year of this animal production) didn't seem as engaged or even as knowledgeable of the theory behind the practical tour. I am wondering, now, if I should have attempted to teach these peers some agricultural concepts as part of this internship rather than simply helping them with chemistry. But due to the fact that there only remains 1 week of classes before the end of the semester, I don't think this will be able to happen... and thus I keep learning and moving forward!

The last 2 days haven't been that exciting - lots of thesis work and other planning on the computer. I am excited to say, however, that plans for Earth Day are really moving along!! They've blossomed into a scheduled plan with identified speakers and presenters, among other things, within the past 24 hours!

I am collaborating with a student at UTN who is majoring in wildlife/forestry and is a local to Atenas to brainstorm and plan some different activities for the community. In addition to meeting with him today and really moving ahead, I've been able to find some great online resources for Earth day/environmental ed activities. I also have confirmed at least 1 professor to give a demonstration about recycling and composting, and connected with a UTN employee who is active in the local community that is targeted for the event! Super exciting!!

And tomorrow is also an exciting day - I get to teach a lesson about Costa Rican agriculture and environmental issues to the 5th grade class at the school! WOHOOOO AG LITERACY! I'm pretty excited about it. I will reflect more tomorrow once it's completed (and I hopefully have some pictures to add)!

Man time is flying. I will be coming home in 3 short weeks... then graduating 2 weeks later. #crazy #reallife #whoa

Only the Lord knows what I will be doing in the next year - even though I have some ideas or hopes, it's really all up to Him. I just pray I won't be working on a computer for days at a time :)