La Vida Finca

Life on the farm of Finca la Flor de Paraiso:  a bright sun rises at 5 (or before?), filling the valley with light and accenting the verdant color of the highlands. If you’re lucky, you can see Volcan Turrialba, steam spewing from its mouth into the cumulus clouds everpresent in the sky.

A bell rings to signal breakfast is ready: coffee, fresh fruit (papaya, bananas, pineapple), oatmeal, and thin pancakes or homemade bread. The workers and volunteers sit together in the outdoor dining area, where all are in good spirits, saying warmly buenos dias and buen provecho.

Another bell signals a meeting at the volunteers’ job board, to see what your work will be for the day. It could be tending plants in the medicinal garden, caring for the animals (horses, goats, chickens, ducks), turning the compost, ripping roots from the soil in preparation for new plantings, building a fence out of bamboo and banana tree leaves.

We work hard, with a break for fresh juice in the mid-morning. Time is not strict on the farm (or in all of Costa Rica for that matter), things happen when they’re ready. Nothing is rushed, and no one stresses about the time.

My favorite assignment is to help in the open air kitchen, preparing lunch on the wood-fired stove. All meals are vegetarian, using mostly produce from the farm. Garlic, onions, carrots, celery, and chives add flavor to rice and beans. Yuccas, potatoes and plantains can be made into so many different types of dishes. Fresh goats’ milk is always available to make cheese or for coffee.

Our afternoons are free to do what we please – take the bus into town for some internet time, study Spanish, visit a nearby organic coffee plantation, practice yoga in the beautiful studio on the farm, or take a long walk around the countryside. It often rains in the afternoons, which makes for great napping weather.

It often rains all day and all night, but there’s still work to be done in the fields, the animal pens still need to be cleaned, and we still have dinner together in the open-air dining room. Spanish conversation flows like wine (there is no alcohol on the farm), and the hosts are very patient with us as we learn the language.

We linger after dinner with tea made from fresh lemongrass, to learn more about the Tico culture, share travel stories, and make plans for the weekend. The sun sets early, with darkness falling well before dinner. When the fog doesn’t settle on the mountainside, you can see tiny lights dot the valley. When your mind is too exhausted to listen carefully, and your lids start to droop, it’s time to say buenos noches, hasta manana.