AWA NEWS

AWA Women Attend Study Tour in Costa Rica

After a semester-long class on tropical horticulture, six AWA members, including Olivia Koszarek, Hartland, Sophomore; Christa Behnke, Clintonville, Senior; Mackenzie Fochs, Mosinee, Sophomore; Dana Mohn, Lakeville, MN, Junior; Chelsea Brander, Spring Green, Sophomore; and Darci O’Brien, Prairie du Chien, Junior; traveled to Costa Rica, eager to take what they learned and turn it into an unforgettable adventure.

The two-week tour consisted of traveling across the country to experience the diversity of agriculture, appreciate the variety of native plant species, and engage in Costa Rican culture.

They toured the largest seed production company in the world, Linda Vista, and also had the opportunity to see CATIE botanical gardens, which holds ancestral gene lines of domesticated plants. Tours of a pineapple and papaya farm were also an interesting comparison to agriculture in the United States. Chelsea Brander recalled that “it was interesting to see how agriculturally based Costa Rica’s economy was” and how most of the tropical fruit grown there is exported to the United States.

The last week of the trip was spent with host families. The opportunity to learn and see the culture of Costa Rica was one of Christa Behnke’s favorite aspects of the trip. “I was able to use my Spanish and find out about daily life,” she said. Meals were prepared daily by one community member and the entire 18-member student group gathered at the community member’s house to enjoy the local cuisine. A group favorite was arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) in a casserole style with bountiful flavor.

All the adventures made this “an experience of a lifetime while being able to bond closer as sisters and enjoy good friends,” Mackenzie Fochs commented. They were able to hike through a cloud forest in Nicaragua and take a canopy tour of a lowland dry forest to see the natural vegetation of the region. Don’t worry, there was time to relax on the beach and enjoy an afternoon of snorkeling in order to take full advantage of this warm weather escape.