COSTA RICA part2

church exterior

barber shop

clothing+shoe store

stationery

church interior

These are some pictures from our trip to the city. There was an incredible church which had very impressive architectural elements.(also very colorful and impressive interior decoration!)
Also there were a lot of small businesses which were managing themselves financially and not surrendering to the chain stores. This made me think of the possibility of the community's commitment the small storesand the owners of the stores. (Maybe they are family stores that they've known for long years) People have a personal connection with each other, and enjoy the small community in which they live in.

COSTA RICA part1

hiking in the dry forest

rice+beans+fish!

rice field

cleaning the river

Arriving at Costa Rica was very very exciting. First day we learned more about their natural resources by walking around forests and also their historical areas. Later we had a presentation by the head of Earth University(an International non-profit university) and were informed about the vision of their community and students. We stayed on their Guanacaste campus (Earth La Flor) throughout our trip, enjoying the natural beauties and the warm weather of Costa Rica.
The students of the university are expected to spend 7 weeks on this campus, working with companies (water suppliers), agricultural entrepreneurs and also take classes during this time.
When they arrived on campus we divided into 4 groups and each group worked on one of the projects with the students. My group went to a river close by and cleaned the trash(plastic waste, bottles, metal,..) from the river bed and the forest next to it.

New Experiments

showing how stitching can hold the rice straws in place

pouring  the 'TVP' (textured vegetable protein)

adding water to 'TVP'

ingredients of the milk-based glue

filtering the milk powder+water+vinegar mixture

 This week I decided to experiment with protein based natural adhesives. After reading about the benefits of soy-based adhesives which are gradually becoming more and more popular in the basic manufacturing of wood products, I decided to spend this week away from any kind of synthetic adhesives and concentrate on using formaldehyde free mixtures that I created.
One of these was the milk-based glue. As you can see above the ingredients were: water, vinegar, milk powder and baking soda. The process of making it was very basic and fast.
Another one was kneading boiled 'textured vegetable protein' with bagasse.
Then I put the mixtures in a mold and applied pressure for them to stick together.

Soy-based adhesives

Here are 2 articles about soy-based adhesives, how it was found and what it's benefits are.
Enjoy!

Nature Lab Visit

bagasse detail 1

bagasse detail 2

rice hull detail 1

rice hull detail 2

sugar cane waste detail

These are the images I captured under the microscope. Seeing the material in such detail was a very helpful experience. I was surprised to see some features of the rice hull and the bagasse.
The rice hull looked like a piece of woven textile which was odd because when you look at it in your hand you don't expect it to have a pattern/texture like the one seen in the detail picture above. It seems  more linear and not as soft.
Also the bagasse showed a crystallized ingredient holding the little pieces together to form the intricate compositions. This ingredient is probably the remaining sugar which potentially can be used as a natural adhesive.

Experimentation Process

Bobby grinding the sugar cane waste

shredded examples of each material

Adding liquid latex to shredded bagasse

Adding wheat paste to the rice hull

Flattened wet pieces of sugar cane waste

Placing the material in the jig with layers of wood glue

Compressed sugar cane waste in the jig

Variety of labeled experiments

Class discussion of our experiments

     In the past week, I have been trying lots of different ways of working with the materials are provided with.(sugarcane waste, bagasse, rice straw, rice hall) In the course of this time, I have started to feel more comfortable about working with them, learning more about their strengths and weaknesses with every experiment I have conducted.
    In the first tests, I mixed them with plasticine and also tried to use the sugar hull as a filler inside a folded piece of canvas cloth. With these experiments I realized that it would be beneficial to grind or shred the materials in order to have an even and dense mix, if I was going to put together any kind of adhesive with the raw material.
   So in the second part of the exploration process, me and Bobby tried our best to make these materials as powdery as possible.(Using our hands, scissors, metal rolling pins, mortar and pestle,..) And mixed them with liquid latex, rubber, wood glue, and wheat paste. This time the outcomes were much better. The pieces stuck together and showed no sigh of the adhesive. But the problem this time is the structural quality of them. They are all flexible and have a tendency to break with pressure.
   So the next step would be mixing and matching the materials with different types of adhesives and processes of playing with the material properties. Hopefully some of the combinations will work surprisingly well.

Gender Issues in Costa Rica

 Costa Rica is a country which is still in the process of achieving gender equality. Even though legally the rights of women are established they are still unable to guarantee women's personal integrity or their right to justice.
The obstacle in their way is the community's loyalty to their traditions which makes it harder for them to reach equality between the genders.
Here are the two posters summarizing the subjects I have covers about the issue: