We started off our day by touring theJade Museum. We learned that America only has 4 jade museums and 3 gold museums. Costa Rica on the other hand has only one of each and we were lucky enough to take the tour.
The jade carvings were beautiful and we all agreed we would love to own some of the displayed pieces. We learned that the indigenous people used to trade them for various goods when Europeans sailed over later on. Jade was used to symbolize power and royalty. Many of the jade owners were Shamans. The Shamans would adorn themselves in thick, large pieces of jade in the form of necklaces, bracelets, nose rings and even ear gauges. They also had crafted pipesfrom the jade to smoke hallucinogens from in order to communicate better with the spiritual world.
It was interesting to learn exactly how to tell where different materials originated from. For example, the metate, which is a stone table used for various purposed including grinding corn and yuca in to paste, was carved differently in different areas. The square metates were more common on the northern side and the oval metates were found on in more southern regions.
We learned about the process of carving jade as well. Since jade is such a hard rock (around 4-5 on the Mohs scale) it was difficult to carve unless it was done so using a material harder than the jade its self. To carve stone spheres, theindigenous people would first cobble the stone in to a rounder shape. Then, they would chip away the rougher edges, and eventually polish it smooth and free of impurities.
(Metate)
Another thing we learned was that jade was not just for beautiful jewelry. Upon excavation, archeologists have discovered that jade is also used for making teeth in some situations. Imagine having jade dentures.
Next, we traveled to the Salvation Army Daycare. We brought along plenty of Playdough, hulahoops, Koosh balls and building blocks. Needless to say, the room was a big mess when we were through playing!
Personally, I found that when you have such hands on play things like the ones we brought, language is obsolete. The children made us playdough glasses, patch eyes and even purple nailpolish! Sometimes the jump roping got somewhat dangerous.
The daycare was designed for families with limited funds. The children's ages ranged from babies to about first grade. The upstairs was limited to the older children and the downstairs was for the young ones.
The only complaint from today? We needed more Koosh balls! Who knew they would be so popular? We all now know the Spanish word for "share" (compartir!) and how to tell them "Un Momento, por favor!"
-- Sarah
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