Hello SteemIt, + 10 Random Things Challenge

Hello Steemians!

I was recently introduced to Steemit by two friends from Poland @route-m-d and to help me get motivated to write my very first post they have nominated me to the 10 Random Things Challenge! That’s the reason why this is a “Buy one get one free” post, I'll try to introduce myself with 10 facts:

• Born and raised in beautiful, peaceful, stable Costa Rica: I was born in the warmth of an upper-middle class family in San José, the capital city of Costa Rica. I grew up used to a lot of privileges and little did I know that the choices I would make later in life would end up making me choose a very different lifestyle for my own family.

My grandma, my mom and me.

• Against all odds I graduated from one of the best universities in the world: No, it’s none of the well marketed universities you’ve heard of. So maybe it’s not the best statistically speaking, but from my point of view it is the best. Some quick facts: It was founded as a private non-profit international university, every year they carefully select, from among thousands of applicants, about 120 young adults that will be admitted to the university. 80% of the students come from disadvantaged rural communities, they can’t pay for their education and so are given scholarships. They ONLY teach Agricultural Sciences and once they graduate, most of the students go back to their communities to promote change and development. It is so perfect that its’ initials spell out “EARTH” and that’s how its known: EARTH University. I’ll probably write more about this wonderful and magical place later.

Good old university days, visiting a cantaloupe plantation with two of my classmates, Arlindo from Mozambique and Bakhtiar Tantri from Indonesia. I miss them.

• I’m an Entrepreneur: As it happens to a lot of people once I graduated from university I was unable to find a decent job in my area of studies, so I worked on a lot of different things, for example I used to answer phones for Customer Service at Amazon.com “Thank you for contacting Amazon, my name is Gabby, How may I help you today?” I even studied programming and worked as a web developer for a long time! But I always longed to work in my area of studies and one day I decided to leave everything aside and I spent all my savings to start from scratch, on my own, doing what I love.

• I’m divorced: Well, so it happens that my ex husband was a programmer and the day I decided to get a divorce from him was THE SAME DAY I decided to divorce the well-paid web development career I was in. It was a very risky move and a drastic change in my life, I can say for sure that I earn less money now, but I’m happier!

• I fell in love with a guy “from the wrong side of the tracks”: Yep, there is a big social-status difference between my partners’ family and mine, but that’s the way it was meant to be. I truly love this guy and I am willing to go through whatever it takes for us to be together, luckily our families understand this, and they gave us their “blessing”.

Us.

• My business is a Sustainable Goat Dairy Farm: We do everything from producing the goat’s food to processing the milk into delicious cheese and yogurts! We were recently awarded a recognition from the government because of our strong social and environmental commitment.

That’s me with the first 4 goats I bought.

• I live with total strangers: And I love it! Since I live on a farm and the farm house is so big for me I decided to welcome volunteers to help me at the farm and I also equipped 2 rooms for Airbnb Guests (this way I earn a little extra something to help myself with bills). The best part of this is that they usually arrive as strangers, but they leave as friends. One of these stranger-friends of mine were the ones who introduced me to SteemIt 😊.

This is us with Daniel, Monika, Sanne, Remo & Franzi all volunteers at our farm.

• I am a mother: I have a beautiful and sometimes annoying 3-year-old kid, whom I love more than anyone and anything in this world. Although motherhood was unplanned and honestly unwanted at that moment, I would not switch places with anyone, this little person has taught me more than I could ever imagine, about everything: work, family, life and even about myself.

Me momming at the farm.

• I love to reach out: And that’s why I am slowly transforming my life project, the goat dairy farm, into an educational model-farm where people can learn about food production, sustainability, animal welfare and environment conservation. This has always been a dream, but now I am seeing it slowly come to life. I started my professional life answering phones for a mega company and I now lead a small project that will hopefully have a BIG positive impact on the community that hosts us and on people from all around the world that visit us.

This is me, sharing my entrepreneurial experience with fellow women who farm.

• I feel overwhelmed, but happy to be here: Although I have made several attempts, I have never been able to write a blog and much less a diary. So, I will give Steemit a try and I believe that with you guys it will be easier and most importantly I believe it will be a fun and enriching experience!

Finally, Daniel & Monika asked a bonus question I must answer:

If you could move back in time, who you'd like to meet with?

Ok, that's easy, I would like to meet my great-grandfather, who passed long before I was born. The stories I hear from him are AMAZING, did you know that itsy bitsy Costa Rica was the 3rd country in the world to have electricity? Well, my great-grandfather was one of the responsibles of introducing hydroelectric energy in my country. The company he founded still exists and is run by my mother and uncles. He was a very successful entrepreneur and farmer who was always innovating, taking risks and helping those in need. He is one of my inspirations.

A publication made by the national news paper in memory of my great-grandfather on 1993, long after his death.

Well this is it for now, I hope my posts contribute positively to the Steemit community 😊 You can follow our projects page: facebook.com/capriella.cr & instagram.com/capriella

See you around!
Gaby