Kelsey Timmerman's 'Where Am I Eating?'

In "Where Am I Eating?" Kelsey Timmerman meets a scientist named Luis Pocasangre while chasing after bananas in Costa Rica. He meets Luis in a garden, while the latter is harvesting rice for breeding. Kelsey writes "A student from Ecuador leaned on a shovel and chatted with a student from Panama as Mario introduced us to a man standing in a rice garden with 24 types of rice that to me looked like 24 types of weeds." (-"Where Am I eating?" page 147) This greatly affects the atmosphere of the story. By mentioning the other students in the garden, he adds more to the picture he paints, and helps the reader to feel as though they are there with him.

After pointing to the tallest plant in the garden, Luis specifies that it's from Texas, and