Miracles in Costa Rica

The Catholic Church requires two miracles to occur and be tied to someone posthumously before they can be beatified.  Apparently the second one for the late Pope John Paul II took place in Costa Rica, as this article notes.  The article's main subject is the pilgrimage that happens every year to Cartago, to pay homage to a statue of Mary.

The expat life

It may not be all sunny fun and games, but the openness, adventure, and friendliness discussed in this article are pretty true.

If you're heading abroad, may I highly recommend Internations.org.

Going back to Africa

This is an exception to the posts here recently and harks back to my time in Africa, but The Atlantic had a long article about elephant poaching that is worth a perusal.  The article in parts evokes anger at massive illegal killing, but then at other parts the emotion turns to myopic hysteria.

What resonated for me: the scale of the poaching, some of which I heard about from a doctoral student at a lodge in Kenya.  The majesty of watching these animals up close.  The impact of China's partial colonization of East Africa, and the realization by many there that, in the end, they signed a Faustian bargain with China.

What turned me off: the not-even-veiled contempt for hunters and those who would argue for market-based plans to preserve the animals.  At one point he explicitly muses that hunters may be more vile than poachers.  Say what you will about hunters and their motivations, they are at least willing to respect the law and are killing only what governments let them, and the governments are entirely in control of this side of the equation.  The entire problem with poachers is that, by definition, they do not respect the law and kill en masse, and use fearsome tactics.

Which leads me to the biggest thing I found missing from the article: a focus on corruption.  He discusses corruption here and there, but I think the real problem here (like for many other issues in Africa) is rampant corruption.  It limits resources for legitimate protection of animals, it makes it easy to smuggle ivory, it lets imported Chinese workers do whatever they will, and ultimately it makes governments in Africa loathe to invest the resources to do something.

I do like the author's point that "one-time" sales are not read as "one-time" by buyers, and each one whets the appetite for more.  The biggest hope here, I think, is that that appetite is starved back to returns to its dormant state -- hopefully made easier by the fact that this is not an addictive substance.

Costa Rica in pictures

This post is pretty simple: a lot of pictures that I took of something interesting at the time, and keep reminding me of things I wanted to mention.  For those of you who have been looking for the kid's picture-book version of this blog, this is for you.

 Yes, they are wearing hats with cow heads and horns.

I want to introduce you to the person who might be the San Jose version of Leslie, Austin's cross-dressing homeless man who was their unofficial mascot.  I have been to a good number of concerts in San Jose, which has been wonderful.  They do a very good job of using the parks on the weekends for art, music, and all sorts of other fun family-oriented activities.   Well, at every single concert -- and, when there is no concert, the weekly Saturday drum circle -- this lady in blue has been there "dancing."  I say "dancing" because it's more like bad, high-speed, tai chi in motion.  She walks around a big area waving her hands.  After a while you can see that she has about 10 moves, which she does repeatedly and to any music.  Salsa?  Jazz?  Drum circle?  Rock?  Apparently this is the most versatile dance style out there.




I found this gem on the highway.  Rather than fix the road, someone decided it would be better to just pay the money to install a permanent sign that says "bad road ahead."  Well, I have to give them credit for being honest.

"Road is in bad condition."

Here is a typical casado from a soda, or local restaurant.  all of this plus drink for $4.  It's tough to leave McDonald's for less than that.  It even comes with a ripe, fried plantain for a sweet and yummy dessert.

And no, canned spaghetti is not standard casado fare.  Fortunately.

China everywhere

This past weekend the Chinese president visited Costa Rica, roughly 3 weeks after Obama's visit.  I have no idea whether that was a coincidence or a deliberated move, but it is symbolic of the wrestling for influence.

Costa Rica is special for China because it is the only Central American country that recognizes China: all the others recognize Taiwan as the rightful "China."  But, at least according to some quick digging, it may be as much because China has bigger fish to fry than because these countries are truly giving China a cold shoulder.

China is doing what it seems to do best: showering a country with gifts and credit and infrastructure.

China built a new national soccer stadium for CR in 2011.  This is quite symbolic when you think about the fact that it is the largest and official national stadium in the biggest park in San Jose for the most popular sport.  Everyone knows about it and can credit China.  When I discuss China's relationship with East Africa with people and the growing tensions over China's standard policy of bringing its own workers, people pointed out that China brought its own workers for the stadium, too -- ~800 in all.  This means that CR is left with a stadium, but not any new knowledge or skills (or even 800 salaries).  A law was passed specifically barring the Chinese from staying since many wanted to.  I'm not sure if China or CR didn't want them to stay, though I suspect the answer is both.

Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica.

As a side note, I was interested in the number of English-language Chinese-based articles that came up with some quick searches.  Clearly this is more important in China that it is in the U.S., but the press was also putting out a lot of good publicity about the visit and the deals.  My favorite might have been this one entitled, "National stadium brings locals happiness."  This is a very Chinese slant to the article.  I also was amused that one of the ways in which it is "making the locals happy" is by being a landmark in a city without street names and numbers.

Market penetration: The insidious drug invasion in Costa Rica

This article that I read today prompted me to write a bit about drugs here.

Fortunately for Costa Rica, gangs and drugs are not nearly as bad as in other countries in the region. However, the problem is getting worse.

I had a long conversation with a retired guy who worked for the Coast Guard. He said that for a long time drugs bypassed CR by sea. However, increasingly successful campaigns to stop those shipments made cartels shift their focus toward overland routes. In a genius, but sad, move, the drug cartels paid people partially in cash and partially in drugs. Basically, if you did something for the cartel and just took the cash, then you made OK money. The real payoff, though, was in the drugs you received. However, drugs are of no value unless you… sell them. So the drug cartels got their shipments through while spreading corruption, creating a user base/increasing demand, and limiting the headache of money laundering by paying with drugs.

Here is another article that is unrelated to Liberty Reserve, but likely related to drug violence that has crept into Costa Rica.

Rockin' round the clock

Apparently I survived a 5.7 magnitude earthquake on Sunday night/Monday morning about 3:30am.  It woke my Spanish teacher up, but I slept like a baby.

http://insidecostarica.com/2013/05/27/early-morning-earthquake-rocks-southern-costa-rica/

Maybe next year

Last night I was going to call it a night after a late dinner when a Tico friend convinced me to head with her to see her favorite salsa band. They were really good (they’ve won 5 Latin Grammys) and I’m a sucker for good trombones, of which this band had four. I also quasi-learned to salsa and bolero, meaning I got complimented for “doing a really good job… for your first time.”

Son de Tikizia at Jazz Cafe Escazu.

I’ve never understood/laughed at the SNL “I need more cowbell” skit. It was a bit of a cult hit with my friends in college, but I never got it. Now, however, I think it’s inadvertently hilarious – because a good salsa band has to have an oversized cowbell. This makes dancing slightly easier, because there is a strong “cowbell beat” for your feet to match. However, there are two basic salsa steps, and you’re supposed to only switch between them when the music changes. Apparently I do not yet have the ear for some of the subtle changes in the salsa music. 

Un fanático de Cartagines.

So, great night. However, there was another great event going on: the championship of the Primera Division, or the top Costa Rican soccer league. It featured the provinces of Heredia and Cartago; Cartago hasn’t won a championship in 76 years.  ("The Red Sox of Costa Rica"?)  I realized that the game was today only because as I was driving out of San Jose to go hiking, I saw lots of people selling colored flags. At first they were selling both red/yellow flags and blue/white flags, but as I drove deeper into Cartago it was just blue/white. People draped cars in them, had them sticking out of windows, kids were on the side of the road waving them at passing cars, etc. It was exciting even if I didn’t know exactly what was going on. The game was last night and it was apparently a thriller that went to penalty kicks; I’m sure that if I had opted to watch the game instead of the salsa band it would have been a great atmosphere, too.

Selling the Costa Rican dream

Recently someone forwarded me this e-mail.  I find it both interesting and entertaining.
1) Interesting for what it says about CR and expat life there -- which I would argue is directionally accurate but, perhaps not surprisingly, a rose-colored picture.
2) Entertaining, because letters like this (and political sky-is-falling-unless-you-contribute-$5-immediately letters) must be effective or they wouldn't write them this way, but I just find them to be disgustingly overwrought.  All the "Put your name on..." texts used to be links to the website, which I'm sure you can find yourself if this has convinced you to join me down here in CR.

Now for the e-mail:

List Closes at Midnight – Add Your Name Now (It’s FREE)
Put Your Name on the "Costa Rica Priority" List
for our ONLY
International Living Event in Costa Rica this Year

May 12, 2013

Dear International Living Reader,

If you like the idea of retiring to a place where you can integrate easily... save money... enjoy great weather... live a healthy lifestyle... and retire without the worry that you’ll outlive your nest egg...

Then you’ll like Costa Rica. It’s hard to match its tropical sandy beaches... peaceful lakeside hideaways... temperate highlands... affordable living... great healthcare... stable government... and thriving economy...

Put your name on the "Costa Rica Priority" List
for the Only 2013 Fast Track Costa Rica Conference Here

We’re hosting our annual Fast Track Costa Rica: Lifestyle and Opportunity Conference in San Jose, Costa Rica this August. It’s our only such event of 2013... and we expect it to sell out very quickly when we officially open registration soon.

So if you’re even a little curious about whether Costa Rica would be a good fit for you, put your name on this list now. It’s free. There’s no obligation. It just means you’ll get the details first.

Put your name on the "Costa Rica Priority" List
for the Only 2013 Fast Track Costa Rica Conference Here

In Costa Rica you can take advantage of top-quality healthcare at modest prices. In fact, the World Health Organization ranks Costa Rica’s healthcare system better than that of the U.S.

You’ll find here all the comforts of home—modern shopping, malls and world-class hospitals, and reliable high-speed internet just about everywhere.

Taxes are low, low, low... you’ll pay zero income taxes on foreign-earned income. If you buy a home in Costa Rica, your annual property taxes will be no more than $100-$200 in most cases. And there’s no capital-gains tax.

The lifestyle is laid-back, the people are welcoming, and you can settle in to living very well... for much less than you probably think.

On $4,000 a month you could live like a rock star. But most expats report they live happily and without sacrifices for $1,500 to $2,500 a month.

In the Central Valley, you could own a furnished cabin with gorgeous green views for just $89,000. On the Pacific coast in Tamarindo, a walk-to-the-beach, two-bedroom condo in the town’s center is available for $77,000.

Expats Gloria and Paul Yeatman report that their monthly budget is just $1,800. That includes their $600 rent for a furnished home, which includes satellite TV, high-speed internet, utilities, weekly house cleaning, a gardener, and even a security system.

You’ll find in Costa Rica a built-in community of English-speaking locals and expats... and it’s healthy, with little pollution and lots of clean water and fresh air. (A full 99% of Costa Rica’s energy comes from renewable, money-saving sources.)

Adult literacy is nearly 100%, which contributes to the strong and stable economy. And sociologists report: Costa Rica has the happiest people on earth.

We know that a great many of our more than 500,000 readers are keenly interested in the opportunities Costa Rica offers. That’s why we’ve created this "Costa Rica Priority" list.

Put your name on the "Costa Rica Priority" List
for the Only 2013 Fast Track Costa Rica Conference Here

If you’re intrigued by the idea of living better for less overseas...I encourage you to put your name on the list now, while you still can.

We’re taking it down at midnight.

Time magazine says Costa Rica is "a match made in heaven for those whose top priorities are natural beauty, friendly compatriots and an easy standard of living."

That’s absolutely right. This is a country that offers retirees a tremendous "up-side" in lifestyle and affordability. Whether you choose a beach... lakeside living... or a highland escape... you can embrace a relaxed, stress-free life—and do it on what would be poverty wages back home.

This summer, we’d like to show you—in person—how you could do it.

This event is the ONLY one of its kind for 2013. And there’s no question: It’s the most efficient, cost-effective, fun way to discover if Costa Rica is right for you.

You’ll meet our key contacts... get all your questions answered... rub elbows with expats already living there... see firsthand how little everything really costs... learn the best places to live and invest... find out about business opportunities... get the ins and outs of residency and health care... and lots, lots more...

Put your name on the "Costa Rica Priority" List
for the Only 2013 Fast Track Costa Rica Conference Here

Sincerely,

Jackie Flynn
Publisher, International Living

P.S. We’ll be taking this sign-up list down at midnight tonight. So if you’re at all interested in seeing if Costa Rica is right for you, please put your name on it now.

Put your name on the "Costa Rica Priority" List
for the Only 2013 Fast Track Costa Rica Conference Here

---

April showers bring May power

I was in Panama last week, where there is a serious power crisis.  This is because the majority of the country's power is hydroelectric, but the rainy season has started later than usual in Panama and the water reserves are getting low.

Last week traffic was messier than usual because the government changed its office hours, meaning people were commuting at different times.  Friday the my company's country manager declared that anyone could work from home if they were equipped to do so, and that they would run the air conditioner in the office only sparingly.  Result: at 11am it was 79F in the office.  Fortunately they relented later and turned the A/C on to let things cool down before they shut it off again.

From a travel update through American Express:

Government officials ordered three of Panama's largest hydroelectric plants to close May 12 to save energy. The plants will remain closed until further notice. Electricity is being provided to the country through thermal power plants and smaller hydroelectric plants.

Obligatory energy-saving practices are still in effect, including the following:

• Supermarkets, casinos, bars, nightclubs, and theaters must close 2200-0600 daily
• Government offices continue to operate on a limited schedule (0730-1330)
• Air conditioning in government offices and commercial facilities must be turned off 1100-1500 daily
• Public and private schools are open, but must not use air conditioning or non-essential lights
• Private businesses must not use air conditioning between 0800 and 1600
• All electronic store signs may only be turned on 1800-2200
• Businesses with private energy sources such as fuel-powered generators can continue to use appliances at will

Sharing the road… or hogging it all

I have enjoyed driving in Costa Rica. I have mentioned before how it has opened up some aspects of the way people live to me, but it is also just fun because it is continual active driving.

I have a theory that on one hand Costa Ricans (or Latin American drivers generally?) certain don’t know or disregard some norms of the road (fast traffic on the left, for example). However, because everyone is ignoring norms and because there are lots of potholes, etc., they are all more careful/defensive drivers than the typical U.S. driver. This is certainly true for me: in some ways when I’m driving in the U.S. I assume the other person will behave themselves, and someday I will probably pay for that assumption.

Add the fact that I’m driving a standard here, which I enjoy, and driving is a sport instead of a chore. You can still feel like a rally driver while heading down a road at 30 mph if you’re slaloming around potholes, randomly-stopping buses, and weaving motorcycles and also actively working the gears so that the caged hamsters can get you up and down the hills.

Here in Costa Rica you’re also dodging bicyclists and 4-wheelers that people take on the freeways. In Nicaragua you have to watch out for the horse carts.

There are also a lot of painfully slow drivers. There may be all sorts of reasons, but a Tico added this one: many people either take a rental care to their car inspection or probably bribe the inspector, so there are a lot of cars that simply can’t perform well enough to do anything more than crawl up hills.

But sometimes driving in CR can be a different experience in a different way, when you take over the whole road. While coming back from the coast (read: beach) one weekend I stopped to pay a toll. Kids were playing soccer on the other side just past the tollbooth, which I thought was a pretty gutsy move to jump in/out of the street when someone comes up to pay a toll.


Like a racing videogame.  Except that I'm driving a Toyota Yaris. 

After that someone pulled into the left lane to pass me on the undivided, 2-lane highway (and, by the way, this is one of their major national arteries) but then just hung there. The longer he sat there the more nervous I became. But then I saw others in the left lane, and then I watched as people stayed in the left… even when the two lanes became divided by a concrete barrier. I realized that they had redirected the entire freeway in one direction toward San Jose, so I spent a good bit of the rest of the trip driving on the wrong side of the road.

This clearly isn’t a fluke, because the road is designed for this: I noticed that the tollbooths have signage both ways, and there are “lane ends/yield” signs on the left side of the road where they are clearly marking lanes ending only if you are driving against traffic.

PS: I wish they had mobile credit card readers here like they do in South Africa. That would make me a lot more comfortable sometimes.

The multi-tiered expat life

I have discussed my surprise at the different set of expats I’ve met here. After being here a while longer, I have seen a bit more nuance.

First of all, everywhere I’ve gone there have been a couple types of expats, and what I really mean is people from outside the region. (Yes, Cameroonians in Nigeria are expats, but already have a lot more cultural similarities.) I have always met some younger folks living paycheck to paycheck usually living there as a short-term adventure. There is always the “core” group of businessmen. Then there is the small sliver who have made a permanent home somewhere.  

Here there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of Americans or others who are making it by the skin of their teeth. The difference is that frequently it isn’t a short-term thing, like it is in other countries (the 20-something with his guitar bumming around until the money runs out and he returns to the U.S.).  I met a guy who had just moved down and was looking for work and I had given him my phone number in case he needed something. He gave me a call a month later and just chatted, but the gist was that his housing situation (where he could live free in exchange for maintaining the grounds) had taken a turn for the worse, and that things were tight. He didn’t ask for anything so I didn’t offer, but I’m pretty sure he was essentially fishing for some help.  I met one late-20’s American single mom who moved down here with her kid expecting to get a job and stay here, and only after that realized it would be difficult to get employment because she needed a visa.

There are a shocking number of older (65+) Americans who are living here, and a decent number that I've met are in tight situations.

View from the Volcan Poas hillside into the valley; San Jose is in the distance on the right.


There is also a good section of people who came down with good jobs, then left the good job when it would have rotated them elsewhere and just decided to scale back in order to live here.

Finally, there are expats who have decent, live-anywhere jobs. I’ve met people who run call centers, lots of people in IT who are working remotely, and several people working on/off jobs (e.g. a guy who operates ship engine rooms and does 1 month on in Singapore, 1 month off at home in CR).

I am opposed to filibustering

No, I am not going to discuss American politics, I am going to talk about a Costa Rican holiday and their biggest national hero.

Recently we celebrated Juan Santamaría’s birthday.  Juan a drummer boy who was killed trying to set on fire a house where some troops under an American filibusterer named William Walker were holed up.

In case you’re trying to remember when we fought the Costa Ricans, the U.S. government never did.  What might resolve this puzzle is that a “filibusterer” is a term for someone who fought a proxy war.

 Not our best ambassador ever.

Walker thoroughly believed in America’s Manifest Destiny and also wanted to create new slave states in the pre-Civil War U.S. He invaded Mexico, captured a town, and was eventually driven out by the Mexicans and I’m sure the U.S. diplomat sincerely apologized to Mexico for our rogue nutcase.  He then gathered an army and invaded Nicaragua, at one point essentially ruling it.  After he was driven out by the combined forces of some of the neighbors, he regrouped for another try.  This time the U.S. Navy forcibly returned him to the U.S. when the caught him at sea.  He made one final expedition at the behest of some British colonists in Central America, but the British regional authorities saw his presence differently.  They caught him and, since we Americans clearly weren’t doing a good job keeping him at bay, they turned him over to the Hondurans who had no trouble executing him.