Cuentos de Costa Rica

ILCO Update: Rains continue in flooded Caribbean

2008-11-28T11:53:00.000-08:00

By Gabriela Mora Matarrita
Translation by Krystal Overmyer

Current situation and forecast
Precipitation has continued intermittently and with variable intensity in the Caribbean and Northern Zone regions. It is anticipated that during the day November 28, rains with variable intensity will continue to predominate intermittently in these areas. Therefore, rescue and first aid efforts will continue for at least two more days. Adverse conditions for navigation continue in the Caribbean maritime sector.

At this time, according to the evaluation completed by National Meteorological Institute technical personnel, Red Cross field officials, reports from local emergency committees, and the National Commission of Risk Prevention and Emergency Response (CNE), the state and institutional declaration of Red, Yellow and Green alerts will continue in the country's various sectors. This is in addition to the National Emergency declared by the Costa Rican government.

The ILCO continues to await more information from contacts in the affected communities in which we have a presence, with the goal of channeling support according to the needs present in this situation that is affecting our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean.

Levels of Impact
The present conditions have caused: the overflow of rivers, flooding and landslides. Communities are reported to still be inaccessible, and many people have been displaced to temporary shelters.

Floods in: 55 communities in the cantons of Sarapiquí, Pocosi, Guácimo, Siquirres, Matina, Limón, Talamanca y Sixaola.
Cantons with the severest impact: Matina, Talamanca, Sixaola, Sarapiquí, Siquirres y Pococí.
Isolated: 1,031 people in 9 communities.
Landslides: 3
Shelters: 113 dedicated shelters with 6,777 people.
Total number of affected people inaccessible and in shelters: 9,672
Total number of people affected directly: 46,600
Deaths: 1

Infrastructure / Health

1 damaged aqueduct
1,100 wells affected by flooding and contamination in Matina and Sixaola.
7 dikes with damage important to note: dikes in the canton of Matina, 4 Millas, Zent Viejo, Carrandí, Placeres y Matina.
11 affected bridges
4,600 flooded houses (preliminary evaluation)
1 affected clinic
12 education centers. 1 completely destroyed in Matina. This includes education centers that are being used as temporary shelters, which are suffering deterioration because of intensive use.
Road closings

Other affected sectors:

Limón port sector: The preliminary estimations from JAPDEVA (Atlantic Coast Port and Development Board of Administration) estimate damages at about 2 million colones (about $3.7 million USD).
Agriculture sector: Primarily banana, plantain and cocoa production. Other minor crops affected include: yucca, ñama, and tiquizqui, among others. Annual crops: beans, rice, corn and sorghum on a smaller scale.
Heads of livestock: More than 15,000 with likely problems due to problems associated with food transportation (concentrated), maintained and others. 1,500 hogs.
Poultry: More than 5,000 birds used in the domestic and small business economy in the cantons of Matina, Pococí, Sarapiquí, Siquirres, Talamanca.

Government actions (CNE):

National Emergency declaration.
Declaration of Red, Yellow and Green alerts in different sectors of the country.
Constant monitoring of meteorological behavior.
Activation of the Regional and Local Emergency Committees.
Support of coordination and actions taken by humanitarian disaster response organizations.
Availability of aid supplies (blankets, foam mattresses, basic food rations).
Airlift operations in helicopter.

ILCO update: National Emergency declared in flooded Caribbean

2008-11-27T14:29:00.000-08:00

By Gabriela Mora, translation Krystal Overmyer

The National Commission of Risk Prevention and Emergency Response (CNE) declared a National Emergency today, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008, in Matina in Limón, with the goal of speeding up repair to damages caused by the storm affecting the Caribbean Coast. This declaration covers the cantons of Limón, Sarapiquí in Heredia, Moravia and Coronado in San José.

The CNE reports that the number of people displaced in shelters has risen past 5,000. In Talamanca there are 18 shelters with 1,606 people; in Matina there are 24 shelters with 1,581 people; in Siquirres the number of shelters increased to 12 with 763 people; in Sarapiquí five centers were opened with 559 people; in Limón there is one shelter with 100 people; and in Pococí there are two shelters open with 31 people. These numbers do not include those affected in communities left inaccessible, who have not been able to be evacuated to shelters.

In Matina, the Cuatro Millas and Barbilla River dikes were affected. Due to the rains, in the early morning hours yesterday the Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery (Recope) oil pipeline, which passes by Matina, broke and caused an oil spill. Because of the emergency in the Atlantic Zone, hydrocarbon pumping was suspended for several hours.

The Talamanca indigenous zone has also been severely affected. More than 4,000 people are suffering from the passing of this severe storm. Zones such as Amubry, Kachabri, Suiri, Bajo Cohen, Coroma, Mojoncito, Sepecue, Sibödi, among others, are cut off.

In these places, the Uren, Lari, Telire and Cohen rivers have overflowed and have destroyed roads, crops and housing.

The help of first aid units is arriving by air with four helicopters, as most roads are flooded and destroyed. There are a great number of communities left inaccessible.

It is evident our country is passing through very difficult times. The ILCO continues to await more information from contacts in the affected communities in which we have a presence, with the goal of channeling support according to the needs present in this situation that is affecting our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean.

Note to self:

2008-05-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

When you are taking the long route to work, avoid walking by the all-boys high school. It will only invite questions as to:

1. Your paler-than-average skin tone;
2. Your lack of a male companion (oh, heavens! how unseemly!);
3. Your refusal to give those pimply-faced, hormonally driven teenagers the time of day.

America's favorite cookie

2008-05-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

I love Oreos. I have since I was a little kid. Actually, writing this post is making me hungry just thinking about them. They're so good!

Fortunately, Oreos are available in Costa Rica, though the packaging is a bit different than U.S. standards. Also, although one can find the double-stuffed version, there apparently is no 1/3 less fat version to be found, nor are there the myriad of colors (Easter pastels! Halloween orange!) you'd find in the U.S. But that's OK. I'm an orig type of girl, anyway.

I'd packed a few snack-sized packets on my trip to La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano, thinking surely they'd come in handy. As it happened, I stashed a few on our five-hour, grueling hike up to Cerro Chato, an inactive volcano that has great views of the biggie, Arenal, plus a lake in the old crater that you can swim in.

I should've known better, I guess. I'd never tired anything that physically grueling since I attempted a 50 km bike tour in Bariloche, Argentina. Like then, I found myself contemplating alternative methods of completing the return trip. Helicopter rescue extraction? Rolling down? Spending the night up there and waiting till my muscles decided to recover?

We did make it to the top, where we met up with this really industrious Dutch couple who had totally passed us on the way up. As we sat by the lake, I broke out the Oreos - sweet nourishment! - and the male Dutch guy goes, "Hey, Oreos! So are they really America's favorite cookie?"

I like getting questions about the U.S. like this, because even though my first instinct is something like, "nahhhhh," upon further thought, I inevitably realize that our cultural depth is far more limited than I thought it was. For instance: I love Oreos! If I had to pick a store-bought cookie, I would probably choose them. And so would any number of other Americans, I imagine. I mean, gimme home-made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies any day, but if we had to choose one unifying cookie for the entire country - the cookie equivalent of the bald eagle, let's say - it's probably gonna be an Oreo. Pass the milk, please.

Ah, the Dutch couple. I wonder how often I live up to people's standards of what an American is or should be. As we started down the mountain, the Dutch couple (and the other 5 souls that attempted this hike) passed us, until we were basically the only ones up there (thwarting my ideas of rescue). Such hardy folk, the Dutch. Andrew and I were seriously sore - like my-bones-are-aching-like-an-old-person's sore - for the next few days. Meanwhile, I bet they were bungee-jumping into the volcano.

Food crisis looms as prices rise

2008-05-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

People here, like everyone else in the world, are talking the same: Electricity's set to spike. Gas is creeping upward. Prices for basic items like milk, rice and beans are going up, up, up.

Things have been going this way for years, it seems; now it's only getting worse. The World Bank fears the global food crisis could set the world back seven years in the fight against poverty. While no one is immune to the crisis - indeed, U.S. food prices on basics like milk, eggs and bread have increased some 16-35 percent in the last year - it is the poor who feel the pinch the most. In industrialized nations, 10-20 percent of consumer spending is on food; in developing nations, that number rises to 60-80 percent.

The price hikes are dramatic. According to the World Bank, the price of rice has doubled in the last five weeks. Overall, food prices have risen 83 percent in the last three years. For the more than 1 billion people who live on $1 a day, the effects are profound. The hungry are taking to the streets in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean with protests and riots, sometimes ending in violence.

The causes are multiple. Export restrictions implemented by grain-producing countries have constrained supply, as has increased demand in Asia, the increasing diversion of grain to produce biofuels, bad weather. Rising fuel prices mean higher transportation costs, and in turn, higher agricultural commodity prices.

This may be the end of cheap bagels, pasta and bread, according to The Washington Post:

The Washington Post has a variety of resources exploring the causes of the food crisis and its effects, both in the world and in the U.S. Also included are ways to help.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/globalfoodcrisis/

In the meantime, what can we do? ILCO might answer that a more holistic approach to food consumption and our relationship to the environment is needed. The church was recently featured in a news segment for its botanical garden - a small plot near our parking lot with some vegetables and herbs. The idea, then, is that we grow a portion of what we consume. A number of church projects are tied up in the idea of sustainable agriculture - a topic I'm not completely familiar with. However, from what I understand, the idea is that producers, consumers and society work together producing plant and animal products that, over the long time, satisfy human needs, preserve the environment, keep farms economically viable and increase the quality of life overall for all parties involved. It is stewardship of both natural and human resources. As caretakers of this creation, perhaps we are in need of this reconciliation between ourselves and our environment - and ultimately among each other.

My job description

2008-05-02T17:39:00.000-07:00

I wrote this blurb for an ELCA project; it basically sums up what I'm doing and why I'm at it:

ELCA missionary Krystal Overmyer works in strengthening communications between the Iglesia Luterana Costarricense (ILCO) and its partners abroad, particularly ELCA companion synods in the United States. This includes coordinating visits between U.S. and Costa Rican Lutherans, based on the idea that such face-to-face encounters help us exchange experiences and share different ways of being church.

ILCO believes such visits are important for two primary reasons. First, ILCO considers the spiritual work of the church to be united with service, and it practices a holistic mission of Word, Sacrament and Service among the most marginalized of Costa Rica. ILCO hopes visitors can take something from this model and apply it to their home congregations, while ILCO can similarly learn from visitors' experiences.

Secondly, ILCO hopes visits will deepen relationships, connecting the global Lutheran family more closely and allowing us to share our joys and sorrows in more personal ways.

In addition to facilitating this process, Overmyer teaches a weekly English class to pre-adolescents in La Carpio, an urban community of lower socioeconomic status with a strong Nicaraguan immigrant presence.

ILCO Update: Lutheran Church of Costa Rica consecrates its first bishop

2008-05-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

Under the framework of the 20th anniversary of the Lutheran Church of Costa Rica (ILCO), Melvin Jiménez Marín was consecrated as Costa Rica’s first Lutheran bishop on Sunday, April 27, 2008. His consecration followed the request of Lutheran communities of faith, who called a pastor of pastors and a voice within the church, aimed toward society.

The consecration included the participation of more than 300 invitees, including members of ILCO’s various communities of faith, mission points and points of service around the country, as well as Lutheran bishops and delegation representatives from Sweden, Germany, the United States, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Additionally, the event included Anglican bishops from El Salvador and Costa Rica and representatives of civil society, among them the ex-presidential candidate Rolando Araya, former Costa Rican president Rodrigo Carazo and Allois Moeler of Lutheran World Service.

The service was tinged with red, the color of solemn celebrations and celebrations when martyrs are remembered. A red stole was placed on the spiritual leader, a symbol that implies carrying the responsibilities of the community on his shoulders, and the responsibilities and projects of the church. Additionally, Bishop Jiménez received the mitre, a piece which was placed over his head to symbolize the authority projected from the church. The staff also was given to him, a type of wooden cane that gives him the power to direct, guide, and illuminate the path so that his church follows and is well-led.

A pastor of pastors. Ordained as a Lutheran pastor in 1990, Melvin Jiménez has since his youth been a leader of adolescents and youth, and has devoted his life to ethical and Christian education. Since 2000 he has been Pastor-president of the Lutheran Church of Costa Rica, and this year he began serving as Moderator of the Conference of Bishops and Presidents of the Lutheran World Federation member churches of Latin America – a position which he will hold until 2011.

Deepening the holistic mission of the Lutheran Church will be one of his principle projects during his leadership. Therefore, the bishop will work so that ILCO’s tasks and projects incarnate the reality of the poor and marginalized of Costa Rica, in order to improve living conditions and build justice together with them.

In working toward building a sustainable church, Costa Rica’s first Lutheran bishop hopes to extend its presence in more than 30 communities in the country, in order to benefit more than the 5,000 people currently supported by the church. Projects in the defense of human rights and of women, indigenous peoples and people with HIV/AIDS will stay on the agenda, with intensification of new programs for children, youth and adolescents.

View more photos of the celebration here: http://www.ilcocr.org/leer.php/281

Update: ILCO celebrates ordination of Costa Rica's first Lutheran bishop

2008-04-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

On April 27, pastor and sociologist Melvin Jiménez Marín will be ordained as the first Lutheran bishop in Costa Rica.

Jiménez' ordination will strengthen ecumenical relationships – particularly with the Catholic Church – by helping to motivate different historically Christian denominations to "embrace the causes of justice, peace, and fraternity: signs of the Kingdom of God among us," said the spiritual leader. He added that this celebration is a response to the requests of Lutheran communities of faith, which through their growth and development called "a pastor of pastors and a voice within the church, aimed toward society."

The pastor, who has a Master's degree in theology, said that through "face to face" encounters the church hopes to include and empower the voices of women, adolescents, and people of diversity. As bishop, he will focus on promoting a participative democracy for decision-making among members and leaders of the church.

As the president of the Costa Rican Lutheran Church (ILCO), Jiménez has stood out on the national and international level because of his active participation in defense of human rights and Costa Rica's most vulnerable groups.

See the full press release at: http://www.ilcocr.org/leer.php/280#2

Or, click here for the pdf: http://www.ilcocr.org/media_files/download/Anniversarypressrelease%5B2%5D.pdf

When ordinary cockroach-killing speed isn't enough

2008-04-19T21:56:00.001-07:00

I've had my run-ins with Costa Rican cockroaches, as I've mentioned in this very blog. Fortunately, my apartment bug problems have been minimal. For a while it seemed an ant invasion was imminent - I kept finding the little sugar ants in my sink and near the trash - but armed with the church cleaning lady's advice, I bought this spray stuff called Baygon that chemical-bath killed them by the dozens. They haven't returned. As it happens, the same juice works for cockroaches and probably small dogs.

I knew Baygon was good, but it took a TV commercial to raise it to new heights of roach-killing glee. Apparently, Baygon kills cockroaches up to three times faster than other comparable brands! The commercial images showed this weird, green lazer zapping animated roaches, followed by some twitching and then at last the stillness that comes with that inevitable flip-on-its-back.

I've never comparison-shopped bug-killer based on killing time, but I suppose it is the most humane thing to do. Also, I imagine if you have a major infestation, that three-times faster business means you can kill one and move on to the rest all the more rapidly. Could be handy.

Like I said, my bug problems have been minimal - especially considering that this is a place where many households fight a losing battle against ants in the sugar bowl, the coffee maker, the sink, the walls, the microwave. My downstairs neighbor seems not to be so lucky (which perhaps spells danger for me). The other day, I heard her bemoaning, "Look at all the cockroaches!" when she was cleaning out her back room.

Lovely.

When flowers are leaves and summer is fall

2008-04-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

It's been more than six months, now. The weather turns again. For a blissful few months, we had hardly any rain - just sun and bright wind and a tantalizing mix, I felt, of the best of spring and fall. Even the trees played double agents. Orange flowers on poros looked like ripening maples and oaks and all those trees I never bothered learning the names of, because you could count on them year after year. I liked the trick though - thinking of the poros as heralds of fall in the dog days of summer.

But now the flowers, too, have fallen, and more and more we have cloudy afternoons that promise rain. I know that come June or July we might have the days on end of rain, which frightens me a bit. At least with snow, the first few times it comes around seem magical. With rain you just end up wet and clammy.

A Maundy Thursday ritual

2008-03-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

I've had my feet washed before. I mean, I've had pedicures.

But to wash someone else's feet (a stranger!) - and even more, have your feet washed by someone else?

It can feel... well, strange.

I imagine it was a bit strange for the Disciples, too: Jesus, Son of God, bending down to wash their feet - an act usually performed by servants.

The point? Jesus inverts the usual relationship between master and servant - and then calls upon the disciples to do the same among others.

This relationship - between serving and allowing ourselves to be served, between giving and receiving - is one fundamental to the ELCA's model of mission.

It also has a great deal to do with my work as a communicator between visiting groups and the local church. Sometimes, individuals or groups come to "do" mission - to give, to serve, to minister. Part of this idea has to do with our position of privilege as Americans, our notion that we have the material and spiritual gifts and know-how to confer upon others (while forgetting that many have a wealth of gifts and know-how to share with us).

Maybe we are just uncomfortable with the idea of receiving.

In the foot-washing ritual, is it more comfortable to wash another's feet, or to have your feet be washed? I think many would answer the former. We all want to serve. But having one's feet washed, by contrast, requires us to receive - the greater significance is perhaps admitting we have needs and vulnerabilities, that we don't have all the answers.

It is an interesting idea. Jesus washes the Disciples' feet - is subservient to them - but then calls upon them to do the same to others.

So we are never just Master or Servant, but constantly changing roles. Always both giving and receiving.

The cockroach graveyard

2008-03-21T09:43:00.001-07:00

It's happened twice now. I awake, venture into the office room and find a cockroach on the tile and on its back.

Costa Rican cockroaches are big and nasty and quick. And apparently they prefer to take their eternal rest in my sunny little office room.

It looked dead, but I wasn't sure. I hit it with some Baygon, just in case it was faking. Its legs (or arms?) twitched a little. Eventually it stopped. I felt bad. I can't imagine dying by chemical bath is particularly pleasant, but the exoskeleton factor puts squishing out of the question. Also, the last time I tried to squish a live one it literally disappeared. Really. No scurrying or anything. Just zap, it was gone. (Oddly, it was the next morning that I found Dead Cockroach No. 1 in my office).

Still, what is it about that room? Why there and nowhere else?

Domingo de Ramos

2008-03-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

You sweat in El Jardin. You fidget and sweat some more. You ponder the metallic taste on your tongue, wonder if it's a byproduct of those daily pesticide-spraying planes over the banana plantations.

Part of my job is to help visitors to see the reality of many living in Costa Rica. Now that I've lived here for six months, I'm more familiar with the work of the church and it's communities. But I wonder how visitors view places like El Jardin. Are they annoyed by the heat? The dust? The badly paved roads and the lack of air conditioning?

Do these discomforts mar our experience? Do we "have the experience but miss the meaning"?

For Palm Sunday, or Domingo de Ramos, the kids in El Jardin reenacted Jesus' entry into Jerusalem - one child as donkey, one as Jesus, the rest shouting "Hosanna!"

After awhile, you embrace the sweat. It feels real. Not sterilized, in the way our services at home can sometimes feel. Perhaps Jeses wants us to get a little dirty. A little messy. Feel the dust and the dirt and the Earth. Like a man riding a donkey into town.

All you need is a ball

2007-12-21T07:12:00.001-08:00

Youths practice in La Carpio, a San Jose neighborhood with a large concentration of Nicaraguan immigrants.

You play with one shoe. You play in socks. You play in bare feet. Doesn't matter. In Costa Rica, like everywhere else in Latin America, you play soccer. Everyone can play, even in the poorest communities - all you need is a ball.

Five years ago, ILCO created Futbol por la Vida, or Soccer for Life, to help at-risk children and youth in Costa Rica. The program took off: now, Futbol por la Vida is a separate foundation, and boasts five soccer schools for kids aged 8 to 18.

Although Futbol por la Vida offers kids training with professionals, communications director Andres says that the soccer part is just the gimmick. The trick. With soccer as the backdrop, a team of social workers can help open the hearts of the youths, and their parents, to work for greater change.

Social workers like Silvia are on site at every Futbol por la Vida practice. Her work isn't always obvious - but after awhile, you notice kids stopping by to chat with her, perhaps relating a problem at home or at school. Silvia can work in crisis intervention, if needed. But she also helps shape the values that originate from play - training and practice mimics the homework and studying the kids need to do buck a national trend and finish school. A captain system, with the captain elected by his or her team members, mimics a democratic system - the biggest and strongest kids have the same vote as the smallest ones. Integrated girls and boys team help break down gender stereotypes. And Futbol por la Vida-sponsored workshops, with topics on AIDS, violence, drugs, conflict resolution, and values (to name a few), are offered off the field.

In the beginning years, Andres says, it seemed all the Futbol por la Vida teams lost their games against other local leagues. He couldn't figure out why: the kids were playing well in practices. Eventually, he figured it out - once the teams fell behind, they gave up. The kids aren't used to fighting, he says. Just gave up hope.

Perhaps it's no wonder, Andres says, given the lack of hope for the future in their families and communities. The question, then, is whether these kids can develop their own future. Futbol por la Vida is trying to do its part: the kids are asked to help organize events, suggest topics for workshops, and work together. Hopefully, they'll carry those experiences with them in their own lives, and back to their communities.

Where is God in Omaha?

2007-12-13T12:15:00.000-08:00

Eight people died last week in a store in a mall in a city that I know quite well.

I'm sure you heard about it on the news. In Costa Rica, we did, too. In the papers, another U.S. mass shooting, committed by a troubled young man. He didn't know the victims. But by now, everyone in Omaha - and people around the world - know him. Know his name, know his face.

Perhaps even the most faithful among us wonder why God would let such innocents die in such a brutal way, especially at the time of year when family and faith are so important to so many. If God has a plan, how could this be it?

I am no pastor, nor theologian, nor anyone with great wisdom. But my reflections have led me to believe that perhaps what God offers is not necessarily safety or health, but hope. Hope that people are really good at heart, despite all evidence to the contrary. Hope that one person can make a difference. Hope that at the end of our lives, what we are - and what we have been - is more than dust.

We can't avoid suffering. But maybe we can hope that when we suffer, God will be with us, sharing our pain. We will not be alone.

The sad and embarrassing example of middle-aged gringos

2007-11-29T12:19:00.000-08:00

In downtown San Jose, there are a few restaurants where Americans are known to haunt. For awhile now, I've been thinking about going to one such restaurant, the News Cafe, perhaps to meet other expats.

I walk by the News Cafe often - sometimes more than twice daily, depending on my bus schedule. As I pass, I always glance inside, checking out those sitting on the terrace, sipping cafe con leche and people-watching.

Gradually, I realized that many of the News Cafe's patrons, especially in the mornings and evenings, were male. Then I realized that these males tended to be middle-aged.

And then one morning, I was walking behind a smartly-dressed young Tica woman, and together we walked past the News Cafe terrace. The middle-aged Americans gestured at this woman, giving her "piropos" (the very Latino whistles or terse come-ons) in a way that almost seemed vulgar.

Piropos come in many forms. Some are benign, simply a recognition of the femininity of a woman. Others can be more obscene.

The words of the News Cafe men weren't vulgarities. But it was the way the gestured - the way they demanded attention - that was so possessive. So vulgar.

In a later commentary with my Spanish teacher at the language school, she said that gringos indeed congregate about certain hotels and restaurants and bars - and so do the prostitutes they seek. Prostitution is legal in Costa Rica, though child prostitution is strictly banned (as numerous signs in airport customs will inform you). My Spanish teacher has overheard aging men in her classes - many with wives and children back home - talking about heading to downtown's Hotel Del Rey "just to see" Costa Rica's prostitution problem in action.

Some men rent the woman for a week or more - they accompany them to the beach, the resorts. My teacher remembered one man who returns to Costa Rica several times a year - on paper to practice Spanish, but in practice to enjoy the prostitutes.

I've personally not felt the piropo presence very much in San Jose - perhaps machismo is not so entrenched here as in less cosmopolitan cities.

Far more disturbing were these middle-aged Americans, guiltlessly flaunting their masculinity by degrading other women.

Two bus rides, two demonstrations

2007-11-26T14:00:00.000-08:00

The past two days I've attempted to travel by bus, only to be stymied by street demonstrations.

On Sunday, it was dancing and ox-carts. The main drag through downtown was closed for for the National Boyero Day, a celebration of the ox-cart drivers who once traveled hundreds of miles in dirt roads with a precious cargo: coffee beans, destined for Europe. Back in the 1850s, that coffee boosted the economy of a newly independent Costa Rica.

Dozens of folkloric dancers flashed by in the parade, waving multicolored skirts and stepping, one-two-three one-two-three, to traditional music. Men cut the air with handkerchiefs or coffee sacks.

And later, the oxen clopped by - but now their painted carts carried people, not coffee, waving to the families that showed up in droves for this event.

Catch the video at the newspaper La Nacion's Website: http://www.nacion.com/videos/videoblog.html

Then on Monday, CAFTA again reared its capitalist head - and again, the people affected demonstrated in the streets. This time, workers for ICE - the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity - demonstrated against the CAFTA-mandated dismantling of the government-owned communications monopoly.

Basically, ICE controls both telephone and Internet access for the entire country. In my limited experience, this has both its benefits and disadvantages. My cell phone bill, for instance, is pretty cheap per month. But my apartment doesn't have a phone line - and getting one would mean requesting one from ICE, hoping they have enough lines in my area to even grant me a number, and then waiting (who knows how long?) for them to come out to install it. Same goes with the Internet. Only recently has ICE offered high-speed Internet, and again, from what I gather, installation can take awhile - that's if high-speed is offered in your area.

But for many, the issue isn't about having the latest and greatest technology. Over and over again, I hear the word solidarity. Solidarity implies a sense of unity and fellowship, of shared responsibility. The communications monopoly is about giving access to the people as a whole at a reasonable price. One lecturer talked about this specifically: Cell phone service may not have all the buzzers and bells of your Verizons and Sprints, but it works.

For solidarity-minded people, that's enough.

Economic ripples

2007-11-23T12:35:00.001-08:00

People here say it's no coincidence that a few hours after the president of Costa Rica officially ratified CAFTA, the Central Bank loosened restrictions on exchange rate fluctuation.

With my very limited monetary policy knowledge, this is what I've put together:

The Costa Rica Central Bank sets limits on how much space the colon has to fluctuate against the dollar. (This prohibits dramatic changes in the exchange rate). Two days ago, however, the Central Bank loosened the floor limit by 4 percent - meaning the colon has a greater space to rise in value against the dollar.

So while a few days ago, the exchange rate was about $1 USD to 518 colones, today it is about $1 USD to 500 colones. And value of the colon may go up even further.

That means Costa Ricans who've been saving money in dollars - perhaps purchasing those dollars at 520 colones per dollar or so - will lose money the next time they withdraw the cash.

It also means - and perhaps more importantly, if you link this monetary move to CAFTA - that imports will become cheaper for locals to buy. Since part of CAFTA deals with eliminating trade restrictions (think tarriffs on U.S. exports ), some see it as a further gift to the corporations who stand to benefit from the free trade agreement. The fact that the bank made the surprise change late Wednesday night doesn't make it smell any better.

And on a personal note: I know the next time I hit the ATM for more colones, I won't be getting as much bang for my buck.

EDIT: If someone has some expertise they'd like to lend (or merely correct my meager attempt at explanation), please do.

The cat food taxi

2007-11-21T14:04:00.000-08:00

My taxi driver says he loves animals. Keeps a bag of cat food in the trunk, just in case he finds a stray kitty to feed as he goes about his day. Loves dogs, too. Has a couple as pets. Always has an eye out for strays, he says.

Like in most other Latin American countries, stray dogs in Costa Rica have run of the streets, rummaging through the garbage and napping by the bus stops. They're all breeds and sizes and descriptions. And not all of them are friendly - not everyone is friendly to them.

The taxi driver says he was horrified one day when he saw a dog tied up in a noose from a tree branch. Ants crawled all over its eyes. People are cruel, he says.

So he feeds the animals when he can.

Mold and hygiene

2007-11-20T12:41:00.000-08:00

Places one expects mold: Cheese, bread, the half-inch of chocolate milk left forgotten in a cup for a few days.

Places one does not expect mold: Backpacks, clothing, socks.

The Swedish volunteers tell me that in their house, the humidity is so bad that damp clothes turn green after a few days. Backpacks sitting in a closet start to smell. Better air that stuff out every few days, they say. I don't ask for details.

I'm not sure if I'm just incredibly lucky or incredibly ignorant. My second-story apartment is relatively free from ants (a problem that plagues many a cereal box in Costa Rica), and my air-dried laundry hasn't turned green. Yet.

I do notice, however, that it only takes a few wears of a pair of jeans - especially in the daily drizzle that characterizes these rainy months - before the smell says, "Hey, wash me. Now."

A country divided

2007-11-20T07:55:00.000-08:00

Costa Ricans are committed to democracy - so much so that they're collectively more democratic than any other Latin American country, according to a recent study reported in the newspaper La Nacion.

But this democracy-loving nation is torn in two. Over and over again, I've heard experts and local Lutheran leadership alike bemoaning the fact that Costa Rica has irrevocably changed. Its modern history will be marked as before October 7 and after October 7. There's no going back.

On October 7, Costa Ricans voted in a nation-wide referendum on the Central American Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA to the U.S. and TLC to Costa Rica. Unlike the other treaty participants, Costa Rica stalled on ratifying the agreement - surprising, perhaps, given this country is wealthier, more educated and historically more peaceful than its neighbors.

Some saw advantages to opening Costa Rica's doors to foreign investment. Others saw something different. The trade agreement threatened natural resources - this West Virginia-sized country hosts 5 percent of the world's biodiversity. They saw diminished health - the established universal health care system has yielded a Costa Rican life expectancy longer than that of U.S. Americans. They saw increasing costs in the telecommunications sector, currently a state-run monopoly. The saw national industries disappearing, perhaps because of an influx of cheaper imports.

Such is the paradox of the globalized economy. On the plus side: new financial investment and economic stimulation, greater economic freedom, global connections, increased income of the poor. On the down side: ever-greater gaps in wealth, corporate domination through monopolies of power, breakdown of communities and diminished income of the poor.

Costa Ricans were split almost evenly on the issue - and the "YES" and "NO" campaigns reflected a growing political fervor. Amazingly, the experts note, the pre-referendum process and campaigns brought new life to the political scenery in the form of Comites Patrioticos - "patriotic committees" on the neighborhood level, made up of academics and housewives and peasant farmers and more, all committed to saying "NO" to the trade agreement. Interestingly, I've heard people talk about these committees almost in amazement - a once politically dormant people had quite suddenly forged a diverse alliance at the grassroots level. This had never been seen before.

The weeks before the vote, the "NO" campaign seemed to be pulling ahead. As the pre-referendum three-day media blackout began, the "NO" had a win in the bag by a good 10 percentage points.

But on October 7, The "YES" vote won with 51.5 percent of the vote.

Some wonder whether fear-inducing media coverage, which violated the three-day media blackout mandated by law, scared people into voting "YES." Some wonder whether Bush's threat to end preferential market treatment with Costa Rica if it didn't ratify the treaty (where would the U.S. get its supply of coffee and bananas and pineapples?) pushed voters in the "YES" direction.

No, Costa Rica is not the same, they say. In the next year, the Legislative Assembly will push through a dozen laws to ready the country for TLC compliance. "NO" organizers are hoping they can rally their resources to make sure the laws protect the most vulnerable. They say they're hopeful. But as the dam starts to crack, a little fix here and there won't keep the water back.

In post-October 7 Costa Rica, the ending's wide open.

Week 3 in CR

2007-10-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

Nearly three weeks have past since I first arrived here in San Jose, and I've moved from feeling completely disoriented to sort of, well, settled. I've grown more accustomed to my neighborhood, San Francisco de Dos Rios, to the southeast of downtown San Jose - plus I found a great pizza place just a few blocks from my apartment. In week three, the bus ride to work that took an hour the first week and 40 minutes the next (thanks to an tip from a friend on a quicker bus stop), now takes about 30 minutes (part bus ride, part 15-minute walk).

My spanish slowly improves - though it wouldn't take much, considering my speaking level upon arrival was something like complete paralysis. Oh well. Everyone at work is quite nice, and this one man, Roy, is very kind but I can't for the life of me understand his jokes. Our interactions go something like this.
Roy: So George and I were just talking about how you're hosting the Christmas party this year.
Me: What?
Roy: You're having the annual Christmas party, right?
Me: Stephen what?
Roy: I was joking that you're hosting the Christmas party because you're new and don't know any better. That's why it's a joke.
Me: (pause) Ohhh. What?
Roy: It was a joke. We have a Christmas party every year, but I knew you didn't know about it.
Me: That is why it funny. (This is how I imagine I sound in Spanish.)

Turns out that after someone has to explain something to you point by point, it isn't as funny anymore. Oh well. Baby steps.

I have enjoyed getting to know the Iglesia Luterana Costaricense, or ILCO (Costa Rican Lutheran Church). This week a pastor took me to Alajuelita, a marginalized community outside of San Jose. Alajuelita is where the church was born - among impoverished Costa Ricans and immigrant Nicaraguans. The church still has a presence there in the form of Casa Abierta, a sort of day care for parents who work or can't afford child care. On the weekends, Casa Abierta also functions as a church.

The kids, of course, are adorable. And they love visitors, and luckily for me, are very patient with limited Spanish. Two German volunteers work there, too - ILCO attracts a substantial number of foreign volunteers and missionaries who assist in various programs.

Near Casa Abierta is Los Pinos, a community, the pastor told me, that most Costa Ricans don't know exist (or don't want to know exist). Families live in makeshift houses that reminded me of the temporary tsunami shelters I saw in Sri Lanka. This is a place where if you have concrete walls, you're living luxuriously. Kids grow up fast. And those shoes thrown up over the electric lines? That means there's a house nearby where you can get drugs.

When one thinks of Costa Rica, the pastor noted, one does not picture houses made of corrugated metal. Instead, one looks a little further up the mountain toward the gated mansions (probably foreigners). And so aid that might go to Costa Rica goes elsewhere in Central America.

I've also visited Guapiles, a town about an hour and a half from San Jose where another ELCA missionary lives. Two years ago, with just a few weeks of Spanish instruction, this woman took her first call in nearby San Martin. Three sloths live in the trees outside her house. One night she woke up and realized she was sharing her bed with an iguana. Yet, here she is. And watching her navigate the community with such ease made me think, "Hey, maybe one day I can be like that, too!"

During my daily time at the office, I'm coordinating the visit of a delegation from Texas. Transportation, hotels, translators, community activities - that's basically my job. And while I've been prepared a lot by the woman who worked in the position before me, there's still a lot I have to learn (and Lili, with whom I share an office, has been gracious enough to let me ask her lots of random questions).

I've also met four young women from Sweden who are here as part of a church exchange. They tipped me off to the weekly organic market held at the ILCO offices from 5 to 11. In the morning. And if you want the good stuff, apparently you have to get there early. Like 6.

I showed up at 8. And I still got some lettuce. Plus, they serve a huge breakfast of rice and beans and a fried egg and tortillas - yum yum.

The greater delight came on the bus ride home. Turns out there's a huge farmer's market at the place where I change buses - and you can get pretty much any fruit and veggie you want there, really cheap. I came a way with a bagful of produce, plus this Guayanaba juice that was heavenly. Definitely recommended.