My Blog
A visit to the doctor
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
When the owners of our apartment came to visit a couple of months ago, they left us a flyer for an Emergency Medical Office. We kept it in a decorative wooden bowl and since we never got sick or had
Rincón de la Vieja
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Costa Rica has five active volcanos: Poás, Turriabla, Irazú (see blog entry Irazú), Arenal (see blog entry Arenal), and Rincón de la Vieja. Today I visited Rincón de la Vieja for the first time. To
Tremors
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Last night around 7:15 p.m., we felt a small tremor. It wasn’t the first time. Last month we felt two quakes, also in the early evening. I was kind of upset that the newspaper never reported it.
Houses
Saturday, May 2, 2009
As everywhere else, houses in Costa Rica vary across income levels. Low-income ones are built out of tin sheets or wood planks; middle- and upper-income houses are built out of steel columns and
Gripe porcina
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Yesterday, the media reported two confirmed cases of swine flu in Costa Rica. One is a young woman in her 20s; the other a man in his 30s. Both had recently travelled to Mexico but don’t know each
April UV
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
It’s hot. I don’t know precisely how hot it is, because there are no thermometers around here and if you ask someone, they just say: hot. April is typically the hottest month of the year and
Mecate and other Nahuatl words
Monday, April 20, 2009
The other day, my husband told his Colombian mother that we bought some “mecate” for the hammock. She didn’t understand the word. Mecate (rope) is a word used only in Mexico and Central America,
Juan Santamaría
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Today is Día de Juan Santamaría, a national holiday. On this day, 153 years ago, the Costa Rican militia fought William Walker, a filibuster from Tennessee who wanted to conquer Central America and
Yellow hearts
Friday, April 10, 2009
As you drive in Costa Rica, especially in the metropolitan area, you’ll notice a large yellow heart with a halo over it spray painted on the road. These yellow hearts mark the spot where a person
Irazú
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Legends says that chief Coo, who was losing a battle against chief Guarco, took his daughter Iztarú to the top of the volcano and sacrificed her. The volcano erupted in fury and destroyed Guarco’s
