Between Visitors

I said goodbye to my visitors this week. They left on Saturday. We were in Manuel Antonio for most of the week. The pic of the week is of the monkeys that were in the trees of our hostel. The were fascinated by the little red autofocus light on my camera. These are squirrel monkeys.

Manuel Antonio
----------------
I've lost track of the number of times that I've gone to Manuel Antonio at this stage. It's still relatively unspoilt, and you have the beach and national park side by side. We saw lots of monkeys this time. In the park itself we saw squirrel and white-faced capuchin monkeys in two groups right beside each other.

The weather was fairly good, but there was a torrential tropical storm on the Tuesday night.

Out on the Town
-----------------
On Friday night, we went to a few of the gay clubs around San José. We hit La Avispa, Club Oh! and Bochinche. Paul and Aidan had discovered that their flight was at 9am, not lunchtime as they'd thought. So they decided to stay up all night, rather than have to come home early. I hope it worked for them, but I was so wrecked after they left at 6.30am. I got up about 11, and then had to go back to bed for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Festival of Light
-----------------
Vin wasn't going home until Sunday, but he'd decided to stay for his last weekend at a hotel in San José. He left his phone in the apartment and I said I'd drop it in on Saturday.

I knew that the Festival of Light was one, but I hadn't realised it was so big. It takes place each year the week before Christmas. There were a million people in the city for it. My bus was diverted and left me on the outskirts. It took about an hour to get through the crowd to go the relatively short distance to the hotel.

This coincided with the parade. It wasn't unlike the Paddy's Day parade at home, maybe not as lavish as the ones of recent years. But it's at night, it's lit, and it's in beautifully warm weather. I was really impressed.

The journey home was hilarious. It took me about an hour and a half to find my bus, and I eventually found it just before the start of the motorway outside the city. I asked the driver if he was going to Heredia. He said he was. When I got on, he then reversed the bus, and headed into the city. We went around and around various side streets, because so many roads were cordoned off. The most distinctive building in the city (Banco Nacional) was at various stages on the right, the left, in front of and behind the bus. Having driven right into the city, we took on just one passenger. And then headed back out. We passed the exact spot where I got on almost 45 minutes after I'd done so.

White Confetti
---------------
One of the traditions around the Festival of Light is that all people walking on Avenida Central, the main shopping street, are showered with white confetti. It's like a snow scene. The confetti is everywhere. And it gets everywhere. Every shop, restaurant, hotel, even the night clubs.

When I got up yesterday I realised it was all over my apartment, and in my bed.
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Well, that's it for this week. I'm between visitors, my mother and brother Enda arrive on Saturday. So until next week,

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Nación: Nobody wins more than C100 million (€148,000) in the Christmas 'Fat' lottery draw

School's Out for Summer (and Christmas)

This was the last week of the semester in school. We also had our party on Saturday night. Paul and Aidan have been joined by a third friend, Vin, and the four of us came down to Manuel Antonio, where we are now, on Sunday. The picture of the week shows myself, Susannah, Jackie Brown and Ron at the Christmas party.

Busy Week
------------

This week was very busy in school. We had to do progress reports for all the students. Because I didn't come back from Puerto Viejo until Monday I was on the back foot all week. I was so relieved when it got to Thursday and it was all over.

Pub Crawl
-----------

The department decided they wanted a pub crawl to mark the end of the year. As they were full praise for the crawl I organised for Paddy's day I was coerced into organising this one too. We had a good night crawling the bars of Heredia. They have launched a new version of my favorite beer. It's called Pilsen 6.0. Unsurprisingly, it's called this because it's strength is 6.0. Because of this Friday was a total hangover day. I was supposed to go to the 30th birthday party of one of the teachers in the afternoon, and I never made it.

San Jose

---------
Paul and Aidan arrived back from Panama on Friday afternoon. We had arranged to go into San Jose that night, so off we went. The club we went to had an entrance fee of 4,000 colones (about Eur5.80). That's very expensive for here, but we realised when we were inside that there was a free bar until 1am. When you paid, you got a ticket. That got you your first drink. After that you just had to return your glass or bottle and you got another one. We'd arrived too late to really take advantage of it, but after 1am you could pay as normal and we stayed until after 4. When we got home we had 'one for the road' and didn't get to bed until after 7.

The extra visitor

-----------------

Aidan's friend Vin decided at the last minute to join Aidan and Paul for the last week of their holiday. He got a good fare and just hopped on a plane. He's the most casual visitor to Costa Rica ever. Aidan collected him at the airport on Saturday night, while I was off at the Christmas Party.

Christmas Party

-----------------

Our Christmas party this year was held up the mountains in a bar called La Puerta de Alcala. We had a lovely meal, but they were a bit stingy on the drinks this year. Last year we had a free bar, but this year we got four vouchers for free drink. However, it didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves. There was a latin band, and they played local songs and latino versions of international hits. It was a good laugh, and I danced nearly the entire night. Something I haven't done for years. After it was over, the bus dropped us back into town where we continued until about 4am.

Manuel Antonio

----------------

The four of us took the bus down to Manuel Antonio on Sunday. We arrived Sunday evening, and spent yesterday on the beach. Their lack of luck with the weather continued. Although it didn't rain, it was overcast throughout the day. There was really torrential rain during the night, but it seems to have cleared up for today. They've headed off kayaking in the mangroves this morning, but I've decided to take it easy, catch up on email, and just laze on the beach. The weather is quite sunny today, but still with a little cloud.

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Well, that's it for this week. I'm going to head home on Thursday, for a quiet night before the lads are back on Friday. Aidan and Paul head home on Saturday, and Vin leaves Sunday. I'm hoping to go to Nicaragua on a visa run next week.

Until next week,

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today's headline from La Nación: Deputies from PLN, PUSC and ML will vote for the TLC

Wet & Dry

My friends Aidan and Paul are here at the moment. They arrived last Sunday week. We were in Puerto Viejo for a wet and dry weekend. This is my last week in school for this semester, and my Christmas party is on Saturday.

Dry weekend
---------------
The mayoral elections were held on Sunday. You may remember from the Presidential election that there is a dry law in Costa Rica, and it kicked into force this weekend. Terrible timing for my visitors. The sale of alcohol was banned from midnight on Friday until midnight on Monday.

Wet weekend
----------------
We went to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean for the weekend. The weather, particularly on Saturday, was amongst the wettest I've experienced since I got here. While the wet October last year was pretty bad, I wasn't on holidays and entertaining visitors, so this seemed a lot worse.

During the week Paul and Aidan went up to La Fortuna to visit the Arenal volcano, but despite staying for two nights, they didn't get to see any lava. It was cloudy and rainy and they saw nothing. However, they did go horse-riding and had a canopy zip-line tour. This is something I haven't had the courage to do yet, being afraid of heights. You clip yourself onto a pulley and shoot across the rain-forest hanging from a wire.

Puerto Viejo
------------------
I was working until Thursday, so on Friday I met up with Paul and Aidan in San José, fresh from their Arenal trip, and we went down to Puerto Viejo. We had a nice night on Friday, before all the bars closed at midnight. In planning our weekend, we decided to buy spirits so we could just order coke, and top it up with rum or vodka. It's difficult to know how much you'll drink over a weekend though, and we vastly overestimated. I arrived home carrying 2 and a half bottles of spirits. Which they emptied out of my bag with much amusement at the police checkpoint on the way home.

Although weather-wise Saturday was a washout, Sunday was beautiful. We hired bikes and cycled 13km to the unspoilt beach in Manzanillo. It was beautiful, although we did get quite a bit of sun, and the back of my hands are burnt. I obviously didn't think to put suncream there, unaccustomed as I am to cycling here.

I came back yesterday morning, and the two have continued on to Bocas del Toro, some very picturesque islands in Panama.

End of semester
------------------------
This week is the last of this semester. It seems to have gone faster than most, but I'm looking forward to the time off. After Thursday I'm not back in work until January 18th. Our Christmas party is on Saturday.

Picture of the week
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I'm just testing this feature. This week's picture is Paul and Aidan on the sunny beach of Manzanillo on the Caribbean. I'm testing the picture feature (rather than adding another 1,000 words), and if it's successful I'll give people the option of getting it on the email or not.
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Well, that's it for this week. I'll probably join the lads on the Pacific coast on Sunday for a weeks holiday before they go home.

Until next week,

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today's headline from La Nación: Falling unemployment and rising job numbers in Latin America

Cold Snap

Well, we had a really cold snap a few days earlier in the week. This meant it was cold at the Black Eyed Peas gig, but it was still a good night. And we had another earthquake.

Monkey Balls
----------------
It seems like a contradiction that summer here brings cold nights, and this week the days were cold as well. I'm now sleeping with a blanket as well as a sheet for the first time since I got here. Tuesday and Wednesday were apparently the coldest days in 55 years. I'm told the temperature got down to 13 degrees centigrade. The coldest on my thermometer was 16, but that's still very cold when there is no such thing as heating! For our weekly meeting on Wednesday I saw people time wearing sweatshirts and jackets for the first time. Some people had brought their warmer stuff home on previous visits because they never use them.

My students asked if it was as cold as this in Ireland. Yeah, maybe on a good day.

Black Eyed Peas
-------------------
I thoroughly enjoyed the Black Eyed Peas on Tuesday night. We had hired a bus to take us directly from school on Tuesday. Barbara, my boss, ensured that we'd bought drink ahead for fear we'd have to go in sober! I hadn't really expected much from the gig, and maybe because of that I had a great night. The highlights were the shooting star which shot through the sky right behind the stage, and during one of the songs when they turned off all the lights, and asked people to wave their mobile phones in the air. The array of coloured lights around the stadium was breath-taking.

Another quake
----------------------
We had another earthquake last weekend. Again, it was relatively mild, but still unmistakable. Sometimes you're not sure if it's an earthquake or a truck going by. But this time, I was sitting at the table working on the PC when I felt the movement. I looked over at the fan and could see it rocking. I still have to experience a big one though!

Thanksgiving
-------------------
This week we celebrated Thanksgiving. It's a United States celebration, not tico. I didn't realise until I worked with Americans how significant a holiday it is for them. It's very much a family holiday. Everyone celebrates it no matter what religion. And it's also very much connected with food, with the dinner very like our own Christmas dinner, with turkey and all the trimmings. There are a few extras that we don't have. Butternut squash, pecan pie, and the like. We celebrated in the school on Thursday, which was the actual day. One of the teachers, Heidi, is having a party today. So I'm dashing off to that after I finish this mail. It's pot luck, so everyone has to bring something. I'm doing mashed potatoes. They're convinced the Irish man is going to have great potatoes, but there is no variety in what's available here. They're all just 'papas', and they're waxy, and it's impossible to make mash like home.
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Well, that's it for this week. After the party this afternoon, I'm off to the airport to collect my friends Paul and Aidan, who are over from Ireland for three weeks, so I'm going to enjoy that visit.

Until next week,

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today's headline from La Nación: Death of new born baby uncovers calamity in hospital in Liberia.

Midnight Serenade

Folks,

Hi, sorry I'm a bit late this week. I started to write this on Sunday, but lost my internet connection, and then forgot about it.

A quiet enough week. The weather is gradually moving from winter to summer, and the cold nights are starting to creep in. I know, it's kind of the opposite of what you'd expect!

Balcony scene
----------------
Last night, I was sitting up reading when I heard this really loud music blaring. It was nearly midnight, and it's normally fairly quiet at that time. But this was really loud Latin music, and it sounded like it was just outside. I went out onto the balcony, and there was a mariachi band playing directly underneath. Six guys, all in the costumes, two on trumpets, two on small guitars, one on a big guitar, and one playing the accordion. I think it was a surprise for the birthday of one of my landlord's daughters. It was fantastic. They played for a about 15 minutes, and then disappeared into the night.

News headlines
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As a class warm up activity last week, I decided to write up news headlines on the board. Just to give us a conversational English activity while we're waiting for the stragglers to arrive. However, I was amazed at how little knowledge of international affairs there is. And it's not as if they even wanted to know. They just glazed over with boredom. Iraq, yawn. Nicaraguan elections, nothing. The only thing to rouse them at all was the homemade submarine discovered off the coast smuggling drugs from Colombia.

I am lucky boy
-----------------
Another warmer I do is just to ask the students what they did yesterday, or last weekend, or whatever, to get a little conversation going, in past tense. Usually the replies are 'I workid', or 'I watchid TV'. But last week one student surprised me by telling me he'd been in a car crash. He was driving, and another car smashed into him through a red light. His car spun around and crashed into a house. As he told the story, the others realised they'd seen coverage of it on the news. He had a cut on his lip, which I'd noticed, but also some on his forehead under his fringe, and apparently had other cuts and bruises. But otherwise he was ok. He finished his story by saying - I am lucky boy.

Black-Eyed Peas
-------------------
I'm off to see the Black-Eyed Peas tonight. I'm not a big fan, but international acts rarely come to Costa Rica, but there's a bus going from the school after work, and a fair few of the teachers are going. It's in the stadium of the biggest football team in San José, Saprissa, and the tickets cost just €14.75. My boss is arranging that we can get beer for the bus, because she's horrified that they don't sell alcohol in venues here.

Jesus's birthday
------------------------
No, not Christmas, but the birthday of Jesus, who's a teacher in Sámara. He was down at the weekend, and a group of us headed into a new gay bar in San José called Ancóra. It was a good night. In fact, I was spoiled for choice on Saturday, because in addition to Jesus's do, my boss Barbara was arranging a night for her boyfriend, and my Columbian friend Marcela was in Heredia for the night with friends.
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Well, that's it for this week. Thursday is Thanksgiving. Not a celebration in Costa Rica, but very big for the American's at work, and we're having some activities and Thanksgiving grub in school on the day, so looking forward to that.

Until next week,

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Sunday's headline from La Nación: Security in prisons in the hands of agricultural workers

News of the Neighbours

A quieter week this week. I had a late night on Tuesday, watching the American elections. The results caused great celebration in the teacher's lounge as news of the Republican's rout came through. There were also elections in Nicaragua and a couple of weeks ago, there was a referendum in Panama

Future Plans
---------------
You may remember that my plan was to finish in Intercultura in December, and to move to the coast in the new year. However, given the recent upheaval, I now feel that another semester in the comfort of the school and without a move is in order. So I've changed my plans by six months roughly. I'll stay in Intercultura until June, and then move to the coast after that.

Buses to Nicaragua
-----------------------
Last Sunday was election day in neighbouring Nicaragua. Lots of Nicaraguans live here in Costa Rica, and there were special buses ferrying people home for the poll. They saw it as a very important election, and it's good to see such a commitment to democracy and voting. Daniel Ortega, the former Sandinista leader, was the favourite. There seemed to be groups frantic to vote either for or against him. In the end, he won on the first round.

Panamanian referendum
-----------------------------
A couple of weeks back I neglected to mention the Panamanian referendum. They had a vote on whether to increase the size of the Panama canal. It was built in 1914, and ships are a lot bigger now. The economy of Panama revolves around the income from the canal. There is now more competition from land routes across Central America. Here in Costa Rica, they are building a megaport in Limón to compete. The vote was passed by 78% to 22%. There will now be new locks built, and the canal widened and deepened. It will finish in 2015. An interesting piece of trivia: Because of the S-shape of Panama, the Pacific entrance is east of the Caribbean one.

Mayoral elections
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Not to be outdone in the democracy stakes, the mayoral election campaigns for the cities in Costa Rica have just kicked off. The vote takes place on December 3rd, and I'm fearful that this means 3 days of no alcohol!

Summer's Nearly Here
---------------------------------
We're in the final weeks of the rainy season. It's been so much easier than last year. It's been a few weeks since we've had really torrential rain. As we get into the second half of November, we should feel the change to summer. Very little rain, lots of sun, but cooler nights.
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Well, that's it for this week. I've just finished my Saturday rotation, and so it's four day weeks for the rest of the semester.

Until next week,

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today's headline from La Nación: CCSS (Department of Social Security) loans teams and buildings to companies at no cost.

Goodbye Clara

Folks,

Clara and I got back from Manuel Antonio on Wednesday, and she left on Thursday. We had (another!) bank holiday on Sunday, Culture Day, so it's a long weekend.

Manuel Antonio
-------------------
I've been to Manuel Antonio more often than any other place in the country. It's so beautiful down there, with a wonderful beach, and it's also just beside the Manuel Antonio national park.

The only problem is that it's well-established on the tourist map. However, that wasn't so much of a problem on this trip, because we're off season now so it was quite quiet.

Rain
------
We're at the height of the rainy season now – October should be the wettest month. At the start of this season we were told it would be even worse than last year, because of the La Niña weather phenomenon.

But it's been nothing like last year. Last year, we didn't have one dry day in October. This year, we have had some lovely sunny days. It's quite hot too - we've the fan on in the apartment most of the time. There have only been 9 named storms this season, with 5 of them minor hurricanes. The season isn't over until the end of November, but this compares with last year when there were 28 storms, with 15 hurricanes, including Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

American apologies
------------------------
When we were a bar in Manuel Antonio, during (ironically, given my comments above) a really heavy tropical rainstorm, the group at the next table sent us over some shots from a bottle of rum they had. Two were locals, and the third was a guy from California called Casey. He came over and talked to us. About two minutes into the conversation he told us that he needed to make clear that although he was American, he didn't support the Bush government or their policies – I'm from California. We're very liberal. I've never voted for Bush and I don't support this administration. I just want you to know that.

It's something I see again and again here, and find also working with so many Americans. There is a need to apologise and disassociate themselves with their government. It's terrible to be abroad knowing a government that is hated internationally controls your country. It's a sweeping generalisation, and apologies to Americans reading if I'm not correct, but it seems to me that the pro-Bush Americans don't travel. And the people who travel, in particular to work somewhere poor like Costa Rica, are bearing the brunt of it.

Farewell night
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With Thursday being a holiday, and because we don't work on Friday, we decided to go out on the razzamatazz on Wednesday, Clara's last night. The razzamatazz means that it was similar to most nights when we go out after work. We went to Mulo.

Clara got on very well with the teachers, some of whom she'd met before. The bar officially closes at 12, but we had a lock-in and didn't leave until after 1.30.

A few of us decided to come back to the apartment for a few more beers to finish the night off. It ended up being a long one. We got to bed about 7am, and our guests left us the next day at about 2pm.

Photos
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I'm moving my photos to the web address picasaweb.google.com/eamon.mcdonagh. So far, there are just the photos of Clara's trip, and a few from Ireland in July. But over the next few weeks I'll be putting more up.
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Well, that's it for another week. I'm taking it easy this weekend. Even though it's a long one, the funds are down having done so much travelling recently. So until next week …

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Sunday's headline from La Nación: 61% of professionals graduate from private universities.

Clara's Visit

Folks,

Apologies for the radio silence last week. My sister Clara had arrived the previous Wednesday, then we were away for the weekend, and then it was into a really busy week in work with the mid-term evaluations. Apologies also to people who have sent me emails and have got no reply. I hope to catch up next weekend.

Arrival from Cuba
---------------------
Clara arrived last Wednesday week, following a 3-week holiday in Cuba. She had an amazing time there and really loved it. She arrived here on the Wednesday. She had had a stopover in El Salvador, which she hadn't expected. She was most impressed with the views of what she thought was Costa Rica when landing. All was sorted out, however, at the baggage belt, when her luggage didn't arrive and she was redirected to the queue for the flight to San José.

Arte Vive
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We went to Puerto Viejo last weekend. I love this laid-back Caribbean town, and our trip was made all the more memorable by co-inciding with their Arts Festival. We had marching bands, live music and a fire show.

On the Saturday, we decided to hire bikes and cycle to Manzanillo, a beautiful beach 13km south. It was a great journey. An easy flat cycle, and we stopped for a beer in an eco-lodge, which the lady American owner tried to sell to us. The lodge, not the beer. A snip at $350,000.

As we approached Manzanillo itself, the heavens opened and we were drenched in a tropical rainstorm. Even though we were soaked, myself and Jack went for a walk on the beach, leaving Clara happily in the bar. Jack tripped over a tree and broke his flip flops, so it was difficult for him to walk in them. Then on the way home he got a puncture. So he had an inoperable bike and unwalkable flip flops. He had to walk most of the way home in mine, which were way too big for him.

Mr Lava Lava
----------------
This weekend, myself and Clara headed up to La Fortuna for the Arenal Volcano. We met a hostal owner when we got off the bus, called Mr Lava Lava (slogan: Feel the Heat). He was a wonderful find. The hostal was cheap and clean, and he dropped us to a wonderful hot springs for the afternoon. For the price of the hot springs entrance he'd drop us there, collect us, bring us to the volcano, and drop us back for an evening in the springs. He said that if we still hadn't seen the volcano, he'd collect us at 10pm, and bring us back to the volcano.

The springs were fantastic. They weren't the same ones I'd been to before, but it's the height of luxury to bathe in hot springs sipping your cocktails. I've been to La Fortuna three times now, and we had the best view I've seen of the volcano from the town during the day. But you can only see the lava at night. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be that night. For our trips at 7pm and at 10 there was really low cloud, and we didn't see a thing. It's amazing that we could get a great view of the beautiful full moon that night, over 380,000km away, we couldn't see the volcano only 1km away.

Manuel Antonio
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After the disappointment of the volcano we decided to head to Manual Antonio, my favorite village on the Pacific Coast. It's off season, so quite a bit quieter. But we had a a really beautiful relaxed day today, just lounging on the beach, reading, and popping in for a swim in the very powerful waves every now and again. I saw the lifeguards have to go into action several times.

Clara got dreadlocks in her hair earlier, so now, after a few beers on our hotel balcony, we're off to have a meal in the old Oliver North plane smuggled into Costa Rica to help the contras during the civil war in Nicaragua.
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I have a couple of days off, Monday and Tuesday, and Thursday is the Culture Day bank holiday, so I've an easy one-day-week ahead. So until next week,

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Sunday's headline from La Nación: Alterra (airport development contractors) confirm that they don't have funds to pay the banks

Student Night Out

Folks,

This week, I had a lovely night out with my students, we were able to follow the Ryder Cup coverage from Ireland, and we've been having a few power cuts during storms.

Night out
------------
One of my classes suggested that we go out on Wednesday night. I rarely socialise with students, and I immediately thought that it would be a great way to practice Spanish. So we went to a bar called Cunningham's (sounds Irish, but it isn't) in a suburb of Heredia called San Pablo. We had good food and drink, and a bilingual chat. They said that my Spanish isn't as bad as I'd said and, as usual, it improved with the beer.

One of the students said that he felt like a real Irish man having meat and potatoes as his meal.

The bar was playing a DVD of a Bon Jovi concert from London. It really reminded me of the beautiful evening light, which you never get here. I tried to point it out to my students, but they didn't really get what I was talking about.

The Ryder Cup
-------------------
We get some of the US network stations during the day, but not during prime time. So I was able to watch the NBC coverage of the Ryder Cup. It was interesting to see it from the American perspective. They were extremely complimentary about the Irish organisation and the fans.

They found the weather hilarious. "And now it's a real downpour. But here if you stick around for a few minutes there'll be sun. There's no such thing as a forecast around here." Although I have to say that the beautiful evening light did make an appearance on the final day.

When they went to ad breaks, there would be some sort of Bord Fáilte clip showing tourist Dublin or other parts of the country. St. Patrick's Cathedral or the Wicklow Coast. One clip showed the Luas in various locations around Dublin. "Well," said the commentator, "they sure have some pretty buses in Dublin."

Power Cuts
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I think we're inclined to take our electricity supply for granted in Ireland. I have had power cuts in many countries when I've travelled, including in Australia and the US. We're in storm season now, so they're becoming more common here. It's one of the problems I had when I was teaching with English Horizons on the internet.

It surprises Students that I've hardly ever had experience of power cuts at home. I remember some during strikes when I was a kid. But since I bought my house 19 years ago I don't think I can remember a time when I lost electricity.

We've had a couple of cuts in the past week. They rarely last for more than half an hour, but you don't know when it's going to come back. The other night I woke up in the early hours to hear the TV blaring in Spanish. It had been on standby, and started up full blast again after a power cut.
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Well, that's it for another week. My sister Clara arrives some time this week, I'm still not sure when! So hopefully we'll have a bit of travelling while she's here. So until next week.

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Sunday's headline from La Nación: Patients suffer torture in St. John of Gods

Día de la Independencia

The week felt very long, as it always does when I do Spanish. I've now completed book 10 of 13, but with lots of practice needed on speaking to actually use it.

Hard luck, Mayo
--------------------
I got up today at 8.20 so I could listen to the All-Ireland on the RTÉ radio, streaming by internet. Although I regretted seeing Dublin exit in the semis, I support Mayo as my second team because of our many family links with the county. Unfortunately, the match didn't go to plan. I cringed on the couch as Kerry went further and further ahead. Hard luck, Mayo, it wasn't to be.

Día de la Independencia
------------------------------
Costa Rica celebrated its Independence Day on Friday. They achieved independence from Spain in 1821, initially as part of the Central American federation, and a few years later as a fully independent nation. All week the country has been decked out in the red, white and blue colours of the national flag.

Celebrations kicked off on Thursday night with a torch ceremony – the news of independence arrived by runners carrying torches from Guatemala. That's a pretty long run!

As a Spanish student this week, I had to participate in the celebrations in the school on Thursday. A rather embarrassing affair with local music, masked clowns and dancing. I also had to give a presentation, in Spanish, on the geography of Guatemala!

On Friday, we woke up to the sound of loud canon-like explosions marking the start of the parades, at 9am. I popped out for a look. The marchers are mainly bands representing the local schools, and it took 2 hours for them all to go by. The kids hold up signs they made saying things like, Liberty, Democracy, Freedom, and The Rights and Responsibilities of Children. The sun shone down strongly on the parade. Despite the torrential rain we get most afternoons now, the mornings can be very hot. I got sunburnt on my head and neck. The teachers had to mount a huge operation to get little bags of water to the marching kids regularly. It reminded me of the Irish soccer team in USA '94.

George
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Anyone who has been over to stay with us has met George. George works as the car parking guy in the street outside our apartment. Like most car parking guys, his job seems completely unnecessary, as everyone can park their cars unassisted. He also takes great interest in everybody's lives, and knows the comings and goings from everybody's houses and apartments. Myself and Jack have to give him an obligatory 'high five' when we leave to go out.

Our landlord, Carlos, doesn't trust him, and won't even let me pay the rent in view of the window if he sees George outside. So it surprised us, when we arrived home from the local bar last night, to see him inside the gate of the apartments. He was sitting very comfortably on the stairs with our new neighbour, Jackie from Aruba. They seemed quite embarrassed when we interrupted.
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Well, that's it for another week. This is an easier week without Spanish. I'm delighted to be writing again on Sunday, because I've been late for the past few weeks. So until next week.

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today's headline from La Nación: University students face saturated labour market

Holes in His Pockets

It's a busy week, as I'm back doing Spanish classes, so it's back to long days at the school.

Spanish classes
-------------------------
Both myself and Jack are doing classes this week. I qualify for 4 weeks of free classes because I've been over a year with the school, and I can pass them on to Jack. So he started on Book 1 yesterday.

The Colón
---------------
Despite the fact that the currency, the Colón (with the emphasis on the second syllable, and therefore not the same pronunciation as your colon) is constantly falling, it continues to burn a hole in my pockets. Literally.

The coins are big, chunky and heavy. They range from ₡ 500 (about 76c) down to ₡5 (less than a cent), and I have holes in the pockets of every pair of jeans.

However, the Central Bank of Costa Rica has come to the rescue. The new ₡5 and ₡ 10 coins are tiny, and made out of metal so light that they're like something from a kids toy. They could blow away. And when they issue new coins, they don't recall the old ones. So there are now three versions of these coins in circulation. The big old silver ones, the mediums sized gold ones, and now the new monopoly money ones.

When we arrived a dollar would buy ₡467, now it will get you ₡519, so a fall of 10%. For this reason a lot of our bills and our rent are denominated in dollars.
Engrish.com
-------------------
My favourite website of the week is www.engrish.com. It highlights signs, notices and menus, mainly from Asia, which are in bad English. We were looking at it in the staff room the other day and they're hilarious.

For example the t-shirt that says Elvis is Dead, Sinatra is Dead, and me I feel also not so good. Or the I love NY, California shirt. Or the toy packaging that says A dangerous toy. This toy is being made for the extremely priority the good looks. The little part which suffocates when the sharp part which gets hurt is swallowed is contained generously. Only the person who can take responsibility by itself is to play. And I do like the Cut Throat Hair Salon.
God Save the Queen
------------------------------
When we were coming back from the Hotel Fiesta (this is the third week it's featured, I'm getting great mileage out of it) I was dozing in the bus while a sing song got going down the back. I woke up to hear Julia, from Birmingham singing Rule Britannia, followed by God Save the Queen. When I looked back to see what was going on, my boss Barbara told me I should help her sing it.

I said it wasn't exactly my song. "But aren't you part of Britain?" she asked. "Isn't it England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland?"
Working Saturdays
----------------------------
I've now finished my Saturday rotation. I work five weeks on and five weeks off on Saturdays between 9am and 3.30pm, so now I'm going to have a string of long 3 day weekends until I'm back again on 21 st October. The timing is perfect, as my sister Clara arrives on 29th September for 2 weeks, so hopefully we'll get a chance to do a bit of travelling.
------
Well, that's it for another week. The weather continues to get wetter. The mornings are still beautiful, but the rain gets earlier every day, and lasts longer. Last weekend it didn't seem to stop at all. I'm watching the clock now, because I'm working in 20 minutes, so I've got to dash. Oh, if anyone didn't get last weeks mail, filtered because of a bad word, let me now and I'll send you the clean version!

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Sunday's headline from La Nación: Convicts with mental problems spend 20 years in psychiatric hospitals.

Early Mornings

I had an early class this morning. I know a 9am start seems like a bad thing when I'm not a morning person, and usually don't start until 4pm. But it was such a beautiful sunny morning it put me in great form.

Trying early mornings
---------------------------
Some of you will know of Jack Black. He's a personal development guru that was very much in vogue in Irish Life when I was there. One thing that he promotes is an internal alarm clock, which you use to wake yourself up in the morning instead of a physical alarm clock. You just think about the time you want to wake up at when you're going to bed. To my utter amazement, it actually works. Even for me, who needed an alarm clock and the radio at full volume snoozing every 10 minutes for about an hour before I got up. I'm using my Jack Black alarm clock since I came back from Ireland, and although I'm still not a morning person, I am more alert when I get up.

It even worked on Saturday, after a night out at the housewarming of another teacher's apartment when I got to bed after two, and had to be up for class starting at 9. I woke at 7.40 as planned.

The Tico day
----------------
I keep thinking that it would be better if I could move my day to start earlier and to go earlier to bed. That's the Tico way. Most people get up between 5.30 and 6.30. I guess it's because it's bright so early in the morning and dark so early in the evening. But, also, at this time of the year the weather breaks about lunchtime, and it moves from being a beautiful morning into a cloudy and extremely rainy afternoon and evening. Although I have to say it's actually hotter now in winter than in the 'summer' or dry season!

So I'm gradually trying to reposition my day. Not with anything so dramatic as getting up at 6.30, but earlier. You wouldn't believe how many times we go to bed while hearing my landlord and his family get up for the day ahead.
Bodily functions
-------------------
One cultural difference between English speaking countries and Costa Rica is the Tico attitude to all aspects of the bodily digestive process. Students have a huge interest if someone has bowel problems. A lovely Colombian student had such problems on Saturday, and was in and out of the class constantly. The other students enquired how things were after every toilet trip. And she happily shared unembarrassed.

When we were going to the Fiesta Hotel, Marcelo, the head of the school, announced to everyone 'Please do number 2s here before getting on the bus'.

On the way back we stopped, he told us, so everyone can 'make piss'. (I hope that doesn't have this email rejecting from all your work filter programs!)

Ron's party
--------------
One of my fellow teachers, Ron, a surfer from California, has moved to a new apartment. He had a housewarming party on Friday night.

The apartment is very typical of apartments in Heredia, and reminded me how lucky we've been. It's basically one main room, with a living area and a sink. There is no cooker, or indeed any furniture at all. We are the only people I know who have a fully furnished apartment.
------
Well, that's it for another week. I began writing yesterday, Monday, but it's now Tuesday. I haven't been writing all through though! It's coming up to 1pm, and the sky is clouding over.

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today's headline from La Nación: Oirsa paid the salaries of supervisors in MAG

Party, Fiesta

We just arrived back from my work do at the Fiesta hotel resort. And I'm feeling much better now, having got over my cold earlier in the week.

Fiesta Resort
----------------
For a language school in Central America, the last thing I expected was an all expenses paid junket to a holiday resort hotel on the Pacific for all the staff. You may remember that we went on this last year.

The Fiesta Hotel is a resort hotel. It's basically a compound with swimming pools, bars and restaurants beside the beach near the coastal Pacific town of Puntarenas.

When you arrive, you're given an armband, and once you have that everything is free. Whatever food you want. Whatever drinks, whether beer or cocktails. It's absolutely fantastic. We had a beautiful room and really had a ball. I worked Saturday morning, but they cancelled the afternoon classes for the trip. We set off at 12.30 and it just takes 2 hours to get there. We didn't leave until 3pm yesterday.

In the meantime there had been meals, drinks, a disco, and a long lie in on Sunday morning. It was a great trip, and a great way for the old and new teachers to get to know each other, as well as for the integration of the English and Spanish departments in the school.

Weather
-----------
We've been quite lucky with the weather this year. At the start of the rainy season it looked like it was going to be much worse than last year. We were told that this was because of the weather phenomenon called La Niña. We were also told that the hurricane season would be much worse than last year's already terrible season.

We don't get the actual hurricanes themselves, but we do get a lot of bad weather and rain if they're big, or hit Central America further up the coast.

However, completely at odds with the predictions, this season has been relatively quiet. There hasn't been one hurricane, and just five tropical storms. This week last year was the week of Katrina. So they were on storm 11. I remember because we had to detour our flight home to avoid it when we were travelling back for my sister's wedding. Ernesto is the current tropical storm, and it's expected to turn into the first hurricane of the season during the week.

John Mark Karr
-------------------
Whenever there is a fugitive from justice in the US, I often suspect they will turn up here in Costa Rica, because there have been a number of cases since we've been here.

It's now the case John Mark Karr, recently arrested in Thailand in connection with the JonBenét Ramsey murder.

He worked in San José in 2004 as an English teacher. His former landlord, a Canadian, said he had to get him to leave the house, because of inappropriate comments made to his wife and daughters.
-----
Well, that's it for another week. We're still trying to recover from our weekend. I find it so hard to believe that we're nearly into September. The time is really flying by.

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Sunday's headline from La Nación: Costanera Highway could have been built in cement for the same cost

Mother's Day

A little late this week as I was a little under the weather at the weekend. I had a bit of a cold with a chesty cough. My students tell me there is a virus doing the rounds. Still, it was my first time with any sickness in my 16 months here.

Mother's Day
-----------------
Mother's Day is a bank holiday in Costa Rica, which probably shows the extent to which mothers play a role in the national psyche. It was a bit confusing this year, because Mother's Day is August 15th, which was last Tuesday. Traditionally this would have been the bank holiday as well, but the new government is moving bank holidays to Mondays. So yesterday was the official holiday. I think this has confused everyone. The school closed on 15th and lots of students turned up. And it was business as usual yesterday; I had one student in my first class and two in the second.

Irish Americans
--------------------
The new American teachers seem at pains to stress their Irish roots to me. One, Erin, has family from Roscommon and has been to Ireland on holidays most of her life. Another has dogs called Guinness and Bailey. She would love to learn Gaelic, and can't understand why none of her Scots Irish ancestors have held onto the language.

Tico furniture
-----------------
Tico furniture has to be experienced to be believed. Comfort has not entered as a requirement in Central America. Couches are always boxy, and you can literally feel the planks of wood. Our couch had been getting worse and worse recently. It sagged in the middle and had one end so bad that it was better to sit on a pillow on the floor in front of it.

We reported it to our landlord. Now, in Ireland this couch would be for the skip. But not so in Costa Rica where nothing is thrown out. We seemed to go on a 3-week waiting list for the couch repair man. When he arrived on Saturday he literally took it apart. The sides came off, the back came off, the sponge came off and the springs were revealed. Everyone one of them was broken. I never felt so heavy in my life.

Anyway, I saw that the inside was made of wood, springs, twine, plastic bags, and bizarrely, cardboard boxes labelled chicken and beef. After replacing the springs the couch was partially reassembled before he left, to return on Sunday morning at 8am(!) to finish the job.

However, I'm amazed to say that he did a really good job, and the couch, while not exactly 'comfortable' by Irish standards, is not an ordeal to sit on.

Ant attack
------------
You will remember that Costa Rica has 0.03% of the earth's landmass, and 6% of the biodiversity. Well, we're struggling with a marvel of evolution in the shape of thousands of tiny ants that invade our kitchen. They've always been here since we arrived, but this time of year must be particularly prone to them, because there are legions marching up and down the walls. If you so much as leave a knife down with food on it they're all over it within minutes.

I've looked them up on Wikipedia, and they're Argentine Ants. They're impossible to eradicate. They live in cavity walls or in any nooks or crannies. They have several queens, so even if one is killed the colony continues. If you kill them (and I have to confess that I do it with regularity, sorry animal lovers) the ones that escape run back up the trail, which is normally on the wall over the cooker. You can see them 'telling' the ones on the way down. They go head to head and twitch like they're chatting. Then they turn around and flee, telling the others as they go. About five minutes later a 'scout' comes out, and in a completely mad zig-zag fashion he runs about checking out the trail and brings back the 'all clear' or 'stay for another while' message. It's truly fascinating.
-----
Well, that's it for another week. We're on our big work 'freebie' in a resort hotel on the Pacific next weekend! So until next week.

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Sunday's headline from La Nación: Ticos discover fossil of prehistoric mammal

Back to Routine

Well, this week it was back to school. After a week of training, classes began again on Monday.

Back to school
------------------
As soon as we got back I was into the school for training. There are six new teachers, so we had two days training for them, and then a further two days with the rest of the teachers.

The new group are mostly from the States, as usual, but there is a girl from Birmingham, England too. So it's good to have someone else from Europe.

Change of personnel
------------------------------
Every semester the department changes because so many leave and join. There are 23 teachers now, and I'm number 5 in length of service. Only John, Malachi, Luke and Jackie were there when I started in May last year. And three out of those four are married to Ticas!

Chris was the Senior Head Teacher with me last year, so now I've taken over from him, and Taylor has taken over from me. You may remember that Taylor was offered a job on Wall St. at Christmas, accepted it, and then realised he'd made a mistake and came back. Well, he's got engaged to his Tica girlfriend now, and they're getting married in January.

Welcome back party
-------------------------
One of the students had a party last Saturday to welcome back the teachers. Well, that was the official reason. But it seemed just like an excuse to invite all the young American Spanish students. Jorge, the guy hosting the party, said that he doesn't mix Tica and American girls. He never invites his Tica friends to parties if American girls are going to be there.

The Americans think that the Ticas dress in a slutty way. And it's true that they do wear very skimpy clothes. But the Tica's think that the American girls behave in a much more slutty way, despite their more prudish dress sense. All of this was borne out at the party when the dancing became very sexual and the only Tica girl, Taylor's fiancée, ended up in a heated row with two of the American students. It was what you might call a culture clash.

Visas for Costa Rica
-------------------------
Since we came to Costa Rica the visa situation has been a real pain. People from Ireland (and many other countries) get just a 30 days visa. Whereas people from the US, Canada and the UK, and so most of the other teachers, get 90 days. So the school pays for them to do visa runs. Basically they go into Nicaragua or Panama for 3 days, and then the visa is renewed for another 90 days when they came back. Because it wasn't realistic for myself and Jack to do runs every 30 days, so we just overstay. We therefore have to avoid the strict land borders. It's been fine going home to Ireland and coming back, because they never check at the airports.

Well, while we were away the whole visa system has been revamped. Most countries, including Ireland, are now 90 days. I was amused to see that the old rules were from the Cold War, and penalised countries perceived as 'friendly' to the USSR!

Anyway, now that we're genuine 90 day people, we'll be able to go to Nicaragua or Panama before Halloween to renew. We're really looking forward to that!
-----
Well, that's it for another week. I have a new private student starting tomorrow morning at 9. So until next week.

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today's headline from La Nación: Doctors are forced to work for 18 years to pay for their studies.

Ireland

I hadn't intended to send no emails while I was home, but the lack of an internet connection and a very busy month meant that I didn't get time to head off to an internet café to write.

The Journeys
----------------
The journeys to and from Ireland were very different. Although they took roughly the same length of time. The journey out was through Miami (it looks very flat), St. Louis (everyone is very friendly) and Chicago (it looks beautiful on the lake). On the way back we had an overnight in London, which was great. Then we flew direct to Miami (still very flat), where there was a big wait of several hours and a gate change that had us trekking from one end of the sprawling badly-designed airport to the other, and then back again.When we landed in Miami we saw the news about Castro handing over power for the first time, and there was great local interest every time the story came up on the CNN screens around the terminal, with live coverage from Little Havana in the city.

So many people, so little time
------------------------------------
This was really my first time to be on holiday back in Ireland while living abroad. It was a strange experience. I thought that 4 weeks was ample time to meet up with everyone at least once. But with a week out in Ennis and a weekend in Leitrim, the rest of the time was taken chasing around trying to fit everyone in – an impossible task as it turned out. At least when you're trying to have a holiday as well. So for the people that I didn't get to meet up with I'm really sorry, and I'll try to organise it differently the next time.

And, as you all know, it's incredibly expensive. Not much more expensive than when we left, but when you're socialising a lot it's like money haemorrhaging from your wallet.

The New Ireland
--------------------
Before we left there were tons of apartment blocks being built and cranes everywhere. But this time it was at another level entirely. On the Dart into town there were hundreds of apartment blocks I'd never seen before, and hundreds more being built. And hotels, bars and petrol stations are being knocked down for apartments. It was the same on our travels through the country, in Ennis, and in Carrick-on-Shannon where everyone seems to live in apartments owned by people from Dublin. And everyone is talking about property. Not just Dublin property, but holiday homes either in the country, or Spain, or Turkey or Bulgaria. There's some kind of property mania going on, and at this level it's surely unsustainable.

The weather
----------------
We were so lucky with the weather. It was a scorcher most of the time we were there. Scorchio indeed! We were very unlucky though on our weekend in Ennis. It was that Saturday of Oxygen when the whole country had really cold and bad weather. Myself and Jack went out to the beach in Lahinch for a walk, because we'd planned it. We were nearly blown away by the wind and rain. And I realised that the rain is much, much colder in Ireland. And there were still about 80 surfers in the water. More than you'd see on any beach here, and it's one of Costa Rica's main tourist attractions.

For the rest of the time it was just beautiful. There is nowhere like Ireland if you get the weather. Even if you knew that there was going to be even a guaranteed good month in the summer!

Back home
--------------
And so we arrived back to our little Tico apartment on Tuesday night, jet-lagged and after some flight delays. It was strange not having our own place in Dublin, and it made me realise that our little Tico apartment is, temporarily at least, home.
-----
Well, that's it for another week. The new semester starts tomorrow, so it's going to be a busy week.

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Almost home

Folks,

Apologies for the radio silence last week. It was a busy end to the semester, with exams and student evaluations to do. But it's all over now, and we head off at 4.30 in the morning for the first of our many flights home.

World Cup
--------------
It seems ages ago since Costa Rica returned from the World Cup. They didn't get a great reception. The players were heckled at the airport on their return. Some disgruntled supporters carried signs saying 'Coffee Pickers Needed'.

The La Nación headline was 'It couldn't be worse'.

End of semester
-------------------
It was the end of the semester in school. I hate the end of semester, because you end up with lots of exams to mark, along with the semester evaluations. Plus you're a bit burnt out also. The lesson plans for the last week relied a lot on movies and parties.

Some teachers have left during the semester, so there was a smaller number than usual leaving at the end. I think there are only 3 going. One is Chris, my fellow head-teacher, who is returning to Canada after 3 years here. I'm taking over from him next semester, and Taylor is moving to my role.

We had a great party to mark Chris's departure on Thursday. It was in the garden of the house of one of the receptionists at school.

Intercultura Cup
--------------------
The school soccer cup finished for this semester on Monday. We went out to see the game. It was a team of mostly American teachers, versus a Canadian teacher and his Tico students. The Ticos hate how the American's play. They bring baseball, American football and hockey principles, and they play very rough. The Ticos love little gentle Latin American tricks with the ball. The game included a GAA-style jostle. In the end, however, Tico finesse beat American power 5-1.

Tico Bureaucracy
----------------------
Many of you will remember that I lost my computers hard drive last August. Well, needless to say, since then I've been quite a stickler for backups. I bought an external hard drive when I was in Dublin, and was using that for backup. However, it gave up the ghost in February. (I've been using an online backup service since.)

After a long and tortuous return process, the disk eventually arrived back in Costa Rica. I got a notice that there was $6 import duty due on it. To sort this out, I had to get a taxi to a customs warehouse a few kilometres away.

They showed me the box containing my disk, but gave me forms that I needed to complete. I was to take these a place near the airport. I was given a map to show me exactly where. I was to ask for Gerardo, and answer his questions, and fill out a form. Then I was to phone back to a guy the original warehouse. His name was Esteban. When I got a number from Gerardo, I was to call Esteban with a number that Gerardo was to give me. Then he'd update something on computer. I was then to ask for Alejandra.

It turned out that Alejandra was sitting beside Gerardo. I queued up behind two nuns to talk to her. When I eventually got to talk to her, she took the opportunity to tell me that she was sweating profusely in the heat (I didn't have to be told). Then she opened her bag (I nearly said purse, another Americanism), and took out perfume and sprayed it under her arms. Then she replied all her makeup.

She gave me a form to take to another nearby building, pay 72 colones (12 cent) duty. Then I had to go back to Alejandra, give her the receipt, and she gave me forms to bring back to Esteban.

My third taxi journey brought me back to Esteban, and after paying the $6 duty, he gave me a form to give to another girl (who's name I don't know) to stamp, which I then brought down to Carlos in the warehouse, who eventually gave me my drive!

Magical Mystery Tour
---------------------------
Our flights tomorrow will have us on a quick tour of the US. We fly via Miami, St. Louis and Chicago. We're really looking forward to getting back home, and particularly meeting up with people.
-----
Well, that's it for another week. Hopefully we'll be seeing a number of you before too long!

Pura Vida,

Éamon

¡Qué Fiasco!

Folks,

Well, after all the planning and looking forward to the tournament, Costa Rica's world cup is already over. It's their worst performance ever, and everyone is bitterly disappointed.

The Ecuador match
------------------------
Although they lost against Germany, the way they played and the two goals were seen as enough to keep their dream alive. However, it all unravelled on Thursday when they crashed out 3-0 to Ecuador. Ecuador were simply too good from them, they went 1-0 up within the first few minutes, and Costa Rica never really looked to be in with a chance.

My students are bitterly disappointed. They're also embarrassed that the country was shown up so badly on the international stage. It's their worst ever performance in a world cup. ¡Qué Fiasco! was the headline in La Nación, echoing the nations feelings. Many people are not even interested in watching tomorrow's match against Poland.

Because both Ecuador and Germany have now won twice, they're both on six points and qualified. The only question is who comes first and second. The game between Costa Rica and Poland is meaningless, except to see if either team can salvage their world cup with a win.

An Irish Student
--------------------
Of all the countries I've ever travelled to, I've never been anywhere with as few Irish people as Costa Rica. So I was amazed when I got to school on Monday and was told that there was an Irish student this week. Trish is from Drumcondra and she's studying Spanish for four weeks, before doing four weeks voluntary work.

She's in her fifties and has a grown-up family. Her marriage has just broken down and the house is for sale. Rather than staying in Dublin and watching it sold, she decided to take a year-long trip around the world. She found a website for an English company that does 'gap years for grown-ups'. Costa Rica is the start of her trip, and she continues to New Zealand, Australia and India. We met up with her on Wednesday – she was dying to go out for a drink. And she came in with us to San José on Saturday night.

Avispa
---------
We went into La Avispa in San José on Saturday night. You may remember that we'd been to this gay club before, but haven't been in ages. It's a really nice, fairly large, club. Trish came with us, and we also arranged to meet up with our Columbian friend, Marisela when we were there. It was ages since we'd had a good night out in San José, and we really enjoyed it. The city doesn't even look too bad at night!

Scorpion
-----------
I forgot to mention last week that we had our first scorpion experience when we were down in Manuel Antonio last week. I was talking to the others when I saw all eyes looking in alarm above my head. There was a scorpion walking calmly up the curtains. A lot of frantic attempts at catching him resulted in knocking him onto another curtain and then out the door. I've never seen one in Heredia, although a former neighbour swears she saw one in her apartment. I've been checking my shoes in the morning ever since.

Oscar talks to Benedict
-----------------------------
The new president, Óscar Arias, took advantage of the world cup to visit a few European countries during the week. I was interested to see that he used his trip to the Vatican to tell Ben 16 that he thinks the church has got it wrong on birth control and that they should relax the rules on artificial contraception. I wonder when we would ever see an Irish leader expressing such liberal opinions.
-----
Well, that's it for another week. I've only got two weeks until the end of semester, and I'm really looking forward to the break. So until next week …

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Glorious Defeat

Folks,

Well, after all the build-up, the Germany match is now over. There's a lot of pride here that they acquitted themselves well, and that it was the highest scoring opener for the world cup ever.

The build up
---------------
The expectations within Costa Rica for the match were surprisingly low. I think in Ireland we feel we can win no matter what the opposition. However, here they felt that they were going to be beaten badly by Germany. Several bars and restaurants had prediction competitions, and the vast majority predicted a big German win, with a small number predicting a draw, and the very very few optimists predicting a Tico win.
The venue
-------------
The match was on at 10am, so everyone was hunting for a good place to watch the match. Most of the teachers were going to a party in a student's house. However, the student and his family are Colombian, and I felt there'd be hardly any Ticos there, so we decided to go to a bar. We went to a bar up the road, and it was packed, with everyone wearing their red team shirts. There was no cover charge, we got a table, and they started serving us at 10am (although it wasn't officially allowed until 12).

The Match
--------------
Costa Rica looked to have stage fright at the beginning, and the goal keeper looked extremely shaky, so it wasn't really a surprise when Germany went 1-0 up after 5 minutes. However the bar nearly erupted when, against the run of play, Wanchope levelled 5 minutes later.

Germany scored again, and after 17 minutes there had already been 3 goals. In the second half Germany scored again, but Wanchope (who must be on every billboard and ad on TV here) scored again, making it 3-2. The crowd went wild again, chanting the slogan you see everywhere here '¡Sí se puede!' Yes, we can!

However, a blinder of a goal in the 87th minute gave us the final 4-2 scoreline.

Still, everyone feels that the team acquitted themselves well, gave an entertaining opening match, and they're delighted to be able to move on and focus on the other matches.

Now it's clear that the Ecuador match is crucial, as they've beaten Poland. That match is on Thursday morning at 7am!

Manuel Antonio
--------------------
We had a lovely few days with Nicole and Ronan down in Manuel Antonio. The weather was a combination of lovely sun and then heavy rain, this being rainy season. The sea was particularly rough, with high waves and lots of stones and shells washed up onto the beach. (There were actually three American students and their teacher drowned close to there last Saturday in the strong swells.) But it was a lovely, relaxing few days, and it was a good break.

Taxi TV
----------
One consequence of the world cup is that some taxi drivers have installed TVs in their cars, and they're watching them as they drive. We'd seen this a couple of months back during a big club match here, but now the transport ministry is looking to increase the fine for this, which is currently only $4. One taxi driver, who was interviewed in the newspaper while simultaneously watching Bad Boys II and driving on the motorway, said that it was fine during the day, but a little dangerous at night, because it reflects a lot of light.
------
Well, that's it for another week. Nicole and Ronan left yesterday, and are home now. We're off ourselves in three weeks! Apologies to anyone who's written emails recently and not got a reply. I'm going through them this week, so you should hear from me soon. So for now…

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Lulling Germany into a False State of Security

Folks,

I'm writing this from our bungalow in a hotel in Manuel Antonio, where we're having a great break with Jack's niece and her boyfriend. And my phrase of the week for students is that ' Costa Rica is lulling Germany into a false sense of security' because of their dismal World Cup warm up.

World Cup build-up
------------------------
Expectations for Friday's opening World Cup match against Germany are definitely dampened following a very poor warm up campaign by the Costa Rican team. They had been beaten by Catalonia, and now this week it was the turn of Czech Republic (1-0) and the Ukraine (4-0) to humble the team. Still, everyone is looking forward to Friday. We're still not sure where we'll watch the match Friday morning. The school is showing it on a big screen in the dance room, but there may be other options to explore.

Visitors
----------
Jack's niece Nicole and her boyfriend Ronan are visiting us at the moment. They arrived last Sunday night and it's been great once again to have people staying from home. They have hired a car and headed off for the Arenal volcano on Wednesday, staying in a tree house hotel which sounds so interesting. They were back then on Friday.

I was working on Saturday, but they headed off with Jack to the Poás volcano which is not too far from where we live, but awkward to get to. The joys of a hired car. They had a great day at the beautiful volcano with its lake in the crater, and then they went to the nearby La Paz waterfall and butterfly garden.

We went into San José for a meal last night, and drove down here to Manuel Antonio today. We had tried to phone ahead to book a hotel myself and Jack had stayed in before, but couldn't get them. When it got here it was booked, which was a stroke of luck, because we've come to the place my mother stayed, Hotel Vela Bar, and we've got a fantastic bungalow. It's like a large apartment with two bathrooms, two bedrooms, a kitchen and living area. There's a terrace outside Nicole and Ronan's room, and I'm now out on the veranda having a beer while they've nipped off to the supermarket.

Baby shower
-----------
One of the big celebrations in a workplace in Costa Rica is a baby shower before co-workers go out on maternity leave. There are currently 4 pregnant women, all on the admin side, who are pregnant, with 5 babies due between them. It was so funny. It was, not surprisingly, an overwhelmingly female affair. I think there were seven guys and over 30 women. Hormones were very much in evidence, and when the (quite impressive) presents were given, all of them were in floods of tears. I wasn't far off it myself.

Prices
-------
We're arriving in Ireland on July 3rd, and we're already gearing ourselves up for the prices. It's going to be so expensive holidaying on Tico wages. We went for a meal with Nicole and Ronan in one of Heredia's plushest restaurants, Oporto, on Friday. It's really nice. We had a meal for four, with all of us having starters and main courses, which also included a bottle of a lovely Argentinean wine, a glass of white wine, coke and a latte. The total, including service and tax, was C35,320, or under €14 per head!
-----
Well, that's it for another week. The others have just arrived back, and we're going to go into El Avión, the restaurant in and around an old airplane for our meal tonight. We're really looking forward to the match on Friday. So, until next week.

Pura Vida

Éamon

12 days to Germany vs. Costa Rica

Folks,

Our visitors are due tonight, but I've a chance to lash off a quick mail because their flight is delayed. It's just about 15 minutes by bus from here to the airport.

Preparation for Germany
------------------------------
The Costa Rican preparation for the world cup had a bit of a setback this week. They played Catalonia (region of Spain) on Wednesday, but lost 2-0. However you can see the world cup fever ramping up here. We're getting flyers from Pizza Hut, and there are lots of ads on TV for fast food, delivery services, as well as TVs, surround sound systems and jerseys and flags, and anything red, white and blue.

Crocodile Bridge
--------------------
I forgot to write that when we were at the beach in Esterillos a couple of weeks back, we met one of my work colleagues, Devon, and her Tico boyfriend James. He works in tourism and has a bus, and they gave us a lift home.

On the way back, we crossed what I call crocodile bridge. It's on the main road to the central Pacific coast. You can often see a few crocodiles in the water from the bus. This time we could stop and get out for a proper look. There were about 20 crocodiles, of all ages and sizes. Some of them were huge. While we were there, one of the onlookers threw down a chicken (from the butchers, not a live one), and it really showed me how fast they can move when they want to. The chicken only lasted about a second.

BBC
------
I listened with interest to a report from Costa Rica on the programme From Our Own Correspondent recently. It's so interesting to hear about somewhere which sounds so exotic when you are actually living in.

The item was about the Free Trade Agreement, known here as TLC (Tratado de Libre Comercio). They made the point that Costa Rica is now trying to walk a tight-rope between the USA to the north, and the South American countries to the south. And they also noted that there are more PHDs in the cabinet of the new government than in any other country in Latin America. I'm not sure if that's a good thing!

In praise of podcasting
---------------------------
I'm not singing the praises here for my own very meagre podcast of this weekly update. But I have become a real fan of podcasts in general. There are quite a few done by the BBC, and the Guardian newspaper in the UK. Unfortunately, RTÉ is running a little slow on this initiative. I can only get the Gerry Ryan weekly highlights. They're just sound files that you can set to automatically download to your PC, and then to your iPod or MP3 player.

The BBC have a daily update that is taken from highlights of their news programmes, and it's excellent. And the Guardian have a daily news programme on their site that's like a little radio station. I have an iPod shuffle, so now I'm never without the news. Which, incidentally, is how I heard the BBC report on Costa Rica.
-----
Well, that's it for another week. We're off to the airport now to pick up the two travellers. They've had a long day, and have travelled from Dublin to Amsterdam, to Miami, to San José. So until next week.

Pura Vida,

Éamon

World Cup countdown

The world cup countdown is beginning in earnest. I've also learned a little about the police force (from my students, not from personal experience!), and I need to warn any of you who I'm meeting in July that some Americanisms have crept into my speech!

Preparation for Germany
------------------------------
This week the Costa Rican football team headed for Germany. They had a relaxed final training of a few days on the Pacific coast. The news now has coverage from their hotel in Germany and keeps us informed on how they're doing.

There are all sorts of rumours about what bonuses they're on. In Italia 90 they qualified for the second round, and all the players won a car. Trying to dampen the rumours, officials reported that this time the players earn $1,000 a day while in Germany, with $400 extra per match.

They are playing in the opening match against Germany on June 9th. The match is at 10am here, and the government has given all their employees the morning off work. I think the other matches are at 8am.

Obviously, people aren't confident about the opening match against such competition. However, I keep feeling that stranger things have happened. Given that all the pressure is on Germany and nothing is expected of Costa Rica other than turn up. We'll see.

Part-time policing
----------------------
In class during the week, we were talking about modal verbs of permission or obligation, and used the rules of the road as an example. Things like you should wear a helmet on a bike, and you must stop at a red light.

But I was told that at night in San José you may jump a red light if there is no traffic coming, because it's dangerous to stop in some districts. I asked if the police would take any action if they saw you jumping the light. They laughed, and said that this was just at night, so 'obviously' there are no police around.

It turns out that the police finish about 8.30, and there is no coverage overnight. They were amazed when I told them that police-keeping at home was 24-hours.

Americanisation
--------------------
Just a warning, before I travel home, that some Americanisation (Americanization?) has crept into my speech. I teach American English, while always also telling my students the British/Irish English equivalent. But this constant use of American English is creeping into my speech. I've talked about 'movies' a couple of times to Jack. I'm quite comfortable spelling color and neighbor. I use the bathroom (they think toilet is quite a crude word!), form a line instead of make a queue, throw out trash, and I call people, rather than phone them!

The Irish phrase I'm lost without is 'giving out'. I still can't make out what the Americans say for it. They use 'scold' to translate the equivalent Spanish word engañar. But they feel it's old-fashioned and don't use it in normal speech. They don't say 'telling off' which I think is more British. So I still say 'giving out' and no-one has a clue what I mean.

I also surprise people when talking about 'your man' to point someone out – with the reply 'Did you just call him my man?'

I'll be looking forward to July when I can top up on Hiberno-English!
-----
Well, that's it for another week. We have visitors arriving next weekend, Jack's niece and her boyfriend, so we're really looking forward to that. So until next week …

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today's headline in La Nación: US Senate defends the rights of foreigners working in agriculture

Thoughts of home

Having been here a year, it’s possible to compare the start of the rainy season this year and last, and there’s so much more rain this year. We’ve booked our holidays home to Ireland in July, and Jack’s started guitar lessons.

Travelling home
---------------
I hate searching for complicated flights on the internet. I always end up with about 16 browser windows open, and flit between them tweaking dates to try to get the best fare. This time the best fare turned out to be a crazy route. But still, best fare is best fare, and we’ve gone for it.

We’re leaving here on July 2nd, arriving into Dublin on the morning of 3rd. We don’t leave Ireland until 31st, so it’s a good long break. The route we take is, wait for it, on the way out; San José, Miami, St. Louis, Chicago, Dublin. And then on the way back it’s Dublin, London, Miami, San José.

We’re really looking forward to catching up with people at home, and I’ll have so much more time than my quick trip last August.

Things you miss from home
-------------------------
Whenever anybody comes out, they always ask what we want brought over from Ireland. To be honest, there’s really not a lot that we miss. I’d kill for a batterburger and chips, but it’s not very realistic. What I’ve got people to bring so far includes the predictable Barry’s Tea. I didn’t bring any with me, because I think the milk abroad is often dodgy. But it’s fine over here.

I’ve also asked people to bring Blu-Tack. I’m not sure why, but you can’t get it here. There is a fantastically equipped American office store called Office Depot, which has more items than I’ve ever seen available in Ireland in it’s large warehouse. But no Blu-Tack. It’s amazing how much we’ve managed to decorate the apartment walls since it’s arrived.

The only other thing is a favourite from my childhood. Erin Irish Potato soup. Just a simple packet soup, but ideal for days with tropical rainstorms. They should use that in their advertising!

Guitar lessons
--------------
I got Jack a guitar for his birthday, and he’s now taking lessons. My boss’s brother, Colin from the US, is a very good player and is giving him lessons for just over €5 an hour. So he’s practising loads at the moment, shredding his fingers away in the process.

Drifting exchange rate
----------------------
Another aspect of Tico life is that the currency, the Colón (or Columbus), is constantly falling in value. When we arrived it was C467 to the dollar. It’s now C508, a fall of nearly 9%, and that happens year in year out. It doesn’t fluctuate. It just falls.

Because of this, the dollar acts as a surrogate currency. Most of our bills are in dollars, and they have a dollar conversion rate to give you this months total in colones for payment.
-----
Well, that’s it for another week. The rain continues. A couple of minutes ago we couldn’t hear each other speak for the din on the tin roof. There’s a respite for the moment. So until next week.

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today’s headline in La Nación: Schools fail to check schoolbags daily (for weapons!)

Inauguration bank holiday

Folks,

It’s a bank holiday here today, although I’m actually working later on. I’m watching the inauguration of the new President, Óscar Arias, on TV.

New President
------------------
There are many leaders of Latin American countries here for the inauguration, in addition to Laura Bush and the President of Taiwan. The inauguration is held in the National Stadium. It’s a little like an amateur version of the Olympics opening ceremony. People are doing gym displays and some marching and dancing. It’s quite unlike what we’ve done in Dublin Castle for the two Marys.

They’ve now been hit by a torrential shower, so there are umbrellas everywhere. There’s also live coverage of the chef preparing the state dinner (in a marquee!).

CAFTA
----------
Since we arrived here, the major public issue has been the Central American Free Trade Agreement, known locally as TLC, Trato Libre de Comercio. It’s an agreement to lift trade barriers between the US and the Central American countries, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean.

Many people here are opposed to the agreement, feeling that it’s too favourable to the US. There have been many protest marches and you can see posters and stickers on people’s windows saying ‘No to annexation, no to TLC’. It’s been ratified in the other five countries. It’s likely to be ratified by the new President as he’s in favour of the agreement.

Selling in the streets
------------------------
One of the features of life here is the street sellers who are everywhere. As you go even to the supermarket, you have to run the gauntlet of people selling lottery tickets, mobile phone covers, jewellery, pirated CDs and DVDs, in addition to fruit vendors. When you take the bus into San José, someone often gets on and makes a long speech about their hardship, and then sells pens to passengers to make some money. The story is often about their health problems. One guy had been the victim of a car crash, and showed us all his x-rays.

Men looking for women
-----------------------------
I’ve just bought a copy of the local English language newspaper, The Tico Times. There are many personal ads in the newspaper, the majority older guys in the US looking for younger Tica girlfriends with a view to marriage. This is a typical example.

Marriage-minded 43 year old athletic surfer / fireman from San Diego, California seeking Tica / Nicaraguan / Panamanian will be in Beatle Bar, Jacó Beach Costa Rica June 16-24 ask for Brendan Mac. Hope to see you! Will buy your first Cacique! email me bmcinerney@san.rr.com.
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Well, that’s it for another week. The inauguration is over now, and there’s a Colombian telenovela (soap opera) in its place. The rain has stopped, and I’d better get ready for school.

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today’s headline in La Nación: Óscar Arias takes over as President of Costa Rica

Esterillos

Folks,

Like yourselves, we’ve just had a bank holiday weekend. We travelled to the small beach village of Esterillos Este, and had a really nice and relaxing time.

Terremoto
-------------
We had a small earthquake on Monday. It was at around 9.30 in the evening, and was during the showing on TV of a film called “10.5” about an earthquake in San Francisco. You almost felt you were there!

Bank holiday weekend
----------------------------
This was a bank holiday weekend. However, it wasn’t very busy, because most people had spent all their money during Semana Santa. We decided to head to the small village of Esterillos Este on the Pacific Coast. It was our first time go to a place on the coast that was off the beaten track. When the bus dropped us off on the main road we felt that we were in the middle of nowhere. We had about a 2km walk to the hotel. When we got there we discovered that bizarrely we had to cross an aircraft runway. Right in the middle of nowhere, and crossing the road. There was a stop sign warning you to look out for aircraft.

Esterillos Este
-----------------
Esterillos is a collection of beaches with little villages, called Esterillos Este, Centro and Oeste (or East, Central and West). We stayed in a small hotel for about €32 for a double room. That’s expensive for us! And beers were a whopping €1.60. It was very quiet and relaxed. Beautiful mornings and afternoons, with rainy evenings.

Sunburn
-----------
The hotel had boogie boards available for guests. They’re kind of like sawn-off surfboards that you lie on. We went out on them the first morning and we had brilliant craic. However, although it was overcast there was sun getting through. I usually go right up to my neck in the sea because of the strong sun. But with the boogie boards you were out of the water most of the time, with the result that we got terrible sunburn. The first sunburn I’ve got in over a year here.

I look like I’m wearing a red t-shirt. Because I’d put sunscreen on my arms and legs outside of t-shirt and shorts. We’re getting over it now, but it’s still a little sore.

Yesterday, we decided to wait until after the late afternoon’s rain before going out on the boards. We had great fun surfing in the lashings of rain. So much safer.

Bank holidays
------------------
This Monday was a bank holiday for Mayday. Next Monday, there is a bank holiday for the transfer of power for to the new President! But I think that the school will still be open, so we won’t have it off. But we should be paid double time. I think it would be popular at home to bring down the government if it meant a holiday each time.

Rainy Season
-----------------
The rainy season is definitely here. It rains most afternoons for a little while here in the Central Valley, and a little later on the Pacific Coast. However, the rest of the day is beautiful and sunny. And the temperature is hotter than in the dry season!
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So that’s it for another week. This is a short week. Only 3 days, because of the bank holiday, and because I’m not back on Saturday rotation yet. So until next week …

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today’s headline in La Nación: PLN achieves comfortable triumph in legislative session

Early Rain

Folks,

It was back to work after the Easter break. Monday was a bank holiday, but the school was open, so we were paid double time. And as I hear the weather is improving in Ireland, it’s moving steadily towards rainy season here.

Here comes the rain again
-------------------------------
It feels like the rainy season is here a little early this year. It’s been a funny summer, not typical according to the Ticos in that the evenings always remained cold. But now the afternoons are often rainy. May is the traditional start to rainy season, but I feel it’s really been here for the past two weeks. The funny thing is that the temperature is also rising, and we’re back to using the fan at home at night. The earlier part of the rainy season isn’t bad. It’s just a short time of torrential rain most afternoons. It’s not until October and November that we hit the really constant rain.

It’s actually 4.20pm now, and it’s beautiful and sunny outside.

Back to work
----------------
Having been off for the full Semana Santa we were back for a full schedule this week. We have a bank holiday for Mayday, but apart from that it’s without a break until the end of the semester on 30th June.

Security bars
----------------
One of the first things you notice when you get to Costa Rica is that there are bars on every window, door and garden gate – on everything in fact. In the apartment we have a gate downstairs leading to the stairs. Then we have bars on our door and all our windows. I asked someone if things were really that dangerous, and was told that when every house has bars, you can’t be the only one without. Because then you’re the easy target. But I laughed this week when Josh and Lori, two of the newer teachers told me that they have bars around their small garden. So when they sit outside or do some work in the garden the locals stop to have a look in. They call it ‘The Gringo Zoo’.

Growing prosperity
------------------------
I read in the paper that there is a government agency that has investigated the living conditions in Costa Rica. There has been a growth in the amount of homes with consumer electronics over the past 16 years. Now 98% of homes have electricity (The second-highest in Latin America after Chile). 72% have either landline or mobile phones, and the ‘vast majority’ have a cooker and colour TV. Only 7.5% of houses have internet access.

The number of home with colour TV have tripled in the sixteen years, and washing machines and telephones have doubled.

A big concern, as it is in Ireland, is the increasing price of oil. Although petrol is quite a bit cheaper here at €0.76 per litre.

Neighbours in trouble
--------------------------
There are three apartments in the building where we live. Two are stable in occupancy with ourselves in one, and Denis next door. The other apartment changes every few months, and will change again soon. Denis and Carlos our landlord are not happy with the American girls that have moved in. They have a lot of friends visiting regularly. Several of whom seem to have copies of the keys. Carlos has given them their notice, so they leave in May. But they had a party last night and it was all drama. Carlos and Denis out on the balcony in a shouting match with the girls and the party-goers. It was all very exciting!
------
So that’s it for another week. We’re nearly into May. Where does the time go?

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today’s headline in La Nación: Parties reclaim C6,436 million

Semana Santa

We had planned to go to Cuba for Holy Week, because I was off. But we were a little late in actually planning it, and prices were quite high, so we decided to save it for later in the year. So we ended up staying at home, and having a very relaxing week.

No alcohol again
---------------------
It was like a repeat of the election, as black plastic sealed all of the alcohol shelves and fridges in the supermarket, and the bars were all sealed shut on both Thursday and Friday.

Good Friday
----------------
I was explaining the names of the days of Holy Week to my students, and they all asked why on earth ‘Good Friday’ was called ‘Good’. Given that it’s commemorating the crucifixion. I had never given this any thought! So I’ve looked it up, and apparently, it’s a corruption of ‘God’s Friday’. In the same way as ‘Goodbye’ is a corruption of ‘God be with you’. Bet you didn’t know that.

They just call it Holy Friday here, and on Friday evening there was a large procession going by the apartment down Avenida Central. It started off with altar boys, followed by little girls dressed as angels, men as shepherds and women dressed as vestal virgins. There was a group of men playing those wooden ratchet instruments. Then a band playing the death march. They were followed by the ornate glass coffin with neon lights that contained the statue of the dead Jesus. Finally we had statues of Our Lady and saintly mourners also borne by the marchers.

Easter Sunday
-----------------
There was another procession, before 11 o’clock mass on Sunday. The music was much more upbeat this time. More like a circus band. The procession had most of the same people as Friday, but with a resurrected Jesus carried shoulder high. Despite the celebratory theme, Mary and the mourning saints’ statues looked as sad as they had on Friday.

The Mass
------------
Having followed the parade, I decided to attend the mass. It was in the large church on Parque Central. I always notice that even in very poor communities, the churches are quite architecturally impressive and elaborate, and this one is no exception. I’ve seen this throughout South America and Costa Rica. And even in the coverage of the tsunami, I saw that in many towns and villages that had been entirely wiped out, the only surviving building was the mosque, which was built to a much higher standard than other buildings.

Anyway, while the procession continued to the side of the church I nipped inside. But they must just have just completed a circuit of the church, because next thing the entire procession came in and walked down the aisle. Altar boys, angels, shepherds, vestal virgins, the circus music-playing band, followed by Jesus, Mary and the mourning saints. There were rounds of applause from the congregation as each group arrived. The largest applause being reserved for Jesus and the band.

Leah and Laura
-------------------
Sadly, over Semana Santa I also said goodbye to my two closest friends at the school. Laura, from Washington State left to live in Tucson, Arizona on Tuesday, and Leah from Maryland left for home on Saturday. We were quite close and hung around together a lot, particularly while Jack wasn’t here and I was on my own. We were very different ages, all ten years apart. Leah is in her early 20s, Laura early 30s, and I’m early 40s. I’ll miss them, but we’ve promised to keep in touch and meet up in the US before we go home.
------
So that’s it for another week. I’m back in work today, even though it’s a relocated bank holiday, because the April 11 Juan Santamaría holiday was in Semana Santa. The school has obviously decided we’ve had enough time off! So until next week.

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today’s headline in La Nación: Intermediaries exploit lottery reseller