We’re just back from a lovely weekend in the Caribbean town of Puerto Viejo. The locals are quite disappointed in the summer. While it’s beautiful, and we’re in the high twenties during the day, it does get cool at night.
We have a President - Provisionally
-------------------------------------------
The electoral commission have released the figures from the count showing that the former Nobel peace prize winner, Oscar Arias, won the Presidential election with 40.9% of the votes, compared to 39.8% for Ottón Solís. He’s just over the 40% required to avoid a run-off election. I think in Ireland, he’d have lost, because the nearly 20% that went to other candidates would mostly transfer to Solís. There are a number of irregularities being investigated before the results are declared publicly.
Puerto Viejo
---------------
We went to Puerto Viejo for the weekend, my last trip before my next Saturday rotation. It’s a really nice laid-back town on the Caribbean. More Jamaican than Tico. On Saturday, we walked to the beach to the south, Cocles, where there were very beautiful and dramatic waves. One guy either swam out, or was swept out, too far. The lifeguard had to swim out to rescue him, it was just like Baywatch.
Salsa Brava
--------------
Puerto Viejo became popular (as I think I wrote when I was last there in July) because of the ‘Salsa Brava’ or ‘rough sauce’ wave very popular with surfers. This wave was much more obvious on this trip, so much so that the horizon was very clearly jagged in the shape of the waves forming.
Colombian party
--------------------
On Thursday, Nicolás, one of the receptionists in school, had a party. He’s from Colombia, so there were a lot of Colombians there, along with teachers, Ticos and American students from the school. It was Jack’s first house party in Costa Rica. Nicolás lives with his family right beside the school, and the party was around a bonfire in his garden.
Squirreling for nuts
-----------------------
I forgot to mention that when we were in Montezuma the other week, we were having breakfast one morning, when I heard a pouring, splashing sound behind me. I looked around and there was a stream of water from overhead. I looked up expecting to see a burst pipe, but all I saw was a coconut tree. As I looked closer I realised that there was a squirrel in the tree gnawing his way through the coconuts, creating a mini waterfall for each.
Crocodile!
-------------
On our way back in the bus from Puerto Viejo, we crossed a bridge, and as we looked out of the window saw a huge crocodile basking in the sun on a mud flat in the river. I still get a thrill from just happening to see wild animals in their natural habitat.
-----
So, I’m back to Saturday classes this coming weekend. This normally would mean no more travelling for the next five weeks, but my sister Sharon and her husband Niall arrive just before Paddy’s day, so I’m hoping to have a few days off to travel a little with them. So for this week...
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Health service employees don’t know how to evacuate patients
Monday, February 27, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
Going mobile
Folks,
It’s occurred to me that I haven’t been on time with my email since Jack got back. That’s what a change of routine does for me! Well, we’ve had a windy week, the evenings are still cool, and I got a mobile phone!
Spanish again
-----------------
I’ve started Spanish again this week. It’s my first week since the start of December. It’s good to be back, but I feel a little bit rusty. Unfortunately, though, it does mean an 8.30 start every morning. I’m now on book 9, having started on book 2 way back when. It’s a consolidation and revision book. Exactly what I need.
Mobile again
----------------
The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed last week that I included a mobile telephone number. Having been here almost a year, I’ve finally managed to get one. To recap for newer readers, mobiles (or celulares as they are over here) are like gold-dust. A couple of years ago, the phone company were installing an upgraded system. But two former Presidents were found to have been involved in bribery in the awarding of the contract (I never mentioned Michael Lowry!). They are now under house arrest pending trial. So that slowed everything down.
I’ve now come to a commercial arrangement with my landlord to lease his phone from him. So that’s the upside. The downside is that I now own a Nokia brick, circa 1993. It’s on the American TDMA system, not GSM, so I can’t just swap the SIM into my Irish phone, or even receive texts from home. And I don’t have predictive text, or even vibrate! But it’s a mobile, and I feel that’s I’ve caught up a little again with civilisation! You can’t text me, but feel free to call on 00-506-386 3426 if you get the urge!
Election
----------
Still no result from the presidential election. I actually wonder if they’ve forgotten about it. They voted on 5th February, and the population is smaller than Ireland. What can be taking so long?
La niña
---------
I mentioned la niña last week. It’s a weather phenomenon of the Pacific that every few years there are cycles of hotter and colder water in the ocean. These cause climate shifts in the Americas. El niño (or the boy) is when the water heats and the weather becomes hotter. La niña (or the girl) is when the water cools, and the weather becomes cooler. It seems that the experts are concluding that la niña is now back, and the cause of our cooler summer. Still, it’s 26 to 28 degrees, and quite pleasant here in the Central Valley, so we’re not complaining.
-----
After this week we’ll be going to somewhere on the coast for the weekend, because I’m starting my Saturday rotation of working five Saturdays from the following week. So, until next week.
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Taxes finance social clubs for public employees
It’s occurred to me that I haven’t been on time with my email since Jack got back. That’s what a change of routine does for me! Well, we’ve had a windy week, the evenings are still cool, and I got a mobile phone!
Spanish again
-----------------
I’ve started Spanish again this week. It’s my first week since the start of December. It’s good to be back, but I feel a little bit rusty. Unfortunately, though, it does mean an 8.30 start every morning. I’m now on book 9, having started on book 2 way back when. It’s a consolidation and revision book. Exactly what I need.
Mobile again
----------------
The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed last week that I included a mobile telephone number. Having been here almost a year, I’ve finally managed to get one. To recap for newer readers, mobiles (or celulares as they are over here) are like gold-dust. A couple of years ago, the phone company were installing an upgraded system. But two former Presidents were found to have been involved in bribery in the awarding of the contract (I never mentioned Michael Lowry!). They are now under house arrest pending trial. So that slowed everything down.
I’ve now come to a commercial arrangement with my landlord to lease his phone from him. So that’s the upside. The downside is that I now own a Nokia brick, circa 1993. It’s on the American TDMA system, not GSM, so I can’t just swap the SIM into my Irish phone, or even receive texts from home. And I don’t have predictive text, or even vibrate! But it’s a mobile, and I feel that’s I’ve caught up a little again with civilisation! You can’t text me, but feel free to call on 00-506-386 3426 if you get the urge!
Election
----------
Still no result from the presidential election. I actually wonder if they’ve forgotten about it. They voted on 5th February, and the population is smaller than Ireland. What can be taking so long?
La niña
---------
I mentioned la niña last week. It’s a weather phenomenon of the Pacific that every few years there are cycles of hotter and colder water in the ocean. These cause climate shifts in the Americas. El niño (or the boy) is when the water heats and the weather becomes hotter. La niña (or the girl) is when the water cools, and the weather becomes cooler. It seems that the experts are concluding that la niña is now back, and the cause of our cooler summer. Still, it’s 26 to 28 degrees, and quite pleasant here in the Central Valley, so we’re not complaining.
-----
After this week we’ll be going to somewhere on the coast for the weekend, because I’m starting my Saturday rotation of working five Saturdays from the following week. So, until next week.
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Taxes finance social clubs for public employees
Monday, February 13, 2006
Montezuma
Folks,
We had a lovely weekend in Montezuma on the Pacific coast. The elections are still in the balance – and it looks like summer has arrived at last!
Journey to Montezuma
----------------------------
Enough jokes about Montezuma’s revenge! This, if you don’t know, is a euphemism for traveller’s diarrhoea. Anyway, we had a lovely time in Montezuma, and didn’t have any untoward stomach problems!
Montezuma is on the very south of the Nicoya peninsula, across the Gulf of Nicoya. So we had to get a bus to Puntarenas, a taxi to the ferry, a ferry to Paquera and another bus along largely unpaved roads to Montezuma. It’s a long journey, and in hindsight perhaps too long for just a weekend.
However, the ferry crossing was very beautiful. At one stage as you cross the gulf, you can’t even see where the open sea is, and you’re surrounded by really green mountains in against the blue sky and sea, with a beautiful warm breeze for the crossing.
Montezuma
---------------
Montezuma is very beautiful. It’s an old hippie town, although for me there is little sign of that now. It has a series of very beautiful beaches. We literally spent hours in the water over the two days. Because it’s a bit more touristy, there are a lot of restaurants, and we had really beautiful meals on both nights.
The weather was beautiful, and Saturday evening was particularly memorable as Jack and I sat in a bar on the beach drinking cocktails and beer watching the sun set and the full moon rise. The sun actually sets over the hill to the west, so you don’t see it set over the sea, but the sky was a beautiful pinky-grey. Then the full moon was so beautiful and rose as night fell while we were having our drinks.
The restaurants have the simple outdoor decorations of candles placed in sand in ordinary paper bags around the perimeter of each bar, and the effect along the beach bars is beautiful.
Election count continues
------------------------------
The election count for the presidency continues, but the result now seems clear. The wealthy pro-American Oscar Arias has opened up a clear lead, and will also be over the 40% level needed to avoid a run-off election. A major issue in the result has been the amount of support for Ottón Solís and his sceptical attitude to CAFTA which he wants to have renegotiated.
CAFTA is the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and is a treaty between the United States and El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. All the others have now ratified it. It’s tied up in the assembly here, awaiting the outcome of the election. Arias is in favour, but Solís feels that it is one-sided in favour of the Americans and wants to have it renegotiated. It’s been the major political issue since we arrived. But an Arias victory should mean that it is implemented soon.
-----
So that’s it for another week. The weather was beautiful over the past week. I think summer has finally arrived. Everyone has told me that the weather has been wetter and cooler than normal for this time of year, and it seems that it may be due to the La Niña climate phenomenon – which I’ll research and update you on another week.
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Trucks avoid weak controls for heavy vehicles on roads.
We had a lovely weekend in Montezuma on the Pacific coast. The elections are still in the balance – and it looks like summer has arrived at last!
Journey to Montezuma
----------------------------
Enough jokes about Montezuma’s revenge! This, if you don’t know, is a euphemism for traveller’s diarrhoea. Anyway, we had a lovely time in Montezuma, and didn’t have any untoward stomach problems!
Montezuma is on the very south of the Nicoya peninsula, across the Gulf of Nicoya. So we had to get a bus to Puntarenas, a taxi to the ferry, a ferry to Paquera and another bus along largely unpaved roads to Montezuma. It’s a long journey, and in hindsight perhaps too long for just a weekend.
However, the ferry crossing was very beautiful. At one stage as you cross the gulf, you can’t even see where the open sea is, and you’re surrounded by really green mountains in against the blue sky and sea, with a beautiful warm breeze for the crossing.
Montezuma
---------------
Montezuma is very beautiful. It’s an old hippie town, although for me there is little sign of that now. It has a series of very beautiful beaches. We literally spent hours in the water over the two days. Because it’s a bit more touristy, there are a lot of restaurants, and we had really beautiful meals on both nights.
The weather was beautiful, and Saturday evening was particularly memorable as Jack and I sat in a bar on the beach drinking cocktails and beer watching the sun set and the full moon rise. The sun actually sets over the hill to the west, so you don’t see it set over the sea, but the sky was a beautiful pinky-grey. Then the full moon was so beautiful and rose as night fell while we were having our drinks.
The restaurants have the simple outdoor decorations of candles placed in sand in ordinary paper bags around the perimeter of each bar, and the effect along the beach bars is beautiful.
Election count continues
------------------------------
The election count for the presidency continues, but the result now seems clear. The wealthy pro-American Oscar Arias has opened up a clear lead, and will also be over the 40% level needed to avoid a run-off election. A major issue in the result has been the amount of support for Ottón Solís and his sceptical attitude to CAFTA which he wants to have renegotiated.
CAFTA is the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and is a treaty between the United States and El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. All the others have now ratified it. It’s tied up in the assembly here, awaiting the outcome of the election. Arias is in favour, but Solís feels that it is one-sided in favour of the Americans and wants to have it renegotiated. It’s been the major political issue since we arrived. But an Arias victory should mean that it is implemented soon.
-----
So that’s it for another week. The weather was beautiful over the past week. I think summer has finally arrived. Everyone has told me that the weather has been wetter and cooler than normal for this time of year, and it seems that it may be due to the La Niña climate phenomenon – which I’ll research and update you on another week.
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Trucks avoid weak controls for heavy vehicles on roads.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
In the Middle of a Dry Spell
Hi there, we’re just coming to the end of a long dry spell. And I’m not talking about the weather. The bars have been closed since Friday night, and they’re still closed! Jack arrived back on Friday, and we had to stock up for the weekend.
La Ley Seca
---------------
The ‘Ley Seca’ or the Dry Law states that no alcohol can be sold anywhere in Costa Rica on the day before, the day of and the day after an election. Yesterday was election day with voting for the president, the parliament and local government. Supermarkets have black plastic refuse sacks taped over all fridges and drink shelves. Bars are sealed with luminous green paper that you can be imprisoned for tampering with. But, as in Ireland with Good Friday, the effect is just to have everyone stocking up beforehand. There were whole pallets of beer out in the middle of the supermarket aisles on Thursday and Friday.
Shock result
----------------
Since I arrived in April, I’ve been so aware of the Oscar Arias campaign for president. He’s a very wealthy man, and has had full page ads in the newspapers over the past ten months. He was president from 1986 to 1990, and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending many of the violent conflicts in Central America. I’ve had my concerns about him, mainly due to the huge money machine that is behind him. He was also very involved in overturning a law that limited the president to one term in office, a move which was designed to allow him to run again.
However, opinion polls constantly showed he had a large lead. The leading candidate must have over 40% of the vote to win outright, otherwise the top two candidates have to face each other in a run off vote on April 2nd (Another 3 days without drink if that happened!). Most polls showed him over this threshold, with the next candidate, Ottón Solís running behind on around 26%.
Election day was mainly marked by hundreds of supporters of all candidates driving around, clogging up all the traffic and beeping their horns. There was more beeping when the polls closed and early TV projections showed an Arias victory at about 43%. However, as the count progressed, it became clear that Solís had polled way ahead of expectations, and Arias’s lead began to slide. When it got within 0.2% the electoral commission suspended the electronic count, and counting is now by hand. They are currently running at 40.5% for Arias and 40.2% for Solís.
Jack’s back!
----------------
After an absence of about 5 months, Jack finally arrived back on Friday morning. We’ve had a great weekend catching up and getting back into the groove of a life together. It’s been a long and difficult absence, but I think we’re both very positively looking forward to sharing the rest of this wonderful experience.
-----
So that’s it for another week. I’m getting used to my new head teacher duties, but the vast majority of my time is still in class teaching, which I’m really enjoying. We’re hoping to head off to Montezuma on the Pacific coast on Friday for the weekend.
So until next week,
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Official declaration of President-elect will not be made for two weeks.
La Ley Seca
---------------
The ‘Ley Seca’ or the Dry Law states that no alcohol can be sold anywhere in Costa Rica on the day before, the day of and the day after an election. Yesterday was election day with voting for the president, the parliament and local government. Supermarkets have black plastic refuse sacks taped over all fridges and drink shelves. Bars are sealed with luminous green paper that you can be imprisoned for tampering with. But, as in Ireland with Good Friday, the effect is just to have everyone stocking up beforehand. There were whole pallets of beer out in the middle of the supermarket aisles on Thursday and Friday.
Shock result
----------------
Since I arrived in April, I’ve been so aware of the Oscar Arias campaign for president. He’s a very wealthy man, and has had full page ads in the newspapers over the past ten months. He was president from 1986 to 1990, and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending many of the violent conflicts in Central America. I’ve had my concerns about him, mainly due to the huge money machine that is behind him. He was also very involved in overturning a law that limited the president to one term in office, a move which was designed to allow him to run again.
However, opinion polls constantly showed he had a large lead. The leading candidate must have over 40% of the vote to win outright, otherwise the top two candidates have to face each other in a run off vote on April 2nd (Another 3 days without drink if that happened!). Most polls showed him over this threshold, with the next candidate, Ottón Solís running behind on around 26%.
Election day was mainly marked by hundreds of supporters of all candidates driving around, clogging up all the traffic and beeping their horns. There was more beeping when the polls closed and early TV projections showed an Arias victory at about 43%. However, as the count progressed, it became clear that Solís had polled way ahead of expectations, and Arias’s lead began to slide. When it got within 0.2% the electoral commission suspended the electronic count, and counting is now by hand. They are currently running at 40.5% for Arias and 40.2% for Solís.
Jack’s back!
----------------
After an absence of about 5 months, Jack finally arrived back on Friday morning. We’ve had a great weekend catching up and getting back into the groove of a life together. It’s been a long and difficult absence, but I think we’re both very positively looking forward to sharing the rest of this wonderful experience.
-----
So that’s it for another week. I’m getting used to my new head teacher duties, but the vast majority of my time is still in class teaching, which I’m really enjoying. We’re hoping to head off to Montezuma on the Pacific coast on Friday for the weekend.
So until next week,
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Official declaration of President-elect will not be made for two weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
