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
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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
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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
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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
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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.