In the past week the Central Bank intervened in the market with U.S. $26.1 million, with the aim of stabilizing the price of the U.S. dollar, defending what has been done so far and has given assurances that it will keep intervening when necessary.
(QCOSTARICA) The dollar exchange rate in the wholesale Mercado de Monedas Extranjeras (MONEX) market has gone from ¢535.9 per one U.S. dollar in mid-March to ¢553.9 in the first week of September this year.
Despite interventions by the Central Bank (Banco Central de Costa Rica – BCCR), the dollar exchange rate in Costa Rica has maintained a clear upward trend for several months, reflecting in a devaluation of 3% so far this year.
The rise in the U.S. dollar against the Colon is due to, according to the monetary authority, a “… lower amount of surplus currency in the private sector, which showed, in addition to traditional seasonal patterns in the foreign exchange market, the partial recovery in international prices of some raw materials from February this year (prices are still below levels seen a year ago) and the greater dynamism of imports. ”
According to figures of the Central Bank, between August 30 and September 6 the monetary authority intervened in the market with U.S. $26.1 million, with the aim of stabilizing the price of the U.S. dollar in the wholesale market.
The Central Bank defends what has been done so far and has given assurances that it will keep intervening when necessary.
In the view of the state entity “… the evolution of the dollar exchange rate since February 2015 has been consistent with macroeconomic conditions, with announcements by the Central Bank regarding the net demand of the nonbank public sector and based on the managed floating regime.”
With notes from the Banco Central and Centralamericandata.com
(QCOSTARICA) The delay in phytosanitation studies by the Ministry of Agriculture (MAG) has stalled the process for starting imports of avocados from the Dominican Republic.
Even though it has been a month since the Chamber of Exporters and Importers of Perishable Goods (Cámara de Exportadores e Importadores de Productos Perecederos) asked to be able to start the process of importing avocados from the Caribbean island, a delay in carrying out a study on the part of the Servicio Fitosanitario del Estado (SFE) – State Phytosanitary Service – has prevented this from happening.
Since the avocado market in Mexico was closed, importers have been buying the fruit in Chile, but Randall Benavides, president of the union “… said that Chilean avocados are not profitable because they cost more and there is more distance than any other destination”.
For that reason, he explained to Crhoy.com, “…risk analysis by the SFE needs to be completed. The opening to the Dominican market was approved after a meeting took place in the headquarters of the MAG and the head, Luis Felipe Arauz, promised to meet the requirements for importing from that market. ”
Earlier this year Costa Rica stopped the importation of the fruit from Mexico. The Mexicans responded that there was a lack of scientific evidence that justifies the decision of the SFE that, in enacting the ban, said “imports (from Mexico) bought with them the risk of the disease spreading throughout Costa Rica with a subsequent price increase which would result in need for a disbursement to attack the plague.”
Argentina”s largest airline, Aerolineas Argentinas
(Today Venezuela) Argentinean state-owned air carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas last Sunday announced the suspension of flights to Caracas as from September 10-12 due to social unrest in Venezuela.
The airline claimed that the decision was “temporary” and that they would “continue monitoring the situation closely, in order to resume services on Saturday September 17, provided that the social scenario (in Venezuela) is favorable,” as reported by Argentinean state-run news agency Télam.
Aerolíneas Argentinas operates two weekly flights to Caracas, on Mondays and Saturdays.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez
(Prensa Latina) The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, rejected here accusations by the Vice-president of the United States, Joseph Biden, on the march held on September 1st in this capital.
On her Twitter account, the Foreign Minister said last night that Venezuela rejects the insolence and interfering content of the statements of the US Vice-president.
The head of the Venezuelan diplomacy declared that the US government offends and attacks the people and the sovereignty of the South American nation with its claims to instruct and give orders.
Rodriguez noted that the northern country encourages right-wing opponents, violent and extreme, to execute destabilization actions that disturb the peace of Venezuela.
The US Vice-president accused the Venezuelan government of violating the Inter-American Democratic Charter by ‘suppressing’ the opposition demonstrations last Thursday in favor of a recall referendum against the president Nicolas Maduro. Biden demanded the release of political prisoners and the convening of an electoral process this year.
The Vice-president was referring to the case of Leopoldo Lopez, organizer of the coup plan La Salida that violent acts that shook Caracas in 2014, left 43 people dead and over 800 wounded.
On the subject of the recall, the National Electoral Council of Venezuela explained that if the opposition had requested the process in January it could have been held this year.
The electoral power, despite all the pressures by the national and international right wing, keeps the schedule set since August, according to which the date for the second phase (collection of signatures of 20 percent of voters in favor of the process against Maduro) will take place from October 24 to the 30th.
(QCOSTARICA) In country flights have been on the increase this year as more people every day in Costa Rica choose to take to the skies to avoid the worsening traffic congestion, this according to official data of domestic flights.
The two domestic airlines report and increase in flights this year over last year.
Sansa says it moved 110,000 people in 2015, an increase of 22% over 2014, according to the audited statistics of the Director General of Civil Aviation. Its rival, Nature Air reports moving 83,000 people in 2014, but saw a drop of 15% in 2015 (70,653), the official date revealed.
However, it the first half of 2016, the airline saw a 87% increase over the same period last year, moving 58,800 passengers. Meanwhile, according to figures by Civil Aviation, Sansa only saw an increase of 67% over last year, mobilizing 74,300 people so far this year.
Sansa airlines
Both airlines say the increase in volume is directly related to the traffic chaos.
A trip from San Jose to Liberia over land, for example, can be up to 4 hours; by air 35 minutes.
A round trip from San Jose to Liberia costs between ¢68,000 and ¢81.000 at full fares. Both airlines offer special pricing to entice customers.
Both airlines offer destinations to and from San Jose that include: Liberia, Tamarindo, Tambor, Tortuguero, Golfito, Puerto Jimenez, Drake Bay, Arenal and Quepos.
The La Nacion has prepared this infograph with prices and destinations according to the websites of the airlines. The graph also indicates the travel time (on the map of Costa Rica) by air (black) and by land (orange).
The benefit of travelling by air is leaving the capital at 6:00am, arriving in Liberia by 6:35am and returning by 7:00pm. We used those hours since they are before and after the worst of San Jose traffic conditions, though lately it is more like before 5:00am and after 9:00pm.
The demand for domestic air travel is for all destinations: Guanacaste, the Southern Zone and the Caribbean (Limon).
(Prensa Latina) With the documentary, Galapagos, Islands in Evolution, released today, Ecuador will show the diversity and beauty of the species that live there.
The documentary is narrated by the famous Spanish songwriter and singer Miguel Bosé, who tours the biodiversity of the Wolf and Darwin islands, home to the largest biomass of sharks in the world and the only one with a migration of pregnant whale sharks.
The president of Equador, Rafael Correa, and his counterparts from Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, and Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis, will attend the premiere of the documentary, which was made by the International channel The National Geographic, as part of its project Pristine Seas.
The presence of the three leaders in the territory, which is one of the best preserved worldwide natural areas, is due to the signing of an act which seals the maritime boundaries between their countries.
An act which was achieved through diplomatic channels, without dispute or through international courts.
Recently the foreign minister, Guillaume Long, described the meeting as historic, since Ecuador already has set its borders by land and sea.
Last August, Galapagos received the decoration of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) for the preservation of their environment.
Ecuadorian authorities expect that about 500 million people can enjoy the documentary about the world’s largest marine reserve.
For the shooting in 2015, a Deep Sea underwater vehicle was used, which allowed the filming of the ocean depths, more than 400 meters under water.
Located 972 kilometers from the coast of Ecuador, Galapagos is made up of thirteen large islands, six smaller islands and 42 tiny ones.
The archipelago owes its name to the giant tortoises living there and is also known for the studies conducted there by the English naturalist Charles Darwin, which served to establish his theory of evolution of species by natural selection.
(Q24N) Researchers of Brown University have verified the authenticity of the Grolier Codex, an ancient document that is among the rarest books in the world.
Regarded with skepticism since it was reportedly unearthed by looters from a cave in Chiapas, Mexico, in the 1960s, the ancient Maya text from the 13th century, solving the long-standing riddle of whether the mysterious fragment was actually genuine.
Long been treated with suspicion by archaeologists and historians, but a meticulous new study of the codex has yielded a startling conclusion: The codex is both genuine and likely the most ancient of all surviving manuscripts from ancient America
Whereas the other surviving Maya codices were found during the 19th century, the Grolier long stood out as a potential fake, only coming to light in the late 20th century. The pages were reportedly found by looters in a cave in Chiapas, Mexico, before findings its way into a private collection.
The paper, published in the journal Maya Archaeology, fills a special section of the publication and includes a lavish facsimile of the codex.
The codex takes its name from the Grolier Club in New York City, where it was displayed in the 1970s, but ever since its discovery, researchers have debated whether or not the pages were a forgery, cunningly designed to emulate the style of ancient Maya writing, illustrations, and materials.
Other items found in the cave alongside the Grolier Codex included a small wooden mask and a sacrificial knife. But while these items were long ago recognised as authentic, the Grolier itself remained disputed in academic circles.
The reserchers team reviewed all known research on the codex, ‘without regard to the politics, academic and otherwise, that have enveloped the *Grolier*’, they explain in their paper.
The researchers analysed the origins of the manuscript, examined its use of illustrations and iconography, and compared its craftsmanship to the known stylings of Maya painters.
The team also carbon-dated the pages, which revealed that the Grolier actually pre-dates the more established Maya codices: the Dresden, Madrid, and Paris codices, named after the cities where they are kept.
The carbon dating puts the manuscript as originating in the 13th century, and the analysis of the text suggests a forgery in the 1960s would have been almost impossible, requiring knowledge of aspects of Maya culture that were not discovered by historians and scientists until later on in the 20th century.
Other Mayan codes like Madrid, Dresde and París (name of the cities where they are now kept) also search the past of time in relation to celestial bodies a form used by priests for fortune telling and rituals, and to make decitions on how to conduct wars.
The long time mayor of San Jose, Johnny Araya, wants to repopulate the capital city. La Republica
The long time mayor of San Jose, Johnny Araya, wants to repopulate the capital city. “The city is a vibrant and cultural icon,” Johnny Araya. Esteban Monge/La Republica
(QCOSTARICA) From the mayor’s chair in San Jose, Johnny Araya wants to convert the capital city into a place to live comfortable and efficiently, as well as attract trade, and global tourism.
Repopulating the capital with about 10,000 “new neighbours” is among the goals of the Araya who has been, save for a short run at the presidential chair, mayor of San Jose since the office was created in 1998; before that, from 1991 to 1998, he was the “executive” of the Municipalidad de San Jose, elected councilor for the first time in 1982.
In an interview with La Republica, Araya has his sights on developments for the middle and lower-middle class, already approving five new condo projects, in addition to a number of mix-used towers in La Sabana that will combined create 1,283 housing units. In addition, the city will soon see rise two of the tallest buildings in the country, one in La Sabana and the other on Paseo Colon.
Araya also plans to convert the Simon Bolivar park/zoo into a botanical garden.
The mayor of San Jose sees the repopulation of the capital as a solution to the dramatic collapse of the roads system, where daily many spend more than two hours in traffic, to get to and from home and work.
The idea, according to the Mayor, is that people can move without using the car, or even on foot. “I know that there are towers without parking, that’s because they are not needed. The idea is that at least 10,000 people come to live in San Jose,” said Araya.
As to the Simon Bolivar zoo, the decadent icon that central government wants to shut down, Araya said the plan is for the city to acquire the park, turn into a tourist attraction and the zoo, today run by a foundation, move the animals to Santa Ana, one of the places on the short list.
Araya also said plans are in the works to promote the city as a destination point, for its wide, varied and vibrant culture, artistic activities such as concerts, dance and theatre, as well as to develop a national convention centre to attract more people to Costa Rica and San Jose.
Johnny Francisco Araya Monge (born April 29, 1957) presidential aspirations ran short in the 2014 elections when he became the first presidential candidate to thrown in the towel, leading to a landslide win by Luis Guillermo Solis.
Araya’s ambition was to succeed his incumbent Partido Liberacion Nacional (PLN) party colleague, President Laura Chinchilla, constitutionally barred from re-election. Favoured to win, Araya came in second place to Luis Guillermo Solís, who won 30.9% of the vote against Araya’s 29.6%. Given that neither obtained the required 40% of the popular vote, a second round vote was called.
Araya, the nephew of Luis Alberto Monge, who was President of Costa Rica from 1982 to 1986, graduated from the University of Costa Rica’s Faculty of Agronomy in 1980; has worked as an agronomic engineer for many years, after graduating from the University of Costa Rica’s Faculty of Agronomy in 1980.
In August the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded a monthly variation of 0.03%, putting annual inflation at 0.60%, and inflation accumulated so far this year at 0.97%.
The groups with the greatest contribution to the CPI in August 2016 were: Rent and housing services and entertainment and culture.
In August 2016, of the 315 goods and services included in the consumer basket, 52% went up in price, 34% went down in price and 14% did not change.
When analyzing the percentage changes in the prices of the twelve groups that comprise the index, it shows that the group Rental and Housing Services is having a major effect on the variation of the general index.
In the last five years (2012 to 2016) the only negative cumulative percentage change from January to August was in 2015 with -0.44%.
The train station in San Francisco de Heredia is the latest case of a private-public partnership (PPP), a model still seen with suspicion in the country. Photo: Rafael Murillo
The train station in San Francisco de Heredia is the latest case of a private-public partnership (PPP), a model still seen with suspicion in the country. Photo: Rafael Murillo, ElFinancierio
(QCOSTARICA) Still seen with suspicion in Costa Rica, public-private partnerships (PPPs) is a model recognized worldwide as a catalyst for developing economies.
There are several reasons that could explain why such alliances have not been used more fully, some experts say don’t work, in the country.
Shortcomings in the regulatory framework, lack of political will and public capacity to plan and monitor partnerships are recognized locally weak areas.
A report called Infrascopio (Infrascope), prepared by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and Fondo Multilateral de Inversiones (FOMIN) at the World Bank outlines the reasons why the legal concept of partnerships between state agencies and private businesses is not thriving in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is listed as a “barely emerging” country in the development of these partnerships, according to the fourth edition of the report, which assesses the ability of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to conduct public-private partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure .
Among 19 countries studied, Costa Rica is ranked at position 10 with a score of 39 points (out of 100). In the region, Chile tops the list with 76.6 points.
To date, it has been the transport sector which has been taking benefit of PPPs, awarding concessions to build projects that include toll roads, airports and seaports.
One of the most recent case of a PPP is the US$170,000 investment by Cuestamoras Urbanismo to build the railway San Francisco de Heredia railway station platform. The construction took place after a cooperation agreement was signed with the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (Incofer) – railway, the latter contributing the land, among other items.
Aitor Llodio, executive director of the Aliarse foundation, told Elfinancierocr.com that “…’Most alliances in Costa Rica have been very shortsighted, almost philanthropic, more unidirectional, where the private sector puts in the money and the public sector its contacts. There are opportunities here. We have the challenge of empowering them even more’.”
The end of November is likely to be a good time to buy dollars, specifically if you take into account the value of the currency last October.
(updated) TICO BULL by Rico – The local currency, the Colon, can be confusing to visitors, for many looking like monopoly money (Canadians and Europeans are used to that with their own currency), with the different colours, sizes and pictures of animals, etc.
And lots of zeros, (ceros in Spanish).
The local bills come in 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, 20000 and the seldom seen 50000 denominations. Wow that is a lot of money. But is it really?
A typical guide to the dollar exchange rate is to double the face amount of the bill and drop a whole bunch of zeros. For example, 20,000 colones can be easily converted into US$40 by dropping the last three zeros and multiplying the 20 x 2 = 40.
But, the dollar exchange rate is not exactly two to one.
The dollar exchange today is ¢556 colones to one US dollar. So, 20000 divided by 556 is US$35.97, a difference of US$4.03, ¢100,000 is not US$200 dollars, but actually US$179.85
The whole point to all this is NOT to apply the simple 2:1 method of conversion as you may advised on other websites or worse at the time to pay. Use your smartphone, you know that device that you always have handy to make and receive calls and check your Facebook feed? it can also calculate the exchange rate! Yep. Who knew.
At restaurants your waiter/waitress will usually apply the simple 2:1 conversion. At supermarkets, like Automercado or Masxmenos that interchange payments in dollars and colones, they are better, but ask for the exchange rate being applied. Mostly likely the cashier will have no clue, she/he relies on the register to do that for them. You may be surprised at the difference.
Here are some tips for not getting ripped off with the dollar exchange rate:
Always pay in colones.
If you must pay in dollars, the only currency in your pocket/wallet, pay with the smallest denomination possible. A lousy exchange at US$20 hurts less that US$200. And besides most places won’t accept US bills larger that a 50, some places won’t accept even that.
Withdraw money from the ATM in colones, not only for the above, but most ATMs allow larger amount withdrawls per transaction in colones. For example, the ATMs operated by ATH will dispense a max of ¢250,000 colones or US$400. You can get more, but you will have to do multiple transactions, each at a cost by the ATM operator and possibly by your bank. If you must pay with a credit card keep in mind the exchange rate used by the issuing bank. Some of the non brick and mortar US banks (only online banks) may apply an exchange rate below ¢500. In that case, your ¢100,000 purchase will cost you US$209 is a ¢490 is applied.
If using plastic don’t assume that all charges will be made in “your” currency, even if the seller assures you that the transaction is in ‘dollars’. A recent experience left me puzzled as to why the US$750 car rental deposit showed US$851 on my online Payoneer account. I checked with the car rental company, doubled checked the receipt and yet it was all in dollars. So, why the difference? It appears Payoneer converts the dollar transaction to the local currency at the current rate in the country, and then converts back to dollars at the exchange rate used abroad. All in a flash of a second a US$101 extra. In this case, it was a refundable deposit, no big feal. But what if this had been a purchase? Lesson learned, never use your Payoneer to make purchases or take cash from an ATM in Costa Rica. Even small amounts, for you will get into the habit and soon all those little charges accumulate to one big one.
Remember the US dollar is NOT the currency of Costa Rica. Although widely accepted, there is no regulation on exchange rates. The worst is at the international airports, they need to make the difference to pay for the high rents.
Don’t exchange your dollars for colones in your country, wait to get to Costa Rica (keep in mind the above) to exchange the smallest amount you need to get a taxi and then head for the local bank after settling in to your hotel.
Use the comment section below to share your experience and/or advice on not getting ripped off with the exchange rate in Costa Rica.
(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica’s state-owned operator ICE has launched a series of new prepay plans under its mobile brand Kolbi, complete with extra bundled data for social network use.
The “En Todas” plans include a daily bundle with 50 MB of data plus an extra 40 MB for use on Whatsapp, Instagram and Facebook for ¢200 colones.
Other plans include a three-day 200 MB plan (including a bonus 100 MB for social networks) for ¢600 colones, a five-day plan with 300 MB (plus 200 MB for social networks as well as Snapchat, Twitter and Pinterest) for ¢1,300 colones or a ten-day plan with 500 MB data and 400 MB for social networks for ¢2,500 colones.
(PRNewswire) Equifax Inc., a global information solutions company, today announced the opening of its second shared services center in Costa Rica. With this new site, the company expects to grow to 1,000 total employees by the end of 2017.
The company, which has been operating in Costa Rica since 1995, is continuing to deliver on its operations expansion plan, which was launched in 2015 with the creation of 400 new jobs. Due to significant growth and the diversification of its services in areas such as finance, procurement and accounting, in addition to strengthening the branches of information technology, information security and business operations, Equifax continues to recognize further investment in its centers, employees and the local Costa Rican economy.
The new two-story building, which is approximately 4,400 square meters, is located in the Metro Free Zone in Barreal de Heredia, and represents a US$ 4.5 million investment for Equifax.
The inauguration was attended by the Costa Rica President Luis Guillermo Solís, the Minister of Foreign Trade, Alexander Mora, CINDE Managing Director, Jorge Sequeira and senior executives from Equifax.
President Solís expressed satisfaction about Equifax’s growing presence in Costa Rica and its positive impact on the country’s developing economy. He personally visited the Equifax headquarters in Atlanta, where he met with the CEO and Chief Global Operations Officer in May of 2015 to discuss business expansion and other important topics.
“We are very pleased to have collaborated with Equifax on this project in order to generate quality jobs for many Costa Ricans. From our standpoint, we have been championing government policies which attract investment, and last year we were able to meet with company representatives to enable this new process, which has become a reality. Equifax is a strong global company which has had a presence here in Costa Rica for many years, and we are honored by this sign of confidence in our country,” he said.
Andy Bodea, Chief Global Operations Officer for Equifax, stated, “Equifax has had a strong presence in Costa Rica for more than 20 years, and we are proud to expand our investment in the people of Costa Rica, in the community of Heredia and in our local operations. An important factor in deciding to expand our operations here was the high quality, performance, and dedication of our Costa Rican employees. We continue to be impressed by the number of well-qualified applicants for the positions we have available. Thanks to the excellent cooperation with the government and support from CINDE, we have been able to open our second shared services center to support the growth of our operations. We will continue to deepen our commitment to this market and hope to have a long-standing, collaborative relationship with the government in Costa Rica.”
The new shared services center will support Equifax operations in over 15 countries in North America, Latin America and Europe, in areas such as cyber security, finance and accounting, information technologies and customer service.
According to Jairo Quirós, Director of Shared Services Center at Equifax, the rapid growth of the company has accelerated the hiring of many new employees, which will reach 1,000 total headcount at a much earlier date than expected. “We have been able to expand our service portfolio and generate more senior-level jobs. Also, our internal promotion program, as well as the of recruitment of talent whom are fluent in Spanish, English and French, have allowed us to grow our workforce to over 800 employees, a number that will continue to grow in the coming months,” he said.
The Minister of Foreign Trade, Alexander Mora, said, “We are very pleased that a company such as Equifax, a leading global information solutions company, remains interested in growing its business in Costa Rica. This is a testament to our competitive and favorable business climate, which is a selling point for foreign investment in our economy. It is also commensurate with the caliber of our talented workforce in the country,” he stressed.
During this phase of hiring, the company will focus on onboarding customer service representatives with English proficiency, business analysts, accounting and finance professionals, procurement staff, software engineers, application developers, security professionals, data analysts, quality-check engineers and cyber security specialists, among others.
About EquifaxEquifax powers the financial future of individuals and organizations around the world. Using the combined strength of unique trusted data, technology and innovative analytics, Equifax has grown from a consumer credit company into a leading provider of insights and knowledge that helps its customers make informed decisions. The company organizes, assimilates and analyzes data on more than 800 million consumers and more than 88 million businesses worldwide, and its databases include employee data contributed from more than 5,000 employers.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. In Costa Rica, in addition to operating the shared services center, Equifax is the leading provider of credit reporting services and related analytics. Equifax is a member of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500® Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs approximately 9,200 employees worldwide.
Some noteworthy achievements for the company include: Ranked 13 on the American Banker FinTech Forward list (2015); named a Top Technology Provider on the FinTech 100 list (2004-2015); named an InformationWeek Elite 100 Winner (2014-2015); named a Top Workplace by Atlanta Journal Constitution (2013-2015); named one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies (2011-2015); named one of Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Innovative Companies (2015). For more information, visit www.equifax.com
(Today Nicaragua) The United States Department of State has issued a travel alert for its citizens about increased government scrutiny of foreigners’ activities, new requirements for volunteer groups, and the potential for demonstrations during the upcoming election season in Nicaragua.
The travel alert expires on November 30, 2016.
The alert warns U.S. travellers visiting Nicaragua of ‘heightened sensitivity’ by Nicaraguan officials during the period leading up to and immediately following the presidential elections on November 6, 2016.
The U.S. State Department alert says,”Nicaraguan authorities have denied entry to, detained, questioned, or expelled foreigners, including U.S. government officials, academics, NGO workers, and journalists, for discussions, written reports or articles, photographs, and/or videos related to these topics. Authorities may monitor and question private U.S. citizens concerning their activities, including contact with Nicaraguan citizens. This situation may persist in the post-election period.”
“Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence,” warning U.S. citizens to avoid demonstrations and exercise caution around large gatherings near government buildings and major intersections or roundabouts.
Sheila Villalobos announced Wednesday the Banco Nacional's entry into the Simplified Account process that allows anyone to open a bank account in Costa Rica
Sheila Villalobos announced Wednesday the Banco Nacional’s entry into the Simplified Account process that allows anyone to open a bank account in Costa Rica
(QCOSTARICA) Today, the Banco Nacional (BN) joins the Banco de Costa Rica (BCR), Grupo Mutual and Bancredito allows anyone, including foreigners permanently or temporary and tourists in Costa Rica, to open a bank account without requiring a Costa Rican cedula.
The product is known as Cuenta de Expediente Simplificado (Simplified Account) approved earlier this year, with the BCR being the first in January, that has seen more than 200,000 people opening accounts since.
The simplified account process reduces the paperwork to open an account and requires only one piece of identification, ie. a passport for foreigners. The account comes with a bank card that can be used at ATMs around the country and internationally, and access to online banking.
The simplified accounts have a monthly deposit limit of US$1,000 or its equivalent in colones. The limit is two accounts per person.
For all other accounts a Costa Rican cedula (national) or DIDI or DIMEX (foreign residency) is required.
For the Banco Nacional, more information is available at www.bncr.fi.cr or by telephone at 2212-2000 or any branch across the country; the BCR at www.bancobcr.com, by telephone at 2211-1111 or any branch.
(QCOSTARICA) “He danced at his daughter’s wedding, and then he died,” is the headline by Miami Herald reporting the death of a York County, South Carolina sheriff’s detective, Timothy Buchanan, who died in Costa Rica on Saturday.
“Tim”, 54, was in the country to celebrate his daughter’s wedding, suffering from an apparent heart attack just after dancing with his daughter.
According to the GoFundMe page setup for Buchanan’s family, “During the wedding, after the father-daughter dance, Tim had a heart attack,” the post reads. “Sadly, he didn’t survive it. Our hearts are broken for (his wife) Jeni and their entire family.”
The page has raised more than US$17,000 of the US$20K goal from 382 people in just two days.
You never know when the last time will be the last time! From Facebook
The story (from GoFundMe)
Jeni and Tim were so excited to head to Costa Rica a few days ago to see their daughter, who lives there, marry the man of her dreams yesterday (9/3/16). If you know Jeni, you know how much Tim means to her, and how wonderful that love is that they share as husband and wife. During the wedding, after the father-daughter dance, Tim had a heart attack.
Sadly, he didn’t survive it. Our hearts are broken for his wife, Jeni, and their entire family. Through the shock of their terrible loss, Jeni has to now deal with arrangements and expenses that she wasn’t at all prepared for. I know that Jeni would be so grateful for any donation that you can make, and of course, prayers for her and their family.
Buchanan (third from left) is pictured with the family in Costa Rica including Michele (second from right) and his son-in-law Luis (third from right) From Facebook
Tim served as a Detective for the York County Sheriff’s Office in Rock Hill, SC. Many of you know that Jeni is a wedding photographer, and understandably, she will need some time away from that after such a tragic event at her own daughter’s wedding, so any financial help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support during this very difficult time.
(CONFIDENTIAL) In ‘The Brand New Testament’ God lives in human form as a cynical writer with his young opinionated daughter in present-day Brussels, Belgium. She concludes that her dad is doing a terrible job and decides to rewrite the world, which leaves God angry, powerless and adamant to get his power back.
You feel the usual vibration in your pocket: a message. Any message. But this time a totally unexpected piece of information and from an unknown sender. It is the date of your death. If you knew the exact date and time of your death, what would you do with the remaining time?
The Brand New Testament is a 2015 fantasy dark comedy film written, produced, and directed by Jaco Van Dormael, that opens this week in theatres in Costa Rica.
Sharing his apartment with his 10 year-old daughter Ea, God is a grumpy sadist who created humankind specifically to have something to torment. He manipulates reality via a personal computer, which he forbids his family from accessing. One day, an emotionally and physically abused Ea, sneaks into her father’s office and discovers how He has been mistreating humans.
Following a belt whipping from God, Ea decides to rebel against her father, steals the key to his office and accesses the pre-destined dates of death of every human in the world, sending them the information, before escaping through a washing machine, which provides a chute to the outside world.
For some, the news changes nothing, but others radically change their lives, most decide that they have no interest in God.
The Brand New Testament received acclaim from film critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 80, based on 5 reviews.
Catherine Deneuve invites a gorilla into her boudoir in The Brand New Testament
Accolades include a “Best Film” from the Belgian Film Critics Association, “Best European Comedy” and “Best Production Designer” from the European Film Awards and “Best Comedy” from Fantastic Fest, among others.
When Ea gets fed up with her overbearing father (who happens to be God), she decides to follow in her older brother’s footsteps by leaving the house.
Despite the 'closed' border policy, more than 1,500 migrants are in Panama receiving humanitarian support that includes food and medical help. Many others are allowed to pass into Costa Rica where they become stranded due to Nicaragua's continuing policy of closing its borders to migrants. Photo La Prensa
Despite the ‘closed’ border policy, migrants continue to arrive in Panama receiving humanitarian support that includes food and medical help. Many others are allowed to pass into Costa Rica where they become stranded due to Nicaragua’s continuing policy of closing its borders to migrants. Photo La Prensa
(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica’s President Luis Guillermo Solis is expected to soon meet, in Panama, with his Panamanian counterpart, Juan Carlos Varela, to discuss the migratory crisis.
The announcement was made in Panama by Manuel Domínguez, State Communication Secretary, explaining that the meeting is expected to take place between September 15th and 20th, in an undisclosed area in the province of Chiriquí, according to La Prensa.
The meeting between the two presidents hopes to find a solution to the illegal migration of Haitians, Africans and Cubans, that has increased over the last months in the region.
The migrants continue to arrive in Panama despite that country’s controversial policy of closing its borders, but assisting and letting them pass into Costa Rica. Every week up to 300 or more migrants arrive in Panama from Colombia.
For Costa Rica, the problem is heightened given that Nicaragua continues with a closed border policy for migrants, stopping them from reaching their destination, the United States, remaining stranded in the country.
The Latin American countries have requested a top level meeting with representatives of the U.S. The Foreign Ministers of Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Peru have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, voicing their deep concern regarding the negative effects of his country’s policies on irregular immigration, and its impact in our region.
“We believe that a revision of the Cuban Adjustment Act and the dry-foot/wet-foot policy, would be a first step to stop improve of the complex situation and part of a definite solution to ensure organized and regular migration in our region”, the letter states.
(QCOSTARICA) Smart, listless, experimentalist and demanding, or satisfied, are the four types of Costa Rican consumers according to the 2016 Consumer Profile (Perfil del Consumidor) study.
The analysis by Unimer for El Financiero is based on a survey of 800 people, men and women between 18 and 65, living in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) and rural Costa Rica.
Which profile do you identify yourself more? Let’s see…
The first, smart, is the reportedly witty for being informed and comparing before to shopping, enjoys shopping and rarely changes the places to buy or brands. Despite this behavior, is an impulsive shopper when it comes to deals or promotions.
The listless consumer is not interested in shopping and does not enjoy it. When making a purchase he/she is committed for the same brands (or location) and is unwilling to change.
The third, the experimentalist and demanding, looks for quality above all even if it means paying a little more, therefore, is informed and compares before making their purchases. Though they are tempted by promotions and deals, but are not impulsive.
Finally there is the satisfied consumer who enjoys shopping and also considers the quality; however, you is not motivated by deals or promotions and believes that all establishments will satisfy.
These and other results of the study “Perfil del Consumidor 2016” will be presented on at the Royal Hotel Intercontinental, in Escazu on September 20, starting at 8:00am.
The presentation includes information on nine categories: shopping, casual dining, fast food, clothing and apparel, appliances and technology, education; banking, savings and credit, shopping channels and Viernes Negro (Black Friday).
(QCOSTARICA) In a report by El Financiero reveals that 38% of total bank lending in Costa Rica corresponds to housing construction, while 35% is used for buying new homes.
Data from the housing loan portfolio in the domestic financial system shows that the proportion of loans requested by Costa Ricans to build their homes is higher than loans used to buy existing homes.
Elfinancierocr.com explains that “…The Costa Rican financial system has a balance of credits which were used for housing amounting to ¢4.6 billion. This amount represents 25% of all outstanding loans in the country (¢ 18 billion). For housing construction, the balance is ¢1.75 billion and, for the purchase of new homes, it is ¢1.62 billion. Both lines represent 73% of the total.”
The portfolio by the numbers:
38% borrow to build a house
35% borrow to purchase a hew house
21% borrow to purchase an existing house
7% borrow to make repairs and other improvements
The figures from the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras – SUGEF) show that the housing finance portfolio grew by 12% between July 2015 and December 2016.
“… All types of loans that make up the portfolio have fed this increase except for those for constructions for non-com
The public will be able to provide feedback on what they consider corruption and what they would do, if they could, to eradicate it.
The public will be able to provide feedback on what they consider corruption in public institutions and what they would do, if they could, to eradicate it.
(QCOSTARICA) President Luis Guillermo Solis is asking for the public to tell him what they think, not of him, but what they regard as corruption, in an effort to promote reforms and eradicate the practice.
The Deputy Minister of the Presidency, Ana Gabriel Zuniga, said on Tuesday the government will consult the public what they consider corruption in public institutions and what they would do, if they could, to eradicate it.
“We decided that it is essential to establish a public consultation on those actions and activities that they (the people) consider detrimental to their rights and categorize as corruption,” said Zuniga.
The Deputy Minister added that usually anti-corruption standards are defined by experts, legislators and government institutions themselves, without the opinion of the citizens.
“The people demand and cry out for participation,” said Zuniga when asked if it was appropriate for the government to make such inquiries of the people.
The plan, by way of a questionnaire on the website Gobierno Abierto (Open Government) will collect feedback from the people, which will then be put to a panel of experts to propose guidelines and law reforms to persuade public officials not to engage in corrupt practices.
“It is of no use a law that ultimately does not achieve the ultimate goal (…) if we analyze the Law against Corruption and Illicit Enrichment, the percentage of people who have been processed under this law has been minimal (…) we should think about how we can act preemptively to eradicate these activities and these actions which, in the end, affect public finances and the daily lives of citizens,” said Zuniga.
The Deputy Minister added that for this government, reforms to boost anti-corruption legislation without understanding what the priorities and activities that affect people are meaningless.
Soon, security guards can no longer carry a firearm except under special circumstances and with permits.
Soon, security guards can no longer carry a firearm except under special circumstances and with permits.
(QCOSTARICA) In 90 days, most private security guards in the country must give up their firearms. Only bodyguards and guards involved in the transportation of valuables, such armoured bank trucks guards can carry firearms.
Guards at condominiums, malls and banks, for example, will not be able to carry firearms according to the new requirements by Ministry of Security published last Friday in the official government newspaper, La Gaceta.
The head of the Asociación Costarricense de Empresas de Seguridad y Afines (ACES), an organization grouping some 37 security companies in the country employing 17,000 of the 27,000 registered security guards in the country, Cesar Tapia said they have been preparing to meet the new regulations.
Tapia added that his association will be providing training and consulting to companies who want to maintain a number of armed guards, in meeting the new requirements that include passing an evaluation by a criminologist, who will determine if there is a need to use weapons for the service provided. Subsequently, the Ministry of Security has the power to reject or approve applications after the examination.
According to Tapia most security guards do not require firearms.
The new regulation may be in response to several incidents of late where private security guards have responded to deadly force, such as the incident in Limon in July, where during an attempted robbery a bodyguard opened fire inside a dental office killing the assailant, an innocent bystander and wounding an off duty police officer.
In the back of the bar Horcones in Chachagua San Ramon, they are some of the rooms in which women lived. The bad smell and dirt were palpable. The prosecution announced that it will ask the Ministry of Health that close down. | CARLOS HERNANDEZ
In the back of the Horcones bar in Chachagua San Ramon, where some of the women victims lived. Photo La nacion, Carlos Hernandez
(QCOSTARICA) The 13 women, all foreigners, sexually exploited in three bars in San Carlos and San Ramon, had to pay ¢10,000 colones (almost US$20) every time they went out and had to return at a pre-set time.
That is the information revealed this Monday from the Fiscalia (district attorney) of La Fortuna de San Carlos, Natalia Alvarez, in explaining the abuse the women suffered at the hands of their handlers (pimps).
The victimes were freed last Saturday in a joint police operation between the Fiscalia and the immigration police, raiding the three bars.
Alvarez added that customers were charged ¢25,000 colones (less than US$50) for sexual relations with the women.
Watch the video of the police action Friday night by La Nacion
The prosecutor explained that the women lived in squalor: small rooms with broken, soiled and smelly mattresses and having to share communal bathrooms. Alvarez said a the Los Horcones bar, in Chachagua, the bathroom water was green and included toads.
In the raid, police found garbage bins filled with used condoms, old syringes and drugs for treating sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as gonorrhea, demonstrating the unhealthy working and living conditions of the victims.
The police action to liberate the women, who for the most them felt like being in a prison, started late Friday night continuing into dawn Saturday. Authorities raided the Los Horcones in San Ramon and Tenampa and Los Acostados bars, in La Fortuna.
Arrested are a brother and sister believed to be the head of the organization, identified by they last names Rivera Carrion. Arrested also was the daughter of the woman and two other women. All will be spending the next six months in preventive detention on the order issued by the San Carlos criminal court on Sunday night.
The prosecutor explained that the group recruited women from Nicaragua, offering them waitressing jobs in Costa Rica paying ¢180,000 colones (US$320). The women entered into the country illegally, and once in the country were instead forced into prostitution.
The condition of the these women was uncovered last August 15, when a client helped three of the women escape, who decided to turn to police to report the abuses they suffered.
In the raid, a total of 16 women were found on the premises, however three of them said they were there willingly and received proper payment for their (sexual) services.
Meanwhile, the other 13 women have been placed in the witness protection program, where they will also receive health and psychological treatment, according to the Fiscalia.
A nuTonomy self-driving taxi drives on the road in its public trial in Singapore August 25, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su
A nuTonomy self-driving taxi drives on the road in its public trial in Singapore August 25, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su
(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica’s continuing battle between the taxi drivers and Uber and the government having to mediate, may have a solution, as the world’s first public self-driving taxi pilot program is now underway in Singapore.
According to recent reports, the nuTonomy’s ride hailing app is now available in Singapore’s one-north business district, the same district that the firm has been doing testing in since April.
The company anticipates a full-scale launch in 2018.
It seems Singapore’s government is in a hurry to get an autonomous taxi service up and running, selecting only last month, nuTonomy to partner with the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA).
The commercial autonomous taxi service uses the Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric vehicles that have been outfitted with various sensors and computing systems.
Important to note that nuTonomy is currently testing out its self-driving car technology in Michigan (U.S.) and in the UK as well.
Is Costa Rica on the horizon? Perhaps the Costa Rican government could take note. However, we can foresee some of the challenges (of engineers to program) the cars to deal with drivers in Costa Rica.
(QCOSTARICA) In the first half of 2016 fuel sales grew by 11% compared to the same period last year.
From a statement issued by Recope:
Total fuel consumption continues to grow, in the first half of 2016 alone, sales increased by 11% compared to demand in the same period last year, going from 1,511,140,000 liters to 1,677,206,000 liters, which is a difference of 166 million liters, equivalent to about one million barrels.
Products whose demand grew in the first six months of this year, relative to the cumulative total sales by product in the same period last year, were: Super gasoline with 19.3%, JET A-1 with a 15.7%, diesel 50 with 9.89%, and liquefied petroleum gas with 9.3%.
(QBLOGS) The Caja (Caja Costaricense del Seguro Social – CCSS) has tried and tried to provide quasi-public healthcare for 70 years only to face an insurmountable deficit, long lines, a shortage of doctors, much needed medical equipment, and minor league patient care.
The original intent was or is admirable, but reality is not. Why not start over again and kill this sacred cow for the good of humanity.
I am a paid in member of the Caja as should be everyone else who lives in this country. No proof of insurance, no legal residency of any kind. By law everyone who resides in Costa Rica must pay the Caja’s monthly insurance premium even if you have health insurance with a private carrier and never intend to use our public services.
This begs the question, “How can this pure government monopoly be broke?”
It is easy to target the Caja because the mistakes are pretty obvious and overruns are just part of life. The lack of premium collections (even the central government is delinquent) and most of all a staff that cannot and will not accommodate even the basics of public health. After all, law created this Frankenstein monster, now the government needs to keep it under control which so far, like almost every bureaucracy,can not.
For example, La Nación, arguably the most important Spanish-language newspaper, reported that there are 40,000 patients waiting for an ultrasound. Accordingly, if one was pregnant she would deliver before her turn in line.
Why? Lack of reliable equipment, lack of reliable personnel and lack of physicians to read the results. And most of all, the lack of people who care including anemic management.
A 78 year old man needs to wait until the year 2022 just even to see a urologist. Chances are he’ll be dead by then. (As macabre as it might seem, you might even be able to wager on one of our many sport books.)
A brand spanking new Ebais (community primary care health clinic) which is totally modern with two minor surgery rooms has no x-ray machine. You break or sprain a hand; it is down to the chaos of Hospital San Juan de Dios in central San Jose for two days. One day to make the appointment and another day to wait with at least 100 other patients also needing an x-ray. Then back to the Ebais for treatment. Perhaps a week or two goes by.
You might be treated at Hospital San Juan de Dios and the doctor prescribes something for your migraine, broken leg, etc. However the pharmacy is not on the hospital premises, as to be expected, but rather it is a good three block walk away and you do need to walk. No shuttle, just tough it out.
Here is a little trick to speed up healing.
Most physicians of the Caja also have a private practice at a private a hospital. Like magic, for their standard fee you can be examined and “squeezed” in to obtain medical treatment at the Caja. The private physician visit might cost about $100 on top of your Caja premium, but if you are ill in enough, in pain or scared; it is worth it.
Like most everything else in the land of Pura Vida, It is a question of working the system.
The Caja needs to survive, but it must also must recognize the value of “paid-in” patients as “clients” and it must streamline the ever increasing administrative staff who see numbers and not people in need of health.
Former presidents Jose Maria Figueres (left) and Oscar Arias during a meeting at Balcon Verde in La Sabana
Former presidents Jose Maria Figueres (left) and Oscar Arias during a meeting at Balcon Verde in La Sabana
(QCOSTARICA) “Only dictators cling to power, or Jose Maria nor I are not,” were the words spoken by former president Oscar Arias during his meeting with former president Jose Maria Figueres, at the Balcon Verde, the Partido Liberacion Nacional (PLN) headquarters located in La Sabana.
Both are “committed democrats”, Don Oscar stressed.
The two former presidents are waging a personal pre-battle for the PLN party leadership for the 2018 presidential elections.
Neither Figueres, nor Arias have made a final decision, for now testing the waters of what either will do. For Figueres it would be his second mandate (1994-1998); for Arias 1986-1990 & 2006-2010) is third.
The meeting, some say, was Arias’ plan to deter Figueres from seeking the leadership. In 2006, Figueres stepped aside when Arias announced his candidacy. This time around it may not be so, without even a flinch, Figueres said he is committed to lead the country in 2018 on a path to recovery.
With a Figueres run at the party leadership Arias could step aside, prompting a suggestiton byArias that both neither run leaving the field open to the younger generation.
For his part, Figueres said that young leaders have always had a voice in the party and that if he is not chosen as the candidate, his support will be behind whomever the party does choose, “because the country has been in better times with the ‘verdiblancos’ (green and white, the party colours)”.
After the meeting, Arias said he would have to sleep on it (the decision to run), adding that what is certain of is that neither he nor Figueres are dictators.
Enjoying a Costa Rica beach with your personal portable air conditioner can be a breeze
(QWTF!) A must before heading to Costa Rica (or any other warm climate) when you think you can’t handle being outdoors, without leaving our comfy temperature controls inside, is an outdoor A/C.
The Zero Breeze is a cordless personal air conditioner makes staying cool outside a literal breeze.
Currently in its funding stage on Kickstarter, the Zero Breeze pumps out a cold stream of air without using cords or plugs, thanks to a rechargeable battery pack. Its creators say it can cool a large room down to 44 degrees Fahrenheit, and it also comes with a Bluetooth speaker, night light capabilities and cellphone charging ports.
Enjoying Costa Rica beach with your personal portable air conditioner can be a breeze
Because who wouldn’t want cordless air conditioning at the beach?
Other smaller, box-shaped gadgets on the market also promise portable air cooling, but Zero Breeze claims its rotary compression technology packs a bigger punch.
But all that power comes at a price: You can pre-order now on Kickstarter for a discounted $349, or wait until the product launches in 2017 and buy it for the full retail price of $499.
Or you can cool down the cheap way, taking your chances with a natural breeze.
Quick, can you see the potential uses for this? I can, great for my open air (no top or windows) Land Cruiser. Use the comment section below for your comments or post to our official Facebook page.
(QTRAVEL) THIS MAY SOUND like an odd title for a travel blogger to use, but it’s true – travel HAS ruined my life. Everyone says how amazing it sounds, that I travel all the time. That I disappear off on journeys around the world and see incredible places and have the best adventures.
No one warned me about the negatives, about the downsides of travel, and jetting off to different countries all the time, and so I found them out the hard way.
I GET CABIN FEVER IN ONE PLACE
I can no longer stay in one place for too long, especially if it’s a small area. I end up searching places to go to, where cheap flights are off to, where I can go for a weekend. I start feeling trapped if I’m the same place for a long period of time, especially when friends – many of whom are fellow travel bloggers – posting photos and talking about their amazing journeys.
For example, I find it really hard to be at home for too long. Not because I don’t like my parents (I mean, hello, free food!) but because I don’t have the independence that I’m so used to. We live an hour’s walk from the nearest train station. Buses are… rare, to say the least. Maybe if I drove it wouldn’t feel so constricting, but I miss being able to walk out of the front door to get to the supermarket, being a few minutes away from friends and only having a short walk to all the shops.
In short, travel has destroyed my ability to stay in one place for too long. I’m always on the search for that new experience.
POST TRAVEL LOWS REALLY ARE A THING
You come back from a trip on a high. You’re still buzzing from the amazing experiences, the incredible people you met, the fun you had. At first, people are loving hearing about your trip. They want to know the details – where did you go? What did you do? Then life has to go back to normal.
…Then life has to go back to normal. People start to get bored of you ‘going on’ about your travels. You start running out of photos from the trip to post on Instagram (legitimately a problem, I tell you). You may have lost contact with all the friends you made on your trip – a lot of friends made in hostels are short-term, you hang out on the trip but lose contact so soon after.
You start to feel bored. You start to feel lonely. Your time is filled with the monotonous – work, study, grocery shopping, cleaning. Your free time is filled with searching for new places to go, cheap flights so you can get that buzz of adventure again. It’s addictive. Photos pop up on your Instagram feed of Cinque Terre, of Santorini, of Cappadocia. You’re jealous – YOU want to be there too.
And yet you miss being where you were – after returning from Bangkok I missed the bustle of the city, the amazing street food. Everything also seemed so needlessly expensive too, after being in a city where I could buy a good dinner for 50 baht (£1).
You start thinking of all the things you didn’t have time for on your trip, you regret decisions you made – why did I visit X when I could have visited Y? (Hindsight is 20/20, after all.) Did you sleep in one day until 10am or 11am? You’ll feel annoyed at yourself at all that you missed.
MY ENTIRE LIFE PLAN HAS BEEN %#?!ED
Yes, that’s technical speak for my priorities have changed and now I’m not sure what I want from my future. I had a plan. A 5-year plan, a 10-year plan. I knew what I wanted from life.
And then I started to travel solo. That lit my fire for travel and that’s where this blog came from. I’ve always been a traveller – I’d been to probably 10 countries by age 10 at LEAST – but going interrailing at age 18, just out of college, ruined me. Not because I started to change my plans then, but because it set the ball rolling on my travel ways.
My plan was to go to university, get my degree, get a good job (likely in finance). Maybe I’d meet someone at uni who I would end up marrying, or maybe I’d meet them at my job, or just through friends (we will come back to the dating dilemma later). I’d get married in my twenties, maybe have a house by 30 (although with this housing crisis? Even if I do stay in one place I’ll be lucky to have a house by 50… but not the point!) and have children (two maximum) in my thirties. Maybe we’d even get a dog.
And now I have no plans. And you know what? It’s terrifying because I LOVE plans. Before all this I wasn’t a spontaneous traveller. I had everything planned out down to the hour. But now? Now I do things on a whim. I change plans. I extend trips. I book a trip less than a week in advance.
How do you make a 5-year plan with that?
DATING IS PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE
I’m not saying you can’t be in a relationship while you travel, or find the guy/girl of your dreams as you journey the world.
However, this is an area that currently escapes me. First of all, I don’t like long distance relationships. Some people can do them, and I applaud them (and am secretly amazed). I am in that other group where if you live three hours away by train, that’s a lot of effort and/or money that I could spend on travelling somewhere else.
Maybe my mindset would change if I met the right person. I’ve always hoped to find that special guy who I could travel the world with, but it hasn’t happened. There’s always an obstacle (time, money, willingness to actually travel to random places). I’m still somewhat clinging to the cliché of meeting someone while travelling and ending up falling madly in love and then travelling the world together (a girl can dream, okay?!) but I know this isn’t going to happen soon, or if ever.
I CAN’T STOP.
Can’t stop. Won’t stop.
There’s no turning back. How can I turn my back on my ever increasing list of places I want to visit? How can I settle for less when I’ve seen everything I can experience? How can I decide to live in a town or city forever, when I know what’s waiting for me ‘out there’?
I recently had the (extremely privileged and luxury) problem of “I can’t travel to Chile because I’m too busy travelling to New York”. Can’t travel because too busy travelling, sorry world.
I am addicted to travelling. I am high on the buzz of a new experience and a new adventure. I cling to the desire for new destinations and new locations.
Don’t Breathe (No Respires) starring Costa Rica’s Daniel Zovatto held the number one spot this weekend in the U.S. and Canada
(QMOVIES) ‘Don’t Breathe’, the horror fill starring Costa Rican actor Daniel Zovatto, remained No. 1 at the box office in the U.S. and Canada.
Moviegoers shelled out more than US$16 million dollars this weekend (not counting holiday Monday) to see the film directed by Uruguyan director Fede Alvarez, who is part of a new generation of low budget filmmakers that shivers the large studios, according to box office monitor Exhibitor Relations.
Tico film starring leading the US box office
The horror film “Do not breathe,” (No Respires in Spanish) where the Costa Rican actor Daniel Zovatto part, firmly gripped this weekend to the top of the box office in the US and Canada, holding in abeyance for a second week to rival films, estimated on Sunday industry.
Moviegoers left in the weekend 15.7 million dollars to see this horror film of Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez, who belongs to a new generation of filmmakers with low budgets shivers through large studies, according to the monitor box office Exhibitor Relations, which gave a preliminary figure of tickets between Friday and Sunday.
The weekend for most Americans will run until Monday, when celebrated Labor Day and unofficially ends the summer in the country.
“Do not breathe” is about what happens when a trio of thieves breaks into the house of a wealthy blind man, but when the blind man turns out to be a more than he seems, the group must find a way to escape his home before they become his newest victims.
Comments on Twitter include, #DontBreathe plays “a lethal game of cat-and-mouse”, #DontBreathe “raises the bar and sets a new standard for scares”.
The film, with a budget of US$9.9 million dollars, earned US$51.4 million since its debut last week.
The Critics Consensus at Rotten Tomatoes says, “Don’t Breathe smartly twists its sturdy premise to offer a satisfyingly tense, chilling addition to the home invasion genre that’s all the more effective for its simplicity.
Daniel Zovatto, born in San José, Costa Rica on June 28, 1991, after moving to New York City, initially pursued theatre and was cast in a short film, The Return. Since 2012, he has starred in films of the horror genre, Beneath (2013), It Follows (2014), and Don’t Breathe (2016), as well as the romantic comedy Laggies (2014). Zovatto made his television debut in 2014, guest starring in an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He has since held recurring roles as Gideon LeMarchal in Revenge (2014), and Jack in Fear the Walking Dead (2016).
Watch here the official trailer.
For more visit the film’s official website and Facebook.
Have you seen the movie? Write a review or comment here or on our official Facebook page.
The Ministry of Health continues with its program of fumigation, but it says it doesn’t have the staff or the financial resources to combat it alone, asking the people to help out.
In January 2016, a 25 year old man becomes the first Costa Rican with the Zika virus. At the time, in the worst case scenario, expected was 60,000 cases by the end of the year.
Although we haven’t reached anywhere near the 60,000, August closed with 839 confirmed homegrown cases; another 33 cases are ‘imported’, people who were infected abroad and tested positive in Costa Rica, the fight continues.
With fours months to go to the end of the year, expected are at least another 161 cases.
Rodrigo Marin, National Technical Coordinator of Vector Control program ad the Ministry of Health, said that although we never reached the worst case scenario, we cannot let the guard down, asking the population to help because the ministry of Health has only 300 staff in the country actively working on the Zika.
“We do not have 3,000, we cannot check all the homes”, said Marin.
Fighting the virus transmitted by the Aedes aegypti, which is also responsible for the spreading of Dengue and Chikungunya, is costly. So far, in the first eight months of the year, Health has spent more than ¢3 billion colones.
According to Marin the program has gotten financial the help of the National Emergency Commision (Comisión Nacional de Emergencias – CNE) and additional funding by the Ministry of Revenue, but they still need more, especially the help from people to eliminate breeding grounds around their homes.
“We have invested a lot of money to fight the virus, the mosquito, but any action will be little, if people do not help us,” said Marin.
(Q24N) Costa Rica now seeks to preserve the beauty and improve the conservation of its wetlands, an ecosystem forever undervalued by the local population that considers them no more than breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Though wetlands are the most efficient areas for absorbing carbon emissions, their ecological and economic usefulness have been disregarded over the years.
The so-called “kidneys of nature” stimulate biodiversity and provide drinking water, food, sediment filtration and even control rising rivers, refill aquifers and mitigate climate change.
According to the Ramsar Convention, the management of wetlands is a challenge facing the world since studies indicate that the surface area and quality of this ecosystem continues to decline in most parts of the planet.
Ramsar data show the worldwide expanse of wetlands shrinking between 64 and 71 percent during the 20th century.
In view of this threatening panorama, Costa Rica has taken on the task of turning the situation around by drawing up management plans that include the eradication of invasive species and investment in the specialized equipment needed to control and restore the wetlands.
The director of Protected Wild Areas for the Arenal-Tempisque conservation area in the north Pacific province of Guanacaste, Celso Alvarado, told EFE that society’s awareness must be significantly raised so that people truly value and contribute to wetlands conservation.
Among other threats detected by authorities is the dredging of wetlands, contaminated waters coming from agriculture, the hunting of wild animals and the commercialization of the cocobolo tropical hardwood tree, which is sold in Asia by the kilo (pound) as if it were ivory.
