Tuesday, March 22, 2011
More Pictures on the Way to Work
The Way to Work
Most of you refer to this year long assignment as our Costa Rican vacation, usually commenting on the severity of this past winter (today being the first day of spring). I have rebutted on occasion by noting the number of hours that I work here, both at the plant and telecommuting. I have no regrets or complaints, but I am by no means the only person working long hours. From my vantage point here in Costa Rica, it is evident why manufacturing jobs have moved out of the US – the rest of the world is willing to work harder for less, and that is a good thing. It allows Americans to work hard on what we value the most – our freedom.
Ticos clearly value hard work, and the following pictures show them on their way there.
Ticos clearly value hard work, and the following pictures show them on their way there.
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| On Calle Marriot, just outside of our complex. Those are houses behind each of the fences. |
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| Further down, on Calle Marriot where the road narrows. There are always people walking or running beside or on the road. |
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| Entrance ramp to the Autopista. Note the huge bush at the bottom that you need to look around to see oncoming traffic. It also goes from three lanes down to two lanes when it crosses the bridge. |
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| Approaching the airport. |
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| The road, once again, narrows from two lanes to one lane to cross a bridge. Notice man walking on the side of the road. Also car stopped on the side. Usually a stopped car will remain partially on the road. |
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| People waiting for a bus on the side of the highway. |
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| Waiting in a line of cars (on the highway) to get across the one-lane bridge (above). |
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| Taking our turn on the one-lane bridge, along with a bicyclist. |
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| Entering the "Free Zone" work complex. Notice guards, complete with rifle. |
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| At work, just one more gate to go through. |
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Hot and Cold
One of my coworkers has blossomed into what I consider to be a pretty darn good triathlete. She also likes to organize team building activities, so she recruits coworkers, including me, to participate in triathlons across the country. Now some of us (that would be me) are not accomplished triathletes who have won their age bracket in national races. She has solved that problem by forming relay teams. She is pretty clever at it too, since she participates in the “Sprint” triathlon (.75K swim, 20K bike, 5K run) but conveniently signs the rest of us up for the “Olympic” relay (1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run), although some of our associates participate in the “Half Ironman” (1.9K swim, 90K bike, 21K run) either individually or as a relay team.
Anyway, I ran as part of a team in Quepos on the Pacific coast in December. Even though the course was flat, the weather was hot and humid and I did not run particularly well (our team was 6th, I was 8th out of a dozen or so teams). Afterward, my coworker announced that the next race was going to be at Conchal in Guanacaste in February. I signed up, since Guanacaste was the only province we had not visited and I figured by putting in a few longer training runs I would be more prepared for the coastal climate. After all, the Guanacaste coast is supposed to be relatively arid and it was going to be February right? The dead of winter. I mean how hot could it be? And as we all know, coastal areas are always flat, right? Well, what they say about people who make assumptions is true. While the weather was not humid, the sun blazed so intensely that I felt like an ant under a magnifying glass. The temperature at 9 in the morning when I started running was over 90. Add in some steep hills just off the beach and the “variety of running surfaces” (as the web site described it – which meant sand, gravel, rocks, streets and sidewalks) and I melted like an ice cream cone in August. I may have been the only male competitor not wearing the visor each participant received before the race (think about it) or a hat (but I had on plenty of sun screen). Another one of my coworkers who saw me on the road part of the course later quipped that my head “looked shinier than usual”. Our team took 4th and I was 8th out of 14.
After the race, my triathlete coworker asked if I was up for another race further down the coast in March, to which I gasped “no more beach runs”. She replied “OK, I’ll wait a few hours and ask again”. When she did, I told her that I was going to sign her up for the Hamel MN “Freeze Your Buns” run held every Superbowl Sunday, where the temperature has been 13 below at race time. She said she’d wait until Monday to ask me again.
So why bring this up? Two reasons, not counting my tremendous athletic ability. First, the area was beautiful and we have some great pictures to share. Second, one week later, after making a fast trip home to attend the funeral for our close friend Jeff Johnson, I found myself sitting on a chairlift near Biwabik MN in below zero temperature where the sun blazed with an intensity so faint that the Ticos would probably confuse it with night. It was quite a week.
Anyway, I ran as part of a team in Quepos on the Pacific coast in December. Even though the course was flat, the weather was hot and humid and I did not run particularly well (our team was 6th, I was 8th out of a dozen or so teams). Afterward, my coworker announced that the next race was going to be at Conchal in Guanacaste in February. I signed up, since Guanacaste was the only province we had not visited and I figured by putting in a few longer training runs I would be more prepared for the coastal climate. After all, the Guanacaste coast is supposed to be relatively arid and it was going to be February right? The dead of winter. I mean how hot could it be? And as we all know, coastal areas are always flat, right? Well, what they say about people who make assumptions is true. While the weather was not humid, the sun blazed so intensely that I felt like an ant under a magnifying glass. The temperature at 9 in the morning when I started running was over 90. Add in some steep hills just off the beach and the “variety of running surfaces” (as the web site described it – which meant sand, gravel, rocks, streets and sidewalks) and I melted like an ice cream cone in August. I may have been the only male competitor not wearing the visor each participant received before the race (think about it) or a hat (but I had on plenty of sun screen). Another one of my coworkers who saw me on the road part of the course later quipped that my head “looked shinier than usual”. Our team took 4th and I was 8th out of 14.
After the race, my triathlete coworker asked if I was up for another race further down the coast in March, to which I gasped “no more beach runs”. She replied “OK, I’ll wait a few hours and ask again”. When she did, I told her that I was going to sign her up for the Hamel MN “Freeze Your Buns” run held every Superbowl Sunday, where the temperature has been 13 below at race time. She said she’d wait until Monday to ask me again.
So why bring this up? Two reasons, not counting my tremendous athletic ability. First, the area was beautiful and we have some great pictures to share. Second, one week later, after making a fast trip home to attend the funeral for our close friend Jeff Johnson, I found myself sitting on a chairlift near Biwabik MN in below zero temperature where the sun blazed with an intensity so faint that the Ticos would probably confuse it with night. It was quite a week.
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| For part of the drive to Guanacaste, we thought we were back in the States. |
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| Nancy has always been fascinated by the Costa Rican fences. They plant trees along the fence line and let them grow. The wires grow into the tree. They call these fast growing trees "cercas", which means fence in Spanish. |
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| More cerca trees and a view towards the Pacific coast (behind the mountains). |
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| Jim's Triathlon Team |
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| Start of the swim |
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| Playa La Penca |
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Colones
Costa Rican money is named after Cristobal Colon. This is Spanish for Christopher Columbus.
Last week, the Tico Times had an article explaining why the cost of living in Costa Rica is so high.
This is what it had to say.
"In 1991, $1 was worth about ₡100. Now, it is worth ₡500.
As the value of the colón plummeted against the dollar, prices have adjusted accordingly. In the last 10 years, prices of goods and services in the nation’s 292-product “basic package” have risen 101.72 percent. Costa Rica’s accumulated inflation rate is by far the highest in the region during the last decade: 17 percent higher than Nicaragua’s and 74 percent higher than Panama’s, in a dollarized economy."
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| 1000 colones (~$2) Tomas Soley Guell (1875-1943) is featured on this bill. He was the Secretary of Finance & Commerce and helped to create the National Insurance Institute (the building on the back). |
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| 2000 colones Clodomiro Picado Twight (1887-1944) was a Nicaraguan-born Costa Rican citizen. He was a scientist who researched snake venom and developing anti-venom serum. |
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| 5000 colones The most colorful bill. It depicts pictures of a pre-columbian sculpture, a stone sphere, toucan, jaguar and local plants. |
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| 10.000 colones Emma Gamboa (1901-1976) was one of the first women in politics. She was an educator, who held positions of Dean of Education at the University of CR and Minister of Education. |
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| The coins that are available. All of our coins get put into the car. They get used for paying tolls and parking attendants. We very rarely have more than $5 in the car at a time. The two silver coins are really thin and seem fake. They have been made since 2000. |
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| All of the backs have this design on them. |
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| A comparison of sizes |
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Super Bowl Commercials
The Super Bowl Commercials all "score" when you are in Costa Rica. On Fox Sports LA every ad is about futbol and has an announcer shouting "Gooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllll".
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
December-January Weather
The rainy season ended on December 1st. We had 2 inches of rain that day and then it just stopped. It has rained three other times in the past two months for a total of a half inch of rain. It is quite different going out at night and not fighting the rain showers. It is lighter a little later in the evening. We have had beautiful sunsets in the evenings and starry nights. One big change is that the wind blows constantly, it howls through the windows and rattles the doors. I have found that folded paper stuck in between the doorframe and door helps with the rattling doors. As you can tell, I've started to solve house problems the "Tico" way.
Although, I still feel like it is "green" outside you can tell from the pictures that it isn't quite as lush as it was eight months ago. Trees and flowers are starting to bloom and I have some of my spring allergy symptoms.
Although, I still feel like it is "green" outside you can tell from the pictures that it isn't quite as lush as it was eight months ago. Trees and flowers are starting to bloom and I have some of my spring allergy symptoms.
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| June 2010 |
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| February 2011 |
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| Looking out towards my favorite tree in June 2010. |
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| February 2011 - I can't wait for the tree to be in bloom again. |
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| A comparison to what our house looked like in MN a couple weeks ago. We really do miss the snow. |
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
A FIRST
On Sunday morning, I was driving to Automercado for my weekly grocery shopping. Traffic was very light and I was the second car, waiting to turn left at "Panasonic". The driver of the car in front of me got impatient, when all of the northbound traffic had turned and they still had the green light. She put on her left turn signal and turned left on the red light. After she turned and I was shaking my head in disbelief, I noticed a black "Police" pick up truck turning from the other side. As I proceeded down "Lindora", I noticed that the lady was actually stopped by the police.
Later in the day, everything was back to normal. Jim and I sitting in a line of 20 cars at "Panasonic" and watching dozens of cars zip down the right-hand lane, to turn left on both green and red lights (while cutting off all of us who have been patiently waiting our turn). No police in sight.
Later in the day, everything was back to normal. Jim and I sitting in a line of 20 cars at "Panasonic" and watching dozens of cars zip down the right-hand lane, to turn left on both green and red lights (while cutting off all of us who have been patiently waiting our turn). No police in sight.
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