By Pia Martin DVM

Costa Rican national authorities along with the United States signed a symbiotic alliance in January to create the Energy Efficient Center (Centro de Energía Eficiente).

This center will promote research, development, and use of cleaner and more efficient energy that will allow this country to reach its objective of becoming carbon neutral by the year 2021. In other words, Costa Rica wants to mitigate the carbon that is created here.

“This is just the beginning. A committee of eight people will have to identify priorities and the best method to operate”, Gloria Villa, of the Energy Department at MINAET said. She is also very enthusiastic as it is an alliance with the University of Costa Rica (UCR), Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE).

The building to house the project will be located at the University of Costa Rica and the Dean of the University, Yamileth González, stated that this institution will reinforce research on more efficient energy but above all, it will teach the community what is learned.

“This center will also train professionals on efficient energy and clean technologies. Their experiences will help other countries in the region,” said Peter Brennan, in charge of business at the US embassy.

This idea was born last year in Trinidad & Tobago during the Cumbre de las Américas, when US president, Barack Obama, proposed the initiative. Then the regional countries applied with their own projects. “Costa Rica was chosen due to its leadership in environmental issues,” Brennan stated.

The US Department of Energy donated $100,000 as part of a Low Carbon Community Initiative in the Americas, the Presidential House said.

This is great news for Costa Rica, Kids Saving The Rainforest, and the environmental community!

Filed under: Kids Saving the Rainforest, María Pía Martín on February 24th, 2010
No Comments »

by Matt Casseday

When last seen, my old friend Dedson was leaving the area in a battered Range Rover, bound for a ‘tour’ of Latin America. This was years back and the ‘tour’ he had planned revolved around the dented left rear hubcap that he swore bore an image of the Virgin Mary when the angle and lighting was right. “People will pay good money to see an apparition of the Virgin Mary on a dented hubcap,” he assured me. “Especially humble God-fearing Latinos always on the lookout for the latest Our Lady of Fatima.”

I had studied the hubcap at length, from all angles and at various hours of the day, straight and sober, unstraight and unsober, but the alleged vision never materialized. There was one occasion when I caught a fleeting glimpse of an image that strikingly resembled Moe of the Three Stooges, but it turned out I was staring at the hubcap of a different Range Rover. I wrote off my friend as another hopeless expat lunatic, brains fried from too many hours in the equatorial sun. My last sighting of Dedson was of him behind the wheel of the Virgin Mary Express, heading north on the highway toward San Jose, plumes of dark diesel smoke streaming from the tailpipe.

(more…)

Filed under: Crazy From the Heat, Matt Casseday on February 24th, 2010
No Comments »

Maybe We Should Ask Woody Woodpecker
By Jack Ewing

Guiding visitors on ecological tours can be very rewarding. Showing guests their first monkey, sloth or toucan is as gratifying for the guide as it is for the visitor. Birds and animals aren’t usually obvious to the untrained eye, and it is often difficult to explain or point out to people the exact position of wildlife within the dense vegetation of the rainforest. A typical conversation might go something like this: “See him? He’s right over there.” “Right over where?” “Look, just follow that trunk up to where it forks off to the left…” “Wait a minute, which trunk?” “That big one just to the right of the one with the vine.” “Oh yeah, that one. Okay now, I follow that up to the fork, right? Then where?” And so on, and so on. Once the bird or animal has been spotted with the naked eye, the next step is to find it with binoculars. Some visitors are practiced in the use of optical equipment, but many are not, and it is sometimes difficult for them to locate the wildlife. I have noticed that visitors will sometimes say they see something even if they don’t. However, there is never any doubt when the person encounters their first toucan. When the large yellow, black and red bird with the enormous beak comes into their field of vision, the visitor’s reaction can range from a simple, “Oh, my god,” to something resembling a low-level orgasm. Nowadays all of our guides have telescopes which they can quickly focus on the wildlife, eliminating all that foreplay and getting right down to the nitty-gritty.

(more…)

Filed under: Jack Ewing, Nature Stories on February 24th, 2010
No Comments »

by Charlie Berghammer

This month’s Making a Difference profile takes us south again to the Matapalo zone of our Aguirre county.  It is always a privledge to be able to share with others the stories of how certain expats make the important decision to be active participants in our community as opposed to those who only complain about the cultural differences that separate us.
One couple, Frank and Karen Walker took the initiative to create the Zacatona Newsletter which serves our area by creating community between all of us, highlighting important information and events which may be useful each month to our community members..

For those who are new to the column, here below are the principles of this ideal to citizen action.

1. Inspire Change.
2. Build Community.
3. Facilitate Action.
4. Strengthen Engagement.

Frank writes: Charlie contacted me stating he wanted to feature Karen and me in his Quepolandia article because of the monthly Finca Zacatona Newsletter we started back in 2007. I agreed but really didn’t know how to respond…so guess I’ll just start putting words on paper and see what happens…or as is now done start putting those words in a word processing program. (more…)

Filed under: Charlie Berghammer, Making a Difference on February 20th, 2010
No Comments »

GRANMA’S BREAD PUDDING

1 loaf white square bread w crust

1 liter heavy cream

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup negro rum or to taste

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

6 ripened Bananas

place bread, eggs & cream in a deep 9×9 pan  -let sit for 5 mins, add all other ingredients gently mix well with hands bake for 25-35 mins @220 C or 425 F       Serves 9

********

PUDDING de PAN de ABUELITA

1 pan cuadrado entero

1 litro de crema dulce

5 huevos

1 1/2 tasa de azucar

1/2 tasa de rum

Poner pan huveos y crema dulce en lata de holtel degar.Reposar por 5 minotos. Despres agregar otros ingedientes. Mesclar bien.  Hornear por 25 a 35 minutos 220C o 425F

Filed under: Guest Chef on February 20th, 2010
1 Comment »

by Bruce Zabov

I would be very surprised if this main dish does not  immediately become one or your favorites.
It’s a recipe I’ve had for most of my adult life and is a main dish that appears at our table with some frequency.

It  came from a book called Beer and Good Food that a relative gave me when I was in college. Recipes either included beer as an ingredient or went well served  with beer — no better cookbook for a college kid learning to cook for himself. Plus  it’s fun and easy to put together and is always well-received.

bIt  called for a pound of bulk breakfast sausage for the meatballs which is largely unavailable here, but you do have some options. You can buy a one-pound package of  sausage links and squeeze out the filling. Another is the buy a pound of ground pork and season it  with 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon each of thyme and sage, and some salt and pepper. Or use the same seasonings in a pound of ground beef. The recipe seems to taste best made with pork, though. (more…)

Filed under: Bruce Zabov, Cooking Corner on February 20th, 2010
No Comments »

(en Español)
By Carol Vlassoff

Don Gilberto Gomez Barquero, dressed in a wide brimmed hat, cowboy boots and blue jeans, a knife and cell phone tucked into his leather belt, is a familiar personality around Quepos.  He can also be seen riding along the beach on Damas Island at sunset or in the hills around Londres guiding a group of sunburned tourists.  He usually appears animated as he points out highlights of the area.  But as we settle into his office at Iguana Tours he strikes me as a shy man, perhaps more comfortable with groups than in one to one conversations.

It’s easy to see that Gilberto is a multi-tasker. He doesn’t waste a minute.  He speaks on his cell phone while leafing through the newspaper, all the time keeping up a steady conversation and motioning to me to be patient.

Don Gilberto, born in Purescal, completed his Bachelor of Education degree from La Escuela Normal de Costa Rica in 1973.  He says the school gave him a profound education “in the sense that all the professors there were very strict – from teaching us how to dress – to how to look after a child. We had to wear grey pants and a grey tie. If your tie wasn’t properly knotted you would be reminded about it. The second time you would be sent home.” (more…)

Filed under: Carol Vlassoff, Personalities in Our Midst on February 20th, 2010
No Comments »