A REGAL LIFESTYLE IN A SECURE GATED COMMUNITY

TROPICAL DREAMING OVERLOOKING THE BEACHES AND NATIONAL PARK RESERVE OF PLAYA GRANDE AND TAMARINDO

SURFING, SUNSETS, FISHING, GOLF, TURTLES AND BREATHTAKING PANORAMIC VIEWS

LOTS ARE NOW READY WITH RUNNING WATER AND UNDERGROUND POWER

CORONA DEL CABO DEVELOPMENT IS LOCATED ON THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST OF COSTA RICA, IN THE

SUNNY PARADISE PROVINCE OF GUANACASTE, 55 MINUTES DRIVE FROM LIBERIA INTERNATIONALAIRPORT AND THREE MINUTES FROM THE BEACH

Sales Office: (506) 2-654-4919 Cel: (506) 8-392-9237E-mail: coronadelcabo@gmail.com

The greatest variety of toursand riding experiences for all ages, featuring

spectacular countryside, howler monkeys, colorful small towns and fun-filled fiestas.

Cantina Tour - Nature Tour Fiesta & Tope Rental - Old Tempate Trail Tour

Located near Portegolpe on the main road,opposite the Monkey Park,

just 20 minutes from the beach.

Phone us at: 2-653-8041 • kaydodge@racsa.co.crwww.paintedponyguestranch.com

The best horses on Guanacaste’s Gold Coast!

Casagua Horses

The Howler

www.howlermag.com

TAMARINDOCOSTA RICA

THE HOWLERCed. Juridica: 3-101-331333

Publisher, editor and production

David Millsdmills@racsa.co.cr

Tel: 2-653-0545

Aramis Suarez SánchezSales & Marketing

8-997-5194

All comments, articles and advertising in this publication are the opinion of their authors, and do not reflect the opinion of Howler Management.

www.tamarindobeach.netwww.tamarindohomepage.com

Howler advertisingThe Howler offers a wide range of advertising sizes and formats

to suit all needs. Contact David Mills • dmills@racsa.co.cr

DiscountsFor 6 months, paid in advance, one month is deducted.

For 12 months, paid in advance, two months are deducted.

Ads must be submitted on CD or e-mail attachment, JPG or PDF format at 266 dpi, at the appropriate size (above).

Advertising rates & sizes

6.39.46.39.4

19.26.39.4

19.219.2

xxxxxxxxx

6.15 6.1512.7012.70 6.1525.8025.8012.7025.80

50 75

90120

150210

400

1/12-page1/81/61/4

1/31/2

Full

Size Dimensions (cms) Price Width Height $

Deadline for July: June 15

ELLEN ZOE GOLDENTONY OREZTOM PEIFERJOHN LYMAN

JEFFREY WHITLOW

JEANNE CALLAHANKAY DODGENINA WEBERJIMSURFER

JESSE BISHOP

CONTRIBUTORS

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

Student Voices

Tide Chart

June Forecasts

Doctor’s Orders

Sun & Moon

22

25

26

28

32

Word Puzzle

CD Review

Book Review

Yoga

Soccer

Slice of Life

7

10

11

12

13

21

Cover Caption: Buenas Noches, TamarindoCover design and photos: John Lyman Photos...www.johnlymanphotos.com

Surviving Costa RicaWarmonger Jesse gets excited over a find of World War II documentary books at Jaime Peligro’s bookstore.

30

The Dawning UncertaintyRising sea levels, flat tire, economic crises, earthquake threats combine to put our columnist in a pessimistic frame of mind.

29

What’s DevelopingCIMA Hospital is under construction near Liberia, along with a residential community to provide ongoing health services to its residents.

24

Sharing My House With VisitorsLiving in a tropical wonderland we may expect to meet some of its in-habitants - in our own homes!

17

Surf ReportThe latest surf craze is Stand Up Paddling. We feature local SUP-erTom Walinsky who graduated from longboard.

15

Dining Out Punto Tranquilo has been serving fine food for years, and has just added Nicaraguan specialty night to its offerings.

8

Around TownOpenings, closings, parties, music. The Gold Coast has it all, and bar-hoppin’ David is in the groove.

14

It All Began With LoveA do-it-yourself surfboard kit sets a teenager on a lifetime quest for clear waves; a warning for Tamarindo.

18

Two platinum blondes sat at the bar as I arrived, so naturally I started a conversation with them. “We’re celebrating our last night in Costa Rica,” said Fabiola. “We’ve been here sixteen

days, and are leaving for California tomorrow.”

“Where in California?” I asked.

“Mid-state, just north of Santa Barbara. We’re surrounded by wine country, and we both love wine. She drinks only white, but I like red wine,” said Kay, helping herself nonetheless to a swig from her friend’s glass.

“How have you enjoyed your vacation?” I inquired.

“We’ve had a great time, and traveled all over the country, both coasts, north to south. We saw some wonderful things and did everything we could,” replied Kay, the younger,” but we had a few problems, too. On our first day we flew from San José to Drake’s Bay down south, but Fabiola was attacked by a jagged ashtray on the plane, and had to have her arm stitched up. (Why, we wondered, do they have ashtrays on a completely non-smoking airline?) Anyway, that didn’t stop us snorkeling in the beautiful clear waters down there. Then we took a ride on the treetop canopy tour. You wear a harness to which they clip a rope, and you slide down the rope to a tree at the far end; then you rappel down the tree. It’s almost like bungee jumping.”

“That sounds like a strenuous trip,” said I, wondering at these two energetic ladies.

“Well,” said Kay, “the hardest part was climbing up to the canopy in the first place. You actually climb up the inside of a tree. Many years ago, a climbing fig wrapped itself around a large tree, totally covering it. The tree died and, over the years, rotted away inside the fig tendrils. Now, all that’s left is the hollow shape of the dead tree, and you climb up inside it. The guide follows behind, giving you a push up if you slow down.”

“Is this your first trip to Costa Rica?” I asked.

“Yes, we try to do a different destination each year. Last year we went to Scandinavia – Finland, the Arctic Circle, a side trip to Russia, Saint Petersburg – because we wanted a ‘clean’ vacation for a change. The years before that we had only been to third-world countries, and we needed a change. But we rate Costa Rica as a ‘clean’ vacation.

“Anyway, it’s been nice chatting with you, “said Kay, “but we have to get an early night. We have a busy day’s traveling to-morrow, and I’m looking forward to seeing my gentleman friend back home.”

I asked if they would return to Costa Rica. “Probably not, at least for a while. We like to do something different each year. There’s far too much left to see, and not enough time. When you get to our age, you have to make the most of your time.”

I had been wondering about their ages, but a gentleman doesn’t ask. However, as they had broached the subject, I enquired further. “Just how old are you?”

As ladies often will, they lied about their ages. “I’m eighty-six,” said Kay proudly.

“I’m older than she is,” boasted Fabiola, “I’m ninety.”

“No, she’s not,” disputed Kay, “her birthday isn’t until December. But I’ll be eighty-six in November.

I marveled at their enthusiasm and energy, at an age when most of their peers, if alive, are vegetating in institutions, awaiting the visit of the Grim Reaper.

“Well,” said Fabiola, “old age can only catch up if you stop mov-ing.”

You’re never too old for Costa Rica!

You’re Never Too Oldfor Costa Rica

David Mills

In her first act since becoming president, Laura Chin-chilla signed a trade agreement with the European Union which would open up new markets for Costa

Rican goods and reduce tariffs on exports. Items receiv-ing favourable treatment include milk, cheese, clothing, bananas and shrimp.

In July we introduce a new feature “Parent’s Corner” by well-known local educator Monica Riascos, who will write about educational psychology - children’s development, learning and behaviour. Monica is a trained psychologist and psychopedagogist, with a private practice in Huacas.

This is not encouraging: A full-page ad by Conavi, the road development company, in a regional newspaper, promises all the roads to be repaired or improved in the near future. These include Jicaral to Cobano, Carmona-Hojancha, Playa Naranjo-Santa Cruz, Hojancha-Islita, Barra Honda-Puerto Humo, Nicoya-Talolinga, and many other unknown places. Not a mention of Langosta or 27 Abril to Villarreal.

And now, live theatre! Tamarindo’s recent dive into the performing arts – dinner theatre, panto-mime, movie premiere, took another step with the excellent production of Peter Pan, directed by Paul Belanger and with a large cast of local children and adults. Sets, lighting and act- ing were superb for this perennial favourite. The large amphitheatre at Hotel Diria was packed for the three-night showing. Keep it up, folks, Tamarindo is showing a welcome bit of class.

Many thanks to John Lyman, who has provided the Howler cover – and the Surfer Girl – for the past nine or so years. This month’s cover is his last. John has found himself a real job - Executive Director at the International Surfing Museum in Los Angeles. We wish him luck.

Editorís Note

Call me old-fashioned, but I have this conviction that, when an advertiser pays me his/her hard-earned cash to advertise in my magazine, I have the responsibility to get

the message onto the street in a timely fashion. I have set my publication date as the first of the month and, after seven years with the same printer I have it down to a precise art.

But then again, there is Murphy. He popped up his head again with the May Howler. The first of May being a Saturday, I ex-pected that the magazine would be on the usual 3:30 bus from San José on Friday. That is Plan A. Wrong!

I was notified that,due to a broken print machine, the magazine would not be ready until 5 p.m. Fri-

day. As Alfaro doesn’t carry encomiendas on the weekend, it would be sent on Monday for distribution on Tuesday – the 4th! Unacceptable!!

Plan B: I called another encomiendas company, one which delivers to Guanacaste every day. Yes, they said, if I could get it to their offices in San José by 6 p.m. Friday, they could deliver to Tamarindo on Monday - 3rd. Why not Saturday, I asked. Be-cause, señor, Saturday is a feriado. Of course, May 1, the Day of Labour, when nobody labours. One of those beloved feriado days when the whole country takes the day off.

Early Monday morning I had an important appointment in Li-beria and needed the May issue with me.

Plan C: We discussed sending the magazine by Sansa but, on checking, found that a couple of boxes would cost $200. Ouch! A live person, weighing more than the boxes, only pays $95!

Plan D: The printer called and had found a friend who lives near her shop. He owns a shrimp farm and would be making deliveries Saturday to the Nicoya pen-insula. For the cost of gas and a free breakfast he could be talked into taking the magazine to Santa Cruz.

Plan D worked. We met in a soda in Santa Cruz and the magazine was safely in my car, ready for distribution May 1. So, if your May Howler smelled of shrimp, now you know why.

Howler con Camarones

Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it,

or work around it.

Michael Jordan

azaleabaldeaglebegoniabluebellbougainvilleacaracaracassowaryfalconflamingoflycatcherfoxglovefrangipanifuchsiahibiscushummingbird

hyacinthjuniperkestrellobeliamacawmarigoldostrichparrotpartridgepeacockpheasantrosesandpiperseagullviolet

All words from the list below can be found in the word block on the right.

Answers may be forward, backward, upwards, downwards and diagonal.

Wo r d p u z z l eBirds & Flowers David Mills

David Mills

Punto Tranquilo has been serving good food for ten years under the ownership

of Maria Jesús Alvarez Acuña, who is also the chef. Maria hails from Managua, so it is not sur-prising that some of her dishes have a Nicaraguan accent. And on Saturdays she features spe-cialties from her home country. These include baho, nacatamales, quesillo, indio viejo and vigoron; and desserts arroz con leche, sopa borracha and buñuelos. Apart from that the menu has a good mix of Costa Rican and international dishes.

Appetizers are mostly of Tico origin with some American influ-ence: mashed beans with tortilla or patacones; onion rings; tacos and burritos of chicken or beef; tuna sashimi, breaded chicken or fish fingers. We shared an order of fried pork ribs with salad and fries.

Lunch and dinner menus include salads of palm hearts, chicken, fish, shrimp; ceviche, tabbouleh and soups; variety of burgers; chicken fried, in fajitas or with various sauces; fifteen casados; filet of cor- vina, tuna or dorado; shrimp, small or jumbo; various pastas; tenderloin with sauces; pork ribs. We chose chicken fajitas and a Nicaraguan special called baho, beef with plataños and yucca.

Punto Tranquilo is a favourite with the local French community, so it serves a wide selection of wines. Ambience is pleasant, with a totally redesigned layout and new rancho roof; wireless internet available.

Punto Tranquilo, 100 m east of the Huacas crossroad to Tamarindo. All credit cards accepted; hours 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., closed Sunday. Tel: 2-653-8356 for reservations or e-mail puntotranquilo@gmail.com.

Restaurant Punto Tranquilo

Huacas

Dining Out

Book & CD Review

True Passion Shines Through

Tony Orez

Webster defines passion as “a strong liking or devotion to some

activity, object or concept”. But after reading “Passion for the Caribbean”, Webster’s definition seems a little tame. If you really want to witness an unbridled zeal for a place, its people and its culture, check out this book, a collaboration by Yazmin Ross and Luciano Capelli: it exudes passion. The book opens with a look at the “discovery” of the Americas by Cristóforo Colombo, concentrating on his fourth expedition, which led him into the Caribbean and Costa Rica. But it journeys much farther than that, exploring the variety of legends and facts surrounding this explorer. The book then takes the next bold step into the plausibility of previous explorers, including Africans and Egyptians, who may have beaten Columbus to the punch by several centuries. From here, the transition to the ancient stories of the indigenous peoples here is a natural one, then continues to present-day events. The material is meticulously researched by Ross and the story is truly woven poetically like a tapestry to present a more clear and comprehensive, complete history of the cultural fabric that is the Caribbean. “Our goal,” Yazmin told me, “was to complete a fragmented story”, since there really doesn’t exist an original, entire history of Costa Rica or any other Central American country, let alone the Caribbean coast, which is really its own entity, as this book beautifully depicts. More than anywhere else in the Americas, this area was a true melting pot, a convergence of people and their cultures. The churches, music, foods and fashions, languages and dialects all support this fact. And this is part of what makes the area enchanting and yes, passionate. And I think that it is the passion of the author and photographer that really make this book such a unique project. Luciano Capelli’s photos are bold and distinct, with a great mixture of scenery, flora and fauna, and the people, the personality of the area. These, mixed with historic maps, emblems and photos make an excellent collage that works hand-in-hand with the text to create the complete impact of the book.

Yazmin and Luciano first worked together on a bilingual documentary, “The Promised Ship”, about the Black Star Line, the first cruise ship owned and operated exclusively by black people. Ultimately, it was a four-year project that also resulted in Yazmin’s first novel, La Flota Negra. It also resulted in their marriage and you really can’t get more passionate than that. The magnetism they both sensed in the Caribbean while making

(continued next page)

Book & CD Review

from page 10

their documentary spawned their idea for this book, and they found themselves returning to San Juan del Norte and Old Greytown in Nicaragua, Tortuguero, Cahuita, Limón and Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica and Bocas del Toro in Panama more than once for more photos and interviews. “When you ask the right questions, you find the right answers, the living story,” explains Ross, who’s interviewed many locals with nearly a century of stories each and some are included

in the book.

A history of an entire half-millenium is captured here, from pirates to train moguls, explorers and missionaries, tropical fruit kings, and the story of immigration, which Yazmin sees as being key to the many-layered Caribbean history. “The Latin history is only one part of the story, one root of the history,” she told me. And “Passion for the Caribbean” reveals the true depth of history as no other book has succeeded in doing.

A real bonus comes at the end of the book: a CD entitled “La Pasión por el Calypso”. It is a collection of thirteen songs by legendary calypsonians, a compilation that simply cannot be found anywhere else. The recording artists include the band New Revelation from Limón, whose members include Julio Medina and Herberth Glinton “Lenky”, who was born in 1933 and is a self-taught musician. They deliver great renditions of “Pompaper” and “Mama”. Charro Limonense gets his nickname from singing mariachi songs. His strong voice is legendary and he participated in famous festivals in Cancún with such singers as Ruben Blades and Willie Colón. An incredible version of “Black Man” on this disc, as well as “True Born Costa Rican”; Cahuita Calypso, a pioneer ensemble from Cahuita and the first group to sing the calypso songs of the legendary Walter Ferguson outside that town. The band was integrated by Reinaldo Johnson, Alfonso Goldburn “Gianty” and Soraya, the only female calypsonian from Costa Rica. On this CD, they cover Ferguson’s “Caroline” and their own version of “Fire”; Emilio Alvarez “Junny” checks in with his classics “Paquíria” and “La Confiancía”. Junny claims to have “twenty-four children and more or less the same number of calypso songs”; Reynaldo Kenton “Shanty”, born in 1938, sings his “Jamaica Farewell”; and finally, the master, Walter “Gavitt” Ferguson, Dr. Bombadee, closes the album with an early rendition of his classic “Cabin in the Water”. The album is a discovered “lost” classic, unearthed largely due to Luciano Capelli, a music aficionado, and Nano Fernandez, who was key in recording this album, the “Simbiosis” album with Manuel Obregon, “Babylon”, the first Walter Ferguson CD, and instrumental in getting Obregon, Capelli and Ross together for what would ultimately result in Papaya Music. But that is another story of passion, for another column, another time. Signed copies of “Passion for the Caribbean” are available exclusively at Jaime Peligro Book Store in Playa Tamarindo, where the customers can also view the book and sample the music.

TAMARINDO - LOTS 1,200 TO 4,000 M2

Fully titled, water and electricityVery quiet location

5 min. from Tamarindo and beaches3 min. from Hacienda Pinilla Golf

Best prices, below the Bank’s appraisal!!Financing available!

Lot 2B: 1201 m2 - $42.000Lot 12A: 1322 m2 - $46.000Lot 9A: 1601 m2 - $51.000

Web Site: www.fincaarwen.comEmail: finca.arwen@gmail.com

TEL: 8885.8706

Lot 3A: 1734 m2 - $60.000Lot 3B: 2044 m2 - $71.000Lot 22: 4000 m2 - $84.000

on the BeachYOGA AT CASA AZUL

in Tamarindo Beachfrontprovides a combination of Dynamic * Challenging * Inspiring * Encour-aging and Relaxing Yoga * Small groups and individual adjustments *Most important.: Yoga is fun !!!

For more information email me at nina@tamarindoyoga.com.

www.tamarindoyoga.com

By Nina WeberCertified Yoga Instructor

Open to Grace

Kate Hutcheson is currently finishing her 200 hour yoga certification. Coming from a background in dance performance, she found yoga in the mountains of Whistler, BC eight years ago and has never looked back. Residing in Toronto, Canada, she has begun a website that offers information on yoga teachers, classes,

workshops and further yoga ideas occurring across the globe. On her website, www.projectkula.wordpress.com, she writes, “After moving away from one of the most connected communities and inspirational group of individuals I have ever encountered, I find it difficult to reconnect — to myself and to the practice that not so long ago provided me with such a sense of security yet freedom. I decided to write in hopes to further build a surrounding knowledge of the wider community ‘out there’ that exists. Such incredible yoga is happening in the world and such heart opening experiences are being realized! It is my hope to share not only my own thoughts and ideas on this matter but also the ideas of the many inspirational individuals and kulas (com-munities) worldwide. To build this community, we need to learn and

appreciate the world of yoga, not just the movement, not simply the exercise. Because once you move beyond the movement and sweat, you open up to a world beyond your imagination. You open to grace.”

The very first principal in the Anusara yoga invocation is Open to Grace. It is also the most simplistic yet simultane-ously in-depth way of moving, thinking, feeling and experiencing. This principal expands beyond the mat, beyond a room filled with others whom acknowledge its importance and even so, beyond ones own personal grace. It is here, perhaps after many teachings and explanations did I realize the significance these very words, ‘open to grace’, had upon my life. I began my first article with this invocation, not only because they are the words one begins their Anu-sara practice with, but rather because this principle resonates so deeply with both a physical, emotional and broader

understanding of life on and off the matt. My blog and yogic teachings are my voices of expression in hopes to expand this ever-growing com-munity (kula) not only through its movement, but the grace that continues past. Therein lies the real yoga.

To begin to understand this heart opening that can occur in your own life, yoga provides us with tools to physically open our hearts and allow us to take notice of this expansion. Anusara yoga follows three main principles, known as the “three A’s”: Alignment, Attitude (the expression of the heart) and Action (the energy that expresses the attitude in each

pose). These principles are the very base of this relatively new and exciting practice. By manifesting the three A’s, we diligently work on awakening ourselves and opening to something greater in the universe; perhaps a greater sense of love. For many to grasp this idea, we need something physical in our bodies to illustrate its concepts.

The pictures Nina and I explored are simple examples of such physical manifestations of heart opening. Opening the chest and releasing the heart allows a sense of freedom and dance within your practice. Whatever your level, your practice or your notion of yoga, I urge you to release your heart to its magnificent possibilities. There are so very many parallels that can be translated from opening your chest in a posture to opening your heart to life and love.

The long wait is almost over, and the action starts in South Africa Friday, June 11. For one month the thirty-two qualifiers for the World Cup (Mundial) will battle it out

over 64 games to seek the World Champion of Football (or soc-cer if you prefer).

For your ongoing convenience throughout the tournament we have included a full-page chart (page 9) of the games, their dates and times, sponsored by Sharky’s Sports Bar, which will be open daily in Tamarindo for the 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. games. The final game takes place on July 11 at 12:30. If you don’t want to destroy The Howler, there will be 500 loose sheets distributed around the neighborhood.

Costa Rica’s summer football season has just finished with a win for Saprissa – not an unusual event. But this time they defeated San Carlos, as their perennial rivals, La Liga, had been defeated in the semi-finals. Saprissa is Costa Rica’s version of the Yankees. You either are a fan for life or you hate their guts – nothing in between.

The Stanley Cup hockey playoffs have generated a lot of interest, with some very exciting games. As we go to press the semi-fi-nals are under way. Chicago Blackhawks face San José Sharks, while Montreal Canadiens play Philadelphia Flyers. These last two teams both came back from big best-of-seven deficits in the quarter-finals. Again, all games may be watched at Sharky’s Sports Bar.

Almost exactly in sync with the Stanley Cup are the NBA playoffs. In the East, Boston is playing Orlando, while the Suns take on the L.A. Lakers in the Western semis.

So, we digressed from soccer a little. No worry - June will be a very busy time for the sports aficionado.

World Cup 2010Stanley Cup Finals

NBA Finals

It is better to light a lamp than to curse the darkness

Coopeguanacaste

www.howlermag.com

Gil’s Place opened its new restaurant serving breakfast, lunch & dinner with dinner specials. The new location is under the Tamarindo Gym and it’s air-conditioned. Come by and say “hi” to Gil and Donna and spread the news.

Stretch limos, red carpet, glamorous gowns. Congratulations to Thornton Cohen and his production team who finally previewed “Fé de Agua” on May 7 at Aqua Disco to a standing-room-only crowd. The movie was shot in and around Tamarindo.

Gotcha! The OIJ dispatched a Special Operations team to Playa Tamarindo the night of May 3-4. A Transit Policeman was arrested for taking bribes from visiting tourists after a sting operation caught him in the act.

Last October some guys burglarized the Peninsula Condos in Langosta. An investigation by OIJ, working with Summerland Property Man-agement, led to the criminals getting an eight-year jail sentence.

You can help support Guanacaste Unido, a soccer team of under-15 kids which has joined Linafa, the National Youth Soccer League of Costa Rica. For information or to support this worthy cause please contact guanacasteunido@gmail. Guanacaste Unido will play home games in Santa Rosa.

Super Junquillal has moved into a new spacious location in the new plaza at Tierra Pacifica.

Restaurant El Coconut will reopen June 15 with its usual delicious meals and great service. Dinner special: Appetizer and entrée or entrée and dessert - $25. Happy Hour 5 to 6. Tel: 2-653-0086.

Sharky’s Sports Bar will be showing the World Cup 2010 this June, starting with the opening 8 a.m. game June 11. All the 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. games will be on daily (see page 9). Sharky’s has been home to many screaming Canadians and quieter NBA fans during the hockey and basketball playoffs. The finals of both will be shown early June.

The Tamarindo Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation will celebrate International Surfing Day on June 19th, 2010, in front of Witch’s Rock Surf Camp, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a Beach Day/Expression Ses-sion/Beach BBQ/Junior Jam/Masters Contest! That evening, a Tama-rindo Waterman’s Ball – Tamarindo Preserve Beach Club. 7 p.m. to midnight, with great food and a huge Silent Auction, with some terrific prizes. Contact Brian at 8-825-4563 or brian_bratton@yahoo.com.

Family Center has opened in Garden Plaza serving fast food - burgers, hot dogs, tacos, crepes and sandwiches. Next door to Terra Nostrum Restaurant (see ad page 31).

With the Stand-Up Paddle World Tour taking place in May in Anglet, France, it got me thinking about the legitimizing of the big board. The names to be learned

in that event, and ultimately in the SUP sport, are Kai Lenny (HW), Brandon Rambo (US), Robin Johnston (HW), Benoit Breque (FR), Antoine Delpro (FR), Jeremy Massiere (FR), Chris Bertesh (SA), Laurent Pujol (FR), Colin McPhillips (US), John Hibbard(UK), Duane Desoto (HW), Remi Arauzo (FR), Kainoa

McGee (HW), Eric Terrien (FR), Peyo Lizarazu (FR) and Xabi Lafitte (FR). Here in Tamarindo, there’s a small crowd of SUP surfers who have taken up the sport. Early supporters Jeff Hutton and Toni Vandewalle were out in Tamarindo Bay with their SUP boards and doing it well. One surfer took notice of Hutton and Vandewalle and remembered seeing the SUP phenomenon when he visited Hawaii. He was so intrigued that on a visit to New Smyrna, Florida, this longboarder gave it a try and liked it. I’m talking about Tom Walinski (photos), the tall, blond elder statesman of the Tamarindo waves. Walinski has been surfing for 48 years, but started with the SUP last March. Historically, he took up the longboard as a child in Maryland and surfed there and Virginia Beach. He gave short-boarding a try when it came out in ‘65 and returned to his first love longboarding in ‘71 because he felt that it was more fluid for him.

(continued page 23)

Surf ReportStory: Ellen Zoe Golden

Once upon a time, in a far-off exotic land, there was a small airline. Very small. One small airplane. One average-size pilot. The time of this story – about 1939. The place – Cen-

tral American Republic of Costa Rica. The airplane – a Pilgrim. The pilot – Ramón Macaya, well-known in Central America as a pioneer in commercial aviation.

The south-west corner of Costa Rica is, in large part, a peninsula known as the Peninsula de Osa, unoccupied at that time except for a few placer miners, without access by road and without airstrips. This area contains scattered deposits of alluvial or placer gold. Normal access was by boat. However, high Pacific tides exposed at low water a wide beach of hard-packed sand, firm and wide enough for a small plane to use as a landing strip. As business offered, Aero Macaya would fly from the highland capital of San José to Osa, an hour-long flight. The few resident placer miners scratched out a living but, on rare occasions, a strike would be made, and there would be a flurry of would-be miners flying to the Osa.

The Pilgrim was an obsolete transport by United States standards and, for that reason, was finishing out its life in Latin America, as

did all such obsolete planes for the next three decades. Two fea-tures of this plane should be noted. The small cabin held four to six passengers who entered/exited through a door in the side, while the pilot climbed a ladder attached to the side into an open cockpit. There was no communication between the passengers and pilot.A strike had been made, the news got out, and Aero Macaya was busy flying would-be miners to the Osa and ex-miners out. One day, Macaya loaded for a return trip to San José, got to flight alti-tude, trimmed the plane and prepared for the hour-long trip. For no apparent reason, the nose went down, so he retrimmed the plane, only to have the tail drop off (no, the flat bits at the back didn’t fall to earth. This is pilots’ parlance for “the plane assumed a nose-up attitude” – Ed). This continued for the remainder of the trip. The airstrip at San José was a fenced-off part of a cow pasture, unpaved, known then as today, as La Sabana.

A routine landing was made and the plane taxied to the terminal. As Macaya climbed down the cockpit ladder, he saw that the cabin door was swinging open and the cabin was empty – almost. Looking down the airstrip, he saw his passengers slogging to the terminal, and it was obvious that they had exited at, or shortly after, touch-down. The answer to this strange state of affairs became ap

(continued page 31)

Robert Darmsted

Undocumented Passenger

(continued page 17)

RelationshipsWhy they are so complicated

Roger is attracted to Elaine, whom he met a few weeks ago in a local bar. He asks her to a movie, and she accepts and they have a pretty good time. A few nights later he asks her to

dinner, and again they enjoy themselves. They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither is seeing anybody else.

Then one evening, when they are driving home, a thought occurs to Elaine and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: “Do you realize that, as of tonight, we’ve been seeing each other exactly six months?”

There is silence in the car. To Elaine, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: “Geez, I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he’s feeling confined by our relationship. Maybe he thinks I’m trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn’t want, or isn’t sure about.”

And Roger is thinking: “Gee, six months.”

And Elaine is thinking: “But, hey, I’m not sure I want that kind of relationship, either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I’d have more time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily toward...I mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading towards marriage? Toward children? Toward a lifetime together? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really know this person?”

And Roger is thinking: “...so that means it was...let’s see...February, when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer’s, which means...let’s check the odometer...Whoa! I’m way overdue for an oil change here.”

And Elaine is thinking: “He’s upset. I can see it in his face. Maybe I’m reading this completely wrong. Maybe he wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment. Maybe he’s sensed – even before I sensed it – that I was feeling some reservations. Yes, I bet that’s it. That’s why he’s reluctant to say anything about his own feelings. He’s afraid of being rejected.”

And Roger is thinking: “And I’m gonna have them look at the trans-mission again. I don’t care what those morons say, it’s still not shift-ing right. And they’d better not try to blame it on the cold weather this time. What cold weather? It’s 87 degrees out, and this thing is shifting like a damned garbage truck, and I paid those incompetent thieves $600.”

And Elaine is thinking: “He’s angry. And I don’t blame him. I’d be angry too. God, I feel so guilty, putting him through this, but I can’t help the way I feel. I’m just not sure.”

Sharing My HouseWith Visitors

by Kay T. Dodge

I jumped at the shrill screams coming from the shower in the casita. Running to check out the problem, I found our guest was surprised by a hand-sized tree frog pasted to the tiles

with hands full of suction cups and in no hurry to go anywhere. I explained that our house is built next to a dry tropical forest which we visit occasionally. For a biologist, it is an adventure, for city folks, a scary experience. Who are these visitors and what do we do with them? Over the 16 years I have lived in Guanacaste, many critters have visited our home, others decided it would be a good place to stay. Some visi-

tors are welcome...others are clearly enemies and are the instigators of war to eliminate them. It is obvious we have insects that are not wel-come, mosquitoes, ants, cockroaches, scorpions and other invading ar-

thropods. We spray, sprinkle, fumigate and even use odd electrical devises to eliminate them. You can win some of the chemical wars, while others are better not to fight, but to retreat, like the invasion of army ants that visit, pass through and kill all insects and invertebrates in their path. It is better for you to move out for a few hours with your pets and return later to a cleaner and ant-free house as the ants return to their bivouacs after feeding. Some people are turning to non-toxic chemicals or new alternative options to fight their unwanted insect battles. Scorpions love dark places, under logs, plants, jeans tossed on the floor and especially the inside of boots and shoes. The rule is hang, shake and check your bedding before getting in bed, and be careful when you pick up logs and things laying on the ground. Bats are also a problem, especially if they decide to live in the hidden, dark areas in your house. I had a friend who had them living in the walls, making noises in the night. I had an occasional visitor under the sink in my outdoor bathroom, flying out when-ever we opened the door. Some use garlic; others fill the holes to eliminate resting areas. Most bats in the tropics are necessary for fruit pollination and are good guys eating unwanted insects, but some, the small vampire bats, love to tap the blood of horses and cows. One of the most unusual unwanted visitors are the roots of trees living close to your house. Coming from Michigan where trees grow at such a slow rate we didn’t have problems. Here with the rapid growth and long dry season, the roots of trees seek out water and pull up concrete, tiles, and invade septic systems. The

(continued page 31)

And Roger is thinking: “They’ll probably say it’s only a 90-day war-ranty. That’s exactly what they’ll say, the scumballs.”

And Elaine is thinking: “Maybe I’m just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white horse, when I’m sitting next to a perfectly good person, a person I enjoy being with, a person I truly do care about, a person who truly seems to care about me. A person who is in pain because of my self-centered, schoolgirl ro-mantic fantasy.”

And Roger is thinking: “Warranty? They want a warranty? I’ll give them a damned warranty. I’ll take their warranty and stick it right up their...”

“Roger,” Elaine says aloud.

“What?” Roger asks, startled.

“Please don’t torture yourself like this,” she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. “Maybe I should never have...O God! I feel so...” She breaks down, sobbing.

“What?” asks Roger.

I’m such a fool,” Elaine sobs. “I mean, I know there’s no knight. I really know that. There’s no knight, and there’s no horse.”

“There’s no horse?” says Roger.

“You think I’m a fool, don’t you?” asks Elaine.

“No,” says Roger, glad to finally know a correct answer.

“It’s just that...it’s that I...I need some time,” Elaine says.

There is a 15-second pause while Roger, thinking just as fast as he can, tries to come up with a safe response. Finally, he comes up with something that he thinks might work.

“Yes,” he says.

Elaine deeply moved, touches his hand.

“Oh, Roger, do you really feel that way?” she asks.

“What way?” replies Roger.

“That way about time,” says Elaine.

“Oh,” answers Roger, “yes.”

Elaine turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become very nervous about what she may say next, especially if it involves a horse. At last, she speaks: “Thank you, Roger.”

Relationships...(from page 16)

(continued page 33)

It began with love, a gift, a Christmas present to Just Eddy from his parents, alcoholic and washed out though they were. The winter of ’61, barely a year past “Gidget”, Just Eddie

called and I came running. As we examined the nine-foot foam blank and opened the box of mysterious content: a gallon of resin, catalyst, yards of fibreglass cloth, one printed page of instructions, our world, our futures, our very lives expanded before us. We would become men; we would become surfers...

So it was that two fourteen-year-olds, hapless and forgotten, built a surfboard from kit, with excitement and energy in lieu of skill or experience. We were proud of the result, which floated properly although it absorbed water freely and frequently dropped its skeg. By February my poor mother began hauling us down to Huntington Beach, where we would spend hours in freezing, blown-out beach break, trying to catch a wave.

When spring break rolled around, my father took us all, including Just Eddie and the board, for an extended campout at Doheny, a proper surfing beach. After the hour’s drive south, an unforget-table picture of paradise: I walked out unto the white sands and saw endless perfect waves peeling over the broad rock reef, all under dazzling blue skies. Just Eddie and I spent all of the follow-ing days taking turns with our board and finally catching waves, really learning how to surf. Just Eddie became Surfin’ Eddie and I became Jim Surfer, bathed in beauty and happy beyond belief. “Oh, the water...”

So began the joyful times. With the proceeds from a neighbor’s painting project I bought my own board. Early Saturday morn-ings would find me on Beach Boulevard, Dad’s thin army blanket slung across my shoulder, pocket full of saved-up lunch money and surfboard under my arm, hitch-hiking south to Doheny. The reef there, formed by the rocky outflow of San Juan Creek, was open to all swells, from south to north. The waves were perfectly shaped, gentle and peeling, the water clean and clear, harboring a rich marine environment. Sitting outside waiting for sets, we’d peer over our boards and see the ocean’s floor quite clearly, watch myriad fish, crabs and sea creatures scuttle about. On a small day at low tide you would ride waves of astonishing transparency, rock bottom flashing by, the wave disappearing to the effect of riding on air. All day, endlessly... Nighttime I would find a family, hopefully with a bright-eyed daughter, that would

It All Begins

With Love

Taberna y Restaurante

El Rinconcito de Doña Elda

Opposite Gas Station Oasis in El LlanoTel: 8-842-2635 / 8-356-1370

RestaurantLocal and International Cuisine

Delicious BocasCatering Service

Tavern available for

Parties • MeetingsConcerts • Weddings

Live Music • Wide Screen • Dance Floor

allow me to spread my blanket within their campsite. Then surf all the next day.

Well, with time we learn the nature of the world, the transience of happiness and beauty, the sinister forces relentlessly at work. In this case it was the Chandlers and the Irvines and others, those of wealth and influence, seeking ever more wealth and influence. Dana Point, sitting directly north of Doheny, fell first. Below towering cliffs, Killer Dana was our big wave spot, capable of handling even the largest swells, offering long, makeable rights at any size. So we sat on our boards and watched the barges and cranes at work building the breakwater, for all the world like young bucks astride painted ponies, watching railroad crews push through the plains, laughing and joking, the sun on our backs while our world gave way. By 1970, Dana Point was entombed, transformed into a marina, complete with restaurants, boutiques and a thousand sailboats, berthed and very rarely sailed. All gone forever, along with Orange County’s largest, most vibrant tide pools, which had stretched between Dana and Doheny. You now stand in a parking lot on the very spot where we once caught the waves of Killer Dana. They built a beach inside the marina, called it “Baby Beach” (meaning no surf) as an invitation to young mothers, but testing found the water so polluted that swimming there is prohibited.

Close on the heels of this catastrophe came the rapid over-develop-ment of South Orange County, following the freeway down the San Juan creekbed. Community after community, many gated, a new wilderness of beige stucco and red tile, four sewage treat-ment plants on San Juan Creek and finally a huge outfall pipe, all dumping into Doheny Bay. Today, only the south swell can get past the breakwater; sit on your board and you can’t see your feet, you can’t see below your knee. Salmon will never again run up the San Juan and those who still surf Doheny get sick. On a sunny day from the freeway, look down on Doheny Bay and you see water the color of mint-flavored toothpaste, an odd and unnatural fluorescent blue. And today yes, alarmingly, you begin to see the same at Roca Loca, looking down on the waters off Jacó.

Tamarindo is a jewel of nature, its waters precious and under siege. Let’s build the water management system, identify and stop the sources that pollute our beaches, our waters. Let’s win the fight this time. And let’s remember, it begins with love...

It All Begins

With LoveJim Surfer

Many activities take place while you are reading this good magazine. Maybe it is time to give you an overall idea of the actions and classes the non-profit organization

CEPIA is offering to children, teenagers and adults this semester. Maybe this will persuade you to participate as a volunteer, to come up for a cause, to defend a victim or to give the kids a bit of your money!

Extracurricular classes like sport, art and English for 100 children take place weekly this semester in ten villages after school hours, thanks to the ongoing commitment of many ir-replaceable volunteers.

Twenty-nine teenagers that live in a high-risk situation (school drop out, drugs, delinquency, analphabetism, etc.) receive classes of English, computation, Spanish, math, tasks, volunteerism, group dynamics, sports and cultures.

Training such as cooking, English and alphabetization for 49 adults and teenagers take place in coordination with CINDEA-MEP Santa Cruz.

Psychological intervention is realized for 14 children. School visits for follow-up and ongoing teachers’ and parental support are part of this program. Next workshops for teachers and parents will be offered in June and August.

Prevention of sexual exploitation of children and teenagers and intervention with victims is a constant job. But June 22nd taxi drivers get an interesting workshop about how to be actively involved. CEPIA’s president is participating in a forum San José to form a plan on how we want Costa Rica in 2021, to be published later for the government, media and ‘older’ leaders.

Scholarships are given to 15 children and high school students in order to secure their education. School supplies were given to 350 children, but we still need more because of the constant need and demands.

Four single mothers living in extreme poverty clean and help out at the CEPIA center in return for basic alimentation and sup-port for their children.

Every week the cleaning of Huacas roads and planting of trees make our commitment with Mother Earth real and sustainable.

CEPIA invites you to the Grand Opening of the first public library in the area starting Monday July 5th until Friday 9th, in the CEPIA center. Reading fun activities in Spanish and English every day! Everybody welcome, from babies to grandmothers!

The only way to ensure CEPIA’s long-term existence in our community is finding land to build the definitive CEPIA centre. We have people ready to build, but no land has been donated yet. Please, help us finding land for “CEPIA forever”. Contact us!

If you have any useful materials or money to donate, we commit to directing it towards the children, teens or mothers in need.

Just write us! cepiadirector@racsa.co.cr or call 26538533 (Mon-Fri, 8 am-5 pm)

Visit www.cepiacostarica.org for more information about social responsibility.

What is CEPIA doing right now?

We walked into the huge ballroom, noticing that the dance floor was about a quarter full. Still, that’s a lot of people when you consider the fully-sprung floor would take a

thousand couples at once. This was Wallasey’s Tower Ballroom, one of the largest entertainment edifices in Britain at the time. The building stood on a hill overlooking the River Mersey. Its tower stood 550 feet high and was styled after the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was a favourite haunt on a Saturday night where we went to listen to the Big Band swing music, down a few beers and pick up some “judys”.

Our first stop was the bar, and as we swigged the first pint of Brown Ale we noticed a group of lads also drinking nearby. They were our age or so and noticeable by their weird haircuts and matching black leather jackets.

“Wot’s wid de ‘ercuts?”, asked my friend Ron, who could be guar-anteed to come up with ready wit at the drop of a hat.

“We’re in the band,” answered one of the guys proudly.

“No, yer not!” we chorused indignantly. “Bill Gregson’s the band.” We were very protective of Bill Gregson’s Orchestra, who had played at the Tower for maybe a hundred years. Well, he was a long-time fixture anyway. Bill’s 18-piece band, though not Woody Herman or Artie Shaw, served up some pretty good standards, perfect for strict tempo dancing.

“Yes,” protested one of the haircut guys, “we take over at half-time, when Bill takes his break.” He pointed to a flier taped to a pillar, reading “The Silver Beatles – pop music and Rock ‘n’ Roll”.

Always the proofreader, I pointed out: “You can’t even spell bee-tles.”

“No, no,” he answered quickly, “it’s a pun on the word ‘beat’”, just in case we hadn’t already got it.

They went up to play, and weren’t much good, not the kind of music we had come to dance to. It was their first gig outside Liverpool, and probably a huge excitement for them.

Later, they got an engagement in another ballroom in Wallasey where, for half-a-crown, you got two hours of Gerry and the Pacemakers (Ferry Cross the Mersey) and two hours of The Silver Beatles. The two bands received ten pounds each. After a few weeks, we grew to like them, their personalities and brilliant wit, even, a little, their music. Then they went to Germany and the rest is History.

But, my God! I wish I’d taken that flyer down from the pillar.

David Mills

A Slice of LifeBeatles v Big Band

Do you have a short anecdote, weird, interesting or funny, to share with our readers? Please e-mail to dmills@racsa.co.cr

Contact: Don H. at 2-654-4902

Flamingo Tuesdays: 5:30 - 6:30 pm (open) Fridays: 5:30 - 6:30 pm (open)

Location: Hitching Post Plaza Unit 2, Brasilito

Alcoholics AnonymousSchedule of Meetings

TamarindoSaturday: 10:30-11:30 - Open General MeetingMonday: 5:30 Open MeetingThursday: 6:30-7:30 - Open MeetingLocation: Behind Restaurant La Caracola

Contact: Ellen - 2-653-0897

Sharing my house...(from page 17)

roots of a weeping fig planted next to our stable, seventy feet away from the house, are now moving dangerously near our water pipes in the house.

But there are welcome friends too. The friendly little translucent geckos that live behind pictures on the wall, light fixtures, and ceiling beams come out at night to feed on unwanted insects. It is said that a house is not a home in Guanacaste without geckos; however, if the population grows the tiny excrement can stain furniture and floors. This is a good example of a few visitors are welcome, but too many can be a problem. Their night songs – waka, waka, waka - surprise many human visitors, but they are interesting to watch with their chasing antics and courting. Because our house is completely open in the daytime, other visitors join us too – colorful butterflies, some resident, others escapees from Monkey Park - can be seen flitting through the living room. We have had an occasional humming bird and motmot, but the most unusual was a male howler monkey. We figured he came in looking for ChiChi, our rescued howler female that eventually returned to the wild. He got into the bedroom, saw himself in the mirror and began to fight with himself, throwing things and pooping on the bed. Thank goodness it only happened once, but what a mess. Speaking of poop, what about the large toads that live on our porches and in our laundry rooms. In the morning, there are thumb-size re-mains, mostly insect bodies reminding us of how many insects these ugly toads can consume in a night. And, by the way, if they run out of insects, they love to sit in the dog food bowl and feast.

We do love the little tree frogs with their suction cups and translucent skin. Normally hiding under leaves or other vegetation, look for them sticking to the windows, flower vases, or startling us when the little guys jump out of water faucets or toilet bowls. I love the fireflies when they come into the house at night, blinking in the dark; it lets me know our night rides will be spectacular the next few weeks. It always amazed me that West Coast residents haven’t seen fireflies, since we grew up catching them in bottles on warm summer nights. If one plans on living in or near the tropical forest, it is necessary to adapt to visits, permanent or occasional, by an array of tropical critters. Now, having the Painted Pony Guest Ranch on the finca, we must warn our visitors of our other tropical guests and permanent residents. I then remind them that we are the real guests here in our tropical paradise and to enjoy the show.

STUDENT VOICES

Congratulations to these Country Day School seniors who are moving on to halls of higher learning:

Drake Ballard - Texas State University, undecided majorMariana Calvo - LIM (Laboratory Institute of Merchandizing) Manhattan, New York, fashionSophia Colombari - Stanford University, California, Natural Sci-encesJessi Curtis - University of Northern Colorado, Pre-medAlex Ferguson - New York University - Business College, Business and Political EconomyJulie Javelle - College of Marin, California, BusinessTyler Munyon - Lynn University, Florida, BiologyLavinia Pandis - U. Creativa, Costa Rica, Graphic Design Join us in wishing them the best of luck. Graduation is on June 11th.

Graduation

I Am

I am a simple girl who enjoys her life.I wonder why some people care about unnecessary things so much.I hear the joyful sound of life while some others hear the darkness

of loneliness.I see fun, love, and happiness surrounding me everywhere I go.

I want people to feel the thrill of life, just like me.I am a simple girl who enjoys her life.

I pretend the world might end so I can live my life fully.I feel like wind picks me up and lets me fly over the world.

I touch the world and it feels like iceI worry about the people who hate their lives and end them shortly

I cry for those who feel too much pain and do not know how to express it

I am a simple girl who enjoys her life.

I understand my life will someday end.I say I don’t mind because what else can I do?

I dream the world will someday be happy with what they have.I try convincing people they can change what makes them sad.

I hope I will help someone enjoy what he has.I am a simple girl who enjoys her life

Amelia Lamontagne

THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE!!!

CANOPY, HORSEBACK RIDING AND ATV

www.CanopyPuraAventura.com

info@CanopyPuraAventura.com

Tel: 2-658-0781 / 8-883-5703 / 8-873-7236

“When you grow up doing something watching the likes of David Nuuhiwa, Phil Edward, John Peck, Butch Van Artsdale, Rusty Miller, you are just in awe. They were guys promoting their boards; just being in the water with them was like wanting to be a guitar player and Slash coming to play with you. It was so cool to watch them surf,” recalls Walinski. A true Waterman used to mean someone who fishes, surfs and dives, and Walinski fit the bill. In Maryland he was a commercial diver and fisherman. And, of course, surfed at the pier at Ocean City. When he moved to Florida he became a King Mackerel Fisher-man, then worked in the construction trade. All the while he was longboarding in Fort Pierce with a trip to Sebastian Inlet from

time to time. He ventured to Tamarindo for the first time 25 years ago on vacation where he “got to ride the River-mouth 6-foot and perfect, just me, my son and one

other guy. I’d come back every year and stay for a couple of months and knew I wanted to stay here. I actually thought it would stay like it was. I always was naive like that.” Tom moved to Tamarindo 14 years ago. “Here surfing has changed so much,” he continues. “I can’t believe how many boards are in the water.” Which is why SUP has become such a pleasure. Tom explains that when a particular break is crowded he can just paddle away to somewhere else. Also, SUP is a more proactive sport than surfing. “When you go out to surf you are sitting and waiting,” Tom explains. “With SUP you are always moving. When I’m on the board I’ll paddle over to Casita if the crowd at the Rivermouth is aggressive. It’s great. You do a tour. You see all kinds of sea life and it’s great exercise.” When he first started with SUP, to get in shape Walinski padded everyday from Tamarindo to Playa Grande and back. It’s important to note that SUP surfers are no slave to the tides since the size of the board—9’ to 11’—allows more buoyancy, and the paddle

Surf Report(from page 15)

(continued page 28)

What’s developing?

David Mills

Just ten years after opening its hospital in Escazú, Hospital CIMA started construction on its new medical facility in Comunidad, near Liberia. On May 3, 2010, Sr. Rodrigo Arias, Minister of

the Presidency, broke ground at an inauguration ceremony for the hospital which will be the first phase of Pacific Plaza, a Continuous Care Residential Community.

Developed by Proexsa Associates and financed by E3-Corp Investment Bank, the 220,000 square meter project, at a cost of $125 million, part of the International Hospital Consortium, the largest hospital chain in Latin America, will be constructed in seven phases. Phase 1, the hospital, projected to open in June 2011, will comprise a three-storey tower with 42 medical specialists, 6 commercial outlets, a pharmacy and food court. Construction cost is estimated at $15 million.

Phases 2 and 3 will be the construction of residential condominiums, both independent and four-plex. Phases 4 and 5 comprise independent residences for senior citizens; residences providing skilled nursing services; residences for care of those with Alzheimer’s; and a com-mercial center. Phases 6 and 7 will be the completion of a hotel and community recreational center. Time to completion of all phases is estimated at 8 years.

Consultation offices, average size 37 square meters including private bathroom facilities are available for rent at $36 per square meter for second and third floors; $37 on ground floor. Each floor will include waiting rooms, stretcher elevators, restaurants and stores.

The Continuous Care Residential Community concept (Comunidad Integral de Servicios Medicos y Soluciones Residenciales en espa-ñol) is well established in the United States, but is not represented in Latin America.

Pacific Plaza will cater to a population of elderly persons, mainly from the United States, which segment of the population will grow to over 70 million in the next 30 years. Each segment of the project will provide health care as required throughout the various stages of aging, allowing its residents to live a pleasant and comfortable life at reasonable cost. All medical services will be of the highest quality. A heliport will allow transportation of patients to San José if necessary.

The new CIMA facility will be built just north of the Do-it Center, and a little south of the twin bridges over the Río Tempisque. It is 10 km. from the Liberia International Airport and conveniently located near many beautiful beaches.

For information on this revolutionary project contact Ricardo Cordero Oreamundo, Marketing Manager, CIMA, Tel: 2-208-1000, rcordero@hospitalcima.com; or Sandra Rodríguez, Próxima Communication and Public Relations, Tel: 2-239-8376, sandrarodriguez@proxima.co.cr.

Ground-breaking at CIMA: Sr. Arden Bennett, Director of Hospital Cima; Sr. Jorge Woodbridge, Minister of Competitivity; Sr. Lou Agu-ilera, Proexsa; Sr. Carlos Cantillo, Alcalde of Carrillo; Sr. Rodrigo Arias, Minister of the Presidency; Sr. Joseph Barcie, International Hospital Corporation.

JUNE TIDE CHART8.41.38.3

0.68.21.67.91.08.01.87.51.47.82.07.21.77.72.16.9

05:4611:4417:55

00:0506:3112:2918:4000:4807:1613:1619:2701:3208:0214:0620:1702:1808:5014:5821:11

1T

2W

3T

4FLastQtr

5S

1.97.62.16.82.17.71.96.82.17.91.67.02.08.21.3

7.31.78.50.9

03:0709:4015:5322:0703:5810:3116:4823:0304:5111:2217:4123:5705:4412:1218:31

00:4806:3513:0019:19

6S

7M

8T

9W

10T

7.71.48.90.48.21.09.20.18.60.79.5

-0.29.00.49.6

-0.49.30.39.4

-0.4

01:3607:2613:4720:0502:2308:1514:3420:5103:0909:0415:2121:3603:5509:5316:0922:2204:4310:4316:5823:09

11F

12SNewMoon

13S

14M

15T

9.40.29.4

-0.39.50.39.1

0.09.40.58.70.39.30.78.30.79.10.97.9

05:3111:3417:4823:5706:2112:2718:40

00:4707:1303:2219:3601:4108:0814:2120:3402:3709:0715:2321:37

16W

17T

18F1stQtr

19S

20S

1.08.91.07.71.38.81.07.71.58.80.9

7.81.58.80.78.11.48.90.6

03:3710:0716:2722:4204:3911:0817:3123:4605:4212:0818:31

00:4606:4213:0419:2601:4207:3813:5520:16

21M

22T

23W

24T

25F

8.31.38.90.48.51.28.90.38.61.28.90.38.71.28.70.48.71.28.50.6

02:3208:2814:4321:0103:1809:1515:2721:4204:0109:5916:0922:2204:4210:4016:5023:0005:2211:2117:3023:37

26SFullmoon

27S

28M

29T

30W

8.61.48.2

1.08.51.57.81.28.31.77.51.58.11.97.11.98.02.06.9

06:0012:0018:11

00:1406:3912:4218:5200:5207:1913:2419:3401:3208:0114:1020:2102:1508:4615:0021:13

1TJuly

2F

3S

4SLastQtr

5M

Aries: 21 March - 20 AprilExpect some surprises this month as both Uranus and Jupiter enter your sign kicking off the Grand Cardinal Cross energy this summer. This is a good time to begin or start to plan for something new, exciting, innovative and instructive. Look for new doors to open for you. Best days are the 6th and 7th.Taurus: 21 April - 21 MayUnexpected events take you in an unplanned direction. Some people from your past may contact you. Clear up any unfinished business and focus on new ways to make money and pay off debt. Let go of trying to control everything. Good days to get your way are the 8th, 9th and 10th.Gemini: 22 May - 21 JuneExciting news comes your way involving new market-ing possibilities and a potential new income stream. Focus on what you want and link up with new people who can help you make it happen. Keep your eye on the prize as this will unfold in a rather uneven pattern. Days to make your case are the 11th and 12th.Cancer: 22 June - 22 JulyYou are about to open some new doors in your profes-sional life. Things will unfold a bit quickly for you but it will be very clear what direction you should take for long term security. Some relationships with women may end abruptly. Whatever leaves your life at this time is supposed to. Days to rejuvenate your spirit are the 13th and 14th.Leo: 23 July - 23 August You are energized by the entry of Uranus and Jupiter into Aries, another fire sign. This is a good month to travel abroad or get some additional education with regards to a new career. Focus on anything new on the horizon and be prepared for an eventful summer. Go with the flow, however uneven it may be. The 15th and 16th are your best days.Virgo: 24 August - 22 SeptemberThe planet Mars enters your sign this month giving you an energy boost to accomplish your goals. Your inter-ests are changing and you want to focus on the future now. New career prospects are on the horizon and you need to work out some financial details this summer. Be patient as this will be a bit of a roller coaster ride. Make your case on the 17th and 18th.

Libra: 23 September - 23 OctoberYou can expect a very dynamic month, being part of the Cardinal Cross action this summer. The ingress of both Uranus and Jupiter into Aries, the sign that rules partner-ships for you, will definitely make some changes in that arena. But wait, there’s more! Your public image and home will also undergo some radical upheaval. Be clear with your intentions, particularly on the 19th and 20th.Scorpio: 24 October - 22 NovemberYour work environment may change considerably this month or you may be challenged to take on an entirely new task. While you are not known for enjoying change, you are going to be forced to roll with it for the next few months. Don’t fight this....it will unfold in a chaotic manner but you will have to endure some changes. The 21st and 22nd are your best days.Sagittarius: 23 November - 21 DecemberFocus on making changes to your finances this month. An old avenue of revenue dries up and you cannot revive it. It is time to develop a new and creative path for yourself. Change your routine, get out and meet new people—that’s where the next opening will come from. The 23rd, 24th and 25th are your most potent days.Capricorn: 22 December - 21 January With the Cardinal Cross action taking shape this month you will find that there are major shakeups in your profes-sional and personal life. You may even change career, move your residence and/or get out of a burdensome partnership. You can’t revive the past; let it go....this is a pretty radical time of change. The eclipse on the 26th and the 27th are your days of power.Aquarius: 22 January - 19 FebruaryThis month holds a focus on your health and making changes for the better in that area as well as what you believe to be true about how the world works. You like innovation so the changes that are manifesting this sum-mer should not be too difficult for you to understand and roll with. The 1st, 2nd, 28th and 29th are best days.Pisces: 20 February - 20 MarchThis month empowers you to make some adjustments in your relationships with groups, friends and children as well as how you earn your money. Expect some radical news and big changes in these areas. Start something new and it will succeed. Focus on the new and innovative. The 3rd, 4th, 5th and 30th are your days for new beginnings.

28

Oct

ober

For

ecast

sO

ctob

er F

orec

ast

sJ

un

e F

orec

ast

s by Jeanne Callahan

Namasté

Visit Jeanne’s site at CelestialAdvisor.com

People come to the Pacific coast to worship the sun, soak up its rays and watch the amazing sunsets. Tourists, arriving in June or July when it stays light up north

until ten or eleven, are surprised at the early sunsets and the darkness that descends before seven oíclock year-round. There is little twilight in the topics. So letí s dispel a few myths about our friend, Old Sol.

The earliest sunset is on December 21 and the latest June 22. Not true! The earth does not travel in a circular orbit around the sun, but traces a tilted ellipse. The earliest sunset (in Tamarindo), therefore, happens on November 12, at 5:18 p.m., and the latest at 6:10 on July 16.

Sunset changes by two minutes per day. No. Through March and April sunset hardly changes at all but, from August to November the change is very rapid, again due to the inclination of the earthís orbit.

The sun sets in the same place every day.Wrong again! In its yearly (apparent) trip around the earth, the sun travels south to the Tropic of Capricorn and north to the Tropic of Cancer, an angular distance of 47 degrees. So, on June 22, the sun (seen from the beach at Tamarindo Circle) sets way out toward Cabo Velas; six months later it sets behind Punto San Francisco.

Summer is hot because the sun is closer to the earth.Not so! In its elliptical orbit, the earth swings closest to the sun ((- 147 million kilometers) - on January 3; on July 7 it is far-thest away at (152 million). The temperature swings between summer and winter are due to the sunís altitude in the sky. In winter up north, the sun is low, and its rays have to travel obliquely through a large portion of the atmosphere, which absorbs a lot of heat. In summer, it is high in the sky, the rays coming through a very short blanket of atmosphere.

Your shadow always falls to the north of you. No! Because the sun moves as far north as 23.5 degrees, and Tamarindo is around 10 degrees, the sun is north of us for a few months. It passes directly overhead on April 17 going north, and August 22 going south, so between those dates your shadow falls to the south. If the weather is clear, the days around those dates can be unbearably hot.

When the sun is at its highest, it is 12 noon. No, only if you are on a line of longitude divisible by 15, such as 75 or 90 degrees. This is never the case in Costa Rica.

Not a myth: the suns rays can be extremely damaging to the skin, especially for those visiting from higher latitudes. Wear sunscreen!

Sun Gazing

provides movement, so they can go out in the water any time they want, waves or not. SUP beginners may find themselves challenged by the bulk of the board. Walkinski did. “It was a very humbling experience. You look at how long I’ve been surfing, but still I try to control the board, you got a paddle in your hand, the wind is blowing, and you got to get set up in a wave. You have to know the wave a little better than a regular surfer. A surfer can take off in a more critical place and I can take off earlier, but I have to know what that wave is going to do because I have a pretty heavy board under you it’s almost impossible to stop. If you don’t get it right things can happen. I busted my ribs with the first couple of times.” Yet, once he got it all under control, he says nothing beats the benefits: “SUP keeps you healthy. It’s one of the best exercises known to man.” Walkinski believes so much in SUP, that he has access to Board-works SUP boards for anyone who wants to buy the TEC (thermal epoxy compression) boards from him. You can order them from him and he will have them shipped to Costa Rica for you. The brands of SUP boards you can get are C4 Waterman, Paddlesurf Hawaii and Rusty. You can also order paddles from Tom. In addition, surfers can get from Walinski regular TEC shortboards including the following brands: Ben Aipa, Dewey Weber, Steve Boysen, Claude Codgen, Casey McCrystal, Michael Hynson, Bruce Jones, Bill Johnson, Yancy Spencer, Kane Garden, Mike Eaton, Hula Ride, Bill Stewart, and Hansen. Contact Tom Walinski for Boardworks at twalin1234@yahoo.com In other news: In just his second participation in the a Pro Junior, the current National Champion of Costa Rica, Carlos Muñoz of Esterillos, extended his record in the waves of Newport Beach, California by winning the Volcom VQS championship with a tre-mendous display in the last minutes of the finals. He won $7,000, and the best record of a Costa Rican in these competitions. And coming up this month, the Circuito Nacional de Surf moves to Nosara for Torneo Britt Iced on May 22 and 23.

Surf Report(from page 23)

That’s all I’ve got. Looking forward to hearing what you think. Keep those emails coming at EllenZoe@aol.com. Send your comments, information, errors or praise, because I can’t do this column without you, the real surfers.

My last column ended with a promise to discuss the dif-ferences between natural and unnatural foods. In this column, I will begin the discussion of those differences.

A natural food is one that is just that, natural. In other words, the food grows in nature, and it doesn’t have to be milled, processed, or otherwise adulterated by any process that requires a machine. Ex-amples of natural foods are fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, meats, and natural oils, i.e. olive oil and butter. Grains are not natural foods, in my opinion, because they have to be milled and cooked to be edible. Also, grains have to be enriched, as the processing required to make them edible robs them of the relatively meager amount of essential vitamins and minerals they contain naturally.

An unnatural food is any food that is man-made or machine-pro-cessed. In general, this would include any packaged food, such as crackers, cookies, chips, soda and fruit drinks, sugar, flour, and the like. As we discussed in the last article, these foods are inert, be-cause man cannot create life. It takes a tremendous and cumulative toll on the resources of the body to process and incorporate these foods. The true effects of unnatural foods are poorly understood, but my observations and studies have led me to reliably conclude that most of the chronic diseases that plague mankind are caused by the consumption of unnatural foods.

A friend of mine had a dog that would scratch all night. The dog’s coat was poor and it had a bad “dog” odor, even though the owner bathed it frequently. She had taken it to a vet, who put the dog on oral steroids and some type of lotion. I asked the owner to show me the food that she was feeding the dog. She was feeding the dog Beneful, which she had assumed was a good choice, since it was purported to be an especially healthful dog food. I showed her the ingredient label, which she had neglected to read. The primary in-gredients were corn husks and soybean hulls. The product contained no meat whatsoever, nor any other natural fats or oils.

We then bought a product called Evoo. That product still had a large proportion of grain, but the lead ingredients were meat and “meat by-products”. Within a few days of starting the new food, the dog had quit scratching and his “dog” odor was gone. Moreover, the owner reported that the dog had more energy and appeared healthier. The funniest part of the story though, is that it took us two days to get to the store to get the right food. The dog refused to eat the old food for those two days, as he evidently overheard and understood our discussion about the problems with his old food! I always suspected that dogs speak better Human than people speak Dog!

The preceding anecdote should speak volumes about the ill effects that unnatural foods can have on living things. In my next column, I will talk more about unnatural foods, and the general and specific deleterious effects they have on the human body.

Doctor’s OrdersJeffrey Whitlow, M.D.

The Dawning UncertaintyTom Peifer

From the rarefied atmosphere of a songwriter’s studio it is much easier to wax philosophical about the trials and tribulations of daily life. Down

here on the ground things are often not so funny. Globally and locally, recent events have this observer convinced that we can expect less humor and more hassles in the future.

Not at all funny was the reaction of a good friend who woke up to find his new truck perched precariously on four blocks of wood instead of the classy rims and tires the vehicle was sporting as it rolled out of the showroom. My comments about the unsuitability of Flintstone-type wheels to overcome friction at 60 m.p.h. didn’t help. As it turned out, Steve wasn’t the only one with car problems.

I had a minor grading project suspended because of a flat tire. Given the current slump in construction, the backhoe guy is flailing to keep his machinery on the move, at least making the minimum to pay the drivers and diesel. A glimpse at the tread on the tires gives a quick and dirty overview of the whole financial picture. The margin for error is wearing thinner by the day.

You don’t need a Ph.D. in economics to figure out some things. Don Alexis, a 70-year-old neighbor watching his corn wither in the mid-May sun, put it succinctly: when there’s less work, what do you expect, people steal more. Good question, what do we expect?

With the recent swearing in of president Laura Chin-chilla, by all accounts, a breath of fresh air has ven-tilated the stuffy halls of presidential power in San José. Still, it is safe to assume that we will continue to be assaulted with plenty of stale ideas. A recent example of “blast from the past” emerged from the mouth of none other than Guanacaste’s new diputada, Maria Ocampo. She proposes to put a new port for cruise ships in the sleepy town of Cuajiniquil, up near the border. You have to wonder, has she really done her homework?

Granted, in a world of diminishing oil supplies, travel by ship makes sense. But how long does this port have to function before it is overwhelmed by the steadily rising sea level caused by global warming? (Tokyo

(continued page 32

and Rotterdam are on Newsweek’s recently published casualty list.) Are all those future tourist dollars re-ally in the pipeline given the ongoing hits to pension plans, the perilous—and unfunded—situation of Social Security in the US and the trillions of dollars of new government debt being racked up in both the US and Europe.

I suspect that, like many people, diputada Ocampo is assuming that the future holds in store some kind of return to the ‘normalcy’ of the past. However, I would argue that evidence abounds indicating that we should expect anything but.

Anything but normalcy recently ran amok on Wall Street and provoked a mid-day vertical drop that caused nose bleeds among market watchers. One veteran trader remarked that the financial freefall was more than simply suspicious. Investors are even more nervous because it is unclear exactly what happened. It’s like: hello-o-o!!!! - who’s running the show here?

The SEC, that would be the regulatory agency assigned to ensure that there is, in fact, a difference between Wall St. and Las Vegas beyond styles of clothing and architecture, is apparently light years from understand-ing, much less exercising oversight on, more than a smidgen of all the new fangled schemes, gimmicks and shell games invented by the wunderkind whiz kids of high finance who are still scarfing caviar omelets for brunch while 40 million of their fellow Americans are on food stamps.

Like it or not, Man E. Street the world over finds it tough to swallow the prevailing kind of tortured finan-cial logic behind trillion dollar bailouts, business-as-usual bonuses and the mind-boggling move by some European banks, ‘selling short’ the Euro—the currency in which they deal—with money borrowed from the taxpayers. Expect more fallout, read, more potential for disruptions along the path back to ‘normal.’ The riots in Greece or the storming of the parliament in Ireland are likely to be the early innings. Belt tightening is never fun, and apparently few want to acknowledge

No reason to get excited, the thief he kindly spoke.There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke

Bob Dylan

I got a very excited phone call from my good friend Jim Parisi of the Jaime Peli-gro Bookstore Conglomerate informing

me he had obtained some books I might be interested in. Jaime knows I’m a World War II history buff so he always grants me first refusal on anything in this genre, including any fiction by W.E.B. Griffin, a good author to curl up with a good cigar, plenty of Famous Grouse Scotch, and a beautiful good-hearted dame.

How did an aging rock-and-roll flower child come to such a non-peace and love infatuation? As any Freudian shrink will tell you it’s my Dad’s fault. He and his whole generation!

I was born a scant seven years after the end of World War II, a world conflagration that hadn’t even scratched the United States, which had come out the big win-ner. The millions of young men serving overseas came home with a vengeance, married anything in sight and began work on the “Baby Boomer” generation. I don’t remember my dad personally shoving the war down my throat. He was a ca-reer naval officer who served on heavy cruisers mostly in the European Theater and went on to serve another twenty-five years. I remember a later epiphany when, while playing loud lewd and loose music in some Texas bar, I realized that at the same age my dad was on the bridge of the USS Augustus at Normandy Beach with a large number of Germans trying their best to kill him.

So I hook it down to Jaime Peligro’s to check out his new books. No new W.E.B. Griffin, but some interesting histories mostly written by some very high-ranking generals who evidently were expected and encouraged to produce their version of what went on, with varying degrees of success. One stood out, a book about a famous Russian Spy in Tokyo who sent Moscow up-to-date info throughout the war. It was written by a Major General

Charles A. Willoughby, who was Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur’s chief of intelligence, and incidentally a “bad guy” in many of ol’ W.E.B.’s novels. First thing I notice is inside the book cover someone has pasted newspaper reviews, a number of very right wing pamphlets and even the good general’s calling card, not to mention being personally signed and dated “New York 1954”. After reading maybe two or three pages it became ob-vious that he was more concerned with warnings about the “Communist Menace”, rather than praising them for their Intelli-gence successes. Also he couldn’t write worth beans. Not so “Our Jungle Road to Tokyo” my current read at the moment of this typing. This author was a Lieutenant General, one Robert L Eichelberger, another guy that worked for MacArthur. He can tell a good story, mostly about how unpleasant the jungles of New Guinea can be, especially when inhabited by the Japanese Imperial Army. The book again was filled with clippings from the early 1950’s, although there was one whole front page of the October 31, 1940, copy of the Chillicothe Gazette, (Ohio). The banner headline is “Greeks Hurl Back Italian Invaders”, while there are also articles about the town’s first “draft” volunteer and what Wendell Wilkie is promising to do if elected pre-sident.

The real gem that Jaime had was an ori-ginal hardback copy of ”Up Front” by Puli-tzer Prize-winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin. It’s about one quarter the size and weight of the two generals’ books, (Mauldin was only a sergeant) and is mostly a collection of his “Willie and Joe” cartoons depicting the US Army soldier as something less than spit and polish; they were basically dumb and dirty but got a terrible job done. Sergeant Mauldin was famously called in front of no less than General George S Patton who threatened to throw him in

jail for inciting “poor morale” amongst the troops. Patton was later told by Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D Eisenhower to lay off Mauldin. I couldn’t help but notice this one hadn’t been signed by the author who was ob-viously way too liberal for the crowd that previously owned the books.

Jaime Peligro has a strange and convo-luted book acquisition system. He had received this bunch by a young woman getting rid of a newly divorced husband’s stuff. Assuming him to be of an appro-priate age he probably wasn’t even alive in 1953 much less 1940, so they were maybe parent’s or grandparent’s....who knows?

To add to my Pacific War riches there is now one of those well-done Steven Spiel-berg/Tom Hanks collaborations about the war in the Pacific. Much like their previous mini-series “Band of Brothers” about paratroopers in Europe, this newer one follows a group of Marines through Guadalcanal and (of this writing) Peleliu, with a little R&R in Australia, with an em-phasis on authenticity while not glorifying the horrors of war.

It should be noted that a fellow history enthusiast and publisher of the magazine you currently are reading was witness to the Battle of Britain when he was just a wee tike. He is always quick to correct that it’s the “Royal” Air Force, not the “British” one.

And just to avoid yet another lawsuit surrounding my alleged “journalism” I’d like to say that I shamelessly borrowed the title from an “artsy” full-length movie I saw back in the seventies that was old black and white movies of World War II set to Beatles music. It was entitled “All This and World War II”. I keep waiting for it to show up late one night on Cinemax or Turner Classics.

Story by Jesse Bishop

CSurvivinghapter MCCLVICOSTA RICA

All this and World War Too

You ask: “What does this story, which took place many years ago I a far-off land, have to do with those living in the fair land of today?” If, on your next trip, you should board in company with a person carrying a coffee sack containing a large boa, check the sack for holes and be sure the top is securely tied.

Robert Darmsted lived in Costa Rica from 1946 to the ‘90s. He worked for TACA Airline during the pioneer days of flight in Costa Rica. Don Roberto passed away in California in 2007.

parent when a large boa constrictor slithered out the cabin door. An undocumented passenger aboard? That’s right. One of the ex-miners, not being successful at that trade, had gone into the snake business and had captured the boa, which was large enough to be sold to one of the several animal traders then on operation. Stuffed in a sack, the snake was shoved under the passenger’s seat. Now that is carry-on luggage! About the time the plane got to altitude, the boa got out of the sack and the passengers and boa traded places for the next hour, continually throwing the plane out of trim.

Undocumented Passenger

(from page 15)

(from page 15)

banksters and their regulatory facilitators blew a big enough bubble, for long enough time, so that lots of people got to enjoy the laughs as long as the party lights were on. Not surprisingly, however, it now appears hard to find willing volunteers eager to descend a few rungs on the economic ladder. Economic adjustments foster political and social dislocations that can feed back and amplify the underlying economic insecurity. And let’s not forget the bedrock of modern uncertainty, misbehavior on the part of Mother Nature.

Some 40 years ago a book on earthquake safety in California, predicted that “the big one”—a 7.5 to 8.0 ‘catastrophic’ temblor of the southern San Andreas Fault—would be the most economically damaging event in the history of the US. A word to the wise; factor in climatic weirdness into any future scenarios.

From the drought-withered corn of my neighbor Alexis, to the millions on the move already due to droughts in Africa. Closer to home, the transformation of Pun-tarenas from tourist magnet to underwater sand bar has been graphically portrayed in the national press. Freakish events, like Katrina in the Gulf or the almost-hurricane Alma that grazed our coastline here two years ago, are guaranteed to become more common highlights against a constantly changing backdrop of rising temperatures and sea level. Even Newsweek knows the score. Not to mention the insurance com-panies that simply cancelled coverage near the coast in a good part of Florida and up the eastern sea-board. Go figure. And maybe take a tip or two from the professionals when you think about where to buy or build along the Gold Coast.

As someone who routinely enjoys the changing colors of dawn in Guanacaste, to the accompaniment of the swelling sound track of bird calls, monkey retorts and even a motorcycle or two, I can’t say that I await the dawn of uncertainty with the same detached calm. Ironically, adapting to new horizons and changing conditions is exactly what mankind has been doing for a long time. Sure, the pace of change is going to be challenging, hectic, chaotic. But it is going to be really interesting to watch, even if, at times, things are definitely not all that funny.

Tom Peifer is an ecological land use consultant with 16 years experience in Guanacaste. Phone: 2658-8018. peifer@racsa.co.crEl Centro Verde is dedicated to sustainable land use, agriculture and development.Web site: http://www.elcentroverde.org/

The Dawning Uncertainty

J u n e 2 0 1 0 ( a l l t i m e s l o c a l )

1st -15th -30th -

rise 5:21; set 6:02rise 5:22; set 6:07rise 5:26; set 6:09

Sun

Last quarter:New:1st quarter:Full:

4th

12th

18th

26th

4:13 p.m.5:15 a.m.

10:29 p.m.5:30 a.m.

Moon

“Thank you,” says Roger.

He takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a tortured conflicted soul, and weeps until dawn. Roger gets home to his place, opens a bag of Doritos, turns on the T.V., and immediately becomes involved in a re-run of a tennis match between two Slovakians he had never heard of. A tiny voice in the back of his head tells him that something major was going on back there in the car, but he is pretty sure there is no way he would ever understand what, and so he figures that it is better if he doesn’t think about it.

The next day Elaine will call her closest friend, or perhaps two of them, and they will talk about this situation for six straight hours. In painstaking detail, they will analyze everything she said and every-thing he said, going over it time after time, exploring every word, expression and gesture for nuances of meaning, considering every possible ramification. They will continue to discuss the subject, on and off, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any definite conclu-sions, but never getting bored with it, either.

Meanwhile, Roger, while playing raquetball one day with a mutual friend of his and Elaine’s, will pause just before serving, frown, and ask: “Norm, did Elaine ever own a horse?”

Relationships...(from page 17)