UPDATE

Hi, its been awhile since I've posted on my blog and I'm sorry for that. The other day I went to check my blog which I haven't checked probably since school got out and I noticed all of the hits that I have been getting. Not only with people from the United States, but lots from Costa Rica too!!

A few weeks ago, me, along with a couple friends decided to go on vacation to Costa. We are leaving June 16th and will be there until the 24th. I am very excited for the vacation and when I return I will be sharing all of my stories via my blog.

We do not have a set itinerary yet. None of us have ever been to Costa before so we're looking forward to the adventure. We want to spend our vacation hiking, scuba diving, white water rafting, canopy tours, relaxing at the beach and of course partying!!! If you have any ideas please send them this way. I'm looking forward to hearing about all the glorious "secret" spots :)

~til next time <3 much love

Celebrating Easter Blindfolded in Costa Rica

Photo taken by Ronald Reyes from the Tico Times

During the celebration of Easter, people from all over come to tie ribbon on the sculpture of Jesus Christ. But why is Jesus blindfolded?? And furthermore, why are the people blindfolded also?

Photo taken by Ronald Reyes from the Tico Times

Believers in Jesus Christ will walk the street blindfolded to show their devotion during the Easter holiday.

Trafficking Minors into Costa Rica

China's state media, along with the Tico Times, reported that 300 Chinese minors were illegally brought into Costa Rica. The majority of these Chinese people were under the age of 18.

The Costa Rican Embassy in Beijing was the first to notice that there were an unusual amount of visas applications coming from minors. The minors used flawed documents and claimed that they were trying to meet up with their parents, of whom were supposedly living in Central America. After investigation, they came to find that the parents were still living in China.

Antonio Burgués, Costa Rican Ambassador to China said, “cooperation (between the two countries) has been excellent on the issue of immigration."

The two suspects that were mainly involved in this operation have confessed, although, no names have been released yet.

Joe and Jill Biden visit Costa Rica

Photo taken by Ronald Reyes from the Tico Times

U.S. Vice President, Joe Biden, along with his wife, Jill Biden, arrive in Costa Rica on March 29th. They took this trip to meet with Central American leaders and discuss issues such as immigration, drug trafficking, environmental issues and the progressing "Good Friend Policy" that is currently being put into play.

The "Good Friend Policy" is a play off of the "Good Neighbor Policy" that FDR piloted years ago.

While Biden was spending his time meeting with the Central American leaders, Jill Biden was spending her time in a 3rd grade classroom. Mrs. Biden has her doctorate in education and she has taught English as a second language. “She loves being in a classroom,” Courtney O'Donnell, Biden's communications director said.

“In this world, we are all in the same boat, and the captain of that boat is named Barack Obama, and, frankly, I hope that this captain guides us in the right path, because the entire world is expecting him to guide us,” Costa Rica President Oscar Arias said.

Vice President Biden asks for "Patience and Forbearance"

http://blogs.nashvillescene.com/pitw/Joe%20Biden.jpg

U.S. Vice President, Joe Biden, recently visited Costa Rica to hold a meeting with Costa Rican President, Oscar Arias.

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/56/92956-004-1EB948D0.jpg

During this meeting they discussed the struggling economy that Costa Rica is dealing with right now and along with that they discussed the U.S. economy. Biden asked for "patience and forbearance from Arias. Biden said that "it cannot work for Latin America unless our economy begins to grow." He was talking about funding. However, Biden increased funding for the nation by $45 million.

Costa Ricans head to Nicaragua for Holy Week?

Recently, Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua, eliminated the visa fee for Costa Ricans.

http://www.cubaheadlines.com/files/cubaheadlines.com/imagenes/DanielOrtega.jpg

There used to be a $25 visa fee for all Costa Ricans to enter Nicaragua. This was recently eliminated to overcome poverty in Nicaragua. "Responsible and dignified tourism" is what Rosario Murillo, Ortega's wife said. They hope that the elimination of the visa fee will bring more tourists to Nicaragua and therefore generate more income.

This action will be enforced prior to Holy Week with the hope to bring more tourists to Nicaragua for the holiday. According to Vianica.com, Holy Week beings April 2nd and continues throughout the whole week.

Costa Rica has a dry law during Holy Week. Nicaragua does not encompass this same dry law. Nicaraguan's hope this will bring more people to their country for the holiday, they especially think it will draw in the partygoers.

The following link is a video of what Holy Week is like in Costa Rica. This was Holy Week last year. Holy Week 2008 .

CORRECTION & APOLOGY

First of all I wanted to apologize to Thomas Walker and Leland Baxter-Neal, a Tico Times Journalist. My previous post was titled Construction is Nearly at a Stop and in this I referenced to Baxter-Neal's article from the Tico Times. He wrote this article about Thomas Walker, a sales director and the construction projects he is currently working on.


I misinterpreted some of the information from the article and I just wanted to make the correction and set the story straight. I said that the real estate agencies are without any work during this economic crisis. This is not completely true. The real estate agencies still have work, it is just not as much work as previously. The selling of property and the construction has slowed, but not stopped is what I mean to say.


Mr. Walker is currently building luxury homes and he is continuing on his project. “I have a very unique product, and there's a group that will always have money for that,” Walker said. Mr. Walker has already made two sales this year, both for over $1 million, according to Baxter-Neal.


"The frenzied pace of construction and real estate sales of recent years has been nearly stopped in its tracks by the financial troubles in the United States," said Leland Baxter-Neal, a Tico Times journalist. I quoted this statement in my previous post and I still stand by this to be true, however, what I am mainly trying to say is that construction has slowed due to the economic crisis but there are still some buyers.