Correos de Costa Rica wants to play Cupid and has announced a program to send telegrams of love or friendship on Feb. 12, the Friday before St. Valentine's Day.

The postal agency said that the telegram will cost just 800 colons, about $1.44. The messages of love will contain sufficient space for senders to include a brief personal message, the agency said.

The love telegrams are on sale at all of the agency's 124 outlets around the country. They may be purchased now, but delivery will not take place until Feb. 12, the agency said.

But if the object of affection lives outside the country, the rate will be higher, the agency said.

The postal service is emphasizing stamp collecting, too. Workshops are scheduled for adults and children in the Museo Filatélico starting Tuesday. Youngsters still are on school vacation and many agencies have what are called summer programs. There are two levels of courses for children and a special class just for adults. The cost of materials is 3,500 colons, or about $6.25. More information is available at 2223-6918 or 2233-5182.

The courses will cover the history of stamp collecting and stamps as well as how to handle and evaluate stamps. The museum is on the second floor of the central post office building.

The latest issue of commemorative stamps was in December. The four-stamp set features children in custom, the traditional mascarada. The work is by artist Cristian Ramírez Vargas. The four-stamp set is 180 colons, about 32 U.S. cents.

Expat food expert has
a book on chicken soup
 

Expat Lenny Karpman has come out with a new book. The heart surgeon-turned-culinary expert addresses chicken soup in

his new nearly 400-page work, he said in a release. The book is "First, You Boil a Chicken: Food-lover’s Guide to the World’s Chicken Soups." Karpman is one of those expats who brought his strong personal interest with him when he moved to Costa Rica. This is his fourth food book, all of them researched in close detail. For a time, Karpman was the resident A.M. Costa Rica food

expert and authored a weekly column.

The new book "delivers international chicken soup and stew recipes from more than 100 countries and insights into people, their culture, climate, economies and beliefs," said Karpman, who lives in the Central Valley, adding that the specifics range "From Aboriginal witjuti and bunya nut soup to Transylvanian wedding soup, from grandma’s Ashkenazi cure-all matzo-ball soup to Korean restorative ginseng – laden samgyetang,"

The book is available through Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com and Booklocker.com, said Karpman.

Karpman noted that he practiced cardiology for more than 30 years, apprenticed in a French restaurant in San Francisco, California, catered for friends and non-profit fund-raisers, wrote restaurant reviews in California as well as Costa Rica and authored dozens of travel and ethnic food pieces in magazines, newspapers and anthologies.  His three previous books are "Chana’s Legacy," "Noni, Baloney, Puddin' and Pie: From Costa Rican Kitchen to the Corners of the World" and "Feasting & Foraging in Costa Rica: A Comprehensive Food Guide."

Art fair to begin in Jacó


The Jacó Art Festival starts next Thursday in the Parque Central of the Pacific beach community.  The event runs through Feb. 1.

It is a project of the Central Pacific Chamber of Commerce and the culture committee of the Municipalidad de Garabito.

During this Art Festival, there will be activities for all members of the family including concerts, exhibitions of photography, painting, sculpture, crafts fair, theater, circus, parades, masquerades and educational workshops, said the chamber.