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Second news page |
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Costa Rica Expertise Ltd http://crexpertise.com E-mail info@crexpertise.com Tel:506-256-8585 Fax:506-256-9393 |
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Chorotega ceramics celebrated in festival By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A festival of Chorotega ceramics celebrating a 4,000 year tradition is under way in San Vicente de Nicoya. This is the first festival, and it will run until Saturday. San Vicente is where a number of shops turn out pre-Columbian replicas and it also is the location for the new ECO Museo de la Cerámica Chorotega, which is scheduled to open in September. The Chorotega Indian tribe was a trading partner with the Mayan civilizations that developed further north in what is today Central America. San Vicente and Guaitil have rediscovered the traditions of the past and have become known on the world art scene for their replicas of the ancient pottery in the Mayan style. Two quakes rattle much of country By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Two strong earthquakes took place Friday night off the Nicaraguan Pacific coast. The jolts were felt in most of Costa Rica. The first at 8:16 p.m. was of a 6.7 magnitude. Then at 10:11 p.m. a 5.9 quake was detected. The first was located at about 70 kms. (40 miles) west southwest of Rivas, Nicaragua. The second was 80 kms. (50 miles) west southwest of Rivas, according to the U.S. National Earthquake Information Center. Despite the intensities, there were no reports of serious damage. Re-election proposal called flawed in Colombia By the A.M. Costa Rica wires services
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — The nation's inspector general is recommending that the constitutional court reject legislation that would allow President Alvaro Uribe to run for re-election next year. Inspector General Edgardo Maya's office made the recommendation Friday, citing procedural irregularities in the bill's passage through Congress last year. The constitutional court has about three months to rule on the measure. Uribe took office in August of 2002. He serves only one four-year term under current Colombian law. Colombian woman wins golf tournament By the A.M. Costa Rica wires services
GLADSTONE, N.J. — Colombian golfer Marisa Baena has captured the inaugural Women's World Match Play title by holding off South Korean rookie Meena Lee here Sunday. Ms. Baena takes the one-half million dollar first prize. She made a confident showing at the start when she won the first hole. From there Meena Lee was always playing catch-up. Wins on holes 11 and 13 were crucial, as Baena moved into a commanding position. Lee came back one more time and cut the deficit. The match went to the 18th hole. But Baena's luck held and she won a half-million dollars after winning just $30,000 last year. "I played such good golf. I was able to hang in there when I was not doing well. I won and that is what we play golf for. I think I have always played golf to win. I was not able to do it. But finally I did it," Ms. Baena said. Zapatistas planning tour to gain support By the A.M. Costa Rica wires services
Mexico's armed Zapatista rebels say they plan to take another step towards entering national politics with a nationwide tour to drum up support before next year's elections. In a statement Thursday, Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos said a delegation of members will travel around the country to meet with other leftist organizations in an effort to broaden the group's appeal. He says the group wants to build a new form of leftist politics and push for a new constitution. |
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with the observations of Dr. Lenny Karpman Click HERE! |
The party today |
1 km. past the exit to San Isidro. beside the restaurant called Asado del Gaucho |
The pig gets the blame when people act in a bad way |
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Hacerse el chancho “To make one’s self into a pig.” Now, this doesn’t sound very nice, but don’t go jumping to conclusions. It’s not quite the same as the expression “to make a pig of one’s self” in English. First, let’s start with the word chancho. This is pure Costa Rican dialect. The word for “pig” in standard Spanish is cerdo. But we in Costa Rica say chancho, and the meaning is the same. But this dicho has more to do with not paying attention than with the sin of gluttony. It’s applicable whenever you’re talking to someone about something and the rude chancho just goes right on with whatever he’s doing without even acknowledging your presence. We also say se hace el Ruso or he/she acts like a Russian, meaning they act like they don’t understand Spanish, when we’re talking to someone who refuses to pay attention to us. In Spain there is a similar expression: se hace el sueco, meaning she/he acts like a Swede. Though it’s quite rude behavior, those who hacerse el chancho can use it as a tactic for pretending they didn’t understand what was being said and are therefore not responsible for any outcome from the conversation. Chancho then, at least in this context, essentially means “rude” or ill-mannered. This meaning of “pig” is also understood in English when we say that someone’s behavior was like a pig’s as in; “How can he act like such a pig?!” Another way of using chancho is in reference to work or service. For example, if a plumber comes to your home to fix a broken pipe and does a very sloppy, unsatisfactory job of it, you might comment; No me gusta ese trabajo, está muy chancho. It might not be such a good idea to refer to the plumber himself as a chancho unless he’s a good bit smaller than you are and is not in possession of his monkey wrench at the time. Calling someone a chancho to their face is a most offensive insult. Likewise we might say: “Mary’s husband is a big chancho because his table manners are atrocious.” Or: “Mary’s husband is a big chancho because he’s having an affair with a little puta he picked up down in San José, and Mary doesn’t even have a clue.” The act or the “bad thing” being done by the chancho is called the chanchada. So, we might say, for example: ¡Que chanchada le hizo Roberto a Maria! Se fué a Jacó con la babysitter! (What a pig that Roberto was to Mary! He ran off to Jacó with the babysitter.) Another useful colloquialism rooted (no pun intended) in chancho is chanchullo. One must cometer or commit a chanchullo. This happens when a person is not fair or is trying to cheat someone else. For example, if you get overcharged at the store, then the clerk has made chanchullo to you. This is what dishonest people do, they commit chanchullos. As you might expect, all this reminds me of a story: In the late 1930s, a cousin of my father, by the name of Carlos, worked as a poll inspector. At election time he would be sent to different places around the country to make sure the election was fair and honest. During the election of 1940 he was sent to Baja Talamanca. Back then there was no road over which to make the journey by car, so he had to |
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Robbers hold family in Tibás hostage for three and a
half hours |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Three men forced their way into a Tibás home late Saturday with the intention of robbing the family that lived there. Instead, one of the victims notified police who quickly surrounded the home. What followed was three and a half hours of hostage negotiations until the three suspects surrendered. The suspects, who walked from the house with their hands held high about 3:30 a.m. Sunday were identified by the last names and ages of Boza Rodríguez, 25, Santamaría Barquero, 21, and Carvajal Araya, 17. The victims who were held hostage were Marina Obando López, 51, Roberto Obando López, Cecilia Obando López, Gabriela Silva Obando, 18, Rebeca |
Silva Obando, 20,
Marcela Silva Obando, 24, José Alberto Rocha
Villalobos and Wilmer Carballo Bejarano, 19. Fuerza Pública
officers
said one of the hostages was a senior citizen and two were minors. Two
of the women are pregnant, they said. When police began to encircle the house, the hostage-takers turned off the lights. Eventually they began to negotiate by telephone, and about 2:30 a.m. They exchanged the two pregnant women for several packages of cigarettes. The robbers had hopes of taking one or more hostages with them as they fled in a family automobile, but police did not give in on this point. A fourth robber may have been involved and may have fled as police arrived. The robbers were seeking some $18,000 they had heard was inside the house. They broke in through a window, police said. |
a bit early
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Old Glory begins the ascent |
U.S. citizens and families, mostly
from the Central Valley, had their July 4 celebration early this
year. The event was Saturday. The Independence Day party attracted a significantly smaller crowd this year, in part because of the Saturday date. However, fans, like Stan Burch (above), |
who portrayed Uncle Sam on stilts, came all the
way from his home in Golfito. The weather cooperated. Skies were a rich blue with just a few puffy clouds all morning. The event was west of San José on the Cerverceria Costa Rica picnic grounds. |
Sometimes you
catch a water
balloon and sometimes you don't! Splash!
Photos by Jay Brodell
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How Gringo can you get? |
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Free
beer, soda, coffee and hot dogs are major attractions for the July 4th
party every year. But it also is a day for kids. |
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What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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