THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
2014
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
2014
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
2014
THE BROKEN POT
MOTIVATION
Compiled by Prof. Rosemary Castro Solano
A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on an end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master’s house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you." "Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" "I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your masters house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts." the pot said. The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said,
"As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the Pot apologized to the bearer for its failure. The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pots side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my masters table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house." Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But if we allow it, others may benefit from our flaws. So, don't be afraid of your flaws, especially of those that come from the passing of time.
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
MOTIVACIÓN
2014
LA VASIJA CON GRIETAS Compilación de la Prof. Rosemary Castro Solano
Hace mucho tiempo, había un cargador de agua en la India que tenía dos grandes vasijas colgadas a los extremos de un palo que llevaba encima de los hombros para traer agua de un arroyo cercano.
El aguador se sintió muy apesadumbrado por la vasija y con gran compasión le dijo: "Cuando regresemos a la casa del patrón quiero que notes las bellísimas flores que crecen a lo largo del camino.”.
Una de las vasijas tenía una grieta por la cual se perdía líquido en el camino de regreso, mientras que la otra estaba en perfectas condiciones y entregaba el agua completa al final del largo camino a pie desde el arroyo hasta la casa de su patrón.
Así lo hizo la vasija con grietas, en efecto, vio muchísimas flores hermosas a todo lo largo, pero de todos modos se sintió muy apenada porque al final sólo lograba llevar la mitad de su carga de agua.
Entonces, cuando el hombre por fin llegaba a su destino, la vasija rota sólo contenía la mitad del agua pues había derramado gran cantidad de agua en el camino. Durante mucho tiempo, esta fue la historia diariamente. Desde luego, la vasija sin grietas estaba muy orgullosa de sus logros, pues funcionaba de forma perfecta para los fines para la cual fue creada. Por el contrario, la pobre vasija agrietada estaba muy avergonzada de su propia imperfección y se sentía miserable porque sólo podía conseguir la mitad de lo que se suponía debía hacer. Un día, después de dos años, la vasija con grietas le habló al aguador diciéndole: "Estoy avergonzada de mi misma y me quiero disculpar contigo.". “¿Por qué?”, le preguntó el aguador. “Porque debido a mis grietas, sólo puedes entregar la mitad de mi carga. Debido a mis grietas, sólo obtienes la mitad del valor de lo que deberías.”
Al verla aún triste, el aguador le dijo: “¿Te diste cuenta de que las flores sólo crecen en tu lado del camino? Siempre he sabido de tus grietas y quise obtener ventaja de ello. Por eso, sembré semillas de flores a todo lo largo del camino por donde tú vas y todos los días tú las has regado con el agua que derramas. Durante dos años he podido recoger estas flores para decorar el altar de mi maestro, gracias a ti. Si no fueras exactamente como eres, él no hubiera tenido esa belleza sobre su mesa.” Cada uno de nosotros tiene sus propias grietas y defectos, por lo que todos somos vasijas agrietadas. Pero si lo permitimos, otros pueden beneficiarse de nuestras grietas, especialmente de aquellas que tenemos precisamente por servir a otros con el paso de los años.
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
2014
COSTA RICA’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: SURPRISE, SURPRISE! NATIONAL
By Ana Lorena Brenes Solís As everybody knows, in the last Costa Rica’s presidential election, we got diversity of candidates as people said “all colors and varieties” and with very different ideas: communists, liberals, democratic, social democratic, Christian, etc. During the last years the strongest forces were “Liberacion Nacional” and “Unidad Social Cristiana”, but now people felt tired of the same corruption. Many years ago, the “Partido Accion Ciudadana” (PAC), “Partido Movimiento Libertario” (ML) and “Frente Amplio” (FA), were founded and they had socialists and communists in both sides. I mentioned only these because they were the parties with more followers. At the beginning of the political campaign on TV and in the newspapers you could see almost only advertisements from Liberación Nacional and Movimiento Libertario. The others parties had none or just a few. When the debates started on TV, the same occurred. Most of the questions were directed to both candidates of Liberación Nacional and Movimiento Libertario, and the surveys always were in favor of Liberacion Nacional.
But little by little, the candidate of Frente Amplio was increasing in popularity and nobody gave anything for the candidate of the PAC. In the mean time, the Partido Acción Ciudadana hired an advertising company, which is a good example of what you can do with not too much money but with an intelligent advertising campaign. The company was unknown in the country but, of course, they studied the current situation of Costa Rica, the two periods of the government, the displeasure of the people, the corruption in all the departments of the government, etc. They made a good campaign with the candidate using phrases like “No más de lo mismo” and “Con Costa Rica no se juega”. They also used a lot of social meetings and little by little were getting to know PAC’s candidate, Luis Guillermo Solis, by means of his good participation in the last debates. And the rest is history. Surprise, Surprise!
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
2014
IS THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY IN A PROCESS OF CHANGE?
NATIONAL By Adriana Soledad Borel Thursday July 10, 2014 San José- Will the new Legislative Assembly be able to move the cart or will it remain stuck? The new fragmented Legislative Assembly will have the opportunity to achieve, by parties who negotiate, consensus and openness to dialog. These measures could allow them to undertake "the Great Task" and the change that people want for their country. They will have to pass laws that are beneficial to the State and to the Costa Rican people. According to the newspaper La Nación, the 57 new members (PLN, PAC, PUSC, FA, ML, RN, RC) "inherited discrepancies and trends of previous governments such as: the Power Contingency and Development Banking, the In Vitro Fertilization and the Reform of the Family Code.
In spite of this fragmentation, an alliance of ideologically distinct parties (PAC, PLN, FA and ML) has managed to adopt the first version of the reform to the Development Banking. At this moment the law project is being verified by the Constitutional Court: if defects are detected, there is agreement to resolve them through a quick procedure. However, there is one major obstacle to resolve: the opposition of religious parties to the adoption of laws the In Vitro Fertilization and the Reform of the Family Code, which would equalize the rights of the union of persons of the same sex and heterosexual. Summarizing, this Assembly still has a long way to go, where it will only be if the proposed alliances have enough leadership to lead the country towards the necessary change.
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
2014
THE RECENT STRIKE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION TEACHERS IN COSTA RICA: A SOFTWARE FAILURE OR A DEEPER ISSUE? NATIONAL By Ileana Hess Araya Everyone has heard about the most recent strike of public education teachers in our country and has most possibly been affected directly or indirectly by it. This is only another blow inflicted on the citizens by one of the most destructive unions in the country: the public education teachers union. It is fair enough that they tried to show their support to their colleagues who did not receive their salaries on time, but why not pick two or three persons to represent each school at the national strike? In that way, they could have expressed their support, the schools would not have been closed and the student’s right to receive an education would not have been affected. It is hard to understand how people fail to see that labor unions are their enemies, and that those they claim to defend them are often the ones that are most adversely
affected by the strikes; not only do they trample public rights, but they turn their batteries on the poor: those who cannot afford to send their children to private schools, those who cannot pay to get private medical care when the public hospitals are closed down, those who cannot pay for a taxi to drive them around a road blockade to get to their destinations on time. And yet all of these people pay the syndicate fees out of their scarce money, and this money goes to pay the salaries of those whose job is to damage them and their country as much as they can; in other words, they are paying to be attacked, and to let the syndicate leaders take their rights from them, and to stop the country’s progress. We have enough examples of these abuses, but until people open their eyes, these abuses will continue.
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
2014
LUXURY RETIREMENT FUNDS - THE LIST IS OUT! HOW DO PUBLIC WORKERS' PENSIONS WHICH EXCEED 5 MILLION COLONES PER MONTH CONTRADICT THE DREAM FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE? By Ana Isabel González Trejos Let’s first review the definition of educator: “the person who acts professionally with ethics, honesty, and integrity to maintain both dignity and credibility in education”. I always had the University of Costa Rica in a pedestal. Every time I talked about it, I felt proud because I believed in this institution and its professors. I loved it and I had faith in it. For me, it was the best higher education institution in Costa Rica. However, and after recently knowing by the press how the group of university professors did whatever they wanted with our public funds in order to earn millions of colones per month in their retirement funds, my image of the UCR changed a lot. I felt surprised, disappointed, frustrated and angry. Let me make something clear, I don’t feel envy, but I do censor these dirty things they do with our traditional public retirement funds system, only for them to receive incredible quantities of millions of colones per month. Like Maquiavelo said that “the ends justify the means”, public university professors
have used the youth and the poor, when they have organized a lot of strikes and public demonstrations in the streets of San Jose to demand social justice, better life conditions and higher salaries. In the end all these false prophets were just letting time pass to retire with millionaire amounts and hid their faces once they had obtained their economical interests. I don’t know how long can the public system of retirement funds stand with these millionaire pensions for public university professors, but in the end the most affected if the system breaks down will be the poor teachers from the public primary and secondary schools. In conclusion, good university professors disappeared a long time ago. What we have now, in 2014, are higher university workers whose brain only thinks about money.
NATIONAL
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
NATIONAL CULTURE
2014
“PILO” OBANDO AND HIS POPULAR CULTURE LEGACY By Marielos Giralt Bermúdez In this World Cup in Brazil, there was a great absent in sports television narrative, as we could not hear the funny ideas of “Pilo” Obando. He was not there to make us laugh and have a good time. Last April 23rd, a few weeks before the start of the World Cup, “Pilo” said goodbye to so many Costa Ricans who were identified with his stories and witty comments. His voice had lost power weeks before his death, because of serious health complications, but his spirit was as restless and funny as always in recent television interviews. What was Pilo´s popularity due to and why is his legacy of cultural importance? Undoubtedly “Pilo” was a pioneer in the democratization of television language. People were identified with his surprising comments, enjoyed by people of all ages, origins and professions. We recall some of his most popular phrases: “That player does not build even a two-pieces puzzle.” “That match looks like a ‘poor’s man pray’, only biscuits”. “The tatá hour has arrived”, “That referee whistled danger of goal.”
His three favorite words to narrate a strong and accurate shot were: “frentazo”, “piñazo”, and “zapatazo”. In Italy 90, he said: “If Costa Rica makes a goal, I will sing the Patriotic song instead of the goal chant.” In the end he didn´t sing the Patriotic song, because instead he repeated insistently: “Medford, Medford, Medford, Medford…” When, after a match, the teams were tied and the extra time of 30 minutes had passed, he said: “They are coming for “penalitos”. The final whistle came, and we can only recall the many times when “Pilo” with strong voice recounted euphoric: “The match referee: whistled, whistled, whistled…” So, the voice of one of the most beloved sportscasters of the country was turned off. He wasn´t a journalist and he never went to the university, but his secret was in his authenticity, simplicity and passion in the narrative. His best university, he said “was life.”
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
HEALTH
2014
THE POWER OF LEARNING TO KEEP OURSELVES YOUNG By Giselle Jiménez Health Specialist Thursday July 10th, 2014
San José – When the elderly are asked about their secret to keep themselves young , they answer: exercising and learning new things in general is the clue. “The world as you experience it is there in front of you or behind you, to the left or right of you on your TV or your monitor”, said David Foster Wallace. We only devote a quarter of our lives to learning. The remaining three quarters of our life we spend working. Just because you´ve finished your formal education it doesn`t mean that your education is over. But the school is not the only provider of learning. Education is the power to think clearly, to act well in the world of work and the power to appreciate life. We should be diligent to learn, and continue to store the knowledge. A suggestion of a learning source could be to investigate and learn about your
food, to maintain a balanced diet and watch your triggers and your weight. Educate yourself. Schooling and college are important but being a “ learner for life “ also matters. . Find ways to keep learning through reading, studying, doing things differently and staying open to advice. Be ready to learn anything new, no matter what your age is. I would recommended reading good books and extract from them wisdom to stay young. It is important to take care of yourself as it ensures a happier and healthier life, as it helps you to keep young. Caring for your mental and emotional well-being you can find ways to improve your life. Reading self-help books or spending time around successful people is always important. This is the clue for the power of learning to keep ourselves young.
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
2014
WE CAN FIGHT ALZHEIMER´S.....OF COURSE WE CAN. By William Giralt Bermúdez BACKGROUND Every seven seconds a case of Alzheimer occurs in the world, so say the polls. Alarming truth! But what can we do to fight this dangerous wrong? Let us get into action: by exercising our brain, increasing our self-esteem if it is low, exercising our body properly, learning a second language and avoiding routine and physical inactivity. It has always been believed that this disease is reserved only for the elderly, but it also has cases in 40-years-old adults who have already submitted. When the brains goes idle, neurons are lost and shrink, so we should not allow the progress of the 3 stages, as the silent disease takes approximately 20 years to show signs. We must teach our body to fight pain, seek peace, be active, and immunize our bodies. "The tranqulity is priceless", said Mr. Gerardo Gutiérrez, our teacher in the course of Medicinal Plants here in PIAM tells us, because if we come to the second stage where we begin to forget important things like the loved ones, we lost our way home and we already begin to suffer senile dementia, as changes to brain level are given and come last. WHAT IS OUR HOPE? We said that we have several opportunities to combat this painful disease. 25 years ago
the visionary Dr. Alfonso Trejos Willis, proposed the plan to the University of Costa Rica to create a program for the rescue of older adults to integrate studies in university classrooms that help fight mental inactivity and created the PIAM. Since then, there have been courses that have saved many people to acquire not only Alzheimer´s if not other illnesses of old age. Only the fact that you learn second language, - such as English with professionals given entirely without profit to teach their vast knowledge, their friendship and understanding, as in the case our teacher Rosemary Castro for several semesters, and also teacher Mari Chan - keeps our minds open to learning that we cannot get back decades and arrive in a timely manner to maintain a busy brain to show something important and productive, like learning a second language. I have also been fortunate to learn about electricity with the electric engineer Balthazar Chaverri, unknown to my field, or the course of Medicinal Plants you share with us the teacher of the caliber Gerardo Gutiérrez. So that in a time of the twilight of my life, it has been possible not only to reaffirm my own value, but also to keep a lot of sufferings away. Thanks a lot Dr. Alfonso Trejos, thanks a lot to professor Rosemary Castro, and thanks a lot to PIAM.
HEALTH
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
HEALTH
2014
THE GNC CONTROVERSY IN COSTA RICA By Manuel (“Manny”) Rojas Vargas The GNC franchise Costa Rica had a problem: they had been selling some products with an expired permit in their stands in different stores, so they used the Ministry of Health’s permit label that belongs to others products on supplements’ containers. Allegedly, they did this because the Ministry of Health takes a long time to register the old products with the permits ending time (5 years) and for the new ones. In other words, GNC Costa Rica was selling products with false information labels, and this is another violation of the Costa Rican laws. I know exactly the viacrucis this means for the different companies in Costa Rica; it is a perfect affliction the excessive documents they have to present to approve the new products or the older. You have to present laboratory tests, formulas of the products, supplements facts label, free sale certificates of the product and distribution of country origin, notary certification of the product signed and certified by the government ,etc. So, this presentation takes a lot of time to be approved; more or less 1 to 3 years. There are different kinds of products to register: pharmaceutics (science), natural
products, food and chemistry ones, and some of these products will take a short of time to register but others like natural and medicines take a lot of time. They are no innocent products supplements. The people who want to use them, can do it with no problem, but always following the indication of their doctor. I think the supplements are awesome especially for high performance athletes. I think with a very good nutrition guide expert, the supplements are not necessary; only in special cases. On the other side of the coin, I don´t know how the Ministry of Health has taken a short period of time to give them the green light to sell those products , when GNC violated laws information and this is very delicate in CR. How did they do it? What kind of agreements did they take with the government? Could you tell me how they did it? I would like to know!!!!!
2014
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
THE SPANISH ABDICATION AFFAIR By Fernando Barrantes Mora
In these first decades of the 21st century, some national states of Western Europe still have a government system called Constitutional Monarchy. This political organization form is the result of a long way historic process that began in early Middle Age (9th century) at the collapse of the Carolingian Empire. At that time, most of the Western Europe became divided into small parcels of economic and political power, called fiefs. The maximum authorities were landowner warriors called feudal landlords. This system had its basis in the relation of lord to vassals and serfs. The serfs were bound to the land and subject to the will of its owner. When nations were emerging because of similar language, history and other cultural features, one of these feudal landlords prevailed – generally by war – over the entire country and then, he became the king of the nation. So, the political cohesion was given and national states were born.
In the 20th century, monarchies acted like ties, maintaining national unity during crisis times. For example, the English Monarchy during the Second World War or Juan Carlos I in Spain, with the transition from Franco’s dictatorship to electoral democracy. At present time, citizens of those countries support the political system with suffrage at periodical elections. While people that vote are more than those who get abstention, the system is in fact valid. In these governments, royal dynasties are obviously part of the dominant class that considers them a symbol of power in domination scheme. So, the abdication of a troubled king who is transferring the throne to his son is not very relevant news. In contrast, news is the increasing number of citizens claiming against monarchies.
WORLD
2014
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
WORLD
THE KIDNAPPED GIRLS IN NIGERIA: EDUCATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE By Leda Castro Herrera
Education is not a privilege. It is a human right. According to the Article 10 of the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women “States have the obligation to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in order to ensure to them equal rights with men in the field of education”. Despite progress, girls and women continue to be discriminated against in their right to access education. According to official United Nations statistics, of the 72 million children who are not in school, girls are the majority. Of the 759 million adults who cannot read or write, 70 per cent are women. The head of the ONU, Women for the America and the Caribbean, Moni Pizani, pointed out in a recent written statement that while most countries from Latin America had met the goal of gender enrollment in primary education, this not translate into better job opportunities for women. Everyday examples of discrimination are evident although just a few of them reach out to public light.
La educación no es un privilegio, es un derecho humano. El artículo 10 de la Convención para la eliminación de toda forma de discriminación en contra de la mujer establece “Los estados tienen la obligación de tomar las medidas necesarias para eliminar la discriminación en contra de la mujer y asegurar en el campo educativo igualdad de derechos con los hombres.” En las últimas décadas se ha logrado realizar importantes avances en este campo, sin embargo la discriminación continua y la brecha entre géneros se mantiene. De acuerdo con datos oficiales de las Naciones Unidas, 72 millones de niños no asisten a la escuela y una gran mayoría son mujeres. De un total de 759 millones de adultos que no saben escribir ni leer, un 70 por ciento son mujeres. Moni Pizani directora del Programa de la ONU, Mujeres para las Américas y el Caribe señaló que si bien muchos países de America Latina han alcanzado la meta de paridad en la incorporación de hombres y mujeres en la educación primaria, esto no se traduce en mejores oportunidades educativas o laborales para la mujer.
Cada día se pueden evidenciar múltiples casos de discriminación en contra de la mujer, si bien solamente unos pocos logran ocupar la atención mundial.
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
2014
October 9, 2012. Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistan on their way home from school received three shots. Her biggest mistake was to give speeches across Pakistan in favor of education.
9 de Octubre, 2012. Malala Yousafzai, una joven pakistaní recibió tres balazos cuando se dirigía de la escuela a su casa. Un grupo extremista le cobro el ofrecer charlas a favor de la educación femenina.
Malala did not die and today she is an activist. The assassination attempt received worldwide media coverage and over 2 million people signed the Right to Education petition
Malala no murió y hoy en día es una importante activista en pro de los derechos a la educación. El intento de asesinato tuvo una cobertura mundial y llevo a más de 2 millones de personas a escribir la petitoria “Derecho a la Educación”.
The Malala Fund is supporting the education of girls. In a speech In the United Nations she said “One pen, one teacher and one book can change the world”. April 14, 2014. Boko Haram terrorist kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in North Nigeria. Boko Haram is a group of Islamic extremists whose name is loosely translated as “Western education is forbidden “. The terrible kidnapping has evoked condemnation from people all over the world and promoted a world campaing “BRING BACK OUR GIRLS”. Yet nothing has happened. In the recent Nigeria-Argentina match, in the bustle of the World Cup, a few small posters appeared with the slogan “Bring Back our girls now and alive but the GOOOAL cry relegated them to the background, as this seems to be happening with this terrible kidnapping 217 girls are still missing. We are still waiting for a change. Education is not a privilege. It is a human right. July, 2014
Hoy en día la Fundación Malala promueve la educación femenina. En una reciente presentación ante las Naciones Unidas ella expreso “Un lápiz, un maestro y un libro pueden cambiar el mundo”. 14 de Abril, 2014. Un grupo de extremistas islámicos denominados Boko Haram secuestro a más de 200 jóvenes mientras descansaban en el dormitorio que las alojaba. Boko Haram es un grupo terrorista cuyo nombre se puede traducir “la educación occidental es pecado”. Este secuestro desato una voraz campaña en redes sociales bajo el lema “Devuelvan a nuestras niñas”. Hoy nada ha sucedido. En el barullo del partido Nigeria-Argentina, se lograban observar unos tímidos rotulitos con el lema “Devuelvan a nuestras niñas vivas y ahora”, pero fueron rápidamente desvanecidos por el grito de GOOOOL y relegados a un muy segundo plano, tal y como parece está sucediendo a nivel internacional con este terrible secuestro. 217 jóvenes están aún desaparecidas. Estamos aún esperando un cambio, La educación no es un privilegio. La educación es un derecho. Julio, 2014.
2014
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
ENVIRONMENT “EL NIÑO’S” PHENOMENON IN COSTA RICA By Rodrigo Brenes Villar
The child is a climatic phenomenon that usually appears in the Pacific Ocean, in front of South America every four years and it is characterized by an increase in the water temperature of the Pacific Ocean and a decrease in the Caribbean Ocean. Its effects appeared for the first time in December, in time of Christmas festivities and, for this cause, it takes “El Niño’s” name. In our country the first people to realize the phenomenon were the fisherman because warm water makes the fish migrate to deeper water, far from the coast, and fishing becomes more difficult. The phenomenon also causes low temperatures in the Caribbean Ocean, and the risk of flooding is higher. The phenomenon remains for almost two years and it causes severe drought especially in the provinces of Guanacaste and Puntarenas. The lack of rainfall also favors the increase of pests and rodents, causing extensive
damages to the production of basic grains, grasses, fodder. These factors are the cause of great losses in agriculture, fisheries and livestock that are the main activities of the region. Another important aspect is the low production of electricity due to the lack of rain water; the levels in hydroelectric dams are very low and cannot work at maximum. So, we have to put diesel plants to work but their cost is higher. This phenomenon affects the entire national economy, as the prices of food (grains, meet, and fish), electricity, and transport will be higher. Only the tourism sector will be benefited because the year will be sunny. The only solution to fight the effect of this phenomenon is through the cooperation of all of us and strong government campaigns to save the available resources.
2014
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER HUMOUR
FIFA’S WORLD CUP AND COSTA RICAN HUMOUR By Sonia Amador Berrocal
SAN JOSE - The Costa Rican football team is in the World Cup and placed in the socalled “death group”. Despite that, the “ticos” were the winners of their group, against all predictions and causing different public reactions among “ticos”. Some players had had positive expressions like “We will go to Brazil with our illusions and dreams; we will make history”. And people have answered them with hopes, gifts and ovations at the airport, when they returned from the championship. Why do we feel a lot of enthusiasm and happiness if our team is seen as a poor football one and it doesn’t have sport recognition around the world? Probably the causes are in the very same people. Since 2010, we have been named by the New Economics Foundation as one of the top countries in the Happy Planet Index, and in 2012 we even achieved the top spot and became the happiest country in the world, despite having poor economic development. However, and because it is necessary to clarify, some national studies have said that ranking isn’t true, because we have social inequality, poverty, unemployment and other very serious social issues. Nevertheless and apart from the above discussion, a lot of “ticos” have been posting many happy expressions on Facebook. Some of them are poetic, such as:
Costa Rican World team, continental giant we plead that in our next play the referee treats us less well Sele mundialista, gigante continental, que en la próxima mejenguita el árbitro no nos trate mal Other ones are visual, like the people who claim to have seen the trophee in Poás Volcano’s lake (see the picture). There have also been plenty of jokes about our rivals and enormous meetings to celebrate our triumphs. We are not a wealthy country and we probably don’t have the best football in the world, but this World Cup has given us great happiness and good humor.
Lucky charm? Tourists claim to have seen a World Cup image reflected in the Poás Volcano lagoon.
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
2014
“LA SELE” MAKES US BELIEVE AGAIN: A STORY OF GUTS, DISCIPLINE AND DREAMS By José Guillermo Severino Solano The day was June 11th, 1990. The place was the Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Geneva, Italy. The protagonists were the Costa Rican national soccer team players, a group of players that had never been in that kind of stage before, but their lack of experience at world tournaments wasn’t an obstacle to win their first match against Scotland. Brazil soccer team was their next rival in a difficult game that they lost by only one goal. But winning their third game against Sweden allowed the “Sele” to prove they were a fantastic team and could classify to the knock-out rounds of the last sixteen, getting the second place in group C. Even though they lost against the Czech Republic in the next stage, they had made an incredible performance. Names like Róger Flores, Luis Gabelo Conejo, Juan Arnoldo Cayasso, Claudio Jara, and Mauricio Montero, among others, have been remembered since that year in our football history. With their best effort and technique that group made a whole country´s dream true. The 1990 achievement seemed to be unrepeatable; Costa Rica national soccer team had other World Cup experiences, but none as the 1990´s one. Costa Rica´s team had to wait twelve years to be in another World Cup, when in 2002 and guided by the coach Alexandre Guimarães, Costa Rica classified first in CONCACAF to the Korea and Japan World Cup. However, the
results in their tournament matches didn´t favor our national team to go beyond the first stage, because we even had to face Brazil again, that year’s cup champion. Another opportunity came when the team classified to Germany 2006. Then, for the third time, Costa Rica participated in the best competition of soccer, facing the home team Germany in the initial match of the contest, but losing in all their presentations. However, Costa Rica’s history in World Cups seemed to change last year, when our soccer team classified in second place in the CONCACAF qualifying hexagonal. Just behind the United States, we got our ticket to Brazil´s World Cup when there remained some qualifying games to play. But another obstacle had arrived when they realized that group D, where Costa Rica was assigned, there were also three other former world champions, making the qualification to the next stage really difficult for the Central American team. Italy, the second most successful national team with four championships; Uruguay, two times world champion including the first world cup championship; and England one of the oldest national teams and one time champion, were the rivals of Costa Rica. This group was called by the international press “the death group” based on their competitive level. These perspectives made Costa Rica´s team the victim of multiple jokes and the object of a general expectation that
SPORTS AND CULTURE
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER they couldn´t do anything against their powerful rivals. However, the attitude of Costa Rica´s coach Jorge Luis Pinto was exactly the opposite. After the raffle of the tournament groups, he said “bravest the bull, better the bull´s run”. The challenge wasn´t lost since the beginning. On the contrary, it was accepted as a motivation to do things right. This attitude made Costa Rica´s debut on the 2014 World Cup a total success and let others know that they weren’t intimidated by former champions. Costa Rica won the match against Uruguay three goals to one, and led the “death group” since the first presentation. Campbell, Duarte and Ureña scored the goals. Then came Italy, which was also defeated by Costa Rica, with the captain Bryan Ruíz’s goal. Now Costa Rica´s team was doing the unthinkable and became the surprise of the World Cup. After Italy, with a draw against England, the team classified in first place to the knock-out stage, after twenty four years since they had done it for the first time. But the 2014 soccer team not only wanted to match what the 1990 team did, they wanted more. They wanted to get into the final eight, and they did. After they had had an amazing performance in the groups’ stage, a draw against Greece which they won in the penalty shots, let them advance to the next stage. After a really difficult game, five
2014
perfectly executed penalty shots and an outstanding stop of our goal keeper Keylor Navas, we deserved to advance in the tournament. The last challenge was against Netherlands, a team that was second in the last tournament and which was considered one of the favorites to win the world cup. As they did in the other games, the “Sele” went to the field giving their best, but although they had an excellent defense, this time they were in troubles to score. The match ended with a draw also, so once again they went to the penalty shots. However, after the coach of Netherlands changed their goal keeper, the Netherlands players scored all their penalties and our team missed two of them. We were officially out of the World Cup, but our team never lost a game. On the contrary, we had the best defense and the best goal keeper. Meanwhile in San José and every other city in Costa Rica people got crazy. Never in the history of soccer had a national team gotten so far in a World Cup, and after the team was underestimated they proved to the world that with guts, discipline, effort and dreams everything was possible. Also, even though football is only a game, this team has united the people of Costa Rica with the same feeling, knowing that with effort we can achieve big dreams. It also values our team and our people in front of the world. Thanks God we were there to enjoy it.
2014
THE SUNFLOWER GAZETTE – PIAM’S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER
TIPS FOR LEARNING By Prof. Rosemary Castro Solano Learning English (or any language, for that matter) is a process. So, in order to continually improve your English, we have thought about some strategies to make sure that you are able to reach your English learning goals.
6. Choose listening and reading materials that relate to what you are interested in. Being interested in the subject will make learning more enjoyable - thus more effective.
1. Patience is key to improving your English, so go slowly and focus on your goals. Remember that learning a language is a gradual process - it does not happen overnight.
7. Relate grammar to practical usage. Grammar by itself does not help you USE the language. You should practice what you are learning by employing it actively.
2. Define your learning objectives early: What do you want to learn and why? 3. Make learning a habit. Try to learn something every day. It is much better to study (or read, or listen to English news, etc.) 10 minutes each day than to study for 2 hours once a week, because if you study just once a week, English will not be as present in your mind. 4. Vary your learning routine. It is best to do different things each day to help keep the various relationships between each area active. In other words, don't just study grammar. 5. Find friends to study and speak with. Learning English together can be very encouraging.
8. Be patient with yourself. Remember learning is a process - speaking a language well takes time. It is not a computer that is either on or off! 9. Communicate! There is nothing like communicating in English and being successful. Grammar exercises are good - having your friend on the other side of the world understand your email is fantastic! 10. Use the Internet. The Internet is the most exciting, unlimited English resource that anyone could imagine and it is right at your finger tips. Remember that English learning is a process, so be patient with yourself and with the other people who are with you in this process.
Questions? Comments? We want to hear from you. Contact The Sunflower Gazette by emailing us at r_castro@hotmail.com