Howler1306june

The Howler

Volume 18, No. 6 Issue No. 201

June 2013 Founded 1996

TAMARINDO COSTA RICA www.howlermag.com THE HOWLER Ced. Juridica: 3-101-331333

FEATURES

Publisher, editor and production David Mills

dmills@racsa.co.cr Tel: 2-653-0545 Howler • Mono Congo

8

14 Around Town

CONTRIBUTORS

ELLEN ZOE GOLDEN TONY OREZ TOM PEIFER JEFFREY WHITLOW MONICA RIASCOS

JEANNE CALLAHAN JESSE BISHOP MARY BYERLY ROBERT AUGUST

Deadline for July: June 15 Howler advertising

The Howler offers a wide range of advertising sizes and formats to suit all needs. Contact David Mills • dmills@racsa.co.cr

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15 Surf Report

Noe Mar McGonagle takes eighth place at the World Surfing Games in Panama; his sister Leilani takes second at the Adrenalina CR 2013.

18 Alternative Eating

Though there are many good eateries in the resort towns, some Ticostyle restaurants are worth investigating away from the beach.

30

Surviving Costa Rica

Jesse reminisces about the times he has hitch-hiked in various countries, both as a hitch-hiker and driver.

31

Guess Who Came to Dinner

President Obama’s flying visit to Costa Rica leaves people wondering what it was all about, and politicos in no doubt.

DEPARTMENTS

400

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

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

www.tamarindohomepage.com

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

75 120 210

Discounts For 6 months, paid in advance, one month is deducted.

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

www.tamarindobeach.net

Dining Out

Finca Buena Fuenta is a tranquil hotel and restaurant in a forest, serving genuine Italian food.

10 Music Review

26 Yoga

11 Theatre Review

28 Doctor’s Orders

12 August Odysseys

32 Sun & Moon

17 Slice of Life

32 Rain Gauge

21 Poetry by Diana Renee

33 Word Puzzle

24 June Forecasts

35 Tide Chart

Cover Caption: The annual Malinche extravaganza, Playa Grande.

Cover Photo: David Mills Cover Design: David Mills

Parents’ Corner Raising Readers

E

very person relates to Reading in a very particular way…it could be characterized by rejection or fear, or by curiosity and pleasure. In any case, reading is an emotional action, beyond the cognitive processes that are involved in it.

Historically, reading was a privilege reserved for a selected few and it wasn’t taught freely. Together with the ability to write, reading belonged in the circles of power: church and royalty. What could be read, and who should read it, was under strict control, and censorship was a common method to have literature under such control; from the printing license in the diocese of Metz in 1485, over the Index Librorum Prohibitum by the Holy Inquisition of the Catholic Church, a systematic application of censorship in literature is applied, even well into our times… therefore it’s safe to conclude that if Literature was, and is so often, perceived as a threat, whoever has the ability to read has POWER. In our times learning how to read and write represents, next to mathematics, the first and most important objective of primary education.

However, Reading lacks value if it doesn’t have meaning. A person may be able to pronounce a series of letters grouped in words, but he won’t gain anything out of it, if Reading remains a mechanical exercise. Reading is a very complex task; one of human’s biggest learning challenge that depends as much from physical and cognitive factors, as well as from psychological ones. Therefore, it is very important that we create the ideal conditions to teach children how to read in a way that it becomes a meaningful experience, one that provides long-lasting gratification, stimulates the child’s natural curiosity and desire to learn. Whether a child learns through phonics or by word recognition is not as important as providing a positive learning experience. It is this emotional connection with reading that enables children to become “good” readers and, with it, good learners.

What needs to be emphasized when you want to help your son, daughter or student to become a good reader is the element of pleasure. Let children and adolescents read whatever they want; don’t restrict their choice and no matter how old your son or daughter is: reading aloud to him or her is always allowed! As a matter of fact, listening to someone read out loud is a good way to improve attention and concentration, and it makes the perfect transition to independent, silent reading. Talking and asking questions about the reading piece promotes thought organization and analytical thinking, as well as verbal expression… ask your child about the book, comic or short story he is reading, and encourage him to make connections with personal experiences, feelings and ideas. And, of course, be an example… read and share.

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” Harper Lee Msc. Mónica Riascos Henríquez Psychopedagogist – Member of ASOLAP – Code 2024 consultariascos@live.com

A

surf instructor on the beach was bemoaning the lack of tourists at the beginning of May. As a resident in Tamarindo for ten years, he should know better, and I told him so.

In case you hadn’t noticed, we live in a tourist town, and we all depend, to some degree, on the visitors who come here from all over the world.

And, like most tourist towns everywhere, our business is seasonal. Yet, every year I hear the wails of business people who can’t understand how their bar, store or restaurant, that was doing great business a month ago, is now empty.

So here is our annual calendar. Our high season here starts November 15, as people take early vacations; the last two weeks of November are busy.

Then business drops right off again in December until the Friday, or two Fridays depending on the calendar, before Christmas (this year Dec. 20).

Christmas week is crazy until just after New Year, then we expect a very high season to continue until early February, when Costa Rican schools open, then a good season until Easter (Semana Santa, which can occur between March 23 and April 20, and the later the better).

After the “holy” week of madness the season drops right down for May, until the “little summer” that happens usually in July and early August bringing more tourists. After that we are into the real “rainy season” of September and October, so expect a dearth of serious tourists. Take a vacation, repair stuff, relax.

Astute businesspeople will adjust their prices to attract the few visitors in the low season. Some hotels and restaurants offer “green season” specials. In bars Happy Hour locals will switch loyalty rapidly, looking for lower prices.

Seasonal fluctuations are not a stroke of bad luck against your business, but a fact of life, so get used to it and use it to improve your competitiveness.

It is in Matapalo, twenty minutes from Tamarindo, but it’s worth the drive. Hotel and restaurant Finca Buenafuente was built by and is operated by Livia y Luca Scarlatti, and is in the most tranquil setting imaginable. There are seven apartments, large and small, for long- and short-term rental. All have wifi, air-conditioning, SkyTV, hot water, orthopedic mattresses, cotton linens.

The restaurant caters to hotel guests and also to visitors. Livia, from Northern Italy, comes from a culinary family, seven generations of Italian chefs. This is authentic Italian cuisine.

Appetizers include bruschetta; plate of Italian cheeses; plate of Italian meats; goat cheese; ceviche; meat carpaccio. We shared a delicate carpaccio of pargo and a mixed salad.

There are ten pasta dishes, all the pasta hand-made, and eight pizzas.

The fish is super-fresh; the local fisherman calls Livia when he comes in with his catch. The menu includes carpaccio; breaded filet; whole baked fish; fish soup.

My companion chose filet of pargo in white wine.

The meat menu comprises braciola; grilled beefsteak; hamburger. I chose a beef lomito, cooked to perfection, served with baked potato and veggies.

Desserts are chocolate mousse; strawberries with bread or with ice cream; honey cake; tiramisu.

We both enjoyed the whole dining experience, under the stars in the middle of a forest.

In addition to running the hotel and restaurant, Livia makes preserves from her own trees – marmalade, pesto, papaya chutney; and sells eggs from her chickens at the Tamarindo farmers’ market on Saturdays.

Finca Buena Fuente is open daily from 11-2:30 for lunch, and 7-10:30 dinner. Awaiting credit card approval.

Tel: 2653-5027/8520-0015 / www.buenafuentehotel.com buenafuentehotel@gmail.com.

Getting there: From Huacas heading towards Playa Grande turn right at Soda el Milagro, and go about 1k on dirt road.

We Thank Our Sponsors We deeply thank the following businesses for their donations and their continued support!

Witch’s Rock Surf Camp, Fisch Restaurant, Azul Profundo boutique, Hibiscus sailing, Keanon, Antares sailing, DUKE’s Huntington Beach, Altos de Eros hotel, Wyland, Jorge Granados, ROXY, Flamingo Beach Resort, Las Ventanas de Playa Grande, NIRVE, Reserva Conchal Golf Course, SIPLAST, The Westin, SANUK, JetBlue, RADIO 2, Hotel Bahía de Sol, Coco spa, Carolina Lodge, 15 Love B&B, Ripjack Inn, Marie’s Restaurant, Residential Property managment, Hacienda Pinilla, Las Mareas, Canopy Pura Aventura, SOLSPOT, Dr. Roberto Piloto, Colores del Pacifico, Serenity Spa, Frijoles Locos, Sugar Beach Hotel, Grace Fisioterapia, Floristeria Cristal, Clarke Hook Real Estate, Tamarindo Pottery, Lola’s restaurant, Urban Eclectic, Ricante Cevicheria, Lydia Beec, Art, Brindisi sportfishing, Bamboo Sushi, Finca Buena Fuente, Tamarindo Kayak Club, Tamarindo tennis club, La Baula restaurant, Portofino pizzería, Patagonia restaurant, La Palapa Restaurante, Pura Vida Signs, Jardin del Eden, Che Boards, José Jackson Guadamuz, Algodones del este, EK Jewelry, Veterinario Cavallini, Indigo Homes, Dr. Virna Alicia Senana, Mandingo, Nogui restaurant, Pizzeria De La Esquina, Kahiki restaurant, Seasons restaurant, Colibri, Eco Souvenir, CSI Spanish School, Hotel Luna Llena, Kelly’s Surf Shop, Café Tico, Banana surf shop, Aqua Rica Diving shop, Budge, Neptuno surf shop, WAVES Costa Rica, Costa Rica surf school, Dentista Tatiana Ortiz, Souvenir Guanacaste, Aloe Spa Tamarindo, Le Beach Club Tamarindo, Susan Adams, NIMBU spa, Gold Coast Charters, Panadería Claudio, Villa Caletas, Camaron Dorado, Happy Snapper, Punto Tranquilo, Soda Guanacaste, Capitán Suizo, Hotel Barceló, Soda Pacifico, Pollos Alondra, Villas Caletas, Rafasand, Debi Nova, DJ Matos. Special thank to Joe Walsh, Kristen Brown, Sam August, Wingut and Robert August!

“There are no successful companies in failed societies” (S. Schmidheiny) CEPIA in collaboration with the University ULICORI of Santa Cruz provides physical rehabilitation to children from very poor backgrounds. Students work two days a week with children that deal with cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus, Down syndrome, delayed psychomotor development. Today a total of eight children benefit from this service. Thanks to professor Carolina Varela and her students for their great work.

Our surf team of 22 young boys and girls who compete in national championships urgently needs surfboards in good shape! Please contact us!

Check out our new website: www.cepiacostarica.org !

Theater Review Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Tony Orez

Dorothy and Toto discovered they were not in Kansas anymore. On May 3, 4 and 5 they were actually in Playa Tamarindo helping Beach Nuts Theater present the classic Wizard of Oz at Fisch Restaurant. This was the ninth such production by the local thespian troupe and the results simply improve with each presentation.

Local response was hearty, as two of the three shows sold out in advance.

We all know the storyline, so let’s move on to what made this presentation glow. I walked away being impressed by how smoothly the younger actors and actresses had polished their characters. I even witnessed occasions when some of the novices were being helped onstage with a clandestine look or a gesture from some of the “older”, more schooled players, at the ripe old age of, say, ten.

Rebecca Akin as Dorothy and Grace Herman as The Scarecrow have become the wizened veterans, with several prior star roles with Beach Nuts to their credit.

Both performed very well and have become foundations for the troupe. Catalina Gutierrez played a very believable Tin Man. Well done! Charlie Herman did a great job as the Cowardly Lion as did Justin Montoya as the General and both proved their versatility by playing the pesky crows, prior to their main roles.

The same can be said of Regen and Graham Deblauw, Eden and Ezekiel McKay and Rodrigo Alpizar, who collectively portrayed munchkins, feather dusters and monkeys, as required, while endearing themselves to the audience. It is notable that of the fifteen actors in this presentation, only four were adults. A new wave of young actors has made its presence known in Tamarindo, which can never be a bad thing for a community. The parents did an incredible job creating the costumes.

Cheryl Deblauw, aka the Wicked Witch, did a sterling job as “The Heavy”, chiding and prompting the audience and cackling that glorious evil witch cackle.

Rebecca McKay was flawless, type-cast as the Good Witch, a role she was born to play, as was Carolyn Herman as the wholesome Auntie Em. Sometimes the least obvious things in a live production can be huge contributing factors. I thought the musical direction by Kristi Akin and choreography by Rebecca McKay were major factors in the success of the Wizard, as were the set designs by Gilé and Lydia, not to mention the slick stage management in the set transitions from act to act. The musical accompaniment was spot-on, and Cinthia Carvajal is to be commended for her work on the lighting, with help from Matthias.

The roles of The Wizard/Uncle Henry were portrayed by Pablo Romero, the new stage name for Paul Belanger, founder of Beach Nuts, who also directed the play. As always, the troupe teamed up with Amigos de Educacion, a local non-profit organization that brings untold opportunities to needy local students.

The opening, eight minute avantgarde presentation by Cinthia Carvajal, “El Paseo de Miss Keaton”, a mime dance with Cinthia, Paola Lascarez and Grettel Solorzano, deserves recognition as well. Kudos for broadening the theatrical horizons in Tamarindo!

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and presentation.

Book Review South of Normal

Tony Orez

Norm Schriever used to live in Tamarindo. A couple of times, actually. I met him when he was here for a year, writing a traveler’s memoir, titled “Push-ups in the Prayer Room”, a collection of stories Norm had woven together about his travels around the world a decade earlier. It was also about a young man looking for a humanistic mission in life. I liked it, even gave it a favorable review in The Howler. The book put Norm on the map as a credible writer.

It also had something of a cathartic effect on him, allowed him to leave something behind as a legacy, positive proof of his existence.

I know because I’ve just finished reading “South of Normal: My Year in Paradise”, Norm’s chronicle of living in Tamarindo for a year, with the three goals of composing his first book, getting physically and mentally healthy again and finding happiness. He was smart to keep notes during his stay here: “South” proves he is an accredited writer, not a one-trick pony. I regard it as a handy guide for anyone wanting to pull up stakes, relocate and navigate in a new culture. Specifically, it’s a wonderful inside glimpse of life here in Tamarindo, complete with all our quirky customs and personalities. For this reason, it’s earned a place in my heart. But “South of Normal” also picks up where “Push-ups” left off, finding our writer at a crossroads in his life. He’s out of shape and completely dissatisfied in The States – the Rat Race was taking its toll. So he does what so many dream about but so few follow through on: he pulls the plug and free-falls into Central America, following his heart, not his brain, and writing his book, the one he had been postponing for ten years.

In the introduction, Schriever explains that he is a traveler. He is also an objective camera, but with compassion and a sense of humor. The opening of “South” is jarring. The writer has just returned to Costa Rica and heads to a prison outside Liberia to visit a gringo friend who is there for growing marihuana. It’s not pretty, but Norm is able to blend humor even into this bleak scenario. Throughout the book, Norm returns to visit his incarcerated friend and repeat his mantra about getting back into shape and making a mark in the world. It’s no surprise that he discovers a connection between his physical and mental states of depletion, as the two mend symbiotically.

And as Norm pursues his “metaphysical journey to consciousness”, it becomes apparent that in “South of Normal”, there is a sense of completion for the writer that began in “Push-ups”. He also has a blast with his sardonic wit, depicting life in a culture where logic often takes a back seat. His portrayals of local personalities are spot-on and hilarious, touching and human at the same time. There are many poignant interactions for Norm in this book, both with other people and by himself.

Norm spent a year in San Juan del Sur and The States writing “South of Normal”. So, what’s next for this established writer? He told me he wants to find a little hut on some obscure beach in Southeast Asia and write a “small” book, perhaps about the plight of children in the Third World. There he goes, leaving his legacy again. I know he left one in Tamarindo. I hope he finds his hut.

You can find both of Norm’s books at his website: www.NormSchriever.com

August Odysseys

Robert August

It Takes Balls

W

ay back in my earlier years – funny how many of my stories start this way – I guess it was in the ‘70s, I used to play a lot of golf and was very serious about the game. I also owned a motor home and would travel around with my buddies. One day we were reading Golf Digest, and it had an article about all the golf courses in the Americas. It also ranked them as to difficulty, and the second hardest course was quite close to us in Baja California, a place called Baja Mar (the hardest, I believe, was way down in Argentina).

“We gotta see this!” I told the guys, and we agreed to go down and try it out. We hopped into the motor home and headed south, to camp, surf and play golf.

The first surprise was that there was a golf course in, of all places, Tijuana, just over the border, so we stopped and played there. It was a pretty course and it cost ten bucks per head – including lunch.

In San Miguel we surfed some great waves, but we made our way to Baja Mar where, indeed, we played a terrible golf course. Most of the course was desert and cliffs.

We lost about 20 balls each because we were told that the desert was full of snakes, so when we hit a ball into the rough it stayed there.

For a few days we surfed and golfed, then it was time to go home. As we left we bought a bumper sticker which was very true:

“It takes balls to play Baja Mar.”

Wide range of helmets at Tecni Repuestos Huacas 2653-6841 see ad page 23

Who won the Summer Championship?

The summer season of Costa Rica football is over, but I can’t tell you the results because it happened after press time (but I guess you already know). The first of the two final games gave Cartago the lead against Heredia. During the early part of the season the perennial favourites Saprissa and La Liga had very poor showings so that, going into the playoffs, Liga had failed to qualify, the top four being Heredia, Cartago, Saprissa and Perez Zeledon.

In contrast to the Stanley Cup hockey playoffs, running consecutively with this tournament, the Tico playoffs are simple and quick. Instead of best-of-seven, each pair – first and fourth team, and second and third – plays a home and away game, the top aggregate winning.

So Heredia played Perez in two games, while Saprissa played Cartago. After la ida (game one) Heredia led Perez by 4-3 and Saprissa tied Cartago 1-1.

After la vuelta (game two) Heredia beat Perez on aggregate, to advance to the final. In the other semifinal Saprissa tied Cartago again 0-0, the aggregate now being 1-1. One might think overtime would be played to resolve the tie, but that’s not how it works. During the playoffs a home goal is worth one point, but an away goal scores 2, so Cartago won the series.

The final follows the same pattern, one home and one away. So, at press time, the score is Cartago 3, Heredia 2, with a game to go.

So now Costa Rica is in the twice-yearly depression. No futbol for six weeks.

Next month, more on the World Cup standings.

Alcoholics Anonymous Schedule of Meetings

Flamingo

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

Location: Hitching Post Plaza Unit 2, Brasilito Contact: Don H. at 2-654-4902

Tamarindo

Saturday: 10:30-11:30 - Open General Meeting Monday: 5:30 - Open Meeting Thursday: 5:30-6:30 - Open Meeting Location: Behind Pedro’s Surf Shop Contact: Ellen - 2-653-0897 / Steve - 8377-1529

AROUND TOWN Bob and Sue Smith recently founded a Buddhist Meditation group meeting at The Hitching Post Plaza, #5, in Brasilito on Sundays at 5:15pm (after June 13, Thursdays). Everyone is welcome, Buddhist or not. Call 2654-4897 or email meditationcostarica@gmail.com.

Arenas Blancas offers all types of tour – quad, horseback, zipline, etc. See ad page 13.

For a nice relaxing massage during the rainy season visit Odry’s Massage, in Tamarindo. They offer waxing treatment, plus manicures and pedicures. See ad page 5.

Procolina offers a wide range of maintenance and repair services. See ad page 11.

Saturday, June 8, is party day at La Reserva Conchal Beach Club for La Paz School, golf at 8 a.m., party 5 p.m. See page 16 for details.

Newly opened in Brasilito is La Choza de los Antojitos for comida tipica and fresh seafood. Opposite the old gas station, see Facebook “la choza de los antojitos.” and ad page 5.

Café del Manglar beachfront café is open in Brasilito for seafood, coffees and a large book library for your leisure.

Check menu at Fb: Café del Manglar.

Tierras Nativas Equestrian Center has two events this month: Jumping Show June 1-2; Natural Horsemanship Clinic June 15-16. See ad page 8.

Contact Tamarindo Home for all your houseware needs, and they will deliver to your home or restaurant. See ad page 9.

Rancho Guaymy in Huacas is under new management for free bocas, comida tipica and wood-oven pizza. Karaoke Fridays at 8. See ad page 22.

This is a good time to buy a motorcycle, because Tecni Repuestos in Huacas has special Honda packages including raincapes and helmets. See ad on page 23.

Surf Report Ellen Zoe Golden (ellenzoe@aol.com)

I

t’s the time of year again when the world’s best surfers convene at one of the most renowned surf spots in the world for the Reef International Surfing Association (ISA) World Surfing Games (WSG). This year, during the first week of May, everybody converged at Playa Santa Catalina, in Panama, to determine who gets the gold, silver, bronze, and copper medals among 24 different countries and 150 athletes.

the sudden death repercharge which included Lisbeth Vindas, Jair Pérez and Brown. (Even though Luis Vindas eventually fell out of repercharge on Wednesday, he gained the attention of the ISA who called his first repercharge heat win “exciting.”)

The countries who competed were Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Uruguay and Venezuela. Interesting to note that missing this year was the United States team, a previous gold medal winner.

The great news is that the Costa Rica national surf team surfed so well they landed at sixth in the world. This great positioning qualifies the Ticos to compete in the prestigious ISA China Cup that will take place in Riyue Bay on the island of Hainan in that country in January 2014. Team South Africa won the gold medal, Australia second, Peru third, Brazil fourth, and Panama fifth.

As usual, the WSG kicked off with a Parade of Nations; this one went through the streets of Sona, Panama, in front of thousands of people, finishing up with the Sands of the World Ceremony, where two representatives from each country put sand from one of their beaches together in a container.

What an amazing national team Costa Rica put together for Panama: Open: Photo: Michael Tweddle Luis Vindas (Jacó) Gilbert Brown (Puerto Viejo) Jair Pérez (Jacó) Noe Mar McGonagle (Pavones) Women’s Lisbeth Vindas (Jacó) Leilani McGonagle (Pavones) Among the older surfers like Brown and both Vindases are the amazing McGonagle brother and sister, Noe Mar and Leilani, 17 and 13 years respectively. In addition, for the first time in years, the coach was someone other than José Ureña, President of the Federación de Surf de Costa Rica (FSC). Doling out advance and support was none other than Sean McGonagle, the kids’ father. In addition, three-time Costa Rica national champion Gilbert Brown took on the role as team leader even as he competed.

Youth did not deter the McGonagles. Both of them remained in the principal rounds well into the last days. As a matter of fact, scoring lots of points for Costa Rica. As of Thursday many of the team were still alive, either in the main show like Noe Mar and Leilani, or in

Photo: Rommel Gonzalez

The women held on pretty long, with both Lisbeth and Leilani surfing through Saturday, when they finally lost in repercharge, both in round 4, the same heat.

Every WSG, a star emerges from the team who ends up with the highest points and rankings. This year that was Noe Mar (photo), who stayed in the principal rounds through Saturday. It wasn’t until Round 5 that he placed third, and was given another chance in the repercharge on Sunday, the last day. At this point, he already knew he was in the Top 10. Costa Rica meanwhile had been in the Top 10 the whole contest.

On Sunday, Noe Mar ripped through his first repercharge (round 8), taking first place. It’s important to note that second place was Tamarindo’s Federico Pilurzu, who was surfing in Panama for Italy (even though when he surfs on the professional circuit, he does so as a Costa Rican).

In the repercharge finals, McGonagle was only able to make it to fourth place (Pilurzu was third), and he finished his run at the WSGs with an amazing ranking of #8 in the world.

When all was said and done, here are the final rankings for the Reef ISA World Surfing Games: #8 - Noe Mar McGonagle #19 - Gilbert Brown #31 - Jair Pérez #49 - Luis Vindas #13 - Lisbeth Vindas #16 - Leilani McGonagle.

“For me it was a great experience to have handled this great team,” said Technical Director Sean McGonagle. “While I feel that Costa Rica has the talent and potential to fight for the top positions in any (continued page 22)

The Philosophy of an Integrative Medicine Concept “It’s more important to know the kind of patient who has the disease than the sort of disease a patient has” - Sir William Osler Our health systems invest more money in the pharmaceutical market and palliative treatments, creating an imbalance in the governmental health care costs, thus creating more diseases and sick people instead of health conscious people.

An integrative approach to health enhances the importance of the relationship between doctor and patient as a central aspect. It also focuses on less invasive and toxic methods which facilitates health by integrating both traditional treatment modalities as complementary.

It is an understanding of the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects integrating standard and complementary methods for treatment and prevention.

Integrative Medicine’s mission is to modify and focus the medical attention towards the healing processes and to the root of the problem, rather than to the disease itself. It involves getting to know the culture, beliefs and life style of the patient, which helps doctors comprehend patients medical problematics in order to be able to do the necessary adjustments to promote wellness.

Listening to the patient carefully, with empathy and without interruption can be more valuable than any specific questions; allowing patients to listen to their own thoughts about their issues is a powerful medicine to themselves. We start with broad questions like “tell me about yourself” or “tell me how you’ve been”. This approach allows patients to begin to tell their story, which often becomes shorter as time passes, the causes and the effects are clear, as well as the implications.

The Integrative Health Plan is the final step in the initial consultation.

Once the patient has had the opportunity to present their case at the initial interview, the doctor summarizes and analyzes what has been reported creating a customized and specific treatment that involves a process.

Developing an Integrative health plan combines art and medicine.

It is very important to find the root of the problem and how to treat the patient having a broader knowledge of what is happening. In the best case, the treatment plan becomes a map for the health restoration process by which the physician and patient can jointly navigate.

We will meet again at following-up visits, finding out what worked best and what has not worked. By doing so, we remind our patients that we have heard their case and that we have a sense of who they are and what is most important to them. The patient aquires discipline by himself, is aware and responsible of what it takes to be healthy.

Enjoy the wellness!

Dra. Amada Robles Mar de Salud Wellness Project Draroblesb@gmail.com Ph: 8328-3255

Ar

Language Police

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A Slice of Life

nd the Wo u o

Your Taxes at Work

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David Mills

ften, when people find I am from Canada, they answer “You speak French, then.” This will usually elicit a less-than-cordial reply. This is a very unfortunate misunderstanding among Americans who, despite their proximity to the huge country which shares their northern border, know very little about it. (It is true that many visitors arrive at Canadian Customs in the August swelter with skis on the roof of the car, asking where the snow is!) Only a small percentage of Canadians - mostly in Quebec - speak French.

Canada is culturally divided between French Canada – Quebec and New Brunswick provinces – and English Canada – the rest. There are two official languages, French and English, which are supposed to be applied equally. One application here is that all packaged products must be equally labeled in both languages.

Unfortunately, though the equality of the languages is enforced throughout English Canada (road signs, etc.) in French Canada the use of English is forbidden in many cases. Businesses must have signs in French. For example, a bread shop must have “Boulanger” on its sign; it cannot not have “Baker.” Extremists have threatened to bomb franchises with English names, such as Second Cup. In the centre of Toronto a few years ago a tiny store offered English stuff such as VCR tapes of “East Enders” and “Coronation Street”, two long-running series on British television. These were brought over by returning ex-pats and sold to the store. Another popular item was Cadbury’s chocolates, to which the store devoted several shelves.

Of course, the products in the store, coming from England, were labeled only in English, thereby violating the language laws. One day the Language Police, Ontario government employees, raided the store.

They took every box of chocolates and, with a black felt-tip marker, crossed off the final letter “e” of the word “chocolate” on the front, leaving “chocolat”, which is correct French spelling! On the back of the box they left the word unchanged, so that the labeling was now equal and legal.

I just imagine these dedicated guardians of our laws arriving home after a hard day’s work, and the kiddy asks “What did you do at work today, Daddy?”

Thirty-one people were arrested in Belgium, Switzerland and France in connection with theft of diamonds worth $50 million from the hold of an aircraft as it waited for take-off.

A Cambridge University drinking society cancelled its female wrestling contest in a jelly-filled paddling pool after it was labeled sexist, misogynist and inappropriate.

A survey by Boston College found that the United States has the highest percentage of sleep-deprived students. They claim that the deprivation is due to late-night use of computers and cell phones.

Edvard Munch’s famous painting “The Scream” became the most expensive piece of art when sold at Sotheby’s, where it fetched $120 million.

Bad habits. Three women, disguised as nuns, were arrested in Colombia for attempting to smuggle cocaine. Each had two kilos (60,000 doses) of the drug under their robes.

The United Nations recommends that we supplement our diet with insects, pointing out that insects are under-utilized as food for humans, and that caterpillars, grasshoppers and dung beetles are high in protein, calcium and iron. Buen provecho!

Scientists at Virginia Tech have developed a robot jellyfish, two meters across and weighing 80 kg, that may be used as an underwater spy for the military.

According to the Save the Children’s Index, Finland is the best country in the world to raise a child, based on health, education SOLD and mortality rate. The other $120,000,000 Scandinavian countries took the next five places, the U.S. ranking 30th.

That’ll teach him! After an argument with a neighbor, a man in Port Angeles, WA, took a bulldozer and demolished four houses, a truck and power lines, cutting power to 200 customers.

Alternative

Off the

“You’ve lived her for over 20 years,” commented a client on his first trip to Guanacaste. “Where do you guys go out to eat?”

I hesitated to answer as I thought about the question.

Sure, we all patronize the local and tourist haunts. But eating out, or more importantly finding a good restaurant, has become a challenge for many permanent residents. When a new restaurant opens, some residents rush out to test the chef and ambiance, while others wait for a recommendation before venturing into an unknown culinary experience. Some locals follow favorite chefs as they move restaurant to restaurant.

There is a full range of restaurants that have popped up along the tourist Gold Coast in the past ten years, some good, some not so good, and a few, just a few, excellent. Eating out has become a way of life for many residents who are tired of shopping and cooking. For some, living in paradise takes priority over spending time in the kitchen.

Although improving, culinary choices are limited in Guanacaste, and even the best restaurant fare can become boring after several years. In addition, because the tourist trade is the main target for restaurants, the cost of the meals is often equal to, or more expensive than fine meals in the US and Europe. This may not be a problem for tourists on vacation, but expensive for us locals eating out.

I must say, we enjoy eating our at our favorite beach front restaurants for a nice meal with a bottle of fine wine and returning to old watering holes for comfort food. But after many years eating out, we have found a few great places that combine good food, good prices and a little Guanacaste culture thrown in free of charge.

“Although Esteban and I enjoy a fine meal out”, I finally said.

“We have found several ‘off the beach’ places, not in the tourist guides, that we return to on a regular basis. Amazingly enough, we even leave with colones in our pockets.” I continued describing three of our favorite under-$10-per-person restaurants.

Chinese Fare in Santa Cruz - After years of grocery shopping Santa Cruz, we have found that it is better to shop late afternoon or early evening rather than in the oppressing heat of day. Then, after loading our purchases in the car, we leisurely walk around town to one of the folkloric city’s many Chinese restaurants.

Our favorite restaurants are on or near the Plaza de Mangos, where the bull ring is set up during fiestas, and the two near

Eating Out

e Beach

Kay Dodge

the park. The food is “down home”, rather than gourmet, and it is interesting that most have a very similar menu. Esteban commented that the Chinese owners get together and agree on how many shrimp will go into the shrimp dishes.

We now have a new favorite, the Millennium. It is one block off the main street (right at Kions), air-conditioned and very clean. The help is friendly and will even add cashews to the top of my favorite Chow Mien. Esteban likes the house Chop Suey, and we find a half order is usually enough for each of us. With drinks and a fortune cookie, our bill is usually around $20. For dessert, we stop for a double dip of Dos Pinos ice cream at the little shop next to the bus station on the Plaza de Mangos for about 80 cents each (I just paid $4.75 for one cone in Los Angeles). The Chinese restaurants offer good food, as well as an interesting look into the Chinese-Guanacaste culture.

Doña Chica’s Best Fried Chicken – A favorite of all our Cantina Tour horseback riders, Doña Chica’s chicken has become a “must try” culinary treat. Now, riders and non-riders flock to the Cima Bar, also known as Chilitos, located on the hill overlooking Lorena, to enjoy a large portion of chicken served with thin sliced Guanacaste plaintains, also called quadrados.

The fresh fried chicken is served in three regular pieces or cut into boca-size chunks. Served with a cold beer or soft drink, a satisfying meal and a large portion of Guanacaste culture, cost is less than $5 per person. It is not unusual to walk into the salon and see a line of locals enjoying a cold beer and waiting for their portion of “take-out chicken”. But if you stop by, don’t forget to add a little tip, because tip and tax are not part of Doña Chica’s and Chilito’s world.

Cocina de Luis in Portegolpe. Now this one is really “out of the way”, a new restaurant serving grilled fare and pizza made in the typical horno (oven and grill) fueled by firewood. The outdoor restaurant lined with tiny lights is owned by Luis, once a chef in many of the restaurants and hotels on the beach. The plates are delicious and generous with fresh grilled meats, interesting vegetables and of course a cold libation. From the main road turn toward Portegolpe, turn right on the first dirt road across from the mini supermarket. At the end turn right again and then immediately turn right again…look for the lights at about the fourth house on the left.

Being a gringa I bet you thought I would include one of the gringo fast food chains like Pizza Hut, Burger King or Subway Sandwiches now open in Liberia and Tamarindo, but I haven’t, and won’t. I recommend you enjoy our favorites first. Those little out-of-the-way places can be the best, and a bargain to boot.

Dedicated in Loving Memory of Michel Furet-Pignon: my antonia put away your things my antonia put away your things my antonia the ship has sailed the party is over put away your things my antonia put away the bangles, the beads put away those fancy things the party is over the ship has sailed put away your things my antonia time to go home

by Geretta-Geretta: Wash-A-GoGo Huacas ...never did a girl have a better friend! R.I.P.

Selected Poems from “Tell me about the telaraña”

by Diana Renee give me your arms quiero ver las venas quiero sentir la piel entre dientes quiero ver las formas que hacen the negative spaces while you talk to me of máscaras of música tell me again about the telaraña and use your hands quiero ver los movimientos de las cosas escondidas los músculos que se mueven en la oscuridad completa inside and under skin

it’s not me the vultures are looking for i’m not dead i’m just lying here looking at the clouds Miguel sin motocierra miré el hombre luchar con el arbol y lentamente ganar era un mango

mayor que él y

más fuerte ganó poquito a poco luchó hasta caer la noche

con sus brasos, su espalda de bronce

y propio sudor

quiero dejar mi seña en tu cuerpo un morete un tatuaje quiero dejar la sombra de mi cabeza en tu pecho porque el amore es eterno como la luz

aunque los cuerpos

se vienen y se van

Surf Report (from page 15) of the World Surfing Games, the competitors’ work here was so good that they now have their reward.”

Although the top spot in the Open of the Reef Classic Adrenalina Costa Rica 2013 in April went to Alan Saulo, an amazing surfer from Brazil, the Ticos continued to prove they are a force to be reckoned with whether in the WSG or the Latin American circuit.

The Asociación Latinamericana de Surfistas Profesionales (ALAS) event, which was presented in Santa Teresa by the ICT, awarded the $5,000 to Saulo, but our own Noe Mar McGonagle took home the only first place trophy when he beat Brazilians Luan Wood and Ravi Santos as well as another Costa Rican, Anthony Filligim of Malpais, to win the Juniors division.

“My goal for this event was to bring Costa Rica a win—and I did— as well as revalidate my title, which I won here last year,” said Noe Mar. “Thank you to everyone. The training was very hard, but the fruits were given. This was well worth the sacrifices that I had to do.”

As to the Open, Jacó’s phenomenal Jason Torres was able to score a second place finish, a podium visit that has helped him in the ALAS rankings. He rose all the way to #3 from #11 after his finish in the 5-star Reef Classic Costa Rica.

“In this event, I gave it all, in the Finals also, but the competition is like this, sometimes you win and today Alan won, and he is a Braziliano with an impressive level,” Torres recalled. “From the bottom of my heart, I worked to get this title in Costa Rica, but I missed it. Now it is my priority to train more.”

Saulo beat current ALAS #1 ranked Martin Passeri of Argentina in the second round, and now finds himself in the #2 spot.

It was also impressive to see Noe Mar’s sister Leilani hit the podium in this challenging event. She came in second behind Peru’s Valeria Solé for the Women’s.

Open 1. - Alan Saulo (BRA) 2. - Jason Torres (CRI) 3. - Anthony Fillingim (CRI) 3. - Rafael Pereira (VEN)

Junior 1. - Noe Mar McGonagle (CRI) 2. - Yrvin Ravi Santos (BRA) 3. - Anthony Fillingim (CRI) 4. - Luan Wood (BRA)

Women 1. - Valeria Sole (PER) 2. - Leilani McGonagle (CRI) 3. - Nataly Bernold (CRI) 4. - Melanie Giunta (PER)

Longboard 1. - Ronald Reyes (VEN, pictured) 2. - Anthony Flores (CRI) 3. - Carlos Rojas Zamora (CRI) 4. - Francisco Dominguez (VEN) Speaking of the brother and sister McGonagles - and aren’t I always? - these two scored a double header in the 5th date of the Circuito Nacional Olympus 2013 presented by (continued page 29)

Your Stars in June

Aries: 21 March - 20 April

Your focus this month should be on communicating clearly with others and making sure your words and actions are on the same page. You will be pulled in several different directions but it will be quite productive for you. There’s some tension with your will vs. the boss in the workplace. Look for solutions, don’t just holler and rebel! Your best days are the 2nd, 3rd, 29th, and 30th.

Taurus: 21 April - 21 May

Libra: 23 September - 23 October

You should experience some positive momentum with your professional life this month as a stellium of planets enters your tenth house of public image after the middle of the month. The lessons you learned over the last two months will serve you in re-structuring your work environment or the kinds of people you work with. Remember to be frugal as Saturn is in your second house of finances, causing some constriction. Best days to shine in the public eye are the 17th and 18th.

Concentrate on money and assets this month, not like you don’t do that already! This is a good time to evaluate your many options on making money and making that money work for you. There will be a lot to juggle so you will have to be on your game, as people are counting on your skills. Excellent days for getting your way are the 4th, 5th and 6th.

Scorpio: 24 October - 22 November

Several planets transiting your twelfth house of hidden sorrows, self undoing and institutions will have you being more introspective and reflective about your life in general and the situations you are facing now.

It would also be an excellent time to take a retreat/vacation where you can allow yourself to detach from the world for a while. The benefits of this will be evident in the next two months. Your best days are the 10th and 11th.

Capricorn: 22 December - 21 January

This is a fantastic time for you to be making new connections, being social and chatting up everyone you can. People will respond favorably to your interests and suggestions. However, Saturn Rx in your fourth house of home, real estate and ancestors may create conditions that make you less eager to want to engage the world with your charms. You are only halfway through that transit so do make the extra effort to get out there and do. Your stellar days are the 12th and 13th.

Aquarius: 22 January - 19 February

This month has an intense focus on joint finances, wills, legacies, insurance and end-of-life issues. You may find out a few secrets about your spouse’s earnings that you weren’t aware of. If traveling abroad in the next two months you need to exercise caution and be aware of your surroundings. Things get better as the month progresses. Your Gemini: 22 May - 21 June th th Lots going on for you this month as it begins with four planets in your good days are the 19 and 20 . sign. Good thing you like multi-tasking as this month will put that Sagittarius: 23 November - 21 December ability to the test. Money improves after the middle of the month when Looking for love? Well, perhaps love might find you this month as three of these planets transit your second house of assets. Good aspects there is a stellium of planets in your seventh house of partnership. with Saturn will make you aware of the benefits of being frugal. Pay This could be the month that you make a long-term commitment with attention to your health the next two months. Days that really pay off a significant other. Those single Sags might have a business opportufor you are the 7th, 8th and 9th. nity that could bring long-term benefits through a partnership. Either way, it’s a winning situation. Excellent days are the 21st and 22nd.

Cancer: 22 June - 22 July

Leo: 23 July - 23 August

Virgo: 24 August - 22 September

Your professional life takes center stage this month and the next as a stellium of planets is transiting your tenth house of public image and career. While you may be super busy, you will also be appreciated by your superiors. Signing contracts could be a little dicey as Neptune Rx on your seventh house cusp could have some hidden aspects that you don’t really want. Read fine print and get professional advice. Good days are the 14th, 15th and 16th.

by Jeanne Callahan (jeannecallahan007@gmail.com)

This month has two separate vibes. One has you taking the reins for some professional event or network; the other requires that you pay attention to your health and also looking after the environment you work in. Sounds kind of serious doesn’t it. Well, with your ruling planet in the eleventh house, you have to show up as a leader and get the job done—you’ll enjoy that! Best days to take off are the 23rd and 24th.

This month you will be torn in two directions. One has you wanting to kick up your heels and play a little; the other has you taking on more responsibility with work. Seems incompatible doesn’t it? Well, it’s up to you to schedule in the fun time so just do it! Work will always be there, really. Best days to have a good time are the 25th and 26th.

Pisces: 20 February - 20 March

This is a great month to have a party in your home or do something that beautifies or expands it. Life has a more glamorous quality to it in the next two months as you feel generous, social and willing to have some spontaneous fun! So go for it! Neptune goes Rx in your first house, giving you a yearning for the mystical and spiritual, too.

Great time to meet interesting and unusual people. Your stellar days are the 1st, 27th and 28th.

Namasté Visit Jeanne’s site at CelestialAdvisor.com

Northern Disclosure

W

e Tamarindians are eternally grateful, of course, for the many friends and guests that come down every year to sunbathe and bask in this our wonderful tropical climate. In conversation we learn of their escape from cruel winter, icy roads and snowbanks, dead batteries, horrifying landscapes in black and white, frozen fingers and toes. Floating in the pool, they’ll gleefully call out the current (alarmingly low) temperatures “back home”, along with snowfall accumulation and other unsettling descriptions of current and severe weather conditions in the far, far north. Then, too soon, the countdown begins, marking the days until their inevitable return to frozen landscapes, buried homes and automobiles, and a life without beaches, coconut palms, thongs… We’re left to wonder why, meaning how’d they get stuck up there in the first place?

The story begins, of course, with the successive waves of “outof-Africa” human migrations which began roughly 100,000 years ago. This is well understood and a popular topic among our Tamarindo cognoscenti, frequently discussed in our several salons (Nibbana Happy Hour of Pain and Regret, Le Beach Club Societé Anthropologie, et al...). However, we seek to go deeper, to the mechanism, to causation. To this end my inquiries led me to Dr. Uma Gotterdammerung, Chairwoman, Dept. Of Cultural Anthropology at the University of Heidelberg, who is currently heading a team doing research and fieldwork on the method and pattern of paleolithic African northern migrations, leading to some surprising and exciting results. I contacted Dr. Gotterdammerung recently via Skype and invited her to discuss her findings.

Someone suggested we switch to video which sadly devolved into carnality (as so often happens), but not before I was able to gain some remarkable insights.

After poking around in paleolithic campsites, ashes, settlement debris and scratched bones, Dr. Gotterdammerung has developed her hypothesis which holds that, as our species became ever more proficient, the African homeland experienced recurrent cycles of over-population forcing selected portions of the population northward, into the icy arms of Europe and beyond. Interestingly, the evidence does not support a de-selection, if you will, based on violence or coercion. Rather it seems these peaceful cohesive early extended social units used a friendly competitive process based upon the popular and widespread art and pastime of dancing.

Apparently throughout sub-Sahara Africa and over the millennia dance competitions were conducted, with the, well, let’s say “less skillful” sent packing northward. The results are still with us and can be witnessed to this day.

Dr. Gotterdammerung is already developing several sub-hypotheses, involving the music of Leonard Cohen and ABBA. With bated breath...

Jim Surfer

Now Begins the Study of Yoga Utthita Trikonasana Utthita Trikonasa, otherwise known as triangle pose is considered one of the basic postures, learned early on in your practice. It looks deceptively simple to do, yet is in fact a complex pose. Utthita means extended and trikonasa comes from three words: tri (meaning three), kona (meaning angle), and asana (meaning seat or posture). So three angles = triangle.

The triangular form of the pose is easy to see from where the legs join to the floor, from the front leg, side body and arm, as well as in the front leg, hand and floor if someone is able to come that far down.

Triangles are a quite solid and stable structure, and this is how this pose can feel when you are doing it in the right position and with the right support for your body. You may not be able to get your hand all the way down to the ground without distorting the alignment of your legs, hips, and shoulders. If that is the case, you can use a chair or a block for support under your hand. If you are just beginning your practice, it is helpful to actually practice this pose against a wall to help guide you in lining up your body.

The basic posture is this: 1.

Stand facing the long side of your mat.

2.

Separate your feet 3.5 – 4 feet apart.

3.

Turn your right foot out to face the short end of your mat, and turn your left toes in about halfway. Line up the heel of your front or right foot with the arch of your left foot. Check that your right knee lines up with the middle toes of that foot.

4.

Bring your arms up to your sides in line with your shoulders, and with your palms facing the ground. Inhale and feel the lines of energy radiating through your legs, arms, and spine, exhale and extend your right side body over your right leg. Bring your hand to the seat of the chair, a block, or to the ground on the little toe side of your foot.

5. If comfortable for your neck, lightly tuck your chin and turn to look up at your left thumb. If this is not comfortable for your neck, look forward.

6. Let this pose feel balanced in ease and effort, feeling the stability of the “triangle” as well as the “extended” length of your lines of energy. Hold for 5 to 15 breaths, then use an inhale to bring your body back up, turn your feet to the other end of your mat to do the other side.

Namaste, Mary Mary Byerly is one of the owners and the yoga teacher at Panacea.

An oasis of tranquility and health 10 minutes from Tamarindo.

Discover Paradise and Bring a Peace Home www.panaceacr.com • 2653-8515

Doctor’s Orders Jeffrey Whitlow, M.D. jwhitlow82159@gmail.com

Repeal Drug Laws?

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This month we will complete our discussion on drugs and why I think the anti-drug laws should be repealed and replaced by a prevention and educational program.

I go back to what I call the “War on Tobacco”. There was talk among some lawmakers in the 1970’s about banning cigarettes.

The bottom line though, was that the government was as addicted to tobacco tax money as the users were to tobacco, so it was decided that a different approach was needed. The agreed-upon approach was to be based on education and prevention. The “gurus” concocted a strategy that focused on preventing people, especially young people, from becoming smokers in the first place, as it was well-known that it was very hard for a person to quit using tobacco once they had picked up the habit. The policy-makers banned TV, radio, and print advertising of tobacco products, and placed specific warning labels on the packages.

The pro-tobacco ads were replaced with anti-smoking messages that have increased in their frequency and graphic nature over the years.

Finally, any and all products that seemed to be aimed at youngsters, such as flavored products, were banned.

To me, in some ways it is troubling that the change in the culture of advertising has had such a significant effect on smoking rates. It confirms in my mind what I have always suspected, that the majority of people are weak-minded and easily manipulated. Back in the day, we had the Marlboro Man and Joe Camel, and people routinely smoked on TV and in the movies. Smoking had a glamour then that drugs like marijuana and cocaine now enjoy, and roughly 50% of adults smoked, along with a significant number of children between the ages of 12-18.

My father started smoking at age 12 and smoked three packs a day until the day he died, with a cigarette in his hand, at the age of 70. He tried many times to quit, but he was never able to pull it off.

But when he started smoking back in 1945, people didn’t know that smoking was associated with heart and lung disease. Back then, they didn’t realize that, by smoking in a closed house with their young children, they were giving those children diseases like asthma and chronic sinusitis. I have asthma, and my brother has severe allergic problems and chronic sinusitis, both caused by my father’s smoking.

But now, people know there is no glamour in smoking, and they know the dangers of second-hand smoke so smoking is (properly) viewed as a nasty habit and a weakness by most people. Smokers have basically become social pariahs, as they have been barred from public transport, restaurants, and even most bars. Because of this intensive educational effort, the smoking rate has fallen 60% in the past 40 years, a truly remarkable achievement.

So why would anyone think that the “War on Drugs” should be conducted any differently? For years, we have glamorized drug use in the cultural media. For years, we have neglected to educate our children on the logical reasons to choose a drug-free lifestyle. And for years, drug use has increased among our youth. The present approach has failed, and it’s high time that our leaders acknowledge that fact and go with a policy that has been proven to be effective.

Surf Report (from page 22) Adrenaline Rush in Playa Carmen near Santa Teresa at the end of April. At the Copa Oakley, Noe Mar won the Open for the 1st time this year, while Leilani took the Women’s division for the third time.

Noe Mar, who has made the podium twice this year with two third place finishes, finally earned this First Place trophy by facing and defeating tough competitors in the final. This included Fillingim, Ramón Taliani of Malpais and Danny Bishko of Esterillos. McGonagle scored a 7.10 on his 1st wave; however Fillingim was in first with a total of 13.74 for most of the heat.

Yet, Noe Mar grabbed a long right, and secured his win with a 7.83 and a total of 14.93.

“I worked very hard to win this Open date, because I had finished 2nd and 3rd many times and frankly I’m tired of that. The work paid off—I trained hard last week—and I took advantage of everything. I finally reached one of my goals,” McGonagle said afterwards.

Noe Mar also won the Junior category in Playa Carmen, tying the record Carlos Carlos Muñoz set in 2009, when he first earned these two trophies at the age of fifteen.

Copa Oakley Playa Carmen, Santa Teresa April 27 - 8, 2013 Open 1. Noe Mar McGonagle 2. Anthony Fillingim 3. Ramon Taliani 4. Danny Bishko

Boys 1. Leonardo Calvo (Jacó) 2. Bruno Carvalho (Jacó) 3. Sean Forester (Jacó) 4. Leilani McGonagle

Juniors 1. Noe Mar McGonagle 2. Manuel Mesen (Jacó) 3. Jeison Mora (Jacó) 4. Yrvin Ravi Santos (Jacó)

MiniGrommets 1. Oscar Urbina (Jacó) 2. Dean Vandewalle (Tamarindo) 3. Jacob Kelly (Jacó) 4. Malakai Martinez (Tamarindo)

Women’s 1. Leilani McGonale 2. Emily Gussoni (Jacó) 3. Paula Duarte (Jacó) 4. Daniela Siminero (Jacó)

Longboards 1. Anthony Flores (Jacó) 2. Damien Castera (Jacó) 3. Carlos Rojas Zamora (Jacó) 4. Alex Gomez (Jacó)

Junior Women’s 1 Paula Duarte 2. Leilani McGonagle 3. Julie Lauwers (Jacó) 4. Arisha Griotti (Jacó)

The Top 5 Circuito Open rankings now are Luis Vindas (Jacó) #1, Jair Pérez #2, McGonagle #3, Taliani #4, and Gilbert Brown (Puerto Viejo) #5.

Leilani, at 13 years, has now earned a trophy at each of the five dates of this year’s Circuito Nacional Olympus 2013, and is now favored to win the national championship against ten-time winner Lisbeth Vindas of Jacó. However, don’t count Lisbeth out. She can still win in one or more of the next three dates and pull out her 11th title.

The next date of the Circuito Nacional Olympus 2013 took place May 25 and 26 in Nosara but, due to deadlines, I am unable to report on the competition. However, you can check on the winners at www.surfingcr.net.

This year Quiksilver’s King of the Grom contests will have a new format. In the past, there has been a contest here in Costa Rica, which was won last year by Noe Mar. He then went to Mexico to compete in the Central American King of the Grom and won that too and was able to surf in the world championships in France.

However, for 2013, any surfer between 13 and 16 years can post their video to www.quiksilverlive.com/kotg/2013/ and then there will be online voting to determine the winners as noted below: North America & Hawaii - 3 surfers Central America, South America and Caribbean – 1 Brazil - 2 Europe Meeting and French Indies - 2 Africa - 1 Asia and the West – 1 Japan - 1 Australia - 2 New Zealand - 1 Pacific & Oceania – 1 The winners will go on to be judged in the King of the Groms Godfathers voting panel for the second and final regional selections. The 15 winners will be announced August 1 and they will go on to compete in the international final, which will take place during the Quiksilver Pro France 2013.

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.

Surviving

C hapter XXXVII

COSTA RICA

First, let’s understand the subject matter.

According to my Merriam-Webster Deluxe Dictionary “hitch-hike” is an intransitive verb meaning to travel by securing free rides from passing vehicles, and was first used in 1926, which makes you wonder what it was called back in the days when a passing stagecoach or chariot was being solicited for a free ride. I nonetheless hold great store in my Merriam as anything that weighs that much has got to be right.

As for yours truly, my hitch-hiking days are way behind me other than the occasional car misadventure, but I’m still an active participant on the “passing vehicle” end.

Hitch-hiking is alive and well here in the Guanacaste Riviera, is usually referred to as a “ride” and is enthusiastically embraced by all sorts of interesting types.

Over the years I’ve picked up great-grandmother types from Villarreal, Euro kids on vision quests, all sorts of Ticos tired of waiting for the bus and even a Fuerza Publica lieutenant whom I remember pointing out Michael Jackson’s cattle ranch on the bridge road to San José. Just for the record I didn’t believe him.

There always seems to be a healthy exchange of butchered Spanish and bungled English and I think it has helped out my Espanol learning curve. Now if I could only learn how to put the tilde over the “n” in “Espanol”.

It’s customary on occasions for the hitchhiker to offer to pay for the ride, which puts him (or her) in potential contradiction of Merriman’s definition. Being a purist I tell them it’s not necessary. I suppose I’ve picked up just as many women hitchhiking as men, some interested in who I am and others that just seem to enjoy the air-conditioning and a brief pause.

On more than one occasion I’ve picked up hitch-hikers who after a few minutes start asking me what I thought of Ticas,

Hitchhiking

to which I would respond that I have an extremely high regard for them. It soon became evident that she was hitch-hiking as part of a work program and asked to be put back out after evidence of extreme lack of interest.

Now I know there are many people out there that, with good reason, have never hitch-hiked in their lives and, maybe rightfully so, think that it is extremely dangerous and semi-suicidal.

People like my wife. Maybe it’s because of something that happened to her father back in 1930 when he was 17. Someone in the Adams clan had married a Frenchwoman who apparently didn’t take well to Lovelady, East Texas, and eventually went back to Paris. Somewhere along the line she apparently left a large sum of money in a bank in New York City that the Adams Family could claim. Nobody in that part of East Texas was really sure where this “New York City” was, so Wade and another boy came up with plan to hitchhike from Lovelady all the way to Dallas and then catch a train to wherever this “New York” was. Wade and the other boy had never really been away from Lovelady before, there weren’t many roads in that part of Texas anyway and Dallas was a good 400 miles away, so it was quite an undertaking.

After the first day of hitch-hiking together and getting absolutely no rides they decided it would be better to split up and maybe having better luck separately. After a week of what Wade would later describe as “scary” he finally made it to Dallas and waited for his friend to show up…… and waited …..and waited. He never showed up, and they never heard anything again from him.

I used to hitch-hike a lot when I was younger and living in Northern Virginia, I don’t think my parents would have approved, but what they didn’t know couldn’t hurt

Story by Jesse Bishop (owlhumm@hotmail.com)

them. For some reason I remember being a somewhat skinny younger Santa Claus for some kid’s party that had to do with The Incredible Fog’s booking agent, and left the event full of Christmas spirit which quickly dissipated as it began to snow and no one would pick me up. A few years later I hitch-hiked to my sister’s college in Blacksburg, Virginia, and remembered being picked up by a State Trooper who, instead of arresting me, took me a long distance, and, even though he was really old, maybe 50, he just wanted to let me know he was a regular guy and the state trooper thing was just a job. I also remember being picked up by a couple of very attractive older women, maybe in their mid-twenties, who were in a Ford Mustang with the top down and seemed to be going nowhere fast. Holy Thelma and Louise!

My epic hitch-hike was with the Sackweed band. While in Key West, our home base, we had met a group of hippies from Colorado who deemed it wise to spend their winters in the Keys. They lived ‘way up in the Rocky Mountains near Central City in re-furbished abandoned mining facilities and it was decided that we would attend their colossal July Fourth party and learn the ways of the Mountain Hippy Tribes.

Come July we found ourselves living in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, so we loaded up a bunch of guitars and five of us drove to Colorado in our VW van and proceeded to party in a fashion that cannot be printed in a family-oriented magazines such as The Howler. Having survived the celebration we headed back East by way of Kentucky to drop off one of the gang. As we were pulling out of Middleborough, Ky, the van’s air-cooled engine blew a piston and we had to be at a gig in Connecticut in three days. It was decided that the bass player and I had to be at the performance so we loaded ourselves down with five guitars, stuck out our thumbs, and traveled over a thousand miles and made it in time to play.

Guess Who Came to Dinner Tom Peifer (peifer@racsa.co.cr)

(Note: “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” is a ‘60s era film about inter-racial marriage, historically illegal in most of the US and still outlawed in one out of three states, when the film was released.)

I

t can be argued that musicians, athletes and actors such as Sidney Poitier helped, over the course of decades, to pave the way for the eventual acceptance of an African American as elected president of the United States. Nonetheless, when Air Force One touched down on the tarmac in San José, with Barack Obama aboard, the ensuing show was following a very different kind of script from this romantic comedy from almost fifty years ago.

Residents of San José were treated to a non-stop re-run of “Blackhawk Down”, as the skies were subject to constant aerial surveillance, ostensibly to insure the security of the POTUS. It is up for speculation as to whether the whole spectacle was choreographed to subliminally remind the assembled presidents of Central America, not to mention the population at large, as to just who runs the show in this part of the world. Not that it is really needed, of course, as the historian Samuel Huntington put it bluntly: “The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion, but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, nonWesterners never do.”

Conveniently swept under the red carpet, dutifully rolled out for the guest of honor, was the whole history of US military intervention in Central America. As if adding insult to irony, Obama landed in an airport named for Juan Santamaría, the kid who died fighting against foreign intervention. Meanwhile, back in Guatemala, the trial against former president Rios Montt for genocide against the indigenous Mayan population was headed towards a guilty verdict. Obviously, during Obama’s visit, no one dared to ask his opinion of a dictator who enjoyed the support of former president Reagan in the 1980s, “a man of great personal integrity and commitment,” in the words of the former film star himself.

It goes without saying that kings, emperors and elected presidents of de-facto modern-day empires don’t visit the nether regions of their realm to dispense apologies. They focus on the positive, the upside of subservience and collaboration with the broader strategic goal of imperial survival. In this part of the world, business and political elites have generally seen the light, the more unruly elements having been dispensed with by means of a variety of techniques outlined in the book “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,” by former “consultant”, John Perkins.

Central Americans now get to see the milder, ‘General Audience’ version of Full Spectrum Dominance, the script penned in the Pentagon that underlies US strategic thinking. The drones, depleted-uranium-tipped bullets and bunker-buster bombs, the pyrotechnics of PG action films, are currently confined to other areas, not surprisingly, in and around the strategically vital, petroleum and resource rich areas of Africa and Asia. As mentioned above, “seeing the light”, for those at the top of the socio-economic pyramid, carries with it the implicit notion of lining their pockets as part of the deal.

As in many other countries, those at the top of the food chain in Costa Rica are true believers in the gospel of globalization.

The swords have been beaten into stock shares in the corporate Goliaths that now spearhead a softer—but at times equally lethal—projection of force and conquest of territory. The wholesale poisoning of rural populations and water supplies in Central America by the banana and pineapple multinationals, or the latest collapse of a multi-story garment industry sweatshop in Bangladesh serve as reminders that “the cult of money”, as Pope Francis recently pointed out, has replaced the golden calf of Biblical lore, as the false god that is the de facto icon of global worship. Humans provide the props, and Mother Nature the scenic backdrop for the latest screenplay that is the current global blockbuster.

“The Cult of Money” is increasingly the name of the game in US politics. Perhaps coincidentally, one of the first to recognize Obama’s potential as a leading man on the political stage was none other than Jeffrey Katzenberg, the DreamWorks Animation studio mogul who gave the junior senator his imprimatur— and a cool $1 million plus—to get him started in his first run for office. Bearing in mind that it takes billions to get elected, the following factoid should come as no surprise. Upon his return from Costa Rica, President Obama nominated billionaire Hyatt Hotels heiress Penny Pritzker for Commerce Secretary.

Ms. Pritzker as it turns out is one of Barack’s ‘homies’ from the upper echelon ‘hoods of his native Chicago, and has been handy to have on board for help with the tedium—not to mention the occasional heavy lifting—involved in financing two successful presidential campaigns. (continued page 36)

Guess Who Came...

J u n e ( a l l

t i m e s

Pardon the repetition, but emperors don’t apologize to the inhabitants of their realm. Like the kings of yore, they answer to a higher power. For the moment, Obama plays a leading role in the larger script that has concentrated wealth in increasingly fewer hands in the US. And those hands are throwing everlarger amounts of money into the political circus, to ensure outcomes that favor their personal, political or corporate agendas. The ‘higher powers’ that Obama has to heed would seem to include, in addition to those mentioned above, all the Monsanto, Goldman Sachs and other corporate minions who have been installed in the current administration as part of the increasing phenomenon of ‘regulatory capture.’ For those of us with roots in the countryside, it’s known as the fox guarding the chicken coop.

2 0 1 3 l o c a l )

Sun

1st - rise 5:21; set 6:02 15th - rise 5:22; set 6:07 30th - rise 5:26; set 6:09

At the meeting here in Central America, local leaders were hoping to glean at least a few crumbs off the table of an empire that finds itself overcommitted abroad and faced with a budgeting conundrum at home. The best they could obtain were some vague promises to help with supplies of natural gas from the much-ballyhooed boom in shale gas production back in the lower 48. Apart from the thousands of column inches in newspapers and hundreds of hours of video to be edited down to a few juicy ‘sound bites’ and ‘photo-ops’, little of substance remained to affect the everyday lives of centroamericanos as Air Force One lifted off the runway and winged its way home to Washington.

Moon

8th New: 9:56 a.m.

16th 1st quarter: 11:24 a.m. *23rd Full: 5:32 a.m.

29th 10:53 p.m.

Last quarter: * Largest in 2013 RAIN GAUGE

2.0 1.8 1.6 c 1.4 1.2 m 1.0 0.8 0.6 s o.4 0.2 0.0

RAINFALL - Apr/May 2013 Maricle Meteorological Observatory Villarreal de Santa Cruz Total rainfall: 3.4 cm (1.3 inches)

16

20

25

Apr

Year-to-date 2013: 3.4 cm 2012: 8.2

31 1

5

10

(from page 31)

15

Yes, Obama ‘came to dinner’ and his Costa Rican hosts honored local traditions with a menu that featured the traditional dish pejibaye. Sadly, the menu at the presidential banquet was perhaps the only significant acknowledgement of regional realities. What the Central American business and political elite really needs to add to their diet is a healthy portion of huevos criollos. C’mon guys, let’s turn off the main feature and get the local show on the road.

May

Rainfall Apr/May 2013: 3.4 cm 2012: 8.2

Tom Peifer is an ecological land use consultant with 18 years experience in Guanacaste. 2658-8018. peifer@ racsa.co.cr El Centro Verde is dedicated to researching and promoting sustainable land use, permaculture and environmentally sound development. www.elcentroverde.org/

Letter To our Langosta neighbors and local business owners: As long-time property owners and residents of Playa Langosta, we are expressing our concern over the deteriorating appearance of our beautiful coastal community. Piles of yard waste, construction debris and the like have accumulated in almost every vacant lot and green zone throughout our neighborhood.

that the area is not monitored and that one can engage in criminal behavior with little risk of detection.

It is an extreme fire hazard, especially during the extended windy, dry season we are experiencing, and is a health hazard, encouraging rodents and other vermin, and once it does begin to rain, creates a perfect breeding ground for dengue mosquitos.

- Organize an initial cleanup and haul away of the accumulated debris.

Langosta has become blighted. The first signs of blight are poorly kept properties, piles of debris, an increasing number of “for sale” signs, and decline in property values.

Under the broken windows theory, an ordered and clean environment – one which is maintained – sends the signal that the area is monitored and that criminal behavior will not be tolerated.

Conversely, a disordered environment – one which is not maintained (broken windows, graffiti, excessive litter) – sends the signal

We would invite our fellow residents and business owners to coordinate efforts in reversing the blight in our neighborhood:

The municipality will collect bagged-up yard waste.

- Educate and inform gardeners and other property maintenance workers that they are, going forward, to bag all yard waste and not to dump trash in the green zones. A few minutes of extra effort in bagging up yard waste will keep our neighborhood clean and far more attractive to both renters and prospective purchasers, while encouraging everyone to have respect for and take care of the environment .

- Alert absentee owners of vacant lots, and post “No Dumping” signs.

Let’s work to restore our fantastic Langosta neighborhood.

Concerned residents of Langosta.

Word puzzle Miscellany

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. alcantarilla carpenter cascabel cotidiano didactic ecotourism elevator erroneous gonfalon homenaje incipient leather manhandle mensual mennonite

parada parasol patagonia payaso pedagogue propaganda sasquatch sluice sustainable sybarite utilizar terremoto terrestre universidad wirecutter

1S

2S

3M

4T

5W

6T

02:13 08:41 14:53 21:08 03:13 09:43 15:59 22:13 04:15 10:43 17:03 23:16 05:16 11:41 18:02

0.4 8.9 1.0 8.1 0.9 8.6 1.2 7.7 1.2 8.5 1.2 7.6 1.4 8.5 1.2

00:14 06:12 12:34 18:55

7.6 10M 1.5 8.5 1.0

7F

8S New Moon 9S

01:07 07:03 13:21 19:41 01:54 07:49 14:05 20:23 02:37 08:32 14:46 21:02 03:18 09:12 15:25 21:39 03:57 09:51 16:04 22:16

7.6 1.5 8.6 0.5 7.9 1.4 8.7 0.7 8.1 1.4 8.8 0.5 8.2 1.3 8.8 0.4 8.4 1.2 8.8 0.4

11T

12W

13T

14F

15S

JUNE TIDE CHART 16S 1st Qtr

04:36 10:30 16:43 22:53 05:14 11:09 17:22 23:30 05:53 11:49 18:01

8.4 1.2 8.7 0.4 8.4 1.3 8.5 0.6 8.4 1.4 8.2

00:08 06:32 12:31 18:43 00:47 07:13 13:16 19:27

0.8 19W 8.3 1.5 7.9 1.0 20T 8.2 1.6 7.7

17M

18T

01:29 07:57 14:04 20:16 02:15 08:46 14:56 21:10 03:07 09:39 15:54 22:09 04:04 10:36 16:53 23:10 05:05 11:34 17:52

1.3 8.1 1.6 7.4 1.4 8.1 1.6 7.3 1.5 8.3 1.5 7.4 1.5 8.5 1.2 7.6 1.3 8.8 0.8

21F

22S

23S Full Moon 24M

25T

00:10 06:05 12:32 18:50 01:08 07:05 13:28 19:45 02:04 08:02 14:22 20:38 02:57 08:58 15:16 21:30 03:49 09:52 16:08 22:20

8.0 1.0 9.2 0.3 8.5 0.6 9.7 -0.2 9.1 0.2 10.0 -0.7 9.6 -0.2 10.2 -1.0 10.0 -0.4 10.3 -1.0

26W

27T

28F

29S Last Qtr 30S

04:41 10:45 17:00 23:11 05:33 11:38 17:52

10.2 1M -0.4 July 10.2 -1.0 10.2 2T -0.2 9.8

00:01 06:25 12:32 18:46 00:53 07:18 13:28 19:41 01:46 08:13 14:26 20:39

-0.6 3W 10.0 0.1 9.3 -0.2 4T 9.6 0.5 8.7 0.4 5F 9.2 0.9 8.2

02:41 09:10 15:26 21:40 03:39 10:09 16:29 22:43 04:40 11:07 17:30 23:44 05:39 12:03 18:26

1.0 8.8 1.3 7.7 1.5 8.4 1.6 7.4 1.9 8.2 1.6 7.3 2.1 8.2 1.5

00:40 06:35 12:54 19:15

7.4 2.1 8.2 1.3