JANUARY 12, 2007

AN ILLUMINATED Street Party: The town of Palmares, northwest of San José, is hosting its annual festivities through Jan. 22. This weekend’s activities include mountain biking, a salsa concert and bullfights. See the Calendar section of this Friday’s print or pdf edition of The Tico Times for a complete listing of Palmares events.

CHARLOTTE’S Web: The cowardly pig Wilbur, the shrewd rat Templeton and a slew of other barnyard characters from E.B. White’s children’s book Charlotte’s Web are coming to Costa Rican theaters today in the film adaptation of this classic. See the Weekend section of this Friday’s print or electronic edition of The Tico Times for a list of where it’s playing.

Authorities yesterday arrested at least two people allegedly involved in a ring dedicated to trafficking Chinese people to Costa Rica, announced Francisco Segura, Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) assistant director, at a press conference yesterday.

Imagine a San José with a vibrant, bustling downtown business district crisscrossed by pedestrian boulevards. Imagine a gleaming convention center that serves as concert hall, conference space, technological oasis and transportation hub. Imagine the capital’s southern neighborhoods with a fresh coat of paint, a sharp reduction in crime and a dynamic economy, thanks to the jobs created by new hotels and restaurants in the city’s core.

The U.S. hotel chain Hilton has signed an agreement to take over the administration of two beach hotels on the Pacific coast this year, according to a statement from the company.

Authorities Tackle Chinese Human-Trafficking Ring

By Leland Baxter-Neal
Tico Times Staff | lbaxter@ticotimes.net

Authorities yesterday arrested at least two people allegedly involved in a ring dedicated to trafficking Chinese people to Costa Rica, announced Francisco Segura, Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) assistant director, at a press conference yesterday.

Officials had been monitoring the group since the end of last year, when a representative approached General Immigration Administration Director Mario Zamora and offered him $5,000 for every visa he would approve for a Chinese. With the backing of the Judicial Branch and investigators, officials said yesterday, Zamora accepted the offer, and cash payments that totaled approximately $20,000 were made to a Judicial Branch bank account. 

The two suspects were detained in western San José as they were allegedly preparing to hand over 30 Chinese passports, officials said, but did not specify to whom the passports were being given. Police confiscated the 30 passports as evidence. Authorities identified the driver of the vehicle as an employee at the Legislative Assembly, while the passenger was identified as a Chinese woman with the last name of Tan.
  
Segura said officials are raiding various locations in San José and Cartago, east of San José, and expect more arrests to come. Public Security Minister Fernando Berrocal told the press he is sure Immigration had corrupt high-level officials during previous administrations, but would wait for investigations to prove him right.

Urban Planners Present
Ambitious Renovation Scheme

By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff | kstanley@ticotimes.net

Imagine a San José with a vibrant, bustling downtown business district crisscrossed by pedestrian boulevards. Imagine a gleaming convention center that serves as concert hall, conference space, technological oasis and transportation hub. Imagine the capital’s southern neighborhoods with a fresh coat of paint, a sharp reduction in crime and a dynamic economy, thanks to the jobs created by new hotels and restaurants in the city’s core.

As any josefino< can tell you, these improvements won’t appear anytime soon, but Federico Cartín, who’s studying urban planning in Montreal this year as a graduate student fellow of McGill University’s Centre for Developing-Area Studies, presented these proposals yesterday at the Federated Association of Engineers and Architects (CFIA) in the eastern suburb of Curridabat.

The project began as an initiative of the Municipality of San José; Cartín, along with fellows Andrés Baez-Rodríguez, Veronique Dryden and Gemma Peralta, developed the proposal as part of his studies. The team interviewed San José residents and government officials during the planning process.

“We’re realizing that we’re living in chaos, and it can’t go on that way,” he said of capital-dwellers.

At the heart of the plan is a convention center at what is now the Pacific Train Station in south-central San José, an economically depressed area with rising crime. The center would hold up to 16,000 people and would use the existing structures at the train station.

But the project doesn’t stop there. The proposal also calls for park-n-ride lots east and west of downtown, reorganized bus routes, a train from San José west to Juan Santamaría International Airport in Alajuela, a bike path, and a pedestrian boulevard along the north-south Calle 2 to connect the business district around the convention center and the tourism areas to the north.

Cartín emphasized that the proposal is just that – a proposal – and that extensive further study would be required before it could become a reality. However, he pointed to a similarly ambitious project in Guatemala City as an example of how placing new facilities in depressed areas can have a city-wide effect.

For more on the plan, visit http://p2plan.googlepages.com/index.html.

See next week’s print or electronic edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

Hilton Chain to Take Over
Administration Of Two Beach Hotels

The U.S. hotel chain Hilton has signed an agreement to take over the administration of two beach hotels on the Pacific coast this year, according to a statement from the company.

As of December, Hilton will administer Fiesta Resort, in the central Pacific town of Puntarenas, and Fiesta Premier Resort & Spa, in the northwestern Guanacaste province. These hotels will change their names to Doubletree by Hilton Puntarenas Resort and Hilton Papagayo Resort, respectively.

Starting up operations in Costa Rica is “a magnificent example of the commitment Hilton has made its clients to expand its offerings through contracts with hotel owners who believe in the strength of our brand name,” said Hilton vice-president of marketing Jeff Diskin, according to the statement.

During the next few months, both hotels will be remodeled to adjust to Hilton’s style.

The Hilton Papagayo Resort will have a total 202 rooms, while the all-inclusive Doubletree by Hilton will have 410 rooms. Hilton also has hotels in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Tourism is one of the main economic drivers in Costa Rica. Last year, the industry generated $1.6 billion from 1.6 million visitors.

-ACAN-EFE

Pineapple Growers Expect
20% Growth in Exports This Year

Costa Rican pineapple producers are predicting their exports will increase as much as 20% this year to reach $500 million, thanks to a strong demand for the fruit from the United States and the European Union.

The Chamber of Pineapple Producers and Exporters (CANAPEP) estimated that last year, Costa Rica exported $413 million worth of pineapple. Costa Rica produced 80 million 12-kilogram boxes of pineapple, 11.5 million boxes more than during 2005, ranking pineapple as the second most valuable agricultural product for the Costa Rican economy below bananas.

“This product is positioning itself very well,” CANAPEP president Abel Chaves told the daily La Prensa Libre, adding that ratifying the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) is crucial for keeping up the crop’s success in the United States.

The United States is the primary destination for pineapple exports, followed by Belgium, Germany and Holland.

“I’ve been cooking gourmet meals for the whole household, but, you know, I think they would just as soon eat gallo pinto. I’m not going to do it anymore.”

The person speaking was a Canadian married to a Tica friend of mine. My friend and my husband had left us alone to speak English while they visited in Spanish.

“At least they’ve been eating it,” I replied. “My husband won’t even touch my lasagna, a dish for which I’m famous among my friends and relatives in the States.”

All right… those of us who live here all know that when we get together, we tend to complain about either the Ticos or their beautiful country. I sometimes imagine that when they get together, they tend to complain about us, as well. It’s normal, and despite the fact that I have been witness to a few virulent and unjustified attacks, in most cases it’s harmless, even affectionate.

Food, of course, is a prime target. Not only is it something that is extremely important to us, it is a source of numerous and compelling cultural differences, especially in what we eat, how often we eat it and how we prepare it.

Always Together: Rice and beans form the staple of the casado, a traditional plate of the day, accompanied here by cabbage salad, fish, mashed potatoes and plátano maduro.

Tammy Zibners | Tico Times

A Gringo once asked me if I knew what the national dish of Costa Rica was. When I answered, “No,” he replied, “Leftovers” (referring, of course to gallo pinto). It’s just another tacky Tico-bashing joke, but it reveals a good deal about our attitudes. We all need to practice a little more tolerance. The Italians have a constructive saying: “Tutti i gusti son gusti” (“All tastes are tastes”). This means that the fact that I would much rather eat a crunchy stir-fry than gallo pinto doesn’t mean that I have better taste, just that I have different taste.

My husband, bless his soul, always claims that the crunchy stir-fry hasn’t finished cooking.

Food variety is another issue. I had a highly stressed friend in the United States whose husband demanded that each week she prepare exact menus for the household, with no repetitions. I wasn’t married to a tyrant like that, but I do remember always worrying about what to have for dinner that wasn’t the same as the night before. Those days are over! All I need to do anymore is make sure there is a sufficient supply of rice, beans, salad and plátano maduro.

And here’s the point. We need to understand that most Costa Ricans eat basically the same thing every day. As a result, their perception of food is different from ours. If theirs seems odd to us, ours seems odd to them. To them, it must seem rather like suggesting that we change houses every day. Why go to all that trouble?

Sometimes, my husband’s sons visit and bring boxes of pizza. Because we live in the mountains and don’t go out, I gorge. Then, as far as I am concerned, I have eaten. After they leave, my husband generally complains that he hasn’t eaten any “comida” (food). What he means, of course, is that he hasn’t had his ration of rice and beans. Until he does, he has had only snacks.

And he won’t hear of risotto a la milanesa or rice croquettes. Yes, even the preparation of the rice always has to be the same. This drives me crazy, but, let’s face it, there are worse things.

The rice-and-beans meal in a restaurant is called a casado (“married”) – because they are always together. The Costa Rican diet is based on this couple. Rice and beans are almost always present and usually form the bulk of the meal. They are often accompanied by some form of cooked ripe plantain (plátano maduro) and a salad, usually cabbage. Picadillo (chopped, sautéed vegetables or potato), eggs, a small piece of meat, chicken, fish or a regional dish may also be present.

In the Caribbean province of Limón, the rice and beans often take the scrumptious form of what the limonenses call, of all things, “rice and beans.” Here, the beans are cooked in what is called leche de coco, which is not coconut milk as we know it, but rather the liquid from strained coconut pulp.

Once in a while, there are exceptions. A popular alternate dish is olla de carne (“pot of meat”). This is a kind of meat soup, usually consisting of rib meat, potatoes, corn on the cob and especially large chunks of vegetables unfamiliar to us: plátano verde (green plantains), yuca (cassava), chayote (mirliton squash), ñampí (taro root) and tiquisque (blue taro). It is served in a bowl with rice on the side.

The fact is that, if it weren’t for the trans-fats – the manteca (in Costa Rica, this is solidified palm oil), the margarine and the highly processed oils – the Costa Rican diet would be much healthier than that of most Gringos. The combination of rice and beans forms a perfectly acceptable protein, free of the hormones and antibiotics found in meat. Add the perpetual cabbage salad and the potassium-rich plantain, and no está mal. Unfortunately, the lack of information here about the nature of fats sabotages the entire deal.

It’s also true that, when Ticos are not eating at home, they are probably out eating fried chicken, greasy hamburgers or French fries.

Too bad.

And just who, I might ask, is responsible for that?