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Hot Tamale: Ryan Cascan refills the large bowl of corn purée while Marian Salazar, who has worked for Los Valverde Fábrica de Tamale for more than 20 years, prepares a fresh tamale.
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Open-Air Art Fair Rescheduled in New Location |
The annual San Pedro open-air art fair that was about to be canceled for the first time in 12 years is back on again in a new spot. |
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Costa Rica's Surgeons to Cut Waiting List by Working Overtime |
For patients waiting months, sometimes years, for an operation, a new measure is under way to speed things up next year. The Social Security System (Caja) is to inject ¢1 billion ($2 million) into public health care to pay surgeons to work overtime, from 4-10 p.m., every day of the week, the daily La Nación reported. |
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Ticos Need Bank Info for U.S. Visa Interview |
As of yesterday, Costa Ricans traveling to the United States as non-immigrants — tourists or business travelers — must bring a copy of their bank statement to their interview, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement. |
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Drinking Water Safe Again |
After months of uncertainty, residents of the small Caribbean-slope community of El Cairo can once again drink their own tap water. |
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Police Seize Drugs Possibly Meant for Meth Production |
Costa Rican narcotics officials have a watchful eye on the 2.5 metric tons of pseudoephedrine and clorpheniramine seized by police this week on the strong suspicion they were to be used to manufacture designer drugs, such as speed. |
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Casa 76: A Home Turned
Restaurant in Santa Ana |
Santa Ana is becoming a growing boomtown with shopping malls, fast-food eat-eries and swanky restaurants galore. However, this erstwhile farming town southwest of the capital still has neighborhoods that have not been invaded by the never-ending development.
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Open-Air Art Fair Rescheduled in New Location |
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net
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The annual San Pedro open-air art fair that was about to be canceled for the first time in 12 years is back on again in a new spot.
Planners of the event this week received a green light from the nearby Municipality of Curridabat, east of San José, to hold the event at Plaza José María Zeledón.
Organizers had called off the event late last month after the Municipality of Montes de Oca denied them the permits necessary to have the festival at San Pedro's Plaza Roosevelt, where it had been held for the past 11 years. It was originally scheduled to take place there from Nov. 28-Dec.2.
Curridabat Mayor Edgar Mora called the festival's organizers upon hearing the news and offered to host the event on his turf, said festival planner Mario Martín.
“In two hours, the Curridabat Municipality resolved what the Municipality of Montes de Oca couldn't resolve in three months,” Martín said.
More than 400 artists are preparing their stands at the plaza. The festival begins Friday and runs through Dec. 18 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. If all goes well this year, Martín said organizers plan to continue holding the event in Curridabat. |
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Costa Rica's Surgeons to Cut
Waiting List by Working Overtime |
For patients waiting months, sometimes years, for an operation, a new measure is under way to speed things up next year. The Social Security System (Caja) is to inject ¢1 billion ($2 million) into public health care to pay surgeons to work overtime, from 4-10 p.m., every day of the week, the daily La Nación reported.
This could bring solace to the almost 50,000 people whose names trail down the combined waiting lists of 19 public hospitals, according to the total collected in September.
The first phase of the plan will take effect in January at five hospitals: Calderón Guardia (with more than 4,200 in the queue), the National Children's Hospital (almost 3,000), Max Peralta (nearly 500), Tony Facio (1,000) and San Juan de Dios (over 8,000).
San Juan de Dios already got a head start, scheduling doctors to do late-afternoon/early-evening operations in August. By November, surgeons were able to slice the waiting list by 500 patients, the bulk of whom sought orthopedic surgery, the hospital's interim director Ileana Balmaceda told the Costa Rican daily.
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-Tico Times
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Ticos Need Bank Info for U.S. Visa Interview |
As of yesterday, Costa Ricans traveling to the United States as non-immigrants — tourists or business travelers — must bring a copy of their bank statement to their interview, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.
Until now, banks such as Banco Nacional, Banco de Costa Rica and Banco Popular sent a visa applicant's statement directly to the consulate. These statements will no longer be accepted directly from the bank and must be hand delivered by the applicant.
For more information about the visa application process, see the consulate's Web site, http://sanjose.usembassy.gov.
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-Tico Times
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Drinking Water Safe Again |
After months of uncertainty, residents of the small Caribbean-slope community of El Cairo can once again drink their own tap water.
Recent tests conducted by Costa Rica's National Water and Sewer Institute (AyA) confirmed the local aqueduct free of agrochemicals that had prompted a drinking water ban earlier this year.
According to Darner Mora, director of the institute's water testing laboratory, tests came up clean for three pesticides – Bromacil, Duirón and Triadimefon -- chemicals used in large amounts in surrounding pineapple plantations.
Further tests, scheduled for this month and next, will continue to monitor the regional aqueduct.
Last month, officials argued that even trace concentrations of contaminants were unacceptable in public water supplies. Local pineapple companies countered that the chemicals were present, but only in levels considered safe by international standards.
The Public Health Ministry settled the dispute – closing the water supply and forcing delivery by cistern truck to the affected communities.
The number of hectares planted with pineapple increased more than any other crop last year - and 208% since 2000.
Costa Rica's industrial pineapple plantations are ravenous consumers of agrochemicals, according to a recent report released by the National University (UNA). On average, according to scientists, they consume 24.5 kg of herbicide per hectare per year – almost triple that of coffee crops. |
-Tico Times
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Police Seize Drugs Possibly
Meant for Meth Production |
By Alex Leff
Tico Times Staff | aleff@ticotimes.net
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Costa Rican narcotics officials have a watchful eye on the 2.5 metric tons of pseudoephedrine and clorpheniramine seized by police this week on the strong suspicion they were to be used to manufacture designer drugs, such as speed.
Police intercepted the shipment, carrying close to 3 million pills headed to Honduras from India, when it was discovered that it violated postage regulations, said the chief of the country's drug patrol Mauricio Boraschi. “This is our first bust of this kind,” he said.
“The containers said it was a product for the Honduran government, and we do not believe it was meant for Costa Rica,” he added.
“The contents were medicines, not illegal drugs, so I can't guarantee the outcome,” Boraschi said. “What I can say is those pills could be used to create 1.4 billion doses of methamphetamine, worth up to $26 million.”
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Casa 76: A Home Turned Restaurant in Santa Ana
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Santa Ana is becoming a growing boomtown with shopping malls, fast-food eat-eries and swanky restaurants galore. However, this erstwhile farming town southwest of the capital still has neighborhoods that have not been invaded by the never-ending development.
San Rafael de Santa Ana is one of these, and it is here that you will find Casa 76. Owner Gilda Sancho has converted her home of 20 years into a delightful restaurant surrounded by a colorful tropical garden, offering tranquil dining away from the bustling center of town.
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| Casa 76: The Santa Ana home of Gilda Sancho has been converted into a restaurant surrounded by a tropical garden. |
Ronald Reyes | Tico Times |
The restaurant specializes in pasta and pizzas, but also offers choices for those who prefer a “less Italianized” menu, Sancho says. Full of energy and enthusiasm about her recently opened venture, the charming Sancho is the owner of the original Casa 76 in Ciudad Colón, farther west along the valley. Her son runs the Ciudad Colón restaurant, while she concentrates on the new location.
“It's nice to be operating out of my own home,” she says.
The large house is built of a mixture of wood and every imaginable construction material.
“It's like a patchwork quilt,” Sancho says. The only new additions she has made are a large modern kitchen, bathrooms and an enlarged parking area.
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| Casa 76 calzone. |
Ronald Reyes | Tico Times |
The first thing you notice is the white wooden facade with its large, shuttered windows. Alfresco dining on the spacious veranda is a pleasant alternative to the interior dining room, where family dining tables and a large, open fireplace add to the friendly feeling of a private home.
Once the rainy season is over, Sancho says, the garden will be lit to offer attractive seating among the shrubbery.
I've visited Casa 76 twice and really enjoyed the ambience and food. I've since recommended it to friends who agree with me, and were happy with the friendly service and atmosphere.
For starters, the menu offers salads that I'm told are enormous and delicious, but should be ordered to share, or as a main course. Hot and cold appetizers include the usual Italian antipasto plates, salmon and beef carpaccio, mussels and soups. Prices, not including tax and service, range from ¢2,000 to ¢4,500 ($3.80-8.60).
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| Fettucine puttanesca. |
Ronald Reyes | Tico Times |
Twenty-two varieties of pizza boggle the mind, and calzones, stuffed oven-baked pizza turnovers, come with three different fillings. I tried the Casa 76, which was generously stuffed with ham, salami, mushrooms and bacon. My only complaint was that the bacon was undercooked for my liking. I have heard enthusiastic reviews of the Calzone Especial with ham, mushrooms and blue cheese. Prices for calzones and pizzas – which come in small, medium and large – range from ¢3,150 to ¢6,900 ($6-13).
Pasta lovers have 11 choices offering an interesting variety, and not one complaint have I heard. The fettucine puttanesca, a great favorite of mine, was delicious, as was the alfredo and del mar with a variety of seafood. A vegan guest ordered the simple spaghetti pomodoro and thoroughly enjoyed it, while the lasagnas and raviolis were all deemed excellent.
I've yet to try the pizza, but the talents of chef Jovanni Ramírez, when it comes to pasta and sauces, are certainly worthy of praise. The menu also offers chicken, steak and fish dishes (¢5,250-6,500/$10-12). The former two were fine, but the salmon was excessively salty, and a disappointed diner ate only a few mouthfuls.
The three desserts, panna cotta, ice cream and the traditional tres leches, all ¢1,500 ($2.90), remained unsampled by my crew. Perhaps the generous portions of pasta and pizza defeated even the heartiest appetites.
Casa 76 has no liquor license, but you are welcome to bring your own, and there is no corkage fee. However, the fresh fruit drinks served in individual jugs are delicious and will sate anybody's thirst.
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