The Costa Rican national surfing team established themselves as one of the world's best in the opening weekend of the International Surfing Association (ISA) World Surfing Games on the central Pacific beach of Playa Hermosa.

Of the six surfers that competed in the Men's and Women's Open competition, all six finished first or second in their first round heats on Saturday and four finished first or second in their heats on Sunday. In doing so, the Costa Rican team has proven they are in the upper echelon of world surfing.

“Everything is going about as good as we could have hoped for,” said the Costa Rican national team coach José Ureña. “The competition is long and the teams are very talented. If we continue to surf at this level all week, we have the chance to do very well.”

The first day of the competition, five of the six Costa Rican surfers finished first in their first round heats, which are composed of four surfers. Jason Torres, who finished fifth in the ISA World Surfing Games in 2008, came second in his first round heat, though bounced back Sunday with maybe the most impressive display of surfing thus far in the competition.

In the final heat of the second round on Sunday, Torres roused the heavily pro-Costa Rican crowd with long, slicing rides on the powerful Playa Hermosa waves. Torres recorded two of the top 10 wave scores of the day – a 9.00 and 8.33 – on waves that he rode all the way into the beach, much to the pleasure of the Tico faithful. Torres' combined score of 17.33 was the highest score of the competition on Sunday.

“The waves were perfect today and I'm happy I was able to catch them at the right time and make the most of them,” Torres said.

Gilbert Brown, the crowd favorite who seems to capture the attention of the entire beach, also won his heat Sunday, much in part to his long, thrashing ride of a wave that was scored a 9.23, the highest score received for a wave thus far in the competition.

Sixteen-year-old Carlos Muñoz, who won his heat Saturday, finished second in his heat Sunday morning. Luis Vindas, who won his heat on Saturday, finished third in his heat on Sunday and will compete in the “repercharge” group. Of the four surfers that compete in each heat, the top two scorers continue in the qualifying rounds, which is essentially a winner's bracket, while the bottom two compete in the repercharge grouping. In the repercharge heats, of the four surfers, the two receiving the highest scores remain in the competition, while the two with the lowest scores are eliminated.

On the women's side, Lisbeth Vindas won her heat on Saturday and finished second on Sunday to remain in the main qualifying group. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Bernold won her heat on Saturday, though was edged out in her heat Sunday, finishing third, 0.46 points behind a Hawaiian surfer Nage Melamend. Bernold will compete in the repercharge grouping the rest of the week.

The ISA World Surfing Games are held at Playa Hermosa and centered around the Hotel Terraza del Pacifico, the official hotel of the competition. There are 34 teams competing in the competition and their flags wave amid the crowded beach. Though no official number of fans is available, during the first weekend, thousands lathered up in sun block and watched the competition from the dark sands of Playa Hermosa.

The competition runs throughout the week with the continuation of the Open competition and the longboard competition, which is yet to begin. The competition begins each morning at 8a.m. and will finish with the finals on Saturday.

The flu couldn't keep thousands of people from marching from San José eastward to the old capital of Cartago this weekend.

Despite the Health Ministry's call for people to refrain from making the journey and the Catholic Church's closure of the Cartago basilica, Costa Ricans filled the streets on a pilgrimage that's drawn walkers for more than 227 years. Depending on where they begin their journey, Ticos walk from several hours to several days at this time of year to pay homage to a statuette of the Virgen de los Angeles, the patron saint of Costa Rica, on Aug. 2.

As presidential candidate Laura Chinchilla recently told the daily La Nación, “Costa Ricans' faith is stronger than the pandemic.”

But for those who didn't want to take the risk – at a time when the A(H1N1) flu virus is at its height – a group of software developers created a virtual Romería (holy pilgrimage) at www.romeriavirtual.com.

“The Romería has been something that has gone on for many years. People are accustomed to marching,” said Esteban Cairol, a creator of the Web site and a spokesman for the Archdiocese. “When we heard the Romeria might be suspended, we started to think of ideas of a secure way people could still participate and in which they would get that sense of a community.”

As of Sunday evening, 12,590 people had gone on their site and uploaded a picture of themselves to one of the marchers walking across their computer screen. Some chose characters who walked on their knees, some danced across the screen doing the moonwalk and most everyone added personal messages to their character.

According the latest numbers from the Health Ministry, 22 people have died in Costa Rica of medical complications resulting from the A(H1N1) virus. The ministry has confirmed roughly 718 cases nationwide.

The United States has granted a waiver to Nicaragua that will maintain the Central American country's eligibility for U.S. aid, according to a U.S. Embassy statement on July 30.

Under U.S. law, the United States cannot grant financial assistance to any government that has confiscated the property of U.S. citizens. For Nicaragua, where hundreds of properties were confiscated in the 1980s, the United States makes an exception to the law by granting Nicaragua an annual waiver based on its progress towards resolving outstanding claims by U.S. citizens.

However, the likelihood of this year's waiver had come into question after the recent cancelation of millions of dollars in U.S. development aid to Nicaragua amid concerns of foul play in the country's November 2008 municipal elections (http://www.ticotimes.net/dailyarchive/2009_06/061109.htm).

Nicaraguan Attorney General Hernán Estrada last month accused U.S. Ambassador Robert Callahan of using the property waiver as a means to pressure Nicaragua.

Fluid and confident, the music of Miguel Cabrera fluctuates in emotional and rhythmic intensity. The lyrics move easily with the fluctuations, and sometimes even inspire them.

But it's the different sounds Cabrera has been able to create – or the seamless combination of seemingly contrasting sounds – that have made him so popular in Costa Rica as of late.

Infused with doses of modern rock, Latin rhythms, Spanish guitar and, to a smaller degree, modern electronic pop, each song seems stylistically different from the preceding one. Some songs lean more toward one style than others, but even the songs don't seem to follow the linear and often base formulas so common in pop music; rather, each song develops on itself and morphs, so that where the listener started – usually with a soft guitar solo – is not where he finishes.

Then again, that's how Cabrera likes to be.

“I don't want to sound like anyone else,” he says. “I'm looking to discover myself as an artist.”

After only two albums, Cabrera seems to have done just that. Two months ago, he was awarded the Costa Rican Music Writers and Composers Association's 2009 award for his latest album, “ Caminando ” (“Walking”).

See the Aug. 7 print or digital edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.