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Central Bank
Reference Rate
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BUY ₡ 582.49
SELL ₡ 591.73 |
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Singing the walls down: Amarcord, a German vocal ensemble, will put their cords to use Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Foyer of the National Theater, in a concert to commemorate German Unity Day. |
Photo courtesy of German Embassy |
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Stuck here: Asylum seekers from Africa, South Asia and Latin America wait in this San José immigration holding center for an answer that will determine their future. Click on the image to see the latest Tico Times photo report. |
Keely Kernan | Tico Times |
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| Foreigners who own homes may get temporary residency |
| When Costa Rica's immigration reforms were approved in August, there was one change that seemed to escape the headlines of local newspapers and media reports. |
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| Costa Rican police seize thousands of stolen turtle eggs |
Police in the Caribbean province of Limón confiscated approximately 16,000 turtle eggs from a private plot of land near the port of Moín Wednesday morning, officials from the local Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) confirmed. |
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| Gas prices to drop back down |
Costa Rica's gas prices will decrease next week after going up a month ago. Beginning next Thursday, Oct. 8, prices will fall ₡ 26 for super, ₡ 24 regular and ₡ 22 for diesel. |
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| Arias seeks help in closing deficit |
Almost $770 million short of meeting this year's budget, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has asked the Legislative Assembly to approve an extraordinary appropriation to allow the country to go into debt to close the gap. |
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An Insult Index: How
Ticos Berate Each Other |
I didn't mean to do it, honestly. My intention was to publish a list of offensive words and expressions to be wary of, as well as a list of gracious words and expressions, good for everyday use. Clearly, I was deluded. I discovered hundreds of offensive words, more than I could ever put into one article. |
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Foreigners who own homes
may get temporary residency |
By Chrissie Long
Tico Times Staff | clong@ticotimes.net |
When Costa Rica's immigration reforms were approved in August, there was one change that seemed to escape the headlines of local newspapers and media reports.
Nevertheless, it could be the most significant reform for foreigners.
Under the new law, non-residents who own more than $200,000 in property can apply for temporary residency as an investor, allowing them to take advantage of the country's public health care system along with other services not available to them as tourists. The clause is expected to take effect March 1, 2010.
For Michael Newhouse, an agen t with GoDutch Realty, this could be a key to jumpstarting the country's flagging real estate market.
The market has been so down, said Newhouse, who has worked as a realtor here for four years. But maybe this will be an incentive for people to buy.
According to Newhouse, property owners in Costa Rica have not reduced their sale prices, despite the worldwide recession. Neither have many people defaulted on mortgages, which is a major factor in driving down home prices in the United States.
Unlike the United States and some European countries, where the governments have introduced homebuyer programs to stimulate the market, Costa Rica has seen no such programs.
Instead of people coming to Costa Rica to buy a home, many are finding better deals in places like Phoenix, Arizona, Newhouse said, expressing optimism that this reform could turn things around.
We hope this will be an incentive for people to spend over $200,000, he added.
The opportunity to become a temporary resident through owning a home doesn't just apply to new buyers, according to the communications office of the Immigration Administration. Current homeowners can also take advantage of the change.
Temporary residency lasts one year and is renewable. After five years, residency can be renewed every two years.
Other reforms to the immigration law include higher fines for undocumented foreigners, the ability to apply for residency entirely within Costa Rica and the opportunity to renew a tourist visa without leaving the country.
Temporary residence for investors
is applicable to those who can prove: |
Investments equal to or above U.S. $200,000, according to the official exchange rate determined by the Central Bank of Costa Rica, whether in real estate, shares, stocks or in projects of national interest. For renewal of immigration status, a person needs to prove that the investment is properly registered and taxed.
Source: Memorandum from the Immigration Administration |
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Costa Rican police seize
thousands of stolen turtle eggs |
By Mike McDonald
Tico Times Staff | mmcdonald@ticotimes.net |
Police in the Caribbean province of Limón confiscated approximately 16,000 turtle eggs from a private plot of land near the port of Moín Wednesday morning, officials from the local Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) confirmed.
OIJ officials entered the property and found 11 sacks full of green sea turtle eggs which they believe were poached from an estimated 140 spawning turtles.
Police detained the suspect and charged him with violating the Law for the Protection, Conservation and Recuperation of the Marine Turtle Population.
The law was established in 2002 to help protect a declining marine turtle population worldwide, and prohibits the removal of turtle eggs from nests along Limón's beaches.
But Caribbean coast dwellers have traditionally used turtles as an aspect of their culture.
Turtle meat is often used as an ingredient in soup, and turtle shells are a favorite jewelry making material.
Since the law passed, a black market for turtle eggs has sprouted.
Poachers take the eggs from the beach and sell them whole or wait until the turtle hatches and sell the reptiles as pets. Turtle meat can be sold for up to ₡ 5,000 ($8.54) per pound.
In Caribbean folklore, turtle eggs are considered an aphrodisiac and some even eat the eggs raw.
Officials are not sure what the intent was for the almost 16,000 eggs they found on Wednesday, nor if any turtles are still salvageable. Juan Carlos Vargas, a biologist for the National Coast Guard, told the daily La Nación that some of the eggs were growing mold and fungus, an indicator that they had been in the bags for at least 10 days.
He said the Coast Guard is building artificial nests, similar to natural ones, to see if any turtles hatch. They will have to wait 55 days to see if any baby turtles are born.
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| Gas prices to drop back down |
By Adam Williams
Tico Times Staff | awilliams@ticotimes.net |
Costa Rica's gas prices will decrease next week after going up a month ago. Beginning next Thursday, Oct. 8, prices will fall ₡ 26 for super, ₡ 24 regular and ₡ 22 for diesel.
Despite the up and down, this will be the fifth time this year gas prices are reduced.
Prices of gasoline are adjusted once a month and vary according to the price of petroleum products in international markets. According to the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP), the period of Aug. 27 to Sept. 10 saw a decrease in the international costs to produce hydrocarbons, which prompted the discounted rates.
The approved price reductions are:
(Colones per Liter) |
| PRODUCTS |
Current
price |
Approved
price |
Difference
₡ |
| Super |
601,00 |
575,00 |
-26.00 |
| Regular |
582,00 |
558,00 |
-24.00 |
| Diesel |
506,00 |
484,00 |
-22.00 |
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| Arias seeks help in closing deficit |
By Chrissie Long
Tico Times Staff | clong@ticotimes.net |
Almost $770 million short of meeting this year's budget, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has asked the Legislative Assembly to approve an extraordinary appropriation to allow the country to go into debt to close the gap.
But some legislators have been resistant, criticizing the government for extravagant spending and immoral decisions.
According to Rodrigo Arias, the president's brother and closest advisor, the economic recession has caused Costa Rica to lose 17.5 percent of its tax revenues. This translates to a nearly $900 million loss.
This is what is happening all over the world, Arias said at a press conference Wednesday, saying the management of funds in Costa Rica has been conservative compared to (other countries).
The Arias administration has given legislators one month to approve the allocation, saying that if no action is taken, the money will automatically be appropriated.
The only risk is if the legislature votes against it, he said, adding that he is confident that won't happen.
The deficit made headlines this week when Treasury Minister Jenny Philips reportedly said that public employees may not get their end-of-year aguinaldos (bonuses) this year because the government doesn't have enough funds to write those checks.
In response, Arias said he doesn't want to cause alarm. He added that government workers will receive the bonuses if the Legislative Assembly carries through with appropriations.
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An Insult Index: How Ticos Berate Each Other |
I didn't mean to do it, honestly. My intention was to publish a list of offensive words and expressions to be wary of, as well as a list of gracious words and expressions, good for everyday use. Clearly, I was deluded. I discovered hundreds of offensive words, more than I could ever put into one article.
As a result, the following is a list of some of the many ways Ticos have of berating each other though I have left out the X-rated stuff. Note that these words vary from one Latin American country to another, and what may be relatively harmless here might be an F word elsewhere, and vice versa.
The verb joder, for example, is extremely vulgar in some countries but relatively mild in Costa Rica, where it means to bother or to bug. From it comes the past participle jodido/a, meaning messed up or perhaps screwed:
¡No jodas! (Don't bother [me]! Stop messing around!)
Mi carro está jodido. (My car is screwed up.)
Fregar actually means to rub or to scrub, but it has a similar meaning to joder, only a bit milder. From it come the words fregado/a and fregadura. Costa Ricans tend to use fregado/a but not the other forms. They also use it to indicate illness:
¡Qué fregadura! (What a disaster!)
Estoy fregado. (I feel lousy.)
Other verb offensives include:
¡Cállate! (Shut up!)
¡Cierra el hocico! (Shut your muzzle!)
¡Maldito/a sea! (Damn it!)
¡Vete al diablo! (Go to hell!)
¡Vete pa'l carajo! (Go to hell!)
¿Qué diablos te pasa? (What the hell is wrong with you?)
Dar asco a (to be disgusting to), e.g., ¡Me das asco! (You disgust me!)
No poder ver a (literally, to not be able to see; to be unable to stand), e.g., Aquella mujer, ¡no la puedo ver! (That woman, I can't stand her!)
Quedar mal a (to let down, to come out looking bad), e.g., El quedó mal a Maritza. (He let Maritza down.)
Verbs aside, most insults take the form of nouns and adjectives. Hoping no one will use them irresponsibly, here are just some of the nasty names and expressions in use. Many can be used as either nouns (n) or adjectives (adj). Some may be used as exclamations (excl). Remember that to use an adjective or noun to describe someone in Spanish, it is first necessary to decide whether you should use ser or estar, that is, whether or not it is an innate characteristic or a product of circumstances:
¡Estás salado! (You're out of luck!)
Eres salado. (You're an unlucky person.)
Note also that the translation of these offenses is approximate. There does not exist a one-on-one relationship to English insults.
agüevado/a (adj) bummed out
agüevazón (n) a drag
asqueroso/a (adj) disgusting
bocón/a (n, adj) big/blabbermouth
bravo/a (adj) fierce, angry
bruto/a (n, adj) brute, stupid
cabrón/a (n) (literally, big goat) bastard, SOB (extremely vulgar)
car'e'barro (n) mud-face
chanchada (n) something disgusting
chancho/a (n) pig, slob
chiflado/a (n, adj) crazy, nuts
chiva (adj) (literally, female goat) bad-humored, angry
chivo (n) (literally, male goat) gigolo
chocho/a (n, adj) crazy, messed up
chulo/a (n) ruffian, pimp
chusma (n) riffraff
cochinada (n) something disgusting
cochino/a (n, adj) pig, slob
cursi (n, adj) pretentious, silly
descarado/a (n, adj) insolent, rude
desgraciado/a (n, adj) good-for-nothing
don Nadie (n) (literally, Sir No One) a nobody
fiera (n) hothead
fisgón/a (n, adj) snoop, busybody
furris (adj) horrible, ugly
grosero/a (n, adj) crude, rude
hijo de perra (n) SOB
jueputa (n, excl) (variation of hijo de puta ) SOB
loco de remate (adj) crazy as a loon
majadero/a (n, adj) bossy, demanding, pain in the neck
mala ficha (n) delinquent
mala gente bad person
maldito/a (n, adj) damned
mandinga (n) sissy
menso/a (n, adj) stupid
muerto/a de hambre (n) an opportunist, a person who tries to take everything for himself
mujeriego (n) womanizer
mujerzuela (n) whore, slut
necio/a (n, adj) stupid
pachuco/a (n, adj) street person
patán (n) thug
pendejo/a (n, adj) jerk
perra (n) (female dog) bitch
perro (n) (male dog) womanizer
pillo (n) scoundrel
pinta (n) scoundrel
polada (n) something in bad taste
polo/a (n, adj) uncouth, hick
porquería (n) something disgusting
puta (n, adj) whore, slut
rudo/a (n, adj) coarse
sanguijuela (n) leech
sinvergüenza (n) (literally, without shame) SOB
soberbio/a (n, adj) arrogant
tontería (n) stupid thing
tonto/a (n, adj) stupid
tortero/a (n, adj) goof-up, screw-off
viejo verde (n) dirty old man
yuyo (n) (literally, foot fungus) pain in the neck
zaguate (n) (literally, mongrel) womanizer
zorra (n) (female fox) a fast woman
Some exclamations:
¡Carajo! Damn it!
¡Demonios! Damn it!
¡Diablos! Damn it!
¡Jueputa! Damn it!
¡Maldición! Damn it!
¡Patrañas! BS!
¡Qué asco! How disgusting!
¡Rayos! Damn it!
These are certainly not all of them, but they are enough! Next time, we'll look instead at terms of endearment.
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