Costa Rica Golf Classic
Through Sunday, Reserva Conchal Golf Club, Guanacaste, www.tourdelasamericas.com.

Open-air arts festival
Through Sunday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m., José María Zeledón soccer field, Curridabat, 300 meters north of Ferretería El Mar.

‘The Nutcracker'
Featuring 10 Russian ballet dancers from the Saint Petersburg Classic Ballet Theatre of Marina Medvetskaya, today, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., National Theater, Avenida 2, Calle 3/5, 2221-9417.

Lions Club of Zurquí Christmas Bazaar
Through Sunday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m., high school gymnasium, San Isidro, Heredia.

Concerts at Mexico Institute
Ludmila Darasova and Jorge Villalobos, violin and piano, 7 p.m., Calle 41, Avenida 10, info: 2283-2333.

Malpaís in concert
Costa Rican trova, 7 p.m., Castillo Country Club, San Rafael, Heredia; Saturday, 7 p.m., La Vareda, Terramall, Tres Ríos.

Concerts at Cine Variedades
By Quinto Día, Luisga y Los Ajenos, Diego León, 7:30 p.m., Calle 5, Avenida Central/1, info: 2222-6108.

Amar El Arab in concert
Middle Eastern music and belly dancing, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, info; 2288-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Peregrino Gris in concert
Celtic music, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, info: 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Guanacaste Interschool Surf Tournament
In Tamarindo, register with Fundación Acción Joven at 2271-4407 or 2271-4409 or in person at Blue Trailz Surf Shop on Friday, 2-7 p.m. 

National Surf Circuit
Saturday and Sunday, Jacó; Jan. 10-11, Tamarindo; Feb. 7-8, Nosara; March 7-8, Santa Teresa; May 2-3, Hermosa, www.surfingcr.net.

Festival of Lights
Float parade, bands, 3-10 p.m., Paseo Colón to Avenida 2.

Motocross competition
Racing, food and karaoke, bring a toy for the poor kids of the area, 6 p.m., Parrita, Ferial Camp, route 34, Costanera Sur highway, info: 8825-2313, 8817-2245, 8395-2686.

Son de Tikizia in concert
Salsa, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, info; 2288-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Swing en 4 in concert
Latin jazz, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, info: 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Race/Hike against cancer
Proceeds go to the UCR Health Research Institute stomach cancer, 7 a.m., Papagayo Peninsula. Info: 2696-0500.

Middle Eastern dances
By Danza O Cultural Fusion, featuring performance by Shahrzad Khorsandi Persian folk dancer, Dec. 21, 4 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum. Info: 2296-2022.

‘The Angel of Love Fundraising Christmas Concert'
Hosted by the Little Theatre Group, featuring string quartet El Ebano, performing classical and traditional Christmas music, 2 p.m., in Santa Ana, Casa 76 Restaurant, lunch will be served at noon. Info: 8355-1623, www.littletheatregroup.org.

JetBlue Airways, based in New York City, announced this week it will begin daily flights to Costa Rica from Orlando, Florida, beginning March 26.

The San José destination will be JetBlue's first Central American venture.

The airline company will also start flying to South America, with its first destination Bogota, Colombia, starting Jan. 29, and it will begin flying to Nassau, Bahamas, Feb. 1.

The airline reported it has already begun selling one-way tickets to San José for $99 through Dec. 23, but other fares will start at $139 each way. Flights will depart Orlando ant 10:40 a.m. and arrive in San José at 11:53 a.m.

JetBlue, which flies to more than 50 destinations across the Continental U.S., the Caribbean, and now with stops in Costa Rica and Colombia, is known for offering free TV in each seat as well as free snacks.

Tourism Minister Carlos Benavidez cheered JetBlue's decision. “The U.S. is still our biggest market and the arrival of JetBlue and its new Orlando route opens new possibilities for Americans to visit us and for Costa Ricans to have more options to visit the U.S.”

The Próspero Fernández Highway will close for construction from San José to the southwestern suburb of Escazú from 8 p.m. Saturday to 12 p.m. Sunday, cutting off access to the Tiribí River bridge, according to the Public Works and Transport Ministry.

The road will be blocked at three locations to prevent vehicles' vibrations from impeding the bridge widening work, Transport Minister Karla González said.

The closures will be located in La Sabana Sur district, after the Pavas exit toward Escazú; at the exit to the Circunvalación beltway and just after the Escazú road exit.

Another cold front could hit Costa Rica this weekend, bringing cooler temperatures, high winds and some rain, but nothing like the kind that recently devastated the Caribbean region, according to meteorologist Estefania Jiménez.

Following nearly two weeks of flooding, the government is beginning to take stock of the damage across the Caribbean plains and coast.

Floodwaters have subsided, and all families have left the temporary shelters set up in late November and early December, said Reinaldo Carballo, spokesman for the National Emergency Commission (CNE).

Jorge Sauma, general manager of Costa Rica's National Banana Corp. (CORBANA), said the sector is facing $30 million in losses. Flooding and heavy rain damaged 10,000 hectares (about 24,700 acres) of banana plantations, resulting in the loss of approximately 4 million boxes of bananas, about 5 percent of annual production, Sauma said.

See today's print or digital edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

In a visit to Costa Rica yesterday, International Monetary Fund director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the fund would grant as much credit to Costa Rica as the country needs to weather a global financial crisis.

While Strauss-Kahn said Costa Rica's economy is sound and does not yet need help, he said the fund would open a credit line for Costa Rica in 2009 if slowed foreign investment leads to a shortage of dollars and puts pressure on the colón's value. He added that no country will escape the financial crisis, which he said would worsen next year.

“You may be the best driver in the country, but if other drivers on the road are not good, you may have an accident, ” he said. “And that's why you need insurance. For the insurer – and I am the insurer – it's much better to insure good drivers than bad drivers.

Strauss-Kahn discussed the possible credit in a meeting yesterday with President Oscar Arias, Central Bank President Francisco de Paula Gutiérrez and Finance Minister Guillermo Zúñiga.

“What we have discussed with the Central Bank and the government is that if they need something, they will have enough, ” Strauss-Kahn said.

Costa Rica has negotiated $500 million credit lines from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, Zúñiga said.

For now, he said, Costa Rica's problems – a slowdown in economic activity, a liquidity crunch and a dip in employment – are not as serious as what other countries are facing.

“What will happen in two, or four or six months? We don't know,” he said. “It's good to be prepared.”