Art exhibits
National Gallery features several exhibits by international artists, such Christine LoFaso and William Fields (photography), Katie Kahn (drawings), Mike Knierim (mixed media installation), Karen Brown (drawings), Jean Marie Casbarian (installation), and Gail Roberts (oils) all are open to the public through Jan. 29, at the Children's Museum, end of Avenida 4.

Dance classes
Hip-hop, ballet, jazz, all levels and ages, Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-noon, 1-4 p.m.; Sat., 8 a.m.-1 p.m., Margarita Esquivel Program, UNA, Heredia, 2277-3529, 2277-3097.

Infibeats in concert
Reggae, ska, funk, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Guitar concert
Escuela Superior de Guitarra teachers, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, 2288-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Costa Rica ended 2008 with an inflation rate of 13.9 percent, significantly more than 2007's 10.81 percent inflation, the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) reports.

Bucking an almost yearlong trend, however, December's price index dipped 0.42 percent below November's, owing to several drops in fuel costs.

All told, food and non-alcoholic beverages were the main drivers behind 2008's inflation, registering prices 22.8 percent over those registered in 2007.

Inflation for the year settled just a hair below the Central Bank's prediction in August that inflation would reach 14 percent.

Despite widespread frustrations over Costa Rica's new traffic law, which cracks down on drunken driving, at least one entrepreneur is making the best of the situation.

To reverse reduced business at his bar, Alfredo Sánchez, owner of El Itabo in San Miguel de Santo Domingo de Heredia, north of San José, is arranging rides home for his customers and has started a food and drink delivery service.

Oscar Aguilar, manager of the National Liquor Factory, told the daily Al Día that alcohol sales at liquor stores and supermarkets have gone up since Jan. 1, but Sánchez says business at his bar has gone down.

Sánchez assumes this is due to the more severe traffic law that took effect on Dec. 23 and carries heavy penalties for people who drive while under the influence of alcohol.

Sánchez, 52, who has owned El Itabo for the past four years, says modifying his business plan is necessary because 40 percent of his revenue depends on beer and liquor sales, and the other 60 percent is food.

He lives in the area with his wife and children, and though he agrees that the laws were put in place for the safety of everyone, it's still not easy to deal with the change.

“How am I even supposed to keep my house without the business I had?” says Sánchez. “It's hard. We had to start the delivery system just so that I can sustain the bar.”

Sánchez is offering to deliver a large menu of food and full alcohol bottles. He is also offering the services of some friends who are willing to drive locals to and from the bar for a reasonable price, and if someone agrees to be a designated driver for a group, they are entitled to a free beverage and appetizer.

Following a final game-plan meeting among opposition party lawmakers yesterday afternoon, the stage has been set for the first political showdown of 2009 when the National Assembly reconvenes Friday morning to elect its new congressional directorate – a leadership role that will be hotly disputed between Sandinista and Liberal lawmakers.

Determined not to cede more government power to President Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista Front (FSLN), which controls three of the four branches of government, opposition lawmakers are attempting to band together to claim the presidency of the assembly directorate and a majority of the seven seats. The directorate is charged with calling sessions and setting the legislative agenda for the year.

For the past two years, the directorate has been controlled by Sandinista lawmaker René Núñez, who will be up for re-election, despite a previous power-sharing agreement to alternate the president's seat between Liberal and Sandinista lawmakers.

The Liberals, meanwhile, are expected to counter with a proposal that the directorate be headed by renegade Liberal lawmaker Eliseo Núñez Sr., head of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance.

Though Núñez is a tentative ally of the Sandinista Front, the Liberals are apparently gambling that they can win him back over to their side of the aisle by supporting him for the presidency of the directorate. Some lawmakers, such as the Liberal Party's Wilfredo Navarro, think Núñez is too risky of a gamble and has proposed himself as an alternative candidate for the presidency.

Meanwhile, the Sandinista social and labor bases, headed by the National Workers' Front (FNT), will take advantage of the National Assembly's internal election Friday to organize the first protest march of the year. The march on the National Assembly is to “fight against the neoliberal system,” a system FNT claims the opposition groups represent, according to FNT head and Sandinista lawmaker Gustavo Porras.