Cattle Fair
Including ranchero festival, 7 p.m.; mountain bike race, Feb. 15, 9 a.m. and concert at 2 p.m., fairground, Pérez Zeledón.

Son de Tikizia and Chocolate in concert
Salsa, 8 p.m., Baalbek Restaurant, San Rafael, Heredia, 2267-6683, 2267-6482.

Son Urbano in concert
Salsa, Feb. 13, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Happy Valentine's Day!  

Middle Eastern dancing and music
Valentine's Day, 2 p.m., gala show, 8 p.m., Aya Sofya, Barrio Escalante, 150 meters north of Bagelmen's, 2224-5050.

Ballad concert
By Escats, 8:30 p.m., El Observatorio, Barrio La California, 2223-0725.

Lubín Barahona in concert
Ballads and salsa, 5 p.m., Plaza de la Democracia.

3rd Perimercados Long-Distance Race
Feb. 15, 9 a.m., leaving from Perimercados at Centro Comercial del Sur, Desamparados, finish line at Terramall, Tres Ríos, registration deadline Feb. 14 at all Perimercados, 2247-2300.

“Piano Malango” concert
By Manuel Obregón, Feb. 15, 3 p.m., Multiplaza del Este, Curridabat. 

See this week's print edition of The Tico Times for a full calendar.

The next games of the 21st annual National Beach Volleyball tournament take place this weekend at Playa Bonita on the Caribbean coast, following the first rounds last weekend at San José's La Sabana Park, which took spectators by surprise with some unexpected upsets.

On the women's side, the Cristal team of Ivette Alas and Marianela Alfaro, who have won the tournament for the past four years, are ranked second to the Ferretería Brenes-Lanco team, Ingrid Morales and Nathalia Alfaro, after a crushing loss last weekend.

The men's favorite was the Cristal team, Marcelo Araya and Zlatko Piskilich, who managed to maintain their top spot in a roundabout way. During the preliminaries, they lost to Festina 2011 and had to play and win two more games to make it back to the final round, where Festina 2011 succumbed to their powerful play.

The games kick off at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and will continue late into the evening. Sunday morning games start at 8 a.m. and finish around 1 p.m.

The competition takes place over the course of four weekends.

Though beach volleyball is certainly not as popular as soccer here, Costa Rican beach volleyball teams are rallying for wider recognition within their own country and beyond. Last year, the men and women's champion teams competed in the Central American Games in Guatemala, and this year's champions will do the same.

“Before this past weekend, it was pretty obvious who the favorites were,” said Esteban Jiménez, vice president of the Beach Volleyball Association. “But after the games, I think the old favorites are not the only favorites anymore.”

The Chilean nongovernmental organization Un Techo Para Mi País (A Roof for My House) plans to return next week to areas damaged by the Jan. 8 earthquake to build temporary wooden houses for the families left homeless.

Un Techo spokesman Iván Víquez said on Thursday that volunteers were signing up for the next operation, set for Wednesday through Sunday, to construct dozens more homes. The exact location hadn't been determined by press time, but Víquez said the building will likely take place in either Poasito or Fraijanes, northwest of San José in the Alajuela province.

Last weekend, about 100 volunteers and area residents built 15 temporary residences in Poasito.

The magnitude 6 quake struck near Poás Volcano, a popular tourist site. The epicenter was located 20 kilometers north of San José. The effects of the earthquake rippled outwards, knocking over homes in its path in Heredia and Alajuela, and killing as many as 30 people. At least 2,200 people were forced to flee damaged villages, sleeping on foam mattresses in makeshift shelters in schools, churches or community halls, or camped out in tents on soccer fields.

Some 385 people remain in shelters after families returned to those homes least damaged, while others have found rentals with help from the state-run Mixed Institute for Social Aid, according to National Emergency Commission spokeswoman Rebeca Madrigal. No families remain in the outdoor campsites, she said, and the people who sought shelter in schools are being moved to other sites as classes start this week.

However, according to Health Minister María Luisa Avila, as many as 650 people could still be in shelters, and the “minority” remains in camping tents.

Madrigal added that Un Techo's project is also important for helping create a home for victims while they wait for more permanent housing.

Víquez said his organization plans to put up more than 200 techos, or roofs, for earthquake victims. Each house costs from $1,600 to $1,800, funds that Un Techo raised through private and state donations.

The NGO has previously built 230 such structures in Costa Rica and some 40,000 more across Latin America.

For more information, visit www.untechoparamipais.org.

Tico Times reporter Leland Baxter-Neal contributed to this story.

Costa Rica and Singapore will begin negotiations in mid-April on a free-trade agreement, a key piece of President Oscar Arias' plan to strengthen economic and diplomatic ties with Asia.

A team from the Foreign Trade Ministry will visit Singapore April 20 to 22, after the second round of trade talks with China April 14 to 17, the ministry announced Thursday in a press release.

Arias, an avid free-trader, has led Costa Rica into free-trade pacts with the United States and Panama, and the country is expended to sign an agreement between Central America and the European Union early next year. Arias recently told the weekly newspaper El Financiero he also hopes to pursue free-trade deals with India and South Korea.

A tiny and densely populated city-state with a largely ethnic Chinese citizenry, Singapore has a per capita income of more than seven times Costa Rica's. Manufacturing and services are the main engines of Singapore's powerhouse economy, according to the U.S. State Department Web site.

Arias announced plans to negotiate a free trade deal with Singapore during a visit there last December. Costa Rica's exports to Singapore last year totaled $31.5 million, while imports totaled $26.4 million.