San Luis Tango Company
Tango Show, Aug. 15, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro.

Alvaro Torres in Concert
Ballads, in honor of Mother's Day, on Aug. 14, 8 p.m., Castillo Country Club, San Rafael, Heredia; Aug. 15, 8 p.m., Salón El Lago, Grecia, Alajuela.

19th Credomatic Music Festival
Free Concerts: organist Benjamin Righetti (Switzerland), Aug. 14, 8 p.m., Iglesia de Las Mercedes, Grecia; organist Heribert Breuer (Germany), Aug. 15, 2 p.m., Metropolitan Cathedral; Heredia Symphony Band, Aug. 16, noon, Morazán Park, San José; organist Benjamin Righetti, Aug. 16, 2 p.m., Metropolitan Cathedral.

Aurola Holiday Inn (San José): Merlin Ensemble Vienna, Aug. 14, 8 p.m.

National Theater: Yann Levionnois (France), cello, Aug. 14, 8 p.m.; Heredia Symphony Orchestra, Aug. 15, 8 p.m.

Reserva Conchal (Playa Conchal, Guanacaste): Bolshoi Theater Quartet, Aug. 15, 5:30 p.m.

Montaña de Fuego Hotel (Arenal): Anatoli and Tali Panchoshny, Aug. 16, noon.

Concert and Workshop for Kids
Aug. 15, 10 a.m., Spanish Cultural Center.

La Mákina in Concert
Merengue, Aug. 14, Centro Turístico Yacaray, La Cuesta, Corredores, Puntarenas; Aug. 15, Club Amigos, San Ramón, Alajuela; Aug. 16, Centro Turístico Marita, San Blas de Carillo, Guanacaste; Aug. 17, Salón Birrisito, Paraíso, Cartago.

Play “La Romería”
Drama, Fri..-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m., Teatro Universitario, Saprissa Building, San Pedro de Montes de Oca. Info: 2511-6722.

Play “Islas de porfiado amor”
Written by Juan Radrigán (Chile), performed by Grupo Bonus Teatro, through Sept. 13, 8 p.m., Teatro Oscar Fessler (Taller Nacional de Teatro), Barrio Escalante, 2221-1273.

Salsa Battle
By La Solución and Orquesta Son Mayor, Aug. 16, 8 p.m. (with contests included 6-8 p.m.), Club La Gloria, Barrio San José, Alajuela.

Ecological Hike at Shkuk
10 km. (6 hours approximately), Aug. 16, leaving at 7 a.m. from the San Antonio de Escazú bus station, 75 m. north of San Juan de Diós Hospital. Call Luís Boza, 8306-6354, 2223-3186.

INBioparque (Santo Domingo de Heredia): Bolshoi Theater Quartet, Aug. 16, 5 p.m.

Held back by an initial rejection of a convoy of peacemaking foreign ministers, the Organization of American States (OAS) is regrouping to send the same representatives to Honduras on Monday.

The group will enter Honduras with the mission of passing the San José Agreement, an accord drafted during peace negotiations in Costa Rica.

Since President Manuel Zelaya was ousted on June 28, Honduras has been choked off from the rest of the world through trade embargoes and has faced reductions in foreign aid.

Roberto Micheletti, who is serving as de facto president until the November elections and has thus far been amiable to dialogue, told the OAS that he wouldn't accept the delegation because it included OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, whom he claimed is biased.

He welcomed representatives from Costa Rica, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Argentina and the Dominican Republic but turned them away because of Insulza's presence.

The delegation was intended to serve as a follow-up to a mediation process that has since gone sour. Since Zelaya was ousted more than 40 days ago, international pressure has not resulted in Zelaya's return to power and the de facto government has refused to allow him back into the country.

In a press release on Tuesday, Insulza insisted that he would accompany the delegation.

“The OAS Secretary General is mandated by the General Assembly to carry out the steps that are necessary,” Insulza said, adding that the assembly urged the secretary general “along with representatives from several designated countries, to intensify all efforts to promote diplomatic initiatives” in the search for a solution for the conflict in Honduras.

Representatives of the de facto government said they would accept Insulza, as long as he does not participate in negotiations, a pre-condition to which Insulza has agreed.

Following a meeting with representatives of the de facto government on Thursday, Insulza said, “We had a very long, very interesting and, I think, constructive conversation. I hope this will benefit the mission going to Honduras soon.”

In the meantime, thousands of Zelaya supporters continue demonstrations in the streets of Tegucigalpa in shows of solidarity with the deposed president.

The first ecologically friendly McDonald's Restaurant in Central America opened last week in Lindora, Santa Ana.

This McDonald's, a $2 million investment, is designed to improve energy efficiency and conservation, according to a statement from the company. Also, it said, sustainable practices to limit waste and conserve water and electricity will be incorporated.

From the exterior, the most distinguishing alteration to the eco-friendly restaurant is the “green roof,” which hosts a small garden of native grasses and a gavace plants sprouting atop the roof. According to McDonald's management, water accumulated on the roof is routed through a cleaning tank and purified so that it can be reused.

“When it rains, there is a drainage system on the roof that sends the water to a nearby tank,” said Diego Landero, general manager of the McDonald's in Santa Ana. “The water is cleaned, and we can reuse it to mop the floors or clean the windows.”

The “green roof” also is used to cool the interior of the restaurant by using recycled panels to reflect the sun's rays.

The eco-McDonald's also has several large windows with polarized films that reflect sunlight and reduce the amount of it entering the restaurant, lowering the temperature inside.

Other conservation efforts include the use of fluorescent light bulbs, an “intelligent” lighting system that adjusts interior light levels in response to the amount of light entering the building and a recycling system set up through the municipality of Santa Ana.

The ecological McDonald's is the first in Central America and the third in the world. The other two are in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Chicago, Illinois in the United States. Currently, none of these restaurants are certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Landero said that, after a month or two of operation, the restaurant will be inspected to determine if it meets USBGC standards. If the McDonald's does meet the requirements, it will be awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. At that time, will become the first official ecological McDonald's in Central America.

Despite the aesthetic alterations to the building design, visitors will find the usual McDonald's menu and packaging.

Six weeks ago, political and religious refugees from Africa walked up a white sand beach on the Costa Rican Caribbean coast after being abandoned by a team of “coyotes,” or smugglers of human beings.

The 41 men and women – who were pilots, educators, businessmen and scientists in their home countries – were now homeless and helpless.

They'd been stripped of any money they had accumulated and were entirely at the mercy of the people they met in this new country, but their hopes were high as Costa Rica promised new opportunities and freedom.

Yet, today, they sleep at a detention center on the southern fringes of San José, facing the very thing they came here to escape.

“We left our countries expecting freedom,” said 34-year-old Dawit Kibreab, an archaeologist and citizen of the tiny north African country of Eritrea. “But – to us – this feels like prison. We never expected to be staying in a place like this.”

Kibreab, along with the 40 others who came with him, is awaiting trial set for two weeks from now, riding out the downtime on the assurances of pro bono lawyers who tell them they will be granted refugee status.

“Maybe people think we are criminals,” said Kibreab, speaking in fluent English from a conference room at the detention center. “We are not. We are professionals who lost much of what we had, and now we are trying to get it back.”

For more on this story, see the Aug. 14 edition of The Tico Times