Son de Tikizia in concert
Salsa, Nov. 27, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Cine-Forum ‘La Escafandra y la Mariposa'
Organizad by Carpe Diem Group, Nov. 27, 6 p.m., Escuela Miguel Obregón, Alajuela.

Costa Rican Afro-Descendant Youth Encounter
Nov. 27-29, Tortuguero, Limón, registration at Juventud@proyectocaribe.org, or 8345-5693, 8888-7416.

Book swap
Through Nov. 28, Spanish Cultural Center.

The National Symphony Orchestra in concert
Nov. 27, 8 p.m.; Nov. 29, 10:30 a.m., National Theater.

Café Choral Choir in concert
Nov. 28, 7 p.m., Escuela Central de Atenas, Atenas, Alajuela.

Malpaís in concert
Trova, Nov. 28, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Hike for the Family and Life
Nov. 28, from Paseo Colón to Plaza de la Democracia.

International Storytelling Festival
With artists from Spain, Colombia, Cuba and Mexico, through Nov. 28, at Centro Alajuelense de la Cultura, Teatro Municipal de Alajuela, Juan Santamaría Museum, Escuela Central de Atenas. All shows, 7 p.m.

National Youth Symphony Orchestra
Nov. 28, 8 p.m., National Theater.

Juan Gabriel in concert
Well-known Mexican singer, ballads, ranchero, Nov. 28, 8 p.m., Saprissa Stadium, Tibás, www.todoticketcr.com.

Dance show: ‘Raíces Caminos y Encuentros'
Dance show including flamenco, tango, contemporary dance, African dances and belly dance show, Nov. 29, 8 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum.

Mountain Duathlon Final
With competitors from Europe and the American continent, 10 km. Cross country race and 27 km. Mountain Bike, further detail at www.multireto.com.

Oxcart Parade
Nov. 29, 9 a.m., from Paseo Colón along Avenida Central, San José.

“Punto de Contacto”
Dance show, Nov. 27-28, 8 p.m.; Nov. 29, 5 p.m., Teatro de la Danza, CENAC.

Festival Herediano de la Cultura Japonesa
Including tournaments, food, anime, Nov. 29, Samuel Sáenz Flores High School, 200 m. north of Hipermás, San Francisco, Heredia, www.gruporyu.com.

Race and hike ‘for you and your dog'
Hike (2 km) for small breeds, race (4 km) medium and large breeds, though they can also do the hike. Owners must show a veterinarian certificate, Nov. 29, 8:30 a.m., La Sabana Park. Info: 8354-8668, 8378-5987, un.paso.mas@hotmail.com.

Boston Scientific, a top-tier producer of medical devices, has announced it will shutter its plant in Miami, Florida, and move operations to Costa Rica.

“As we recently informed our employees, we have decided to close our Miami manufacturing facility, which we expect to occur by the end of 2011,” Boston Scientific said in a statement e-mailed to The Tico Times.

“This decision was made as part of our previously announced strategy to reduce complexity and improve efficiencies across our global manufacturing network. Most of the products manufactured in Miami will be transferred to Boston Scientific's facilities in Costa Rica,” the statement said.

The move by Boston Scientific – headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts – comes with plans to double its original 2004 investment in Costa Rica. The medical device maker employs 1,700 workers here and expects to see twice that amount in the next two years, according to Jorge Perera, vice president of the company's Costa Rica operations (see Medical Manufacturer Expands Operations).

The company has nearly 29,000 employees worldwide, with 15,000 different products made in 26 plants worldwide.

The news of the Miami closure comes after a series of moves in which U.S. workers' loss translates into Costa Rica's gain.

Amway Global, a multi-level marketing group recently announced plans to transfer 93 positions from its corporate office in Ada, Michigan to Costa Rica.

Back in April, Firestone opened a new air springs plant in Turrialba, a Caribbean slope town east of San José, after shedding jobs in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Daniel Shea contributed to this report.

Costa Rica's famous festivals of Palmares hinge this year on the possible resurgence of the H1N1 flu virus.

Expecting a second wave to surface in Costa Rica in January or February, health officials are not making any promises about the crowded festivities of Palmares.

Already they cancelled the annual march to Cartago in July, concerned that it would be a feeding ground for the worldwide pandemic. And the open-air, late-January party of concerts and amusement rides that draws thousands to Palmares, a coffee town in the Alajuela province about 45 minutes drive northwest from San José, may be no exception.

The flu virus has remained relatively dormant since the first wave in August, but the country was awakened last week with the news that two more people died.

A 30-year-old and 51-year-old, both natives of Nicaragua, died of complications resulting from the flu virus, bringing the death toll in Costa Rica up to 40.

“This was not the second wave,” Deputy Health Minister Ana Morice told The Tico Times. “The virus still exists here, but there hasn't been a significant increase in cases.

“The two women who past away did so because they consulted medical help too late,” she continued. “They both had advanced cases, and thus died shortly after they arrived. There wasn't much we could do.”

Morice expects a preliminary shipment of vaccines to arrive in Costa Rica in mid-December. First, authorities will distribute the medication to health workers and emergency personnel, and later to the public, beginning with people who exhibit high risk factors such as asthma, obesity and lung complications.

On Nov. 12, the exchange rate hit its low for the year, as the buy value for $1 fell to ₡ 553.34 and the sell value to ₡ 563.58. The annual low meant the exchange rate has dropped by more than ₡ 30 per dollar since Sept. 17, when it reached a peak buy value of ₡ 585.90 and sell value at ₡ 595.37.

What do these numbers mean?

According to Ana Doyamam, of the financial consulting firm Aldesa, much of the dramatic fluctuation seen in the exchange rate is driven by the purchase of colones to pay taxes and aguinaldos, a Christmas bonus payment entitled to Costa Rican workers that usually amounts to about one-month's pay.

“There are two elements that alter the exchange rate from around Nov. 15 until the early part of December,” Doyama said. “One is the payment of taxes. Companies pay taxes with colones, so they exchange dollars to acquire colones. The other element is the payment of aguinaldos. In the same manner that companies have to exchange dollars for colones to pay taxes, they have to do the same for aguinaldos.”

Fluctuations in the exchange rate stem from the demand for a specific currency. As the demand for the colón rises, the exchange rate dips, as colones increase in value. This seems to be the growing trend for this time of year in Costa Rica, as the exchange rate value plummeted to its lowest value in 2008 at the beginning of December.

The exchange rate dip is welcomed at this time of year, as holiday purchases rise; though, according to Doyama, after taxes and aguinaldos have been paid, the exchange rate should gradually increase to the prior levels.

In a much-awaited move, Honduras' Supreme Court said Thursday that legislators should vote against reinstating Manuel Zelaya as president, six days before Congress is scheduled to make a final verdict and only three days ahead of the country's controversial presidential elections.

A Supreme Court spokesman told the newswire EFE that 14 out of 15 magistrates voted for that opinion.

The court's nonbinding decision is one of the points outlined in the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord, a roadmap toward a government of unity and national reconciliation that was hoped would end the country's political crisis. The next step of the accord says lawmakers will vote on the court's opinion, which has been scheduled for Dec. 2.

Hondurans will go to the polls Sunday in a vote that leads to an uncertain future for the country.

See The Nica Times for more on Honduras.