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Holy Week: a Brief inside on what Costa Ricans Do

Special activities start on Holy Thursday Night with a mass remembering the Last Super, afterwards people visit “ Los Santos Monumentos,” (stages set in a corner of the temples with scenes of the Bible) until midnight. On Good Friday, processions start between 9-10 a.m. (check schedules with the closest church) with the Stations of the Cross, remembering Jesus Christ's Crucifixion. Most highlighted processions happen in San Joaquín de Flores, east of Heredia province and Tierra Blanca, in Cartago because they have “life characters.” At 3 p.m., Catholic temples hold the “Mass of the Silence,” and a procession with Virgin Mary and John the disciple. By 6 p.m. Catholics celebrate the Holly Burial Procession. On Holy Saturday, priests hold the Easter Mass at night (between 6-8 p.m. depending on the town's church schedule). This mass normally starts with a solemn tone and in the middle of the celebration the sad environment turns to a more vivid ambiance, contributors run set flowers and a clothe in the altar, and music is more joyful. At the end, people shares some coffee, cookies, homemade bread. Some youngsters normally have the traditional “ Quema de Judas,” (Judas' Incineration). That is, they get together with pieces of clothe and make a maniquí, which is burn out on Saturday night.

Except for the religious activities, Central Valley towns become deserted because all business close on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Government offices are already on vacation and will be back on operation on April 5.

Good news is that there is not vehicle plaque restriction March 26-April 4 and it's very nice to drive or hike. Public commuters have to take into account that normally, there are no bus services on Good Friday and bus schedules decrease on those days. It is always good to check with bus companies for their special services on those days.

Beginning today, banks in Costa Rica will no longer accept large, silver-colored ₡ 5, ₡ 10 and ₡ 20 coins. The only place to exchange them for value will be on the first floor of the Central Bank of Costa Rica in downtown San José.

Most merchants stopped accepting the larger coins at the end of December, but commercial banks continued to accept them until March 31 st of this year.

Roughly 40 million of these coins had been collected as of Friday, representing just 19.5 percent of the 205 million in circulation, according to the daily La Nación. The estimated value of the coins remaining in circulation is 1.7 billion colones ($3.2 million).

There was some concern when the original announcement was made that there wouldn't be enough of the smaller ₡ 5, ₡ 10 and ₡ 20 coins to meet demand. As a result, many supermarket chains placed signs by the cash register requesting exact change or the use of debit or credit cards, citing the shortage of the national currency.

In a press release, the Central Banks said it can “ensure there is enough inventory (of coins) to replenish the currencies and meet future demand.”

The Central Bank is preparing to unroll a new ₡ 20,000 bill at the end of June or in July. The bill is in the process of being printed in France and will arrive in the country at the end of the month.

The Eastern discipline of Yoga has made it into nearly every neighborhood, athletic center and wellness clinic over the last two decades, becoming a household word in the West.

But it's taken a little longer for its sister science to travel overseas, and any mention of it in social circles has Americans tripping over its pronunciation: “Ah-yer-vey-duh.”

Recognizing the healing power of the practice, which has served as a parallel medical system in India, Ayurveda may become more familiar in the western hemisphere in part thanks to the efforts of 30-year-old Stanford graduate Celina de Leon. Partnering with doctors, medical practitioners and philanthropists in Costa Rica, she's building the foundation for an Ayurveda clinic near the Central Pacific town of Quepos.

“Everyone in the world can benefit from Ayurveda,” said de Leon, who traveled to India on a Fulbright Scholarship to research the ancient medical practice. “Ayurveda not only targets disease and illness, but it also aids in a positive lifestyle.”

As a means to expand the local knowledge base of the centuries-old system, de Leon has brought Dr. Srinivas Acharya to Costa Rica where he's delivered a series of lectures both in San José and at the Posada Natura Retreat Center in Londres.

The India-based doctor, who serves as director of the International Studies Program at the Ayurved University in Gujurat, said it's only a matter of time before Ayurveda follows in the footsteps of yoga in the western world.

“ India is a country that is self-contained,” said Acharya. “There was never any marketing of yoga abroad. But yoga eventually came out on its own, and I believe Ayurveda will do the same.”

The practice is based on the body's natural power to heal. Combining diet, sleep patterns, meditation, massage and yoga, Ayurveda is a science that seeks to achieve a balanced lifestyle both in mind and in body.

“There are so many methods involved,” Acharya said. “What doctors do is look into a patients' lifestyle and advise them on what they need to adjust.”

Sometimes the advice is to eliminate day napping, other times it's adding different dietary chemicals. Daily meditation, yoga, detoxing and massage therapy are also important components of a prescription.

The plans are to build the clinic at the 2,000-hectare Eco Era Reserve (www.ecoera.org) near Quepos, a refuge established by Gustavo Caldarelli almost twenty years ago.

“I came here to protect the environment,” said Argentinean-born Caldarelli, who's backing de Leon's initiative by incorporating the clinic into the reserve. “But I learned that one way to take care of the environment is to take care of the people.”

The Ayurveda clinic will be a branch of the Sankalpa Institute (www.sankalpainstitute.com) and will treat a combination of local and foreign patients.

Web users are becoming savvier by the day at using so-called social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. However, how much do average Internet surfers know about privacy or copyright law while posting and uploading their content into the social media cyber sphere?

Costa Rica is set to host an international symposium about the rights of social media users from April 28 through 30 at the Colegio de Abogados, which is the nation's equivalent to a North American bar association. The event is being organized by Jurisis, a San José-based law firm that specializes in social responsibility.

According to Jurisis, specialists in information rights from Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Panama and Peru will attend the symposium. Topics to be discussed include information security, rights to privacy, intellectual property rights, consumer protection and other topics that relate to users of social media.

Participants will work to draw up a list of recommendations and, by the end of the symposium, Jurisis expects to produce an “Ibero-American Legal Guide for the Use of Social Networks.”

“The Internet revolution and social networks are redefining the traditional forms of relationships, employment and interaction between citizens of the world,” said Juan Diego Castro, head of Jurisis. “That's why it's necessary for attorneys to analyze the impact on internal order and international law and to make legal proposals that foster the development of rights in the global society.”

Anyone interested in further information about the symposium can contact Jurisis at 2257-5747 by e-mail contacto@jurisis.com, or visit the Web site: http://www.jurisis.com.