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Mundoloco Concerts
Features Amarillo Cian y Magenta, Jazz Fusión, Aug. 2, Jazz Café, San Pedro.

Town fairs Honoring La Virgen de Los Angeles
Including rides, food sales, sports and cultural events, July 29-Aug. 8 at the Basilica of Los Angeles, Cartago; July 29-Aug. 8 in Los Angeles, Tilarán, Guanacaste; July 30-Aug. 2 at Elders Home in San José de la Montaña, Heredia; July 30-Aug. 2 including a mariachi serenade, and special mass at Our Lady of The Angeles Church in downtown Heredia.

Pilgrimage to Honor Our Lady of The Angels
Hike, drive, ride, skate to the Basilica of Los Angeles in Cartago, Aug. 1, pilgrims arrive throughout the day and night. Choirs to perform outside the basilica plaza. A special mass is held on Aug. 2 at 9 a.m.

Art Exhibits
By Antonio Mejía and Jorge Araya, Oil paintings, through Aug. 15, Valanti Los Sueños Gallery, Los Sueños, Central Pacific, 2253-1659. Also, visit “Hot Air,” an exhibit by Zulay Soto, Lelio Andrade, and Giro Abreu, through Aug. 20, Olio Pub and Restaurant, Barrio Escalante, 200 m. north of Bagelmens. Info: 2281-0541, 8838-8266.

Even as the Chinese are putting the finishing touches on world class soccer stadium in San José's La Sabana metropolitan park – a gift to the Central American country – Costa Rica is seeking more investment by the Chinese in infrastructure and in clean energy.

On Sunday, during a visit by China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Costa Rica made a pitch to its Asian ally to invest in a $221 million highway that would connect the country's northern plains with the Caribbean port of Limón, among other infrastructure projects.

The plea comes at a time when Costa Rica's highways are crumbling under heavy rains and the weight of years of postponed improvements. Just three days before Jiechi arrived, part of the country's main highway north, which connects the country with the rest of Central America, was closed when part of a bridge over the Rio Seco collapsed (see story, below).

But Costa Rica's foreign minister, René Castro, said the relationship should be a two-way street.

“They also have some ideas for advancement relating to biotechnology, cultural exchanges and sciences that are being developed,” he said, adding that he is looking for “a mature, win-win relationship” between China and Costa Rica in years to come.

Following a working session at the Foreign Ministry's headquarters at the Casa Amarilla, in downtown San José, the two diplomats signed a cooperation agreement, which is expected to bring $6.2 billion in infrastructure improvements to Costa Rica.

Jiechi spent time with President Laura Chinchilla, Vice Presidents Alfio Piva and Luis Liberman, as well as the heads of the Security Ministry, the Foreign Trade Ministry and the Transportation Ministry.

Formal relations between Costa Rica and China began in 2007 during the Oscar Arias administration. In addition to the soccer stadium, China is also investing in the state-owned refinery in Moín and has purchased $300 million in bonds, among other projects.

By 5 a.m. Sunday, there was already a small trickle of marchers making their way through the streets of San José on their way to Cartago.

Within a few hours, the walkers were taking up one lane, and by late morning the trickle had become a flood.

The procession, in which an estimated two million people participated, was largely absent of religious paraphernalia or Catholic ritual. And, except for a handful of people whispering rosaries or walking barefoot – and the huge turnout – it almost could have been any philanthropic walk.

It was only once walkers arrived at the plaza in front of Cartago's Basilica de los Angeles that they swapped water bottles for plastic crucifixes and MP3 players for hymns of the church. At the threshold of the basilica, many fell to their knees and covered the last hundred meters on the ground and in prayer.

“It's gratifying to be here,” said 33-year-old Paula Torres, as she sat with shoes off after making the long walk from Desamparados, south of San José. “Each year, we come to say thanks for a year of good health, work and family.”

The romería has taken place every year for the past 228 years, except for 2009, when it was cancelled due to the H1N1 flu virus.

The pilgrimage is made in honor of a small statue of the Virgin Mary, affectionately called La Negrita, which is said to have miraculous powers. Each year, thousands of Costa Ricans pay homage to this small statue in the hope it will bring health and happiness to their families.

Thirty-seven-year-old Leiner Zuniga, who was massaging his feet on a curb outside the basilica, said he made the journey for the first time because of a promise he had made relating to the health of his father and his eight-year-old son.

“They are doing well and I am here,” said Zuniga, who had walked from San José that morning.

Ana Julia Campos, 41, whose face still glistened with sweat from her trek from Heredia, north of San José, said she made the walk in honor of her mother.

“We came here slowly, but with strength,” she said. “It was painful, but we are here.”

The Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) pledged on Friday to dedicate $33 million to the reconstruction or repair of 29 bridges along the northern portion of the Inter-American highway in Costa Rica. Most of the bridges in need of repair were built between 1944 and 1952.

A portion of the highway was re-opened on Saturday after being closed two days due to reconstruction of a damaged bridge above the Río Seco, in Puntarenas province near the Central Pacific coast.

On Wednesday night, the river destroyed about 25 meters of the bridge. It was swollen due to heavy rains.

The closing of the highway hindered transportation to and from the northwestern Guanacaste region, as well as travel north and south along Central America's most important roadway. Detour times were clocked at nearly five hours, as drivers had to take a winding mountain road between San Ramón and Tilarán, in the northwestern province of Alajuela.

The repairs to the bridge cost MOPT an estimated ₡ 50 million ($97,000). MOPT estimates that 400 trucks, 130 buses and around 4,000 cars travel the Inter-American Highway every day.