Not even the rains that have started (finally) this year seem to be enough to wash away the urine you see on the sidewalks of San José. Stained walls, that telltale smell, and sometimes the culprit unashamedly making eye contact after he finishes. San José has so far been unable to offer any response to this bane of pedestrians but a group in Germany has found a way to fight back.
A highlight of the shnit International Shortfilmfestival was the "Made in Costa Rica" competition on Oct. 9, which generated a huge line outside the Cine Magaly in eastern San José as people eagerly waited to watch Costa Rican entries.
More than 200 young volunteers spread out across San José on Saturday, offering food, clothes, haircuts, shaves and checkups to the homeless josefinos they encountered along the way.
Costa Ricans, looking down the street to see their bus approaching, might say, “Allí viene la nave” – “there comes my boat.” The first time I heard my husband say this, years ago, I was charmed, and I have thought of the city’s buses that way ever since.
The flood on Second Avenue in front of Barrio Chino’s iconic friendship trapped taxis and buses as water lapped at the fenders of smaller cars. Business owners tried in vain to bail out their shops or construct makeshift walls to keep the water out.
At the Planet, People, Peace conference on sustainable tourism Thursday in San Jose, speakers addressed how to turn tourism into something that does more good than harm.
Costa Rican architect Julián Mora became not only another tenant of the El Steinvorth building, but also the man at the helm of the restoration of the building itself, an effort that eventually drew government attention and resulted in a major overhaul.
