From Leader to Common Criminal
Born into politics, Rafael Angel Calderón is the first former president of Costa Rica to spend time in jail, where he will be for the next nine months in preventive detention during the Fiscalía's investigative phase.

My Day Trip to Nicaragua
Many of my friends think I am nuts. And they may be right. Yesterday morning (Sunday) I awoke early as usual and after updating the insidecostarica.com pages, I decided I wasn't going to spend another "usual" Sunday in San José - a walk to downtown with my dogs, some lunch, a little more walking around town, then head home to relax the legs and to bed early. No this Sunday would be different.

Sex or Freedom?
This was to be the topic for a new columnist, who I am still waiting on her submitting her first column.

Advice for Newbies
These last couple of weeks I had the opportunity to meet and mingle with some newcomers to Costa Rica. At the moment they are still 'tourists', with an eye to making Costa Rica their home.

War in Iraq
This past week I have been concentrating on the daily television news about the war in Iraq.  CNN and the local stations are my main source of information, since Amnet is so kind not to have ABC and then only sometimes CBS and NBC.

Anonos (a no no) Bridge
It was built in the 1930’s and served well for so many decades. But, in the last years it began to show it’s age, with the increased traffic as it is one of the two main arteries between San José and Escazú. 

Turbo Taxis
If anyone has taken a taxi in San Jose you've come across a "turbo taxi".
What is a turbo taxi, you ask?

Shopping
Growing up in my adopted land of Canada, one is overwhelmed with the choice of products and the way the customer is treated. You can walk into any large department store and you can find just about anything. And if per chance, you don't, there is another around the corner that will.

Tough Laws on Sex with Minors
In Costa Rica, having sex with a minor is not always punished. The law turns a blind eye to a problem that the government and several child advocate agencies have been telling us for years

Kudos to the Transit Police
Over the last few months I noticed an increased presence of transit police all over the streets of San Jose. Checkpoints at dangerous intersections, radar stations, and pulling over cars without license plates, etc.

Amnet
Two weeks ago I picked on Racsa. This week I will pick on Amnet, their partner in the sham they call service.

Is Cost Rica ready for a Woman president?
Abel Pacheco de la Espriella is the current president of Costa Rica, duly elected to a four-year term in office last April, after a second round vote, a first time occurence in this country. On the same ticket were the names of Lineth Saborio and Luis Fishman as first and second Vice Presidents respectively.

Racsa Claims
That's the headline this week. RACSA (Radiograifca Costarisence S.A.), the state owned monopoly internet service provider in Costa Rica, gave itself a 9 out of 10 on it's performance. Geez. 

Costa Rica you gotta love it!
My latest head 'scratcher' is the current situation at ICE, the local great telephone company that connects us by telephone to the world, through it's subsidiary RACSA, (a story for another day) we can access the internet and the CNFL (power company), let there be light!

Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to one and all and best wishes for a great 2003!
Typically, during holidays and especially the week between Christmas and New Year, San Jose becomes less congested with fewer people and cars, as people head off to the beaches, mountains or wherever.

Picking up your friend at the airport
From time to time we all get visitors and if you are like me, like to greet them at the airport. Last  Monday afternoon my long time friend, and whom I haven't seen in a while, arrived from Canada.

Getting in and around San Jose
One of the most common complaints made by visitors and long term tourists alike is the lack of road signs and street markings. It's true that anyone used to the North American or European way or marking streets with names and each house or building with a number, might find themselves rather confused in the hustle and bustle of the city with almost no signs at all, and where one existed, it is not readable or makes any sense.

Using Public Telephones
Almost every afternoon, I take my break to stroll Avenida Central to make new friends. My goal is to make a new friend every day. I walk up and down the boulevard a couple of times, handing out my business card.

Getting around San Jose by Bus
Traveling by bus around San Jose or Costa Rica for that matter, can be frightening to the newcomer. I usually take the bus daily to get around town, unless I am hurry to a meeting or other and then put my life  in the hands of taxi drivers, a topic for another day.

My Beef with Aerocasillas
Foreigners living in Costa Rica getting mail from the rest of the world is an experience at best and for most of us Aerocasillas is one of the few services available to us