I love a lot of things about the Costa Ricans, but one of my favorites is their overwhelming optimism when it comes to football (soccer to you heathens up North). On June 9, 2006 (my sister’s birthday BTW if you want to send me a gift of money that I PROMISE I will forward to her), Costa Rica faces Germany in the opening round of the World Cup.
4 AM and the morning birds awaken. I call them that as I have no idea what they are named… but they make very special these early mornings in Costa Rica.
A member of the Ugandan parliament has pledged to reward girls for their chastity by paying their university fees if they are virgins when they leave high school.
Bbaale County MP Sulaiman Madada said any girl in his district who wanted to take part in the scheme aimed at promoting girls’ education would be given a gynecological examination by health workers to check they were virgins.
Probably don’t have a Ugandan Civil Liberties Group there huh?
The orginal article is here Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.com but they don;t leave them up for long.
Oh… and The MP did not extend his offer to young men… apparently because he was unwilling to accept a boy’s word that he was, in fact, a virgin. Whatta surprise!
I am SO PO’d and I am really getting tired of the street crime in San José.
Yesterday morning, my wife had a meeting at the CAJA (equivalent to the US Social Security). It was a business meeting with a bunch of big shots, so she dressed to the nines, including the new earrings I gave her last month.
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In teaching my son’s Costa Rican girlfriend how to prepare a Christmas turkey (with sage and onion dressing!) and how terribly important it is to use care in the preparation of these foods and to be especially careful of things like botulism, salmonella, athlete’s foot, and Chlamydia, I managed to poison myself (food wise) which is why I have not been writing. The good thing is that they have TV in hospitals, the IV thingy is pretty portable, and you can watch the bullfights between the bouts vomiting and diarrhea!
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I believe Jeanette (see The Players) has lost her mind. Maybe it is because she is six months pregnant, but regardless, she is clearly playing with a few cards short of a full deck. She has become forgetful and is acting really weird! She tells me we don’t have things (like cat food, etc.) when they are right in front of her. She leaves stuff all over the house… like cleaning materials, clothes. No big deal.
Yesterday though, she really did it!
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…and ML is like a little kid!
I spent a day or two last week running around San Jose testing the new and improved GSM phone system here in Costa Rica. but my REAL job was to find someone to make new furniture for our patio. Spanish lesson! Actually, patio in Spanish means the yard and the patio is called the terraza. So, to be correct… we wanted new stuff for the terraza!
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ML wanted to play the lottery… the “Big One” known as the el Gordo Navideño or just el gordo. Gordo is the Spanish word for fat and this lottery with a potential win of ¢350.000.000 (a bit over $700,000.00) is a big deal here. Gordo or more accurately “mi gordito lindo” is also one of the 47 pets names Maria uses daily to describe ME.
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I think the movie was My Big Fat Greek Wedding… not sure. The bride’s father kept handy a bottle of Windex that he used for just about anything from pimples to plumbing repairs. I suppose he also used it for windows. At various times, he sprayed just about everyone… or threatened to. Duct tape has the same reputation for many people.
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Costa Rica has been disputing Nicaragua’s refusal to allow Costa Rica police patrol boats to carry weapons on the San Juan river. I guess they are fearful that our staunch Fuerza Publica will cross the river and attack their country. I am not sure 1. who would really WANT Nicaragua, and 2. if our staunch Fuerza Publica could actually pull it off as they have a tough enough time dealing with pickpockets and petty crime in San Jose. The idea of our boys in blue actually facing an army (yes, Nicaragua has one), with REAL weapons might be mildly amusing as THAT battle might last no longer than 4 minutes, which thankfully is sufficient time to call George Bush. (more…)
