"Pura Vida" in Costa Rica

Anyone writing about Costa Rica has to try to explain pura vida.  The problem is, it's untranslatable. It would seem to mean "pure life," or more broadly, "enjoy life."  A better approximation is "appreciate life." The reason the phrase is important is that it is a unifying principle for the people of Costa Rica, who call themselves Ticos.

Think of the moment on Thanksgiving Day, right before you start to eat, when you focus on what you have to be grateful for. Family. Friends. Life itself.   The chance to do things you enjoy. It is a moment of pura vida.  Now imagine living almost every day pura vida.

Pura vida smooths human relations with clients and strangers, as well as with family and friends. A nice response to gracias in Costa Rica is simply pura vida.

The words don't always have to be said -- just lived. Here's an example of an experience in the town of La Fortuna, which was named for having been lucky enough to have survived a volcanic eruption from Mount Arenal...  On one edge of the town square there is a small shop that sells ice cream and chocolates -- a good combination anywhere. Slava and I went inside to get some ice cream. My husband is loyal to vanilla, and to his distress he saw that the carton  for vanilla was empty. The guy behind the counter saw that vanilla-with-chips, or vanilla-with-nuts wouldn't do, so he offered to scrape whatever he could from the carton -- and wouldn't charge for the cone. Slava ended up with a satisfying tower of his favorite flavor.  He didn't pay the man directly, but he made a donation to the charity box on the counter set to benefit poor children in the area. In response to the shopkeeper's generosity Slava was moved to participate in pura vida. I can tell you that the shopkeeper was pleased.

After the morning visit to the ice cream shop we strolled down the street to scope out the place we expected to have dinner that night. It was a Costa Rican soda, a common kind of inexpensive eatery that is set up with tables and chairs under the protection of a roof, but without the frivolity of walls.  Well, Soda Vaquez turned out to be a good place for casado, a typical Costa Rican dinner. (According to the helpful website Wikipedia, casado means "married man" and may refer to the homestyle eating of a married man -- rice and beans, plantains, salad, tortilla, and maybe some meat.  Or it may refer to rice-and-beans, a joined dish that is essential to casado.) 

As we were perusing the menu at Soda Vaquez and talking with the proprietor, she asked our names. Chatty and friendly. But we were startled when we came back that evening, and from the back of the place the proprietor called out when she saw us, "Slava!  Shirley!" The rest of the guests must have thought that we were old friends of hers.  We were certainly treated that way.

In Puerto Viejo we stayed at a small place called Blue Conga, run by a French-Canadian couple, Marisa and Pierre.   These ex-pats thoroughly understood and embraced pura vida.  Marisa made us breakfast each morning. Pierre offered to take us on an excursion to Cuhuito National Park, a 30 minute drive away. He took us in through the entrance for locals, which did not require an entrance fee, just a donation. Pierre made a donation for the six of us he had brought along, and he spent four hours taking us through the seaside forest, pointing out birds and spiders and frogs and monkeys.  We knew he wouldn't take any payment or tip for his services. Another couple tried unsuccessfully to get him to take money for gas.   In the spirit of pura vida Slava and I gave money to be donated to Cuhuito National Park on his next visit. That Pierre and Marisa accepted.

Note that the spirit of pura vida was shown by a French-Canadian and a Russian-American, as well as by native Ticos.  Around the world it's possible to find lots of people who show compassion, gratitude, and a real appreciation for nature.  What I love about  Costa Rica is that pura vida is the unifying national idea. If more international tourists visit Costa Rica, then maybe the spirit of pura vida can spread around the globe.

Adventure Tourism in Costa Rica

There is a wide variety of adventure tourism possibilities in Costa Rica. Young people can go ziplining and do who-knows-what.   I thought that a sedate gondola ride at tree-top level would be about my speed.  Well, on a trip organized by Gecko Trail Adventures, I found myself white water rafting.

National Geographic calls the challenging rapids and the stunning scenery of the Pacuare River one of the ten river trips in the world.  It goes through a virgin tropical rainforest and features rapids with such ominous names as "Pin Ball," Double Drop," and "Magnetic Rock."

 Well, I made it through the Pacuare rapids only slightly bloodied. I bit my lip at an appropriate time when I didn't have anything constructive to do. And I bloodied my leg on one of the few pieces of metal on the raft.

When we approached our first rapids I decided that my best way to get through it all was to keep my head down and not even look at what was coming. I only had to listen to the commands of the guide and paddle forward, paddle back,or lean in as directed. But with success comes confidence, and after going through a few easy turns I started peeking. Then I started trying to guess which channel he'd have us take. We were the lead raft. There were four behind us, and only occasionally did I see how they fared. Our guide seemed to have confidence in us, because twice he had us do 360 spins as we went through easy rapids. I didn't see any of the other rafts hotdogging it in white water.

There were 48 rapids in all. How many we're Class III and how many we're Class IV I don't know. But the important thing is that I survived. And I did have fun!

Vacation Get-Aways in Costa Rica

Here is a topic on which I don't have much to say. For relaxation on a beach most tourists head to the northwest Pacific coast. We didn't do that.   But we were lucky enough to spend some time at Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort.

Tabacon has cascading waterfalls of hot springs from Arenal Volcano. There are 12 pools on the lushly landscaped grounds, and the pools vary in water temperature and style. For sybaritic pleasure nothing could beat a day at Tabacon.

Wherever you go in Costa Rica there's a possibility for a massage. Slava took advantage of that twice. The first time, at Arenal Volcano Lodge, he came back glowing. The second time, in Puerto Viejo, he came back grumpy. The problem was that he smelled like coconut, augmented by ylang ylang.   Now, ylang ylang is a tiny flower that happens to have the predominant note in the perfume Chanel No. 5.  Slava felt better after he took a shower.

If price is not a consideration then a winter time get-away to Costa Rica is perfect for regeneration and renewal. The temperature is mild, and there's not much rain. Our trip was during what is euphemistically called "the green season."  We outfitted ourselves with rain ponchos and umbrellas. But as we found out, a little rain in paradise is perfectly fine.

Ecotourism in Costa Rica

There are many reasons to visit Costa Rica, but ecotourism was the draw for me.  Having been a biology major in college I find it appealing that Costa Rica has chosen to preserve its biodiversity by setting aside 25 percent of its territory for nature preserves.  There are tropical forests, cloud forests, central valleys, Pacific and Caribbean coastlines, and even underwater preserves.  Luckily I'm the kind of person who likes snakes and spiders and sloths and other things that creep and crawl.  We saw large termite nests, ant metropolises, gorgeous butterflies, and more.

As we traveled to different locations we had excursions with well-trained guides who were certified naturalists.  At Manuel Antonio National Park each guide took no more than six people on a two-hour exploration of the rainforest, stopping frequently to point out wildlife hidden from casual view, but discernible once the guide set up a high-powered scope trained in the right direction.

The golden silk orb weaver was easy to spot, with a web that could be 3 feet across.  The thread is strong enough to be a fishing line, and may one day be used in bioengineering for guiding peripheral nerve regrowth.  Human beings have much to learn from invertebrates.

At Playa Chiquita, near Puerto Viejo, we were privileged to visit the Jaguar Rescue Center. It's an NGO that grew from the backyard of a couple from Spain, Encar and Sandro, who came to Costa Rica to retire. One happened to be a primatologist from the Barcelona Zoo,the other, a herpetologist.   It seemed natural for local people to bring them native animals that had been injured, mistreated, or confiscated, seeing that the couple worked to rehabilitate and then reintroduce the animals to their natural habitat in protected areas.    The Jaguar Rescue Center was established in 2008, named after an orphaned jaguar that the couple tried to save but couldn't because it was too weak when they got it. Encar has remained dedicated to helping orphaned animals, recognizing that they need more than food and a safe environment. She mothers baby monkeys by having one or another clinging to her until it is ready to explore the world on its own.

Based on our experience on a snorkeling expedition near Manuel Antonio  I can report that sergeant major fish don't like fresh pineapple.  We had gone out on a day of murky water conditions, and we couldn't see much other than fellow snorkelers. Our guide threw bits of leftover lunch in the water, and sergeant majors swarmed in to investigate. The general rule in ecotourism is to not feed wild animals, or in this case, fish. Pineapple was the perfect choice. Sergeant majors investigated but found our food to be uninteresting, and the biodegradable bits sank slowly to the bottom, which was some unknown depth beneath us. Meanwhile we had the fun of swimming with sergeant majors and seeing dolphins in the distance.

Two of our most appreciated ecotourism experiences occurred with Ticos who were not trained as guides.   Diego was the driver of the shuttle van that took us from La Fortuna to Siquirres, and although he had a schedule to keep he stopped on the road to let us out and get close to a sloth in a nearby tree. It was a three-toed sloth, a relative of the anteater.  We did see other sloths when they were pointed out to us, but I never spotted one on my own.
The second fabulous experience was in Cahuita National Park, when Pierre, our host at Blue Conga Lodge,  pointed out howler monkeys in the tropical forest, and challenged the alpha male in an argumentative exchange. For a while I thought Pierre was winning the howling contest, but he said that once we moved on, the alpha male would brag to his two females and two offspring that he had frightened us away.

Ecotourism also took us on adventurous hikes, such as near Arenal Volcano.  We saw the differentiation in plant life that marked the land affected by the last eruption in 2010.  I'm glad to report that we escaped without having to run for our lives.

The Cold War and Camelot

The Cold War

Most Americans would say that the Cold War ended when the Berlin Wall came down. One of the early crises in the Cold War had been the Soviet blockade of Berlin in 1948 - 49, which resulted in the Berlin Airlift to resupply the people of West Berlin. The wall to keep East Germans from fleeing to West Berlin went up in August, 1961 and it remained for 28 years.  It came down on November 9, 1989. Barely a month later Soviet Union formally dissolved.   So America's adversary in the Cold War is no more. That means that the Cold War is over, right?

Well, Russians-who-were-Soviets see that their Cold War enemy remains standing. If the United States was the enemy of the Soviet Union, then the United States must be the enemy of Russia. Bear with me on this logic. Actually, you can forget about logic. Call this an unquestioned assumption from which you try to build logic. I'll show where this can lead you...

Michael Bohm wrote in the Moscow Times on October 11 about a program he had just viewed on a government-supported television station.  He said, "In an interview that borders on delirium, political analyst Veronika Krasheninnikova explains how the U.S. has an interest in seeing fascists — a veiled hint at Udaltsov and his comrades-in-arms — come to power so it could have a pretext to invade Russia, extinguish the fascist threat to global peace, and presumably take over the country."

Do many Russians believe that the United States wants to invade Russia and take over the country?  I doubt it.  Do many Russians believe that nevertheless the United States wants harm to come to Russia?  Yes.  The president of the country keeps telling the people that "outsiders" are responsible for one trouble after another inside Russia.

I'm writing this on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a defining event during the Cold War.  Both Russians and Americans are looking back on that era, seeing the misunderstandings behind it.  And although we aren't faced with the consequences of a nuclear weapon exchange today, I'm troubled by the persistence of communication problems.

Camelot

We are commemorating more than the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Just one month ago was the 50th anniversary of a famous speech given by President John F. Kennedy at Rice University.  Kennedy had announced to Congress just a few months earlier his decision to initiate a project to land a man on the moon.  At Rice University he spoke eloquently of the reasons for this project.  Anyone who wonders why the Kennedy administration was glorified as the Camelot era need only read this one speech for its sense of idealism and adventure.  Kennedy was blessed with having Ted Sorensen as his speechwriter, a wordsmith whose phraseology is best read aloud.

 "We meet at a college noted for knowledge, in a city noted for progress, in a State noted for strength, and we stand in need of all three," Kennedy said, "for we meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.
Despite the striking fact that most of the scientists that the world has ever known are alive and working today, despite the fact that this Nation¹s own scientific manpower is doubling every 12 years in a rate of growth more than three times that of our population as a whole, despite that, the vast stretches of the unknown and the unanswered and the unfinished still far outstrip our collective comprehension."

"... the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding."

"... space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of preeminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war."

President Kennedy didn't live to see how it all turned out.  Looking back, we can imagine the alternative that worried him -- outer space as a new theater of war.  Kennedy would be surprised, but I think he would be pleased, to know of U.S. - Russian cooperation on the space shuttle project.

Moscow Today

Any big city provides a jumble of impressions. Moscow has always looked exotic, with tsarist era buildings in candy-colored stucco next to Communist era construction, next to glitsy modern office buildings. Yet today the attention-getter is the automobile.  Traffic is at a standstill during rush hour, effectively making the roads into giant parking lots.   I can imagine stopping at an intersection, jumping out to do some shopping, and coming back before the traffic started to move.  

Curbside parking can be creative. In one area with parallel parking I saw a large SUV in a space half its size, put at right angle to the other cars, over the curb and onto the sidewalk. In areas with wide sidewalks entire blocks are crowded with cars parked this way. Only once did I see an open parking place. I suspect that automobile owners tend to leave their cars in one place as long as possible, because there's not likely to be open parking where they intend to go, and the place they vacate won't be available when they come back.   Besides, on street parking amounts to free storage. There's not a parking meter anywhere. 

On my way to the airport, the first 45 minutes of the 1 1/2 hour journey was at a pace that I could have beaten by walking.  Yet the scandal of the week was a drunk driver who streaked down a side street going 200 kilometers per hour, then crashed into a bus stop and killed seven people.   The dead included five youngsters from an orphanage who had just been honored for artistic talent.  Also  killed were the teacher and her husband. 

A second major problem in Moscow today is housing. Property rights are vague and in some cases are determined on the basis that might makes right. The only property safe from stealing is undesirable land. 

I could give many examples, but I'll give just one. A person with a nice country's dacha that has been used in the filming of television shows and movies  has just found out that ten 17-story buildings are going up on adjacent land. They are being built right against the property lines, and this person says that if a resident of one of these new buildings drops something from her balcony it will land in his garden.   The buildings look like their intended inhabitants will be poor and perhaps undocumented immigrants from the Asian republics. Although the area will soon house an additional 5,000 - 10,000 people, there don't seem to be plans to build new schools, roads, hospitals and other facilities.   What was once quiet country living will become " like living in a zoo," he says.   All this happened without notification. 

In the city apartment buildings are dotted with room air conditioners hanging out some windows, and small satellite dishes mounted nearby.   Individual flats in older buildings may have Soviet era rotting windows or European style replacements, but as far as I know everyone complains about building maintenance.   

Although flats may be privately owned, residents know that taking ownership of an entire building would make them responsible for long- neglected repairs of piping, roofing, and to deteriorated stairwells.  Residents pay monthly ever-increasing amounts to monopolistic companies, and what they get in return is an occasional paint job. 

Let me admit that it's always easier to point out problems than to fix them. I'm not providing a news scoop to say that Moscow has problems with traffic and housing. I just wish that we could see some evidence that Moscovites will have a less stressful life in the very near future.  

Chemiakin / Shemyakin

Mihail Chemiakin is an internationally known artist who has metamor-phosed in style over 40 years, and his recent works, shown here, are entirely different from the blasts of color that first made him famous.  The transliteration of his name from Russian is best represented as "Shemyakin," but when he was kicked out of the Soviet Union in 1971 for failing to conform to Soviet Realism norms, he went to Paris and was known there as "Chemiakin."  Although he later went to to New York City and became famous there, he is back in Paris, with occasional visits to Russia.  The current exhibit of his work in Moscow is entirely in tones of brown and black.

Chemiakin's work is frequently called "surreal grotesque."  The giclee shown above is entitled, if I remember correctly, "Phantasm."  It was the title he gave to a number of his works done since 2000.

 This one is called "Two Spies."  I love how much he conveys with a few spare lines.  It is another giclee, numbered 1 of 2.

 My favorite.  It is of a man and his shadow.  The shadow seems to be wearing a hat that the man does not have on.  And are we looking through the body of the man, or only at pieces of his clothing?  If I ever meet Mihail Chemiakin, I need to ask him about this.