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Archive for the ‘Costa Rica Happenings’ Category

Celebration of the National Hero of CR!

Posted by admin | Filed under Actividades, COSI Activity, Costa Rica Happenings, Ejercicio de español, Holiday

Hello COSI friends,

We invite you to come to COSI´s Culture Night tonight at 6pm. We’ll celebrate Juan Santamaría’s Day, he is officially recognized as the national hero of the Republic of Costa Rica.
Below you can find more information in Spanish about “La Batalla de Rivas” and how Juan Santamaría become our national hero. When you finish you can try a true or false exercise.

La Batalla de Rivas (11 de abril de 1856)

En esta fecha se conmemora el día en que Juan Santamaría quemó el llamado Mesón de Guerra, acto que permitió a los costarricenses vencer a los filibusteros de William Walker y quedarse con la ciudad de Rivas en su poder.

Se conoce con el nombre de Batalla de Rivas a una batalla que se dio durante la Guerra de 1856, entre las fuerzas del ejército de Costa Rica, dirigidas personalmente por el Presidente Juan Rafael Mora Porras, y el ejército filibustero estadounidense dirigido por William Walker, en la ciudad de Rivas, Nicaragua.

Con toda esta motivación los costarricenses tomaron la ofensiva y en pleno combate el General Cañas exclamó: – “Muchachos, ¿No habría entre tantos valientes alguno que quiera arriesgar la vida, incendiando el Mesón para salvar a los compatriotas?” El soldado Juan Santamaría contestó en el acto: – “Yo iré, pero les encargo a mi madre” De inmediato se le improvisa una tea, partió a la carrera y la aplicó al alero suroeste del Mesón, fue herido en el brazo derecho, pero siempre tuvo oportunidad de quemar el mesón, cayó en tierra mirando al cielo, con el convencimiento de que su obra había sido consumada.

Fue así como los filibusteros no lograron su objetivo y huyeron del mesón. Posterior a la toma de la ciudad, el ejército costarricense tenía planeado asegurar primero el control sobre Rivas y los puertos de La Virgen y San Juan del Sur y posteriormente, atacar Granada. Sin embargo, estos planes se frustraron por la llegada de una epidemia de cólera.

Falso o Verdadero. Marque con una “F” si el enunciado es falso o con una “V” si el enunciado es verdadero.
( ) Durante la Batalla de Rivas Juan Rafael Mora Porras diría el ejército costarricense.
( ) Esta Batalla se dio en el año 1865.
( ) William Jackson dirigía a los Filibusteros.
( ) El ejército de los Filibusteros era de Estados Unidos.
( ) “Yo iré pero les encargo a mi madre” Esto lo dijo William Walker.
Juan Santamaría fue herido en el brazo derecho.
( ) Juan Santamaría se convirtió en un héroe Nacional por haber quemado el Mesón el día 11 de Abril de 1856.
( ) William Walker tuvo éxito y logró apoderarse de la ciudad de Rivas tal como lo planeó.
( ) Los planes de los costarricenses se vieron frustrados por una epidemia de cólera.
( ) Juan Rafael Mora Porras aparte de dirigir el ejército costarricense también era el presidente de Costa Rica en ese momento.

Festival Internacional de las Artes

Posted by admin | Filed under Actividades, Arts, Costa Rica Happenings, Uncategorized, Wonderful Costa Rica

Hello COSI friends!

This is the time to enjoy international art in Costa Rica at the most important cultural event starting March 18th and running until April 1st.

The International Arts Festival (FIA) is a program organized by the Ministry of Culture and Youth of Costa Rica. It is celebrated every two years. It gets together national and international groups of artists, from 20 countries in Europe, Africa and America.

This year, the traditional Festival will have three locations: San Jose (Parque Metropolitano La Sabana, public spaces and various theaters), Alajuela and Limón.

The FIA program includes 115 presentations by 53 foreign artists and groups. We can count on the National Ballet of Spain, Argentinian singer-songwriter Fito Páez, Iberian singers Ismael Serrano, Rosario Flores and Luis Eduardo Aute, the Peter Brook Company of Switzerland, the renowned Catalan singer Buika, the Odin Theatre in Denmark and the Puerto Rican salsa star Gilberto Santa Rosa. 62 Costa Rican artists will also take part in this event, including Son de Tikizia and the National Symphony Orchestra.

On March 18th the National Ballet of Spain will be performing at the inauguration ceremonies. Also the renowned dancer María Pages will dance Flamenco.

On March 19th Ismael Serrano, Luis Eduardo Aute and Rosario Flores will be performing. The National Symphony Orchestra will honor the legendary Star Wars movies with music, presentations and special effects.

A long-awaited concert will be performed by Argentinian singer Fito Páez on Saturday the 27th . The big finale to be held on the 28th will feature Salsa Sinfónica by Gilberto Santa Rosa and the Youth Symphony Orchestra. Furthermore, you will have the pleasure of watching theatre plays by Dualia and The Legend.

This festival will also be presented in the provinces: In Alajuela from the 18th until the 28th of March. In Limón FIA will present concerts from the 25th untill the 28th of March.

This is the link with the list of artists and programmed events: http://www.festivaldelasartes.go.cr/imagenes/sala_prensa/Programacion%20SJO.pdf

Come and join this international festival!

Summer festival: Transitarte 2010!

Posted by admin | Filed under Actividades, Costa Rica Happenings, Uncategorized, Wonderful Costa Rica

Transitarte is one of the many artistic and cultural events organized by the Municipality of San José. For the seventh consecutive year, the Cultural Service Department will have this festival in four of the capital’s main parks in the summertime (March 12th, 13th and 14th)

This year Transitarte, as well as the entire artistic program, will seek to recognize the valuable contributions that Costa Rican women have made in the cultural field. The inaugural festival will begin with a concert by the “Banda de San José” on Friday at 7:30 pm, and will close at 8:30 p.m. with a performance by an internationally recognized artist from the city of Mendoza, Argentina, who will present a show of tango through music and dance, thus providing a tribute to the women for their contribution to humanity .

Both shows will be held at Parque Morazán. They will also be honoring some valuable women in the country like: Julieta Pinto (a pioneer Costa Rican writer), Diana Valverde Bermudez (the only female engineer at the Ad Astra Rocket), and Hanna Gabriel (the national and Central American boxing champion).

Costa Rica elects first woman president!

Posted by admin | Filed under Costa Rica Happenings

Costa Ricans voted on February 7^th 2010 in the elections to choose a successor to Nobel Peace Prize winning President Oscar Arias, a woman was elected to become the country’s first female head of state.

After polls closed at 6pm local time yesterday, all eyes were on whether the winning candidate would grasp the more than 40 per cent of the vote necessary to avoid a runoff. Polls showed Chinchilla garnering 46.8 percent of the vote, with 85 percent of election sites reporting. Second-place candidate Ottón Solis of the Citizen’s Action Party had 25.1 percent, while Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement had 20.9 percent.

Costa Rica has no army and boasts some of the world’s greenest energy credentials. It was ranked No. 1 last year in a “Happy Planet” Index, or HPI, published by a British entity name: The New Economics Foundation that combines measures of a country’s ecological footprint with citizen happiness and life expectancy.

Election day was festive throughout the nation, with video footage showing supporters of the main presidential candidates dressed in their respective campaign colors.

Costa Rica’s Last Chance

Posted by admin | Filed under Costa Rica Happenings, Sports

This Saturday begins the first of the World Cup “wild card” matches . This is the last chance for teams to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa next summer. Costa Rica closes the day’s games with what promises to be a tense match against South America team Uruguay. La Sele has the advantage of playing the first of the two games at home at Saprissa Stadium. Hopefully thats all they need to come out on top and continue on to South Africa.

Costa Rica needs a win and a tie to move on for sure. If they come out 1-1, the team that succeeds is determined by goal differential. Previous goal records for the World Cup are not taken into account.

Game time is at 8pm (Costa Rica time) so tune in and send good vibes!!

OE OE OE OEEE…

Trans-Atlantic boat race ends in Puerto Limón

Posted by admin | Filed under Costa Rica Happenings, Información

The Transat Jacques Vabre 2009 is a trans-Atlantic boat race featuring roughly 20 ships from several European countries. It was launched Sunday, Nov. 8 from the Port of Le Havre of Normandy. From there, yachts will navigate a 4,340-mile (9,000km) trek across the Atlantic that retraces the coffee trade route from France to the Americas. The finish line is right here in our own Puerto Limón! The first ships are expected to arrive around Nov. 22 and the race officially ends when the final ship arrives at the port.

This will be the first international sporting event ever held in Limón and it could draw as many as 15,000 spectators to the Caribbean coast for festivities planned around the race’s finish line. The city will offer events and festivities to keep the crowds occupied. Concerts and live music will entertain guests most nights in hotels, restaurants and bars in the Limón area.

The race takes place every two years, so take advantage of all the excitement and head out to Limón!

The Soccer Fever continues!!

Posted by admin | Filed under Costa Rica Happenings, Información, Sports

Saturday was a great day for Costa Rican soccer fans!

First, the sub-20 team beat the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in a very close game. It was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation time. In the 33rd minute Arab Ahmed Khalil scored. It was quickly countered in the 37th minute with a goal by Costa Rican Josué Martínez. The game was still tied at the end of the second overtime period. In the second minute of stoppage time, in the last seconds of play, Marco Ureña made an amazing goal that clenched the game for the Ticos. They made it to the semifinals!!

They play today at noon against Brasil. Brazil defeated Costa Rica 5-0 early in the World Cup tournament, creating a tough mental barrier for the Tricolor going into the semifinal match. The winner will advance to face either Hungary or Ghana in the finals.

As for the senior Costa Rica team, they beat Trinidad and Tobago in a solid 4-0 victory. They took the lead with an own-goal by Trinidad and Tobago´s Radanfah Abubark in the 26th minute. This was followed by goals by Walter Centeno (50′) and Álvaro Saborío (61′ and 63′).

This win placed them in the third place of the CONCACAF standings for the World Cup qualifiers. With 15 points, la Sele is only 4 points behind the leading US team, but only 2 points ahead of trailing Honduras. Costa Rica needs to win this next game against the United States to be guaranteed a spot in South Africa. Otherwise they would have to play the 5th place team of South America for a chance to continue.

The US vs Costa Rica game is on Wednesday at 6pm. The team is traveling to the US today to get ready for this difficult and important match-up in Washington.

Lets keep the good luck going!

Limón Carnival

Posted by admin | Filed under Costa Rica Happenings, Holiday

The 2009 Columbus Day Carnival starts today in Limón and continues until October 18.

The city of Limón is the capital of the province of Limón on the Carribbean side of the country. It is where Columbus anchored on his last trip to the Americas.

Once a year, the port town gets festive. That time is during the carnival when the people come out to celebrate Columbus Day for one week. Everyone comes to drink, dance and celebrate to the sounds of Calypso, Reggae and Salsa music. Dancers on the streets wear colorful costumes. Typical carribbean style food and artwork will be on sale and out for display as well.

Typical dancers dance in the street to celebrate Columbus Day

"Comparsa" dances in the street during the Columbus Day Carnival.

At the start of the carnival the people crown a Carnival Queen for the duration of the celebration. October 10th is the “Día de las Culturas”, or Culture Day, and is highlighted by singing, dancing and calypso. The festival honors the Spanish, Indigenous, African, Italian and Chinese who live in the area. “Carnaval” attracts bands, “comparsas” and crowds from all over.

At least 5,000 visitors are expected this year. Its a great time to head to the Carribbean side of the country and participate in the festivities.

Soccer Fever

Posted by admin | Filed under Costa Rica Happenings, Información, Sports

Costa Rica´s Under-20 team is moving on in the World Cup! Tuesday they beat host team Egypt in an important 2-0 victory in Cairo. José Mena (21`) and Marcos Urena (88´) both scored to take Costa Rica to the quarter finals. No doubt the fact that this team has played together for more than 18 months resulted in their cohesiveness on the field.

With Tuesday´s win, they proceed to the third round, the quarter finals. They are the only remaining representation of Concacaf (the confederation of all teams from North and Central America and the Carribbean) in the World Cup. This is also the first time that Costa Rica has made it to the quarter finals in a FIFA tournament. It´s a big responsibility for the team to carry but they´re confident they will be sucessful.

The quarter final game is this Saturday at noon against United Arab States. It promises to be a great game because both teams have a similar playing style in which the defense doesn´t take risks and they practice good ball handling on the attack. They are also both champions of their respective continent. If Costa Rica wins in this elimination match, they go on to play the winner of Brasil vs. Germany in the semi-finals.

Also on Saturday at 8pm, the Costa Rica national team plays against Trinidad and Tibago. Next Wednesday they go to Washington to play against the United States. Costa Rica needs to win both games to get one of the 3 tickets to South Africa available to the Concacaf region. If they aren´t successful, they will have to play in the Wild Card game against the 5th place team in South America.

So put on your red and cheer for the Ticos!!