I missed the fanfare this week in Sabana Park that marked the passing of presidential powers from the outgoing Oscar Arias to the incoming Laura Chinchilla.  I have heard and read that it was quite a spectacle.  It seems most Costa Ricans are very proud of their new “Presidenta” (emphasis on the “a”).  And they should be.  I wish I could have seen it all, but I was visiting tiny indigenous communities in the extreme southern Pacific zone, like Boruca and La Casona, making art buys for my new store (see photo below).  What intrigued me from reading about what took place in sources like La Nacion and various Costa Rica news related sites, is that here in Costa Rica politicians are not really viewed as celebrities as in the U.S.  They are just, well, people.  It is much easier to get close to them here.  La Presidenta, Laura Chinchilla, to me characterizes the beauty, warmth, congeniality and patient peacefulness that is reflected in all decent law-abiding ticos.  She just seems to be a deeply spiritual and real person.  I hope I am right.  Her predecessor, Oscar Arias, did a lot of good for the country.  I hope she can continue the trend.  It seems Costa Rica is headed in the right direction, at least from my vantage point.  The rampant “Wild West” style development has been somewhat curtailed, both by the chilled economy and also by Costa Rica’s recognition that it just isn’t good for the country, despite the influx of foreign funds.  Who will those funds in the end really benefit anyway, ticos, or rich gringos who want to bask in Costa Rica’s sunshine and smiles?  Nevertheless the country’s development, especially in terms of infrastructure, has improved by leaps and bounds.  Laura has vowed to put the brakes on the increase in crime that has plagued Costa Rica’s larger metro areas in recent years.  That is all well and good, as long as the effort doesn’t give Costa Rica the look and feel of a “police state.”  The narcos in Mexico and Colombia who have their greedy eyes set on Costa Rica might better beware of this lady, whose looks and charming personality may mask an underlying toughness.  I get a really good feeling knowing that I live in a country that generally reflects “peacefulness” in every sense of what that word means.  Ticos may not be as rich as those in larger, more developed and militarily powerful countries, but in terms of sheer happiness, I believe we are definitely First World.  The traspaso of poderes that took place this past Saturday was a reflection of that happiness as well as an example for others to follow.

Costa Rican Artisans Galeria Indigena….

Costa Rica has answered the question posed by my last post with a resounding yes, as Laura Chinchilla was elected decisively yesterday as the first female President to occupy the position in the country’s history.  Sunday was election day and I believe the only thing that can get the ticos more “riled up” is a Liga/Saprissa futbol match.  We (Lily and I) decided to pass the day with a drive north to the Barva volcano.  I have spent the last couple years staring out the window at the towering Barva and its tri-peaked summit (known locally as the “tres marias”), which stands as a sentinel to the north of the city (with Pico Blanco to the south and Vulcan Irazu to the east). I had always wondered what it was really like up there.  So off we went to find out.  And it was an enchanting trip. The wealth of natural beauty that this country possesses never ceases to amaze me. You can get to Barva in less than an hour…in light traffic on a Sunday, that is.  We weren’t sure what the “procedure” was for getting to the summit, so when the road turned ugly, we parked the car at a house where the owner offered to watch it for a small fee.  We began to hike up the rocky road until we reached a park station…with parking (well, next time we’ll know).  We paid the small entrance fee and proceeded to hike a beautiful trail to the crater lake and then up to a breath-taking vista of the Central Valley from 2,906 meters of altitude (around 9,500 feet up).  On the way back down the mountain it was apparent that the election was in full swing.  Everywhere ticos were parading with large banners bearing the colors of their favorite candidate and chanting and blowing their horns as if to route their team on to victory.  It was Costa Rican democracy in action.  The great thing to see and admire was that everyone was in good spirits and treating the whole affair with the degree of levity that is typically tico.  The bars were open as the government had repealed the utterly ridiculous law forbidding the sale of alcohol on election weekend.  Even so, there were no wild drunken rampages in the streets where I was, and I haven’t seen any reported on the news either.  Later that night when the results were clear, the two closest competitors gave their concession speeches and were congratulatory of the Chinchilla win. All in all the whole event gave me another reason to be proud of Costa Rica as a place where democracy and freedom is enjoyed to a greater extent than is common in this part of the world.  Costa Rica continues to be an island of peace and prosperity amidst a region often subject to anger, strife and limited freedom.  Chinchilla’s win, I believe, signals more good things to come.