Blog
In Praise of the Fly
Once, for four or five weeks, I was a fly nest. This happened when I was ten years old, during a vacation with my maternal grandparents, on a farm in San Carlos de Alajuela. Those were days of...
The neighbors
The neighbors began to arrive at six o'clock. First a couple arrived with flowers; then another with a bottle of wine; then one more with sandwiches. They came two by two, smiling, generous,...
Learning to Care
My father kept an orchid greenhouse for many years. It wasn’t very large, but to me it had the density of a world of its own. I remember the filtered light, the humidity in the air, the flowered...
The rhythm of the machine
In Charles Chaplin's film Modern Times, the protagonist appears trapped in a factory production line that never stops. His task seemed simple: tightening nuts over and over to the rhythm of a...
Luminous Silence
Some time ago, a friend made a remark — or rather, a provocation: “What do you mean you haven’t been to Tajo Zulay? It’s like going to Mars!” His words lingered. I added the site to my top ten...
The value of education
A few days ago, the Ombudsman’s Office warned that the permanent reduction in educational funding is putting the right to education in Costa Rica at risk. Public spending in this sector fell from...
In Praise of Serenity
Annaeus Serenus was a young man with many doubts, like almost all young people. He was neither consul nor general; he left behind no speeches or poems. And yet he stands out as an eloquent presence...
Sustainability becomes personal
For years, I have spoken about sustainability in environmental, financial, and climate terms. Throughout my professional career, I have worked with banks across the region, helping design systems...
The power of silence
In my long list of places to visit, there was one I had been waiting for the most: the highest gem of Costa Rica—Cerro Chirripó. For a few hours, that place offered me the company of insects, birds,...
The Celebration I Didn’t Attend
I find my father’s letter. I can feel the paper and its folds. The typewritten letters are themselves relics of another era, when paper set the pace of life. I don’t remember saving it, and yet it...
The Breath
It rained without pause, as if the sky were trying to wash everything clean. Doña Rufina walked barefoot along the steep path, through a night that dragged everything along with it. She had walked...
Fallen from the Sky
At 9:07 p.m. on April 23, 2019, in Aguas Zarcas de San Carlos, an uninvited visitor fell from the sky. It entered the planet on a steep trajectory at 14.6 km/s—roughly the equivalent of traveling...