Blog
In Praise of the Mist
In the early 1980s, when I visited my aunt Yolanda’s house, Cartago was the city of mists. People did not call it that then. That came later. Back then, chilly afternoons arrived wrapped in a veil...
Those who come after
In Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, a tropical downpour had flooded the pavement. Large white tarps, stretched with ropes, covered the tents. Beneath the blue and green canvas sheets, hand-painted signs and...
Clothed in travertine
Our Supreme Court is clad in a stone that was born from water. It has been so since the building opened its doors in 1966. This rock, known as travertine, ranges in color from gray to cream and...
An imaginary bullet
In the early nineties, I was a projectionist at one of the University of Costa Rica's cinemas that offered a second life to films. In those days, amid beams of light and rolls of celluloid, I...
Between torrential rains and droughts
The phrases that I have heard the most recently in short conversations with neighbors and acquaintances have been: "what a downpour!", "how it has rained these days" or "it has not stopped raining"....
At the Museum doors
A few weeks ago, we visited the National Museum with my nieces, Fátima, who is six, and Valentina, who is ten. We intentionally visited only part of it, hoping to leave them wanting to come...
Chronicle of deaths foretold
Today, I feel that occupational health and safety in Costa Rica resembles that unnamed town on the Colombian Caribbean coast. Since 2014, a report has been published that answers questions such as:...
The Music of the Molejón
When I was a child, there was a stone in the garden of my home in Tres Ríos, set on a raised spot almost like a small sculpture. It was an angular, rather rough block, except for its upper surface,...
A sea that returned
A few nights ago, several friends came over for dinner. There was a long conversation, music, several bottles of wine, and moussaka, that Greek dish built in layers which, unlike rocks, takes hours...
In Polyphemus’ Cave
A few days ago, I went with friends to see the new adaptation of The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan. After almost three hours of journey, we emerged from the room covered in wind, sea,...
A huge “jocote tronador”
On my grandparents' property in Escazú – when Escazú had more pastures than condominiums – there was a huge thunderous jocote. During the harvest, the rod to lower them was the most coveted...
The problem is theirs
For a long time, I have been buying very good and very cheap meat in a butcher's shop near my house. I know that they bring it from Nicaragua. And yes, someone had told me that, that they are...