Academia D'AmoreTico Talk

La variación lingüística

La variación ha sido una de las características menos comprendidas del lenguaje.  Hay un mito entre las personas, que las lenguas son inmunes al cambio.  Dicha situación ha provocado una serie de prejuicios infundados y actitudes irracionales con respecto a las variantes lingüísticas.  Estas ideas carecen de fundamento. Una de

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Book ReviewJim Parisi

Osa On My Mind

It had never crossed my mind that one of the reasons that the Osa Peninsula has remained such pristine terrain is because its isolation has helped it to remain an entity. This geographical logic comes up early in the text of the stunning new book “Osa – Where the Rainforest Meets the Sea”, a successful collage of photographic art and insightful journalistic essays that portray this unique region in southwest Costa Rica like no publication that has preceded it. In fact, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Harvard Professor Emeritus Edward O. Wilson proclaimed the work, “the best way to experience (Osa) short of going there.” High accolades, indeed.

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Guest WriterUncategorized

Adaptation

As a solar energy company, we hear from a lot of people who want to reduce their energy bills. Some, like us, want to “save the world” by using renewable energy, others want solar or battery backup because of blackouts and excessive power bills. Either way, the first step is to look at how much energy is being consumed in the first place.

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Jack EwingNature and Local History Stories

Has the Time Come to Say Good-bye to an old Friend? – I Hope Not!

Back in the 1970s Diane and the kids and I lived in the casona, the old Hacienda Baru home. We didn’t get around to digging a well until the early 1980s, and every year, the spring that supplied our water would dry up in mid February. To deal with the situation we carried drinking water in 5 galon plastic containers from another spring two kilometers away and water for washing dishes and flushing toilets in 55 galon drums. The girl who worked for us went to the Barú River to do laundry, and every afternoon around 4:00 PM everyone went to the river to bathe in the crystal clear water. The village of Dominical was out of water too, so most of the town – about 8 people at that time — met us there, and the afternoon bath became as much a social event as one of personal hygiene.

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Book ReviewJim Parisi

The History of Costa Rica

Recently, the University of Costa Rica published its third edition of “The History of Costa Rica”, the first of its kind to be translated and printed in the English language. Written by Ivan Molina and Steven Palmer, two of the leading and most recognized Costa Rican historians, the book is concise yet thorough and current, spanning this country’s rich history from the arrival of human beings, at around 12,000 B.C., to the beginning of the Twenty-First Century, including the bulk of Arias’ term as president of the country.

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Carol VlassoffPersonalidades en Medio NuestroUncategorized

Dr. Alfonso Gaspar Martinez del Pino

Dr. Alfonso Gaspar Martínez del Pino, nacido y educado en Cuba, dice que pensó en quedarse en Costa Rica desde el momento en que decidió aceptar la invitación para asistir a una conferencia aquí, en 1995. Dejando a sus amigos y familiares se vino con 63 libras de equipaje (59 libras de libros), 145 dólares en el bolsillo y se dedicó a empezar una nueva vida aquí. Dio varias conferencias en la Escuela de Veterinaria de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma en el Barreal de Heredia, y a continuación, dice, “me quedé.”

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Carol VlassoffPersonalities in Our Midst

Dr. Alfonso Gaspar Martinez del Pino

Dr. Alfonso Gaspar Martinez del Pino, born and educated in Cuba, says that he planned to stay in Costa Rica from the time he accepted an invitation to attend a conference here in 1995. Leaving his friends and family, with 63 pounds of luggage (59 pounds of it books) and $145 in his pocket, he set out to establish a new life here. He gave several lectures at the Escuela de Veterinaria de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma en el Barreal de Heredia, and then, he says, “I stayed.”

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Jim ParisiMusic Review

Costa Rica Reggae Nights

The origin of reggae in Costa Rica dates back to the 1920s, when Jamaican leader Marcus Garvey evoked his ideas and beliefs throughout the Caribbean province of Limon. Born in St. Anne’s Bay, Jamaica, the future birthplace of Bob Marley, Garvey is considered the prophet of Rastafarianism. So, it is easy to see how reggae music is considered a kind of Costa Rican folk music.

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