NCC-In-Costa Rica 2018

Speckled Rooster by Dory Coffee   Chifrijo           During my search for an authentic Costa Rican dish, I came across several delicious possibilities.   Costa Rican tamales , unlike Mexican tamales, go easy on the spice and are wrapped in banana leaves as opposed to cornhusks.   Chifrijo marries the flavors, smells, and textures of fried pork rinds (chicharrones) and beans (frijoles), combined with rice and pico de gallo or simply fresh tomatoes.   A popular item in the bar scene, matadornetwork.com contributor Tyler McCloskey describes chifrijo in a review of Costa Rican food as “a drunken rally brick and next-day booze mop all in one.”   Patacones are a simple appetizer consisting of flattened and fried plantains great for dipping.   When ordering Casado at a Costa Rican restaurant, expect a variety food types like rice, beans, salad, plantains, a type of meat, and fresh juice to drink. ...

           From as far back as 10,000 B.C.E. people who made their way across the frozen land bridge connecting Asia and North America and down the North American continent inhabited modern day Costa Rican land.   Without a significant unifying power imposing itself in the area for thousands of years, distinct cultural groups essentially governed themselves, led by tribal chiefs called “caciques” .     Tupac Amaru II, an Andean cacique who led a massive rebellion in 1781                        When the Spanish arrived on Costa Rican land in the early 16 th century, widespread disease and advanced, lethal weaponry enabled the Spaniards to force natives under the rule of the Captaincy General of Guatemala (or Kingdom of Guatemala), a province of New Spain that included the modern day countries of Nicaragua, Hon...

Archaeological discoveries suggest that several civilizations existed on Costa Rican land long before they were discovered by the Western world.   Evidence of stone tool making linked to as a far back as 7,000-10,000 B.C. discovered by the Reventazon River in 2016 suggests the past presence of at least two distinct hunter-gatherer cultures. At the Guayabo archaeological site in the Turrialba valley in eastern Cartago province are stone-paved streets, aqueducts, carved stone designs, and illustrations of animals dating back to 1400 A.D.-1000 B.C.   A variety of jewelry and tools have been discovered at other archaeological sites around the country.    Artifact from Guayabo Brick Road at Guayabo When the Spaniards arrived, there were purported to be at least 25 indigenous groups with a total estimated population around 20,000, such as the Caribs, the Borucas, the Nahuatl, the Chibchas, and the Diquis among others.   These g...

            On April 11 th , Costa Rica honors Juan Santamaría Day , a national holiday that commemorates the 1856 Costa Rican militia victory over William Walker's mercenary army in the Nicaraguan town of Rivas. Rodtico21/Flikr                                              While many details about Juan Santamaría's early life are a matter of conjecture, it is believed that he was born in the town of Alajuela in the 1830s and grew up working as a farm laborer, most likely on a coffee plantation.  Along with other young men who worked the land, Santamaría answered then president Juan Rafael Mora's call to join together to form a militia, c...

One place that I will make a point to visit is Costa Rica’s Arenal Volcano. The Arenal volcano, or Volcán Arenal , has been the country’s most active volcano for the past 43 years. It stands 5,437 feet tall and was formed roughly seven thousand years ago by the now extinct Chato volcano. Over the course of its existence, the Arenal Volcano’s major and minor eruptions have helped build the surrounding topography.                The Volcano’s most recent major eruption occurred in 1968, when it buried three small villages and caused 87 deaths. Because the volcano was silent from about for over four centuries prior, it was assumed to be extinct; when it erupted suddenly and without warning in 1968, it came as a complete surprise. From 1968 to 2010, the volcano possessed constant, minor activity in the form of frequent visible smoke rising from its throat and subtle lava flow. For the past eight years, how...

Forum on Paris Accords Wentz Science Center, Room 101  7:00pm-8:30pm, May 22, 2018 ncclinked.com            I had the opportunity to attend the Forum on Paris Accords as part of North Central's Sustaining the Globe event series.  The event featured a panel composed of the Consul Generals from both Japan and France respectively as well as NCC Scholar-in-Residence Professor Kobayashi and  Professor Bergren of Environmental Studies.  The discussion moderator was Professor Bloom from the NCC physics department.  The event began with an introduction by Jack Shindler, the Director of the Center for Global Education at North Central and the organizer of the event.  He was followed with a presentation by Ms. Suzuki, the Consul General from Japan.  The presentation reviewed the specifics of the three-step global climate initiative formulated and implemented in...