Source: OVSICORI Since the early morning hours of May 18th, the Turrialba volcano in the province of Cartago has been in a constant state of exhalation. Geologists from the Observatory on Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) have detected sustained seismicity at this colossus, and many of the resulting eruptions have been broadcast and recorded with a digital camera pointed righ...

AutoShine Costa Rica With car culture rapidly growing in Costa Rica, the number of luxury automobiles has greatly increased in the last few years. As a result of this trend, vehicle owners are becoming more interested in aesthetics as well as in systems that can augment their driving experience in terms of entertainment, safety, information, and comfort. In other nations where car culture h...

Follow these tips to keep the weather from deteriorating your walls and ceilings By: Carolina Ruiz Vega Sun, rain, hail, even volcanic ash… Costa Rica’s weather can be uncertain and merciless to unprotected walls and ceilings, which are vulnerable and likely to suffer environmental damages. May marks the beginning of the rainy (green) season in this tropical country. However, due to the E...

Pixabay Commons It is often said that a smile is an inexpensive method to improve one's appearance. This is an axiom that should apply to everyone; unfortunately, quite a few people feel self-conscious about what they consider to be a less-than-dazzling smile. The fact about facial aesthetics is that teeth make up about 90 percent of a smile. People who feel that their dentition is not up t...

Source: Hoes and Gangstas May 8, 2015 – (PRSYNC) – A new Costa Rica-based company has launched a sophisticated and playful, but affordable, collection of sunglasses that come in two names: Hoes and Gangstas. The styles are in total black or brown tortoise shell, available for safe purchase with PayPal and shipping worldwide. Hoes n Gangstas the new way to wear sunglasses in Costa Rica. Gett...

Source: UNHCR SABALITO, Costa Rica, May 7 (UNHCR) – Elida Andrade has lived in the green hills around the small southern Costa Rican town of Sabalito for her whole life, but until recently the 18-year-old mother never really belonged anywhere. Her parents, members of the indigenous Ngöbe Bugle people, were born across the nearby border in Chiriqui, Panama, and moved to the coffee-growing Sa...

In the Costa Rican National Anthem, a few verses exalt the virtue of hard work as the basis for individual pride and patriotism; to wit: En la lucha tenaz, de fecunda labor que enrojece del hombre la faz, which can be translated to: In the tenacious struggle of fruitful plodding, which crimsons the countenance of men, The above can be construed as referring to vigorous agricultural work ...

Source: Verbal.ink In early 2015, Google released a significant upgrade of its Translate application. No longer content to offer translations of written text, the upgraded app now includes a visual translator and an audio translation function. Machine translation, particularly in the English – Spanish and Spanish – English language pairs, is often utilized by business owners in Costa Rica, ...

Source: Pixabay Commons At adult cabarets across Costa Rica, entertainers who disrobe and gyrate their shapely anatomies for captive audiences are noticing an interesting demographic trend: With greater frequency, men old enough to be their grandfathers are among their admirers. Such was the conclusion presented by Paula Ruiz Guevara, an investigative journalist from national newspaper La Pren...

Source: Flickr CC Now that Costa Rica has been formally invited to go through the process of becoming a candidate nation worthy of joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), financial advisors and legal professionals are starting to ponder how their clients will be impacted by this new chapter in our country's fiscal history. For Costa Rica, membership in the ...

Source: Wikimedia Commons The upcoming boxing match between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao is being billed as “The Fight of the Century” and “The Battle for Greatness.” By many estimates, the bout between these two great practitioners of the sweet science will be the highest grossing fight in history, and its substantial economic impact is already being felt in Costa Rica, where spor...

The global community of English-speaking individuals who settle in countries other than their native lands is currently embroiled in a heated discussion over semantics. The discourse of discontent focuses on the English-language terms “expatriate” and “immigrant,” which can be used as nouns or adjectives to describe those who move to other nations on a long-term or permanent basis. English-lang...

Source: Fuerza Publica Officers from Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, detained 17 undocumented immigrants who were trying to cross the border into Nicaragua. The incident occurred in the canton of La Cruz, province of Guanacaste, specifically in the midst of the teak forest near the Peñas Blancas border crossing point, which is often used by perpetual tourists on visa r...

Carlos Arredondo, a native of the inner city neighborhoods of San Jose, has lived an uneasy life. To most of the world, he is known as one of the heroes of the 2013 Boston Marathon terrorist attack, when he valiantly assisted a victim who lost both legs in the bombing. Photographs of Mr. Arredondo's brave and unselfish actions made global headlines, and he was eventually invited to the White Ho...

Screenshot of cached US Marshals webpage Concord, NH - April 15 (U.S Marshals Press Release) – Scott Kelley, 50, a former Whitefield, New Hampshire, resident wanted by law enforcement since November 2004 for non-custodial kidnapping and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, was arrested upon his return to the United States by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force at an Atlanta-area airport. Mi...

Source: Rocio Carranza Facebook A Costa Rican actress who is known for her dedication to social activism is accusing a Canadian man of lewd behavior and obscenity after an unpleasant encounter in San Jose. According to a news report filed by Angie Guerrero of online news daily Costa Rica Hoy, the incident occurred on Thursday afternoon in Curridabat, a municipality in the eastern suburbs of th...

Screenshot of LlamaCostaRica.com Atlanta, Georgia (PRWEB) April 18, 2015- Sometimes, sending a gift for no reason whatsoever is a special present for both the sender and the receiver. Keeping that in mind, for all Costa Ricans living abroad, LlamaCostaRica.com has a special offer: 100% bonus on international mobile recharges sent to Kolbi Costa Rica mobiles. The offer is valid until May 1st...

CIMA Hospital in San Jose is often visited by medical tourists A citizen from the United States, who is suspected of having pulled off a spectacular real estate flimflam in Costa Rica, was arrested by the National Police of Nicaragua during Holy Week after a daring escape from a private hospital where he was in custody. According to a news report filed by Fatima Torres Gonzalez of El Nuevo ...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) in Costa Rica believe that a businessman from the United States, who was shot multiple times in a shopping center located in the upscale community of Escazu, may have been targeted for assassination. As reported by The Costa Rica Star in March: An expat from the United States is in the intensiv...

A baby volcanic rock in Costa Rica from the Turrialba volcano. Source: RSN Earth scientists at the National Seismology Network (Spanish initials: RSN) of the University of Costa Rica issued a statement yesterday that underscores the need for emergency planning and disaster preparedness in the communities near the Turrialba volcano, in the province of Cartago. Magmatic levels at this active col...

OECD member nations as of mid-2015. Wikimedia Commons The Republic of Costa Rica may soon be shedding her “Third World” geopolitical label and join the ranks of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). As you can glean from the official OECD press release below, Costa Rica is getting closer to joining a forum of nations that are committed to uphold democracy as well a...

Wikimedia Commons Source: Unites States Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica Please note that the US Embassy will be closed on Friday, April 10th 2015 in observance of Juan Santamaria Day ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER: 2015-014 Open to: All Interested Candidates Position: Telephone Operator, FSN-5; FP-9* Opening Date: March 25, 2015 Closing Date: April 15, 2015 Work Hours: Full-time; 40 hour...

Source: Wikimedia Commons (US Department of Justice Press Release) - A U.S. citizen charged in connection with the operation of a series of fraudulent business opportunities was extradited from Costa Rica to the United States, the Justice Department announced today.   John White was charged in a Nov. 29, 2011, indictment in the Southern District of Florida with conspiracy to commit ...

Source: Facebook Author's Note: Regrettably, The Costa Rica Star did not know about the life of Matthew Kritzer, a gentleman from the United States, until it was too late. We first learned about his tragic demise from a report filed by the medical examiner. While conducting research for the news article, we came across Mr. Kritzer's digital footprint, which paints the picture of an amazing hum...

File photo According to field reports filed by the forensic section of the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ), a 67-year old man from the United States passed away from massive trauma sustained after a tragic road traffic accident in Costa Rica. The crash reportedly took place in the Osa Peninsula, which is located in the southern Pacific region of Costa Rica. More sp...

Source: OVSICORI Various seismic events in Costa Rica scared churchgoers and tourists across the country, who were either preparing for the solemn Good Friday ceremonies or enjoying time off at crowded vacation spots. The first earthquake took place at 12:32, in the midst of lunchtime; it was recorded with a magnitude of 4.7 on the moment magnitude scale (MMS), and its epicenter was located...

Intensity map by RSN (UCR) UPDATE: The 11:05 earthquake, magnitude 4.2 with an epicenter north of San Ramon in the province of Alajuela, is not part of the Cinchona cluster. It is important to keep in mind that Costa Rica is a seismic country. Three strong earthquakes followed by more than 70 aftershocks rudely awakened residents of a seismic region of Costa Rica on the final day of March. ...

Source: Wikimedia Commons If you are used to taking your dog outside for a walk, and for the purpose of tending to certain bodily process, your failure to pick up excretory byproducts could lead to an exorbitant fine ranging from about $800 to nearly $2,400. Such is the gist of a legislative proposal tendered in Costa Rica by the opposition party Social Christian Union (Spanish initials: PUSC)...

Credit: Sean MacEntee, Flickr Commons The real cost of borrowing money with credit cards in Costa Rica runs about 40 to 50 percent for the majority of cardholders. Despite the seemingly usurious interest rates, the use of credit cards in our country, which is besieged by rising inflation and looming unemployment, has grown about 7.3 percent since last year. According to a news report filed ...

Three out of ten municipal councils in Costa Rica have resolved that they will not allow the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages in the most solemn days leading up to Easter. As of Palm Sunday, only a handful of municipalities had not yet issued a decision on whether they should apply “dry laws” in their communities, and the total number of cantons and districts that will go dry this Thursd...

Source: Pixabay Commons One of the most talked-about headlines coming from Costa Rica in recent days is an announcement from the Ministry of the Environment and the national electricity monopoly ICE. The announcement explains that electricity generation thus far this year has been realized without resorting to fossil fuels, which means it mostly came from hydroelectric plants and wind turbi...

Beach house in Costa Rica By Carolina Ruiz Vega Everyone has a favorite color… but do you know what influence does it paint on your mood? Colors evoke feelings and emotions directly related to human perception. For this reason, you should think about the mood that certain tones may impose on your psyche before changing the color of your room. Studies such conducted by Creighton University ha...

Wikimedia Commons One of the highlights of this year´s ExpoMovil consumer auto show in Costa Rica, besides the seductive models and the brisk business realized by car loan brokers, was the interest in plug-in hybrids and passenger vehicles that are not fully powered by fossil fuels. In recent years, environment and conservation analysts bemoaned the little interest shown by drivers in Costa...

Source: Wikimedia Commons In the wake of a terrible shooting that sent a United States expat to an intensive care unit in Costa Rica, the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) of the United States has issued a security message warning to travelers. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, the recent shooting took place in Escazu, an affluent municipality that serves as an upscale sub...

Source: Facebook It's official: The Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XLIX is currently relaxing and having a great time with his family in Costa Rica. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots is probably one of the most recognized professional athletes within the National Football League (NFL), and his connection to Costa Rica dates back a few years. As previously reported by The Costa Rica ...

Source: PriceSmart A batch of boxed instant meals sold at PriceSmart stores in Costa Rica may contain dangerous metal fragments. Such was the message recently communicated by the Risk Management division of PriceSmart in Costa Rica by means of an online document  (PDF) that has also been posted in the company's store locations in our country. The alert issued by PriceSmart to its members in...

Source: Flickr Commons An expat from the United States is in the intensive care unit of the San Juan de Dios Hospital in San Jose after being gunned down in San Rafael of Escazu, one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Costa Rica. According to a report filed by Angie Guerrero of online news daily Costa Rica Hoy, the incident occurred on Wednesday morning, right after the victim stepped ou...

Source: Pixabay Commons San Jose, Mar 17 (EFE; additional reporting by The Costa Rica Star).- Clean energy sources have been used to generate 100 percent of the electricity this year in Costa Rica, the state-owned Costa Rican Electricity Institute, or ICE, said. "The year 2015 has been one of electricity totally friendly to the environment for Costa Rica. According to National Electric Syst...

Source: Brisas de Osa Uvita, Costa Rica - March 13, 2015 /MarketersMedia/ -- The developers of the much anticipated Brisas de Osa gated community in Costa Rica are proud to announce the unveiling of the project to the public. The development firm announced their initial public launch by releasing a selection of ocean view home sites overlooking the majestic coastline of Costa Rica's souther...

Flickr Commons How can I develop the skills of a successful entrepreneur? This is a question that gets repeatedly asked in business circles in Costa Rica and anywhere else in the world. This question refers to the skills needed to be learned to become a successful entrepreneurship wizard. It is trickier to learn the soft skills of successful entrepreneur since these are not found in textbooks ...