Also see "Food," below, which is always updated every week.
Playa Flamingo. About 5 hours from here on the Pacific Coast, and north of Tamarindo, is some lovely area, and where I visited a friend of a friend who up'd and moved here 5 years ago. Twas lovely, and a needed rest. Development to the south has gone wild, and unfortunately, what was pristine is now becoming congested. The Leatherback Turtle groups have been quite actively compaigning against the development, and the government is considering exappropriating land that has already been developed and lived on. One can only imagine concerns among people who bought property and already moved here.
Limón. Despite concerns regarding dengue, I made a day trip to Limón to keep an appointment there. The return was scary: Torrential rains, fog, houses flooded and water 1/2 way up the sides of the house, and one bridge near collapse. The road from San José to Limón is the only major route for cars and trucks from the Port, so it gets much use, and rains do not help. I may attempt to go back to the Caribbean side before I leave, but really...the Pacific side is more reliable right now, weather-wise.
SEF2Conference. I attended the Supply Exchange Forum in Cariari City, about an hour from San José.
The purpose of this conference was to bring together businesses of all sizes—to include transnationals (TNC’s) and small to medium sized business, logistics and logistics consultancy providers, and governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) to address best practices and regional and global trends in supply chain management.
Over 86 exhibitors, 28 of which were TNC’s, exhibited at this event and were represented by individuals at a high management level. *APL, *Maersk, *Intel, *Atek Medical, *Texas Instruments, *Tyco Corp, *Intel, Boston Scientific, Sodexho were among the many.[1] Others included the European Institute of Purchasing Management, sponsors, 3PL’s, outsourcing agents, logistics “solutions” companies, and banks. Schenker, Expeditors, *UPS and Scotiabank are a few examples. Georgia Tech. had high visibility
through their Institute of Supply Chain and Logistics. Sponsors included export promotion NGO’s (PROCOMER, Costa Rica’s equivalent to MITC here in Maine), the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), AMCHAM, Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), Continental Airlines, and Scotiabank. Former Astronaut Franklin Chang Díaz, Chairman and CEO of AD Astra Rocket Company, was a main attraction speaker. They have research operations in Houston and their recently built Guanacaste, Costa Rica location. Session topics included, but were not limited to lean supply chain manufacturing, outsourcing in developing countries, development of flexible supply chains, and global transportation challenges.
[1] *denotes that these companies were also represented in keynote presentations. Examples include: UPS’s Asia Pacific Regional Director; Maersk’s Regional General Manager of Logistics, and member of their Refrigerated Product Development Team. Most of the TNC’s brought their stateside and regional management team. Many have operations in Costa Rica, which explains their presence.
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A View of the Pasantía (Stay) with my Colegas Ticos, by Elaine S. Potoker, Ph.D.
Flag of Costa Rica
"Ticos": It is a famous expression in the Latin American world for Costa Ricans.
Biezanz, Richard, Biezanz, Karen Zubris, & Mavis Hiltunen Biezanz (1982). The Costa Ricans. p. 1.
"Costa Ricans call themselves Ticos. This name is said to stem from the colonial saying 'We are all hermaniticos (little brothers).' It also reflects their custom of referring to many things in the diminutive, ending in -ito., as in the other Spanish-speaking countries, and more characteristically in -ico. They even combine the two into a super-diminutive. Thus something small may not simply be chico or chiquito, but chiquitico."
Biezanz, Richard, Biezanz, Karen Zubris, & Mavis Hiltunen Biezanz (1982). The Costa Ricans. p. 1.
Blog Archive
My Fulbright Responsibilities
- The College and My Award:
- While in Costa Rica, I will be teaching at the University of Costa Rica in San José, which is right outside of the city in an area called San Pedro Montes de Oca. My Fulbright award is as a "Lecturer-Researcher." Therefore, 70% of my time will be research (investigaciones)and 30% in teaching (la docencia). Believe it or not, 30,000 students attend the University of Costa Rica, none of whom live in dormitories. (There are none).
- ...Regarding research, my Fulbright proposal commits me to investigate the challenges that companies are facing in the region specific to implementation of DR-CAFTA guidelines. Related areas of interest involve issues regarding technology integration, port security, and human resource capacitation. This will be a qualitative research endeavor. I have identified the following companies as potential interviewees: P/O Nedlloyd, Seaboard Marine, Remarsa, Junta de Administración Portuaria y de Desarrollo Económico de la Vertiente (JAPDEVA), Instituto Costarricense de Puertos del Pacífico (INCOP), Fed Ex Corp. (Gerente Director Regional), empresas locales: Hewlett Packard, IBM, Teradyne, Sykes, Baxter, Procter & Gamble I hope to involve my students in this effort, to include discussion of qualitative methodology--often under-emphasized or an "afterthought" in higher education business courses. The subject of DR-CAFTA is a political "hot potato" here, as Costa Rica is the only country that has not ratified it. There will be a referendum in November to decide the question.
...Regarding teaching, I will teach in the Business Administration Department in the area of Strategic Management. The "Facultad de Administración de Negocios" counts on 130 professors, 50% of who are part-time. There will be 5 sections of this course for 4th year students. For other Programs and Colleges at the University, go to http://www.ucr.ac.cr/facultades_escuelas.php and for the Business Administration Department visit http://www.ean.ucr.ac.cr/.
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