It's Holloween in the U.S.!! I miss it!! no pumpkin by my apt. ...
° AACUE (Acuerdo de Asociación entre Centroamérica y la Unión Europea/
The Treaty between the European Union Central America):
The first formal rounds of the AACUE took place in Escazú at the Hotel Intercontinental, about 45 minutes from the center of San José.
[Escazú, by the way, is a suburban area within the "province" of San José. Several of my colleagues live there and commute into San José. U.S. food and retail chains populate the avenues in and out of the city. The U.S. and British Ambassador live there. Go to this link to find out why the symbol of Escazú is a witch! http://escazucostarica.com/]
For weeks, I had been trying to get an appointment with the Chief Negotiator (RE) from Costa Rica. The appt. was "pending" for Oct. 29th. But then we phoned and found out he was leaving for Belgium for a month on that day. I was reeeally disappointed. We made several more calls, and he agreed to meet with me from 9am to 9:30 in the lobby of the hotel on the last day of the meetings. So we (The Institute) managed to get a UCR driver to take me there. We're half-way there, and I ask the driver, "Aren't we going to Escazú?" (...because the route did not look right!). So the driver says, "Aren't you meeting him at the Hotel Cariari Intercontinental?" Well, the answer to that was, no. It was 8:50 am and we were totally in the wrong direction, sitting in traffic heading for Heredia, by the airport. So...I phone the Hotel on the driver's cell phone to talk with someone from RE's entourage, and explain how embarrassed and stupid I felt, and was there any way I could still meet him. RE had to be back in meetings at 9:30 and we were at least 20 minutes away. Sooo...we get to the correct Hotel, and I literally run through the lobby; find his assistant; and am whisked to his meeting room, where he is sitting with others and waiting for me. As it turned out, it was a great 10 minutes, and he promised a longer appt. before I left for the States. If ever a background in marketing helped me in other situations, it helped me most here. I began my conversation with why I felt he would be interested in the findings of my research as background and context for the negotiations. We talked about infrastructure issues and negotiating styles. I would have loved to have the l/2 hour, but I was grateful for the 10 minutes.
° Weather: The weather is starting to change a little--there are not so many heavy rainstorms in the afternoon. October is the real "winter" here. It actually felt like autumn on some of the rainy days. I am looking forward to a Costa Rican summer, but that will not happen to late November, early December, just about when I have to leave.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Highlights: October 1 - 12
Among the noteworthy events in this time period...
~Oct. 7: TLC (or DR-CAFTA as we know it) passes!! BUT, by a very slim margin. It was a priviledge to be here while the process was taking place; I felt a sort of kinship, as it was a democratic process I understood. No propaganda was allowed all day Sunday nor the day before. I've decided not to discuss this issue and the political ramifications in the blog, but expect to have the opportunity to do so in charlas (talks) when I get back.
~ Oct. 8: I was invited to present a talk on the subject of globalizaation to students and faculty in the Humanities. In the question and answer period that followed, I was asked to comment on U.S. foreign policy, the Bush administration, and more. I wasn't expecting that, but I was prepared! Talking about one's home country in a foreign country from a standpoint of neutrality is quite the challenge. I always begin by saying that in a country of over 300,000,000 people, no one is a representative voice for all. Stereotypical views of the US is another charla that I expect to do when I am back home. The value of the Fulbright, in my view, is that it is an opportunity to present perspectives that are not presented in the news and (hopefully) foster improved understanding between nations and cultures.
~ Oct. 9: Dos Pinos (Cooperatora de Productores de Leche Dos Pinos, in Alajuela). Visited the largest producer of lactose products in Costa Rica and among the top exporters in the region. The facilities occupy about 25 hectares of land (1 hectare is 10,000 sq. meters & 1 meter is 3.28 ft). So do the math to appreciate how big this place is! Its products, from personal experience, are yummy--The bests yogurt I've ever eaten, excellent cheeses, and my favorite ice cream pop is their chocolate with coffee ice cream inside. I met with the Director of International Marketing and the Director of Logistics for the purposes of my Fulbright research. This was a very valuable interview.
~ Oct. 11: Intel (Latin American corporate office, in Heredia). By now certain themes regarding logistics and more are being validated across industries. This means I am ready to start writing research results.
~Oct. 7: TLC (or DR-CAFTA as we know it) passes!! BUT, by a very slim margin. It was a priviledge to be here while the process was taking place; I felt a sort of kinship, as it was a democratic process I understood. No propaganda was allowed all day Sunday nor the day before. I've decided not to discuss this issue and the political ramifications in the blog, but expect to have the opportunity to do so in charlas (talks) when I get back.
~ Oct. 8: I was invited to present a talk on the subject of globalizaation to students and faculty in the Humanities. In the question and answer period that followed, I was asked to comment on U.S. foreign policy, the Bush administration, and more. I wasn't expecting that, but I was prepared! Talking about one's home country in a foreign country from a standpoint of neutrality is quite the challenge. I always begin by saying that in a country of over 300,000,000 people, no one is a representative voice for all. Stereotypical views of the US is another charla that I expect to do when I am back home. The value of the Fulbright, in my view, is that it is an opportunity to present perspectives that are not presented in the news and (hopefully) foster improved understanding between nations and cultures.
~ Oct. 9: Dos Pinos (Cooperatora de Productores de Leche Dos Pinos, in Alajuela). Visited the largest producer of lactose products in Costa Rica and among the top exporters in the region. The facilities occupy about 25 hectares of land (1 hectare is 10,000 sq. meters & 1 meter is 3.28 ft). So do the math to appreciate how big this place is! Its products, from personal experience, are yummy--The bests yogurt I've ever eaten, excellent cheeses, and my favorite ice cream pop is their chocolate with coffee ice cream inside. I met with the Director of International Marketing and the Director of Logistics for the purposes of my Fulbright research. This was a very valuable interview.
~ Oct. 11: Intel (Latin American corporate office, in Heredia). By now certain themes regarding logistics and more are being validated across industries. This means I am ready to start writing research results.
[Oh, about the interview transcripts...I am hiring work study students from
the Institute to type them. So I am up to date. All I need to do is read
through them all and color code for prevailing themes. Lots to do...]
I interviewed 2 individuals: the Logistics Manager and Special Projects (Logistics) involved in all areas excepting raw materials inbound. High security was experienced here going in and going out, and no tape recording or photos were allowed. It's understandable.
I stayed in Heredia that evening and took the opportunity to visit some friends of friends and eat gallo pinto (see "Food"), and torta chilena (a yummy, sweet, filo dough type layered dessert with caramel between the layers.) Of course, Costa Rican coffee accompanied the dessert. By now I've given up on decaffeinated and have succumbed to drinking the real thing because it is so rico.
~Oct. 12: Al Gore receives the Nobel Prize. That felt good for many reasons.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
9-24 - 9-30 Puntarenas & Puerto Calderas
Puerto Calderas: About 2-1/2 hours east of San José is Puerto Calderas on the Pacific Coast. It is a significant port for import of such goods as iron, vehicles, paper, banana, bagged cement, fertilizers, salt and fruits as well as bulk salt, corn, soy, wheat, malt, rice, fertilizers, sand. On the export side (formally a minor share of total traffic, but now almost 1/2) are fruits, vehicles, banana, bagged cement, and cattle--including but not limited to...
I interviewed both the Director of Port Security and the Assistant Director of the Port regarding my project. These were the first interviews I have had at a workforce level, and so the information was very useful. I got a tour of the operations there and was quite impressed with the modern facilities. This port has been privately owned and operated since 2006. The major financial interest is Colombian.
I have been recording all of my interviews on cassettes. The Institute has provided work-study students to type the transcripts. Yet, I am falling behind as the tapes take about 4 hrs. to transcribe. What to do? Not sure yet, but hope to resolve this week.
Puntarenas. I am told that Puntarenas was once Costa Rica's busiest ports. That's not so anymore since the port facility at Calderas was established. Frommer's Costa Rica guidebook (2007) says of Puntarenas that it "... has yet to shed its image as a rough-and-tumble port town" (p. 256) despite efforts to attract visitors and clean up the beaches. This appears to be an accurate assessment, yet it is relatively close to San José if one yearns for a view of the ocean.
Food. I was told to have a Churchill on the way back. It is a combination of milk, ice cream and fruit. However, I had just eaten a yummy corvina (see below), and had no room. Perhaps next time.
Wow...Oct 1 tomorrow. I'm here 2 months. Where has the time gone??
I interviewed both the Director of Port Security and the Assistant Director of the Port regarding my project. These were the first interviews I have had at a workforce level, and so the information was very useful. I got a tour of the operations there and was quite impressed with the modern facilities. This port has been privately owned and operated since 2006. The major financial interest is Colombian.
I have been recording all of my interviews on cassettes. The Institute has provided work-study students to type the transcripts. Yet, I am falling behind as the tapes take about 4 hrs. to transcribe. What to do? Not sure yet, but hope to resolve this week.
Puntarenas. I am told that Puntarenas was once Costa Rica's busiest ports. That's not so anymore since the port facility at Calderas was established. Frommer's Costa Rica guidebook (2007) says of Puntarenas that it "... has yet to shed its image as a rough-and-tumble port town" (p. 256) despite efforts to attract visitors and clean up the beaches. This appears to be an accurate assessment, yet it is relatively close to San José if one yearns for a view of the ocean.
Food. I was told to have a Churchill on the way back. It is a combination of milk, ice cream and fruit. However, I had just eaten a yummy corvina (see below), and had no room. Perhaps next time.
Wow...Oct 1 tomorrow. I'm here 2 months. Where has the time gone??
Monday, September 24, 2007
TLC (Tratado Libre de Comercio)/Free Trade Agreement
As I have mentioned in a previous post, October is the referendum on the DR-CAFTA Trade Agreement. Costa Rica is the only country that has not ratified it. The news and the protests are gearing up here for the Sí people vs. the No people. Even a taxi driver will try to pull you into a conversation about the subject. On Sunday, there were demonstrations on street corners and vans riding around town blasting propaganda through microphones. More soon...
9-30-07: Well, the referendum is a week away and the demonstrations more noticable. Paradoxically, while all this is going on, COMEX (The Ministry of Foreign Commerce) is meeting with representatives of the EU (European Union) to develop the AACUE, or a trade agreement between the EU and Central America. I was invited a summary meeting of the state of the negotiations to date in Herradura last week.
9-30-07: Well, the referendum is a week away and the demonstrations more noticable. Paradoxically, while all this is going on, COMEX (The Ministry of Foreign Commerce) is meeting with representatives of the EU (European Union) to develop the AACUE, or a trade agreement between the EU and Central America. I was invited a summary meeting of the state of the negotiations to date in Herradura last week.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Travel
My schedule does not give me much time for tourism; however, to not see some of the country while I'm here would be ridiculous. Right? (yes)
San José: 9-22/23. Decided to check out some museums while here: The Gold Museum--an unbelievable collection of gold dating from the Pre-Columbian era; The Costa Rican Museum of Art, the National Museum, and a museum that displays a collection of coins, etc. dating back many years. In regard to the latter, I was amused to see that some of the coins and bills I still have from by business life here 20 yrs. ago are now museum pieces. While they have no value in exchange, I am sure they will be a nice gift for a young Costa Rican who is starting a coin collection. I also visited a Butterfly Garden--amazing all the varieties that were there. ...lovely.
Manuel Antonio: 9-14/9-16. The 14th was Costa Rican Independence Day. In celebration, there were parades. Additionally, runners carried a torch from the Nicaraguan border to Panama to celebrate the occasion. The "neat" thing was to see the entire event emulated within the elementary schools. Another torch was carried by school children who ran along and passed it from pueblo (town) to pueblo. It was so cute to see the school children (in their school "uniforms") perched along the road, waving the Costa Rican flag.
Manuel Antonio is on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. I decided to go there, rather than Limón (see below for "why"). It is a tourist-attracting place with lovely vistas and the celebrated Manuel Antonio National Park. Unfortunately, the area is showing the signs of too much development, I am told. About a month before I went, I was told that there was a tsunami alert there due to the Peruvian earthquake. People were literally running with their suitcases to the mountains. I was advised to stay higher up--in the mountains, if I decided to go. As it turned out, there was a tremor at 3 am. on Sunday, the day I was to leave...pretty scary.)
The park is definitely a "must see." I managed to take more a few more pictures of monkeys, to include the perezozo ("lazy," in Spanish)--a monkey that lumbers along so slowly, that it takes about 20 minutes for it to move about a yard. Crabs and grasshoppers that are beautifully colored, and iguanas that were not, were prevalent. I was told that a boa constrictor ate a small animal (a rabbit-like-looking rat the size of a small pig--name of which I cannot remember) the week before. It swallowed it whole, as the story goes. Glad I missed that... By the way, check out "Food," updated below.
La Fortuna: 9-1/9-2. I spent two precious days with friends on a trip 2-1/2 hrs. northwest of San José. We visited several volcanoes--the quite impressive Poás and Arenal. I'm told there are 110 volcanoes in Costa Rica. We also bathed in some lovely hot springs near La Fortuna--in the pouring rain, by the way, and visited the Arenal Rain Forest...lovely. I'm finally figuring out how my daughter's digital camera works: Got some some lovely rainforest shots, but the white-faced monkeys would not pose long enough for me to capture a picture of their great "mug." With 5% of the world's biodiversity here, there is much reason to take pictures, although I have not taken many yet.
Next trip? ...don't know yet. On the Caribbean side, Limón has been in the news an active place for dengue- carrying mosquitos due to the heavy rains this year. I was considering tying in a trip to Limón to visit JAPDEVA for an interview (see column on left). However, I'm adverse to taking unecessary risks while here. Better to get the interview in San José? So for further travel, I may consider a trip to Guanacaste Province located on the Pacific side. There it is drier; therefore, it is more of a "no worries" area for mosquito -borne diseases. Iwould also love to go to the Golfito, down toward Panama--we'll see; it's a long trip.
Significant trivia: One-quarter of the world's tree species are here in Costa Rica. Yes, Costa Rica is quite biodiverse.
San José: 9-22/23. Decided to check out some museums while here: The Gold Museum--an unbelievable collection of gold dating from the Pre-Columbian era; The Costa Rican Museum of Art, the National Museum, and a museum that displays a collection of coins, etc. dating back many years. In regard to the latter, I was amused to see that some of the coins and bills I still have from by business life here 20 yrs. ago are now museum pieces. While they have no value in exchange, I am sure they will be a nice gift for a young Costa Rican who is starting a coin collection. I also visited a Butterfly Garden--amazing all the varieties that were there. ...lovely.
Manuel Antonio: 9-14/9-16. The 14th was Costa Rican Independence Day. In celebration, there were parades. Additionally, runners carried a torch from the Nicaraguan border to Panama to celebrate the occasion. The "neat" thing was to see the entire event emulated within the elementary schools. Another torch was carried by school children who ran along and passed it from pueblo (town) to pueblo. It was so cute to see the school children (in their school "uniforms") perched along the road, waving the Costa Rican flag.
Manuel Antonio is on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. I decided to go there, rather than Limón (see below for "why"). It is a tourist-attracting place with lovely vistas and the celebrated Manuel Antonio National Park. Unfortunately, the area is showing the signs of too much development, I am told. About a month before I went, I was told that there was a tsunami alert there due to the Peruvian earthquake. People were literally running with their suitcases to the mountains. I was advised to stay higher up--in the mountains, if I decided to go. As it turned out, there was a tremor at 3 am. on Sunday, the day I was to leave...pretty scary.)
The park is definitely a "must see." I managed to take more a few more pictures of monkeys, to include the perezozo ("lazy," in Spanish)--a monkey that lumbers along so slowly, that it takes about 20 minutes for it to move about a yard. Crabs and grasshoppers that are beautifully colored, and iguanas that were not, were prevalent. I was told that a boa constrictor ate a small animal (a rabbit-like-looking rat the size of a small pig--name of which I cannot remember) the week before. It swallowed it whole, as the story goes. Glad I missed that... By the way, check out "Food," updated below.
La Fortuna: 9-1/9-2. I spent two precious days with friends on a trip 2-1/2 hrs. northwest of San José. We visited several volcanoes--the quite impressive Poás and Arenal. I'm told there are 110 volcanoes in Costa Rica. We also bathed in some lovely hot springs near La Fortuna--in the pouring rain, by the way, and visited the Arenal Rain Forest...lovely. I'm finally figuring out how my daughter's digital camera works: Got some some lovely rainforest shots, but the white-faced monkeys would not pose long enough for me to capture a picture of their great "mug." With 5% of the world's biodiversity here, there is much reason to take pictures, although I have not taken many yet.
Next trip? ...don't know yet. On the Caribbean side, Limón has been in the news an active place for dengue- carrying mosquitos due to the heavy rains this year. I was considering tying in a trip to Limón to visit JAPDEVA for an interview (see column on left). However, I'm adverse to taking unecessary risks while here. Better to get the interview in San José? So for further travel, I may consider a trip to Guanacaste Province located on the Pacific side. There it is drier; therefore, it is more of a "no worries" area for mosquito -borne diseases. Iwould also love to go to the Golfito, down toward Panama--we'll see; it's a long trip.
Significant trivia: One-quarter of the world's tree species are here in Costa Rica. Yes, Costa Rica is quite biodiverse.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Sept. 3 - 7; Sept. 10 - 14
Sept. 3-7, aside from teaching responsibilities, I accomplished 3 high level interviews with the following organizations: INCOP, FUNDES, and PROCOMER. INCOP is the Port Authority for the Pacific; FUNDES mission involves working to develop small to medium-sized businesses internally. PROCOMER continues where FUNDES leaves off to assist companies with their exporting activities. Several themes are emerging specific to my research focus which have implications to logistics, human resource development, and infrastructure development within the country and the region. I'm taping the interviews (in Spanish), and the Institute is assisting me with student workers who are typing transcriptions for me. I don't know what I would do without the Institute. They've been instrumental in opening all the doors for me.
Sept. 12: (highlight): I was invited by a professor in the Economics Dept. to give a guest lecture to his class. I focused on transnational company trends specific to their supply chain "factors of production" choices. I tied in the importance of these trends to Costa Rica's economic development. This was fun to do.
Sept. 12: (highlight): I was invited by a professor in the Economics Dept. to give a guest lecture to his class. I focused on transnational company trends specific to their supply chain "factors of production" choices. I tied in the importance of these trends to Costa Rica's economic development. This was fun to do.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Weather, etc.
When I told people I was going to Costa Rica, the response was usually a perception of sandy beaches. However, I am in the city, so there are no sandy beaches here. San José is about 1160 meters above sea level. Therefore, weather is pretty temperate--about 75 degrees most days and some humidity. It is winter (yes...winter) here. Winter here is rain and lots of it. When I walk to the bus on my way to the University, it is usually sunny. Everyone totes an umbrella, which is a clue of the afternoon rains. By 1:30pm. it is pouring. And... as many cities in this part of the world, streets are congested. The pedestrian does not necessarily have the right of way (or at all!). So one has to watch over one's shoulder when crossing the street. (I've had some pretty close calls, and an occasional taxi driver scream at me to walk on the sidewalk vs. the street. No gestures, however. ...)
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