Hurtling Towards 50

I have sort of been living in denial all year...denying that I would ever be anything other than 49 years old.  But here we are on the cusp of November and December is looming large and reality is finally setting in, for at the stroke of midnight, Dec 4th, Costa Rica Guy turns the page on another decade.  Yes, I will be 50 and there just isn't any way to avoid it at this point....well, there is one way, but let's not go there.  I guess turning 50 has me waxing nostalgic, evidenced by recent posts to my Facebook page of Grateful Dead and Little Feat tunes.  But what's the big deal about 50 anyway?  I mean, isn't 50 the new 40?  I don't really feel that old.  However, as Hank Williams Jr. so eloquently stated, "the hangovers [do] hurt more than they use to."  As one who often rails against materialism, I can't say I have much material to show for my 50 years of accumulatory existence on this great planet.  About the only thing I have accumulated is a few too many inches around the waist line and a whole hell of a lot of great experiences.  The things I am most proud of are four incredibly bright, good looking and good hearted kids.  And, yes of course, they primarily have their mother to thank for all those admirable qualites....yet proud I am nonetheless.  But you know, I am secretly looking forward to the next decade.  I believe it might finally reveal the answer to that question that has plagued me for the previous 26,280,000 minutes of my existence....the question that asks, "why am I here?"  And if it doesn't, well I still have my 60's, now don't I?  This post is not a cheap and under-handed way to encourage anyone out there to send me a birthday present, really!  But just in case you might be thinking about it, send cash please!

There's No Place Like Home

I watched a movie the other day with Lily that featured the famous song sung by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz.  You know, that little ditty entitled Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  I mentioned that it had been a long time since I had seen that old classic movie and Lily gave me a puzzled look which betrayed the fact that she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.  As much as I love where I live, I have to admit that sometimes it feels like a long way from home.  I just couldn't fathom the thought that someone had actually not seen, nor even heard of, The Wizard of Oz.  The next day at work I asked Pablo if he had seen the movie and I received the same puzzled look.  Oh my god, was my muzzled reply, where have you people been living!  Well, once I settled into the fact that The Wizard of Oz ain't that big down here in Latin America, I started feeling a bit lonely and isolated.  Of course, I am sure I would get the same puzzled looks back in South Carolina if I asked someone if they had ever seen or heard of Cantinflas.  One big problem about being an expat is that sometimes you get that icky feeling that you just don't belong....ANYWHERE!  As much as I feel isolated and alone at times here in Costa Rica, after being here for the better part of a decade I am sure I would experience the same sense of culture shock if I decided one day to pack it all up and repatriate.  I believe the best way to shed those feelings that often send would-be expatriates fleeing back to the U.S. with their tales tucked between their legs is to let go and immerse.  But immersing yourself in another culture doesn't mean that you have to lose your own.  On the contrary, it just means that you become that much more culturally rich....a bicultural person.  To do that requires a good healthy dose of humility, which many expats still harboring silly notions of "American exceptionalism" in their bony brains are lacking in.  There is nothing exceptional about being a "cultural bigot," which is what you are if you actually try to live in a foreign country and at the same time reject even the slightest notion of adopting or adapting to their culture.  Even though it is sometimes hard and awkward and can be even downright humiliating, the reward you get, both experientially and from a personal growth perspective, is well worth the anguish.

Words Matter Bill

Political correctness has once again become the topic of the day in the U.S.  Most recently, the heat has been turned up due to the Bill O'Reilly face off with the ladies of the View and the Juan Willams termination by NPR.  The issue seems to be whether or not one should engage in speech that lumps all Muslims into the fundamentalist extremist variety.  Bill O'Reilly seems to be of the opinion that since there is an underlying hatred of the entire Muslim world towards the "infidels" of the West, that yes it is quite appropriate, even healthy, to do so.  My take on it is to ask the question, where does such speech leads us?  Does saying that "Muslims killed us on 9-11" help in any way to assure that such an event is not repeated?  What is Mr. Bill really saying here?  That the entire Western Christian world should consider itself at war with Islam?  Where does that lead us?  Of course, O'Reilly's gross over-generalization cannot be true.  There are millions of Muslims who would not condone the terrorists acts of 9-11.  If what he is really saying is that the "religion of Islam killed us on 9-11," then, while still over-simplifying things a bit, he at least may be closer to some kernel of truth.  The Muslim faith is in a sense hostile to other faiths, especially those of the West, isn't it?  And that hostility, taken to the extreme, is what motivates terrorism.  It is not like the FARC of Colombia who engage in terrorism from an economic motivation.  Islamic terrorists certainly cannot be equally motivated since once the strap-on bomb is detonated, there is no more hope of shopping sprees in Dubai.  They are religiously motivated, pure and simple.  And our constant interference in their affairs, based largely on our own economic motivations, makes them even more motivated.  We feel threatened.  They feel threatened.  So we do the best we can to blow each other up.  Rhetoric such as what was engaged in by Bill O'Reilly on the View only adds more fuel to the already raging fire.  The "politically correct" action of the View ladies walking out on O'Reilly was stupid and meaningless and did nothing to solve the problem....only made for good TV.  Thinking before we speak, however, could be a step in the right direction.

In Support of a Constitutional Ban on the "All-Inclusive" Resort

The Riu - Gorgeous but Deadly

Picture yourself on a white sand beach in the glaring tropical sun with the waves crashing on a crystal clear sea while you recline on your beach chair sipping a tropical rum punch.  Sound nice?  Well it is a perfect setting to enjoy in a place like Cancun or Cozumel, where the resorts are large, luxurious, and, of course, "all-inclusive."  But that's Cancun, that's Cozumal and that's NOT Costa Rica.  Costa Rica is one of the most bio-diverse locations on earth.  Costa Rica is full of virgin rain and cloud forests that are home to a mind-boggling array of animal life.  Generally the all-inclusive resort is large and contains more hotel rooms by far than the average Costa Rican hotel.  I am sure there is something innate to the economic model of the all-inclusive that requires high density.  But in order to do that Costa Rica's virgin forests have to be cut down.  As a result its bio-diversity is lost.  Costa Rica loses what makes it unique.  There are some who have had the idea of bringing the all-inclusive to Costa Rica.  Most of such resorts are in Guanacaste, where the land is flatter and where there is much beachfront property that is "titled," or not subject to concession, which otherwise is the only way to build a hotel witin 200 meters of the high tide line.  But even in Guanacaste, the all-inclusive concept has caused controversy.  Take the example of the 700 room Hotel Riu in Playa Matapalo.  There are law suits and protests going on right now because in order to build the Riu a mangrove forest had to be clear cut.  All-inclusives are great for vacations where the prime objective is to eat, drink and lay back to soak up rays.  But an experience of Costa Rica, while it can involve some of that, is much more.  It is to get up close and personal with one of our planet's last true biogems.  In order to do that, you have to go to places where all-inclusives are forbidden.  Forbidden because building them there would destroy the reason to visit.  I am of the firm belief that every time an all-inclusive is erected in Costa Rica, Costa Rica loses a bit more of its unique appeal. At Package Costa Rica we will put our customers in all-inclusives if they demand it, but we try to persuade them otherwise.  It is just not the best way to experience what this country is all about.  In short, all-inclusives are by nature "un-sustainable" and therefore not consistent with the overall message of Costa Rica.

Chilean Miners Emerge from/into a Small World

I have been watching the dramatic rescue of the 33 Chilean miners with wrapped attention.  What has been particularly noteworthy is the way in which this event seems to have the planet feeling a little more "connected."    It seems the whole world is cheering for these guys.  There has been the usual "media-circus" surrounding the event, with news agencies from every corner of the globe vying to get their shots in.  It was funny last night watching the Fox News reporter trying to speak and translate Spanish as he held impromptu interviews with a few miner family members.  This guy's Spanish was about advanced enough for him to ask directions to the bathroom, but I gotta at least give him an E for effort.  I have written a lot in my other 365 Reasons blog about the idea of the world being connected and about the need for global citizenship.  Why are those things important?  Well, for one, because they are true.  We are more connected than ever and that does give rise to the enhanced need to understand things about cultures other than our own.  Take, for instance, the need to understand another language (which would have greatly aided that Fox News guy, as well as his viewers).  That may have not have been so important 50, or even 20 years ago, but it is certainly becoming more and more important now.  Understanding other people is a solid first step to becoming better understood by them and that bodes well for future peace and prosperity.  For as long as we are at each other's throats not much gets accomplished, other than the enhancement of our ability to innovate means by which to destroy one another with heightened precision and efficiency.  We humans are really good at the conflict thing.  The cooperation thing is a bit newer to the scene and while we seem to be struggling with it, at least some of us seem to be slowly coming to grip with the fact that the world is a much smaller place.  Of course that might just make it all the more easy to blow up, or hopefully and alternatively, to grow up.  The Chilean miner rescue seems to be helping us in the latter endeavor.  Viva Chile!

What's Wrong with The Fox News Point of View?



"Fair and Balanced" Front Man - The Beckster

 There have been some pointed accusations directed towards the cable news powerhouse, Fox News, lately.  First there was Barack Obama's claim that the Fox News "point of view" is destructive of America.  Now Maxine Waters has chimed in saying that Fox is "anti-immigrant."  The left just doesn't like Fox News, despite the latter's repeated claim of being the one true "fair and balanced" network.  I watch Fox News.  I am not sure why since I disagree with virtually everything espoused on it.  I do think they have the prettiest female anchors and reporters, so maybe that could have something to do with the appeal, at least for me (although I am sure none of you died-in-the-wool conservatives out there would ever admit to such a lascivious motivation).  I will admit that almost every panel enlisted to debate a particular "issue of the day" will have the token liberal viewpoint represented.  Poor Bob Beckel is a regular on Sean Hannity's "late great American panel" and gets pummeled by Hannity, the moderator, and the other two conservatives pitted directly against any idea Beckel dares to put forth.  In short, Fox News is ANYTHING but "fair and balanced."  That modern day "McCarthyite" Glenn Beck has to be the most unfair and unbalanced ("unhinged" may be a better description) news figure on the planet.  Yet he has millions of viewers who hang on his every silly chalk board illustration.  Go figure?  There is some appeal presented by Fox News that makes it the number one cable news network by a very long shot.  But the question posed by this post is "what's the big problem" with Fox?  I for one don't necessarily believe that the conservative viewpoint is always the wrong one.  I do not think that rampant and unrestricted capitalistic excess is good for the planet, or we the people who inhabit it.  The prevailing conservative thought-line seems to always suggest that government should just step out of the way and let the capitalistic train chug down the track unhindered.  But the reality is that that is exactly what we had for eight years under Bush before the train derailed.  That of a compassionate and conscientious "brake-man" is a proper role for government to play in order to prevent future derailments.  But what really concerns me about Fox is that they foment a certain brand of fear in an attempt to undermine any ideas they deem contrary to their unrestrained capitalistic point of view.  I will take as a "for instance" their almost wholesale assault on global warming and any proposal for a legislative mandate that attempts to deal with this global problem.  Just the very fact that Glenn Beck, a self-avowed global warming denier, is given so much air time provides the proof in the pudding.  Yea, O'Reilly claims to "believe in" global warming, but I have never seen a piece of carbon reducing legislation that he wouldn't quickly belittle and reduce to kooky ideas from left-wing nut jobs.  Fox News is definitely up to something and that something has nothing to do with fair and balanced journalism.  No, it is to propagate their particular brand of conservative world view.  Let me put it this way, if the November election turns out to be the conservative landslide that many are predicting, I am fairly certain Rupert Murdoch will throw a lavish party to thank all the Fox News anchors, reporters and regular guests for a "job well done."