Thank you, US congress

Did my US taxes the other week and just got it approved by IRS. Apart from a few unsuccesful attempts to connect with my tax professional at H&R Block it was all online, quite easy and streamlined. They're not where they are in Sweden where you can do your taxes through a text from your cell phone but nonetheless. I just want to thank US congress for passing that stimulus package last year which gave me a $400 tax rebate as a "it pays to work" bill or something. Quite nice. Sorry to say that money for me probably won't be spent in the US though...

Yoga

So I finally made it to my first yoga class ever! It's a kundalini yoga that focuses on breathing so no "acrobatics" or even stretches, just breathing and some movements to go with it. It was really dificult but at the same time rewarding, it sort of felt good during and afterwards, so I think I'm going to go back for more. The instructor is Swedish, which makes it even better, right!?

Latest reads

Since joining the library I've taken to browse their shelves in alphabetical order. I'm now done through B, tomorrow I'll attack C. (How James Thurber snuck in there I have no idea...)

Louis de Bernieres, Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord

Ah yes, Latin magic realism, just the way I like it! The author have also written Corelli's Mandolin so he's not unheard of, although his name didn't ring a bell for me, I only picked it up due to the title, and I'm glad I did! Apparently he's written two more books in the same style, The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman, both of which are now on my to read-list.

Reinaldo Arenas, The Ill-fated Peregrinations of Fray Servando

Another Latin magic realism, another book I picked off the title, although this author I have heard of. He's Cuban, and Javier Bardem played him in the biographical Before Night Falls, but although it's directed by Julian Schnabel I didn't find the movie very good. But his book is!

John Berendt, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

I remember hearing about this book a good while back but then I completely forgot about it. Set in Savannah, it depicts life in a town that doesn't want to concern itself with its surroundings, and that necessarily leads to inbreed, belly button-watching and provincial insularity (tautology?). In other words, not a world in which I would like to partake, but very enjoyable to read about!

James Thurber, The Middle-Aged Man on the Flying Trapeze

A short story collection from the 50s or so, supposedly funny, but I think humor has changed a bit since. Some of the stories made me chuckle, one outright laugh, but too many left me too empty for it to be worthwhile.

St. Patrick's day

I realized the other day that St. Patrick's day is coming up (March 17 for those of you who don't know, i.e. this coming Wednesday) and I promptly started searching for Irish bars in the area; there are always Irish bars in the area, no matter what area, e.g. I found one in Cuzco or some other high altitude town in Peru. So of course I found one in Escazu! It's The Pub (original name, huh?), and that's where we're going on Wednesday. Robert is coming down from Monteverde, not for that but because he has a meeting in San Jose that day, and maybe I can get my school mates to go, too, although they're Swiss and Danish. Would be fun to get a group going. I'm crossing my fingers for corned beef and cabbage, but will settle for bangers and mash or shepherd's pie.

Routines and rituals

I am not a big fan of routines, I prefer to spice up the life with a little change now and then. I don't want to clean the house the same day every week, or eat the same thing for breakfast every day (although I usually do...), or stick to a strict workout schedule.

However, I am a big fan of rituals. Like reading the New Yorker with my morning coffee before starting the day, or back in Boston, having happy hour beers on Fridays at work before heading over to the Tam, no matter what the rest of the evening and weekend had in store.

But the more I think about it; what's the difference between a routine and a ritual, really? It seems to me that I put boring stuff under routines and fun stuff under rituals, but surely there must be a more profound difference than that?

Pico Blanco

Towering over Escazu are three or so hill tops and Pico Blanco is one of them. Today after Spanish classes I hiked it with my school mates (have all of two!) and one of the brothers in the family running the school. The others didn't want to go to the top and since I didn't want to make them wait too long and while the sun was starting to set I pretty much jogged the last part and boy am I beat now. According to the web, Pico Blanco is 2276 meters and we started out at about 1420 meters, which would make it about 800 meters of altitude but I'm really sceptical about that, those peaks don't seem so high from here at all. Regardless, it was a great hike and I really enjoy it up there, you get some great views of Escazu and San Jose, and on clear days (not today unfortunately) you can see four volcanoes and the Pacific coast.

My new address

Went to the post office today to get a postbox; when I first went in January they didn't have any available so they asked me to come back early March. At first they didn't have any now either, but then it turned out that they had available boxes, just no locks! So I went to the hardware store and bought one and then it worked fine!

Apdo. postal 1250-19-10201
Escazú, San José
Costa Rica

Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional

This past weekend the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional opened their season at Teatro Nacional. I went on Sunday with Robert, Erin, and Tommy, and had a great experience. How can you not with this program:

Chosei Komatsu, D. Titular
Roger Wright, pianista

Tchaikovsky, Polonesa de Eugene Onegin
Rachmaninoff, Concierto para piano Nº 2 en do menor Op.18
Smetana, Tres danzas de La novia Vendida
Rimsky-Korsakov Capricho Español

This piano concert by Rachmaninoff is one of my favorites and Roger Wright was great on the piano, even though I noticed a few slip-ups. The setting was a little bit more relaxed then I'm used to from BSO and concerts in Sweden and rest of Europe. The musicians didn't wear any jackets, only white shirts, some of them short-sleeved, and Komatsu wore a white tux.

Lots of gringos/expats in the audience and far from sold out, I take it classical music isn't that big here. But tickets are cheap and I will definitely come back again during the season.

My one percent

Every year I donate one percent of my net salary to people or organizations that I feel need it the most. For 2009 it was a no-brainer after the earthquake struck Haiti, my money went to the UN Foundation's Help the UN Help Haiti who I believe do a good job over there.