When I was growing up, faroles – the handmade lanterns meant to symbolize the 19th-century journey that brought the message of Central American independence to Costa Rica – were simple constructions, made of paper.
Costa Rica's National Anthem is not a war song; rather, it tells the story of a democratic people, of farmers who have not experienced great conflicts.
Dozens of people waited for the independence torch in Peñas Blancas, the Costa Rican town on the border with Nicaragua. There, the two countries are divided by a diagonal line where Costa Rican asphalt meets Nicaraguan cement.
The new U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica, S. Fitzgerald Haney, made his first public appearance Thursday during an Independence Day celebration at the ambassador’s residence in Escazú.
The image only shows up for Google users current in Costa Rica. The four other Central American countries celebrating Independence Day this Monday -- El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras -- also received their own doodles.
Artificial light from hotels, homes and streets can keep female sea turtles from nesting and send hatchlings inland. A CREMA biologist says nesting has dropped at Tamarindo and Santa Teresa.
