People all over San José are flexing their numerology to find the right combination of tickets to win the year’s biggest lottery jackpot, the Gordo Navideño, worth more than $2.6 million.
This month’s initiative is called “Juguetes Para Niños,” the Spanish equivalent of Toys for Tots. Taking their cue from their U.S. predecessors, the 50 members of the Marine Corps of Costa Rica have started their first-ever toy drive.
Today marks the launch of the fourth-annual Tropical Market, or Mercado Tropical,at the Casa del Cuño outside of the Antigua Aduana in San José – providing an ideal place to shop for Christmas gifts and spend time with family and friends.
Central America is light on snow and brick chimneys, but stories of Santa and Scrooge have saturated Costa Rican culture, and there is no shortage of holiday-themed theater.
A total of 386 checkpoints throughout the country are part of a Traffic Police effort to prevent accidents before and during the holidays. Traffic Police Director Mario Calderón said that operations would begin this week and target the busiest roads in the Central Valley, where traffic jams usually occur while people are out doing holiday shopping.
