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katherine stanley obando

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COSTA RICA AND COVID-19
Virtual Costa Rica

Day: January 22, 2020

Nighttime explorations

January 22, 2020 stanleyobando

A helping hand for those hoping to get to know San José.

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Never in the past nine months has it been harder to get my Boosts out by midnight than during the past week (mood-wise and time-wise). But I am gasping across the Friday finish line with what I hope will bring hope to you, as it has to me. Click the link in my bio sometime this weekend to read a truly remarkable story of cross-border community, generosity and love. • #costaricadailyboost #covidkindness #osa #osapeninsula #drakebay #bahíadrake #philanthropy #juntospodemos #thisiscostarica #costaricagram

What is nicer than a Guanacaste tree? • I've always wanted to read under one. It just calls to you. I’m proud that this hardy, drought-surviving specimen is the country’s national tree, and I’m particularly partial to it because it is so easy to recognize. Always a bonus for the ecologically challenged, like me. • I managed to squeeze some reading-under-a-tree time early in lockdown, and then life took over. This photo reminded me that while life isn’t letting us go anytime soon, we all need a little tree time in our lives, maybe now more than ever. • If I could pick my dream tonight, I’d be drowsing under one of these trees, lazily reading a newspaper full of good tidings. Meet me there? • #costaricadailyboost #costarica #guanacaste #arbolesdecostarica #nature #beauty #thursdaytravel

After a day spent on Zoom and pecking away at a keyboard, I like to imagine I’m flying over Costa Rica in the cool, post-afternoon-rain air, looking at the lights of its cities and towns. • OK, that’s not true at all, but maybe I’ll start, inspired by this photo of our Pacific port city by Gianfranco Vivi. • Good night, Puntarenas. Good night, crazy world. May tomorrow be… better? Saner? Another day, at least. That much is guaranteed. #costaricadailyboost #costarica #puntarenas #thisiscostarica #costaricagram #paz

The anti-racist fight in the United States woke me up to the presence of a great organization here in Costa Rica: Costa Rica Afro. • This “diverse and inclusive Afro feminist collective” focuses on “the fight against racism, machismo and sexism through political action, research, education, and the organization of concrete actions,” according to the Costa Rica Afro website, and welcomes all comers regardless of gender, race or nationality. • Tonight at 7 pm Costa Rica time, they and other organizations behind Black Lives Matter Costa Rica are organizing a virtual rally to help connect people in Costa Rica who care about the ongoing U.S. protests and the global anti-racist struggle. You can request the Zoom link by messaging Costa Rica Afro on its Facebook or Instagram pages (@costaricaafro on both) or you’re invited to share a photo supporting the movement using #blacklivesmattercr. • I’ve been frustrated at not being able to engage more actively with movements in my home country in recent years, so while our eyes are on the U.S. at the moment, I’m excited to learn more about the very important work going on in Costa Rica! Here’s to Costa Rica Afro and the many people around the world who are working so hard to make their countries more peaceful and fair. #blacklivesmatter #costaricadailyboost #endwhitesilence #racialjustice

On this date in 1907, the Costa Rican artist Francisco Amighetti was born in San José. • I learned from the Annex Galleries website that unlike many of his contemporaries, he decided to work as an artist in Costa Rica despite the scarcity of opportunities here at the time. It paid off: his work eventually gained such renown that he was able to tour Europe, and he continued to work as an artist up to his death in 1998. • He produced watercolors and work in other media, but I love his woodcuts best, and found “Discord” this morning on the Galería Valanti site. How fitting for the present moment. As I gazed at it, distracted from the news for moment by my curiosity about what the heck is going on in the image, my resident art enthusiast passed behind me and observed that it was inspired by Botticelli’s “Calumny of Apelles.” Naked Truth and an array of vices and virtues play out their drama in both. In Amighetti’s, there’s a comforting glimpse of rolling Costa Rican countryside in one corner. • As a wise friend just said to me, discord can be a blessing. Here’s to discord that reveals, and to truth revealed. And to art that keeps us wondering long after the artist is gone. #costaricadailyboost #blacklivesmatter #derechoshumanos #solidaridad #discordia #artedecostarica #franciscoamighetti #artistas #art

Hi Everyone: I would be so grateful for your suggestions for a new writing project (short interview series) I am planning. If you're exhausted, terrified, angry, or some combination today, maybe this can be an excuse for a few moments' pondering of something good. Either way, thank you for giving this any thought you can: • When you think of your family, friends, colleagues and role models during the past few months, who stands out as someone who is demonstrating resilience and ingenuity? (I have a practical bent, so I'm especially thinking of people who might have an actionable idea to share, but any interesting perspective would be lovely.) It doesn't have to be someone who's launched a new nonprofit, switched careers, or hosted a new show from his house - although I want to talk to those people, too. Hi John Krasinski. It could be someone who is taking a new approach to life, or developed a new revenue stream, or got creative in order to raise money for someone else, or wrote something that helped you, or gave you great advice, or is exploring some cool new ideas, or is burning down white supremacy or patriarchy in some way, or just dug deep and found some way to keep doing what she was already doing. It could be a parent, teacher, business owner, nonprofit leader, frontline worker, public servant, artist, writer, scientist. It could be someone you know or someone you've just heard about or been watching from afar. • It could be you. I'll bet it is. So nominate someone you know and don't be surprised if they nominate you right back. • I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts - in the comments below, in a message, at kstan.cr@gmail.com. If you can tag the people you nominate or give me a contact, that'd be fantastic. If not, that's fine. If you don't have a specific person in mind but have some ideas about the groups or types of leaders you'd like to hear from, that's terrific, too. • Wishing you a good weekend and a little rest from what is happening in the world, so we can keep on. Thank you. #fivequestions2020

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I write about Costa Rica, parenthood, social justice, and changemakers everywhere – and help others tell their stories.

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