Overwhelmed writers unite – updated for 2022!

Posted on by stanleyobando

We’re now in year THREE of the Zero-Commitment Overwhelmed Writers’ League: weekly half-hour weekend writing sessions, followed by conversation for those who’d like to chat. The group is not another commitment you have to fulfill. Just drop in whenever you need some quiet writing time. Here’s how to get in the loop:

  1. We meet at 9 am Costa Rica time (that’s 11 am ET during Daylight Savings, 10 am ET during the winter months). The Zoom link is here, with full Zoom information at the bottom of this post. PASSCODE: owlpower. Meeting ID: 813 5633 8066.
  2. If you’d like to be added to our recurring GCal invite, just write me at kstan.cr@gmail.com. Anyone on the invite can also invite others.
  3. We’ve made a Google Group where regular members can exchange ideas, resources, and sometimes even drafts for feedback from other group members. Just write me at kstan.cr@gmail.com to be added.
  4. You can follow me (@katherinestanleyobando on FB and IG) where I post updates and reminders about the group.

The group is “zero-commitment” because you can sign up and come once in a blue moon, or every week. No excuses or RSVPs necessary, ever. When the Zoom call starts, we don’t do introductions or anything elaborate: I simply set a timer for 30 minutes and we write in companionable silence (everyone muted, videos on or off as people choose). When the timer goes off, you can hop offline to keep writing or do whatever you need to do, or you can stick around to chat for a few.

I started the group during COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 as a way to motivate myself—and, I hoped, a few others—to write more frequently. It became one of the highlights of my week. It got me writing more regularly than ever, and I met amazing people from around the globe. During our sessions, they wrote everything from educators’ rubrics to academic pieces to op-ed columns to novels to “meh, work stuff” to family histories. It was amazing just to hear about the breadth of everyone’s creative endeavors. We’ve also helped each other find homes for finished pieces and brainstorm ways to get a project out of “stuck” mode.

Hope to see you one of these Saturdays!

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FULL ZOOM INFO

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81356338066?pwd=YVBEN21FZ1dlNkNQSGJWTzcweVNEZz09

Meeting ID: 813 5633 8066
Passcode: owlpower
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Meeting ID: 813 5633 8066
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Waves of reinvention

Posted on by stanleyobando

If you were moved, as I was, by the story of Nicaraguan refugee and law student Elizabeth, featured last year on the blog and last week in YES! Magazine, here’s an update for you.

Elizabeth had to reinvent herself after fleeing Nicaragua in 2018: the former law student found work in the snack bar of a gym, trained herself in entrepreneurial skills at the Transforma Foundation, and became a life-changing coach for women struggling with government bureaucracy. You can read more here.

Well, the COVID-19 crisis has forced her to reinvent herself yet again, because she has no longer been able to work at the gym. Together with other women in her community, Elizabeth is making nacatamales, the Nicaraguan incarnation of the delicious tamal treats enjoyed throughout Latin America. (For more on nacatamales, check out the piece in Nicaragua’s La Prensa from which the featured image was taken.)

A community member prepares nacatamales in San José, Costa Rica.

Those familiar with Costa Rican Christmas tamales will recognize much of the process Elizabeth describes: “We prepare the masa with spices, and cook it. Then, in the [banana] leaves, we put the masa with rice, potato, carrot, onion, sweet peppers, meat and pork.” The women, who carefully prepare the tamales wearing masks, then take orders by phone and send them to hungry customers throughout western and central San José. The growing effort has helped provide for their families during the massive economic crisis overwhelming Costa Rica, with its outsize impact on our immigrant and refugee communities.

If you know someone in San José who would like to become a customer, please contact me for details. For readers out of Elizabeth’s nacatamal territory, I share this story as one more example of tireless reinvention and ingenuity. I say “tireless” because every time I express admiration and astonishment and Elizabeth’s latest endeavor, I am met, without fail, with seemingly unshakeable good cheer and energy. When it comes to resilience, she and her fellow cooks are giving us a master class.

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! If you want to learn more about how to support Costa Rica during the crisis, visit my COVID-19 section – or for ways to enjoy Costa Rica from afar, visit Virtual Costa Rica.

How has the pandemic affected your creativity?

Posted on by stanleyobando

I’d like to end the week with a question for you: has the COVID-19 crisis made you more creative, or drawn you to creative activities you weren’t doing before?

The Eastport Gallery will be sharing a video chat between me and Lora Whelan, an amazing artist and local journalism leader, on their Facebook page on June 25th. We’ll be discussing how this crisis in particular, and solitude in general, can help or hinder creative pursuits. I’ll be sharing som solitude-inspired writing, and we’ll discuss ways people in Eastport and around the world have used art and creativity during these hard times.

The chat will not be live, so I would LOVE to hear your thoughts beforehand. Have you started journaling, making lists, drawing bad sketches (that last one is me)? Connecting or reconnecting with creative pursuits from your past? Finding new artists or writers whose work has resonated with you? Or has the crisis squashed your creative drive? I’d like to hear what to have to say!

I’ll share the chat here once the Gallery has published it. Have a wonderful (maybe even creative?) weekend…

(In the photo: Works in progress from @corteza.cr!)

May we all have land the way we have air

Posted on by stanleyobando

At the entrance to the Volcán Tenorio National Park, a sign displays a translated sentence from the poet Jorge Debravo: “May nobody have land the way they have suits; may all have land the way they have air.”

As I generally find with poetry, and almost always with Debravo, the translation just doesn’t sound as good as the original (“Que nadie tenga tierra como tiene traje; que todos tengan tierra como tiene aire“). But it doesn’t really matter. What matters is the reminder that land is part of our birthright, part of what we need to live. Green expanses and wild places. After months spent mostly in my own home, I felt those words all the way down to the tips of my toes as I stepped onto the nearly empty trail. I felt them thrum through me again as I gazed out over the peaks of Tenorio in the distance, such a sweeping view after hundreds of days of ceilings and walls.

I hope that, economic troubles and health restrictions permitting, some Costa Ricans are able to visit a national park during this shutdown of international tourism. Those who live near the parks, especially. To see their own birthright without crowds and lines: that’s a silver lining we can all celebrate. I know there are many for whom it will not be feasible, but I will hope that at least some people who live near these treasures will get a chance to wander through the places that, the rest is of the time, they lend to the rest of the planet.

They deserve it.

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! If you want to learn more about how to support Costa Rica during the crisis, visit my COVID-19 section, updated regularly – or for ways to enjoy Costa Rica from afar, visit Virtual Costa Rica.

 

Golfito, where history meets the sea

Posted on by stanleyobando

On this day in 1949, Golfito became an official municipality, or cantón.

This Southern Zone town is a fascinating place. It’s part of a famously biodiverse region and home to rich indigenous cultures. It attracts tourism – normally – and crime. It houses the Depósito Libre where people come from all over the country to buy goods, and that distinctive United Fruit Company that tells the story of part of the region’s history.

Plagued by unemployment and poverty before the COVID-19 crisis, it is underoing even greater stress these days. Here’s hoping that this beautiful and quirky region has better days ahead.

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! If you want to learn more about how to support Costa Rica during the crisis, visit my COVID-19 section, updated regularly – or for ways to enjoy Costa Rica from afar, visit Virtual Costa Rica.

What’s your favorite Costa Rica sculpture?

Posted on by stanleyobando

At times like these, it’s nice to cast our minds back to some of the places we loved to stroll before this began, and will return to soon.

Does anyone know who created this sculpture in Parque Morazán? And what is your favorite sculpture in Costa Rica? Mine, without any doubt, is Chola al viento, by Manuel Vargas. But there are so many to choose from. Towering monuments, such the Monumento Nacional? The unmistakable curves of works by Jiménez Deredia?

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! If you want to learn more about how to support Costa Rica during the crisis, visit my COVID-19 section, updated regularly – or for ways to enjoy Costa Rica from afar, visit Virtual Costa Rica.

 

Standing with the Northern Zone

Posted on by stanleyobando

Costa Rica’s Northern Zone is struggling: partly because of an uptick in COVID-19 cases in some parts of the region, but arguably even more severely because of the effects of the suspension of tourism on this iconic destination.

A group of local business and community leaders have launched a fundraising campaign to help meet the needs of some 1,500 families who have lost their income because of the crisis. More on this in the coming days, but you can read more here. If you or someone you know loves La Fortuna, please let them know about this effort.

Wishing you as much peace as possible this Monday evening!

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! If you want to learn more about how to support Costa Rica during the crisis, visit my COVID-19 section, updated regularly – or for ways to enjoy Costa Rica from afar, visit Virtual Costa Rica.

Celebrating teachers in Costa Rica – especially Batán de Limón

Posted on by stanleyobando

Last week, I talked and wrote about champions of kids. Today, during Teacher Appreciation Week, here’s a little more information about one of the stories I mentioned: the teachers in Batán de Limón, on Costa Rica’s Caribbean slope, who have turned to radio in hopes of reaching all their students, no matter what their connectivity at home.

Here’s what the Ministry of Public Education shared using #vocaciondocente, the hashtag that will lead you to all kinds of inspiring teacher stories:

Music teachers at the Vocational High School in Batán, Limón, created an internet radio station to communicate with their students… it became the ideal tool to educate kids at a distance in the Caribbean region.

“Radio Batalents” is the name of the station, led by teacher Bladimir Alvarado Álvarez with the support of Zuricka Gómez Obando and Álvaro Herrera Vázquez. The station brodcasts classes with shows like “Let’s talk about music,” which uses lectures, examples, concepts and activities to address the curricular demands of every year of high school.

The station also offers community news, greetings that students send to the station, and classes with teachers of other subjects, as well as a blog.

You can read more about Radio Batalents here, or give it a listen here. Thank you to Bladimir, Zuricka, Alvaro, and all the teachers who are showing not only dedication to their students, but also amazing creativity as they seek to reach the kids without internet at home, or who are facing other challenges in conecting to teachers.

Remember, search #vocaciondocente on Facebook anytime you need a lift. Join me tomorrow at 8 am CR/10 am ET to talk for a few minutes about shopping local.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all!

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! If you want to learn more about how to support Costa Rica during the crisis, visit my COVID-19 section, updated regularly – or for ways to enjoy Costa Rica from afar, visit Virtual Costa Rica.

Happy birthday, Tía Panchita

Posted on by stanleyobando

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of “Cuentos de mi Tía Panchita,” by Carmen Lyra. Even if you’ve never cracked this little volume’s slender spine, you’ve heard about it if you’ve spent time in Costa Rica. Salir con un domingo siete is a fairly common phrase whenever someone truly steps in it, and it can only be understood by reading Tía Panchita’s telling of the adventures of two men who stumble upon a witches’ sing-along; the Cucarachita Mandinga, Tío Conejo and other characters become part of the vague background of your life, even if you’re poorly versed in their adventures.

Carmen Lyra was born in San José in 1888 and went on to co-found the country’s first Montessori school, as well as the Costa Rican Communist Party. She was an intellectual touchstone, highly influential union leader, and critic of the banana companies’ incursions into Costa Rica. After Costa Rica’s Civil War in 1948, the Communist Party was outlawed and Lyra was exiled to Mexico for the rest of her life. However, her mark on Costa Rican history and culture is indelible to this day.

If you’ve got this book in your house, use these weeks as an excuse to pull it out. If you don’t, it’s a good excuse to dive in (although if you don’t read Spanish, the only English translation I’ve seen online is a pricey scholarly edition) or check out a video version of some of the stories, like this one.

The introduction alone is enough to fill you with Costa Rica nostalgia. When she describes the eponymous auntie’s skill at making sweet treats to sell at her home near Parque Morazán, she boasts that her biscuits and tamal asado would attract buyers from “far-off neighborhoods” such as Paso de la Vaca and la Soledad – a notion that seems quaint these days, when greater San José covers the entire Central Valley.

Happy birthday to “the beloved little old lady… who had the gift of making children laugh and dream!”

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! If you want to learn more about how to support Costa Rica during the crisis, visit my COVID-19 section, updated regularly – or for ways to enjoy Costa Rica from afar, visit Virtual Costa Rica.

 

 

 

Day 25: Tell a friend

Posted on by stanleyobando
Two sloths in a tree in Costa Rica at sunset

As I wrap up this week and round the corner of 25 days, I have a favor to ask. For next week’s Monday Motivation I’m preparing the story of a woman so inspirational that her words have buoyed me through the entire week. I am hoping to share it with as many people as I possibly can come Monday (and I’m pretty pumped about Tuesday, too). If you’ve been digging the Daily Boost and can tell folks about it on your social media, message a friend about it, or simply leave a review or comment, I would deeply appreciate it. Use #costaricadailyboost so I can find you and thank you!

Here’s this week’s roundup for all those weekend catchup readers…

Day 21, Monday Motivation: A peaceful place that’s worth a visit (even just in your imagination).

Day 22, Tuesday Beauty: A happiness hack for your toilet (and a poem you’ve got to read).

Day 23, Wellness Wednesday: A delicious drink with tons of gingery goodness (yes, it’s called Toad Water).

Day 24, Thursday Exploring: The beauty of Limón, and music that can transport you there. 

Bonus: I’ve made good on my Day 18 challenge to myself to churn out lots of little poems. You can check them out here.

Have a great weekend and join me next week – I’m so excited about what I’m getting ready for you!

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! You can also find me churning out small, square poems on any topic under the sun (here on the site, on Instagram or Twitter).