econoblog

i´ve asked david to give the people what they want and blog about our last week in san jose (much eating, ambulancing, volcanoing and futboling) as we bid farewell to this fair city at sunrise tomorrow. however, the nfl draft is taking priority tonight for some of us (i won´t mention names), so i´ll post this back up blog i´ve kept on reserve for dire straights like these. we wouldn´t want all of our loyal followers to feel disenfranchised, and if nothing else, i know james chen will appreciate reading another of my short dissertations (for those of you who don´t know, it´s an unspoken rule of blogging that if you´re singled out by name, you must personally leave a comment). this entry should hold everyone over for awhile...


i'll begin with the following: earlier this week, i almost simultaneously fainted and vomited all over the living room of a woman who called our ambulance after (slightly) cutting her index finger. ironically, this is precisely what happened to a patient the previous night, but he was simultaneously suffering a stroke and heart attack, and is also paraplegic (less lucky, that guy). i'm not sure what my excuse is. i tried to play it cool and promptly sat myself on her couch as she undressed her bloody gauze like i was just making myself at home, and prayed i wouldn't literally have to put my head between my knees (i didn´t, just barely).


david thinks all i need is a little more exposure to gore, but i think i'm maybe just not meant for a career in trauma... it's not the blood and guts that bothers me (as i explained to him, i can hardly think of anything overtly more disgusting than having my face 4cm from a woman's undercarriage for 20 straight hours as she spews gallons of blood/fluids/feces/urine during the miracle that is childbirth, yet this doesn't make me woozy in the slightest. in fact, it makes me happy!), but i think the uncertainty of what might be lurking under those layers of bloody gauze (anyone who knows me is aware i´m not a fan of surprises of any persuasion). in this case, merely a glorified paper cut...yet it really got to me. ick.


anyway, as a part of this volunteer program, i receive two hours of intensive one on one spanish lessons each weekday. i realized 15 minutes into day one that being in class without any other classmates to shoulder the burden of the socratic method, and without my laptop, is similar to torture in a lot of ways. at first i was thinking i've never had a two hour class, so i'm just not conditioned for that length of attention span. then i realized i've actually had several, but as the rows behind me can attest, i probably paid attention for the first 3 minutes, followed by 117 more of reading food blogs. (101cookbooks.com is always my go-to.)


i was relieved when, in a friday class, my profesor took it easy on the contrived grammar (quick, make a sentence using these two irregular verbs combining the pluperfect and past subjunctive!) to reveal that he once worked as economist, and proceeded to engage me in a truly interesting lecture about the costa rican economy. while i'm sure not having internet access helped cultivate my interest, i was so into his talk that i took a buncha notes, mostly so i can sound really worldly on this blog and impress all the afficionados who can´t seem to refrain from making witty comments.


our conversation commenced with me complaining, as usual, about the cost of food. we have found a couple ways that ticans can comp those costs, like cheap public transit and entertainment (movies, sporting events), but the main way to make up for $6 boxes of cornflakes seems to be in rent. apparently, for what we pay in ann arbor, we could rent the most palatial of homes in the most exclusive part of costa rica. but then of course, we´d miss the 8 months of winter. anyway, tedi explained that ticans just eat a sh't ton of rice and beans at every meal to fill their bellies in a way that´s gentle on the wallet (and indeed, we´ve enjoyed this tradition at breakfast with gallo pinto or ¨spotted rooster¨: rice and beans with an egg or meat on top; and at lunch and dinner with casados or ¨married,¨ as in the delicious marriage of these flavors: rice, beans, meat, plantains and vegetables).



in reality, the costa rican economy is ¨weak but stable¨ according to tedi, and relies heavily on tourism to stay afloat. there are five main kinds of tourism here, some positive for the society, and unfortunately, some negative. positive forms of tourism include cruises (which don´t much boost the economy since cruises are all inclusive); eco tourism, in which people not only donate generous sums of green to the country to live in a very green way, but also often participate in ecological rehabilitation projects; mochileros, or backpackers, who also contribute positively because they typically travel through the country for an extended period, and in attempts to live cheaply, eat and sleep in locally run establishments rather than, say, best western san jose. and finally, education. costa rica has over 200 schools (in quite a tiny country) where foreigners primarily come to learn spanish. the costa rican accent is mild, the country is politically far more stable than it's central and south american neighbors, and compared to tuition in the u.s, costa rica is pretty inexpensive (until you start to eat).



medical tourism deserves a category of it's own, and in intself has three main draws. as aforementioned in this blog, medical care in this country is pretty top notch, as most doctors receive their training in europe and the states, but like to bring it home when they're actually licensed. ticans have a lotta pride in their country, and don´t even try to get a job that any tican could hold down if you weren´t born here. dentistry is huge here--one of our roommates is in costa rica for precisely that reason. next, of course, is plastic surgery. apparently you can nip and tuck to your heart's content and book your month of recovery at a five star spa, all for a grand total of about 50% of what the surgery alone would run you in the states. the third and final branch of medical tourism (which i found particularly interesting) is long term chiropractic treatment. apparently many docs in the u.s. refer their patients (chronic pain sufferers, accident survivors, etc) to costa rica for longer term, serious chiropractic regimens to realign their vertebrae or what have you.



two additional forms of tourism exist in this country that, while they do stimulate the economy, have negative ramifications that outweigh the benefits of those contributions. quickly gaining popularity here is narco-tourism, i.e., come to costa rica, do some drugs. or a lot of drugs. while i understand that drug use is illegal and it's "bad" to break the law, i had to ask my prof what exactly ruffles the ticans feathers about foreigners using drugs in the country...if they're boosting the economy, no harm no foul, right?



apprently not. while costa rica does grow its' own marijuana, crack and cocaine must be imported (usually from, you won't believe it, colombia). in countries where these goods actually are produced, we see a lot of issues regarding which group controls production and trafficking. in costa rica, this problem exists on a smaller scale because the drugs cannot grow here, so instead, crime rates have increased notably in port cities on both coasts, related to which group can control import and sales. mini cartels, if you will.



and next on the list of negative tourism is that of the sexual sort...apparently costa rica can hold its' own against thailand (david can attest personally to the aggressive sexual tourism in that country...that's all i'll say here and you can ask him for the details...), which is pretty impressive, or sh*tty if you're an unfortunate costa rican child. that's correct--the darkest aspect of this tourism category has to be pedophilia. it's such an issue in this country that virtually the first thing you see when you deboard the plane into the san jose airport is a sign reminding you that sex with minors is indeed illegal. unfortunately, i imagine those individuals specifically seeking out that activity may need more than a written reminder to change their plans...



otherwise, sexual tourism sort of functions under the don't ask, don't tell policy. prostitution, as tedi explained it, is neither legal nor illegal here (still trying to figure out what that means, so just go with it), and most ticans who want nothing to do with it just turn the other cheek. david kindly oriented me to a (one of the?) bar downtown where ladies go to work, and i don´t mean mix drinks. oddly, said bar consisted of only scantily clad mamacitas and ugly, overweight, old white men. david and i fit in perfectly.


anyhow, prositutes are all required to carry a card, updated frequently, that declares their health status (eg, what, if any, undesirable microorganisms dwell in their netherregions). ticans don't eff around about their public health... in addition, virtually nobody smokes here except in bars (exactly the opposite of the u.s.) and every year the government conducts a census of *every* household to check on vaccinations, health status, etc. and update. pretty nifty.
stop, rest, regroup.



now, the costa rican economy does rely on a couple things other than tourism, although foreign exploitation of the country still plays a role (of course). it shouldn't shock you that costa rica exports it's share of coffee (95% straight to starbucks), as well as some unique fruits, vegetables, and flowers to much of the western world. but ticans also engage in relations that can be construed as symbiotic or parasitic, depending on who you ask about it.


those that err on the side of symbiotic include large pharaceutical companies like pfizer, who set up shop and produce medical equipment/legal drugs on the cheap. also in this group are technological companies like dell, who have huge call centers around the country. these projects do create many jobs for ticans for a decent salary, while the u.s. based companies get to save big time on material and opportunity costs. so, it´s kind of a win win if you´re the glass-half-full-manifest-destiny type.
pardon me while i hoist myself up on this banana shaped soapbox.



like tomatoes in the u.s. (and a million other things in a million other places), bananas in costa rica are a grave issue in terms of, sorry mom, f-ing morals and ethics and the {mis}treatment of human workers (slaves?). to simplify it, americans like bananas. americans have money. bananas don´t grow in america 365 days a year. and so, we import, and tropical countries export...another win win if you´re the glass-half-full-carbon-footprint-loving type. but if america is going to have any say in any type of production, it´s got to be bigger, better, faster, stronger, regardless of the destruction this attitude leaves in its´wake.



we´ve all heard horror stories about the different pesticides that have wreaked havoc on various species in the u.s., and have thus been prohibited (much to the dismay, i´m sure, of souless folk who have to cough up an extra cent per gallon as a result). some of these pesticides and fertilizers do more than just thin the shells of eagle eggs (not to minimize that impact whatsoever), they leave grown men sterile, or their wives pregnant with malformed fetuses. yikes--of course those got pulled from the shelves asap. in america.


but south of the border, where human lives apparently are worth less (or worthless?) since they are outside the scope of our constitution, these damning chemicals are sprayed aplenty all over banana plantations and their human tenders, to produce the perfect, yellow, smooth, large bananas chiquita promises us. keeping with the wholly unnatural way americans eat, we usually purchase perfect looking produce that could not possibly grow naturally from megastores that carry things totally out of season, supporting unethical practices just like these (and typically, tasting like dung). alternately, you´d never find a large, perfect banana in a costa rican store or market...tedi reassures me that if one were to turn up, the ticans would be too freaked out by its´flawlessness and size to purchase or consume it.


and before i step down from my box, may i please urge all of you, when meandering through the aisles of your local grocer under flickering neon lights, to stop and consider (for meat and produce especially), where your selected item may have come from? who tended that plant? what kind of working conditions did they have? what kind of living conditions? what did that cow eat? how did it live? and maybe just as importantly, how did it die?


i know, i know. ignorance is bliss (what up, darfur). but before you write me off as some ann arbor backpacking once vegan hippie freak and grab your bananas without a second thought, perhaps imagine instead the impact that two second choice (and only marginal increase in cost for organic## bananas, by the way) might have if many made it. lest we forget the econ 101 tennet of supply and demand...a coupla dollars over the course of your banana eating life might mean healthy sperm and babies with the correct amount of appendages in the correct places for many a tican family. just some bananas for thought.


stepping down now...we´ll be in touch about our farewell to san jose and our greetings to the rest of the country...



##no astericks on this keyboard, i improvised. for those of you who aren´t way privy to the up and coming organic way of life, or for those of you who want to shove me off my bananabox, a note about organics.

organic does not mean healthy, angelic, or great. that label only specifies certain things--the types of pesticides used, not the total absence of them, for example. buying organic does not necessarily mean you´re doing the best thing for your health or for society (you can surely buy organic and out of season...the gas for transport and the chemicals to foster growth might outweigh the benefits).

in my humble opinion, your best bet is to locate and hit up your local farmer´s market as often as you can (sorry michiganders...) for produce. even farmers who spray at least can tell you all there is to know about their goods, and you´re paying the person directly who loved and nurtured your food (it´s fun to ask them about that), rather than a jacked up price to cover the costs of running a super store, not to mention it traveled at most a few miles to get to you (more like a carbon thumbprint).

and if you must have your banana in february (i too am guilty of this), go organic.

okay, now i´m really stepping down.