ExpatPZ

Off the beaten trails in the jungle of Perez Zeledon, a new restaurant has open it's doors to hungry shoppers, tourists, workers and students.  At first it's hard to find but once you do, your tastes buds will lead the way.  Owner Sarah has committed her culinary experience to create a natural blend of American and Costa Rican food styles in a healthy fashion offered with affordable prices.  Opening day featured an incredibly tasty split pea soup, a healthy casado, topped off with gluten-free chocolate cake rivaling any bakery in town.  One week later an equally delicious potato leak soup adorned the specials menu along with another creative, tasty casado and again,  topped off with the irresistible gluten-free chocolate cake.  The menu is mostly familiar favorites that have been consciously and creatively prepared with the consumer's health and palette in mind.

Chiquita Brands has unveiled the Nogal Collection exclusively at the Chiquita online store.  The Nogal Collection debuts recycled products produced by all-female microbusiness – Manos Creativas ("Creative Hands") – in Costa Rica, part of a Chiquita-supported corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative to develop independent sources of revenue in the communities near the Nogal Nature and Community Project.

Inflation in the first three months of this year reached 1.37%, as reported yesterday by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo (INEC) - National Institute of Statistics and Census. That figure is lower than that recorded in the same period of 2010, when the cost of living rose 2.57%. Among the products that contributed to the decline in inflation during March include alcoholic beverages, clothing, footwear and housing rent and utilities.

A United Nations expert on the human rights of native peoples is coming to Costa Rica to observe and talk to residents in the vicinity of the Proyecto Hidroeléctrico El Diquís in the southwestern part of the country. This is where the Instituto Costarricense de S. James Anaya Electricidad plans a dam and a $2 billion hydro generating project, the biggest in Central America. The expert, S. James Anaya, is a professor of law at the University of Arizona in Tucson.  He carries the title of  U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples.

More than 25,000 teachers will be knocking on doors from May 30 to June 3 as the 10th national census takes place. The teachers are expected to visit an estimated 1.3 million homes to obtain basic demographical data. This is the first census since 2000.  Conducting such a project in a country without firm street addresses is a trick in itself. Most of the teachers will be from the local schools, solving some of the problems of unfamiliarity.