#costa rican history

[nickysfacts]

“I own an island, off the cost of Costa Rica.”

-John Hammond

🦕🏝️🥥

[my-moms-garden]

The inscription by Jorge Salazar reads:

Worker from the banana plantations, Limón 1920's. Original coloring.

Picture:

[valkyries-things]

PANCHA CARRASCO // SOLDIER

“She was Costa Rica's first woman in the military. Carrasco is most famous for joining the defending forces at the Battle of Rivas in 1856 with a rifle and a pocketful of bullets. The strength and determination she showed there made her a symbol of national pride and she was later honored with a Costa Rican postage stamp, a Coast Guard vessel, and the creation of the "Pancha Carrasco Police Women's Excellence Award".”

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

Summer Nights 2024 Lineup

Junebug

My Dreams of You

A Costa Rican Wedding

The Magic of Lemon Drops

Head Over Heels

[queerasfact]

Queer Calendar 2023

We put together a calendar of key (mostly queer) dates at the start of the year to help us with scheduling - so I thought I’d share it around! Including pride and visibility days, some queer birthdays and anniversaries, and a few other bits and bobs. Click the links for more info - I dream one day of having a queer story for every day of the year!

This is obviously not an exhaustive list - if I’ve overlooked something important to you, feel free to add it in the reblogs!

January

3 - Bisexual American jazz-age heiress Henrietta Bingham born 1901

8 - Queer Australian bushranger Captain Moonlite born 1845; gay American art collector Ned Warren born 1860

11 - Pennsylvania celebrates Rosetta Tharpe Day in honour of bisexual musician Rosetta Tharpe

12 - Japanese lesbian author Nobuko Yoshiya born 1896

22 - Lunar New Year (Year of the Rabbit)

24 - Roman emperor Hadrian, famous for his relationship with Antinous, born 76CE; gay Prussian King Frederick the Great born 1712

27 - International Holocaust Remembrance Day

February

LGBT+ History Month (UK, Hungary)

Black History Month (USA and Canada)

1 - Feast of St Brigid, a saint especially important to Irish queer women

5 - Operation Soap, a police raid on gay bathhouses in Toronto, Canada, spurs massive protests, 1981

7 - National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (USA)

18 - US Black lesbian writer and activist Audre Lorde born 1934

12 - National Freedom to Marry Day (USA)

19-25 - Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week

March

Women’s History Month

1 - Black Women in Jazz and the Arts Day

8 - International Women’s Day

9 - Bi British writer David Garnett born 1892

12 - Bi Polish-Russian ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky born 1889 or 1890

13 March-15 April - Deaf History Month

14 - American lesbian bookseller and publisher Sylvia Beach born 1887

16 - French lesbian artist Rosa Bonheur born 1822

20 - Bi US musician Rosetta Tharpe born 1915

21 - World Poetry Day

24 - The Wachowski sisters’ cyberpunk trans allegory The Matrix premiers 1999

April

Jazz Appreciation Month

Black Women’s History Month

National Poetry Month (USA)

3 - British lesbian diarist Anne Lister born 1791

8 - Trans British racing driver and fighter pilot Roberta Cowell born 1918

9 -  Bi Australia poet Lesbia Harford born 1891; Easter Sunday

10 - National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day (USA)

14 - Day of Silence

15 - Queer Norwegian photographer and suffragist Marie Høeg born 1866

17 - Costa-Rican-Mexican lesbian singer Chavela Vargas born 1919

21-22 - Eid al-Fitr

25 - Gay English King Edward II born 1284

26 - Lesbian Day of Visibility; bi American blues singer Ma Rainey born 1886

29 - International Dance Day

30 - International Jazz Day

May

1 - Trans British doctor and Buddhist monk Michael Dillon born 1915

7 - International Family Equality Day

7 - Gay Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky born 1840

15 - Australian drag road-trip comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert premiers in 1994

 17 - IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia)

18 - International Museum Day

19 - Agender Pride Day

22 - US lesbian tailor and poet Charity Bryant born 1777

22 - Harvey Milk Day marks the birth of gay US politician Harvey Milk 1930

23 - Premier of Pride, telling the story of the 1980s British activist group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners

24 - Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness and Visibility Day; Queer Chinese-Japanese spy Kawashima Yoshiko born 1907

26 - queer American astronaut Sally Ride born 1951

29 - Taiwanese lesbian writer Qiu Miaojin born 1969

June

Pride Month

Indigenous History Month (Canada)

3 - Bisexual American-French performer, activist and WWII spy Josephine Baker born 1906

5 - Queer Spanish playwright and poet Federico García Lorca born 1898; bi English economic John Maynard Keynes born 1883

8 - Mechanic and founder of Australia’s first all-female garage, Alice Anderson, born 1897

10 - Bisexual Israeli poet Yona Wallach born 1944

12 - Pulse Night of Remembrance, commemorating the 2012 shooting at the Pulse nightclub, Orlando

14 - Australian activists found the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands in 2004

18 - Sally Ride becomes the first know queer woman in space

24 - The first Sydney Mardi Gras 1978

25 - The rainbow flag first flown as a queer symbol in 1978

28 - Stonewall Riots, 1969

28 June-2 July - Eid al-Adha

30 - Gay German-Israeli activist, WWII resistance member and Holocaust survivor Gad Beck born 1923

July

1 - Gay Dutch WWII resistance fighter Willem Arondeus killed - his last words were “Tell the people homosexuals are no cowards”

2-9 - NAIDOC Week (Australia) celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture

6 - Bi Mexican artist Frida Kahlo born 1907

12 or 13 - Roman emperor Julius Caesar born c.100BCE

14 - International Non-Binary People’s Day

23 - Shelly Bauman, owner of Seattle gay club Shelly’s Leg, born 1947; American lesbian cetenarian Ruth Ellis born 1899; gay American professor, tattooist and sex researcher Sam Steward born 1909

25 - Italian-Australian trans man Harry Crawford born 1875

August

8 - International Cat Day

9 - Queer Finnish artist, author and creator of Moomins Tove Jansson born 1914

9 - International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

11 - Russian lesbian poet Sofya Parnok born 1885

12 - Queer American blues musician Gladys Bentley born 1907

13 - International Left-Handers Day

22 - Gay WWII Dutch resistance fight Willem Arondeus born 1894

24 - Trans American drag queen and activist Marsha P Johnson born 1945

26 - National Dog Day

30 - Bi British author Mary Shelley 1797

31 - Wear it Purple Day (Australia - queer youth awareness)

September

5 - Frontman of Queen Freddie Mercury born 1946

6 - Trans Scottish doctor and farmer Ewan Forbes born 1912

13 - 1990 documentary on New York’s ball culture Paris is Burning premiers

15-17 - Rosh Hashanah

16-23 - Bisexual Awareness Week

17 - Gay Prussian-American Inspector General of the US Army Baron von Steuben born 1730

23 - Celebrate Bisexuality Day

24 - Gay Australian artist William Dobell born 1889

30 - International Podcast Day

October

Black History Month (Europe)

4 - World Animal Day

5 - National Poetry Day (UK)

5 - Queer French diplomat and spy the Chevalière d’Éon born 1728

8 - International Lesbian Day

9 - Indigenous Peoples’ Day (USA)

11 - National Coming Out Day

16 - Irish writer Oscar Wilde born 1854

18 - International Pronouns Day

22-28 - Asexual Awareness Week

26 - Intersex Awareness Day

31 - American lesbian tailor Sylvia Drake born 1784

November

8 - Intersex Day of Remembrance

12 - Diwali; Queer Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz born c.1648

13-19 - Transgender Awareness Week

20 - Trans American writer, lawyer, activist and priest Pauli Murray born 1910; Transgender Day of Remembrance

27 - Antinous, lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian, born c.111; German lesbian drama Mädchen in Uniform premiers, 1931

29 - Queer American writer Louisa May Alcott born 1832

December

AIDS Awareness Month

1 - World AIDS Day

2 - International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

3 - International Day of Persons with Disabilities

8 - Pansexual Pride Day; queer Swedish monarch Christina of Sweden born 1626

10 - Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners host Pits and Perverts concern to raise mining for striking Welsh miners, 1984

14 - World Monkey Day

15 - Roman emperor Nero born 37CE

24 - American drag king and bouncer Stormé DeLarverie born 1920

25 - Christmas

29 - Trans American jazz musician Billy Tipton born 1914

[rubberizer92]

🏆🌟 Embark on the grand finale of Latex Legends League, a saga that unveiled 36 remarkable men from across the globe! Now, the spotlight shines on the eminent trio - Connor, the captivating Fury, and the charismatic Fran from Spain. 🔥✨

In this riveting culmination, Fury emerges as the embodiment of Costa Rican allure, clad in a mesmerizing rubber ensemble. Surrounded by an adoring assembly of rubber-clad devotees, Fury stands as a symbol of untamed passion and magnetic charisma. 🌈💫

🔒👑 Cast your decisive vote now and crown Fury as the inaugural Latex Legend, a testament to individuality, seduction, and indomitable spirit! 🗳️💙 Will Fury seize victory and etch his legacy in the tapestry of rubberized history? The power is in your hands! 🌟👁️ #LLLseason1 #LatexLegendsLeague #AI #Rubber

[thedepartmentofdiscoveries]

This isn't satire. Pope has been smoking the rainbow smoke 🚬 🌈

A London-born teenager who died of leukaemia in 2006 is set to become the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint, after Pope Francis formally recognised a second miracle attributed to Carlo Acutis.

The late teenager, who moved with his family to Milan in Italy when he was a child, is known as the patron saint of the internet among Roman Catholics and has been referred to as “God’s influencer”.

According to a Vatican statement issued on Thursday, the miracle being recognised involves a Costa Rican woman, Liliana, whose daughter Valeria Valverde, 21, suffered severe head trauma from a bicycle accident in Florence on 2 July 2022

The Vatican says that Valeria underwent critical surgery and had slim survival chances according to her doctors. Liliana reportedly prayed at Carlo Acutis’s tomb in Assisi on 8 July, while her secretary had already begun praying to him.

That same day, according to the Vatican, Valeria started to breathe on her own, and the following day she regained some movement and speech. By 18 July, a CAT scan showed her haemorrhage had vanished, and she entered rehabilitation on 11 August, making rapid progress.

Pope Francis has announced a meeting of cardinals to discuss making Acutis a saint, according to the Vatican statement.

In 2020 he became the youngest person in the modern era to be beatified (the first step to being made a saint) after purportedly curing a Brazilian boy, Mattheus Vianna, of a serious birth defect that made eating difficult.

Acutis created a website to catalogue miracles and managed websites for local Catholic organisations in Italy before his death from leukaemia in 2006. He was 15.

“Carlo was the light answer to the dark side of the web,” his mother Antonia Acutis told The New York Times in 2020 after he was beatified and put on the path to sainthood in the Catholic Church.

Ms Acutis said that at the age of seven, he began attending daily mass. Her son’s life, she said, “can be used to show how the internet can be used for good, to spread good things”.

After Acutis’s death, the Diocese of Assisi petitioned the Vatican for his sainthood. They examined his emails and computer search history and interviewed witnesses while awaiting miracles to support his cause.

In February that year, Pope Francis credited Acutis with the miraculous healing of a Brazilian boy with a malformed pancreas after the child reportedly touched one of Carlo’s shirts.

According to a 2017 report by the National Catholic Register, only 120 of the more than 10,000 saints recognised by the Roman Catholic Church died as children or teenagers.

The Vatican has not yet announced a date for the formal canonisation ceremony.

Before Acutis, the last saint born in England was Cardinal John Henry Newman, who died in 1890 at the age of 89. He was canonised by Pope Francis in 2019. According to the Catholic News Agency, the first miracle attributed to Cardinal Newman was the inexplicable healing of a deacon with a severe spinal condition.

The second involved a pregnant American woman who recovered from a life-threatening diagnosis after praying for Newman’s intercession, with doctors unable to explain her sudden recovery.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/carlo-acutis-saint-death-tomb-miracles-b2550742.html

[sportswriters]

i think he knows - u. simón

pairing: unai simón x female!reader | f | mutual pining | wc: 2,610 | warnings: none | note: they got history together hehe

“didn't you study together?”

ilse’s loud voice allowed me to fully understand the question she had asked. i followed her finger with my eyes, trying to figure out who she was pointing at, until i saw the little yellow dot in the shape of a person in spain's penalty area.

“ah,” i reflected for a moment, facing the crowd of people shouting around me. football made people behave strangely. “yeah.”

she’d pointed to unai simón, the starting goalkeeper for the spanish national team at the world cup.

“how do you know that?” i asked, curious.

i had never told her about simón. ilse and i became friends after i finished high school, when i managed to do a one-year exchange in costa rica. she was a very outgoing native who adopted me as her friend for the rest of my stay and even when i left a year and a half later, we were still friends.

i couldn’t decide whether or not it was depressing to reveal that she was the only friend i’d ever had. being a nerd at school didn’t open doors for me in terms of lasting friendships, but it did bring me many academic and professional opportunities. even though ilse was the daughter of the leader of the medical team and was following the world cup so closely because of him, i was there on business. her father was my boss and i was part of the medical team for the costa rican national team.

“i snooped through your yearbook,” ilse confessed, nudging my arm and then discreetly pointing to simón grabbing the ball again. she didn’t even seem upset that her team was losing 7-0. “he’s very handsome. do you think he remembers you?”

simón once found me dirty with paint; a group of stupid boys were playing a prank on the group of people they called nerds and as i passed the door to the chemistry lab, a rope was pulled and a bucket of colored paint fell on my head. i was annoyed enough to realize that i couldn't cope with a bunch of dumbasses, so i turned to leave and bumped into simón. i soiled his shirt and didn't say anything.

another time, at an ice-skating event on the school playground, i decided to risk skating, which was a bad idea. i only realized it when i slipped on the ice, fell backwards onto the ground and took him with me. all of our encounters were imminent disasters, always resulting in my complete humiliation. i remembered him.

“i don’t think so,” i replied, keeping the humiliating memories to myself. “he was quite popular.”

and, as the ridiculous tradition dictated, guys like him didn’t look at girls like me. i was always studying, stuck in the library, spending time in the biology lab, while all he had to do was be handsome and join the school football team. two completely opposite people who never stopped to say anything more that their own names. i really didn’t think he remembered me, but was pathetic enough to have never forgotten the crush i had on him.

i thought i would never see him again… until i found out that he had become the official goalkeeper of the spanish national team and had been signed by a spanish club. now, i was surrounded by his image. just like now.

“wow, that sucks!” ilse muttered as the referee blew the whistle, ending the game. “can i swear at your country?”

she looked at me expectantly. i laughed and shook my head, hitting her arm with a weak knuckle, while the coaching staff and the team’s reserve players dispersed around us.

“just a little bit,”i replied.

ilse began a session of cursing in her mother tongue and with the ugly looks she threw at every spanish player on the pitch, anyone could tell what she meant. suddenly, ilse softened her expression and turned her face towards me, smiling.

“no one will curse you more than me for cheering for the rival team,” she said.

“i was born in spain,” i retorted, as if that was enough of an argument. “and you don’t know if i supported them.”

ilse gave me a look, as if she knew i did. i made a disgusted face, not at all guilty for wishing spain would play well in their opening game, even though i sympathized with the boys from the team that had given me a job.

“what?!” my best friend exclaimed. “with a goalkeeper like that, even i was cheering! and you went to school together!”

i realized that she wouldn’t leave me alone with that fact. it was only the team’s first match day in the group stage, which meant that i would still be in the same atmosphere as my former schoolmate and that ilse wouldn’t miss the opportunity to talk about him whenever she could.

“you should go and talk to the boys,” i suggested.

she let out a dramatic sigh, but went along with my suggestion. my best friend turned her back on me and i watched as she talked to some of the players, saying words that i couldn’t hear because i was kind of far away. standing there was making me restless, so i joined the others and checked that everything was okay with the first team of players who had played today. they had lost seven to nothing to spain, a bad start for a world cup opener, but apart from emotionally, physically they were perfectly fine.

i noticed that the stadium was emptying, the pitch occupied only by the players, the coaching staff and the media team. the boys started exchanging polite greetings with the spanish players and i handed out water to some of them, i could feel ilse’s gaze on me the whole time. when i stared back, standing in the midfield, she gave me a silent look, pointing with her head at me, but i didn’t understand what she meant.

i threw a bottle to navas, who caught it masterfully and gave me a thumbs-up and a grateful smile. ilse kept shaking her head and i was about to turn around and ignore her when my body slammed into someone. as i turned, simón was right in front of me.

he was sweaty, still wearing his uniform, but without the gloves on his hands. the spain goalkeeper — and my former crush from my teenage years — raised his face towards me, a smile on his lips. then i understood ilse’s signals.

“sorry,” he mumbled in english. “i didn't see you there.”

i swallowed, feeling the sweat in my hands. for a moment, i felt like i was in high school again, where i bumped into him most of he time during a humiliating situation, but things were different now.

“it’s okay,” i replied, barely noticing that i had used my mother tongue to communicate, which gave me away. “it was my fault.”

unai simón narrowed his eyes at me.

“you speak spanish?”

i pursed my lips and shrugged.

“yes”, i agreed. “i work with the costa rican team, but… i’m spanish.”

he looked confused for a moment. his brow furrowed and his smile grew until his expression softened in total recognition.

“y/n?”

my heart skipped a beat. hearing him say my name had paralyzed my body. even when we studied together, i don’t think i ever saw him call me by my first name or even refer to me, although he was never cruel or anything like that just because he was popular, in fact, simón was always kind. he took me home covered with paint, not caring if i got his car dirty. he took me to the infirmary during my ice-skating accident. he removed all the offensive stickers that had been placed on my locker door.

“yeah, that’s me.”

surprisingly, the smile on his face widened even more. i rubbed my hands on the cloth of my pants, not knowing what to do with them, since i had handed over all the water bottles and wasn't holding anything else to occupy me.

“i think you know who i am, since you didn’t ask,” he said, scratching the back of his neck, his mile diminishing, but not completely. his beard gave him an even younger look and i wondered how he had become so handsome in just a few years. “i mean, i know you know who i am, i meant…”

“i remember you, simón,” i interrupted, explaining. “i’m just surprised you remembered me.”

he looked around quickly, but no one was paying attention to us. i took advantage of those seconds of distraction to keep noticing how handsome, charming and, as ilse would love to point out if she were with me now, how hot he was.

“i hope i’ve never been a jerk to you for you to think that,” he said, distracting me with the movements of his hand running quickly through his beard. “but the comical situations we always found ourselves in made you stand out.”

i snorted, realizing only now that we were communicating in our mother tongue and not in english.

“humiliating situations, you mean,” i corrected.

waston walked past me and we exchanged a quick high-five before he headed straight for the dugout.

“no,” simón disagreed with me. “besides, you saved me.”

i blinked at him, trying to understand what he meant. i saved you? there was nothing in my memory about that.

“you must be confusing me with someone else,” i said, moistening my lips, a little puzzled.

“no, y/n, i’m not,” the goalkeeper hastened to reply. “the swimming championship, do you remember?”

once a year, the school held a sports championship for the students to take part in and compete against teams from other schools. i never took part in anything, except as a spectator, but once, in the swimming championship, the members of the football team got into a fight with the rival team and simón was pushed into the pool.

he couldn’t swim and the pool was too deep, so on impulse i threw myself into the water and pulled him out. as soon as i got him out of the pool, my blood pressure dropped and i fainted, practically forgetting about it. i knew i had saved someone from drowning, but i didn’t know it was him.

“i didn’t remember it was you,” i confessed.

damn.

a revelation at this point of my life changed my perspective a little. he never talked to me afterwards, so i was never going to remember anything if it wasn’t said now.

“i’m sorry i never thanked you enough for that,” he said, seeming to read my mind. “but i’m glad i found you here now. i can thank you and dedicate our victory to you. i wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t saved me.”

i smiled, because i didn’t know what to say. my pulse quickened and i took a deep breath, recovering from the vast sea of emotions that was consuming me in that unexpected meeting.

“you’re welcome, simón,” i murmured. “but you’re here on your own merits. may ilse never hear me, but i was rooting for you.”

he laughed, the sound sending a shiver down the back of my neck.

“wait a minute, did you say you work for the costa rican national team?”, he returned to the subject, only just realizing the information. “what? didn’t your country have a vacancy in the area?”

this time i laughed, shaking my head.

“it’s not that,” i explained. “i did an exchange program in costa rica and met some people. one of these people is the daughter of the head of the national team’s medical team, so i did an interview and was called up.”

only now did he seem to notice the FIFA badge around my neck, announcing my name and role: orthopedic doctor.

“you’re on the wrong team, l/n.”

i laughed again, shrugging.

“don’t worry, player,” i murmured, with a smile. “i intend to go back to spain.”

his eyes looked at me in a new way, a smile wandering on his lips. the world around us seemed to disappear for a moment and i felt nervous in his presence, but not for the wrong reasons. it was just the realization that he still had an effect on me, even after so many years.

“when you get back, pay me a visit.”

unable to say anything, i just nodded positively, sealing a silent promise that i didn’t even know if i would keep.

“and if you need a better job, please come and join your team,” he added.

spain was my home and i knew some of the players in the spanish national team, but wasn’t sure if they could be my team, as simón was keen to stress. in any case, i had liked the feeling the phrase had given me, so i didn’t turn down the invitation straight away.

“i wish you’d noticed me before,” i said, a little absent-mindedly, but it was too late to turn back now.

i mentally cursed myself for letting it slip, simón looking at me with genuine surprise before moving a little closer to me.

“i’ve always noticed you, y/n,” he confessed.

the feeling of butterflies in my stomach overwhelmed me. it seemed that teenage sensations never ceased to be part of us, even in adulthood. he had been my first crush and, as far as i could tell, he still was. i was about to say something, anything, but we were interrupted.

“hi, y/n!” gavi appeared, smiling at me.

i blinked, turning my attention from the goalkeeper to the youngest player in the team and smiled. i had met gavi during my time at barcelona, when i had to take part in a training session and replace the orthopedist for a season.

“hi, gavi,” i returned the greeting. “you look bigger than last time.”

he laughed and hugged me quickly, knowing that i didn’t care that he was sweaty.

“do you know each other?” simón asked, confused.

“yeah, she was our doctor for a while at barcelona,” gavi explained. “anyway, sorry about that, y/n, but i need to steal our goalkeeper for a minute,” he continued, turning to simón. “they’re calling for a team photo.”

simón nodded in agreement and gavi said a quick goodbye, leaving us alone again.

“am i going to see you again?” he asked.

i didn’t know that answer, but i wanted to be positive about it.

“i hope so,” i replied. “gavi has my number.”

he shook his head slowly, looking thoughtful.

“if our team lifts the cup, i’ll dedicate it to you,” he said, breaking the distance between us. “it was great to see you, y/n.”

simón took his time kissing my left cheek and i barely noticed that i was holding my breath as he approached. his beard brushed against my skin, sending shivers down my spine, and i saw his smile as he pulled away and turned his back on me.

i let the air out of my mouth and swallowed, feeling sorry for my poor heart, which was beating faster than anything. my eyes watched him walk away, analyzing his every move and interaction with his colleagues. when he looked at me from afar, catching me still staring at him, i accepted my defeat.

there could be no doubt that my teenage crush on him had been with me all my life until that moment and i wondered if he knew that.

actually, i think he knows.

i think he’s always known.

[itwasthisorthemilitary]

March 20th, 2024

It’s Chloe’s birthday. I knew this would happen, but I’m more upset about missing her birthday than I am about not being home for my own.

Struggling this week, feeling full of energy and wanting to participate, but being hindered by waiting (not so patiently) for my feet to heal. And unfortunately I jumped the gun today with socks and hiking boots, and made it approximately 3 hours into class before I was sent to sit in the car and remove my shoes. Infuriating.

So physically I can’t be as present as I’d like. But having to take a step back from the activities has given me more time to really hang out with this family. Our days here are long and the other trainees only really see their families at breakfast and again at 7pm. I’ve been doing half days so I get way more face time with my family here to really connect. And lemme tell you, It’s going to be very hard to leave this family. Been so refreshing to sit and talk to men here that don’t make me uncomfortable, i truly think that is such a cultural difference between Panamanians and Costa Ricans. Watching the History Channel and drinking coffee with my grandpa, doesn’t feel all that different than being home. I saw my uncle and his girlfriend tonight and they gave me a tigers eye necklace. They told me it was to help give me courage and confidence to build a life at my new site wherever that may be. (But they hope it’s in Chririqui so I can visit, I agree).

Chririqui is beautiful, I love the mountains, the weather, and the proximity to Costa Rica. We visited a coffee farm and spent today planting coffee bean seedlings. I’m defintely hanging out with the other trainees less this week but I kinda enjoy the feeling of confidence that once I’m at my site alone I’ll be able to manage just fine.

Ahmet leaves Monday, I can’t look at him or Audrey without getting a lump in my throat. The thought of leaving the office on Monday and him not returning to Los Mortales with us feels so wrong.

Tomorrow we go to Jurutungo National Park and i am SO excited. Will i potentially re-infect my feet? Yes! Was a man mauled by a jaguar there? Also, yes!

Feeling very pensive tonight and missing Chlo tremendously. My takeaway is that I’m very grateful for the relationships I have made here in only three days.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

#20yrsago Leveraging RSS at Disney ETCON talk https://craphound.com/rssetcon04.txt

#20yrsago Tim O’Reilly’s Emerging Technology keynote https://craphound.com/timetcon04.txt

#15yrsago Trough of No Value: the period when objects aren’t new and aren’t collectible https://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2009/02/the-trough-of-no-value.html

#15yrsago Making a toaster from scratch, mining the raw materials https://web.archive.org/web/20090212194252/https://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2009/02/-thomas-thwaites-the-toaster.php

#10yrsago NYT vs wget: technologically illiterate Snowden coverage https://www.techdirt.com/2014/02/10/new-york-times-uses-scare-quotes-to-highlight-how-they-dont-understand-how-snowden-copied-documents/

#5yrsago Vast majority of Americans and Europeans believe ad-targeting and feed customization are immoral https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2019/02/09/83-of-consumers-believe-personalized-ads-are-morally-wrong-survey-says/?sh=5d08570819f5

#5yrsago Trump’s properties routinely employed (and abused) undocumented Latino workers, including dozens from a single Costa Rican town https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/my-whole-town-practically-lived-there-from-costa-rica-to-new-jersey-a-pipeline-of-illegal-workers-for-trump-goes-back-years/2019/02/08/8cdbc1dc-2971-11e9-97b3-ae59fbae7960_story.html

#1yrago Poor people pay higher time tax https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/10/my-time/#like-water-down-the-drain

[amphiriteaquarium]

August 17! Today we celebrate Afrocostarican culture!

i always confuse black history month because for us it's in August and for the United States is on February(?) correct me if wrong!

So today i wanted to celebrate it by sharing some data with you, note the information i'm about to display is from when i was a history student in 2022. Information may vary,have changed or anything else! Also i'm kinda bad with dates,im really sorry so im just putting like general time lapses.

Afrocostarican poblation started in Limon,the UFCO(United Fruit Company) was looking for people who could work on the heat and complicated conditions of Limon(today is very modern but back then think of it like an amazingly hot and humind jungle with tons of snakes) many were brought to work from people from the capital to immigrants from italy and China but those who stayed were the Jamaican people.

The workers were free which meant they were no longer slaves this by no means their stay here was made easy, racism and discrimation were and still are rampant angaist this poblation. It came to the point that Limon's citizen weren't recognizes as such until late 1900.Their ID starts with a 7 to signify the 7'nth province to join the republic of Costa Rica.

They have their own set of dialects Patua(Criolle Patois) is what they are most known for but if i rememeber well , english is actually the most common.

Cuisine is also greatly influenced by jamaican heritage instead of "rice and peas" we have rice and beans, which is delish is made with coconut milk,ginger,thyme and panama pepper and served normally with meat(It used to be turtle meat!). Pan bon also with ginger , Pati a savory spicy Pastry and my favorite Plantinta(abreviattion of Platain Tart) which is a sweet plantain pastry.

Music wise there is a own variation of Calypso, Limons Calypso. I'm not a music student and can not dissect this topic well but i do know reggae and jamaican ska were great inspirations for this genre of music. If you are looking to, you can listen to Walter Ferguson the emblem of Costa Rican Calypso.

And lastly a bittersweet data, from our understanding the plan wasn't to stay and make roots here, it was always was the plan to eventually return to Jamaica or for some Africa.

To which the Black Star Line was created but it never fullfield it's prooupose. It was burned in 2016 but has been rebuild to sme degree. It's closed too so sadly,no museum.

This were snippets of afrocostarican history ,this was what i learned in class and thefore not the best approach to it since im myself i'm not afrocostarican but i still tougth important and interesting to share.

[roga-el-rojo]

Queer Brown Voices - Quesada, Gomez, and Vidal-Ortiz

Hello friends!

My final recommendation this pride month is another compilation of activist queer history, this time focusing on queer Latines personal narratives on their activism from the 70's through the 90's, continuing the legacy of our foremothers like the stunning Sylvia Rivera (a Venezuelan-Boricua!) in bringing liberation to all the people: "Queer brown voices" edited by Uriel Quesada, Letitia Gomez, and Salvador Vidal-Ortiz.

Dr. Quesada is a Costa Rican writer and founded the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Letitia Gomez has been a Latina lesbian activist since joining the Gay Chicano Caucus in Houston in 1982, founding the first national queer latine organization called LLEGÓ and others in her career.

Dr. Salvador Vidal-Ortiz is associate professor of sociology at American University in Washington, DC, producing professional and popular writing on LGBTQ issues.

"Queer Brown Voices" is a collection of fourteen essays reflecting on the diverse experiences of Latines all around the US during an incredibly important period of queer liberation struggles addressing the problem of white supremacy in queer organizations and anti-queerness in Latine ones. Coming from and having different relationships to their diasporas and origins, these writers provide lots of food for thought.

One essay I'd like to highlight is "All Identities on the Table: Power, Feminism, and LGBT Activism in Puerto Rico" by Olga Orraca Paredes.

Paredes' piece reflects on her work in defining Boricua lesbian activism since the 70's. She saw queer liberation become marginalized by the Left on the island and she fought to reclaim that space for struggle, and also had frustrations with reformist feminist elements that staved off decolonization and class analysis in lesbian organizing. While she did end up joining LLEGÓ and described challenges which do seem endemic to liberal organizations beholden to large donors, her experience is important for the Latine Left broadly.

If this essay interests you, there are a dozen others writing about stories from Texas to both coasts, so please check this collection out!

[enchanted-moura]

Interesting 💖

[folk-lore-emporium]

In the shop now: An authentic, vintage, hand-painted & signed Costa Rican “carreta” in a smaller size suitable for a serving cart in a covered deck or patio area. Complete with matching, painted wooden handled box and grid for serving and holding bottles. As an added bonus, the cart can be completely disassembled and reassembled like a puzzle.

Larger ox carts became a significant means of transportation for rural Costa Ricans after they were introduced to the area circa 1840. Farmers used ox carts to transport valuable crops like coffee beans or sugar cane. The carreta was valued for its ability to maneuver over all types of hazardous terrain.

Over the centuries, cars & trucks replaced the ox cart as transportation. However, ox carts then gained new life as a celebrated form of artwork. The ox cart has even taken on a symbolic significance, commemorating Costa Rica traditions and agricultural history, and was officially declared a national symbol of Costa Rica some 30 years ago. Visitors to Costa Rica can witness carretas in all their traditional glory during the "Día del Boyero" (Day of the Drover) parade, which is held in the city of Escazú every year on the second Sunday in March.

Carretas are now decorated with bright colors and intricate designs. They often boast floral motifs, and the wheels are emblazoned with mandala-like patterns. The artisans who craft carretas also painstakingly choose the pieces of wood from which the wheels will be crafted, specifically so that the carts will make a pleasant sound as they roll through the streets. The wheels consist of sixteen wedge-shaped pieces of wood arranged in a circle and bound with a metal ring.

This example features cheerful colors on a black background. It is in good vintage condition. Come check it out at Folklore Emporium in Ruckersville Gallery. #costarican #carreta #cart #margaritacart #patiocart #servingcart #paintedfurniture #folkart #ruckersvillegallery #cvillevintage #albemarlecounty #virginiavintage #charlottesville #folkloreemporium

[wilquinones]

What is community? What does it mean to co-create with communities?

(Pictured above: 1898 U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions at the Smithsonian American Art Museum)

I remember my first month in D.C. I felt disoriented, confused and lonely a majority of the time. This was mostly due to the fact that, here, I was no longer surrounded by people that shared something intrinsic about my identity; I felt like I had gone adrift from my community. Community itself is a difficult term to define, according to Crooke it can be “...constructed in a multitude of ways and take a variety of forms” (p. 177). However, I believe a community is a group of people, large or small, that share certain characteristics, interests, geographical location, life experiences, etc. This can include race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age and/or socioeconomic background. People that share the same enthusiasm for a book series can consider themselves to be part of a community. My classmates and I are now a part of the community of students of the Museum Education Program. Forming part of a community should also make individuals feel empowered, a community should lift each other up in times of need, as well as provide a safe space. These are all ideals to strive towards, but the word community can also become a double edged sword. If a community is based on similarities within a group, it is inevitable that a certain antagonism would begin to form towards the outsiders that are different from said group: “Worldwide, there are many examples of the use of the preservation of community identity, heritage, and culture to justify racism and genocide, perhaps the most tragic being the consequence of the use of “community” as justification for fascism in Nazi Germany” (p. 174). 

This being said, what I consider to be my community has shifted, or rather expanded with this new change in environment. There are friends who studied with me back in Puerto Rico who are now also studying and living in D.C. which I consider to be my small community of Puerto Ricans. We get together and cook what we loved to eat back home, listen to the music at full blast and talk about our island as if we aren’t over a thousand miles away. But now, because I’m surrounded by so many people that are unlike me, there is also a secret sense of community that I foster towards anyone that comes from Latin America, who gives me even the slightest resemblance of home. The family behind me at the park whose Colombian accents I relish, the server at the restaurant whose parents immigrated from Costa Rica, the Guatemalan woman shopping at the same Goodwill as me, my classmate who was born in Ecuador and who introduced me to Salvadoran pupusas. People that, if I was living in Puerto Rico, would feel wildly different from me, but are my lifeline from feeling incredibly alienated here. In many ways, my experience living in D.C. so far has reaffirmed my identity as not only a Puerto Rican woman, but a Latin American one as well.

Museums being involved within their respective communities is nothing particularly new, as Crooke explains: “The history of European museum development in the nineteenth century links directly to the rise of the nations and the need for those places to claim and present a national past” (p. 174). The difference is that now, museums as an institution are attempting to shift their attention from the predominant white and heteronormative narrative to a more inclusive and diverse one, which directly involves the community in its program and exhibition development. The most effective way to do this is by inviting outsiders in, as Bergeron and Tuttle phrase it. Welcoming cultural or civic leaders, or even the audience itself to “...freely share their resources, expertise and talent…at the early stages of idea development” (p.60).

 An example of this could be the District Six Museum in Cape Town, South Africa. District Six was a neighborhood that was declared all white under Apartheid, forcibly removing the people that already lived there from their homes, churches and schools, resulting in a traumatic event for those involved. The idea for the District Six Museum was conceived during the 1980’s with the community led program “Hands off District Six” which sought to protect the neighborhood from redevelopment, and in 1994 the museum was established. The museum is unlike the more European institutions found in South Africa: “...the building and space is modest; there are no glass cases; the curator has not taken authority; and the exhibition text is not fixed: former residents may add to the panels while they visit the exhibition” (Crooke, p. 175). Through this museum, the community is finally offered a space in which they can tell their own story in their own terms, to feel like their history is finally being acknowledged, to feel pride at an event that was supposed to make them feel shame; and as a result, the community has become stronger.  

Here in D.C. I have yet to find my community represented within museums. There is the National Museum of the American Latino that is starting to take shape, but as of today, it doesn’t occupy a building and it will be many years before the initiative can actually provide a space for Latin Americans. I had an impactful experience at the Smithsonian’s Museum of American Art exhibition: 1898: US Imperial Visions and Revisions. In said exhibit, the Smithsonian attempts to grapple with the United States’ imperialistic past (and present), but in my opinion, fails to fully grasp the negative aftermath that America inflicted on its colonies. In the section dedicated to Puerto Rico it says: “In general, Puerto Ricans welcomed the change of sovereignty from Spain to the United States in 1898. They hoped for more civil liberties, economic prosperity, and modernization. Later, against the backdrop of the First World War (1914–18), the United States granted citizenship to Puerto Ricans and established a popularly elected senate”. This does not include the fact that Puerto Ricans have fought for our independence for over a hundred years since the United States marched into our shores, and that this fight was met with violent massacres, attempts to suppress our language in schools and the Ley Mordaza (Gag Law) in 1948, which outlawed the display or ownership of the Puerto Rican flag. It also conveniently does not mention that after gaining control of the island, the United States used the Puerto Rican population as guinea pigs for experiments involving birth control, Agent Orange, as well as bombs on the coast of Vieques. Lastly, it mentions the fact that we were granted citizenship during WWI, but omits that the reason why was to send our men on the front lines of the war. 

When reading the panel I wondered who wrote it, and for whom. It seemed to me that this was created to provide comfort for Americans who might feel uneasy about their colonial heritage, a way to say: “What we did was bad, but you can feel better now! Pat yourself on the back for recognizing your problematic past in the first place, but don’t take any steps towards actually fixing the problem”. As a museum educator, I want to make sure I’m involving as many voices as I can, so that people from my community don’t feel as angry, and as small, as I felt that day inside of the Smithsonian.

Connect Through Art | District Six Museum

(source: Investec Cape Town Art Fair YouTube)

References: 

Bergeron, Anne, and Beth Tuttle. Magnetic : The Art and Science of Engagement. The Aam Press, 2013.

Crooke, Elizabeth, “Museums and Community” A Companion to Museum Studies. Edited by Macdonald, Sharon. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011, p. 170-185.

“Gallery Page | 1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions.” 1898exhibition.si.edu, 2023, 1898exhibition.si.edu/gallery.

[queerasfact]

Happy International Lesbian Day, and shout-out to all our lesbian followers!

If you’re looking to learn some lesbian history to celebrate the day, check out our episodes on these wonderful women - it’s impossible to say for certain if all these women were lesbians, but they definitely have a place in our conversations about the history of women loving women!:

Anne Lister - 19th century English landowner who journalled the intimate details of her love affairs with women in Secret Lesbian Code.

Audre Lorde - self-described “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet” who fought for women who, like her, were excluded from mainstream US feminism, whether because of class, race, sexuality, or disability.

Yoshiya Nobuko - prolific author whose popular works on friendships and romances between women made her the richest woman in Japan

St Brigid of Kildare - 5th-century abbess whose rejection of marriage and relationship with fellow nun Darlugdach has made her an inspiration to Irish queer women

Chavela Vargas - Costa-Rican-born musician who put a lesbian spin on traditional Mexican music

Bíawacheeitchish - a renowned warrior, and highly ranked Crow chief in the 19th century, who married four wives (note this image is of Barcheeampe, a possibly-fictional Crow woman who may have been inspired by Bíawacheeitchish - we sadly have no pictures of Bíawacheeitchish herself)

[Images: portrait of Anne Lister; photograph of Audre Lorde next to blackboard which reads “Women are powerful and dangerous”; Yoshiya Nobuko; stained glass window of St Brigid; Chavela Vargas singing on stage; line-drawing of Barcheeampe on a horse holding a spear]