By: Scott Pralinsky

Residency Renewal
November 12, 2006

Last month I renewed my residency here in Costa Rica. I’d been reading all about the experiences of other people. Even the Tico Times ran an article a few weeks ago talking about how messed up the Immigration folks are. They said the average wait time for an appointment was 10 months.
I decided to try a different approach. I’d read on an online forum that this guy hired a lawyer, only waited a couple of weeks and got everything taken care of smoothly — and for only $60. It did sound too good to be true, I have to admit.

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The Cure for Cancer?
November 11, 2006

Could it be true? Well 60,000 who have been cured so far think so! But let me back up. A friend of mine from Miami had been diagnosed with cancer (for the fourth time). He heard about a guy in Cuba who uses scorpion venum to cure people who have cancer. Two weeks after starting on the treatment, his cancer disappeared (though he had to keep consuming the venum for six months to complete the treatment).

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La Flor
October 29, 2006

I found this flower in a neighboring town called “La Flor,” which means the flower. They did have some nice flowers there!
We were in La Flor because we’re preparing to send some of our volunteers there. It’s a super small, quiet community set apart from other towns. The community is very focused on helping one another, recycling, education and agriculture. Here is a photo of their community garden. Pictured are (left to right) Allyson (La Flor resident and activist), Jimmy (neighbor and friend of ours), Isaac, Gustavo (La Flor community leader and program Spanish teacher, and Louise (friend).

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More Puppy Pictures
October 29, 2006

I know. Only the proud parents can handle so many pictures of the puppies, but I couldn’t resist. They are just too adorable! Their 2 favorite pastimes are sleeping and playing of course. Here they are hard at work.

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Fighting Crime
October 24, 2006

A friend of mine called me yesterday to tell me that his beach community here in Costa Rica is experiencing a big increase in crime. This, of course, if not unique to just his area. Crime is increasing at an alarming rate, but most especially in beach areas.

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How Queer
October 22, 2006

In the last couple of years I’ve posted only one or two entries about being gay in Costa Rica. Yet with very little information on our site about the whole gay thing, we get thousands of hits from people searching about Gay Costa Rica.
So I figured I’d write just a little bit more about the subject so that people searching for more info can actually have something of more substance to read.

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Reject Flowers
October 22, 2006

We have these wonderful neighbors, Al and Allison. They own a flower exportation business. The other day they gave us these beautiful Birds of Paradise, because they were “rejects.” I thought they were pretty amazing!

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Gay Costa Rica
October 19, 2006

I heard an interesting statistic this week from a friend who has a contact in OIJ (Costa Rica’s version of the FBI). Supposedly there is an internal document that reports the percentage of gay men in Costa Rica is 46%, of which 25% are men who are married, many of whom have kids. When I’ve mentioned this to people I know here, they don’t seem at all surprised. I guess their experiences support these numbers.

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Truck for Sale
October 15, 2006

We’re selling our car and could use your help. It’s a 1999 Mitsubishi Nativa, green and tan. 92,779 miles. 3.0 liter V-6, gasoline, 4-wheel drive, manual transmission. Air conditioning, electric windows, sun roof, halogen lights, electric door locks, cruise control, AM/FM stereo cassette and CD player, dual front airbags. Excellent condition: New brakes, new AT tires, new gear box, new belts, new shocks. Current marchamo and RTV. A great truck! $14,500. Call 365-9013 or e-mail Isaac.

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Bath Time
October 14, 2006

Wow. Puppies grow so fast. I think in the last 2 weeks these dogs have grown twice the original size. And they are a handfull, let me tell you! Here is a picture of them in the bathtub with Isaac.

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