In: People
Welcome Mauricio!
April 12, 2007We have a new addition to the family! Mauricio Aguilar just started working with us this week as our new Placement & Travel Coordinator. Mauricio was born and raised in Washington State (USA), but is actually Costa Rican! He’s been back here in his homeland now for about 18 months and is studying sustainable tourism in a local university.
Read MoreUpdate
March 2, 2007Looks like we’re long overdue for an update on what’s been going on around here. There is so much news, I’m not sure where to start!
Read MoreGrowing Fast!
February 24, 2007I know everyone always says, “My! She’s growing so fast!” But it’s really true. Babies grow up way too quickly. I haven’t seen my niece, Rhe Sue, since Christmas. And each time I look at her adorable pictures it makes me sad to think I’m missing out on all her day-to-day growing up.
Read MoreChristmas Pictures
January 9, 2007I just thought I’d share with you some Christmas pictures from this year. Here you see a picture of me with my sister, Paula, her husband, Bert, and my new niece, Rhea. A great time was had by all. You may click here to be re-directed to the photo page.
Read MoreRhea – 2 and 1/2 Weeks Old
December 21, 2006Finally made it to San Francisco on Tuesday. The folks flew in yesterday and my best friend, Trent, drove in today….
Read MoreGrahame
December 10, 2006Another beautiful soul transitioned last night. Grahame Smith was an amazing person, so full of joy and love. Grahame and his partner, (I believe of more than 40 years) Richard, were the first people I met when I moved to Palm Springs many years ago. They took me under their care. Sometimes taking on the role of big brothers, other times the role of parents.
I’ve only had a handful of people I would call mentors in my life, but Grahame and Richard ranked pretty high on that short list. Grahame was very practical and had an infectious smile to go along with his witty sense of humor.
Rhea Sue Baby Update
December 7, 2006I finally got a couple of pictures of Rhea Sue, my sister Paula’s baby. The pics aren’t that great, but at least I can see she is cute! My sister is going to kill me for putting this picture of her on this site, but keep in mind, she was in labor for 46 hours! This other picture is Bert, my brother-in-law. You can see that none of them got much sleep this past weekend!
Read MoreLittle Baby Rhea
December 6, 2006After what seemed like forever, my sister Paula finally gave birth to a healthy and adorable baby girl, Reah Sue. She was born around 9 or 10 PDT last night. My sister had been in labor since Friday night. I had no idea labor could last that long!
Read MoreMarketing Experience?
December 2, 2006Some of the women in one of our indigenous tribes living in a community called Shiroles took it upon themselves about 17 years ago to generate an income for their families and community. They maintain crops of cacao, process it and turn it into chocolate bars, liquid chocolate, cookies and other delectable delights.
They have a great system down now through production, but they could really use some more help with the post-production process. They don’t have much experience in getting their product to the marketplace. With the right help, these women could be marketing their products to local stores, restaurants and hotels and boosting their income by leaps-and-bounds.
Cafe Cristina
November 19, 2006I finally made it over to the farm of one of my neighbors to check it out. They are gringos who have lived here almost 30 years. And they have been growing coffee for over 20 of those years. Cafe Cristina (named after their kids, Cris and Tina) was one of the first organic coffee farms in Costa Rica. In addition to not using any chemicals, they use natural anti-erosion methods, hand-pick their coffee and sun dry it as well. They are incredibly environmentally conscious — and nice people too!
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