VOLLEYBALL, OLYMPIANS, and DANCE...
Three more very good things around here!
CONGRATULATIONS to Costa Rican 2024 Olympic Athletes:
Milagro Mena for Women’s road race
Gerald Drummond for Men’s 400 m hurdles
Brisa Hennessy for Women’s surfing
Sebastian Sancho for Judo
Alondra Ortiz for Women’s 200 m butterfly swimming
Alberto Vega for Men’s 400 m freestyle swimming
SHOUT OUTS!
To Steven Q. and Dee R. for making beach volleyball a reality in Potrero!
And to Bahia del Sol for providing storage and equipment!
Happy birthday & feliz cumpleaños this month to:
A belated birthday and mea culpa to my husband Peter, whose birthday was August 3rd. Por suerte, él es muy tuanis.
ESPAÑOL
This month’s Costa Rican phrase is: “chunche.” This can come in really handy because it means “thingamajig, whatchamacallit, thingamabob.” So, if you are having word finding problems or you don’t know the name of something, use chunche.
NEIGHBOR SPOTLIGHT
Let’s sit down for coffee with Corryn Bamber. Corryn is originally from Canada. She and her fiancé Jon moved from Southern Ontario to Costa Rica in 2021. Corryn said, “Our family, thinking us insane, watched us sell our newly renovated house, travel across Canada (looking for a new place to land) and then finally decide, as it turned cold in September, that we were going to try out Costa Rica for a few months and see what it was like to skip winters. Needless to say, we didn't go back to Canada! We are still here three years later, with a daughter born last year in Liberia. We love it here!”
When they first arrived in Costa Rica, they stayed in beautiful Santiago de Puriscal, with a mountain view of the entire Central Valley and wonderful neighbors that they are still in touch with. Corryn said that their daughter has two sets of Tico grandparents who love her dearly, from the first place they stayed, as well as the place in Communidad Guanacaste where they moved after three months in the central valley.
After that, they moved to Playas del Coco to await the birth of their daughter. Then they moved to Surfside, which they find to be a lovely place to raise their little one. Their daughter Cypress is named after a mountain in British Columbia. She is a preschooler and has many little friends.
Corryn works as a graphic designer who specializes in website design and development. She has her own businesses in Canada and here in Costa Rica, in Playa Flamingo.
A little trivia about Corryn in her own words...
Languages you speak - English and conversation level Spanish
Book on your nightstand now - I'm listening to the audio book for Harry Potter: Half Blood Prince
What you do in your free time - I play with my daughter or go with my family to the beach!
Best advice you ever received - Everything is figure-outable.
Coffee or tea - Coffee all day ☕
Favorite subject in school - Art! I have a Bachelor of Fine Art from Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada and use those skills in everything I do!
First job - Balloon Artist at a party shop, making balloon bouquets and arches for events!
Most used emoji - ☺️
Favorite thing to cook -Lasagna
Favorite quote - Quality means doing it right when no one is looking - Henry Ford
Super power - To Fly!
September 9th is Día del Niño, or Children’s Day. This holiday was established in 1946 to recognize and guarantee the rights of children and to celebrate childhood. Take the day to see all the good in children!
September 15th is Costa Rican Independence Day, marking the date in 1821 when Costa Rican declared independence from Spain.
Abriendo Mentes was established in 2009 and is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year! If you don’t know this incredible organization, check out their website abriendomentes.org. This charitable organization focuses on development in rural Costa Rica with these goals, “Our comprehensive approach to community-based education focuses on youth development, adult education and job skill development, women’s economic empowerment, and community development.” Recently, they began offering English classes to those ages 13-18, where the youth will go to Abriendo Mentes for one academic period to study English. Thank you to Canatico, La Forketta, and Las Brisas Potrero for donating food for these kids to keep them energized!
The Potrero ADI volunteers give hundreds of hours collectively every month to get projects done in and for the Potrero community, including helping neighbors and children, beautifying the pueblo, and meeting with the Municipality to get information about public works. They provide the outcome of a meeting with the Municipality on August 20, along with all their other good works, on their Facebook page ADI Playa Potrero.
The Surfside Property Owners’ Association (POA) Board has used membership fees and donations to accomplish a tremendous improvement to the roads of Surfside recently. Additionally, in recent years they have graded the streets and installed culverts for flood prevention, installed street signs, fought to preserve and reclaim Green Zones, built bus stops, sidewalks, and headwalls, donated to law enforcement to help the Coast Guard maintain their boats and to help local police repair their vehicles, donated computers and printers to local police, donated time, supplies, and repair work to improve the Potrero elementary school, donated personnel and equipment for charity fundraisers, hosted POA Bingo to raise funds, eliminated local graffiti and illegal roadside signage, and accepted the Beach BLUE FLAG Committee honor for cleanest Guanacaste beach.
Barbara’s Animal Rescue Center recently spayed/neutered more than 100 animals! Barbara has worked tirelessly for years in service of the animals in our communities and deserves heartfelt thanks for her love and care.
PET PHOTOS
Meet Skye (top photo) and Casper. Skye is a Black Trim Australian Shepherd and Casper is a Blue Merle Australian Shepherd. Their person is Corryn.
LET’S DANCE
By Christine Guzzardo, PhD
Bowie said it best, put on your red shoes and dance...
Dancing has been around for over 10,000 years. We just can’t seem to help ourselves when the music starts. It is, first and foremost, FUN! And beyond that, it has so many health and psychological benefits.
Because dance is such a physical activity, the health benefits are extensive. It is essentially a fun form of exercise. It can improve cardiovascular health, help with weight loss, help maintain bone density and balance, improve flexibility (which improves mobility), and build muscle strength. Being tired after dancing may also improve sleep.
Plus, good cardiovascular health, healthy weight, and sufficient sleep are all very important to maintaining cognitive health and staving off the onset of mental decline or dementia. Psychological well-being is also important in preventing cognitive decline. The psychological benefits of dancing may include reduced stress and anxiety, decreased depression, and increased self-esteem (come on, you know you’re a good dancer).
Staying socially engaged as we age is another important factor in maintaining cognitive and psychological health. And while you can certainly have fun dancing alone to your own tunes, dancing also provides a way to socially connect. Whether in a dance class or out with your friends and neighbors, the social interaction involved in dance is just good for us.
So, grab your red shoes or your cowboy boots or your flip flops and get out there and sway, under the moonlight, this serious moonlight.
“Dance first. Think later. It’s the natural order.” Samuel Beckett
FEEL GOOD WORDS ABOUT DANCE
Everybody Is Doing It
By Benjamin Zephaniah
In Hawaii they Hula
They Tango in Argentina
They Reggae in Jamaica
And they Rumba down in Cuba,
In Trinidad and Tobago
They do the Calypso
And in Spain the Spanish
They really do Flamenco.
In the Punjab they Bhangra
How they dance Kathak in India
Over in Guatemala
They dance the sweet Marimba,
Even foxes dance a lot
They invented the Fox Trot,
In Australia it's true
They dance to the Didgeridoo.
In Kenya they Benga
They Highlife in Ghana
They dance Ballet all over
And Rai dance in Algeria,
They Jali in Mali
In Brazil they Samba
And the girls do Belly Dancing
In the northern parts of Africa.
Everybody does the Disco
From Baghdad to San Francisco
Many folk with razzamataz
Cannot help dancing to Jazz,
They do the Jig in Ireland
And it is really true
They still Morris dance in England
When they can find time to.
“Forget your troubles and dance.” Bob Marley
“To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.” Jane Austin
“The job of the feet is walking, but their hobby is dancing.” Amit Kalantri
“The body says what words cannot.” Martha Graham
“Do it big, do it right, and do it with style.” Fred Astaire
“Dance for yourself. If someone understands, good. If not, no matter.” Louis Horst
“There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.” Vicki Baum
“To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak.” Indian Proverb
“When you dance, you can enjoy the luxury of being you.” Coelho
“You were once wild here. Don’t let them tame you.” Isadora Duncan
“Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance.” Jeanne Stein
ONE LAST THING
Please keep sending me your shout outs, suggestions, photos, events, celebrations, pet pics, birthdays, and other Good Stuff. Volunteer to be in the Neighbor Spotlight (it’s your chance to show off all those hidden skills and talents we’d love to know about).
If you want to share something helpful with the community, write about it and send it to me. It’s more fun with all your contributions. Plus, I can’t capture everything just by searching the Chats. Dee R. sent me some great leads for this month, which I really appreciate.
I know many businesses in the area do good work and contribute to the well-being of the community. I think it would be fun to have a page (or however many it takes) dedicated to recognizing the generosity of our local businesses. If you would like to be included, or would like to include a business, please send me the name of the business and to what they contributed and how (e.g., auction to raise money for X, donated food to Y).
“There is nothing in the world so good as good neighbors.” Laura Ingalls Wilder
