Tico Tuesday, June 28th

Behold! The old has gone! And the new has come!
Costa Rica is joining the "in" countries who now have cool paper/plastic currency that is friendly to the "personas no videntes" (blind). And yes, plastic. The 1000 colon bill (worth approximately $2) is actually made out of plastic. I think the new bills (2000, 5000, 10.000, and there are 20.000 and 50.000 but they aren't so common) all have some degree of plastic in them, but not as much the the 1000. This was demonstrated by a friend of mine the other day who heard that you couldn't rip the new bills, and proceeded to tear someone else's 2000 bill. OOPS!! The new bills are textured, different lengths according to value and supposedly even harder to con... confetti... ah! counterfeit! Yes, that.
So, when are you catching up, USA? (jijiji. Sorry, I couldn't resist! ;-) )
More on the blog!
Blessings on the rest of your week!
Love,
Carrie

I'll admit, it's a little ironic that Costa Rica would come out with new, hip "blind person friendly" money before the USA, considering the US always tries to be in top of everything that is new and trendy. I suck at knowing things about Europe, but didn't they do this with the Euro when it first came out when I was in high school, más o menos? I think I heard talk of this in the US, but who knows. The US has a lot more things to be concerned about regarding money these days....
I continue to be fascinated by Costa Rica though-just how advanced it is here in so many ways, yet so behind in so many others. I remember in my Latin American civ class (which was unfortunately lousy, one of the few disappointing classes at GCC) we used a book/curriculum about Latin American's identities being like buried mirrors. Many Latin Americans are sure of who they are or who they should be. There is indigenous culture/history/background, there is Spanish influence from the conquistadores, and now there are malls, MTV, cell phones and wi-fi.
And stop. I'm talking about Latin America as a whole. That is a VERY DANGEROUS thing to do. Why? Because it's not like you can think of Latin America kind of like the USA where each state is separate but still essentially the same in many ways. Yes, there are a number of things that unite Latin America, but I would argue that the differences between México and Costa Rica are greater than those between Maine and Illinois. Not to downplay the differences between states. I know there is enormous diversity within the US. What I'm trying to get you to understand is that there is enormous diversity within Latin America as well-even here within Costa Rica, which is smaller than West Virginia! The people from the Caribbean coast have a different culture and dialect from the one we have in the Greater Metropolitan area, which is different from the indigenous people that live in the mountains, which is different from the people who live in the northwestern province that was once part of Nicaragua.
I'm currently reading a fascinating book called "From Rio to the Rio Grande" which talks about a number of issues and differences within and regarding Latin America. It was written to help the clueless gringo learn a little more about his/her southern neighbors, who aren't all Spanish nor Mexican (so please don't call them that). I highly recommend it. I've learned a lot myself!