Me and Soccer - Part 2

Last Wednesday, February 28th, me and my team used for the first time our new t-shirts. That was just something new.

My t-shirt number is 16 and it says "Mari" in the back. I like my new t-shirt, it's very comfortable and it has some of my favorites colors: dark blue, light blue and white. I like the design too, it was made based on some of the girls suggestions, then one of my teammate's brother designed the logo, which is really cool.

We were so proud about our uniform that everyone started taking pictures of their own t-shirt, front and back or even with the whole team, it was a real party.

My lovely boyfriend was there with me, he was using his new camera for the first time, taking pictures of me in my new uniform, so you can imagine how many pictures I have of that day. It was real fun ;)

We played between us, we didn't have a game with another team, so it was relaxing, we had time to do some exercise, use our new uniform and play some soccer.

We have a game with some girls we don't know yet. I hope we have fun today, no punches of any kind, just enjoy the game.

I'll let you know how it goes!

See you next time!

My favorite quotes

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking - Henry Ford

Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement. - Henry Ford

An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness. - Elbert Hubbard

In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man; if you want anything done, ask a woman. - Margaret Thatcher

Every morning I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work. - Robert Orben

Love is not blind - it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less. - Rabbi Julius Gordon

Rage is the only quality which has kept me, or anybody I have ever studied, writing columns for newspapers. - Jimmy Breslin

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. - Dwight D. Eisenhower

I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.- Albert Einstein

Wine makes a man more pleased with himself; I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others. - Samuel Johnson

When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators. - P. J. O'Rourke

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. - Mahatma Gandhi

The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age. - Lucille Ball

A theory is something nobody believes, except the person who made it. An experiment is something everybody believes, except the person who made it. - Albert Einstein

Real heroes are men who fall and fail and are flawed, but win out in the end because they've stayed true to their ideals and beliefs and commitments. - Kevin Costner

If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right. - Henry Ford

I don't want any yes-men around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs. - Samuel Goldwyn

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. - Thomas Jefferson

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it. - Pearl S. Buck

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, 'Let there be light!' And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. - Ellen DeGeneres

Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. - Unknown

The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. - Kenneth Blanchard

Me and Soccer

Like a year ago some girls at work started a soccer team, its name is Ateneas FC. They asked me to be part of it, but I wasn't really interested in playing soccer, my passion always has been basketball. Besides, in that time I had to go to classes so I didn't really have a chance to play.

This year, one of my new year's resolutions was to do some exercise to improve my health and lose some weight, so I gave soccer a chance.

It has been interesting, but also it has been a challenge since it's a completely new sport to me, I mean, I can kick a ball, but I can't really run with a ball with several girls beside me trying to take it away from me, it is really complicated. In addition to that, it seems to be a more dangerous sport than basketball, since the first day I played, I was hit with the ball, then somebody push me to the ground and the last time somebody hit my face with the ball, it was very bad for my nose.

The last two games we had to play with a team that seems to be more experienced (they must be because they kicked our buts) and also more violent, even though they win they started pushing, kicking and punching us, it was terrible! One of our teammates got injured in both games by the same girl!


The one in the picture is my friend Iriana, she's the captain of the team I guess, she organizes everything.

It has been a totally new experienced, since I'm not used to play with a whole team with rules and a referee and everything, I even had to buy soccer shoes, socks and shin guards.

It's been fun so far, I had had the chance to learn new things, meet new people and do some exercise which is something that really want! I just hope not to get injured ;)

Café Moro

As part of our Valentine's Day, my boyfriend and I went to a Mediterranean restaurant called Café Moro, in Barrio Amón, San José.

I must say that was a relief the food and the service were so good, because as most of you might know, on Valentine's Day restaurants tend to lose their good fame (the food is not the best and the service is terrible), due to the big amount of people they serve that day.

Café Moro was not the case, the food was excellent, the appetizers and the main dishes were really good, also the service was excellent. We asked for a plate of several cheeses and a Mediterranean medley as appetizers, a Chicken in porcini sauce and a Steak in pepper sauce as main dishes, everything was just delicious and we had Sangria to drink, of course.

Café Moro is a restaurant that worths going, it's a nice cozy place decorated in a Mediterranean style, it's comfortable and the service and food are excellent, the prices are a little high but they worth it.

I really recommend it!!

Cantera at Jazz Café

Last Wednesday, February 07th, the CEO of the company I work for, Mario Chaves, invited me and Carlos to listen to a Flamenco group at Jazz Café. I hadn't listened Flamenco since I got back from Spain, so I couldn't refuse the invitation.

From Flamenco Jazz...

Carlos and I were in charged of arriving to the restaurant earlier so we didn't lose the reservation, it wasn't very full when we got there and Jazz Café was as cozy as always and it had that particular quite environment that characterizes it. While we waited for the other guests, Carlos and I had something to drink, he asked for a Belgian beer and I had a Frozen Daiquirí, which was an excellent choice.

From Flamenco Jazz...

Around 9:30 my boss arrived, he also ordered a beer and then we ordered a pizza Jazz that was really good, excellent flavor.

When it was ten o'clock Cantera started the show, it was really a big surprise, they had excellent musicians, the guys in charge of the guitars were just exceptionals, the singer put some Spanish style to the music and the Flamenco dancer made the show even better with her hands movement and the music she made with her shoes.

From Flamenco Jazz...

The only bad thing was the group announced their break up, because their two guitarists were hired to play in some other countries, one of them is going to Spain. It's really sad because, even though was the first time I saw the show, I was really impressed with their performance.

From Flamenco Jazz...

When you have the chance, go see them ... while they are still together!!

Malpaís

Last Thursday, February 01st, I enjoyed a great concert of one of our finest Costa Rican musical groups, Malpaís. The concert was in Jazz Café Bar, San Pedro.

This is their third concert I go to, I might say it's the best, not only for the quality of it but because I could share it with some friends and coworkers.

I was so lucky I had the chance to listen, not only theirs well known songs, but the new ones, that are as good as the old ones.

These concerts really make you feel, not only because of the music and lyrics, but also for the sentiment the musicians put in their performance when they are playing their instruments. Also, the main singer, Fidel, he really enjoys when he's signing, it's just awesome.

The first time I listened to the group was in a concert at Jazz Café too, I've never listened to them until that day, but when I did, they really conquer my heart with that emotion and sentiment they have when they sing and play in each one of their concerts.

You seat their to listen to this group wishing that the concert never ends, you sing, you scream and there are even some who dance in spite of the small space and the crowd in the bar.

Yesterday, Carlos and I bought their last record, Malpaís En Vivo, I must say it's really good, listen to them playing live it's just great. I also, liked the little book that comes with the CD, it has great pictures and good texts. I enjoyed too, the voice of Daniela Rodríguez, I honestly think she should get a chance of singing more in the group, she has a great voice. Come on guys, think about it!

I really hope, they keep having the great success they have had so far, that they keep composing and giving us this wonderful music that makes us feel so proud of the Costa Rican music.

Pictures taken by Ana Garcia!

An Inconvenient Truth

I watched the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" a few days ago and it is shocking, amazing, terrifying, all that at the same time!

It is shocking and terrifying because they give so many facts about all the global warming problems the earth is having that most of us haven't even heard of yet.

It is amazing because Al Gore makes it amazing, he gives a presentation about global warming, which is just amazing, he is such a great speaker and the best thing is that he is really committed to this global warming problem, so he goes through his presentation with great passion and he really cares, he really wants to make the whole world aware of this issue and its consequences. He also tells the audience some stories about his family, some problems he had and he also tells about how he felt when he lost the presidency of the United States, which buy the way it was something terrible, the world would be a lot better right now if he were the US president.

It's really important that we all take care of our environment, we need to recycle, save energy, put less and less C02 in the atmosphere or our planet and our homes are going to suffer awful consequences.

Watch An Inconvenient Truth, it really worth it!!

If you want to know ten things you can do to help stop global warming read this document at climatecrisis.net, 10 Things to do

Save our planet - Recycle

Did you know that plastic takes at least three hundred million years to decompose? And did you know that plastic can be reprocessed or reused? A lot of materials can be recycled to create new products, for instance plastic, paper, glass and aluminum.

By reprocessing waste to recover reusable materials we help to preserve our natural resources; however, there are some countries where recycling is not a common practice. That is why governments should establish laws to motivate people to recycle.

By recycling our natural resources are better preserved, less waste would need to be treated and more money would be saved since old materials would be reused instead of having to create new ones. That is why our governments should established a law that helps people to recycle providing them with the necessary resources to do it. In this way, people would be more motivated to recycle not because it is a law but because it is necessary to help preserve our home planet.

Look at the picture on the left, it is a picture taken a national park named Tapanti in Costa Rica, it is such a beautiful place, ...

...where you can find a rain forest , animals, a beautiful river and a wonderful waterfall, think about it, we need to preserve that, our kids and grandkids have the right to be able to enjoy it too!

When you recycle YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:

• Recycling Saves Natural Resources


• Recycling Saves Energy


• Recycling Saves our Environment


• Recycling Adds Value to the Economy


• Recycling is Good Business

Manuel Antonio - Costa Rica

 

	The picture on the left was taken in Manuel Antonio, the sunset was just amazing!
From Landscapes

I went to Manuel Antonio a few years ago and I think is one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. It's clean and there you can go to the Manuel Antonio National Park where you can spend some time surrounded by nature, the forest is great along with the beach.

Traveling to Spain - Here are some tips

Here are some tips if you want to travel to Spain. I lived in Spain around 9 months and I traveled to several countries from there, so I kind of know what I'm talking about ;)

The Tips...

• If you need to find cheap airplane tickets go to http://www.travelprice.es. There is another site that a friend recommended me, I haven't used it though, http://www.vueling.com


• The best site to look for hostels is http://www.hostelworld.com, they actually have hostels from all over the world.


• If you need to travel by train in Spain, the train station website is http://www.renfe.es.


• There are a lot of bus lines that go from city to city, normally they are faster than a train since they go through the highways, they are cheaper than trains and you can buy the tickets by Internet. The only thing to consider is that you get really tired unless you can sleep in buses. Some information in http://www.auto-res.net, http://www.alsa.es or www.continental-auto.es


• For the metro in Madrid, they have tickets for 10 travels that costs around 5 euros and something. The single one costs 1.5 euros. These tickets also work in some bus lines, like the EMT ones.


• There are a lot of bus lines that go from city to city, normally they are faster than a train since they go through the highways, they are cheaper than trains and you can buy the tickets by Internet. The only thing to consider is that you get really tired unless you can sleep in buses.


• Don't forget to try the Tapas, they are just great like Patatas Bravas or Huevos rotos. Also, drink Sangria, it is great and it is not that expensive there.

Tapantí National Park - Costa Rica

We went to Tapanti a few months ago. Some friends and I decided to take one day trip to a national park, somebody recommended us Tapanti, so we went there. It's closed to San Jose, like an hour or so.

We wanted to have some breakfast to we went to a hotel that is in Orosi, almost arriving to Tapanti, it was terrible because they didn't have Gallo Pinto, everyone was so disappointed, but any how we at least had some bread, eggs and coffee of course.

Tapanti National Park is just a great place if you want to be close to nature, there you can walk through the forest, there is this beautiful river and waterfalls, it is just amazing.

On the way back we had lunch in a restaurant in Orosi, it was very good, specially because everyone was so hungry and tired of the trip.

Tambor - Costa Rica

We went to Tambor in July, 2006. We spent 4 days and 3 nights in Tambor Beach Hotel, it was great because we really needed this vacation and this hotel is special if you want to relax. They have this "all inclusive" plan where you can eat and drink as much as you can, so dedicated ourselves just to relax.

The only problem we had was getting there, it's very easy to get to Puntarenas, but then you have to wait long lines to take the Ferry and then after you finally get to Paquera, you find that horrible road, where you and your car suffer as much as you can imagine. It took us 1.5 hours to go 20 kilometers, would you imagine? That's insane!

So here is my advice, if want to go to Tambor or anywhere near, take a 4x4 car, it's the only way and if you don't want to drive at all, take the Tambor bus, it's a lot better!

Photography

	The picture above was taken on my sister's garden and I modified it in Picasa to give it the effect you are seeing right now!
From Flowers

In this space I want to share with you some experiences I had related to photography and some useful information I found that it might help you too.

Tips and help

I found this site that sends you videos with tutorials on how to use Photoshop which are very helpful if you mostly work with digital photos. The name of the site is Photo Secrets. Come on, take a look!!

Here at O'relly there are several good tips that can help you understand some basic concepts.

If you want to see reviews of cameras, go to this site DpReview.com. They have excellent reviews of every single camera you might want to know about.

Cool links!

A friend of mine send me this site TrekEarth. Here you can upload your pictures so others can learn about the world through photography. It's a really interesting concept.

A photography site I really like, it's the Ansel Adam's site. Here you can find the best black and white pictures ever taken.

A friend of mine has a site where he has some pictures he changed to make them look like paintings, so if you want to take a look at them, go to Karoly's pictures

Sites to share your pictures

• Shutterfly


• Flickr


• PicasaWeb


• Kodak Easy Share

My favorites are PicasaWeb and Shutterfly, specially Picasa, because it's really easy to upload pictures and you can embed some of them in your blogs or sites.

More coming later...

Traveling to Europe - More tips

	The picture on the left is from some typical houses in Amsterdam! Here are some tips if you want to travel to Europe.
From Holanda

The Tips...

• In hostelworld.com, select the private rooms, because if you select the dorms, you would have to share your room with people you don't even know, dorms are cheaper though. If you select a Private one, you have to double check that the bathroom is also private, sometimes they have private rooms but you have to use a shared bathroom.


• If you are looking for hostels that are not so bad, check the Budget Hotel category in hostelworld.com. These are generally cleaner and more comfortable and in a better location.


• Traveling by train is kind of expensive, sometimes it's even better to take a plane, because you get to your destiny faster and the price is almost the same.


• In most of the European countries, they have metro, which is a way to move fast in the cities. Generally, they have special tickets for tourist that last for several days.


• In several cities, like Barcelona, there are touristic buses that take you all over the city. You can pay for one day or two. They are very useful because they go to the most important places in the city and you can get in or get off whenever you want.


• Something to take into account is that there are guides for every city in the world that have itineraries where you can find information about all the places where you should go, how much are the entrance tickets and how much time you should spend in every place, so this allow you to organize your trip.


• If you are going to Rome, look for hostel Euro, it's cheap, clean and it's very close to the main train station where you can take the train, metro and buses


• If you go to Rome or Florence, there are tours that you can pay in advance that would take to most visited places so you don't have to wait in lines or risk that you cannot enter the museums or galleries. In the case of Florence, there are some galleries, like Uffizi, that it's a lot better to reserve the ticket through Internet, because this gallery is one of the most visited in Florence, so you can spend hours in line.


• If you go to Venice, you would need around 2 days to see it all, it's actually a small city unlike Florence where there is so many things to see. In Venice try to stay out of the island because it's very expensive. Also, to move around Venice, buy the ferry ticket that is for 24 hours and allows you to go everywhere.


• If you go to London, just remember, this city is extremely expensive, so just be careful with your finances!


• If you go to Amsterdam, rent a bike, it's the best way to move around the city and it's cheap!


• If you go to Portugal don't forget to go to Sintra, this is a beautiful town and it's around one hour and a half in train from Lisbon.

I hope this information is helpful for you! ;)

Mary and Jesus

 This is a photo taken in a cathedral in Salamanca, Spain. This was a picture hanging in a wall, I really loved it so I had to take a picture of it. The colors are just awesome and the gesture of Mary holding Jesus makes feel so peaceful and happy, but in the same time a little bit sad, because then you think about how she felt when he died. 

Some pictures of Flowers

These pictures were taken mostly in my sister's garden. She loves orchids and roses and I love to take pictures of them. They are beautiful objects that make great models for my pictures!! :D

Taking pictures of flowers I have learned to handle better the exposure and composition of objects and I also learned how to take close-ups!

7 Habits of the Highly Effective People

1. Be Proactive
Have initiative and take responsability of what you do.

2. Begin with the End in Mind
Create a vision of what you want to achieve and then focus your actions on achiving that vision.

3. Put First Things First
This is a discipline to get rid of urgent things, because urgent things are not necessarily the most important.

4. Think Win/Win
You have to see life as a cooperative dimension where success is achieved when everybody wins.

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
This principle is based on respect. This habit is the key to successful human relations. If you can understand others, then you can be understood.

6. Synergize
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Synergize in your life and work, but learn to value the differences of others to find better solutions.

7. Sharpen the Saw
This means, that once in a while you need to stop and renew yourself physically, emotionaly and spiritualy.

Stephen Covey