Costa Rican blogs these past two weeks have had a bit of CAFTA, a bit of music and some complaints on the roads and the trash. The latter two are issues that worry those out in the streets and seem to leave those in power unconcerned. The uproar on the AntiCAFTA marches has mellowed out a bit. This weeks’ blog movement is due to a related but separate event: Oscar Arias’ appearance in a Joaquín Sabina concert. (wikipedia information on the artist here ) These bloggers commented on the event firsthand: Lau Fu in La fuente clandestina La noche del 8 de noviembre un Palacio de los Deportes lleno de sabineros hasta el copete gritó para calentar las cuerdas vocales antes del concierto: ¡No, no al TLC! y ¡Fuera, fuera hp…!, furibundas exclamaciones que tuvieron como blanco al más alto representante de Costa Rica -como lo llamó Joaquín Sabina-, el presidente Oscar Arias. During the evening of November 8th, the concert venue, completely full of “sabineros” yelled and warmed their vocal cords up before the concert: No to CAFTA! Leave!Leave! SOB…! Irate exclamations that had as their target to costa Rica's hightes representative- just like Joaquín Sabina called him-, president Oscar Arias. Furia de mais continues the story: Unos 4 gatos que sonábamos como miles… el malparido, el vende patrias, el viejo verde, el cabrón -que me acompañe la virgen del Carmen, esto es la Interné-… Y yo pensaba que no era posible… no era posible que este mae me cierre el año con una cagada tan jórrida: primero se roba las elecciones, me hace pasar 12 meses de mierda con su prepotencia vil y chueca, y para colmo de males, me llega a joder la vida al concierto de Juaco! ¡Misericoldia señol, misericoldia!… We were a handful that sounded like thousands… the bastard, seller of our homeland, the skirt chaser, the motherf* -may the Virgin of El Carmen protect me, this is the Internet-… And I thought it couldn't be happening… it isn't possible that this dude shits on my year in such a despicable way: first he steals the elections, makes me spend 12 months from hell with his evil and twisted arrogance and to mess things up even more, he comes to f* my life up at Juaco's concert. Mercy lord! Mercy! Mariela wrote about the disorganization of the event. From the gender segregated separate lines that took forever to get people inside, to the rude and violent security guards and the general ambiance. Cristian Cambronero in Fusil de Chispas contrasts two concerts that share one character and characteristic: Oscar Arias. Miércoles. Reunido para oir a Sabina, un puño de gente aprovecha la ocasión para abuchear al presidente Arias y gritar consignas contra todo: el tlc. Una polada risible. Viernes. Reunido para oir a Perales, un puño de gente aprovecha la ocasión para ovacionar al presidente Arias. Una polada per se. El escenario: el mismo. Costa Rica. La polada, bonita. Wednesday: Gathered to hear Sabina, a handful of people takes advantage of the ocasion to boo President Arias and yell slogas against everything: CAFTA. Laughable tackyness. Friday: Gathered to hear Perales, a handful of people takes advantage of the ocsion to give a standing ovation to President Arias. Just plain tacky. The stage: the same. Costa Rica. Tackyness. nice. There's even a youtube video of the Sabina Concert with Arias‘ arrival. Pancho Varona, who came with Sabina, wrote on his blog (via por la boca) Resumiendo, todo resulta simpáTICO en este país centroamericano regido por un presidente premio nóbel de la paz que se llevó una tremenda pitada cuando Joaquín lo nombró en el concierto, ya que el presidente Arias vino a vernos. Summarizing, everything is simpatTICO in this Centralamerican country ruled by a nobel peace prize president who received a remarkable booing when Joaquín mentioned him in the concert, since president Arias came to see us. Uri Riddleman in Tiquicia's Blog writes about the huge holes in the Costa Rican streets. Julia Ardón writes about the cruelty of the well-to-do against the quiet dignity of those who scrounge and pick throug the trash to survive. Also in Julia Ardón's blog, she writes about the increase in the free trade zones in Nicaragua. El otro día vi los datos del salario mínimo en las textileras de Centroamérica . Mientras el nuestro es el más alto con $ 225 aprox por mes para cada trabajadora, el de Nicaragua es el más bajo con $ 72.