This month the Costa Rican Railroad Institute (INCOFER) announced that it was re-activating the train in San José. This is a measure to save gasoline and reduce congestion in the downtown area. The line is to run from the Tropigas plant in Pavas (the industrial district near the US embassy) to the U Latina in San Pedro (past the University of Costa Rica and Mall San Pedro).

While originally spokespersons predicted only 1 morning and 1 afternoon run, carrying about 500 people on each, recent reports have talked about much higher numbers. As many as 13 daily runs (round trip) are now projected.

The train is projected to begin running after Independence Day on September 15th and trip tickets will cost 300 colones for the complete ride, 61 minutes. In order to make the same trip on the bus, you would have to make one or more transfers and it would take over 90 minutes in rush hour. There will be 10 stops of a maximum of 2 minutes each along the way.

Crews are working feverishly to expose the rails and make repairs along the route.

During this week’s “career fair”, the University of Costa Rica announced that a projected 45,000 students will take the next entrance exam. This includes high school seniors and current students who wish to retake the exam in order to change their major. In recent years only between 6,000 and 7,000 freshman students have been accepted.

Competition is so stiff because the rates are so low:
¢7,120 per credit hour ¢85,440 for 12 or more credits

The University never charges for more than 12 credit hours no matter how many classes you take, so the maximum any Costa Rican student would pay would be about $175 for the semester.

According to an Al Dia poll, the coach is the culprit for the poor performance of Costa Rica’s all stars against Mexico:

Whose fault is it that the “Sele” is doing so poorly?
Alexandre Guimaraes, técnico - 397 ( 53%)
Hermes Navarro, presidente de la Federación - 178 ( 24%)
Los jugadores, a quienes les falta calidad - 169 ( 23%)
744 - Total votes

See Poll

The senate of this country approved the treaty today 27 - 2 was the vote.

The agreement has been ratified by the USA, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Only Costa Rica and Nicaragua have not approved the pact.

Yesterday, Microsoft of Costa Rica presented the new Windows XP, Starter Edition. The software and hardware together should cost about 220,000 colones (over $400), and is only for sale in underdeveloped countries. The target market is home users, and micro enterprises.

The system comes with Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Windows Media Player, Word Pad, calculator and a game or two. It has visual aids and tutorials to assist inexperienced users.

Starting yesterday the national all-star team is practicing for the upcoming matches against Panama (away September 3rd) and Trinidad and Tobago (here September 7th).

These players were named by the coach:

Álvaro Mesén - Goalkeeper - Herediano
José F. Porras - Goalkeeper - Saprissa
Donny Grant - Goalkeeper - Pérez Zel.
Gilberto Martínez - Defense - Brescia (Ita)
Luis Marín - Defense - Alajuelense
Gabriel Badilla - Defense - Saprissa
Jervis Drummond - Defense - Saprissa
Mauricio Wright - Defense - Herediano
Michael Umaña - Defense - Galaxy
Hárold Wallace - Defense - Alajuela
Roy Miller - Defense - Bodo Glimt
Leo González - Defense - Herediano
Mauricio Solís - Midfielder - Comunicaciones (Guatamala)
Danny Fonseca - Midfielder - Cartago
Douglas Sequeira - Midfielder - Chivas USA
Wálter Centeno - Midfielder - Saprissa
Cristian Bolaños - Midfielder - Saprissa
Jafet Soto - Midfielder - Herediano
Alonso Solís - Midfielder - Saprissa
Rónald Gómez- Forward - Saprissa
Álvaro Saborío - Striker - Saprissa
Winston Parks - Striker - Saturn
Minor Díaz - Forward - Alajuela
Paulo Wanchope - Striker - Al Garrafat (Qatar)

Wednesday
Alajuela 1 - Puntarenas 0
Saprissa 3 - Santos 0
Thursday:
Heredia 3 - Cartago 2