ConnectionThe Bimonthly Newsletter of

The Women’s Club of Costa RicaMay/June 2017

President’s Messageby Michale Gabriel

Celebrations Big and SmallAprons here, aprons there,

aprons everywhere! We invited our members to don their favor-ite aprons for our annual March luncheon and they did not dis-appoint. In celebration of our Bodacious Baked Goods Bazaar and Raffle more than 90 mem-bers and guests put their favorite aprons on display. They included a flamenco apron with matching chef’s hat made by Ileana Borbon and a Botticelli-inspired “naked lady” apron worn by Michelle Gómez-Tunistra. Susanna Kilby arrived dressed as a kitchen witch. Her black ruffled net apron was decorated with spider webs, she brandished a rubber knife scep-ter, sported a spider “tattoo” and topped her ensemble with a festive witch’s hat. Many of our attendees wore aprons they had purchased

Inside This Issue

Mark Your CalendarInside This Issue

Mark Your Calendar

WCCR scholarship program statistics are impressive.

Besides the hundreds of high school students who were able to graduate between 1997 and 2010 because of WCCR scholar-ships, WCCR has supported 75 university students since 2010. Given that each university stu-dent requires a minimum of four years to complete a first degree, and most go on to a higher de-gree, licenciatura, requiring an-other one or two years, one can easily see the magnitude of the challenge we have taken on. The impact on Costa Rican society has been substantial.

Let us introduce you to one of the current university students,

Irán Lopez Herrera, who rep-resents the human personalities behind the statistics. Multiplying his story by about 450 for the years of training for all 75 stu-dents gives one a sense of the

The Human Face of Our Scholarship Statistics

continued on page 2continued on page 3

The Art of Tai ChiWednesday, May 10 (see page 6)

Garden TourWednesday, June 8 (see page 5)

Scholarship Profile ________ page 1Visual Arts Group _________ page 4June Garden Tour _________ page 5Interest Groups __________ page 6

WCCR member Mary Alice Lesko has hands-on training from Executive Chef José Domínguez (left) and Pastry Chef Carlos Agüero.

WCCR Connection May/June 2017 2

Board MembersPresident ................................... Michale GabrielFirst Vice President .......................... Lisa FoulgerSecond Vice President ............. Elena AustermühleTreasurer .................................. Grace WoodmanRecording Secretary ..................... Patricia ArauzCommunications Coordinator .... Diane BlomgrenVocal .............................................. Jenny KitsonVocal ....................................... Gretchen TreutingVocal ................................................ Janet Burke

FiscalesFiscal .......................................... Anu Jaya BolasFiscal Suplente .......................... Kathy Rothschild

Advisory CommitteeRoxana Fujita McNair, Anne Kreupeling, Cyndy Vorih, Ileana Borbón, Lisa Aspinall, Pamela Rutledge, Dorothy Choate, Michèle Tuinstra-Gómez

WCCR Connection is published bimonthly by The Women’s Club of Costa Rica.

Editor: Janet BurkeContributing Writers: Elena Austermühle and Michale GabrielProofreader: Grace WoodmanLayout: Gretchen TreutingContact: newsletters@wccr.org

MissionThe Women’s Club of Costa Rica is a social and philanthropic organization

supporting personal growth and advancement of women and

young people through scholarships and other educational opportunities.

President’s Message continued from page 1

during their travels around the world: Paris, London, Ireland, and even Antarctica—an apron made from a prison uniform, worn by Linda Manoll. The executive chef and pastry chef from the Marriott did a wonder-ful cake-decorating demonstration and donated not one but four cakes to our raffle. Cyndy Vorih did a fabulous job presiding over our baked goods bazaar, and her husband Bill was working alongside her, faith-ful amigo that he is. Maria Elena Chinchilla continued the food-inspired theme by making table centerpieces that included eight different herb plants wrapped in burlap, tied with raffia and accented with a bamboo spoon. Guests were vying with each other to purchase them. The Marriott could not have created a more inviting setting for us. And when it came to the food, they pulled out all the stops. The meal was over the top and our guests couldn’t stop raving. It was a fun-filled luncheon and it produced a wonderful result for our programs. We set another all-time record for our March luncheon by raising $915 for our Schoolbooks for Kids program. In addition, we collected more than $700 for our scholarship program.

But that is not the only reason we are celebrating. Our WCCR Fiscal as well as interest group chair, Anu Naidu de Bolas, gave birth to a beautiful little boy named Jay Michael Bolas on March 28. We are so happy for Anu, her husband Thomas, and their son Kalel. Baby Jay reminds all of us of the promise a new birth brings. One of the children’s books Anu received as a gift for the baby’s bookshelf was On the Day You Were Born by Debra Frasier. It says: “On the day you were born, the Earth turned, the Moon pulled, the Sun flared, and then, with a push, you slipped out of the dark quiet where suddenly you could hear….a circle of people singing with voices familiar and clear. ‘Welcome to the spinning world,’ the people sang, as they washed your new, tiny hands. ‘Welcome to the green earth,’ the people sang, as they wrapped your wet slippery body. And as they held you close they whispered into your open, curving ear, ‘We are so glad you’ve come!’”

All of us in the WCCR extend to Anu and her family our heartfelt congratulations on the birth of her little one. We are so glad he’s come. Baby Jay has inherited dozens of Women’s Club aunties with arms extended to cradle him at any time. And he is a reminder that a child’s life is worth everything. How blessed we are as an organization—to wrap our arms around so many children and young people and make them feel loved and cared for through the programs we sponsor. We want every Costa Rican child and young person whose life we touch to know, “We are so glad you’ve come.”

WCCR Connection May/June 2017 3

personal and societal impact the university-level scholarships provide.

Irán’s father is Guatemalan, pastor of the Church of the Nazarene there; his mother is a Costa Rican housewife who also studies theology and makes cakes on the side. Irán is the youngest of four chil-dren. He is the only member of his family who will earn a university degree. He was a good student, although, as his mother loves to tell him, after four days in kindergarten, when the teacher told him that he was “very precocious,” he was offended. He was never very good at sports, and physical education classes were difficult for him. But at the university, he learned to swim in a required sports course and now also runs and bicycles.

Several factors brought Irán to Costa Rica for uni-versity: First, his Tica mother told him how good

the education is; Second, Guatemala is a danger-ous country, especially Guatemala City, where he would need to study at the University of San Carlos to become a chemical engineer; Third, he did not have the financial resources to study at the University of San Carlos, much less in Costa Rica. The year he graduated from high school, his sister had a son, product of a rape, and Irán decided to dedicate himself that year to his newborn neph-ew. During those days, as he contemplated leaving Guatemala for Costa Rica, he was struck by certain Bible passages, especially Joshua 1.5, where God said to Joshua, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” In his prayers, Irán said to God that if it was His will that Irán go to Costa Rica, and if He would promise to be with Irán, then he knew the neces-sary things would happen. And many things with the gathering of documents he had to have went forward without complications.

Money came from many directions. His brother

A Face of the WCCR Scholarships continued from page 1

Creative aprons, a fascinating program with two talented chefs, and many beautifully decorated cakes all contributed to the festive atmosphere at our Luncheon. Shown here are some apron winners, some cake winners and the pastry chef.

continued on page 7

WCCR Connection May/June 2017 4

Moving from cubism and surrealism to pastels and

sculpture, members of the Vi-sual Arts interest group have had artistic experiences exten-sive enough this year to satisfy the widest variety of tastes in art. And the experiences will continue on June 27 at 11 a.m. with a visit to the neo-classical Teatro Nacional in downtown San José, where an English speaking guide will introduce participants to the theater’s interior artwork, including the famous “Allegory of Coffee and Bananas” by Italian artist Aleardo Villa.

Norma Merrett and Ani-ta Ligator took on the group co-leadership positions this year, hitting the ground run-ning with their ambitious, exciting and popular program.

In January, the group met at the Calderón Guar-dia Museum in San José, a landmark house built in 1912, where they immersed themselves in the art of magical realism, viewing works by such Mexi-can artists as Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo. The temporary exhibit, from the private collection of the bottling company Femsa, featured 70 works representing an historical journey through twenti-eth-century Mexican art. Norma, who has studied art history and is bilingual, translated from Spanish an article by the curator about the exhibition; she donated her translation to the museum coordinator.

In March, the group met at the studio of Jim Theologos. The US-born artist showed them some of his work and gave participants a short lesson in drawing a face, including how to place the nose and other facial features correctly. An ac-complished artist, Mr. Theologos has taught art at his home studio and Universidad Veritas de Costa Rica for 40 years.

April’s outing was to the home and studio of

Professors Mario and Elizabeth Parra of Escazú. Mario Parra has created more than 3,500 sculptures, including the well-known mural in honor of the Boyeros (oxcart drivers) across from San Antonio Church in San Antonio de Escazú. Although he works in chalk, wax, wood and metals, wood is Don Ma-rio’s favorite medium. He has won important prizes through-out Latin America, and his ex-tensive public work is in Costa Rica, Spain and Nicaragua.

Norma and Anita encour-age WCCR members to make suggestions for artists or studios the Visual Arts group might visit in the future. They will then visit the artist to set things up and will lead the visit.

Visits are followed by an optional lunch. The group meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month, except when it has to meet around artist or mu-seum availability, so participants must be flexible. Guides or presenters have all been English speak-ing, and Norma translates any information printed in Spanish. Visits are limited to 20 persons; there is a waiting list once the first 20 have signed up. If you would like to learn more about the Visual Arts interest group, contact Anita at ligator@racsa.co.cr or Norma at nsmerrett@gmail.com.

Visual Arts Group: Living Art History

Diego Rivera’s “El grande de España” (“the Grandee of Spain”) was a centerpiece of the magical realism exhibition the Visual Arts group visited at the Calderón Guardia Muse-um. This 1914 cubist painting of a European knight represents a period of his develop-ment when he was working in Europe.

Treasurer’s ReportApril 27, 2017

Income April 01 to 27, 2017 ______ ₡3,568,739.20 Expenses April 01 to 27, 2017 ____ ₡3,515,732.80 Year to Date Income: (Jan. 1 to Apr 27, 2017) ______ ₡16,492,407.80Year to Date Expenses: (Jan. 1 to Apr, 27, 2017) ______ ₡34,754,222.42 Total Cash and Bank __________ ₡122,245,876.72

($220,262.84)

WCCR Connection May/June 2017 5

Maria Elena Chinchilla has been gardening and

growing flowers organically for the past 37 years and will share them with WCCR mem-bers at our June 8 meeting from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Her farm is on the outskirts of Braulio Carrillo National Park, where the cloud forest atmosphere is quite perfect for growing a wide variety of botanical species. Her flower specialty is the Gloriosa lily, a spectacularly beautiful flow-er, which was the national flower of Rhodesia before that country became Zimba-bwe. The Gloriosa does very well in this climate.

Maria Elena got started with gardening and landscape design in the 80’s and has participated in many projects in the last 36 years, designing for residences, hotels, and developments. She started growing the Gloriosa with a very few bulbs and propagated that small beginning into a plantation so well known for the quality of its flowers that when important personages, such as U.S. Presi-dent Barack Obama and other personalities, have come to Costa Rica, she was asked to provide the flowers. “I am known for providing certain unusu-al foliage and plant species for florists when they have special events,” she said. “Florists discovered I have a design sense and can provide them with specialty flowers…interior design, landscape de-sign and architectural design. They come to me with all kinds of unusual requests.”

This will be a wonderful time of year to visit her garden and Gloriosa plantation.

Gloriosa lilies are seasonal, and they start bloom-ing in May. They die back after the season and come back again in October; because of its privileged cli-mate, Costa Rica has two growing seasons.

Maria Elena is Costa Ri-can and American; she was born in the United States to Costa Rican parents. Her par-ents traveled to many coun-tries when she was growing up. She was in England for a while, a country famous for its gardens. While studying history of art, she “developed a thing for design and aesthet-ics” that became her primary passion; she found she was not quite so interested in oth-er things academic.

She began working with people who came to see her house and asked for help de-

signing their own houses and gardens. So she did a lot of interior design earlier but has enjoyed growing into landscape design and spending most of her time outdoors. “I enjoy the natural world, seeing things grow,” she said. Earlier, she lived in the Concepción de San Isidro area in another property; later she bought her current property in Zurquí, where she started growing flowers com-mercially. “I moved to this mountain when no one was here,” she said. As time went by and her business became developed, with more workers and different plants and flowers, she decided to downsize and focus on the Gloriosa, a selection of plant species that required less care and com-manded higher prices.

Although the Gloriosa is the centerpiece of her production and is “very exciting,” she has a great many other plants and flowers. One of her main interests has been the introduction of native plants into the urban landscape and gardens in Costa Rica. “Native plants were not generally included in the landscape scene here,” she said, “as exot-ic plants originally from tropical climates in Asia

A Garden Tour at the Home of Maria Elena Chinchilla on June 8

continued on page 7

WCCR Connection May/June 2017 6

WCCR Interest GroupsMake Something Beautiful The Book Art group, will be expand-ing its projects, beginning in May 2017, to include other crafts. In addi-

tion to creating unusual journals and three-dimen-sional books, the group will explore paper mache, off-loom weaving, and other easy-to-master activ-ities. If you have a favorite craft you would like to share, the group welcomes volunteer facilitators. Meetings will be held at Gretchen’s studio near Alajuela, accomodating 10 participants. The group will meet bimonthly. Dates will be announced soon. You can contact leader Gretchen Treuting at BooksAsArt.CR@gmail.com if interested.

Cinema Fans meets on the third Tuesday of the month from 12:30 to 3:30. Contact leader Bonnie Murry at bpmurry@gmail.com for more information.

West Side Stories Book Club In general, our group meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 9:30 am. For more information, con-

tact Michèle Tuinstra-Gómez at 8825-5591 or email her at tuinstra@racsa.co.cr.)

The Visual Arts Group is led by Anita Ligator (2228-1449/8918-6869 or ligator@racsa.co.cr) and Norma Merrett (2588-0135/8395-3691).

Out-ings will be either the third or fourth Tuesday of the month, depending on the exhibit and the artist. Flexibility is important.

Creative Cooking meets at 9:30 a.m. on the first Wednesday of the month. Leaders: Cyndy Vorih and Grace Woodman. Call Grace at

2249-1208 or Cyndy at 2282-9532.

Franco Folles meet at a restau-rant to practice French, usually in the Sabana area, Escazú, or Santa Ana on the last Wednesday of the

month. For more information, contact Ileana Bor-bón for details at 2231-7847, or 8371-6038, or ileanaborbonmora@yahoo.com.

Paraíso Book Club meets in Cari-ari on the first Friday of the month from 9:45 to noon in Belén. For more info, contact leader Michale Gabriel

at 6099-9229 or michalegabriel@me.com.

May 10 WCCR Event: The Art of Tai ChiVictor On, our guide for tai chi, is planning a

demonstration of this internal martial art for the May 10 meeting. Victor’s formal education is in engineering, and his employment history has been in the corporate world. But he has also been a member of the Ying Jow Pai International Kung Fu since 1973 and has trained in the martial arts since the age of eight. He practices karate, Taekwondo, Jiu Jitsu, Aikido and various styles of traditional Chinese martial arts; he is nephew and disciple of Shum Leung, the famous grand master of Ying Jow Pai and Wu Tai Chi.

Victor will present and demonstrate interac-tively and completely without props. By the end of the demonstration, WCCR members will under-

stand what tai chi is, what its considerable health benefits are and how to do it correctly. He has a great deal of teaching experience, having taught the martial arts since 1981. He has trained and ad-vised members of the police force in the states of New York and Connecticut in the United States as well as members of other security organizations, agencies and entities, public and private, around the world. He is currently advisor and associate instructor for the Escuela Nacional de Policía in Costa Rica; founder, director and teacher in the Instituto internacional ON de Artes Marciales Tradicionales Chinas; and member of no fewer than ten organizations and committees represent-ing the various martial arts.

Interested in starting your own group? Contact Anu Jaya with your ideas at anu.jaya.naidu@gmail.com.

WCCR Connection May/June 2017 7

Scholarshipcontinued from page 3

Erick received, from some tele-phone providers, a gift of phones that were going out to market; Er-ick gave them to Irán to sell and keep part of the money, which is how he earned enough for the trip to Costa Rica and a bit more. For two years, he lived in Costa Rica with an uncle, who worked in the Registro Nacional and was able to help Irán get his Costa Rican cedula in four months. Because of his in-adequate Guatemalan education, Irán did not score high enough on the University of Costa Rica en-trance exam to be accepted the first time, but the Methodist Church of the Redeemer helped him out financially, and for six months, he worked at the Taller Villanea in San Sebastián. He was accepted into UCR the second time he applied, not for chemical engineering, but for mathematics. After one year, he reapplied for chemical engi-neering and was accepted. At this point, because of the inflexibility of work hours at the Taller Villanea and of classes at the university, he had to stop working. Although he received a good scholarship from the university, it was not enough to maintain a person. So he started a

cake business. He learned how to make a carrot cake and gave one to the pastor of the church; the pas-tor’s wife suggested he make the cakes to sell in the church, which he did every 15 days. His mother came to teach him to make other kinds of cakes. When the two years he had arranged to live in his un-cle’s house were up, the pastor and some of his church members found lodging for him. He struggled con-tinually, but after the first year in this lodging, he learned about the WCCR scholarship program.“This has been a great blessing and help to me in going forward; I am so very grateful,” he said.

He loves chemical engineering. “I have always liked to experiment, to design, and physical and chem-

ical phenomena, and this career includes all of that.” He especially likes the challenges and problems to solve and the opportunity he has to do research. He has always wanted to have a business, and he believes that in this career, that day will come. Outside of his studies, he has had the opportunity to assist in a waste management laborato-ry and a hydrocarbons laboratory, which he likes because he learned things that one doesn’t learn in class, and it introduced him to the work environment.

Although opportunities for jobs these days are limited, for the short term after graduation he will open a cake business, hoping he will get work soon. In a way, he says, he would like to work in a number of areas, perhaps with more than one business, taking advantage of his high school background in pre-cision engineering and welding, his university studies in chemistry, and his pastry-making experience. And he wants to continue his studies in chemistry and engineering—and he will stay in Costa Rica.

To learn more about how to get involved with or contribute to our scholarship program, please contact board member and schol-arship chair Elena Austermühle at eaustermuhle@gmail.com.

and Hawaii were mostly favored. Native species were exported to places like Florida and California, and they would come back from there to Costa Rica.” She loves na-tive plants because, apart from pro-viding inherent beauty, they offer long-lasting reciprocity with other species such as birds, butterflies and

bees. She has introduced import-ant native plants to Costa Rica by means of her garden design. Even in San José, there are native plants and trees now. “Before, for example, the Parque Sabana had eucalyptus and other exotic trees,”she said. “Now it has Costa Rican native trees.”

If Maria Elena had all the time and energy in the world, she might like to start a botanical garden in Costa Rica. She has, in fact, been

approached three times by differ-ent governments to do so. For right now, she enjoys her job and gar-den immensely. “It’s inspirational,” she said. “It will always be. Not just mine, but any garden that of-fers the possibility of providing a serene, magical space where we connect with our true nature. Gar-dens provide surprise and wonder ... Birds and other creatures appear with seasons.”

Garden Tourcontinued from page 5