Going ape over cell phones    Welcome to Providencia de Dota, Costa Rica. Population: Around 300. Where I have recently landed is about as rural as it gets. Accessible only via 4-wheel drive over steep dirt roads, this hamlet sits in the middle of a river valley about two hours southeast of San Jose, the [...]

We’re hittin it, baby.   THE MORAL OF THIS MOVE is that everyone harbors some fear of other countries. “Whoa, you don’t want to go to Central America,” said my pal Alex, a shopkeeper in Zamora. “There’s so much poverty there.” What do you think they say about Mexico? I thought. My fruit vendor warned [...]

It’s for you. JUST ABOUT EVERY DAY, someone will knock on the door of Judith Rios Duarte’s house in Northwest Zamora and ask to use the phone. But upon entering the house, they don’t use the normal phone. Instead, they use a pay phone. Why is a pay phone in somebody’s house, complete with an [...]