A Smile Says It ALL - Our Life in Costa Rica Yr #2

For those of you who may not be familiar --
In 2010 I had my African Ancestry DNA traced back to a tiny little country in West Africa, called Guinea Bissau (the 4th poorest country in the world). In 2012 I made a visit to to my ancestral homeland. While I was there, I had the pleasure of meeting a very talented young artist named Du Pintor (translated "the painter"). Du does not have access to resources or the funds to buy traditional art supplies and/or paints -- so he paints on a gauze-like material using house paint.

He painted several beautiful paintings of his life in Guinea Bissau for me and I had several of them custom framed.

In my move to Costa Rica I was not able to bring the ones I had framed but instead wanted to pass them along to my good friend Shelly (who helped me with my project in Guinea Bissau called "It Takes a Village"). She also has a daughter, Nia, who was born in Guinea Bissau (I call Nia my niece). At any rate, we were so busy when we were back in the states that I was not able to deliver the paintings to them in person as planned, before we had to return to Costa Rica.

Have no fear!
Our dear friends Gerald & Tamara from Northern California (who we met here in Grecia last year -- and who are seriously considering relocating here in the near future) stopped by to visit with us while we were deep in packing. Turns out they live very close to Shelly and volunteered to deliver the paintings to the family for me.

Yesterday I received a couple of photos of Gerald, Tamara and Shelly & Matt's 4 children as they visited together and they did the "painting exchange". Du's paintings will have a good home here!

I also sent along a doll for Nia. Well, her smile says it all!!

💞

Thank you guys for being such good friends! 

I hope the Earnshaw family will enjoy the paintings as much as I have.

~~~~~~~~~~

BTW

If anyone is interested in tracing their African Ancestry check them out

There is life outside of the U.S.

At 50 years old, Imahkus Okofu left New York City for Ghana, West Africa, and never returned. 

"I didn't want to be no African," Okufu says.

"The pictures that the media painted of Africa, the only Africa I saw was Tarzan and Jane... Would you want to come to Africa? I didn't want to come to Africa at all, because there was nothing good that was told to us about Africa."

"I don't hate America. I don't like America," the expat says. "I love Africa."

read the rest of the story below

Why This Black American Moved To Africa At 50 And Never Looked Back

click here to view on YouTube

A trip to Africa will change you, that's for sure!
I did not visit Ghana but here are some photos from my trip to Gorée Island, Senegal West Africa

(The House of Slaves (Maison des Esclaves) and its Door of No Return is a museum and memorial to the Atlantic slave trade on Gorée Island)

 Door of No Return pictured below

She's right, the scent and the presence of those who suffered there, still remains

Secrets and the Seaside Fanatasies of Costa Rica - The truth about Sex Tourism - Black in Costa Rica

Remember the movie "How Stella got her groove back?"

As we were researching Costa Rica's Caribbean coast we read an article which stated "the Johns go to Jaco and the Janes go to Puerto Viejo"

Every year over 80,000 middle-aged women flock to Jamaica in search of the "big bamboo." They are not necessarily into long-term relationships, but many return regularly to their island boy who sport Rastafarian-style dreadlocks, bringing money and gifts like jewelry and designer sneakers, a practice called "rent a rasta."

Is it true? Well I don't know, it all remains to be seen. It will probably not effect me either way since I am a black woman, but I found the subject interesting and wanted to share some information.

This was all rather new to me as we recently stumbled upon a controversial video about the Rastas in Jamaica.  The information in the video lends some support to the possiblility of this statement being true and also gave us some explanation as to why it might be so. (BTW- the black people who live on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast are Jamaican descendants) 

This serious video is very interesting and enlightening and discusses the influence the slave trade has on sex tourism If you have an interest (or maybe just curious) here is the full documentary

Watch this controversial Jamaica documentary 

co-produced by cinepobre.com / 4th edition

  RENT A RASTA from cinepobre.com on Vimeo.

When white women flock to Jamaica for a little fun in the sun, the R&R they're often looking for is not "Rest and Relaxation" but to "Rent a Rasta" according to director J. Michael Seyfert. His eye-opening expose' of the same name sheds light on a barely acknowledged form of sex tourism, namely, white women who visit the Caribbean Islands to get their groove back with the help of black locals. This documentary claims that, each year, as many as 80,000 females from a variety of relatively-wealthy Western nations descend on Jamaica alone.

This one is in Africa

similiar scenario

Check out The Lazy Mon Puerto Viejo Costa Rica- Black in Costa Rica

I can't wait to check out The Lazy Mon when we get to Puerto Viejo

Connecting the dots - The African Diaspora and Black Costa Ricans

I read an excellent article on the Q Costa Rica website. If you want to connect the dots regarding the African Diaspora in Costa Rica you will definitely want to read this article.

The Awakening of Black Costa Rica: Beyond the Rhetoric

Most of the Blacks in the nation have English surnames and are bilingual (perfect Spanish and English). Culturally, their Jamaican roots trump any other culture to which they had to adapt. Also, many of the Black entrepreneurs now living in Costa Rica have spent a considerable amount of time living throughout America for educational and career purposes. They now want to bring their skills and talents back home to Costa Rica.

Read the rest of the article