Hanukkah in Latin America looks a bit different. Costa Rican and Central American cuisine in general is arguably a bit bland, but these Jewish foods, which incorporate ingredients found in this part of the world such as guava paste, dulce de leche, sofrito and yucca, are sure to give local fare a bit more flavor.

A couple of months ago we included a news article in Links We Like that reported Costa Rica would be the first country in Latin America to ban recreational hunting. Two months later, the new law has been placed into effect. This particular article sheds light on the recreation hunting tours that bring foreigners to Costa Rica in order to kill “exotic felines [or] to obtain rare and colorful parrots as pets.” Now neither of these things will be possible and instead those who violate the law will face time in prison or a hefty fine.

Although Costa Rica is a country known for its ecotourism and biodiversity of both plant and animal life, the nation is apparently lagging on their recycling policies. In light of infrastructure that does not support proper waste management, a group from New York Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture and Design began a project in Nosara (in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica) which promotes recycling and community education. Students from NYIT continue to support this effort and want to return to Costa Rica in order to maintain the project.