This is Not a Pig

San José, Costa Rica.

Costa Rica Marathon

Byron Lopez, 30, finishes the wheelchair marathon with a final lap around La Sabana Park.

Corren, corren!

The finish line.

Olympic silver medalist Catherine Ndereba, of Kenya, with her daughter, Jane, 11, left. Ndereba competed in the half marathon and took first place!

Below, 1st and 2nd place winners in the wheelchair marathon went to Lauren Molina, right, and Byron Lopez, left. Molina is Tico and Lopez came all the way from Ecuador to participate. With the hilly route and the last leg of the race in the grass, Lopez said, "this is one of the hardest races I've ever done."

Children's Museum Lights up for the Holidays

The Children Museum's 9th year Christmas lighting ceremony. The complimentary event warmed up the crowd with 35 kids singing classic Christmas carols, actors and dancers performing the play Navidad a la Tica, and Latin American Idol's 2nd runner up, María José Castillo, who sang Gloria Estefan's Más Alla, and her very own single Abre Su Corozón. The culmination of the night was when the museum, a former prison, lit up with 8,000 white Christmas lights accompanied by a grand finale of fireworks.

60 Years Without a Military

Former Costa Rican first lady Karen Olsen de Figueres looks up at a statue of her husband, the late President José "Pepe" Figueres, at the 60th anniversary celebration of Figueres' abolition of the military.

Ex-combatants celebrate at the National Museum.

San José Oxcart Parade

The winning pair of oxen carry Saint Joseph and a Christ figure as they lead the 12th annual Saints and Oxcarts Parade through San José down Paseo Colón. Over 300 boyeros, or oxcart drivers, participated in the caravan, despite the rains and cold weather that kept crowd numbers down. Farmers came from all over the country the night before the parade, setting up tents in La Sabana Park and resting up before the big day. Even with the nasty weather, everyone was in good spirits, which made juggling an umbrella in one hand and a camera in the other totally worth it.

Not One More: Stop the Violence March

Governmental figures, university students, and human rights groups held a peaceful march down Avenida Central today for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. They marched from Central Park to the Legislative Assembly where they declared impunity against 4 of the 7 judges of the Judicial branch responsible for recently revoking two articles in the law for violence against women -- physical abuse and emotional violence. These women from CEFEMINA, the Feminist Center for Information and Action, an NGO that fights to improve the quality of life and equality for women, hold signs with the names of women who have died as victims of violence.

"For a life with dignity and free of abuse for all women."

Message to the press.

Marchers posted about 30 names, of women who died from violence, in front of the Judicial branch building with the photos of the 4 judges who voted against the law that would have protected them.

Amigos de los Aves Bird Sanctuary

Casa de loros.

Military Macaws -- qué brillante!

Carol Stanley, 63, and her father, Richard James Frisius, 89, feeding peanuts to a Hyacinth Macaw in the living room of Frisius' home in Alejuela. The walls are decorated with art and souvenirs Richard and his late wife, Margot Annelore Frisius, collected from the different places they've lived over the years.

Frisius along with a small staff of volunteers and caretakers look after over 300 birds at Amigos de los Aves bird sanctuary in Frisius' home. Some birds roam freely, jumping from cage to cage to branch to person. To the right, Frisius shares a photo album of the life cycle macaws go through from incubation to birth to developing into adults. Some birds have been handreared with the help of Richard and his staff, while others are born and raised naturally by the birds themselves.

Social Outreach in Shantytown La Carpio

La Carpio, a shantytown in western San José where these kids live, is one of the city's poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods. The Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, however, has been bringing relief to the community for over 11 years. It operates two education centers, including this one, and a health clinic. Handfuls of volunteers from the US, Europe, and Canada visit every year to implement social outreach projects.

*Click on the image to see the complete photo essay on The Tico Times website.