Dispatches from Costa Rica

For the first episode of Dispatches, we meet the Vida team and we gaze out a window. The website is now live! Check out vidamagazineua.com for more pictures and stories.

The team travels out of San José and into La Fortuna. Spoiler alert: Sloths

In 1948 four young men were arrested in Fairhope, Alabama, for refusing to register for the draft. They were quakers and believed in pacifism. At the trial the judge said, 'like it or leave it.' So they did. They left in search of a more peaceful place, and they ended up in the green mountains of Costa Rica. This is a story of whether the grass is really greener on the other side.

A brief rundown of the first day in country. Alexander sits down with writer Reid Bolling and photographer Sam MacDonald for a conversation about covering their first story on what environmentalists are doing to teach carbon off-setting to farmers.

The food and drink scene of Costa Rica may often be described as behind the times. Alexander and Vida Writer Mary Clay Kline travel along with Chef Federico Lizano and Liz Furlong of Maza Bistro and Bebedero to San José's markets in the morning and meet for a stiff drink at night.

The Vida Team gets underway.