J ovanka Tešanović attended her first skating lesson in Belgrade’s Pionir Hall at the age of 15. She proved to be a talented and very quickly found herself among a group of 16 girls competing in synchronised figure skating. She ended her career at the 2008 Senior World Championships in Budapest, never dreaming that she would return to the ice just three years later, this time in Turrialba in Costa Rica. - I was sceptical that I would find high quality conditions for that kind of a job in a country with a tropical climate, but there was ice and it was like the real thing - says Jovanka (31) for Elevate.
altercations between big red parrots, while in rural areas it is not uncommon for jaguars to wander around farms. On the beaches of Tortuguero and Ostional large sea turtles lay their eggs in the sand - says Jovanka. In Costa Rica a 13th monthly salary in- stalment is required by law, the mother is the head of the family and makes all the decisions in the household, while the fa- ther earns money. The state has no army, but Costa Rica is the safest and most pros- perous of the countries of Central America. For Jovanka’s adventurous nature, this still wasn’t enough for her to settle down in Costa Rica. Today she is in Mexico, where she dreams of her little treehouse. LAND OF BEACHES, VOLCANOES AND WIND Costa Rica is associated with beach, sea and sun, and is primarily a mountaino- us country. The highest peak is Cerro Chi- rripó (3,800m). There the temperature re- mains around zero, but it never snows. The country has a lot of rain, as well as cold and windy areas, while not a drop of rain falls in the Guanacaste region. It has seven active volcanoes, the most active of which is Turrialba. In Guanacaste the average temperature is about 25 degrees Celsius, while in San Jose it is 20˚.
She soon relocated to Heredia, on the outskirts of the Costa Rican capital of San Jose, and there, in an ice rink that had ex- isted for 40 years, gave lessons in recrea- tional and sport skating for skaters aged from five to 50. - My oldest student was a mother of seven children, and three of her children were also my students. It was interesting for them to have a coach from some distant land whose name they couldn’t even pro- nounce. And my name was hard for them to pronounce, so they called me Profe and Ti (from“professor”in English and - teacher). For Jovanka, Costa Rica is one of the world’s most beautiful countries. The warm ocean provides a pleasant climate, while there’s a rich offering for adrenaline junk- ies – from rafting, hiking, trekking and surf- ing, to kitesurfing. And if you’re not into that, you can tour the volcanoes, bathe un- der warm waterfalls or take an excursion to the mountains or the river. - In Heredia the closest beach to me was about a 90-minute drive away on the Pacific coast. To reach the Caribbean beach you have to drive for about three hours, and along the coast there are many beautiful small towns... In the zoos all the native spe- cies have been freed, while in the Manuel Antonio National Park you will come face to face with monkeys, raccoons, sloths... In the town of Esterillos Oeste you will witness
Ljudi i životinje ovde žive u miru i harmoniji People and animals live here in peace and harmony
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