I’m off to Lima tonight, but before I bid farewell to Ayacucho, I thought it was time to share a little bit more about the marvellous school I’ve been working with in the city – a branch of San Domingo Savio School, run by British teacher Sue Allsworth. Sue and I spoke about the school at m[...]
Archive for April, 2011
April 29th, 2011 - 8:35 am § in Mexico
Three weeks in…
It’s hard to believe that I’ve only been away for just over three weeks. It’s been such a high energy run of vibrant sites, lost in the middle of nowhere bus journeys, annoying travelers, dodgy food and escapism all mixed together with a healthy dose of ‘oh yes, this is what traveling is lik[...]
Crossing Cultures: Madam Tooth Fairy, meet Sr. Ratón Pérez
While I enjoy teaching here in Caracas, my favorite part of my grant work is serving as an unofficial ambassador of United States culture for my English-language institution, the Venezuelan-American Center. Among other presentations and projects, I work with teenage students studying at the Cente[...]
Holy Week in Ayacucho
It’s Good Friday, and on the streets of Ayacucho, the final preparations are being made for the Easter Weekend. For more than a week now, this quiet Andean city has been abuzz with a spirit of fiesta. In a town where everyone knows everyone else’s business, suddenly there are strange faces on th[...]
Modern Muse
Recently I have been torn between writing about my current city, Guayaquil, or returning to my favorite Inca town in Peru, Ollantaytambo. This week I decided to return in my writing to the Sacred Valley in Peru, in order introduce my source of renewed inspiration in my teaching craft. This inspirati[...]
Why Simón, what large sideburns you have!
Before I start, I must beg ignorance; I’ve never considered myself a Latin American history buff by any means. My knowledge of the region is mostly limited to post-1900 imperialist meddling in Central America by an overzealous United States, and the ensuing fallout that lasted well into the [...]
My First Day
I am trying to install Windows 2003 when my computer shuts down for third time because I’ve slightly nudged the power cord. My self-doubt surrounds me. It’s my first day of volunteering, my supervisor is nowhere to be seen (I guess that’s what they meant by being ‘able to work independentlyâ[...]
Beyond the Guidebook
If you’re looking to study abroad in South America (or anywhere!) one of the most useful ways to pick a program is talk to other students who’ve just returned. You’re more likely to get the truth than from some university spokesperson. And while there are lots of important questions to ask[...]
Back in the Land of the Incas!
Hi, I’m Fran Talavera, one of the new bloggers for La Vida Idealist. I first came to Latin America in 2002 when I spent three months in Costa Rica and Panama and from then on was hooked! Most of my time since then (when not in the UK) has been spent in South America. I spent [...][...]
