I’m still not sure I believe it, but I’m done. I’m hopping on a plane tomorrow morning and heading back home to Raleigh, NC, by way of Miami. The week has been a blur of despedidas – goodbyes – to the many people who made my time in Venezuela memorable. I’ve had a lot of variation[...]
Posts Tagged ‘Culture’
Machismo Madness: Tssssst! Mami! – Catcalls in Caracas
For the month of July, La Vida Idealist has asked bloggers to write about their experiences with machismo. This is the fourth post in that series. My previous experiences in Latin America were confined to rural communities in the more conservative, Catholic countries of Central America. There were[...]
Developing in Many Directions
Of course, it is only common sense that in the developing nations of the world, progress has been made in different areas at different speeds. Certainly in terms of convenience, Panama, my new country, has been a lot easier than Patagonia. Most essential items are available in Santiago, my new home,[...]
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[...]
Ecuador Interest
Just as our guests were leaving an informal welcome dinner hosted for some of the new teachers at our school, the power went out. On our street, about 15 meters from the front door of our apartment, a car apparently took the corner a bit too fast and collided with one of the cement poles [...][...]
Freeride Peru
Peru in the rainy, supposedly “low” season is a treat. Leaving Cusco two years ago after my first visit, I promised myself I would return, and this February I did. I found a blossoming community of riders in the navel of the universe, as the Incas wisely named it. Tourists filled [...]
Have a Happy (anti) Halloween
I didn’t like Halloween when I was a kid. I was too self-conscious for the school parade part, and too shy for the knocking on strangers’ doors part. It was a relief to move to Chile in 2003 and more or less ignore the day. Many people didn’t like the concept of Halloween because[...]




