history – Fake Flamenco

history, Mexico, photography, Spanish Culture and Language, travel

Florida Fishing Jaunt Goes South

Very excited to tell you about the book Gauntlet in the Gulf, published this month by editor Claude Clayton Smith. The story is based on the 20th century travel diary that a doctor named William Lorenz kept about a shipwreck in a storm and his subsequent time in prison abroad. The supporting material contains translations […]

bilingual, En español, history, writing

March 2023 Poetry Challenge

In honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, let’s write a poem about a woman we admire. (Thanks to Devang for suggesting this theme!) She can be a heroine from daily life; mother, spouse, friend or family. She can be someone whose work we’ve admired from afar. You can choose someone who’s passed […]

archeology, Architecture, history, Indigenous Peoples, photography

Throwback Thursday: Tik’al in Guatemala

My friend and I woke at four am to see sunrise over Tik’al. Once inside the park walking the jungle path, a roar worthy of a jaguar froze us in our tracks and we started in fear. “Es un jaguar?” I squeaked at the guide.He chuckled. “No, sólo son monos.”Teresa and I confirmed in a […]

Architecture, Art, history, photography

Whatsoever is Lovely: Sculpture

Great outing at the Madison Chazen Museum today. We viewed sculpture from the second century to the twenty-first century. The second century pieces were of the Buddha. The modern sculptures ranged from a jackrabbit to an abstract geometric metal Calder piece. I’ll share here three contemporary art pieces I liked; made of metal, wood and […]

archeology, history, Indigenous Peoples, photography

Throwback Thursday: Flying to the Maya World

I had flown on a plane this size only once before, and it was disastrous for my father’s plaid shirt which he offered as I got sick. This plane to Tik’al in Guatemala could carry six passengers, light luggage and a pilot. I took a deep breath. Air travel was a big part of the […]

bilingual, food, history, Indigenous Peoples, Mexico, Spanish, Spanish Culture and Language

Nahuatl: You Know More than You Realize

The language of the indigenous people that Spaniards met for the first time in the grand city of Tenotichlan may seem very remote from your experience. I think you’ll be surprised how many words, especially food vocabulary you already know. Many of the world’s favorite foods come from Mixteca (Aztec) culture, see the chart below. […]