Memoir – Fake Flamenco

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 […]

bilingual, En español, Living Abroad, Spanish Culture and Language, travel

Well Known by the Freight Office?

Part III of Rebecca’s Spain Stories When I awoke early the next morning, my first thought was of the freight office, not of Gaudí architecture or sightseeing. I bounded downstairs to ask the receptionist to dial the number. No answer. An hour later, at eight, a gruff man answered. I stuttered reading my claim number […]

bilingual, En español, Spanish Culture and Language

Got Your Toothbrush, Señorita?

Second installment of Rebecca’s Spain Stories. The black-beret-wearing cabby drove us to four pensiones before we found one with a vacancy and settled in. Next, I went to the bar next door to buy water. The bartender wasn’t impressed when I asked for agua sin gas. He dried a glass and said a sentence similar […]

bilingual, Catalunya, En español, Humor, Spanish Culture and Language

2 20-Somethings in Barcelona

Walking the grassy cart track to change trains between France and Spain, I saw a woman my age. We neared a whitewashed sentinel hut; border control. Two soldiers stood outside and a wooden barrier arm blocked our way. The passengers made a queue as the uniformed men checked and stamped passports. We stood 50 meters […]

bilingual, Chile, En español, Nature, travel

Chile: Southern Cross for the 1st Time

Musicians Crosby, Stills and Nash planted a seed in my mind with their song, “Southern Cross”. When would I see that famous constellation? Where would I be? Evan and I arrived in Santiago, Chile in August of 2001. As we entered into our first summer in the southern hemisphere, smog and light pollution kept us […]

Nature, photography

Cattail Fluff: All Time Favorite Seeds

As a kid, I loved autumn’s fun forms of seed dispersal; pine cones, maple seeds, acorns. We’d play games, throwing winged seeds into the air and watching them fall. I remember a hike at a marsh was the most fun of all. There, nature beckons a child; “help me sow these seeds,” says the cattail. […]