Fall, I hear, is fast approaching. I can envision the first few maple trees combusting along the bluffs that line Wisconsin’s stretch of the Mississippi where I grew up, briskness…
How to Live Life [Abroad]: A Review of Karen McCann’s “Dancing in the Fountain: How to Enjoy Living Abroad”
When Karen McCann undertakes uprooting herself from the U.S. with her husband, she does it with a joyful bent. In her work, Dancing in the Fountain: How to Enjoy Living…
Love in the Time of Coastal Living
It’s 9:00pm on a Friday night. Relaxing after a long week of teaching English in Barranquilla, Colombia, I wander out of my bedroom to see what my host family is…
Villa de Leyva: Charm, Nature, and Long-Sleeves, Oh My!
The temperature was dropping. Huddled in our windbreakers and jeans, my friend and I couldn’t stop smiling. We left our boiling, garrulous city of Barranquilla, Colombia for a week of…
How to Ride a Bus, Barranquilla-Style
Riding a city bus in Barranquilla, Colombia is not quite the same as in the States. In fact, you could say the differences between the two could bowl you over…literally….
Taking the Risk of Wanting to Stay
In Colombia, a popular saying goes— “The only risk in visiting Colombia is wanting to stay!” Supposedly this saying originates just miles from my Barranquillan home, from the colonial city…
Being “American”: A Hard Habit to Break
I was warned about many things prior to coming to Barranquilla, Colombia with the Peace Corps six months ago: Your life will be a fishbowl—everyone will know exactly what you…
Barranquilla’s Carnaval: To live it is to enjoy it!
From the moment I arrived in Barranquilla, Colombia this past October, up until Ash Wednesday, Carnaval was the word on every person’s lips. As a new member of the United…