While organizing my new apartment in Chicago, I stumbled across a cute (and very seldom-used) journal I had purchased in Colombia in an attempt to write daily. I then wrote…
Cultivating Colombian Coffee
When I tell people that I just moved back from Colombia, there are a few questions thrown at me in any order: Was it safe? Are you crazy? Are there…
Tejo: Finding My Inner Frat Boy
If you like playing bags (or cornhole, corntoss, whatever) or horseshoes AND harmless explosives, go to Colombia and locate a “Tejo” court. I am 100% positive you will be pleasantly…
Following Márquez in cartagena
Dostoevsky had Moscow, Dickens had London, and Neruda had Valparaiso. Many writers have painted beautiful (or beautifully depressing) snapshots of cities, making us feel like we’ve visited and walked the…
Colombian Grocery Stores: Samples Galore!
My balcony overlooks the beautiful parking lot of Éxito, Colombia’s Walmart. It isn’t the best view of Medellín, but needless to say, I’m an Éxito regular. I go six times a…
Pride and Pageantry, Colombia
Miss Sea Party, Miss Panela (Sugarcane), Miss Fish Season, Miss Potato, Miss Coffee Farmer, Miss Good Shepherd… these are just a few beauty pageants you could attend if visiting Colombia….
The Best Place in the World for Christmas?
All of the guidebooks are right. Medellín, Colombia is hands-down one of the best places in the world to celebrate Christmas. Christmas in another country can spark a bit of…
The Love-Hate Relationship
My relationship in Colombia makes me crazy. One day I love it, one day I hate it. At times I’m so in love I’m beaming and the next hour I…
Finding a Job in South America
I wish I had useful tips on how to find a job in South America, like websites to use, a phone number to attempt to call, or strange buildings to…
Psychology of Travel, Part 1
“Why do you travel?” It is a simple question but something I have been thinking about a lot while in Colombia, probably because every single person I meet asks “Why…
In Defense of Mornings
At 2:00 AM, my new Argentinian friends simply will not let me go to bed. After a few hours drinking in the park, my time was up. No, I am…
Yoga en Español
Travel is usually a series of unsettling movement- turbulent planes, tumultuous taxis, and hauling your luggage between cities and foreign living spaces. How can a traveller remain balanced in a…