One of the many advantages of being a journalist is that you can take your workplace anywhere. You do not need a forge or kiln, a frame stretched with canvas, or cans of spray paint and a vacant wall. All you need is a laptop to capture what you are writing and a...
By Jeremiah Reardon My wife Belinda and I watched the New Year fireworks set off in Cuenca, shifting from our apartment’s kitchen terrace to the living room window. Like other recent city events since the pandemic lockdown in March, the fireworks felt diminished. The...
Health officials in the U.S., Great Britain and the European Union say they are amazed at the quick decline in Covid-19 cases and deaths in nursing homes following the rollout of vaccines. “This is stunning,” said Dr. Gil Morris, medical director at the Ashland...
-- Sponsored post -- “Did you turn off the iron? Did you lock the house? Where did you leave your laptop? Did you just feel that tremor? How does the fridge break down just after the warranty? What will it cost to get a hip replacement without insurance?” You’ve...
Several years ago, Edie and I decided to take our cameras and their support equipment on a different type of shoot. We had never done any planned bird photography and decided to try our hands at it. However, we had both been able to make some very good bird...
A common complaint of many Cuenca expats is the city’s lack of high quality adult assisted living options. Typical of the frustration was a recent Facebook post by Martha Simmons. “My husband and I have visited several adult care homes in Cuenca and found them...
Literature has always been illuminated by constellations of memorable characters. One of my favorite stars is Dean Moriarty, the brilliant, adventurous and a little bit crazed protagonist in Jack Kerouac’s, “On the Road.” Fortunately for us, Mr. Moriarty’s star shined...
--Sponsored post-- By Erin Colton-Enberg Wherever you are in the world, creating a nonprofit organization (let alone in your first language) can be a big undertaking. Colombia, like many countries in Latin America, draws the attention of those looking to work in the...
My old apartment, a ground floor studio, was carved from a centuries old patrimonial house. It looks out on a glass covered courtyard sheltering ancient auburn floor tiles. The walls are stark white, highlighting the raw-wood lattice of windows that defines each unit....
By David Leonhardt In a public health emergency, absolutism is a very tempting response: People should cease all behavior that creates additional risk. That instinct led to calls for gay men to stop having sex during the AIDS crisis. It has also spurred campaigns for...
Few people get to see the things I have seen. Fewer still record their visions. Even fewer write of them. When there is a chance to show the world we live in but rarely see, it’s good to share it. I’m fairly well traveled even though I wouldn’t say I had “seen the...
By Paul Theroux Confined and isolated in lockdown it is easy to regard yourself as superfluous and beneath notice, a target of infection, stranded at home. A line by the 11th Century Persian poet Firdausi about feeling small and beleaguered comes to mind, “I am but as...
Dear Paulee, When I woke up this morning the sky was nearly clear. I thought the flotilla of clouds sailing far down the valley would find moorage on the coast, but they tacked upwind instead, gathering strength in numbers until they became a single vast grey ship...
--Sponsored post-- By Marjorie Jean Vera Five days earlier, I arrived back to NY from Barcelona. On my way back, I had made a vow in my travel journal and messily scribbled, "If I lose my job..." It’s June 13, 2014 and the World Cup games are about to resume. I had...
Geo arrived at the bus station at 5 a.m. His entire family joined him, but only that far. He alone held a ticket that would allow travel to the border – and the beginning of a journey that would take him far from his ancestral home, and onto the pathway of his...
Back when Edie and I lived in the United States, we often went on rides at the end of the day. Our Tundra, Big Red, carried us out of the city and into pine forests and hardwood bottoms. There, the smells and sounds of ancient bayous assuaged the senses in a way that...
--Sponsored post-- By LP Wirth They refer to Panama as the "Jewel of Central America". It's true for Panama City, a popular expat choice. Panama is a developing country. Some areas are the envy of Central America, such as Panama City. Others lag and are underdeveloped...
By Dave Barry I'm getting old. It feels like half the mail I get these days is urging me to pre-arrange my funeral. I used to get interesting, even exciting, mail. Granted, a lot of it was from Ed McMahon, telling me I might already have won $17 million. He was lying,...
Art, craft, and music are basic human functions. They also cannot function without one another and we cannot function without the shared participation and collaboration they provide. The recent discovery of ochre paintings, some 12,500 years old and spanning nearly...
By Liam Higgins Ecuadorians living on the country's north coast were reminded once again last week that they live in the seismically active zone known as the "ring of fire" that encircles the Pacific Ocean. Over an eight-day period, more than 100 earthquakes were...
