Panama

What a beautiful country!  I got the opportunity to spend a little over a month there.  Most of the time, I was in Soloy, an area of the country located in Panama's Chiriqui province.  In comparison to Panama City, the population of Soloy is heavily indigenous.  Whilst Panama City seemingly has made the leap into the modern age, Soloy still lags behind with its lack of electricity and indoor plumbing.  Still, it has its charm, namely the land and the people. 

Good tidings in 2015

Happy New Year!

Expect good things.

Happy New Year!

I hope 2014 brings many great tidings.

Guess where answered.

It was Nicaragua.  Some of the pictures are of Corn Island, others of Granada.  Nicaragua is really beautiful.  I didn't know that before I went.

Guess where

Pictures taken by Clare Alys

Happy New Year's Day!

Newtown, CT

I can't imagine the sheer terror that those little kids must have felt during their last few moments on earth.  Poor souls.  I hope that in time, all those affected will be able to get past this nightmare.

Thanks, Mr. Jobs

I am 20 something and my life has no direction

The knowledge of this didn't hit me like a freight train, but rather it hit me like the way termites eat out a log--slowly, deliberately, almost imperceptibly. A few months ago, I read an article in the New York Times about an alleged new phase to development unique to Western 20 somethings aptly named emerging adulthood. Essentially, a psychologist from Clark University determined that many 20 somethings had not passed through the rites of passage (buying a house, getting married, having children) that their predecessors a generation ago had gone through by their age.

I feel as if I am in a stunted adolescence. And it must be something that I exude because I get more than my fair share of different versions of "Well, make sure to ask your parents!" I really don't feel (and hopefully don't look!) that different from how I did 10 years ago, or even 15. I still live in the room off the corner of the stairs. I still play around with (read: annoy) my sisters the same way I used to when we were kids. I still can't fully support myself. Most importantly, seven years of higher education later, I still haven't the slightest inkling of what I want to do other than travel. Yes, life is not that much different--different year, same deeds.

Osama bin Laden is dead.

Honestly, I had quite forgotten about the man.

A hiatus

Unfortunately, I won't be able to fulfill my dreams of being an expat any time soon. I'm back in the States with a job (thankfully) and trying to become a full fledged contributing member to society. I don't know when my next trip will be. I only know that there will be another. Till then blog posts will be even more infrequent than they had been.

Happy Independence Day!

I love Spain, but I'll always be American.

I'm trying not to be negative, but

Who actually likes Miami?

At what point does black crack?

People are starting to guess my age, correctly, and I must say it is very disconcerting. I know I always knock off a few years if someone who looks older than his 20s asks me to guess his age. I wonder if people are doing that to me. Does that mean I look older?

Growing up sucks.

La Copa Mundial

Every 4 years the World Cup rolls around and though I'm not really interested in soccer, I watch (mostly for the players).

America and Spain, baby!

Dude I thought this painting was so cool

Return of Prehistory by Seth Alverson.

Just discovered him and I think he's pretty cool.

Pingar el Mayo

A tradition around these parts, Casarejos, San Leonardo (affectionately referred to as SanLe), Hontoria, etc where the eligible bachelors in the town go out into the forest, cut down the largest tree they can find, and erect it in the town plaza or next to the town church. The lifting of the tree by the men supposedly represents virility and fertility.

The funny thing is that the (only??) "eligible bachelors" in SanLe were students from the high school???

NB: The picture isn't of SanLe.

Maybe it's because I live in a small town

One thing I really like about here is how living in a small town really allows teachers to form closer relationships with their students. I remember when I was a kid, I would avoid talking to teachers outside of the classroom at all costs. Actually, I distinctly remember doing that even when I was in college. However, here the students aren't embarrassed. Just the opposite. I always feel strange when we run into each other in bars or nightclubs, but they take it like champions, saying hey and smiling. Undoubtedly, it is me who probably makes a bigger deal about it than they do. I'm veering off subject though.

As I mentioned earlier, I do like how living in a small town allows you to forge closer relationships with your students. And one of the ways this closeness is shown is that students in the last year of high school (segundo de bachillerato) invite the teachers they like to lunch and or dinner on their last day of class. It's is something that I would never have thought to have done when I was in school and I suppose it would have been quite difficult to arrange since my class was about 500 strong in comparison to 15 or so here. I'm not sure if this is a tradition everywhere in Spain, or if it's just something that goes on in the pueblos around here, but I thought it was a nice gesture and worth mentioning.

An Incredible Lightness of Being

Lately, I've been walking around with the sort of freedom that only knowing that you're leaving soon never to return again can grant. I don't mean the freedom to be mean to people who have upset me or anything. Quite the contrary. I mean the freedom to be completely content and to express it without worrying about what other people think.

There's a certain lightness and gaiety to my step and an extra watt to my smile because I know that I've enjoyed being here and I intend to leave with the best memories I can take away.

The world is mine oyster

Sometimes I really feel that way. Opportunities are ripe for the plucking. I just have to find them and pull.

On a side note, thanks. For those to whom I spoke today, you know why. (Sounds really stilted I know. Just trying not to end with a preposition.)