When I was 22 years old, I made an unusual promise to myself. I decided that by the time I turned 40, I would speak Spanish. I don’t know why I made this promise. At that time, Spanish was irrelevant in my life. I had no exposure to the language […]
Read More• Panama
A Traveler’s Dilemma: The Human Zoo
In December 2013, while traveling through northern Thailand, we had the option of visiting a hill tribe village. In Chiang Mai, nearly every tourist agency advertised these tours with photos of smiling indigenous women with unnaturally long necks wrapped in brass rings. Initially, the trip looked tempting, and we even […]
Read MoreEl Chorrillo or How I Walked Through a War Zone
When I travel the world, I always try to catch a soccer game—whether it’s kids playing on the streets of Buenos Aires, a high school game in Iceland, joining in on a game on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, or attending a professional match in the best-known stadiums in […]
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