Throughout Lent, and throughout Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Antigua, the streets would be covered in elaborate alfombras carpets, made out of colored sawdust, fruits, vegetables, and a wide range of other materials. Some were quickly thrown together. Some took hours upon hours of work....
Horns were bellowing a death march. A loud drum kept the beat. Boom. Boom. Boom. It was an eerie orchestration that had been the soundtrack to Antigua, Guatemala, throughout lent, throughout Semana Santa. If you weren't hearing the deific tones from one of the frequent...
I'm currently studying Spanish at a Spanish school in Antigua, Guatemala. Nearly every day the school offers some sort of free local activity. There was a walking tour, a bicycle tour, and a visit to a nut farm. Yesterday's activity was a Traditional Guatemalan clothing...
I’ve been taking Spanish classes for a week now — four hours a day, five days a week, one-on-one — at a small Spanish school in Antigua, Guatemala. My Spanish is far from good, but, considering a week ago I could barely say “hola,” I...
I'd never seen a football match in person. Football, or soccer as we call it at home, has never really been my sport. Not that I really have a sport. I used to watch a lot of American football back in college. But, really, I...
A year and a half ago I sat on a park bench in Berlin, crying. I was overwhelmed by it all. From being so far from home. From being alone. From the thought of long-term travel. I didn't think I could make it for three...
On Saturday night I said goodbye to my friends (again) with arcade games, happy villages, and some much needed 2am tamales...
No matter where I am in the world, there is one thing I can count on: Starbucks will not get my name right. Barcelona, Spain. Istanbul, Turkey (In the first one, the dude wrote down two names and asked me which was correct. I said the top one...
My first ever camping trip got rained out, a malady that would plague every other camping trip I ever took with my college friends from that point on. It was the summer after my sophomore year of college, and we had crossed the state border...
Really, all I ended up doing in Seattle was eating. And that I am OK with...