Category: Adventures in Central America
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All That Plus a Bag of Chips
When I was traveling this past October with Anna, my friend from London who I met in Belize, we ate many of our meals together. In my opinion we had some of our best talks over these meals, and even though we only knew each other for two weeks before embarking on the trip, we…
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The Blue Cheese Incident
aka Blue Cheese and Gold Swimwear There is a rainy season in all of Central America but the skies will open up and flood you at any moment, even if the weather forecast says it’s sunny out. We went through such an intense rainy period in Caye Caulker I wasn’t sure it would ever stop.…
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Public Transportation & Prophylactics
As usual, there were completely different thoughts flowing on the page. I have since gotten distracted by a memory from last month that I found highly amusing but haven’t shared. If I didn’t talk to strangers I’d miss out on half of my content, possibly more, and this is no exception. When it became clear…
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Love Bites..& Stings
I learned a new sentence in Spanish last week: “Me picó una abeja en la planta del pie.” I’m expanding my limited intermediate Spanish fluency one sentence at a time (remember the doorknob and pliers conversations?), a fluency level I now call, “element-ermediate.” New word, made it up. Why not? Some moments I really know…
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Everywhere and Nowhere
“You are only free when you realize you belong no place – you belong every place – no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great.” Maya Angelou I did not wish upon a star last week, I wished upon the full moon and a tree of monkeys. A few days ago…
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Full Moon & the Fruit Basket
I tricked myself into thinking that walking the beach in midmorning during the full moon would be safe. Spoiler alert: it was safe in a manner of speaking. I am fine, no scratches on my body, just in my mind. No biggie, we will add it to the others. After 15 years spent working the…
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Red Plate Hostess & Duolingo Dirty Hippie
I’ve really settled into this tropical Caribbean-style life. I describe all of us locals as “dirty hippies.” We all walk around with unintentional beach waves in our hair, a golden sheen to our tans, no matter the shade of skin and this faraway look in our eyes. For me that look represents the magic of…
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Leprechauns, Rastafarians, and Green Fairies, Oh My!
In my experience we are drawn to certain styles, foods, types of people, belief systems and even colors, at various stages of our lives. My favorite colors over the course of almost 30 years went from red to periwinkle blue to gray and now to green. Interestingly, I had recently been very happy wearing shades…
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Cougar Mom & Cat Cards
It’s about that time of year, where your favorite cougar starts another trip around the sun. Before that happens – around 03:30 am, Sunday – I want to take a moment and express gratitude for the woman who made it possible, and sacrificed more than any of us will truly ever know, to bring the…
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Jungle Brunch: Chopped Edition
The time spent in Central America has impacted my whole approach to life, especially how I “hunt,” prepare and eat ingredients, combining them to make life sustaining meals. I feel there is more intentional mindfulness to my approach now to not only finding food and cooking it, but also in communing and communicating with nature…
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Let’s Unpack Our Thoughts, Not The Suitcases
Two months ago I received another sweet early morning email from Dr. Max, one of my oldest and dearest friends, also my unofficial editor. Even though he’s not being paid to grade my papers anymore – for many years now – I’m lucky that he still eagerly wants to read the musings that fall out…
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Bright Lights, Big City & the New Year’s Eve Werewolf
I’ve been away from my beloved Playa Negra for only four days and I will describe my mental state as something between an unnecessary pout, an about-to-happen toddler tantrum and a mini depression. I also feel that there’s some culture shock happening, not because I’m in Costa Rica, but because this is the first time…
Pixie in Paradise 