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Don’t let strangers in your house

Don’t let strangers in your house
Opinion. He must have smelled my novelty as I walked through Granada’s streets from the Central Park toward Calle Saint Lucia to view my apartment for the first time. As I turned the key in the front gate to check...
May 18, 2013 · 8 Comments

The importance and challenges of learning Spanish

The importance and challenges of learning Spanish

Opinion. Everyone should learn at least some Spanish if you plan to live here. As expats, we came here to experience a new culture—and language is an important part of that culture. And while frustrating at times, it is both...
May 14, 2013 · 14 Comments

Bringing it all to Miami

Bringing it all to Miami

Opinion. Weekends at the tidy turquoise beaches that encrust the overheating city, Cubanas raise powerful thighs as they stomp through the sizzling white sand, bikini bottoms playing peek-a-boo in the shifting crevices as they walk, smoldering cigarette in one hand,...
May 12, 2013 · 10 Comments

Has El Nuevo Diario lost its sense of humor?

Has El Nuevo Diario lost its sense of humor?

Opinion. What couldn’t be achieved through law—an attempt to regulate cartoonists by including a paragraph in the Integral Law Against Violence Against Women—has finally been done by executive decision by the owners of El Nuevo Diario. Without any scruples and...
May 7, 2013 · 3 Comments

Memories of war—and the people I met there

Memories of war—and the people I met there

Opinion. I joined the Sandinista Revolution in 1979. Later that year, in July, the revolution triumphed and overthrew the Somoza dynasty, ending the longest military dictatorship in the history of Latin America. Fighting in the revolution had been a major...
April 30, 2013 · 5 Comments

Cooking with Calley P: Lobster Linguine

Cooking with Calley P: Lobster Linguine

I’ve had Nicaraguan Spaghetti. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into at the time. The recipe is straightforward. First, break the long spaghetti into three parts (always three parts). Then cook until pretty far beyond al dente. Meanwhile,...
April 29, 2013 · 3 Comments

Who benefits from Nicaragua’s brain drain?

Who benefits from Nicaragua’s brain drain?

Opinion. Every year, more and more Nicaraguans emigrate abroad in search of peace and economic opportunities not found in their homeland. They leave home because they have no gainful employment here, or because they are economically and politically marginalized in...
April 24, 2013 · 39 Comments

Does Nicaragua still want help from international NGOs?

Does Nicaragua still want help from international NGOs?

Our story may be an exceptional one; I certainly hope it is. Since last September, our organization, Interfaith Service to Latin America (www.isla.cc), has been attempting unsuccessfully to get a shipping container with approximately $150,000 worth of largely medical supplies...
April 11, 2013 · 30 Comments

Straddling the cultural divide

Straddling the cultural divide

Opinion. Until you’ve tried it, you might not realize how difficult it actually is to peel back the cultural layers and decipher daily life in a foreign country. This isn’t something you can do as a tourist, peering out of...
April 4, 2013 · 11 Comments