June 30th Educational Reform Protest in Santiago
I saw a kid tenderly wipe lemon juice across another kid's eyelashes today. That's crazy, all of it. Kids (teenage boys) being tender to each other, that's just Chile (when they're not beating the crap out of each other or hurling homophobic insults), and someone...
La Guantera, a tale of linguistic innocence
It was nighttime on the local, speedbump-laden and dog-ridden highway from Chichen Itza back to the airport and we were in a rental car. There were three of us, my ex and I and a vegan guy named Chuck who ate mostly almonds the whole time we'd been in Cuba on a...
A Glacier and Some Reflection
It has been far too long since I've been up to Glaciar El Morado, a longish walk from a wide spot in the road up in Cajón de Maipo. It's not fair of me to give directions, since I don't drive and have never navigated there myself, but I've been there twice, once at...
HidroAysén Protests, take 2 (Friday, May 13th)
This is what my democracy looks like (debrief at the end). Here's what happened: People got together in Plaza Italia (not clear if there were 30,000 throughout the length of Chile or 30,000 just in Santiago), then started marching down the Alameda. They were stopped...
On the ground protesting with Patagonia Sin Represas
On Monday night while many of you were snug in front of your televisions, your computers, your latest issue of whatever magazine you can get there and I can't get here, I was listening to the sound of shoe soles slapping the ground on the tiny side street of Juana de...
How to separate your three-ply tissues, a tale of rhinovirus in Chile
Although I like to think of myself as in may ways invincible, I will now reveal to you the sad story of what happened to me this week. I got a rhinovirus. That's right, a rhinovirus. I would have preferred any manner of hippovirus, (though not an armadillo virus...
Sixteen hours, an extraordinarily full day
In the course of about sixteen hours the following things happened in my life. The things that could happen in anyone's life, at any time, but that happened to me, in Chile. Which make me love my day, my life, Chile, or some combination thereof. First, I woke up early...
Bagels in Santiago!
There are two foods that, despite the fact that they are not originally from Brooklyn, on which we Brooklynites (or ex-Brooklynites) consider ouselves to be experts. And they are pizza and bagels (but not pizza bagels, perish the thought!). There are also eggcreams,...
New Bike Law Would Relegate Cyclists to… the Sidewalk (?!)
I've wanted to write about the happy existence I lead biking around Santiago for some time. Truth be told, I do ride around the city most of the time. Another truth is that only sometimes is it happy. The newest legal development would make it even less happy. While...
What a difference some light makes, Santiago
I don't know if this requires an apology or not, but I simply cannot get over my new view. I loved my old view, it's true, but I looked to the south. In addition to the fact that the south is the coldest exposure in the southern hemisphere, though I could see far, I...
