But will you use it?
I have often wished that I could know, as I stand regarding my reflection in the dressing-room mirror, or in line to purchase my latest gewgaw, whether it's something I'll wear/use forever, or something that will sit until a friend says he or she likes it, or I find...
The things that change when you’re not looking
When I was going through my bag of non-Chilean coins, I had some trouble identifying the US money, particularly the nickels. When did that happen? They're all asymmetrical and it looks like old Jefferson took a step back while they were taking his daguerreotype, or...
The thing about the water (long, making amends for my absence, perhaps?)
Two days ago, I saw a sign when I got into our antiquated and possibly-on-its-last-legs yet very quaint elevator, the one where you have to pull the gate across after you get in, and where you have to ask your neighbors what floor they're getting off at, because the...
La Tercera Edad
La tercera edad is how you say "senior citizen" in Chile. Someone is of the third age when they reach retirement, which is 65 for men and 60 for women, though there has been talk of raising the age for women. Which maybe makes sense, since women tend to live longer,...
Don’t miss the skatepark
There's this skatepark that I go to regularly to take pictures and improve my street cred. Really, there is no streetcred to be had, but I like to pretend.In Santiago, you can generally walk around with a camera and snap pictures, and people don't seem to mind...
what you fail to see
One of the many places I lived when I was in DC was on a quiet residential leafy street with a beautiful, freshly paved alley in the back that made for a silent bicycle arrival to the backyard. This was a place where I cultivated dozens of tomato plants, coaxed...
For the lack of a dryer
I have had a ongoing and lifelong obsession with laundry. It was one of my first household tasks, and also one of my first memories of reading an unexpected word was off the side of the little blue jug (that's Dynamo!) of 70s-era laundry detergent while my mom was...
What’s in a name?
When I first started teaching in the United States (at this incredible adult-education program outside of Washington, DC), I had thirty or forty students from all around the world, and names to match. I had students from Mongolia, from Sudan, from Burundi, Peru,...
The Mini Vega Report
You know that old adage about how you shouldn't go grocery shopping on an empty stomach? Well, add to that you shouldn't go to the fresh market when you have food in your fridge and little in your belly.Right after a decent/hard workout (Thank you polar for helping me...
y la musica? (what about the music?)
For reasons that are unclear to me, my very nice gym in the middle of downtown (which has a little ramp outside and lets me bring my bike inside) has piped-in music only in English. I don't mean to get huffy, I mean my English comprehension is pretty good, and I don't...
