Experiences
The alarm went off at 5:30am and I made my way down to the street to wait for my bus. Soon I was southbound, leaving the narrow streets of Quito for lush green spaces above the clouds. After an hour or two, we arrived at the Chuquiragua Lodge for breakfast and an introduction to an on-site llama.
Read more “My Trip to Mars (Cotopaxi)”
Experiences
In a move that would certainly surprise my 13-year old self, I have voluntarily visited several cathedrals in Quito, Ecuador over the last few days. I’ve decided to attend religious services of various forms for the rest of my life and cherry pick my favorite doctrines from each faith to create my own propriety hybrid system of values. To that end, I even attended a Hare Krishna “festival of love” three nights ago in Cali, but that’s another story.
Read more “Michael Goes to Church(es)”
Experiences
I have been slowly making my way south through Colombia and arrived yesterday at Cali, the Salsa capital of the world (dance, not sauce). Naturally, I made my way to a free lesson.
Read more “The Salsa Police”
Experiences
After waking up at 5am in Salento, Colombia, we loaded ourselves into a jeep (they called it a “willy”) that was so packed that people were hanging off the back bumper. We traveled through some winding roads until we reached the trail head of “the long route” to Valle de Cocora.
Read more “Valle de Cocora”
Experiences
For my fourth and final Spanish class field trip, we went to an eco-park called Recinto del Pensamiento. In typical Manizales fashion, the deluge started immediately upon our guide’s signal to start the tour. After returning from the car to retrieve our umbrellas, the rain promptly ceased.
Read more “Recinto Del Pensamiento”
Experiences
Yesterday I ventured to a coffee-based theme park. Manizales, the city I’ve been in for almost a month, is in the “coffee” region of Colombia. After a four-hour journey including various flavors of vans and buses, we finally arrived (and I promptly purchased a coffee from Mr. Juan Valdez, as the trek had left me rather knackered).
Read more “Parque del Café”
Commentary
The past few days have taken me to various places, such as the bosque popular (a sprawling park), Villamaria (a colorful town just south of Manizales), and Ecoparque Los Yarumos (an environmentally-centered museum and eco-park).
Read more “America”
Poetry
The clouds in the sky replace the clouds my mind.
Inspiration precipitates and crystallizes in kind.
With the safety harness untied.
We can finally fly.
Poetry
I hear the second hand tick when I close my eyes.
My atomic mind is always on time.
I see the future and mold it to my will.
My feet have never known what it feels like to stand still.
Experiences
At 2:21pm yesterday I was just about to depart my residence when all of sudden my knees felt a little wobbly. Upon further investigation, it became clear that everything in my apartment was suffering from the same affliction. An earthquake had commenced. What registered as a 6.1 on the Richter scale equated to no less than a 9.5 on the Huseby fear scale. Nevertheless, after a minute or two of oscillating between hiding under the desk, positioning myself beneath a doorway, and exhibiting general panic, it became clear that I would live to see another day.