Rimac Close Up

Rimac is not on the videos you see posted on YouTube about Lima, Peru. Actually, Rimac is one of the areas in Lima you are warned not to visit, unless you are accompanied by a few buff guys, which I was. This vibrant districts is also home to one of Lima’s shanty towns that bring a bit of color to […]

Bahía At Bay

“I see an eagle!” screamed one first grader. “I do, too!” screamed another. I had doubts if an American Eagle escaped to Lima, Peru, in spite of the divisive week in politics. But the week of birdwatching with the elementary students inspired me to do a bit of my own at the Paracas National Reserve, an easy safe bus ride […]

Beleza (Beauty)

Vincent Van Gogh It was about four AM in the morning in Madrid, me with a backpack my sister in her long- haul yoga pants. We are middle aged flowers in a city full of beautiful people, wilting like one of the still-life paintings in the Prado museum. Old ladies in dresses hobbling on cobble stone streets (not in Costco […]

Transformation

Life repeats itself. Ten years ago, I was Madrid, Spain, waiting for a train to Alicante, my life at its lowest. My mom just died, my husband just left me in China, and my life was condensed down to one hundred pounds and a carry-on. I was in Spain to visit my nephew to make sure he was actually studying […]

Viet-Yumm!

You got to like a country that offers beer to their Deities. Vietnam is a country of fiery kitchens, each with its own flair from the tip of the north to the fresh sea food and mi six bull frogs of the south.