Monthly Archives: February 2012
Guatemala, Day 2 – Finca Filadelfia
Ever wonder how coffee is made? I never had. Probably because I don’t drink coffee. But coffee is Guatemala’s principal export and therefore a major part of the economy. As part of our visit to Antigua, we toured Finca Filadelfia, a coffee plantation just outside of the town, and learned a lot more about what it […]
Guatemala, Day 2 – Antigua
Antigua is Guatemala’s crown jewel. It was founded in 1543 and served as the capital until it was razed by an earthquake in 1773. After that, the seat of government moved 45 minutes away to Guatemala City and Antigua was left to become a gorgeous little tourist’s paradise. Lonely Planet says it’s what Guatemala “would look like if […]
Guatemala, Day 1 – Chez les Kelly
Last time I was in Guatemala, I was backpacking on the last few dollars of my student loans. The budget was tight and my agenda ambitious, and I stayed in some dreadful lodgings. This time, you’d think I was in an entirely different country. Jennifer and Mark live in a spacious condo in a swank modern high-rise […]
Guatemala, Day 1 – Guatemala City
Guatemala City is only 2 hours and 19 minutes from Miami. Aside from an obnoxious woman’s stealing my aisle seat and refusing to give it back without making a scene (which meant that I was stuck with her middle seat because I wasn’t willing to make a scene), the flight went well. I read the latest […]
Guatemala
Just a quick status update, lest my devoted readers worry (it occurred to me that posting a link to that New Yorker article on a blog that my mother reads may have been better done after I’d returned home). In any case, I am here in Guatemela. I have NOT been murdered or forced to […]
Miami Layover
I flew out of Guatemala City in October 2008 after two months of intense Spanish study and adventurous traveling in Central America. As we lifted off the tarmac, I thought, “Well, that was fun. I probably will never come here again” — and by “here” I meant, partly, the country of Guatemala (so many countries […]
No rest for the wicked
This was a busy weekend. Not only did I have a six-hour opera, a modern dance concert, and a Shakespeare play, I also: worked; went to church; hometaught two new families (both of whom are going to be a challenge — one is a newly baptized Haitian who doesn’t speak English and barely any French; the other is […]
Two Gents
A few weeks ago I saw the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s “rock opera” version of Two Gentlemen of Verona (and I didn’t like it). Tonight, I saw them do the actual Shakespeare play — and I liked it much better. Given the current hour (it’s past 1:00am already!), I won’t take the time to write out a synopsis […]
Alvin Ailey
Last night after the opera, I headed down to the Kennedy Center to see a performance by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. They’re a remarkable modern dance company — predominantly African American, with a tremendously positive vibe at their performances and exquisitely talented dancers (which makes up for sometimes less than stellar choreography). This is the third […]
Wagner and the anatomy of the heart
Grandpa Davis — who found his calling in life as a radiologist — likes to joke about peering into the black-and-white world of x-rays in search of the colloquial “cockles of the heart.” As far as I know, he never found them. I’m starting to think that x-rays may not be the right place for the secrets of […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 