My friend Lisa showed me an old picture of five generations of women in her family gathered in Puerto Rico between the ages 4 months and 100 years old. Her daughter brought her baby from the States so her grandmother and great grandmother could see her. “How lucky you are,” I told her. “It’s rare [...]
I was passing through security at the Barcelona, Spain airport, coming back to the States, when a suspicious inspector zipped open my carry hand bag and looked wide-eyed at it’s contents: packages of paella rice, Catalan noodles, cans of Spanish clams (berberechos) and olives with anchovies. “Are you smuggling something or what?” he asked. I [...]
“I need to go to the beach. Even if it’s for a day or two, preferably more otherwise it doesn’t feel like Summer vacation”, I told my husband. He is planning a hike in the Pyrenees and I want to head to the beach. So we were trying to find a balance between both our [...]
I heard someone scream my name as I was getting out of my car heading into the Pocono Medical Center. Then I saw a familiar face: Marialides. She is a warm, enthusiastic woman from Venezuela. There was a beautiful teenage girl with her. “This is my daughter, María” she said. I met Marialides two years [...]
Part 2 – Last week I told in my column how we flew to Arizona to drive back a car my husband bought for me. My goal in the last years has been: make the most of opportunities, in this case: discover parts of America I might never see otherwise. I ended the first part [...]
I thought the US was made up only of the cities I had seen so often in movies and on TV. Until one summer I visited Yosemite and everything changed. I realized the country included immense areas and natural wonders unknown in Europe. Once I moved here, I vowed to discover a new part of [...]
June midsummer night. Everyone everywhere celebrates. I am in Barcelona visiting my mother. Here midsummer night is called “la verbena de San Juan” (St. John’s Eve) and is one of the biggest, most raucous holidays in Spain. Firecrackers sound everywhere and bonfires light up the sky like the whole city is burning. Dogs and cats [...]
America has never had a king so our celebrity scandals are limited to celebrities such as the Kardashians. But in Spain, we have the royals to give us breathless headlines. Last week the King of Spain abdicated in favor of his son, Felipe. Felipe is mid-forties, good looking, and educated. By contrast, his father, Juan [...]
Last month was graduation day at ESU. I had already received my diploma in the mail after I completed my BA degree last December. I remember a comment made by a classmate: “I’m about to graduate so now I’ll get paid more.” I wanted to ask him what made him think that, but I just [...]
La semana pasada viví mi primera experiencia en un lugar de comidas nuevo, al menos para mí. Mi esposo me dice que estos lugares se encuentran por lo general en las carreteras, lejos de los pueblos y típicamente sirven cócteles y un menú limitado. Se llaman “roadhouses”, En España no tenemos nada que se parezca. [...]