At some point I should become all blase about volcanoes and volcanic activity since I’ve been fortunate to see so many, but not yet. This morning we left Monteverde. A van collected us, collected three other people (I’m afraid my luggage and the Gentleman Friend’s was very bulky indeed) and took us off through some […]
Rainy season
Today we left Panama – a very hot and sunny Panama, and flew off to Costa Rica — a very cold and wet Costa Rica. Our driver arrived a bit late but eventually turned up and then took us up through the hills to Monteverde where it was pouring, not surprisingly given it’s the rainy […]
Those I’ll never see again
For some reason dogs seem to like me. This is not exactly reciprocated, as I don’t particularly like keeping pets, and especially indoor dogs, but I don’t mind dogs as long as they aren’t noisy and boistrous. Anyway, the dog at my Spanish school really seems to like me, but in a rather sweet way […]
District 13
The internet is full of advice on Comuna 13, formerly one of the most dangerous urban spaces in the world. This advice is: go with a tour that tells you about the barrio’s sad past and inspiring present, admire the graffiti, don’t stray off the path, learn the history of the area, get over your […]
Soundstage
When I left for my class this morning there was much hustle bustle around the nearby big street with bars and restaurants. There were metal barriers and rows of policemen in uniform, listening attentively to a briefing. There were horses corralled off in one side street. A little further and I saw what was going […]
Lost plane
At 7 this morning a colectivo picked me up from the homestay and took me to the airport. It was a colectivo but there were no other passengers, so it was a quick journey. Of course, it was also 7 in the morning on a Saturday. It also turned out to be a very early […]
Worst end of farmyard
It was the 14th birthday of my Spanish school and in the break there were two cakes. One, a tres leches cake, the other a jelly made with cream and with bits of regular green and red jelly suspended in it. It looked like something out of a 1950s American cookbook. Glad to have tried […]
Waking, sleeping
After a couple of slightly down days, when my Spanish didn’t feel like it was going particularly well, and at work the piano seemed to rise higher overhead, and it was difficult to concentrate, today was a little better. For one, I spoke to the Gentleman Friend briefly, which cheered me up. Last night I […]
Oaxaca
We have arrived in Oaxaca. Yesterday, after breakfast and coffee we went off to the bus station and embarked on the 4 1/2 hour journey south and west. The landscape changed along the way, from the dry plateau of Puebla to become more hilly. Then the hills came closer to the road, and started varying […]
Good and bad
Until I married the Gentleman Friend, and eventually became eligible for a British passport, I travelled on my Pakistani passport. Even today, years later, my heart beats faster in fear as I approach immigration at any country, including the UK. And I am the most privileged of people. I have a UK passport now, and […]