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What’s up dumbass?
One of the things I love to learn in a foreign language are colloquialisms, because it makes you sound more like a native speaker. When I worked at the hostel in Puerto Vallarta, the staff constantly used the expression “Que onda guey?” when greeting each other. I never asked what it meant. I just assumed…
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The French Game Of World Domination
I’ve long believed that the problem the French have with Americans is rooted in jealousy. The most obvious affront is English displacing French as the Lingua Franca of the world. In fact Lingua Franca, which literally means French tongue, refers to a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages…
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Use your words…to stay safe
Last summer a friend accused me of being manipulative after watching my exchange with someone. I replied that we all learn how to behave in order to get what we want. I was recently listening to a Ted talk that said “Everyone is ready to give you something in exchange for something they’re hungry for”…
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Traversing Tepoztlan
My mistake was in assuming that the women who informed me about the loop hike had actually just done it. You see, they’d passed me only twenty minutes earlier while I was enjoying a tamale from atop a rock above a dry creek bed. I met them on their return at an intersection which, on…
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A visit to the El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
The journey to the village where I went to see the monarch butterflies at their winter home began at the bus terminal. Heading into more remote parts of Mexico with winding narrow roads meant switching from large comfortable buses to cramped rickety minibuses. In many ways, it held similarities to my visit to Nepal. The…
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Malinalco, an Artisan Hill Town in Mexico
I arrived in Malinalco after the typical succession from big bus, to local bus, to combination mini bus. This seems to be fairly routine now that I’m visiting towns more off the beaten track. That’s not to say it wasn’t a tourist town. It certainly earned the title more than the last charlatan on the…
