Esteros del Iberá, Argentina

The Esteros del Iberá are a seemingly endless expanse of marshes, lagoons, floating islands, lush vegetation, and diverse wildlife, comprising roughly 14% of Corrientes province. The appeal of this gorgeous nature reserve largely comes from being unspoiled by rampant tourism. If you’ve ever envisioned rowing your own canoe into a lagoon teeming with hungry caimans, [...]

“Free” Education in Argentina?

Does the U.S. really want free education at the university level? Many Americans would have a knee-jerk reaction and say “yes, I’m swimming in debt from my child’s pre-school bills already, not to mention the $100 list of mandatory school supplies.” Free university education would relieve the American public of a rapidly increasing financial burden, [...]

TS Designs

I hope that you all enjoyed the recent posts by Sarah Enelow and Ken Mandel. I haven’t posted much lately for a few reasons. Sadly, I haven’t been able to get out and explore much. There are plenty of places around NC that are worth spending a weekend exploring, but so far my weekends have [...]

Old Mate Man

“How are you doing today?”
This question comes from a short, pudgy old man standing in his yard by the sidewalk, his final tufts of hair thinning as he speaks. He wears ordinary clothes, sandals that have seen better days, and only a few good teeth. His german shepherd, the size of [...]

Silent Conversations

The indications of my nationality are not erasable, despite efforts to be inconspicuous. I’m the only foreigner in a small Argentine town with “USA” practically tattooed on my forehead, evident from the way I walk too fast while drinking a soda to the way I make strained eye contact to better understand people. Every day [...]

TEFL Survival

Chapter 4: TEFL Survival
Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) is not a bad way to survive in the third world,considering local wages, local expectations of life quality and local work conditions, TEFL isn’t a bad alternative.
However, if your plan is to stay and live in another country, at some point you may start to [...]

“What happened to all of your indigenous people?”

… asked a 10-year-old boy at a primary school in rural Argentina about Native Americans. (I was in the middle of a presentation in Spanish about the U.S. to a roomful of kids.) This is a very astute question, but not one I expected. I was prepared to answer all kinds of inquires about regional [...]