Considering that as Americans we have been wage slaves since the Act of 1871 and enemies of the state since the War Powers Act, I should find it is no big surprise that since my return to the Corporation Of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, I am inspired to attempt to run for the hills again. […]

While surfing the web for information on Guizhou Province before visiting the villages of the Dong, Miao and Geija minorities in south-west China I came across “Bonding Via Baby Carriers: The Art & Soul of the Miao & Dong People”. It was written by a three generation Taiwanese family to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary […]

Lasting 14 days the celebration of Chinese New Year was unlike anything I have experienced.
This year it started on the first day of the lunar month, February 14 and ran until Sunday February 28 which is the Chinese Valentine’s Day or Chap Goh Mei.
Traditionally it is a time families spend together so […]

The Chinese community in Panama is one of the oldest immigrant communities in the country. The first Chinese immigrants came to Panama during the building of the Panama railroad in the 1850s. The migration occurred at a time when the Opium Wars in China had created a large trade in Chinese coolies; the coolie trade […]

Vietnamese is, by far, the hardest language to pronounce, of any language I have ever studied.
At the time of this writing, I have been living in Hanoi for seven weeks and studying Vietnamese for six weeks with private tutors. I have an hour and a half of lessons per day, six days per week. Outside […]

I recently discovered Muay Thai Chaiya, which I train with Kru Lek. It is an ancient form of Muay Thai, a codified martial arts fighting system, which students learn step-by-step from the ground up.

NOT ANOTHER SHADE OF MUAY THAI
Muay Thai Chaiya has almost no similarity to modern, sport Muay Thai. In fact, it is so […]

The rains are slowly returning to Panama after the hot dry summer. At this time of the year in Panama the bugs really come out and multiply in numbers. Late in the evening it can be hard to stay outside with shorts. The change in weather and insects marks the arrival of a new season. […]

(Photo opposite: Necropolis in the suburbs of Carmona) Travelling west on the A339 to Priego de Córdoba, you might feel a shiver running down your spine. When the roadbuilders scooped out the Almedinilla bypass in 1988 they found that they were carving through a Roman cemetery packed with hundreds of graves. A steady stream of […]

(Figure 1 We left the murals of Bonampak, dazzled. Photo by Ernie Sowers) The magic, Maya route through the Chiapas ended with the murals at Bonampak. How long Maya enthusiasts will be able to enter Bonampak’s magnificently painted chambers remains a mystery. Rumors of future closure filtered through the ruins. Reasons cited include deterioration from […]

(Photo opposite: Jurgen Klemann) A few days ago, a colleague of mine from the department of public administration kicked up an in depth chat with me. We dissected in our chat happenings in post - colonial Africa. We conclusively agreed on a few things with respect to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia. However, […]

(Photo opposite: Antonio training for a fight.) Since the launch of my web TV show, “Martial Arts Odyssey,” more than 18 months ago, I have received a lot of email asking about Khmer and Thai martial arts, what they are, and which is better.
This is just a brief overview to help people understand the […]

(Photo opposite: Antonio Graceffo - on top) Now that I am a teacher, I understand what the nuns were saying back in grade school. They were saying, “Children learn by listening, not by speaking.” But I couldn’t here them, because I was too busy talking. Actually, I was imitating The Fonz from the “Happy […]

(Photo opposite: Panamanian-Colombian border marker.) Part of the talk in Panama these days is the impending collapse, crash, real estate bust whatever you want to call it. Along with talk about Mel Gibson buying real estate (he must own the whole country by now – I’ve heard it from so many people). People are […]

(Photo opposite: Chupacabra) I guess one of the Spanish words that I like to hear the most in Panama is vidaayena. Another friend told me his favorite Spanish word in Panama was cartucho. A cartucho is a very small plastic bag that they put your 15 cent fruit drink or can of cola in […]

(Photo opposite: Jurgen waits for dinner with student.) A few days ago, I had an extensive dinner with about half a dozen students. They were in one of my classes in the past semester. They’re again in one of my classes this semester. The do kicked off in the late afternoon and took us […]

(Photo opposite: Parched skeletons painted on our outside wall reveal the water woes.) The first time it happened, I thought, “there must be a malfunction of some kind. No one knowingly would allow this to occur.” By the tenth time, the situation commanded action, for now, it was destroying property - mine. That […]

(Photo opposite: Celebrating the Holi Festival) Holi, the festival of colors heralds the arrival of spring. Nature blooms forth in a thousand colors. Spring is in the air and exuberance and joviality fill the air. This festival is celebrated enthusiastically in Mathura, Vrindavan, Nandgaon, and Barsnar, the towns that once housed the divine Krishna. […]

About My Exposure To Filipino Language
(Photo opposite: Antonio Graceffo) For four months I studied emergency medical technician (EMT) and volunteered on an ambulance crew in Quezon, City, Philippines. I was the only foreigner in my class, although the head instructor was Irish. On the ambulance crew I was the only foreigner. This was my third […]

A few years ago the Panamanian government contracted out the responsibility of issuing driver’s license to a private company called SERTRACEN: over night it became much more difficult to obtain a driver’s license in Panama. In the days when the government was issuing driver’s license it was too easy to get a driver’s license: the […]

There’s another long weekend coming out of the pipeline in China. Chinese are going to celebrate the Moon Festival over the upcoming weekend. Because of the Moon Festival, there are no classes on Monday. The Moon Festival’s also known in China as the Mid - Autumn Festival. The bash takes place when the moon reaches […]