In Search Of Bada Man
In 100 things to do before you die, no 101 should be plowing through slides, deciding which ones to scan. When I came to Bada Man, I searched the web to see who else had made the journey from Palu to Lake Poso. Two especially interesting entries were by Mark Moxon […]

(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 […]

(Photo opposite: Corregidor’s office) The one part of society that I’ve always tried to steer clear of no matter where I was living is the legal system. When I lived in the U.S., I never had any run-ins with the police or courts and in Panama I have always kept myself far from any […]

(Figure 1 The first mummy to be exhumed in 1865 from Santa Paula cemetery in Guanajuato, Mexico was that of French born, Dr. Remigio Leroy. Photo by Ernie Sowers) Who is this macabre figure you see standing upright in the box to your left? No, this isn’t a mummy found in an Egyptian tomb. […]

(Photo opposite: Lake Chapala, Mexico) When we lived in the United States, the mundane, banking process of deposits, withdrawals and reconciliation slipped easily into my duty roster. Streamlined procedures allowed me to flutter in and out of the bank like a mariposa. I easily changed account data with a phone call or online and […]

This is the complete guide to living, retiring and investing in Bali. The author has lived on the island for years and is married to a woman from Bali so he has a unique view into the culture, society and opportunities on Bali for expats. This e-book should be read by anyone, regardless of age […]

(Photo opposite: Our friendly neighbors) When I bought my duplex in Panama I knew there might be problems. With a duplex you don’t really own your home; you have to share it with another person and what that other person decides to do is always an unknown, especially in Panama where people tend to […]

That all depends on what your lifestyle is like. The more Western you get, the higher your overhead will be. Electricity and telephone charges are relatively high. If you plan on having a large house with lots of lighting, you are going to be paying out some serious money. We pay about one million a […]

(Photo opposite: Our second floor perch from La Mansion del Bosque B&B in San Miguel de Allende. Photo by Ernie Sowers) Hey, do you need a place to hide out? Are you running from life or the law? Well, I stumbled upon this high desert Mexican ghost town where anonymity can be bought for a […]

(Photo opposite:Hermanus Whale crier Zolile Baleni, against a backdrop of Walker Bay.)
Hermanus on the South coast of South Africa boasts the world’s only whale crier.
Zolile Baleni is the third in the past twenty years to welcome tourists to this sleepy one time fishing village.
Dressed in the manner of a town crier, he […]

(Photo opposite: Huo Guo) It was one of those days. Even though it’s summer in Changchun, it was pouring down. That was a few days ago. Of course I can pursue my private interests in my apartment when it’s pouring down. And students can do whatever they feel like doing in their students’ residence […]

(Photo opposite: Men dressed in black and white sarongs wait to perform a ritual dance that will protect the temple.) Living in Indonesia for several years between “The Year of Living Dangerously” and before the “Year of Indonesia” and the invasion of mass tourism, I saw my Bali slipping away. But for those tourists […]

I am young, cultured, and something of a foodie. If you’re going to take me to dinner, I want it to be somewhere original. So here are some of my suggestions for “Places to take a 20 year old woman, whom you wish to impress, on a date.” Most of them I would consider relatively […]

(Photo opposite: Spicy Korean Kimchi) On Friday night I enjoyed having dinner with a handful or so of students in a Korean restaurant. They’d asked me about it on the spot after their exam in one of my classes. It took me a little by surprise given that there are more exams for them […]

(Photo opposite: Chabacanos) My two favorite words for describing people in Panamanian Spanish are Chabacano and Racataca. Both words are used in Panamanian slang. Panamanian Spanish is filled with all kinds of slang words. In fact, of all the Spanish I’ve heard Panamanian Spanish uses more slang than any other Spanish. But of all the […]

I’ve written about Panamanian beer; now a little on imported beer in Panama. One of the most popular imported beers in Panama is Presidente, which is the national beer of the Dominican Republic. Presidente is a good beer. People seem to like it in Panama. It sells well. It’s more popular than Jamaican Red Strip […]

(Photo opposite:The Copper Canyon offers eye-popping vistas of uplifted natural wonderment. Photo by Ernie Sowers) At night, while we sit on our terrace at Hotel El Mirador Posada Barrancas, which overlooks three of the seven chasms of Mexico´s Copper Canyon, the silence is deafening. People use this expression all the time, but few […]