There are people who say that we have bullies and we have victims. The implication of this attitude is that a bully is someone cruel and a victim is someone to be pitied. While this attitude is accurate to a degree, there is point where the distinction ends. Yes, when a bully aggresses against someone, they are acting with malice for the intent of victimizing another person [note: sweeping generalization]. And an innocent person who has been...

This week our city and country will be celebrating Carnaval. It is a holiday that has its roots in pagan beliefs and our present-day customs reflect those roots. One of those customs is the “dousing with water”, representing the insemination of the populace to ensure fertility in the coming year. I really don’t think that this origin is in the uppermost of the minds of the young people throwing water balloons and reloading...

This week our city and country will be celebrating Carnavale. It is a holiday that has its roots in pagan beliefs and our present-day customs reflect those roots. One of those customs is the “dousing with water”, representing the insemination of the populace to ensure fertility in the coming year. I really don’t think that this origin is in the uppermost of the minds of the young people throwing water balloons and reloading...

We have been in Bolivia for almost 4 years. That is so amazing to me, and yet in many ways I feel as if I have lived here all (or at least most) of my life. [permanent post in Essays] We haven’t had a hard time with the culture. My parents and ancestors are  from small-town Texas (after they debarked from the Mayflower, they headed straight for Texas!) and I spent my early years and many summers in those same small towns. I also...

We have been in Bolivia for almost 4 years. That is so amazing to me, and yet in many ways I feel as if I have lived here all (or at least most) of my life. We haven’t had a hard time with the culture. My parents and ancestors are  from small-town Texas (after they debarked from the Mayflower, they headed straight for Texas!) and I spent my early years and many summers in those same small towns. I also experienced life in the high-powered...

With the rainy season flooding the crawl space beneath the house, we have had trouble with rodents. It has been driving me batty and we finally got to the point where we agreed that we would have to get poison — they kept eating the bait and totally disdaining the traps available in Cochabamba. Then Tuesday night one of our cats killed a big one. We thought that was the end of it. We thought wrong. Late Wednesday night my hubby,...