Traveling in a Confused World
Sun scorching through the clouds, slow-moving boat, slow-moving time. Our ferry filled with napping locals transporting bags of groceries, and few tourists with backpacks, was making its way through the quiet waters of Lake Cocibolca on its way to Ometepe. Gazing at the volcano slowly appearing from the water, I was thinking about the strange hold the word “Nicaragua” has always had on me. Continue reading “Ometepe Island, The Jewel of Nicaragua”
So you have been in Mexico City for a while now, the weekend is getting closer, and you fancy a day trip out of the capital? Puebla is your answer. The fourth largest city in Mexico and the capital of the namesake state, Puebla is known throughout Mexico as the birthplace of mole, the ubiquitous Mexican sauce. Even If you aren’t moved by gastronomic discoveries, Puebla’s historic center, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is well worth a visit. Continue reading “Puebla, The Birthplace of Mole”
While traveling for 2 years in Latin America, I remember being asked what is our goal. I could make something up, say, visit all the countries on the continent. But the truth is, there was no goal. You travel because there is something out there that is worth seeing yourself. Because there are people whose life you can’t imagine, unless you meet them. You travel because you are curious. But there is no purpose, there is no inherent meaning attached to it. Continue reading “Why Traveling is Accidental and How it’s Similar to Having Children”
Mexico City offers urban explorers an astonishing assortment of Aztec temples, cathedrals, Marxist murals and some of the best museums on the continent. So it’s easy to miss that the city also boasts some great examples of modern architecture – you just have to know where to look. So how about a quick tour? Continue reading “Modern Architecture in Mexico City – 5 Buildings Not to Miss”
After a week or two in Mexico City, you notice something unique about the city. It’s not the colonial architecture, which is monumental, but still similar to what you can see in Mérida or Guanajuato. It’s not the Aztec temples, which are spectacular, but the Maya temples of Yucatán already prepared you for the splendor of Mesoamerica. Rather it’s the number of seemingly mundane public and government buildings covered with intricate works of art. Continue reading “Must See of Mexican Muralism: Tracking Mexico City’s Best Murals”
One weekend, about a month after coming to Lima, we took a taxi to the city center. Sitting in the front seat, I was looking out the window. One, two-floor houses with colorful facades and armatures springing from the roofs, always ready to accommodate another floor. Fences painted with the names of politicians running in upcoming or past elections.
Suddenly, I couldn’t recognize where I was. Continue reading “After 18 Months on the Move in Latin America, The Disorientation Sets In”
Imagine you live in a city where being single is prohibited. When your wife leaves you, you are taken to a hotel, where you have 45 days to find your next partner. If you fail, you are either turned into an animal of your choice, or expelled into the forest where you’ll be hunted down.
That’s the preposterous premise of The Lobster, a brilliant movie by Yorgos Lanthimos Continue reading “The Lobster (2015, UK)”
Ever since we left our familiar life in Israel, and moved to the Аmerican continent, we haven’t stayed long in one place. Six months living in Vancouver, five months in Mexico, two months in the heat and rain of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, four months in Colombia, followed by Ecuador and Peru. One of the things I have been enjoying most about this nomadic lifestyle is the sense of living in the present. Gone are the days of planning holidays, vacations, next career steps. In a few days we’ll pack our bags again and head to Chile. How long are we going to stay there? I don’t know, and that’s what I love about it. Continue reading “Dear Expat, So Where is Your Home?”
If an alien anthropologist would have landed on Earth and could visit only one city to learn about us, he would probably go to Mexico City. Walking its streets is traversing our story as humanity. The magnitude and scope of what it is here is breathtaking. So where do you start? You start by walking the Tacuba avenue – the oldest street in the city… and the entire continent. Continue reading “From Aztec Pyramids to Mexican Rock On the Oldest Street of Mexico City”
It’s called elote in Mexico. Mazorca in Colombia. In Ecuador and Peru it goes by the name choclo. Get your corn on the cob on the street, with cheese and mayonnaise on top.
In Peter Greenaway’s recent movie “Eisenstein in Guanajuato”, the famous Soviet film director arrives to Guanajuato to shoot a movie. After spending a few days in the city, he has a severe diarrhea, on which he comments: “In Russia you are always constipated, but here it’s the opposite…”.
Having spent my childhood in Russia, and having traveled enough time in Mexico, I can attest to some truth in Eisenstein’s character’s words.
Continue reading “Guanajuato, Maybe The Most Abundant City in Mexico”
If you haven’t seen Darren Aronofsky new film Mother!, maybe you shouldn’t be reading this. Not because I’m going to spoil the plot but because I’ll be putting ideas in your head about what the movie is about. And that could diminish your enjoyment in trying to figure it out for yourself.
Mother! is an allegorical movie, a film whose literal plot hardly hides its mythical ambitions. But unlike some other enigmatic movies who are too cryptic to even try to untangle them (David Lynch enjoys making those), Mother! is open for almost too many interpretations. Which one is the “right one”? Or maybe we are looking at a stack of pieces put together from multiple puzzles, instead of a single one? Whatever it is, the experience is profoundly captivating. Continue reading “Mother! (US, 2017)”
The town of Atotonilco, just 20 minutes outside of San Miguel de Allende is mostly known for its church complex, declared UNESCO World Heritage. Called the “Sistine Chapel of Mexico” due to the mural work that adorns it, Sanctuary of Atotonilco is probably the best half-day trip you can make from San Miguel. Since it lies on the main road to Dolores Hidalgo, you can see both sites on the same day, tracing the Mexican independence movement and its religious underpinnings. Continue reading “Sanctuary of Atotonilco, the “Sistine Chapel of Mexico””
On one of the weekends during our stay in San Miguel de Allende we took a bus to the nearby town of Dolores Hidalgo. Considered the cradle of Mexican Independence, it’s a great day trip for anyone even marginally interested in Mexican history. And chances are, you’ll see here more visitors from other parts of Mexico than foreigners.
Continue reading “Dolores Hidalgo, The Birthplace of Mexican Independence”
Symbols have power over us. When two seemingly unrelated events occur at the same time, our brain unwillingly makes a connection, and strange conclusions follow. That’s how I know for sure that my youth has ended in the last days of October of 2013. Continue reading “The Day I Knew My Youth Has Ended”
