Bring on the Buddha

Christ the king, Swiebodzin, Poland This week’s Camino a Ítaca reflects on giant Buddha’s and takes us to a frozen, muddy field in western Poland to see a Marvel-inspired Jesus. Read the original Spanish piece here or the English below. Tambien se puede ver el original en castellano abajo en PDF. I first caught a glimpse of…

Pan Sin Gracia

The Camino a Ítaca loops back to an article I wrote years ago retelling a story my father-in-law once told me about the bread that was meant to keep them going. This fuses with stories of immigrants who have settled in this land of emigrants and the bread that binds it all together. Click over…

The Eighth Trumpet

Koranic Learning An academic detour on this week’s Camino a Ítaca and a look at Spain’s uncertain Back-to-school week. With COVID contagion rates soaring above the WHO recommended levels, it’s more than likely only a matter of time before classes move online. If the recommended distance wasn’t enough to kill cooperative learning, online classes will…

WANTED

  This week’s stroll along the Camino a Ítaca circles back to Azerbaijan and beyond. Memories of images of Strong Men, Royalty and Dictators crying out to be loved and admired. Read the English version below or click over to the published version in Spanish.  Even though it was against my better judgement, I just…

Gods and Civil Servants

Stability or … much needed change. The next stop on the Camino a Ítaca…civil servants and premature death. Read the original Spanish version here or the English below. The frayed, red and white plastic tape spun around in the wind, cordoning off the area like a crime scene. Large blocks of faded plastic lay like…

Fear and Loathing in Siberia

COVID has created our own Siberias. My next installement on the Camino de Ítaca travels from Vladivostok all the way to Extremadura. Click over to the original Spanish version or the English one below. We were somewhere around Chita on the blurry edges of Mongolia and China when the vodka really started flowing. I remember,…

Laugh to Keep from Crying

I drink to keep from worrying and I smile to keep from crying In another stop along along the Camino a Ítaca op-ed trail, outsiders. The ‘other’ that so many fear for some many reasons. Click over to read the originally published version in Spanish or the piece’s beginnings in English below.