Passion

  Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. No matter how long I live in Spain, there are words that I think I will never completely understand. When I say this, I…

Saint Who?

Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. I’ve come to know a fair number of saints, both dead and alive, since I moved out here to one of the last stops before…

Christmas Light

Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. For some, the holidays are a welcome time of routine. Of doing what you’ve always done and feeling a sense of security in knowing that…

A Nestorian Epiphany in El Pais

A successful Chinese Buddhist businesswoman who professes her devotion to a 15th century crucifixtion figure gives birth to a Nestorian satori in my first piece blogging for El Pais. Of course, all framed within the slightly morbid context of the celebration here on the decidedly european Iberian peninsula of a man’s death by torture so many years…

Easter Redux

The scent of incense, the boom of the drums and the rattle of the snares, pushy yet well dressed crowds, dolled up children trying to be pious, hooded penitents doing the same… It’s Easter once again here in Spain. Click over for a look from my window.

Springing Spring

Why does it seem that with every year, winter seems to get longer and longer? No matter how mild the year, as with this past winter here in Extremadura, the dark days of the ‘other’ equinox drag on longer than your 10th grade math teacher droning on about algebra. I even sometimes find myself wishing…