What in the world is a wild boar doing walking down a city sidewalk built for people? Or maybe the question ought to be: What’s a city sidewalk for people doing where wild boar live?
5,000 Colones in Costa Rica
What could represent Costa Rica better than the white-faced capuchin monkey that adorns the 5,000-colónes note? The bill even teaches a little, listing both the Spanish and Latin names for the animal. The other elements in the scene, a red mangrove and a marine crab, get similar treatment. And as on other bills, the menagerie…
Argentina in 2004 – Part 1
I learned my first useful Spanish sentence while I was already in Argentina: Perdi mi pasaporte. “I lost my passport.” Because, well, I did, in southern Patagonia, a precious few hours before my return flight to Buenos Aires, and the day before I was hoping to fly back to New York. In what would turn…
On Cats and People
When I saw this cat in a Mumbai market, I thought (obviously), “a cat.” What I didn’t think was, “an Indian cat.” Yet when I saw people in Mumbai, I thought, “Indian people.” This raises the question of whether cats or people are more similar across cultures and continents. On one hand, it’s an easy…
The Vendress
This pair at a market in Mumbai, India struck me with their immense contrast. A man and a woman. Young and old. Western clothes and eastern attire. Buyer and seller. But mostly a towering giant and a fragile Lilliputian. A friend of mine remarked that scenes like this are why she won’t visit India. It’s…
