Not From Here

Guatemala, Mi Amor: Day Two (The Return)

March 30, 2024March 30, 2024 First Person ForeignCultural Difference

I watched the driver reach for the machete with his free hand as we careened across the InterAmerican Highway. With his hand clasping the wheel, he used the machete to push something unstuck. There we were, all[…]

Guatemala, Mi Amor: Day One, Phoenix to Mexico to Guate to Mayan Punishment

March 24, 2024March 30, 2024 First Person ForeignArizona

After much separation anxiety, I decided to leave my computer in my small apartment in Phoenix. For lack of a better term, I call Phoenix home. As a woman living alone, and just becoming more[…]

My Seven Places

March 2, 2024 First Person Foreigncoffee

There are actually big, sad, tragic events happening concurrently in hospitals inches from my breath, if air moves, and in zip codes I’ve never known except on the faith of my own imagination and the[…]

Las montañas: Returning to Guatemala, 1

February 26, 2024 First Person ForeignBeauty

So, I booked a trip. I’ve been lucky to book so many before, but this one took some plotting. All of the layovers on the US dollar looked egregious: red eyes on opposite coasts, or[…]

To (actual) Mexico from (Used-to-be) Mexico

March 7, 2023March 10, 2023 First Person ForeignCompany

April 26, 2022: Just like with anything, anywhere, the more you learn, the less you know. The same can be said of languages, countries and, well, life itself. I like to travel because it reminds[…]

Day Three: Sonora Solo Travel

March 27, 2022March 27, 2022 First Person ForeignArizona

How can borders be so simple and so strange? I am driving and I pass over an invisible line and everything changes: the pavement, the signs, the language on the signs, miles into kilometers, food[…]

Day Two in Sonora: Running

March 14, 2022March 15, 2022 First Person ForeignBeauty

I arrived to my destination, Hermosillo, and I cast myself into the unmentionable details: the personality of the sidewalk, the road signs, the things Hermosillenos don’t consciously notice because who thinks about sidewalks? Like myself[…]

Driving to México

October 23, 2020October 23, 2020 First Person ForeignArizona

This post may be triggering on the topic of anxiety and mortality. México is the most misunderstood country I’ve ever been to. It is stunning. It is a hidden gem. It is full of fighters[…]

It takes bravery to be a teacher

September 5, 2020September 5, 2020 First Person ForeignBeauty

Before I begin this post, I adhere to the rules of FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. I will never reveal my students’ identities, their performance in my classes, or reveal anything about them[…]

On the Border (4): The Lecture

February 2, 2020February 15, 2020 First Person ForeignArizona

In this post, I write about a lecture I attended. To reference the slides from the lecture, here they are. I had a wonderful Monday. Not even as Mondays go, but like, a wonderful day[…]