Live An Adventure Podcast

One of the writers I admire most is Augusto Monterroso. He was born in Guatemala in 1921 and died in Mexico City in 2003.  Monterroso is often credited with writing the world's shortest story, "El Dinosaurio" ("The Dinosaur"), published in Obras completas (Y otros cuentos). The story reads, in its entirety: Cuando despertó, el dinosaurio todavía estaba allí. "When [s]he awoke, the dinosaur was still there." Carlos Fuentes wrote of Monterroso (referring specifically to The Black Sheep and Other Fables): "Imagine Borges' fantastical bestiary having tea with Alice. Imagine Jonathan Swift and James Thurber exchanging notes. Imagine a frog from Calaveras County who has seriously read Mark Twain. Meet Monterroso."  Another review online: Occasionally one stumbles over a book, without expectations, and finds a small gem -- and wonders how it can have gone unnoticed so long. Monterroso is, of course, not unnoticed. Anyone who reads Span...

After sleeping in the coziest, smallest room with the softest pillow, in a small hostel called Macondo, I feel like writing. I left bolivia 15 days ago  (written July of 2006) to travel for 2 months in Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. I am falling in love with Latin America again. A year ago I was considering going back to the US and after much thinking I decided to go South instead of North. I am so glad I did! Ecuador has been simply awesome: walking the colonial narrow streets filled with magnificent buildings in Quito, while pouring rain fell on me! Exploring the deserted beaches of Galapagos where lazy sealions soak up the sun while the young ones swam up to our boat to greet us, playfully circling and jumping out of the water. Wandering around Guayaquil in the old barrio of Peñas I stumbled into the coolest eatery. A family began a business by literally opening their house to sell food, with children running around and a teen daughter with...

After 10 months in my beautiful Guatemala, spending time with my family and directing a small school, I am in Bucharest, Romania where I will be teaching Spanish to grades 1 to 5 for 2 years!!  On August    5th 2010 I flew to Bucharest via Mexico and Frankfurt. M y new school, American International School of Bucharest  http://www.aisb.ro/ , is a world IB school, which means I made it to the major leagues as far as international schools go.  I found a great apartment overlooking a lake only 15 minutes drive from school. AISB has provided me with a blue VW Polo to use during my contract. I've been driving for 2 weeks now, and I am beginning to not need a map to get around town. The teachers and the administration at my school are the best. Everyone has been extremely friendly and helpful. My principal and vice-principal are amazing. It's a pleasure to work with such professionals who are passionate about education. I have colleagues from the US, Can...

If you have only 10 days, you can enjoy the best that Guatemala has to offer. The following itinerary will help you see as much as you can in a short amount of time without running ragged. After all, it’s a vacation. Day 1 Fly into Guatemala City around lunchtime. Take the afternoon to visit the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología or the Museo Popol Vuh and Museo Ixchel (next door to each other) for a crash course on the Mayan civilization. Enjoy dinner in one of Guatemala City’s excellent restaurants. Days 2–3 Take an early-morning flight out of Guatemala City to Flores, the gateway to the Mayan ruins in Tikal National Park, in the northern Petén department. Tikal is the most famous of Guatemala’s Mayan sites and boasts impressive temple pyramids. Spend all day exploring the ruins and enjoying the sublime jungle environment. You have the option of staying at the park and seeing the sunrise over the rainforest from the top of Temple IV or heading back sou...

The Power of Being Alive All I could think of was to move one foot after the other. I had a hard time breathing and the headache pounding me like a hammer did not help. This was a message from my brain telling me I should be on lower ground, not at 6,000 m (18,000 ft) on top of Huayna Potosi near La Paz in Bolivia. It was 3 in the morning, at midnight I had woken up and put on 3 pairs of socks, 3 pants, 2 fleeces, 1 jacket, and 2 hats to begin the final ascent to the summit at 6,088 m (20,000 ft). I tried to think of my family and friends to forget the excruciating effort I was making. I brought to my mind the image of a hammock waiting for me in the tropics in a couple of months at home. Then I stopped thinking altogether. I concentrated on walking.  After a couple of hours which felt like a couple of weeks, for a fleeting moment, I asked myself: Why in the world are you here? I answered myself immediately: because you wanted to. Yes, I wanted to challenge myself by climbi...

There's this ‘thing' we refer to as the presence of God. I'm not sure if there is another way of labeling it or a more clever turn of phrase to correctly describe it. But then again I like the phrase the presence of God: that's exactly what it is. It does what it says on the tin. It's when God is near, it's when God feels closer than the air in a steam room. It's when all this talk about ‘it' becomes talk about ‘Him'. And if we believe that God is not dead but alive, it is the most precious ‘commodity' we have. When Jesus left earth to be with his father again he said that he would leave his ‘spirit' with us. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost, our comforter. It's the ‘spirit' that breathes life into the law. Now, laws are good but we know from the whole of human history that no one can keep them all. The law is just half the story - that's all it can only ever be. The ‘bestsellers' - the ones that have the whole st...

I arrived in Madrid on Dec 19, 2007 at 3 am. The first question was: Do I pay a cab to get to the hostel or do I wait for the metro to start operating at 6am? I decided to get to the hostel. I had to crash on a couch until 8 am in the common area of Cat's hostel so I would not have to pay for the night, I had a budget to keep. Cat's hostel is a restored Arab home with beautifully intricate geometric designed walls with a fountain in the middle of the courtyard. After getting my bed in the dorm, I stepped out of the hostel and it was raining. I headed to the Prado museum trying to stay dry. I prayed for better weather. Once inside the museum, Velazquez and Goya, along with the best of 16th - 17th century art, were represented in a display of baroque and religious art unparalleled anywhere in the world. The best thing about the Prado was that I got in for free with my international teacher card :-) My friends had to pay 9 euros. By the time we walked out the rain had stopped. We...

Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away! You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go. You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street. And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air. Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you. And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too. Oh! The Places You’ll Go! You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers ...

Roatán , located between the islands of  Útila  and  Guanaja , is the largest of  Honduras '  Bay Islands . The island was formerly known as  Ruatan  and  Rattan . It is approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) long, and less than 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) across at its widest point. DIVING The Roatan Marine Park (RMP) is a grass roots, community-based, non-profit organization located on Roatan. Our organization was formed in January 2005 when a group of concerned dive operators and local businesses united in an effort to protect Roatan’s fragile coral reefs. Initially, it was our goal to run a patrol program within the Sandy Bay-West End Marine Reserve (SBWEMR), to prevent over exploitation through unsustainable fishing practices. Over time, we expanded the scope of our environmental efforts through the addition of other programs encompassing the entire island. The RMP runs a broad range of activities to protect Roatan’s natural reso...

I just wanted to share some great news. I have been a principal of Christian American School of Guatemala for 4 months now. It has been a great blessing but it has been challenging at times. About 10 years ago I had the goal/dream to teach in every continent, and now I am closer to realizing that dream: In August I will be moving to Bucharest! Y A Y! I will be teaching at http://www.aisb.ro/ I like what Wikipedia says in the introduction for this city: In Romanian the word stem "bucur" means 'glad', 'joy', in Albanian, 'bukur' signifies 'beautiful' and 'esht' signifies 'is', literally translated as 'it is beautiful'. I am so thankful to God for giving me this time in my country Guatemala and for this opportunity to teach in Europe. Most of all I praise Him for His constant love in my life. I continue attending http://frater.org/ where I have made great friends whom I will miss. I am looking forward to finding a chu...

These past two weeks my mom visited from Los Angeles !! We had an amazing time together. We visited my grandma and had a beautiful family reunion for Christmas. My job as director of Christian American School is going great !! Students, parents, teachers, and the owners of the school are very happy with me. We had over 100 relatives come to the Christmas Play where every child participated and it was a complete success!! God has blessed me so much this year, I am so thankful !! I give glory to Jesus for everything He is doing in my life and I am so excited to see what His Plans for me in 2010 !! I pray that God Almighty bless your life in each day of 2010 and I you may come to know the power and beauty of His Presence in this New Year!!  My church in Guatemala City  http://frater.org/ ESPANYOL Estas dos semanas mi mama vino a visitarme desde Los Angeles !! Tuvimos un tiempo maravilloso juntos. Visitamos a mi abuelita y tuvimos una bella reunion familiar para Navidad. ...

A Step of Faith In September of 2008 I began a new phase in my life. Since then I have been refocusing my perspective in life and renewing my faith in God. From the moment I decided to recommit my life to God I knew He would take care of me. All I needed to do was to trust Him completely. He has been merciful (as He always is) and I have been blessed with all kinds of blessings since then. Each day I can see His love in my life. At times it has not been easy, but I have experienced a peace and happiness that goes beyond any circumstance around me. After teaching 2 years in Egypt I am back in Guatemala staying with my brother, sister, nieces and nephews. My mom is planning to come visit from California in December! Professionally there are exciting possibilities ahead for me. Doors are opening for me to teach in Guatemala, US, Germany and South Africa in the near future. No matter where I go (or if I stay) I will continue seeking His will for my life. Living life with Jesus is the...