Wanderings with Dan Catena
Photo by Emma Bauso on Pexels.com Weddings are a special moment where two people begin a new chapter together in life. These events are unique in that they bring families, friends, histories, and traditions into one place for the sole purpose of celebration. I recently attended a wedding for my two friends Maria and David... Continue Reading →
Sometimes we learn valuable lessons when we least expect them. This is a short story of things I learned while traveling in Ulula del Río.
Author's note: This might have happened sometime a handful of years ago. Shades of violet began to spill upward into the sky. Rowed fields with the occasional farmhouse emerging out of nowhere became visible. On this ALSA passenger bus it was too early in the morning to hold a conversation with strangers, but... Continue Reading →
Hey, how’s it going? Did you get a haircut? We’ve met a few times but unless you’re regular of MuyBici stations, El Palmar, Esparragal, or various plazas that serve cheap coffee, you probably don’t remember me. I normally don’t write letters to cities, but today I’m in the mood to get some things... Continue Reading →
A handful of posts ago I shared some insider information in regards to finding a decent a cup of coffee in Sausalito, California plus Missoula, Montana. Both posts came with years of coffee-drinking and, more importantly, cafe-questing experience. It’s time to continue this series of posts with a city in southern Spain. Murcia, Spain has... Continue Reading →
Author’s note: No phone applications were permanently harmed during the writing of this post, and everything you are about to read definitely maybe happened. Sitting in Santo Domingo Plaza, under the protection of a dark tinted cafe tent, I was scrolling through the touchscreen of my smart phone when suddenly a crazy notion pinched me... Continue Reading →
One morning at IES Marques de los Velez, in El Palmar, Spain... As the door to the classroom opened, and a flow of sleepy students seeped through the entryway, I tried my best to give each person a smiling “good morning.” It was 8:25am and English class was this group of twenty-something teenager’s first class... Continue Reading →
When I was in first grade, my school’s Peruvian Spanish teacher Señora Buckley would sometimes reward us with Goldfish crackers whenever we did something correctly. Did you count to six? Here are six Goldfish. Were you able to say “dog” in Spanish? Here’s one Goldfish... Being only six years old, Spanish wasn’t necessarily a subject... Continue Reading →
Today is Sunday. While sitting in Piccadilly coffee, a Murcian version of Starbucks, I am enjoying the feeling of air-conditioning while organizing a jungle of papers in the form prior private English lesson plans. Outside the sun is shining and the mid-afternoon temperature is sitting at about 95 degrees Ferenheit. Back where I grew up... Continue Reading →
Visiting Gijón: In the fairly recent past I found myself sitting with forehead against bus window, watching tall, green sloped mountains pass along a highway that seemed to bend in one continuous spiral. I was somewhere in Asturias, Spain and the steep inclines that were visible from my window seat were parts of the Cantabrian Mountains.... Continue Reading →
Once upon a time in Segovia
"Have you been saved yet?" Uh oh, here we go.. "Pardon me?" "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know you didn't speak Spanish!" The elderly Logroño woman with faintly blue hair blinked at me through her soft tinted sun-glasses. "No it's ok, I speak Spanish. What did you say to me?" I already know, I'm not... Continue Reading →
After only a few minutes in the air, I felt like my life was in danger. The flight started normally – the door closed, the flight attendants and pilot greeted passengers on the loudspeakers, and we gained altitude. Moments later we hit turbulence. For a few seconds the plane rattled and shook. Ok, nothing to…
Do you feel anxious before boarding an airplane? I used to be horrified of flying until I started using these easy strategies to overcome my own fears.
There Dan Was 