As a typical college student I will often try to find food that is cheap while somewhat filling my stomach. A person that has become someone that I trust with my nourishment is a boss of a parilla that I frequent. She’s a middle-aged lady with blonde hair and wrinkles. She speaks typical Argentine Spanish with the speed of a typical Argentine …
Psyche in Prague
During one of my classes, we visited the National Gallery in Prague where we were exposed to different art from Czech artists, as well as artists from other countries from various periods in time. During our visit, we looked at works of art created by artists ranging from Antonin Hudecek to Milos Jiranek. And, during this visit, we came across …
The Art of Spontaneity
As we drove through Bundeena, the tiny neighborhood hidden deep within Royal National Park, golden hour began to set in and the peaceful streets in front of us seemed unusually empty. We pulled alongside a gas station and I hopped out of the car and ran to the counter. “Excuse me sir, do you know how to get to wedding …
The Soundtrack to Travel
What songs mean the most to you? The ability for music to succinctly capture a metaphysical experience, feeling, or memory is almost universal, and it’s power to transport us to a different mental state can be moving beyond belief. Throughout the last year of travelling through Europe, this marriage between music and memory has grown stronger for me as I …
Drawing at Villa La Pietra
Each Wednesday morning at 9AM, I grab my pencils, eraser and portfolio filled with crisp, white papers. I get ready for class, and head to the 25 bus to La Pietra. Why? Because I have drawing class! When I first told my friends and family I was taking a drawing class, they seemed a bit shocked. My dad chuckled and …
Hopeless but NOT Romantic
Dating is, like, the worst activity known to woman, regardless of your sexual orientation since men insert themselves in every situation. It’s tedious, boring, and often even dangerous. So let’s take it abroad! Not to give too much away, but this will not be an interesting article. I will attempt to compensate for my pathetic love life by being melodramatic. …
Prague Pictures: A Fantasy
John Banville covers many different topics of travel and of cross-cultural understanding in his description of his own trips to Prague in Prague Pictures: Portraits of a City. Through his descriptions and ponderings of his own memories of the city, gathered on numerous visits, Banville manages to convey ideas about the very essence of the city while touching on topics …
The Long Now
I’ve always thought the best way to get to know someone is to start talking trash about other people with them. I know, maybe that’s not the nicest thing ever, but finding out that you share the same cynicism as someone else creates a bond unlike any other. Many of my best friendships have started by me and the other …
Herzog’s On Walking In Ice
Werner Herzog, famed (crazed) German film director, learned in 1974 that one of his mentors, Lotte Eisner, was ill and near death. So with Herzog being Herzog, instead of taking a high speed train or plane from Munich to Paris, he decided to walk the entire distance between the two cities. He packed a compass, duffel bag, and new boots; …
Existing Regardless: Mary Cassatt
This spring, the Musée Jacquemart-André is hosting an exhibition titled Mary Cassatt: An American Impressionist in Paris, the first retrospective of Cassatt’s work held in France since the artist’s death in 1926. As a woman, Cassatt faced challenges in the art world: initially barred from entering the École des Beaux Arts, blocked from exhibitions requiring French nationality, and continually overlooked …
Strangest thing
Byron bay is the most easterly point of Australia. It is a beachside town with about 5,000 residents, and it is beautiful. In the late 1960’s, many surfers moved to Byron for the exceptional waves; by the 70’s, the town gained status as a full-on hippy oasis. Almost 50 years later, Byron possesses the same alternative charm. We arrived in …
A Room With a View (into some Italian stereotypes)
“The narrowness and superficiality of the Anglo-Saxon tourist is nothing less than a menace”. So speaks Miss Lavish when discussing how much trouble English travelers can cause when touring through Italy, specifically Florence. A Room With a View by E.M Forster can arguably be called the first modernist novel, commenting on the Edwardian values of his then-contemporary society and of …
Strangers to Friends?
Imagine being dropped off in a country where no one understands or wants you, a country in which you are described as a racial minority and one in which nationalistic and racist sentiments have only continued to rise. Naturally, you turn towards solidarity and a community who can not only identify with you but also feel compassion and sympathy. Such …
Muttersprache, Mother Tongue
He stood up to “get water” a fourth or fifth time in class, his gait bouncy and low, his sighs audible over the sound of her squeaking white-board markers. She glanced at him and acknowledged his decisions only with kind yet observant eyes, giving no attention or frustrated energy to the acts. It wasn’t respectful behavior she was observing but …
Bill Bryson’s ‘In a Sunburned Country’
When I describe my experience in Sydney to people back at home, I find myself conflicted with how to frame it. While I love the beaches, the food, and the near-perfect weather, ever since the day I landed in Sydney there has always been something a bit off. I’d attribute this unfamiliar feeling of disconnection to the jet lag or …