Blog
A big blue eye
The first time I went to Ojo de Agua I was about seven years old. It was a Sunday in the late seventies, and I had stayed overnight with my cousins. That morning my aunt Liliana had woken up with a...
Toxic colors
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in USA recently proposed to phase out the use of synthetic food dyes due to health risks. These synthetic dyes are petroleum-based. Every day we see bright and...
Between Memes and Puzzles
Today, while trying to spend some quality time with my family, I wonder if we’ll be able to enjoy a peaceful afternoon without falling into the temptation of those small pleasures that offer an...
The Invisible Enemy
It might sound exaggerated, but no—it’s literal: we are eating plastic. Not because it’s served for lunch, or because we order it with our coffee, but because it’s there—hidden in water, in salt, in...
Between two waters
In 2016, Jurgen and I visited Playa Ventanas for the first time, in Ojochal, in the Pacific Southwest of Costa Rica. It is very easy to get to: it is about 30 km south of Dominical, on the Costanera...
The language of stones
Visiting the cultural centre in Trench Town was the best decision we made during our trip to Jamaica. Not only did we learn, in a more genuine way, how Bob Marley got his start in music, but we also...
In Praise of Bacteria
In his wildly imaginative book Imaginary Magnitude (1973), Polish author Stanislaw Lem introduces Eruntics, a fictional treatise in which a philosopher describes how he taught English to a colony of...
Teaching to Protect
When I read about the ecological challenges facing Latin America, I realize how urgent it is to change our perspective. I’m increasingly convinced that education is one of the most powerful tools we...
Multicolored squawk: A Telaraña about toucans
In January 1854, after a three-month journey from Germany to San Juan del Norte, in Nicaragua, naturalist Carl Hoffman was about to arrive to Costa Rican. The greatest adventure of his life was...
Will women save the planet?
In the 1960s, Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring (1962): one of the most influential works on environmental protection ever written. Her message went viral, long before that concept became popular....
I’m bad, so what? A “Telaraña” on hate speech
It all started with Silvio Berlusconi. Despite being accused of tax evasion, abuse of power, money laundering and rape of minors, Berlusconi was elected three times as Italy's prime minister. He was...
Kamikazes
About 25 years ago, the festivities in my town, 'Churuca', were among the most outstanding in Cartago. They were renowned for their family atmosphere and the quality of their gastronomy, with...