Trading Green for Green: The Truth About Costa Rica’s ‘Eco’ism
With a wild screech, a monkey springs from the trees and grabs our backpack. The pack sits unattended on a bench, but within a few feet of my hand. The monkey knows to grab the straps. But it miscalculates the weight of the pack and cannot leap back into the trees from the bench. My
A Bright Spot in an Otherwise Darkened Egypt
In The Art Newspaper, Fellow Jonathan Guyer reviews Egyptian artist Mohamed Abla’s new show “On the Silk Road.” The 60 mixed-media works are inspired by fairy tales and mythology, and exhibited at the ministry of culture’s premier space. In his review, Guyer situates Abla’s practice within the broader politics of art in Egypt today. Abla has
A Coast with No Water
All I can see are breaking waves. I stand up on the lazarette and lean onto the dodger to steady the binoculars. There is supposed to be a channel clearly marked with lighted buoys, our first entrance to Nicaragua. We left Honduras early and had a favorable current pushing us south from the Gulf of
Blog: Five Cartoons about Cairo’s Cathedral Bombing
December 16, 2016 Cartoonists for Egyptian newspapers regularly draw in the wake of a tragedy. On December 11, a suicide bomber attacked attacked St. Paul and St. Peter Church, leaving 25 dead and 50 injured. While Egypt has experienced targeted assassinations, attacks on police outposts, and a plane crash in recent times, the strike on
Reinvent the Wheel
One of the highest-ranked schools in America today, Horace Mann in the Bronx, is named after one of the early advocates for “common schooling” — the notion that we should pool our money to fund institutions of education that all children attend. These days, the school carrying his namesake charges an annual tuition of $43,300,
Honduras and the Hurricane
Under full sail, we enter the only bay in the world shared by three countries. It’s first light, and a stiff breeze disperses the overnight storms. A thunderstorm guarded the mouth of the bay last night, flashing and stomping but breaking up with the sunrise wind. When I take the helm and Josh goes below
For Girls’ Empowerment: What’s Education Got to Do With It?
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela ABUJA, Nigeria – “Are you sure you know where you are coming to?” asked my cousin in-law as we approached the northwestern state of Kaduna after a two hour road trip from Abuja. He was dropping me off
Beginning Where I Began
In the 2008 edition of the Lonely Planet guidebook, the village of Majene falls near the fold of the map, but is not mentioned anywhere else in that edition. I made this observation in July of that same year, having just learned I would be spending my next nine months there. As I didn’t speak any
Not Too Young: Youth Leadership and Girls’ Empowerment in Nigeria
“This country belongs to you but it’s under the stranglehold of men and women of a generation that have overreached itself. The truth is that nothing will be ceded or conceded to your generation without a fight.”[1] – Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the Nigerian House ABUJA, Nigeria – Touching
The Brewing Storm: Coffee Steeped in Climate Change
I walk into the cabin and have to suppress a gasp. My friend Jon sits on the bed, his entire body covered in lumpy, bright red hives. “My lips feel weird. They’re all swollen.” “I gave him the allergy pill already,” Shannon, his partner, is unnecessarily tidying, something I have noticed she does when she