Good crazy woman

Last Wednesday, September 12th, I listened to the live radio interview of a Colombian actress, Eileen Moreno. She gave her version of a brutal beating she received from her boyfriend, the also actor Alejandro Garcia, during a stay in Mexico. Her recounting of the events–which occurred almost two months ago–was nothing but gruesome.

As was to be expected, the Colombian social media erupted in an overwhelming support for the actress under the hashtag #NiUnaMas (not one more). Celebrities, politicians, and the general public joined in by posting their selfies covering one eye, imitating Eileen Moreno’s public complaint image. Continue reading “Lack of Compassion”

Last Monday, I listened to an audio that went viral in my home country. It was a radio caller on Colombia’s most listened morning station; the caller wanted to give his opinion about the day’s topic, the illicit drug personal dose.

The radio caller was a dad named Carlos, and he began his testimony detailing how he found eight providers of marijuana, ecstasy, and acids in his seventeen-year-old son’s cell phone. He also found the conversations that proved the transactions to acquire the illicit drugs.

Continue reading “Micro-dealers”

A funny way to describe the health of people who drink on a daily basis is that they are “pickled”. However, the belief that alcohol–one drink for women, and two for men–is beneficial is being questioned as of last week.

Last Friday, August 23th, the medical journal The Lancet published the results of a study conducted between 1990 and 2016 in 195 countries and territories. The initiative was sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The object of study was to determine the impact of alcohol consumption in general and to debate the popular association of health benefits with moderate consumption. The data was arranged every five years, and divided by ages 15 to 95 worldwide. Continue reading “Health Drop by Drop”

On Monday, August 13th commemorated the death of probably the most important political comedian in Colombia, Jaime Garzon. Nineteen years ago, his life was taken by hired assassins because he dared to create humor without a political affiliation.

He did the one thing that many aspire to do but only a few accomplish: becoming the voice of the people and uniting the citizens against the corruption and abuses of the Government. Continue reading “Funny Power”

The Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) Trek in Colombia has become a must on the bucket-list of eco-tourists around the world; many people are disenchanted by the commercialization of Machu Picchu in Peru, and have labeled the Lost City of the Tairona tribe the best challenge in South America.

Compared to the Inca ruins, built around 1450 A.D., it is estimated that the Tairona’s were established 650 years prior, 800 B.C. Moreover, while Machu Picchu can be accessed via foot, train, and bus, the Ciudad Perdida (known as Teyuna in the Tairona tongue) can be reached only by foot on a three day journey of 30 kilometers through the jungle. Continue reading “Another kind of adventure travel”

Last Thursday, I read the news about a mother in Colombia who took her own son to the authorities, after she watched him on a Twitter video vandalizing the city’s public transportation system.

Besides the betrayal of seeing her son become a juvenile delinquent, the single mother had to pay fines, equivalent to a month’s work.

When I read the story I felt pure admiration for that woman. I truly hope her son values what she did for him: saving his life. Perhaps not from immediate death, but from a life of crime that would have wasted the rest of his days. Continue reading “Teaching Moment”

Miami Swim Week 2018, one of the most flashed showcase in America, ended last Tuesday, and it left me worried. The controversial trend that thousands of photographic lenses captured was the adhesive duct tape bathing suits (see pictures.)

Although it doesn’t cross my mind to even try this swimwear, I can’t help but think how painful it must be to take it off. If anything, these bikinis include a free wax treatment!

However, the real sticky business with summer fashion is the stress it triggers for overweight people when planning beach vacations. In real life, the crooked angles and filters from Instagram don’t work to hide those extra pounds. Continue reading “Fasting without Penance”