You’ve probably seen her on the beach in San Juan del Sur, walking four dogs (one with the gait of a three-legged dog) and transporting on her hand a white parrot. She always has a smile and a wave when I greet her as I pass, typically going in the opposite direction. Well, as much of a wave as she can give with four leashes in one hand and a parrot in the other. It’s usually her parrot hand that waves, and for a split second I think the parrot, with its flutter of feathers as her hand briefly lifts …

A house with a blue fence and a pair of long johns. A girl with her dog in her arms. A girl sitting in a window with her foot resting on her bike. A green bus under a green tree. A green lizard frozen in fear. A house. An empty house. Or is it?

I am an avid reader. Probably an addict. I can no sooner imagine a life without books as I can a morning without coffee. And if I had to give one up, it would be coffee. In the last four days I have read three books: two memoirs (one by U.S. Supreme Court Judge, Sonia Sotomayor, and one by a man who is blind) and a fictional memoir (set in Baghdad). My favorite genres are Memoirs and Historical Fiction preferably set in foreign countries. I was raised in the States and in Puerto Rico. The two things I loved most …

So much has been written about how wonderful Nicaraguans are, and with good reason. Where I used to live in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA, we had a saying: We came for the winter but stayed for the summers. (It is a lovely ski resort town, with perfect, albeit brief, summers.) In San Juan del Sur, the saying could easily be: We came for the beauty, but stayed for the people. My husband and I have never known a warmer, kinder, more quick to smile and help, group of people than Nicaraguans. But today I found my gratefulness expanding to include …

Did you know that a lit candle keeps the flies away? I didn’t know this before, but I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes so now I know for sure. I love eating in town at the market. The food is good and plentiful and the price is right (80 cordobas for this breakfast + 20 cordobas for fresh juice, so 100 cordobas or $3.12 US). Because of the flies, juices are served in a glass covered by a plastic bag with a hole for the straw. What was new this week though was the lit candle. It worked! Those …

My husband and I live on the other side of the river from the town of San Juan del Sur, in the Barrio La Talanguera which is below the Christ statue. We don’t own a car, so almost daily and sometimes more than once a day we walk into town via the beach. If the tide is low enough we can easily wade across the river at the spot where it spills into the ocean in small rivulets. We’re always wearing shorts and sandals for just such an occasion. Sometimes the tide is a bit high and the brackish water …

Tomorrow is November 2nd, the Day of the Dead. Today is the day that flower vendors set up shop at the park in front of the church. I have no ancestors buried here.I have no family graves or tombstones or mausoleums to visit, to clean, to adorn with flowers. I have not seen my grandmother’s or my mother’s grave, nestled side by side as they are, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, since we buried my mother there eleven years ago. We assume the cemetery attendants will take care of their gravesite. Honestly, I have not thought about the care of their …