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A life in Colombia
Browsing All Posts published on »March, 2012«
Forget Rio’s infamous favela: I’ve seen it all in Liverpool
I sat down at my computer today to tell you how I walked around a favela, one of those notoriously impoverished, crime-ridden communities huddled on the hills of Rio de Janeiro. But I’ve changed my mind. Instead I’m going to tell you a story about a land far away – 5,800 miles to be exact. […]
The Ugly Truth: Katherine Heigl, the control freak… and me
March 25, 2012
About a year ago, I went on a date with someone who failed to fall for my grace, beauty and buckets of charm. I know this because he never called me again. He did, however, make clear his disdain for women who “like to control everything”. At some point during the course of the evening […]
Pride and Prejudice: Dancing with the devil in Buenos Aires
March 21, 2012
Argentine men are dangerously attractive and the one who approached me, the blonde girl in the smoky Buenos Aires nightclub, was taller, darker and more handsome than most. The alarm bell sounded. It was time to walk the thin line between being prissy and not wishing to waste anybody’s time. “I have a boyfriend,” I […]
Do beards and ‘man buns’ really grow on you?
March 17, 2012
Alright, let’s be honest. How many truly gorgeous men are there in the world with three centimetres of fur on their faces? A Shipwrecked Tom Hanks? John Lennon in 1970? I always seem to stick my neck out for Señor Guevara – an exception in so many ways – but beyond him, nope. Huge hippie […]
Forget the ‘Malvinas’: Let’s fight about tango
March 14, 2012
There wasn’t a chance in hell that Pablo wasn’t going to ask the one question I’m not particularly fond of answering. “Where are you from?” he began. I arranged my features into their now familiar half-apologetic, half dumb-blonde-girl pose. The message is clear: I’m English, but I’m far too nice and innocent to know anything […]
Is Perito Moreno just the tip of the iceberg?
March 12, 2012
I really do develop some strange obsessions. When I first arrived in Latin America I loved Latin names so much I collected them – I used to write the most elaborate in an old notebook, that is now filled with random Seraphims and Octavios whom I’ll never see again. I’ve collected doorknockers in Cartagena – […]
Chao for now, Chile
March 8, 2012
Patagonia can be a confusing place. Obviously, it’s spectacularly beautiful but, when you’re trying to navigate it, you feel a bit like Christopher Columbus must have done when he first sat down with a sketch of the world. You know you’re going somewhere, you’re just not really sure where and you definitely have no idea […]
Is it finally time to take the ‘P’ out of Chile?
March 5, 2012
Gathered around a huge wooden dining table, slowly devouring a bottle of wine, I asked a fellow tourist the first three words that entered his mind when I said the word ‘Chile’. (Back then I was still confused by the country, a little worried I was missing something.) “Pinochet,” he replied. I forget the other […]
101 Reasons to love Torres del Paine
March 3, 2012
1. Even the bus ride to the park will take your breath away. 2. Man doesn’t live on bread alone. He actually lives on powdered packet food. 3. People who work in the park smile. All the time. 4. You can walk over 100km and somehow every step is better than the last. 5. Everyone […]
March 31, 2012
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