Jim

Every culture has its way of seeing the world, but also its way of dealing with the world through language.

One year ago, Jiab and I were hiking El Camino de Santiago, the famed pilgrims’ way Ironically, I realize that the same thing that buoyed us on the long trek is what helps us endure the confinement of today, the mutual support of others in the same situation.

Greetings around the world vary, but they all have something in common; they feel awkward at first to foreigners.

When there is a concerted chorus of medical expertise saying we should stay home and keep safe distances, why are so many Americans still ignoring or even openly defying this advice? Many address this as a moral/ethical issue. I tend to look at things from a behavioral economics point of view.

By moving to Spain, one surrenders a sense of belonging while working that many take for granted, like background noise. Strangely, being in a lock down in Spain has revealed the many connections we had forged in just a year’s time.

The first time Jiab and I came to Granada to check it out as a possible new home, we decided to visit the University of Granada (UGR).  We wanted to see what adult-education programs they might have available, especially for learning Spanish. We hailed a cab, and I told the driver we wanted to go … Read more Universal knowledge

When does a pastime, that little thing that adds extra enjoyment to life, become an essential part of one’s life? When does it move from being parsley on the side of the plate to being a course on its own? Most everyone has something: collecting, a sport, an art. It starts as moments when one … Read more It’s never pastime

Potential retirees do lots of pre-planning to get there, but what about just after? Then what? Where even is “there?”

There is an old Spanish story, and by old, I don’t mean American 100-years old; I mean Spanish old, in that it is said to have happened in the 1200’s.

Jiab came home from her guitar lesson the other day, coming in as she often does slightly tired from the walk back from the city center, with a guitar almost as big as she is ported on her shoulders like an oddly-shaped backpack. As she recounted her morning, however, she told me of a mildly … Read more Out of the zone