El retorno de "El Gabo"

"Memorias de mis putas tristes" by GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ

When the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez sit down to write the entire Spanish-speaking world sit down to read.

The most influential writer of the Spanish language for the last few decades, "El Gabo", as he is nicknamed, has single handedly created the "realismo mágico" movement.

Throughout the decades, he has chronicled with his passionate prose a Latin American world where the facts of the story mingled with the effervescent imagination of the story teller and the self-reflection of the reader.

Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 1982, García Márquez is known
worldwide for his novel "Cien Años de Soledad", a legendary best seller in Spanish and in all the languages that it has been translated into.

After the success of his memoirs "Vivir para Contarla" now "El Gabo" is back with "Memorias de mis putas tristes". I am currently reading this latest release and I will post a review soon. In the meantime, I will leave you with this quote from "Vivir para Contarla":

"La vida no es la que uno ha vivido, sino la que uno recuerda y
como la recuerda para contarla"

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Nurturing the "matador" within

After the "encierro" the bulls are released and then the fun (for the bulls) begins.

This is the week of the "Fiestas Taurinas"or "Fiestas Ferminianas" in Pamplona, Basque Country, Spain.

This is great news if you are a Bull in Pamplona because it means that you get to run over some idiots in the name of centuries-old traditions. Very specially so those tantalizing targets that come disguised as silly tourists. How nice those humans are. Throwing a party just for us. For once we can have a grand-old time and even the scores with the "matadores". They even wear white clothes so we can measure our successes by the size of the blood spills... Nice, nice.

Sharpen those horns and

AT THEM BOYS!

Olé!

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Puente del mundo. Corazón del universo.

Panama City, capital of Panama.


When I was in Panamá for about three months back in 1989 I saw this slogan almost everywhere: Panama, bridge of the world, heart of the universe.

Nice.

Now one thing is for sure, those panameños don't seem to be lacking in the self-steem department.

Nonetheless, it is a crossroads par excellence thanks to the
strategic location of its canal and their openness toward foreign capital and
commerce.

Con saludos a Lirieth.

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En mi viejo San Juan

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico


One of the most cherished memories of my college years in Puerto Rico has nothing to do with school, books, study, classes, lessons, teachers, tutors, or labs. It was beyond that. It was the city of Old San Juan, capital of the island and the seat of the greater urban center known as "el area metropolitana de San Juan".

The city's historic charm and old world vibe retains the
imprint of centuries that once were. A veritable museum of the Spanish era of
domination in the antilles.

The following is a very famous song dedicated to this cozy and unique town.

"En Mi Viejo San Juan", by Noel Estrada:

En mi Viejo San Juan, cuántos sueños forjé, en mis años de infancia...
Mi primera ilusión, y mis cuitas de amor, son recuerdos del alma. . ..
Una tarde partí hacía extraña nación, pues lo quiso el destino.Pero mi corazón, se quedó frente al mar, en mi Viejo San Juan.

Adiós, adiós - adiós,
Mi diosa del mar - mi reina del palmar
Me voy, ya me voy, pero un día volveré . .
A buscar mi querer, a soñar otra vez, en mi Viejo San Juan.

Pero el tiempo pasó y el destino burló, mi terrible nostalgia . . . Y no pude volver al San Juan que yo amé, pedacito de patria . . Mi cabello blanqueó, ya mi vida se va - ya la muerte me llama, Y no quiero morir alejado de ti Puerto Rico del alma....

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