Oct 30 - Off To The National Theatre To Watch University Students Stage A Tribute To Ruben Dario

I don't get much of
this cancion profana
But it's a sweet night

Oct 29 - A Lament For The 9,000 Crocodiles Who Are Dying In Honduras Because Their Wealthy Owner Got Tripped Up By Anti-Drug Laws

Poor cocodrilos
Your owner washes money
And you starve for it

Oct 28 - My Journey Home From Work Brings A Revelation About Stress, Which Is That When Things Are Beyond Your Control And Nothing Goes As Planned, You Just Relax And Go With It

Jam-packed buses. Cars
parked all crazy. Powerless,
I walk on, unfazed

Oct 27 - While It's Always Nice To Get Invited To An Embassy Reception, I'm Reminded Of My Lowly Status. Still, The Gin And Tonics Are Great

I am networking
Though no one cares to meet me
Come on! I'm useful!

Oct 26 - One Of The Haikus That Taught Me A Painful Lesson

A haiku was here
But I should have stayed silent
This day forgotten

Oct 25 - I Accompany Kate And Her German Friend Adrian to El Torovenado, Which Turns Out To Be A Pretty Crazy And Inexplicable Event

A cross-dressing man
Faking childbirth on the street
That's one weird parade

Oct 24 - In Which We Consider Whether To Go To A Giant Rave That Sprays 100 Gallons Of Paint On The Audience Every Minute

"Life in Color?" Nah
My hair. Paul's eyeglasses. Shoes
A movie instead

Oct 23 - And We're Off To The North Country For A Concert

Our three ample butts
are destined to be crushed tight
for six long hours

Oct 22 - Much Walking Through The Residential Streets Of Masaya In Search Of The Mysterious Host Of Vela Del Candil

Kerosene spectres
Lead us on a strange, loud trek
Where band wars await

Oct 21 - Great To Have Technology But I Still Miss The Grandkids

Sweet little cherub
We'll play peekaboo by Skype
And snuggle later

Oct 20 - It's Like When You Wake Up After A Nightmare And Feel So Relieved To Know That Real Life Awaits

Is this hope I feel?
The Bad Man is gone; today
we are born again

Oct 19 - An Unmemorable Day Of Many Airports, Except For Arriving Back In Managua At The Same Moment As The Celebrated Boxer Chocolatito

Cool! Day-night windows
I treasure small distractions
On a travel day

Oct 18 - Were It Up To Me, I Would Have Skipped At Least One Of These Two-For-One Buffets And Ditched At Least One Show. But Hey, Maybe That's Just Me

There's no time for fun
in the serious pursuit
of Vegas savings

Oct 17 - You Can't Beat Las Vegas And The Non-Stop Activities Planned By Terry Hepburn When It Comes To A Memorable 90th Birthday

The birthday queen shines
in her purple tiara
Rolling through the crowds

Oct 16 - I Wake Up In Vegas

Highlights: Ping Pang Pong
Book of Mormon. Sister feuds.
Deep-fried oreos

Oct 15 - Eight Brutally Uninteresting Hours In The Los Angeles Airport, Still Sick From The Mondongo Experience

I'm cold, bored and lost
in the badly designed mess
that is LAX

Oct 14 - Lunch At My Final Forum Pushes Me Over The Edge Into The Usual Mysterious Gastro-Intestinal Thing

Mondongo? Please, no
My belly revolts, sending
me to bed by 6

Oct 13 - One More Day Of Public Forums In Small Nicaraguan Towns And I Am Off For A Very Different Kind Of Adventure

OK, that's enough
Four in a row wears me out
Vegas, let's do this

Oct 12 - The Rio Blanco Municipal Forum Is Small But Mighty

Poca gente, true
But they put on a good show
With a feel-good end

Oct 11 - On The Road To Matagalpa For More Forums, And This Time There's Way More Room In The Car

Leaving Managua
smells like death on the drive north
Murdered cows' revenge

Oct 10 - Poetry Night At Cafe Mara Mara, And How Cool That The Baca Loca Is Here

Fish sandwiches and
the sound of women's voices
Power in their verse

Oct 9 - Disturbing Stories Of Two Years Of Drought Mark The Meeting In Terrabona

Despair and anger
Crops withered, animals dead
Farmers abandoned

Oct 8 - I Get Off The Bus At Pollo Estrella And Ask Two Salon Workers For Directions To Tika Bus, Then Later Think, "They Seem Nice"

Look, I'm a real girl!
Getting a salon haircut
Such a deal: Nine bucks

Oct 7 - A Roadside Stop In The Self-Acclaimed Quesillo Capital Of Nicaragua, But At Least It's An Excuse To Get Out Of The Car

We all came so far
for a one-hour meeting
Though I did buy cheese

Oct 6 - Five People, Six Hours In A Small Cab Heading To Nueva Guinea

I clutch the grab-strap
Butt sliding, spine twisted; shoes
and dignity gone

Oct 5 - The Ugly Responses To My Saad Gaya Post Get Me Fantasizing About A Ruthless Cull Of My Facebook "Friends"

Racist, uninformed
Why do I know these people?
Too stupid to think

Oct 4 - I Am Unable To Walk

So embarrassing
Who gets laid up by blisters?
I read in the sun

Oct 3 - My First Pool Day At Hotel Los Pinos Doesn't Go Quite As Planned But Is Still Pretty Nice, Although The Walk Makes My Foot Blister Gigantic

I sun beneath clouds
The pool's cloudy, too, but wet
What more can you ask?

Oct 2 - A Young And Enthusiastic Student Says We Should Have A Special Incidencia Section, And She's Probably Right

I'm telling myself
that editing these programs
strengthens my Spanish

Oct 1 - Off To UCA For A Radio Show On Ley 717, Though Mostly The Guests Want To Talk About How Awful The Drought Is

This room is so cold
My sweat-soaked T-shirt might freeze
Tropical shivers