If you’re in Australia and homesick for that Portland vibe, Melbourne is the cure. For the week of our spring break, Lu and I traveled down the east coast of Australia to the hip, happenin’ city of Melbourne, and it didn’t disappoint. Melbourne doesn’t necessarily look like Portland; its buildings and apartments are much […]
Remembering slavery
On a recent excursion to Trinidad, we took a short trip outside the city to visit a sugar plantation that has now been converted into a historical tourist attraction. We stopped on the way to admire the large expanses of fertile land, imagining the fields covered in slaves cutting sugar cane. The plantation consisted of […]
Harry Potter in Cuba
Carlos Díaz, one of Havana’s most renowned stage directors and member of the ISA’s first graduating class, is known internationally for his provocative and eccentric plays that often involve sex and nudity. Before meeting him last Monday, our class read an analysis of one of his recent plays, Las Relaciones de Clara, which explores the […]
Yelp reviews
A recurring joke throughout the semester has been the creation of a Cuba Yelp page with reviews of restaurants, paladares, bars, venues and clubs. Usually our hypothetical ratings are low in the category of consistency, but high in ambiance. Cuba’s capital has only recently become a bustling city of privately-owned businesses; only a few years […]
Into the Unknown
“the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” — H.P. Lovecraft If you had asked me three months ago whether I thought that was true, I would have told you to shove off. Everyone knows spiders are far worse that the […]