Return to the Winter Bouldering Grounds

Just like the monarchs returning to Mexico in Winter, some things are seasonally determined, like a Ticino bouldering session if the weather allows in December. Until the clouds dissipated and the full sun came out there was less activity to be seen, but also like with the monarchs, the activity level really picked up once things warmed up a bit. […]

Monarchs: the rest of the story

Although it is very nice to be back in Switzerland for the holidays, and the mountains are beautiful, I am still amazed as I edit the monarch pictures. Three of us went to one of the monarch winter nesting grounds near Valle de Bravo in central Mexico. We aren’t allowed into the state of Michoacan […]

Do you have 5 minutes to help us win $50k?

I’m working with a great team of former Peace Corps Volunteers and MIT students on a new non-profit. We were selected as semi-finalists in a competition to win up to 0,000, which would get us off the ground. Making it from the top 20 to the top five requires social marketing, because the competition is […]

Coming Soon…

…irresistibly cute children for whom I have a grant application pending. My friend Micha and I are going to be raising money for school scholarships through a Peace Corps Partnership grant. These kids from marginalized, indigenous families receive scholarships to attend school through the civil association Niños y Niñas de México, A.C. These kids would […]

Christmas Crafter’s Paradise in Mexico

A couple of weeks ago I went to the market to do my normal shopping and I went in a side door. When I came out through the main door however I stumbled into a baffling array of mosses, small wooden houses, and even smaller plastic animals.  Probably due to the fact that I’m not […]

What’s mine is yours

Of course, I’m referring to the upcoming pictures in this post from the just-ended, and thanks to Aeromexico, extended visit by my guy. He arrived on Thanksgiving, and we had 5+ days together for his first visit to Mexico and our second visit since I arrived here in March. I am so happy that it […]

Day of Sustainable Technology Transfer

It just doesn’t have the same ring to it though. However, discussing Thanksgiving during my Spanish conversation group this week, we stumbled upon what the day is really about. Sure, there are the parts about sharing the bounty of the harvest, but the really lasting effects were the knowledge transfer and capacity building from the […]

They really are more cosmopolitan in the big city.

Alternate titles considered: “Tongue-tied with awesomeness” (yellow one with 3 tongues) “Pure awesomeness” “Ever had one of those days” (for the green, googly-eyed one) Something to do with the injustice of Marie Curie’s head ending up on a float Although they are all true in their own way, I couldn’t find the perfect image to […]

Working… Expocyteq and Cinvestav

I don’t write a lot about work for a variety of reasons, but yesterday was a good primary project day. I worked at my site’s booth in a science and technology exposition for kids. The focus of our booth was alternative energy, and there was a hands-on activity where the kids got to see wind, […]

To Remember: next year buy tickets.

Just like everyone warned me, it is best to have tickets to some actual shows during the Festival Cervantino in Guanajuato. However, I still wanted to check out the scene. The arts festivals here in my town have been so amazing, and this Cervantes festival is much more famous. So, while I was prepared and […]

(tee hee) I found some sustainable development at the office.

I’ve been meaning to take my new, big zoom lens to work for a while to capture the amazing insect world out there. Finally I remembered this week, and then the problem was that I had a lot of work to do. I kept trying to leave the office a bit early in the evening […]

My resolve is wavering.

And there is only a cat named Dulce to blame. She’s not mine, but I’m not sure that I can resist. I was going to hold fast to being a volunteer without a pet, but what am I supposed to do? I’ve got all this space and it would be pretty great to have a […]