Blogs from North America - page 8221

hello from maggie's world! (sorry cameron. yes, i did copy and paste this from the email I sent you yesterday. hope you'll forgive me) well, here i am in a town called Comitan. yep, i abandoned San Cristobal because it just wasnt working out there and here everything just seemed to fall into place. i am doing my 1 month independent study project with an organization called Educacion para la paz (Edupaz) and in particular about their Economia Solidaria program which gives microcredit loans to small cooperatives and groups. So far i've interviewed an ecotourism cooperative, a coffee cooperative , a carpintry group, a family with a chicken farm, two women with clothing sales businesses, and a man with a wood purchase/sale business - all groups that have received EDUPAZ microcredit loans. so many interesting ... read more

Mittwoch hatte ich meine letzte Prüfung. Ich kann es noch immer nicht glauben. Ich bin fast fertig hier in Charlotte. Für die nächsten zwei Wochen muss ich nur noch zwei größere Aufsätze fertig schreiben und das kann ich ja jetzt in aller Ruhe angehen... Ihr fragt Euch betsimmt, was ich jetzt mit so viel Freizeit anfange und eines kann ich Euch versprechen, langweilig wird es mir nicht. Das beweisen die letzte Tage. Isabel - Honor Bankett: Isabel, meine Mitbewohnerin hat mich noch am Dienstag Abend zu einem Bankett eingeladen. Da gab es so richtig gutes Essen, ein paar kleinere Rede und Ehrungen. Das war total nett. Isabel ist einfach meine absolute Lieblingsmitbewohnerin:-) Last exam - Party Bus: Nach meiner letzten Prüfung am Mittwoch habe ich mich erst mal mit Gaby auf den Weg zum Friseur ... read more

The Outer Banks and The Eastern Shore PierceMy last day at Fort Fisher and Kure Beach was full of excitement. I finally was able to get into the library in Carolina Beach to use the internet because the day before was invaded by wild school kids. The Shirt Shack in Kure Beach was finally open for business and I made a custom t-shirt order. I spelled out my bike tour mission in big red letters on the back. "Key West to Canada" I ate a delicious crab cake sandwich at the Old Pier House Restaurant and relaxed on the beach while waiting for my shirt to be finished. Later that evening Todd and I went out to the Sea Witch for late food and brew. The next morning we went to the Pier House again for ... read more

On awaking I was to find the “Rainmaker” had cometh again it was coming down cats and dogs .I had geared up to go on the city tour south .I had to wait impatiently until the afternoon to make the adventure, at last it stopped raining but was still really cold .Picked up the bus outside the Empire State building and went down towards the Flat Iron building The Fuller Building better known as The Flat Iron Building was one of the tallest buildings in New York City upon its completion in 1902. The building, at 175 Fifth Avenue, sits on a triangular island block at 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue, and Broadway, facing Square. Then continued down 5th Avenue people watching. The tour bus guide really singing the praises of N.Y. with very heavy hints ... read more

Trained as a journalist, it always fascinates me when I come across a historical person who figured prominently in my field of study. Today we travelled to Piatt's Castles in West Liberty, Ohio. Donn Piatt lived in the 19th century (he died in 1891), and won fame for his caustic writing and opinions, mostly on political matters. He created a newspaper (The Capital, in Washington D.C.) and edited others. He also had a distinguished career as a lawyer, and even a judge. Oh, and had a "castle" built as well! His brother Abram built another close by, and today we have the dueling castles (although at one point in time there was acrimonious debate about whether the lesser of the 2 should actually be called a chateau!).... read more