Have you ever wondered what your coffee looks like before ending up in your cup? I actually hadn’t, which is why I was truly mesmerized when I received a fresh coffee twig in my hand in Cauca, Colombia, for the first time. And now I find the drink even more wonderful than I had before.

CauCaribe is a music group from Popayán, District of Cauca, Colombia. As the name itself reveals, the group plays mostly traditional Colombian rhythms from Cauca and the Caribbean, such as different variations merengue and cumbia. The lyrics of the non-instrumental folkloric songs tell about the history of Colombia.

Jackie Ross, 72 years, accidentally ended up living in Ecuador after 15 years on the seas and 40 years in the tropics. Before retiring, she sailed on ships and yachts all across the world, mostly in the South Pacific. Now, Jackie lives in the small coastal town of San Clemente, where she is actively involved with local people. She also learned Spanish from zero at the age of 65 (so, be careful when you say “I’m too old to learn new languages”!). Here’s a woman out of the box!

Un viaje en bicicleta está lleno de altibajos, de desafíos y celebraciones. A veces (o mejor, la mayoría de las veces) las cosas no van como planificabas, pero siempre se sale de cada situación, de una forma u otra.

So today, after I’ve just gotten some new, paid writing jobs and after I’ve been happily reunited with my computer after some time offline, the screen of my computer broke down. Is this a sign I should start doing videos? Other suggestions? Now the technology I have with me is a smartphone.

In Quito, Ecuador, I gave an interview for Teleamazonas, just before leaving for the coast. The questions have been answered quite many times previously, but never before have I had my answers translated into Spanish sign language! Also, never before has my name been Sisi Koronen (who needs those extra consonants anyway?! Unfortunately, these don’t show on the video).

Today is Mother’s Day. A day for families to celebrate mothers, if they are present, and a day to commemorate them if they are not. My Mother’s Day this year has been a day that I will quite surely remember for a long time – not because of its beauty, but because I have lived for a while in a reality which I wish no one had to live in.

Viajar es maravilloso. Cuando viajas experimentas cosas únicas, conoces gente alucinante, ves paisajes que te dejan sin aliento. Cada uno tiene sus razones para viajar y todas ellas son válidas. Aunque mis razones personales son llegar a conocer otras culturas, lenguajes y personas, no evito deliberadamente a otros viajeros en el camino. Aun así, hay algo sobre estos encuentros que experimento una y otra vez: el síndrome del viajero competitivo.