Worms Belen Market is like a big liver planted in the heart of Iquitos, a chaotic, thrumming organ through which an Amazonian torrent of fruits, vegetables, meats, barks, salves and black market sneakers is caught and dealt with in some fashion or another. Iquitos, in case you haven’t heard of

Grill master working the heat As the latter part of the above title flat-footedly implies, this weeks article has me journeying into savage, humid environs redolent of the morally queasy atmosphere of Joseph Conrad’s most famous novel.  Instead of the Belgian Congo, however, I find myself in Peru’s Amazon Basin.

$3 to make three hanging pom-poms, DIY-style. I’m usually extremely well-behaved during the week. Between free breakfast food at work and going to classes at the gym instead of happy hours at night, I can get from Monday to Friday without spending too much moolah. Come the weekend, though, and

Cusco’s Central Market Large, central markets situated in cities with lax or non-existent health codes always make a strong impression upon the senses of smell and sight, and, if you’re  somewhat brave, taste.  Peru boasts many markets and most I’ve frequented are loose affairs; no one blinks an eye at

Mompox, Colombia   When traveling in a strange land with only a hazily defined sense of purpose to guide you, you find yourself pointed towards destinations based on some fairly whimsical pretexts.   The one which inspired me to make a long, harsh journey over unpaved roads perched in the

Thanks to our cigarette-smoking president, cigarette smoking has gotten a lot pricier in the last few years. Although I suspect the prez is being kinda paternal (“don’t do what I did, America”) in projecting his nicotine-guilt upon us, it is helping people quit. But SOME of us (me) just don’t want to.

I write about Williamsburg a lot and that’s because I live here. I’m coming up on my one-year anniversary, in fact. But I’ll admit it. I was kind of hatin’ on my own neighborhood for a while. When you’re not snobby about music and could care less about owning a