CUBA
The world didn’t know it yet, but it was the eve of Covid 19 pandemic, slowly encroaching from Zone 0 also known as Wuhan, China. There were rumors of cases showing up in Europe and other southeast Asian countries, but in the Americas we were still fairly oblivious to dangers of the novel corona virus we were about to experience head on. . . .
The sun was hovering just above the horizon when we approached the tiny fishing village on the banks of the Caribbean Sea. A few shy but curious youngsters approached our group of five and studied our faces intently. A woman dressed all in pink came out to greet us with a smile. ‘You’re lucky,” she said in Spanish, “the fisherman caught a shark today. . . .
NICARAGUA
The sun is getting low in the sky as we near the end of our last home visit. The girls are excited to show us their notebooks. Jim and I flip through the pages of perfectly lined up sentences and neatly arranged numbers. “What’s your favorite subject?” I ask the younger sister through our translator, as my Spanish is to this day very poor. “Math” she responds shyly. Both girls are doing incredibly well in school in all of the subjects and their mother cannot hide the pride in her voice. . . .
I always wanted to travel with The Giving Lens photography workshop. I’ve believed for a long time that PHILANTHROPY AND PHOTOGRAPHY go beautifully together. Pictures have the power to change ideas and drive about social change. That’s been proven time and time again. And I finally found an organization that is based on this belief. . . .
PANAMA
My dear friend Monia, whom you’ve probably met in a large portion of my photographs relocated to Panama from New York City almost a year ago. Talking about the courage to just get up and move across to the other side of the world! If you’ve read my recent Instagram post, you know I left New York City for south Florida exactly three years ago and that the move was not super easy at first. . . .
Panama City offers a number of places to chill out and grab a cocktail after sunset. The drink selection is delicious. I always go for the mojito though. I’m just a mojito type of girl, you see 🙂 Casa Casco has that bonus of being a rooftop bar – I adore rooftop bars. You can sip your Mojito and contemplate life from a higher perspective…Things always end up looking very different from an elevated vantage point. . . .