I have never watched the TV show “Mad Men” but my understanding is that there are certain parts of the ‘50s that are glamorized. One in particular that fascinates me is the three-martini lunch. You know , those old school lunches that were leisurely, overly indulgent and […]
I had the good fortune to be a respondent for the opening plenary at the Caribbean HIV Prevention Conference at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas, a choice of location that seemed rather odd and extravagant given the seriousness of the event, particularly its goal of […]
American Playwright William Saroyan once said, “A man’s [or woman’s] ethnic identity has more to do with a personal awareness than with geography”. This is doubly true with Hispanics. Unintentionally, by choosing the descriptor “Hispanic” in the title of this post, I am making a personal choice as […]
I had the great fortune to visit Cuba as a US delegate of the American Public Health Association (APHA). I was struck by the beauty of the island, the warmth of the people and by the high sense of pride and adoration of heroes. Everywhere one turned you […]
In the words of Sir Adam Thomson, founder of British Caledonian Airlines, “A recession is when you have to tighten your belt; depression is when you have no belt to tighten. When you’ve lost your trousers—you’re in the airline business”. Anybody who travels for work can vouch for […]
The ability to “pass” is often a loaded term and a loaded action. My son and I both can “pass” in different contexts for different ethnic or racial groups. When I visited Egypt, they thought I was French. When I lived in Spain, they thought I was Tunisian. […]
Thought I saw a double-headed dog and had to blink twice. Was I hallucinating? Was their weirdness afoot? I looked around. Fortunately, I saw a sign posted outside a Hispanic eatery that said “todays special rice with chicken”. Ok. All was right with the universe. The daily special […]
I became a java junkie late in life, despite being Puerto Rican (most Puerto Ricans drink coffee like water). I didn’t start the habit until about ten years ago. I was finishing my dissertation, which is the equivalent of saying I was spending several years poking my own […]
Okay, listen up conference attendees, I don’t often assume the mantle of Miss Manners and discuss etiquette, but this is where you’ve driven me. Here’s the background. I work out. I don’t love to work out, but I do like to be able to fit into my dresses. […]
The tradition of giving gift bags to attendees at professional conferences started with the Aztecs. As a courtesy, priests visiting from different cities were handed a complementary bag of human hearts to take home, because obviously, unless you can display a set of useless set of branded trinkets, […]
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