An Alternative Perspective

Here is an excerpt from The Lunatic Express, by Carl Hoffman, which struck me particularly as I was reading about his adventures around the world:

"America was anything but an abstraction. It was literal, vivid, reinforced every time a South American went to the movies or turned on the TV. It was a constant tease, this magical place where everyone was rich and beautiful (not to mention violent), and I tried to imagine what it would be like to watch a daily stream of Colombia - how powerful the idea of that place would become."

What if...? 

History

I intended to have a post for every day that I was abroad. I actually wrote a journal entry for nearly every day; I just never published them. Part of me wants to go ahead and put them up. The other part of me asks: how much time can we spend looking at the past without hindering progress? It's important to study history, but where is the line between being stuck in the past and using history to move forward?