20 de julio: Colombian Independence Day

Colombian independence

¡Felíz día de Independencia! July 20th is Colombian Independence Day.  A day in Colombia to get off work, drink some Aguila beer or some aguardiente, and to appreciate the history of Colombia. July seems to have a disproportionate number of national holidays celebrating an independence day.  There is of course the U.S. American Fourth of …

Explore the Site

As I continue to edit my book and work towards a publication date (fall 2013 is likely at the moment), I want to invite you to take a look around the website.  I will continue to post every week or so on news events about Colombia, about my writing process, and a few things in …

What is an American?

Map of North and South America, 1747.

In Colombian schools, students are taught that there are six continents. Do a quick run through (Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania, Antarctica, North and South America), and this seems a bit odd.  Most of the world totals the number of continents at seven, not six.  So what gives? Colombians, and many other Latin Americans, consider North …