I bought a car. Finally, after taking three hours to get to the doctor's office , or seven hours to do three things by bus in Brasília...

I know the numbers are hard to read, but let's try and follow along anyway, shall we? Mode of Transport Green Line = Bus Red Line = Foot...

It's been a month since I moved to Brasília. My apartment's set up (except for Internet) and I've already got a cleaning lady t...

Many people hold fast to the myth that Spanish and Portuguese are similar enough to be mutually intelligible. They are both Romance languag...

Say, "I'm moving to Brazil, dammit!" Find a friend who has just passed on a teaching job in the Brazilian capital, not your fi...

You're new to a city. You're like Bo...you'own know Diddly. What do you do? You log onto CouchSurfing.org , that's what y...

We interrupt Fly Brother's Round-the-World Adventures for this important existential rumination: Back in March, while finishing up my fo...

Before moving to a new place, you have to establish your priorities; what exactly do you want from the city you'll be calling home...

Photo by charlieontheradio You've got 26 days left in Colombia ; here's what you do: Rip all bootleg, copied, burned, and otherwise ...

Other than Christmas, Easter, and New Years' Day, Colombia and the United States do not share holidays. So for the last three years, I...

This essay was originally published in 2006 at the now-defunct InverseOnline, a website dedicated to all things South American. Barranquilla...