Gustavo Rojas Pinilla

After exiting the plane, the first thing I noticed was the voices of the crowd. The words spoken at the Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport seemed to mix together, and I could no longer focus on individual conversations like I could at Toronto several hours earlier. This trip to the Colombian island of San Andrés marked the first time I was venturing to a country where English was not the official language. In the weeks leading up to the trip I had tried to prepare by memorizing common Spanish phrases. It was not until I was surrounded by native speakers that I became conscious of how little I understood. My mother and I hurried out of the airport and joined several others already seated in the shuttle. While en route to…

Is perfection an imaginary ideal, or does it really exist? In many cases, perfection is perceptive; it depends on how one discerns the idea of it. Some may argue that perfection is nonexistent, all things will eventually fall short of its goals, and that nothing is without flaws. On the contrary, some may argue that perfection is a scarce form of existence that only few entities attain. In the case of Chile, perfection existed in one of the most unexpected forms; Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship.…

The Tlatelolco Massacre In the summer of 1968, Mexico was thrust into the center of the world stage pending the upcoming Olympics. The highly anticipated event generated a variety of emotions amongst the Mexican people, and not all emotions were good. The people were angry; millions of government dollars were being funneled ruthlessly into this event while a large majority of the population lived well below the poverty line and struggled to survive day-to-day. The anger and the desire for…

of an open horseshoe. Beautiful views of the beach and the bay were right out our windows. Appreciating Puerto Vallarta’s appeal was effortless. The resort offered everything from a highly popular vacation spot for domestic and international tourists to a desirable retirement area for retirees from the United States and Canada. During the Eisenhower and McCarthy era, Puerto Vallarta was a haven for writers and artists who wanted to escape the limitations of mainstream society. In later years,…