Text: Julie Schwietert Collazo

When was the last time you used traveler’s checks?

I know; I can’t remember either.

These days, you can find cash machines around the world.

The ubiquity of ATMs doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to use them, though.

On my recent trip to Chile, I was embarrassed to ask colleagues to loan me cash when I couldn’t make a withdrawal from a series of ATMs. I knew I had money in the bank–that couldn’t be the problem. I read Spanish, so I was pressing the right series of buttons. Why couldn’t I get any cash?

An amused saleswoman watched as I punched buttons and cursed an ATM. She called me over to her kiosk. “It happens to all foreigners,” she said.

The problem was that I kept looking at the ATM–which seemed exactly the same as the machines back home–and going through the same rote motions of button pushing that I use in the US. Thus, I kept missing the option at the bottom left of the screen: “Conduct Foreign Transaction.”

That’s it.

So that’s how you use an ATM in Chile.

It’s also how you slow down and remember how to be present in every moment.

Photo: BigBlue (Flickr creative commons)

Text: Julie Schwietert Collazo

I’ve seen more than my fair share of movies whose characters and conflicts develop against the backdrop of the Holocaust. Francisco’s favorite movie of all time is “Schindler’s List” and he considers himself something of a Holocaust scholar; I do believe we’ve watched every film and documentary that’s been made about the Holocaust. (And there are a great many.)

It was thus inevitable that we’d eventually see “The Reader.”

Briefly, the plot: A 15 year old boy in post war Germany meets a stranger who helps him home after she finds him sick in the doorway of her building. After he recovers from a bout of scarlet fever, Michael returns to Hanna’s building with a bouquet of flowers, intending to thank her for her help, if not her warm kindness (she’s a rather cold, brusque woman).

But darn those intentions! Shortly after passing her the bouquet, Michael and Hanna find themselves stripping. And shortly after that? Well… exactly what you’re thinking.

There’s a minor twist that becomes critical to the movie: Hanna’s got a bit of a fetish. Specifically, she wants Michael to read to her. He’s an erudite young man with good literary taste, and Hanna makes a round of reading the requisite foreplay for their rolls in the sack. He indulges her, reading The Odyssey, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Chekhov’s The Lady with the Little Dog to his older sexual tutor.

Their fling lasts a summer, as flings usually do. Hanna gets a promotion, gets moody, and leaves without warning, abandoning her apartment and her relationship with Michael. But she’s not lost to him forever. A few years later, now a law student, Michael is one of a handful of students in a special seminar in which the members are observing a trial of female guards who had been stationed in concentration camps.

And you can guess who’s on trial, the fact of which explains a lot about Hanna’s character and behavior.

Reviews of this film starring Ralph Fiennes, Kate Winslet, and David Kross are filled with words like “riveting” and “tour-de-force,” and phrases like “Oscar material,” ending with multiple punctuation marks.

But more interesting than the performances of Fiennes, Winslet, or Kross, and even more interesting than the outcome of the trial and the film’s denouement (both of which are painfully predictable), is the development and presentation of a minor character, a woman who was a child in the concentration camps and who testifies against Hanna in the trial.

At the end of the film, Michael goes to visit the woman as a gesture of–who knows?–obligation? absolution? an effort to arrive at understanding?–and finds that she is living in sprawling Upper East Side opulence.

And, quite frankly, that she’s a cool, hardened, pragmatic woman who cuts through pleasantries and is unwilling to make Michael’s visit an easy one.

He has never confessed his truths to anyone, so it’s strange, perhaps, that he’d choose her, particularly as she lacks, as she says, both the interest and the will to listen to them and provide him the catharsis he’s seeking.

She’s one character type among many representing victimization and survival: unforgiving, still angry after all these years, yet, in a sense, moving on–indeed, moved on–determinedly crafting the kind of life that others were equally determined to prevent her from building and enjoying.

What’s really “riveting” about this movie, then, is not the all-star actors in the roles that are likely to win awards. It’s this woman we’d like to be forgiving and sympathetic (empathic, at least) after all these years, and who steadfastly refuses to be that person. She makes us sit with uncomfortable truths, with endings and relationships that aren’t neat or conclusive. And she does it so well–much more convincing in her role than Winslet, actually–that we leave the theatre a little disturbed. Could we forgive? Are we forgiving? Are transformation and resolution possible?

What? You want me to answer those questions?

Reader photo: grewlike (Flickr creative commons)

Guest Post by Sasha Zahn

Every year we all sit down and make New Year’s resolutions.

How many of them do we actually keep?

You know, I think the problem lies within the word itself: Resolutions. Like we need to resolve ourselves, force ourselves, get dirty, and push through.

Who honestly wants to do that?

So I resolve to call them New Year’s missions. That makes it sound infinitely cooler – like you’re James Bond, or part of the CIA. It brings up thoughts of cool gadgets and martinis, and adventure. And I have the perfect mission for us to shoot for this year.

Come live in Europe.

That’s right. I said live.

I know that sounds crazy, but think about it. Isn’t there even a little part of you that would love to live that scene from a movie, the one where you throw open the shutters of a window in Paris, or London, or wherever in Europe, and look down at all the people hustling and bustling below? Have you ever wanted to be able to really be fluent in that language you took in high school? Who ever said that they wished they’d never tried to fulfill their dreams?

You can do it. I know, because I did it a few years ago. I packed my bags and came to Hungary, not knowing a soul, the language, or culture. I did it to go to school. It turned out to be one of the most pivotal points of my life. I would never change it.

You could do it, too.

Most of the people I talk to about coming to Europe think it’s much more complicated than it seems. I myself questioned it. My uncle told me, “Wait, you can go study in Europe, still get student aid, fulfill your dreams to become a doctor, and travel in your spare time? I would have done it yesterday.”

Thinking back on it, it seems like a no brainer.

But what about??

There are tons of excuses you can make. It’s not the right time, or it is too off the wall. The one I hear the most is the economy.

Yes, the economy back home is bad. Yes, the dollar is weak. It seems like a bad time to travel. But really? Is it? There are some parts of Eastern Europe, like Prague and Budapest, that have all the charms of Western European life, but are incredibly affordable if you still earn in dollars. Or try transferring to a country in Western Europe. You’d be earning in the local currency, not the dollar.

Or, if the job market is bad, why not take this opportunity to get a step on the competition with more education? Student loans are still available to US students studying abroad. Many of my friends here and I feel so lucky to be in school right now, and not job hunting.

And hopefully, we’ll graduate at a time when the economy is on the up. No company in this global market is ever going to think of your experience abroad as a negative. You’ll be worldly, experienced outside of your own country, maybe even multilingual. If you do ever return back to the US, you have advantages others won’t.

Take the steps to make it real.

If you do take on this mission, fulfill it. There are plenty of resources to help you. I have decided to make a step by step process to getting you there. Start talking to people about what you plan to do. The sooner you start telling people your idea, the more real it seems. It was a span of 6 months between when I decided and when I moved. Start thinking about your dream destination and imagine yourself there. Buy a book on traveling Europe, and start listening to some great podcasts or subscribe to some invaluable travel sites, like this one. Make it real. Make it happen.

I’ll have a martini waiting for you, – shaken, not stirred.

Sasha Zahn is the author and editor of YankeeInNewWorld.com, a site dedicated to helping Americans living in Europe and still staying connected to home. She is no way affiliated with the CIA, but likes her missions none the less. You can find her on her site, or on Twitter.

Resolution photo: covs97
Map photo: Laughing Squid

Text: Julie Schwietert Collazo
Photos: Francisco Collazo & Julie Schwietert Collazo

As the last two weeks of 2008 spin towards history, I find myself in bitingly cold New York City, where I’m wrapped in at least two layers of clothes by day and sleeping under two comforters at night.

New York has been my home since I moved here in 1999 after graduating from college, accepting an internship, and deciding to stay. It’s a city I love for a thousand reasons at least.

But in 2008, I didn’t spend a lot of time here. It was a very good year for travel–the best yet–and now that I’m finally settling down at home for a period of more than a week, I’m sorting through the year’s (and a 250 GB hard drive’s) photos, stories, and memories.

Here are a few I wanted to share with you….

JANUARY, Cuba/South Carolina, Mexico City, Cuernavaca, Puebla, Tijuana, San Diego, Pacific Coast Highway, and San Francisco:
Francisco and I started the new year apart, he with family in Cuba and I with family in South Carolina.

We met up at our part-time home in Mexico City, made quick trips to Cuernavaca and Puebla, crossed the border, and then drove the Pacific Coast Highway before…

FEBRUARY, New York:
We practiced settling for a while in this city where we met each other and where we both feel at home. We saw a Gonzalo Rubalcaba concert, watched old buildings be demolished and observed the new contour of this city begin to take shape.

MARCH, Mexico City & New York:
A split month, half in el DF and half in New York. In DF, I’m working on an assignment. In NYC, I’m a passionate observer of my own neighborhood.

APRIL, New York, Washington, D.C.:

It’s spring in the city, one of the very best times of year for a New Yorker. But I’m getting restless. I organize a trip to Washington, D.C. for my mom’s birthday.

Francisco and I also meet fellow Matador editor and the amazingly talented photographer, Lola Akinmade. Still, there are stories all around, as there always are, no matter where we are.

MAY, Cuba:

I visit Cuba for the first time since Fidel handed power over to his brother, Raul. Of seven or so visits to Cuba since 2005, this is the most special one, filled with incredible moments.

I interview Chinese Cubans, spend hours with a Cuban musicologist, & work on a documentary about Juan Antonio Picasso.

Francisco’s son and I go to Mariel, where Francisco set off from Cuba in 1980. We visit Cojimar and Hemingway’s home. And I celebrate Mother’s Day with Francisco’s mom and the mother of his son.

JUNE, New Orleans:

Francisco and I meet up in New Orleans to volunteer with the Culinary Corps and write about New Orleans. Seeing the state of New Orleans three years after Hurricane Katrina reminds me why traveling and stories are important & why I believe so passionately in both.

JULY, Colombia:

A full month in Colombia, with the bulk of our time spent in Mompox, where we meet the coolest kids in the world and begin making plans for an after-school program for them.

We also visit Cartagena, Santa Marta, Taganga, and Barranquilla.

AUGUST, Guadalajara, Mexico:
Back home in Mexico, we also visit Guadalajara on assignment. Not only does Sally Rangel and the staff of Villa Ganz set a totally new standard for service and hospitality, we discover that Guadalajara is quite possibly the only city where we’ve enjoyed every single meal we’ve eaten in restaurants. We were also fortunate to participate in and interview others who attended the Iluminemos Mexico march for peace.

SEPTEMBER, Perote and Veracruz, Mexico:

Perote: The town that tourism forgot. Not for long, if we have anything to do with it. Along with our friend, Carmen, we toured the San Carlos prison, visited an ostrich and orchid farm, dreamed about opening a bed and breakfast in an abandoned hacienda in the middle of a corn field at the base of some mountains, and found ancient pottery sherds just littering the side of the road as we drove up into the mountains. We also happened upon a local boxing match.

We drank strong coffee and had my palm read in Veracruz.

OCTOBER, Mexico City & Oaxaca, Mexico; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba:

October was all about connection.

We met Matador member Teresita and her husband, Ibis, at our home in Mexico City, reconnected with my old friend, Arely, and her husband Ivan at an airport restaurant, and visited with weavers at their home and interviewed protesters in Oaxaca.

I also traveled to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to report about the military detention facility there.

I could have spent weeks there. In any event, I have a notebook full of stories that I’d like to write.

NOVEMBER, NYC, Washington, D.C., Chile:

NYC: To vote. Of course.

Washington, D.C.: To blog live from NPR on election night.

Chile: The press trip of a lifetime: 7 days. Santiago, Valparaiso, Punta Arenas, Torres del Paine. Cordero (lamb). But most of all… incredible people: Roberto, Francisco, Andres, Paloma, Carolina… que buenos son!

DECEMBER, Puerto Rico:
Francisco and I moved to Puerto Rico (shuttling back and forth between the island and NYC) in 2005 and left for good last December. While we had no active plans to return for a visit, our friends Wally and Marina asked us if we wanted to take care of their dogs for a couple weeks while they went on a much-needed and deserved vacation.

It was nice to see the sun every morning, to feel it on my skin, to watch as it penetrated just-rained skies and made light shows with rainbows, and to collect the grapefruit it ripened and scattered the ground with.

As visitors, we also went to places we’d never visited as residents, including the small island of Culebra and the town of Guanica, where the US invaded Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War 210 years ago.

*

As I write this, I begin to realize that everything important is left out. It’s the people and the stories, and there’s a hundred folks at least. And for every person, a hundred stories.

I haven’t forgotten a single one of them. The stories are on the way….

Text: Julie Schwietert Collazo
Photos: Francisco Collazo

*hint: You don’t want the oceanfront view.

This time last week, we were forcing ourselves to get out of the insanely comfortable bed in Room 1101 of the Marriott in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

I’ll confess that when we checked in and found ourselves on the street-facing side of the hotel tower (even on the 11th floor), we were a bit disappointed.

“The least they could have done was give us the ocean view,” Francisco joked.

As we toured around the hotel and asked to see different rooms– the larger Cabana suites (which mean pool-front) that actually looked smaller than our room despite a few extra square feet of space; a penthouse spread; a room with the coveted ocean view–we realized that choosing a hotel room can be a complex decision.

The factors you should consider when choosing a hotel room may be unclear, especially if you’re a moderate or budget traveler more accustomed to staying in hostels or inns than chain hotels. But they can be sorted into a few general categories: view, space, amenities, and cost. The simplified formula looks something like this:

better view + more space (even if it’s just 3 sq. ft.) + more amenities = higher cost.

But keep this in mind:

better view + more space + more amenities does not always = better experience.

Especially when you know you paid more for it.

The Cabana suites may have been bigger in terms of square feet (“Really? Are you sure?” I asked the front desk agent), but they felt smaller than Room 1101. The penthouse may have had more amenities, but I was more than happy with the orange ginger shampoo and conditioner from Bath and Body Works (as a budget traveler, you don’t have to offer me many amenities to make me happy). Those extra amenities in the penthouse were things I weren’t likely to use anyway.

And the room with the ocean view? Well, it was humid.

The entire ocean facing side of the hotel had the same feel, impossible to eliminate, even with the most sophisticated climate control system. The sliding glass doors of the ocean-facing rooms were perpetually going to be covered with a salty film, no matter how many times the attentive and polite staff cleaned them.

The street facing room WAS the best… and it was the cheapest, too! It got more natural light (the sun sets over the ocean, meaning the ocean facing rooms get lots of natural light only in the afternoon). It felt the most spacious even if it really wasn’t. And the amenities were just fine. At a savings of $25-$50 a day, the street-facing room would have saved a significant chunk of change for a weekend stay.
*

So how can you take this experience and choose a hotel room that’s right for you?

1. Visit the hotel’s website and read about its rooms.
The San Juan Marriott, for example, has a detailed guest room page on its website. The page lists all the amenities that are standard for any room, and indicates that certain amenities may vary by room type… which should lead you to ask the question: What are the room types?

2. Take a virtual tour. Most hotels worth your money will have a virtual tour or photo gallery on their website. After all, the product they’re selling you is a room. The San Juan Marriott’s website has a photo tour that includes different types of rooms, the public areas of the property, and even the surrounding neighborhood. It even has 360^ photos. Be suspicious of a site that doesn’t provide you with photos of the hotel’s rooms.

3. Read reviews. While you should take other travelers’ reviews with a liberal grain (or whole shaker) of salt, the property reviews on sites like TripAdvisor can give you a better idea of what you should look for in a room and what you should avoid. Consistently favorable reviews mean that even the most picky travelers have found the property pleasing. And the presence of responses from hotel management shows that they care about the impressions their guests go home with and their willingness to resolve any problems… even the ones guests don’t raise on site and only complain about once they get home.

4. Call the hotel. Once you know what your options are, call the hotel and ask for prices for each of the room types. While you may ultimately choose to book your room through an online aggregator like Expedia or Orbitz, calling the hotel for current prices will help you get an idea of what your options are and whether you’re getting a deal. Talking with hotel staff will also give you an advantage that the aggregator sites won’t: you’ll be able to find out whether rooms have been renovated recently or whether the hotel itself is offering any last minute deals.

How do you choose a hotel room? Share your tips below!