An American in Lima

I’ve been neglecting this blog lately as a result of work overload — preparing to teach a writing class at UPC, which entails putting together loads of English-language course materials. Last night I got only three hours of sleep, then staggered into a meeting with El Hijo’s teachers at school, where I received a wonderful [...]

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Another South American country that favors the word “chompa” is Bolivia, whose populist president, Evo Morales, is a big-time chompa-wearer. In 2006, artisans in Mexico came out with a line of hand-knitted pullovers and skirts for Barbie dolls, styled after the striped sweaters worn by Morales during his presidential campaign:

The doll outfits were woven from [...]

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(la) Chompa (CHOM-pah): If you analyze it, the English word “sweater” is an ugly term for something that’s usually quite nice. The word sounds sweaty, a bad association to have with something warm and fuzzy that you wear next to your skin and typically don’t wash that often. Worse, the word also can refer [...]

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Because the g-word is (1) too loaded to serve as my moniker, and (2) I am more American than I care to admit. 
Some reader is probably wondering, ‘Isn’t it incorrect nowadays to use the term American when referring to someone from the United States? Aren’t all people from South America Americans as well?”
 Well, yes, for a long time that [...]

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