I got the camera out last night after it rained. The whole “moment” thing is inspired by Damon Winter’s work on “A Year at War” for the New York Times

I have my spanish lessons every day from 8-12 at the Mundo Spanish school . In the afternoons, they offer various “excursions.” On Tuesday, I joined several students from school for a short bus trip to a nearby town at the foot of Volcán de Agua, a volcano that overlooks Antigua. Our tour guide, Filoberto (pictured above) is part of a cooperative of coffee farmers that grows their beans in the hills above the village. He took us up for a tour that no one understood because, well, we don’t really know Spanish (yet!). Nonetheless it was good to get out and about and enjoy the window of clear skies in what is normally rain every afternoon.

Filoberto showed us the coffee plants, they were mixed haphazardly with rows of corn and beans in the steep hills.

Coffee beans.

“Tut-tut, it looks like rain.”

Filoberto did his best Captain Morgan impression and scared the rain off until we made it back to Antigua.

Although we understood nothing, we still listened intently.

We walked back down through San Miguel de Escobar. School just got out, so there were lots of kids around mugging for my gracious lens.

She was a favorite among the group.

And then, I made her cry.

This is my first official day in Antigua, Guatemala. I’m staying with a host family and on Monday, I start a month of Spanish lessons at a local school.

I did a little exploring today and hiked up into the hills to Cerro de la Cruz, a little park overlooking the city.

BONUS PIC: Slug Bug Grey.

It features a video of mine and some quotes from my editors as well as yours truly. Read it here.

We produced several multimedia packages on Aging in America. It was a great experience that even afforded me the opportunity to travel to Montana to shoot some video.

Yesterday, the site went live. You can view it here.

The fellowship was a great opportunity, and several of the pieces I produced were picked up by major media outlets.

This was the piece I shot in Montana with Bob and Sue Cushman, a lovely couple who live independently in Condon, Montana. It was part of a larger series of mini-documentaries we produced that examined the different ways elderly people live in America. The series was picked up by The New York Times and can be viewed here.

This was a piece I edited from footage we collected from interviews with patients with dementia. It was picked up by the Washington Post and can be viewed here.

I also assisted on several other packages, including a print piece on widowhood and loss, a multimedia package on the world’s oldest man and a cartoon about the future of universal design in an aging society.

Wilson.

Now, Chester.

This is Clare.

Clare, among other things, is my sister.

She’s also a polo player for Cornell University. This summer, I got to watch her play a practice “chucker” at Meadowview Farm here in Michigan.

It’s quite a game.