Three months ago I had a psychotic attack, one brought on by childhood trauma and a heavy batch of manic depression. It was horrible. My
Tag: U.S. Contra forces
War Moments: The Orange
I will never forget the man with the orange. Michelle and I were packed in the back of a truck, alongside twenty other hitchhikers. It
Exploding Cows
Hitchhiking was common in Nicaragua during the Sandinista-Contra war. So was waiting. If the enemy forces–the U.S. backed Contra–were nearby, the Sandinista military would close
Learning, and losing (at the most inconvenient times), your Spanish
In Nicaragua, Michelle and I lived way up north, near Honduras. Managua, the country’s capital, is in the south, and a long way away, especially
My First Look Down the Barrel
Dear Reader: I’ve been writing about my life in Nicaragua during the Sandinista-Contra war. This is from the archives. It’s one essay of a four-part
Weed Out the Gringos
Before we moved into the Nicaraguan war zone, the group we were with, Witness for Peace, trained us for our jobs, which was, put simply,