It was a crisp, rainy day on Pawley’s island. My family had rented a little beach house for a week on the Atlantic to celebrate… something important. I was too young to care, but there are three things that stuck out from that weekend. My Aunt K. freaking out after learning I had never seen …
Author Archives: Alejandro Duran
Three Quick Trues
https://open.spotify.com/track/6s2yqZbiPNPL1B2IeCMsUA?si=_KPIZDMkTDqLhVOgXUpAbw “M” sometimes means “mujeres”, not “men’s”. A mustache is a scarf for your nose. Tuesday, July 13th, 2019 was actually a Friday. Thanks for a quick sip,Alejandro
The Other Me
The only reason I am not Jake Duran today – my abuela. Abuela has the youth of a college freshman and the patience of a Saint. But dear lord, she can not make a ‘J’ sound to save her life. My parents came to her with their unborn son’s new name. Beaming and waving at …
Quick Sip: List-o-Maniac
I’m a Compulsive Lister, Listaholic, List-o-Maniac. Though it is the most infamous of all lists, I’ve never had a Bucket List. It felt dumb because, and here comes a list: Not going to dieEveryone has the same things on itThe things I wanted to do were on other lists (ie: Places to Visit, Things to …
Coordinates and Character
Places I’ve Lived Ranked by How Much of My Stuff is (Still) There: Georgia, 2 boxes + tuxedoBuenos Aires, 1 small suitcase + bookbagArequipa, 1 large suitcase Mendoza, 4 books + 1 pair of sweatpants, Arizona, one book somewhereTexas, small buried treasure I’ve moved pretty often since turning eighteen. I’m on the higher end for …
Aussie Pie
“You gotta use the app. That’s the accurate test”, my dad told my entire family. We were all at his house sitting around some psychologist’s book trying to figure out who we were. My enneagram test was a hard seven – on the nose, no wings. One of my sisters loves horoscopes, classic Taurus. As …
American Abroad
My future split between two countries after Peru – Colombia or Argentina. I chose Argentina. But the idea of going to Columbia confused and frightened my students, friends and family. “Isn’t it super dangerous? Aren’t there a lot of drugs? Haven’t you seen the Netflix Original series Narcos?” Down here, it’s known as a vibrant …
Let’s Build a Library
When I was a kid, I had a billionaire’s dream of building a giant library on an island at 0,0 on a map. The idea was simple – everybody could get to all the knowledge in the world in one big, beautiful building. The Library of Alejandro. Let’s build it. George Peabody Library. Lame name. …
Excessive Thinking & Marsh-Mellows
Failure is part of the deal, but making it happen at all: that’s on us.
The First Sip
Even though Mom drank it by the gallon, Papi introduced me to “dirty bean water”. I felt more like a 10 year old scientist than a barista though, considering the Cafe con Leche recipe was: 1) Microwave milk 2) Test temperature by dipping finger into milk3) Lick finger4) Eyeball the instant coffee (too much and …
A Fresh Sip 