Trinidad: Trains

Taran Rampersad writes of the former train system in Trinidad and Tobago which was mostly used to transport sugar during British colonial times.

Flickr Pick from Dominican Republic

Roberto Muñoz of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic took this picture, “Tides” an hour from where he lives.

Bolivia: Evo's Chances

MABB gives yet another (and probably the definitive) speculation on Evo Morales’ chances of becoming Bolivia's next president.

Nicaragua: Coffee and Contras

Boli-Nica has two posts on a recent Miami Herald article about the nexus of organic coffee and politics in Nicaragua. His posts are full of links to other bloggers discussing the issue.

Bolivia: A Valuable Look Back at Bolivian History

Blog From Bolivia offers some excellent reflection on a piece written in 1952 entitled “Democracy in the Andes” by William Rosenberg. In a satirical response to recent comments on the Democracy Center's outsider funding, there is also an announcement that Blog From Bolivia is currently on vacation until August 1st.

Armenia: Localized Armenian Windows XP / Office Under Development

Oneworld Multimedia is reporting that an Armenian version of Windows XP and Microsoft Office is under development. Apparently one sticking point is that Armenian simply doesn't have the technical vocabulary needed for something like this.

South Africa: Interview with a hijacker

Jo'blog posts an interview with a former car-jacker. It was passed around by email, so the original source is unclear.

Bolivia: Election Buzzword #1 – Gonismo

Eduardo of Barrio Flores writes that “Gonismo” – referring to the Neoliberal policies of ex-president, Gonzalo “Goni” Sanchez de Lozada, has become the Bolivian election buzzword.

Singapore: “Asia's Mandela”

The Singaporean blog Omeka Na Huria has a lengthy profile of Chia Thye Poh, “Asia's Mandela”.

Buenos Aires, City of Faded Elegance » Borges, Girondo, & Norah Lange

Jeff Barry has yet another quality reflection and summary of 20th century Argentine literature which he ties in with his own life.

Singapore: S$400,000 spent to rename Marina Bay… Marina Bay

Singabloodypore wonders why the government spent nearly half-a-million dollars (Singapore) to conclude that the best name for the redeveloped Marina Bay area was… Marina Bay.

Argentina: Foreign Debt Museum

Diego of Altered Argentina continues his Debt For Education Swaps series with a review of the Foreign Debt Museum at the University of Buenos Aires’ School of Economics. He's pretty sure this is the world's first museum devoted to debt.

Peru: Taxis in Lima, Peru

Live from Lima has little faith in the capabilities of taxi drivers in Peru's largest city.

Uruguay: Tannat Wine

Don Ball Carbajal discusses the unique flavor of Tannat wine from Uruguay.

Buzz from South Asian Blogs

South Asia: News, Views and Opinions

How to Make a Three-Hour Drive a Seven-Hour Nightmare

Yesterday afternoon, a group of us began the drive back to Accra from Patriensa. As you'll see in a future blog entry, our car broke down and we spent hours hobbling back to Accra, towed by a feed truck whose tow rope kept breaking from the front of the car. In the meantime, you can hear two podcasts I posted from my mobile phone while we were stranded - yes, I managed to have mobile phone access in rural southern Ghana. First podcast: around 7:15pm, somewhere north of Accra
Second podcast: about two hours later, a bit closer to Accra, but far from anywhere near our final destination

Zimbabwe: The West Must Fix It

This is Zimbabwe reports that The Mugabe government is floating the idea that Western governments should help clean up the fallout from “Operation Clean-Up”.

Sudan: Secretary Rice's Visit

Humanitarian Hijinks has some thoughts on Condolezza Rice's visit to Sudan.

Strolling Through Kumasi Central Market

Video montage of a walk through one of the largest open-air markets in Africa. Shot and edited on July 23, 2005. Music by Ghanaian drummer Obo Addy, from his album Afieye Okropong, used with permission from Alula Records.

Accra Update #2

My latest podcast from Ghana explaining why I've been offline since Friday afternoon. Music by Ghanaian drummer Obo Addy, from his album Afieye Okropong, used with permission from Alula Records. -andy