Americas | GlobalPost

For immigrants, an extra challenge in Gulf oil spill

Julia Kumari DrapkinMay 23, 2010 09:37Updated May 30, 2010 13:34

NEW ORLEANS — They’re America’s shrimpers, crabbers and oystermen. Peelers, shellers and shuckers. They came to the Gulf Coast as war refugees from Vietnam in the 1980s. After Katrina, they were the very first community to return and rebuild. But just as a sense of normalcy had returned to the community of Vietnamese fishermen, the Gulf Coast oil spill hit.

Zombie pedestrians make for road kill in Toronto

Sandro ContentaMay 24, 2010 06:45Updated May 30, 2010 13:34

TORONTO, Canada — The other day, I watched a very modern man crossing the street, blissfully oblivious to all that surrounded him. It was at the corner of Queen Street West and Dovercourt Road, the bustling heart of Toronto’s trendy west end. From my vantage point, it wasn’t clear whether he knew the light was green: He stepped off the curb without looking up, eyes fixed on his BlackBerry, thumbs beating out a text, an iPod blaring music in his ears.

On the agenda: Calderon in Washington

Ioan GrilloMay 18, 2010 07:04Updated May 30, 2010 13:33

MEXICO CITY, Mexico — As Mexican President Felipe Calderon touches down in the city on a hill on Tuesday, he and U.S. President Barack Obama will have to cool a cross-border temperature that has heated up in recent months.

Getting cell phones into Cuban hands

Nick MiroffMay 17, 2010 06:37Updated May 30, 2010 13:33

HAVANA, Cuba — A cell phone is a handy device on this under-wired island. Just not for making phone calls. Cuba’s state-run wireless monopoly, Cubacel, has some of the steepest rates in the world, charging the equivalent of 50 cents per minute for outgoing and incoming calls. In a country where the average salary is less than $20 a month, half a day’s wages can disappear with the first “Hola.”

Reviving Mayan cuisine

Angelica MarinMay 16, 2010 09:41Updated May 30, 2010 13:33

QUINTANA ROO, Mexico — Arsenio Hau Uicab looked worried. Before him was a proposal that would directly link his close-knit village of Mayan descendents to the tourist hub on the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. He sat with the head chef of Yaxche Restaurant, a popular eatery in Playa del Carmen. The restaurant wanted to make Hau Uicab and the entire community of Nuevo Durango its newest partner.

Colonel charged with terrorizing community

Sandro ContentaMay 11, 2010 06:36Updated May 30, 2010 13:32

TWEED, Canada — Cosy Cove Lane, as its name suggests, is the kind of sleepy place where doors were left unlocked for as long as anyone can remember. It’s a dead-end dirt road hugging one side of a heart-shaped inlet in the village of Tweed, a rural community of 1,500 people in southeastern Ontario. The 21 homes on the lane are a mix of summer cottages and year-round residences. A hand painted wood sign at the lane’s entrance, put up years ago by a now dead resident, misspells Cosy with a “z.” No one is bothered to change it.

Living in a Brazilian ghost town

Seth KugelMay 15, 2010 07:36Updated May 30, 2010 13:32

SAO PAULO, Brazil — Construction on this working-class neighborhood stopped before doors and windows were installed in the concrete block houses, but not before the city put up bright blue street signs. The signs — and the silence in a crowded, turbulent 11 million person city — recall a ghost town in the Old West. The only thing missing is tumbleweeds.

Mockus uses unconventional techniques to teach Colombians to be better citizens

John OtisMay 10, 2010 10:44

BOGOTA, Colombia — Antanas Mockus, who leads most polls heading into the May 30 presidential election, has spent much of his career using unconventional techniques to teach Colombians to be better citizens. As mayor of Bogota, Mockus put mimes on the streets to mimick and embarrass wreckless drivers. He donned a Superman-like costume, including tights and a red cape, and declared himself "Super Citizen" in a bid to improve civic behavior in the city. His antics paid off. Bogota's streets became safer, the murder rate dropped, and Mockus won a second term.

Costa Rica’s Chinchilla hits the ground running

Alex LeffMay 9, 2010 11:06

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Fresh from a sunny, outdoor inauguration Saturday morning, new Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla wasted no time starting her new job. She swiftly swore in her cabinet and a number of top officials. Then, by a little past noon, she had signed four executive decrees. This woman means business.

Essay: A mother lands in the US

Julia Kumari DrapkinMay 9, 2010 09:40Updated May 30, 2010 13:32

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The night before I moved to Argentina, my mother had a party. The party wasn't for me, but it ended up being a great chance to talk to her. Not about dad, my sister, the house or the dog. But for once, about her. She told me the story about how she first moved to the United States.