Wise Monkey News is here to provide young people an opportunity to discuss the issues that affect their lives. We hope that, through your participation, this website serves as a forum for the development, exchange, and expression of ideas that will prepare us to assume our positions as the leaders of tomorrow's world. Have something to say?
Beer, wine, cigarettes and other dispatches from Spain
by: David Miller - printed on 02-28-2001
My flight from Portland to Madrid, Spain had a layover in Newark, New Jersey. As I had four hours to spend in Newark, I bought a premade, mushy Philly-steak-and-cheese sandwich and sat down to collect my thoughts. I was on my way to Spain to spend the next four months studying there, in Spanish, all in Spanish. It wasn’t like I hadn’t ever traveled before, I had. I wasn’t worried about that. It was the 15 credits of college courses .
Winging it Costa Rica style: studying snakes in the tropics
by: Eron Osterhaus - printed on 02-20-2002
It's not that it's overly hot-it's not. It's the humidity. A shower is required after taking the effort to walk down the hall to take a shower in the first place. If it weren't for this rickety fan over-head, this room would be unbearable. Well, I guess the liter of Ron Bacardi Superior "Gold" that is currently accompanying me aids in that end as well. Often times there is not much else to do but "talk" to the bottle-considering I don't speak Spanish and my dorm mates don't seem too interested in carrying on conversations in English.
The Death Penalty is state sponsored murder
by: Kawai Washburn - printed on 03-06-2002
What is justice?
Stop and think about it for a second, because it's a difficult question to answer. Often, what may seem fair, right and just to one person is nothing of the sort to another person. What is the appropriate response to a crime? Indentured slave labor in barren wastelands has been tried. Solitary confinement in a sensory deprivation cell is another alternative. Then, of course, there is always the option of just killing the criminal.
Struggles in the European Union - Spain
by: Mono Vergara - printed on 02-20-2002
Spain: Integration and Isolation
One of the Spanish governments biggest concerns is that people in Spain lack interest in their membership in the European Union. The euro was adopted in Spain last January and will be fully adopted at the end of February, and it seems to be one of the only signs and reminders that Spain belongs to the EU. Another important and often ignored fact is that the current president of the EU is Spanish - President Aznar acts as the head of the European government.
No More America! I am in Spain!
by: Annmarie Phelan - printed on 02-28-2001
This is it. Submerged in another language, another culture. I cannot speak or understand all that well, but somehow I am able to live in this country. It is my home for four months. My home. Spanish family, Spanish classes, Spanish food. No more America. No American handshake. “Dos besos” instead — a kiss on each cheek — is how I greet people. No standard American house. Most everyone lives in apartments, and the houses you do see do not share the same outward aesthetic beauty to which we are accustomed.
Do not be afraid of big birds
by: Isaac Vanderburg - printed on 10-24-2001
Those West African tropical storms sure make for great conversations.
Like this time, two years ago, on the way to Ghana (the first time mom had returned in 30 years), on a lurching Ghana Airways 747 with 16 people on board. The plane left from London at one in the morning, so before the storm hit there hadn’t been much talking going on, just sleeping sounds and the occasional hiss of a pop can or flight attendant’s beep.