Welcome to Esperanza!

 Why Did We Decide to Launch Esperanza?

Covid-19. Climate Change. The rise of authoritarianism.  Many people looking at  the world today find themselves overwhelmed by worry, anger and sadness. We know how important it is to pay attention to what is happening in our country and in other countries. However, doing so takes an emotional toll. 

As human beings, we are naturally curious about what happens each day. We have practical reasons for this. We want to know because we want to take care of our families, friends, and fellow inhabitants of the planet. More than that,  we have a sense of wonder.  There is beauty out there. We are eager to find out how things work. Some of us love politics and daily journalism.

Paying attention also plunges us into anger, fear, and depression. We can become stuck in these feelings as contagion spreads across borders and the climate changes in destructive ways. But daily, everywhere, there is also hope and energy and joy. There are wise and energetic people who lift our spirits. Their example returns us to our naturally compassionate natures and rewards us for our curiosity. 

We can experience these things every day too if we look for them. So this  is what Antonio and I propose to do. To look for them and pass them on to you with this new weekly blog. 

We each bring a different perspective. Antonio, who lives outside of Barcelona, spent four years of his life on a journey around the world. He took on different jobs in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, North and South America to raise money for his continuing travels and experience of global cultures. More recently he has taught Spanish to hundreds of people around the world over the Internet. John, a student of Antonio’s who lived abroad as a child, is a retired journalist who lives near Washington, D.C. He spent many years writing about the politics, business, delivery, and science of health care.

Our goal is to attract readers of all kinds, including Spanish speakers who are trying to learn English and English speakers who are trying to learn Spanish. So Antonio's selections will include articles in Spanish and perhaps reflect more often the Spanish-speaking world. John's will include articles in English and perhaps reflect more often the English-speaking world. But not necessarily! We both will pick the articles we want! We hope you find them interesting and welcome your comments on individual articles and on our blog generally.

              Antonio                                              John