Loans and Travel

Afraid of getting your favourite shirt creased? By sticky taping several birds together attached by a thread you can create a very convenient coat hanger.

At six thirty it started raining, and the driver unfurled a big, blue tarp from the front of the boat and pulled it over our heads. We sat shivering under the leaky tarp, the rain pounding against our skulls and dripping in our shirtsleeves and down our collars. An hour or so later we pulled into the soggy port city of Bluefields, relieved to have slowed down enough to take the sting out of the raindrops’ impact.

After a few days of seafood soups and raging reggae in Bluefields, I began to feel the call of the Corn Islands, and found myself looking east across the misty ocean, hoping, futilely, to spot the hump of the big island. There are two ways to get to the islands. The easy way is to hop on a little twin-engine airplane in Managua or Bluefields, sip your Fanta, and occasionally glance down at the placid, aquamarine waters of the Caribbean far below. The hard way involves fighting your way onto a passing cargo ship, carving out a hole for yourself among the cows, pigs, passengers, propane tanks, chickens, mountains of rice, fruit, supplies, and a layer of shit so thick it covers the floor, while trying to keep your distance from the noxious latrine amidships, the piles of cow and pig shit in the stern, and the geysers of seawater that come pouring over the bow with each wave it plows into. With boat price estimates topping out around US$10, and plane fares hovering at a steady US$85 round-trip, I soon found myself down at the docks, weaving my way through a maze of misinformation ? some swore the ships came only on Tuesdays, others said there were three a week, others that there was no schedule at all. I pieced together what I could, and found general consensus on at least one point-there was one cargo ship arriving early the next morning at El Bluff, an offshore port nearby.

Follow the mist from the Seine that drifts into the city just before dawn, clinging to bridges and lampposts—start early to capture Paris at its famed black-and-white best. Begin your day with a visit to the neighborhood bakery that spins out warm, flaky treats each morning and enjoy these tasty delicacies all day, or lunch on a sandwich of apples, brie, and sweet walnuts at the zoo in the Jardin des Plantes. Spend a rainy afternoon (you’re sure to have at least one) taking tea in a salon de thé and then while away the evening in a piano bar, sipping a whiskey and listening to Piaf impersonators under a full moon. You might try lunch at a Parisian bistro—you won’t be disappointed; beautifully trimmed with brass, these neighborhood locales serve up well-sauced plats, and fine red wines. And after your meal, Paris is sure to remain a feast for the eyes. Europe’s capital of culture, Paris has more movie theaters and film festivals than any other city on earth.