I arrived in Casablanca on Thursday, the last day of Ramadan for Muslims. And while I had visited Istanbul around the same time a few years back, I only participated in the breaking of the fast as an outsider looking in. This time around I was invited to my friend Nadia’s grandmother’s house on Friday for Eid, a celebration that marks the conclusion of Ramadan.

The feast starts early in the morning and doesn’t end till evening time. Families gather around a circular table for breakfast, followed by a leisurely lunch that’s eaten from a communal plate by scooping it up with bread and your hands. We devoured juicy chicken with golden potatoes and olives. Then we ate stewed beef with dates and boiled eggs. Nadia has a big family so we were seated at two tables. After lunch everyone lounges around for a couple of hours before sweets and tea are served.

It was a very special day as her family greeted me as one of their own. I can’t even begin to count how many times I was kissed as Moroccans do the double kiss and then throw in a few more kisses on one cheek for good measure. When I said goodbye, I found myself piling on the kisses and promising to return soon.

Ruben Restrepo in his “office.”

I’m been reading every story I can find about the Chilean miners trapped deep inside the earth. It makes me shutter just to think that it will be another four months before they’re rescued. I spent about an hour 1600 feet below ground in a Colombian mine earlier this year and that was enough to last me a lifetime. I can still see the soot-filled air and the dark, narrow passageways I had to traverse to find the miner I wanted to interview. You can read about him in the July issue of Mountain Bike magazine, as well as here.

And keep in mind that this past June, over 70 Colombian miners died in a blast in a mine not too far from the one I visited.

Google was able to track my exact location next to a pool in Cape May, New Jersey. Pretty amazing. If you look closely, you may be able to see my drink!

My cover story on Colombian actress Catalina Sandino Moreno for the August issue of Latina magazine is hitting stands any second now. I’m excited to read it in print.

She was in the movie Maria Full of Grace, about a drug mule who travels to New York with a belly full of heroin pellets. The role earned her an Academy Awards nomination for Best Actress and countless other accolades. And although she took two years off to be a mom, she is back in action in the latest edition of the Twilight saga, Eclipse, playing an evil Mexican vampire.

For the interview, we met up at MoMA and saw the Tim Burton career retrospective and the Marina Abramovic show. The latter was interesting in that we both took part in the exhibition by squeezing between two naked men blocking a doorway. It was awkward for about two seconds but it definitely gave us a lot to talk.

I’ll post the whole interview as soon as I can get my hands on it!

June 8, 2010…After the last final exam has been completed, students in Stockholm throw a roving celebration like none other. The alcohol-fuel party is like Spring Break on wheels.

A video about finding the subject for a feature I wrote for the July issue of Mountain Bike magazine.

Thanks to the recession, a lot of people have been forced to reinvent themselves and try out new careers. In San Francisco, the profession of choice seems to be that of curbside chef as more and more folks in the Bay Area are hitting the streets with a pot of food in tow. I spent three very intense days in March chasing around food trucks, carts and tables in San Francisco via Twitter. I wrote about this little adventure for Budget Travel, and have included a few of the blurbs that didn’t make the cut below. Check it out!

Adobo Hobo
‘Hood: Mission District
Adobo Hobo is a lean operation: Founder Jason Rotairo invested in a folding table, a rice cooker, and a turkey fryer, then started serving his mom’s Filipino-style chicken adobo (drumsticks, soy sauce, vinegar, bay leaf, garlic, peppercorns, and onions in a hearty stew) at Dolores Park in August 2009. When the housing market slowed last year, Rotairo’s roommate—and now business partner—Edmund Choi suggested the licensed realtor hit the street. They recently expanded and occasionally include Sisig tacos, a take on another Pinoy staple made with marinated pork, onions, jalapeños, pork rinds, and sour cream scooped into a tortilla for easy handling.
Check twitter.com/Adobohobo for updates. $5. adobohobo.blogspot.com.

Gobba Gobba Hey
‘Hood: Mission District
When freelance writer Steven Gdula moved to San Francisco two years ago, he was out of work and missing his native Pennsylvania. In May 2009, he started pounding the pavement with a cooler full of gobs (a favorite childhood treat similar to a whoopie pie and made of two round cakes held together with a sweet cream filling) under the Ramones-inspired moniker Gobba Gobba Hey. So far, there are 36 rotating flavors on the menu—orange cardamom with ginger and saffron, and coco black cherry with lime are the most popular. Gdula also has a tasty book deal about his recession recovery story in the works. Various days and locations. Check twitter.com/gobbagobbahey for updates. $2. gobbagobbahey.com.

Bogotá is famous for its Sunday Ciclovía, when bicycles take over 70 miles of pedestrian-friendly streets. The best part of the weekly ritual is the people-watching: I saw dads teaching their kids to ride tricycles; a man transporting his children (and pooch!) in a cart attached to his bike; and I met a few guys cruising around on custom-built chopper-style bicycles. I even had a chance to try out one of these souped up bikes myself and let’s just say it takes practice to sit back and peddle.

It’s been two and a half years since I was last in Medellín, and the transformation that I first wrote about is even more noticeable with the number of restaurants, bars and hotels that have recently popped up. Right before going, I kept hearing about the new wave of violence that has doubled the city’s murder rate since 2008. And I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous. You see, even Colombians (or in my case, the daughter of Colombians) know that the price of life in Colombia can be cheap. But I was pleasantly surprised. And I’m not the only one that seems to like it here. The gringos have descended in full force. One cabbie lamented the number of men that come here—not to see Botero’s famous gordas—but to hook up with the ladies.