stories and imag(in)es

2030-05-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you for popping in. Glad to have you. To create a wordscape, a writer often needs the solitude of places where no one is invited. But this is a guest house where stories are shared and you are invited to journey along. If you're in a hurry, please come back when you're not. Slowness and a quiet mind are requested here. Make some tea. Sink deep in the couch of imagination. Leave a

2029-05-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

...featured.... imag(in)e + a story ©All images on this site by Stefana Serafina.

2025-06-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

The Inconvenient Truth in the Land of the Maya Amidst the low, vast planes of the Guatemalan rainforest, on the outskirts of Santa Elena, the name of a sleek, unfittingly high-rising complex glows in neon: International Mall Maya World. Inside, a Burger King, a Pollo Campero, and a few movie theatres can be entered through doors shaped like Mayan pyramids. In cities and villages alike,

2010-10-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

I often leave my San Francisco base for a dive into another culture. My expeditions to visit indigenous tribes in the Amazon, learn with shamans, study Portuguese fishermen in their villages, or savor urban living in Barcelona have inspired some of the stories on this page. I also likes to revisit my homeland Bulgaria where I grew up during the last years of communism. I enjoyed

2010-10-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

I often leave my San Francisco base to search for alternative life-ways and worldviews in faraway lands. My expeditions have inspired most of the stories on this page. Photo by Effrosina I enjoyed being a journalist for some time, reporting and hosting for the Bulgarian National Radio Varna, and producing for a few media outlets in San Francisco, California. Yet the more I studied

2010-06-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

The HOOPful Thinking article appeared in the June 2010 issue of the Common Ground Magazine. To read comfortably, click on the "Full Screen" option. Press "Exit" to return to this page. HOOOPful Thinking To read this article comfortably, click on the "Full Screen" option. Press "Exit" to return to this page.

2010-05-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

A Night with the Shaman An Excerpt It was rain season in the Peruvian Amazon and I was preparing to leave for the highlands of the Incas in the Andean mountains, far from mud and mosquitoes. But first, there was a strong calling I had to fulfill. I had heard of an Ese'eja shaman who lived deep in the rainforest. In Puerto Maldonado, a jungle town in the deep south, I hired a car. It

2010-05-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

A Letter Home A Letter Home has been published in "The Journeys (Los Viajes)", a bi-lingual anthology of original stories, art, essays and poetry. A Letter Home has also been"visualized" by Norwegian filmmaker Anne Lise Stenseth and presented at art festivals across Europe. Dear Mother, It’s been so long since I wrote to you, that now that I need to, I stumble for words. I

2010-05-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

You may contact me at stefanaserafina@gmail.com. ©All images on this page by Stefana Serafina. Please do not use without permission. .

2010-05-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

Use the "Full Screen" option followed by a few clicks on the "zoom in" tab to read this article comfortably. Belly Power Use the "Full Screen" option followed by a few clicks on the "zoom in" tab to read this article comfortably.

Am I Poor Now?

2010-05-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

At a gathering at a friend’s apartment in San Francisco’s Mission District, someone struck an uneasy conversation about 16th Street and Mission, a notorious city intersection. A central and busy patch of town lined with eateries, shops, and Mexican fruterias, its streets are home to a dense population of crack heads and drunks, beggars with their pushcarts, and an assortment of mental patients

2010-04-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

Room of Imag(in)es The places and faces captured in this gallery are imagines, snippets of experience meant to tell a story, stir curiosity, or inspire new ways of seeing. Once in the Room of Imagines, click on the main image to see the following one. To come back to this page, press the "Back" button on your browser at any time. ENTER the Room of Imagines All imagines by

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2010-04-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

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2010-03-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

Captured snippets from near and far Photo CaptionNo.1 Photo CaptionNo.2 Photo CaptionNo.3 Photo CaptionNo.4 << Back | Next >> ©ShuvoRim Pvt. Ltd.Created with generator at CreatingOnline.com

A Road Trip Through the Square World

2010-03-10T14:04:00.000-08:00

By Stefana Serafina “Coffee!” my friend Diana said as soon as the engine roared, and the three of us imagined the smooth, rich flavor of the lattes we'd grab for the long road ahead. Even with an early start from San Francisco, it was going to be dark before we reached the San Diego, our destination for a Christmas visit with Diana’s Mexican family. Getting coffee proved a tricky business,

2010-01-29T21:59:00.000-08:00

A Night with the Shaman An Excerpt It was rain season in the Peruvian Amazon and I was preparing to leave for the highlands of the Incas in the Andean mountains, a relief from mud and mosquitoes. But there was a strong calling I had to fulfill first. I had heard of an Ese'eja shaman who lived deep in the rainforest. From Puerto Maldonado, a town sprawling along the Madre De Dios River in

2010-01-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

In the language that was several weeks ago completely foreign to me and I now miraculously speak, I have a favorite word that says it all: viajar. To travel. In my mouth, in my ears it is like a prayer, like a spell. Viajar, the kind of living that feels most alive. In traveling, each little detail of a volatile landscape becomes stunningly clear, equally relevant: the sound of a street, the

A Visit With God

2010-01-19T12:11:00.001-08:00

Zambujera, Portugal, 2007 The signs spread all around us. The tops of the steep ridges were wide valleys of sand and rock carpeted in yellow and orange desert flowers. Steep, tall cliffs dropped long way down into the rising ocean. We wandered in the high of the ridges, not a living soul for miles, only the winged ones in the air above us. Then we saw it: a beach far below, nestled in the

2009-12-26T20:40:00.000-08:00

The Lion’s Neighbor The Not-So-Fiction Story of Dorjee the Dog If there were a contest about such things, Dorjee would be the winner. At least in one category: the happiest dog. Dorjee is a silver wolf dog who lives on the porch of the hilltop house, at the crest of the mountain. The house itself is not simply a structure. It is a wooden creature grown out of the ground and perched

The Sunflower Incident

2009-12-26T17:48:00.000-08:00

Too much sun killed the sunflowers. Whole fields, east to west. Now– black-faced scarecrows, dead soldiers on a barren battleground. So long for the sun worshipers, they who were born to the sun.They fancied themselves the reason why Sun rose in a first place.Dead now, to the last one. Last words in their mouths–– Sun won’t let us die! Without us, there will be no sun! Their screams frozenon

2009-12-26T17:16:00.000-08:00

21st century life Native Peruvians protestors receive information in Bagua province, before being transported back to their villages. Photograph: Enrique Castro-Mendivil/Reuters Thursday June 11th 2009 In Peru, dozens of people have died following clashes between

2009-11-18T21:40:00.000-08:00

Use the "Full Screen" option followed by a few clicks on the "zoom in" tab to read this article comfortably.The Veggie Life Use the "Full Screen" option followed by a few clicks on the "zoom in" tab to read this article comfortably.

2009-11-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

Please note that the first paragraph of this piece was added in by editors at publication. I would have not chosen such opening paragraph, nor used the language the editors found fit. Use the "Full Screen" option followed by a few clicks on the "zoom in" tab to read this article comfortably. A Plague of Plastic Use the "Full Screen" option followed by a few clicks on the "zoom in" tab to

2009-11-18T21:21:00.001-08:00

Use the "Full Screen" option followed by a few clicks on the "zoom in" tab to read this article comfortably. Bad Sex: Lessons For Life Use the "Full Screen" option followed by a few clicks on the "zoom in" tab to read this article comfortably.

2009-11-13T16:39:00.001-08:00

TO contact Stefana......

2009-10-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

Use the "Full Screen" option followed by a few clicks on the "zoom in" tab to read this article comfortably. Farming in the City's Backyard > Use the "Full Screen" at the top of the page followed by a few clicks on the "zoom in" tab to read this article comfortably.

2009-07-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

Soul of A Mouse The Waller Palace, 2009 It has to be a tiny soul, contained in the littlest body– that of a newborn mouse. It is caught in a trap. I stumble on it, coffee-bound in the early morning, and freeze mid-room. Her soft, silky skin is mapped by the gentlest veins. It is so transparent that I can see the movement of blood underneath. She is convulsing madly, trembling, pulling forward.

2009-06-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

2009-02-28T23:56:00.000-08:00

Conqueror of Water Castles It was at the Garfield Pool, the public swim-hub in San Francisco's Mission District, where I became a champion. The kind of champion no one hears about. It started with thirty laps of breaststroke, three times a week. A slow, stretchy immersion in cool water, without the taste of competition or the need for results. No one ever taught me how to swim. My body

The Lost Sacred Valley of the Incas: Modern Peruvian Journeys

2009-02-24T11:58:00.000-08:00

Cusco, the magical ancient capital of the Incas, sprinkled onto the spectacular hills of the Andean mountains at over 11 000 feet is not only one of the highest cities in the world, but is also believed the oldest living settlement on the American continent. The Incas called it Qosquo in the Quechua language they inherited from the cultures they conquered and which most everyone in the Peruvian

The Old Man and the Muse

2008-07-03T09:32:00.001-07:00

An old man has gotten my attention. Gray hair, plain colorless shirt buttoned all the way up, thin-framed glasses, on the plain crossing the country, coast to coast. And in front of him– a pad. His hand glides left to right; wide-lettered, generous lines sprawl under his pen, quick, unstoppable. Pages flip hastily, edges get folded, the pen dances on. I look away. I change thoughts. I read. I

Dream of Separation

2008-03-18T15:54:00.000-07:00

For whom tolls the bell? Ages have passed and we have never listened, never obeyed it. Didn’t someone tell us it was wrong to believe in our own truth? We galloped through space without the fear that karma was coming with us. We were the children born in the garden before there was garden. I must have eaten the apple. You must have whipped your horse and left in fast hooves, without

This Will Also Change: Vipassana Diaries

2008-01-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

In the car swirling its way up the hills, we are three strangers carpooling to the nearing destination: a forest outside Occidental, a small town in Northern California, where we will be spending ten days in silence and motionless meditation. Madhu, the nice Indian woman who has agreed to drive us, brings a certain sense of comfort when she tells us that her first try at Vipassana was in