Ernesto Rivera

Featured in: Favicon

medium.com Favicon

sfgate.com Favicon

mdpi.com

zdnet.com

prensa.com Favicon

unirioja.es Favicon

chicoer.com Favicon

newsreview.com (+1) Favicon

theorion.com Favicon

contentenginellc.com + 1 more

Articles

Why Don't Cuban Americans Visit Cuba?

May 28, 2024 | medium.com | Ernesto Rivera

I'm not the only Cuban American who's had this exchange:"You're Cuban?" "Oh, Cuba is incredible! They have classic cars, beautiful beaches, and great doctors! I want to go, do you go back often?" Perhaps less scripted, and more or less verbose, but the sentiment is the same: Cuba is a paradisal island and they can't believe you don't visit, as they would if it was their home. It sounds like an homage.
My Courageous Mother Had a Dangerous Plan and a Young Son

Apr 12, 2024 | medium.com | Ernesto Rivera

THE NARRATIVE ARCShe fled Venezuela, and I had to go along with the planShe’s bent over the toilet in a bathroom stall at Miami International Airport, using a pair of scissors to destroy our passports. It’s a day before Halloween in 1999, and I’m standing next to my mother at three years old wondering why. In the months before, my mom taught me when not to speak. Let that I’m writing this story guide your perception of how talkative I was then.
Between the world and her

Mar 27, 2024 | medium.com | Ernesto Rivera |Mehmet Yildiz

Questions to my sister. Recently I flew my sister to stay at my place while I was out of the country. When I got back and she left, I looked through my fridge which had been hers for 11 days. I was fascinated by her choices and the choices I would’ve made with a place to myself and a credit card at her age. It took me a long time to figure out things that are trivial for her. My sister is 17, making her ten years my junior. She’s smarter than I am, more empathetic, compassionate, and kinder.
Margin of Victory Matters

Mar 20, 2024 | medium.com | Ernesto Rivera

And why it’s different in combat sports. A few years ago, following Barcelona’s 1–0 league game win over Espanyol, one headline read:Barca send Espanyol to the Segunda with a minimal victory¹Minimal victory. One-zero. In most sports, the narrowest margin of victory is obvious and easily understood. In soccer, it’s a single goal, in basketball a single point.
33 Rules for Air Travel

Mar 19, 2024 | medium.com | Ernesto Rivera

I travel quite a bit for someone whose job doesn’t require them to. In fact, my job requires I don’t travel, but my soul requires I do — and that always wins out. Commercial air travel can be a nightmarish experience if done wrong. Here are 33 things to make the experience more comfortable for yourself, and others. Wear closed-toed shoes. If you can’t do that, at minimum wear socks. Never check a bag. Checking a bag is at best a minor inconvenience and at worst a major catastrophe that can ruin a trip.
South America is beautifully flawed

Mar 18, 2024 | medium.com | Ernesto Rivera

On the dichotomy of technology and poor processes. Last week I ordered a brownie in the capital of Brazil’s second most populous state. After I inhaled the first brownie, I ordered a second one because life is short and happiness is fleeting. The second one was served differently than the first. To be clear, I was at the same restaurant when I ordered the second brownie as I was when I ordered the first. Less than five minutes passed between the orders.
If you get anxiety about competing, read this

Mar 13, 2024 | medium.com | Ernesto Rivera

On the hesitancy in pursuing hard things. After I wrote about competing with friends, I got this message¹:Can you write about hesitancy to compete? I signed up to compete and now I’m second-guessing myself. I guess it’s my pride, I don’t want to get up there and lose. These super fights up on a stage with walk-out music and lights seem to hold more weight and produce more nerves.
26 life lessons from the best man I ever knew

Mar 5, 2024 | medium.com | Ernesto Rivera

My grandfather was the best person I ever had the privilege of knowing. Here are 26 lessons I learned from him, one for every year I knew him. Some he told me often, like #3. Others I learned through his stories, like #14. And some of the best ones, I learned by being around him, like #21. Wear an undershirt, except when wearing t shirts. Create good routines. Stick to them.
Compete with your friends

Feb 29, 2024 | medium.com | Ernesto Rivera

It’s an avenue for healthier friendships. I’m currently sitting on a plane next to one of my closest friends. We’re traveling halfway across the world to fight for the same thing. Not in a metaphorical sense — we will be competing in the same division of a jiu jitsu tournament¹ to try and earn our spot at the world championships of our sport in August. It’s a single elimination tournament, and we compete in the same weight class. In a very literal sense, if he wins I can’t, and if I win he can’t.
31 days in Rio de Janeiro

Feb 26, 2024 | medium.com | Ernesto Rivera

And the difference time makes. It was a month before summer when we arrived in Rio. Hardly two hours passed before we had consumed enough food and sun to remember why this trip would be longer than the last. Thirty one days. Long enough to make everyone at work wonder how you’re allowed to do that. The knowledge that you will be in a place long enough to witness turnover at local restaurants arms you with an unusual patience— but only after the first day.