“There is no reason to go to Belgrade I think.” Shqipe said in her normal directness. Several other students shook their heads in agreement. “Really, it’s not a nice place to visit?” I asked. “Like for tourists?” “No. Not nice place.” “No old town, or nice buildings, or interesting nightlife?” I continued playing my little role.… [Read more…]
November 27, 2011
Angela and I stood together in a small dark alley, before sunrise, in the pilgrimage town of Pushkar, India. Her head was freshly shaved and she was wearing her blue pashmina over her petite shoulders against the nip. In the moonlight I could see the glimmer of the holy lake behind her in the small… [Read more…]
October 30, 2011
The scariest day of my life began at about 11 am. I awoke in third-day clothes in my cold room, from four hours of sleep. Two days before had been January 14th, the spectacular climax of the surging wave of the Tunisian Revolution. But that wave crested briefly, like a miracle from God, and then… [Read more…]
October 2, 2011
“Mom, can you take a picture of me?” It’s a hot summer day but I’m inside, standing in the entrance to the hallway. In my eleven-year-old outstretched hand I am holding the gold disc camera. My mother is lying on the low, tan couch in the dark living room, reading the newspaper off the… [Read more…]
September 18, 2011
I arrived in Tunisia at the beginning of 2010 having been led to believe it was a sleepy little Arab Muslim country where I should expect a pleasant, uneventful, possibly dull experience. I couldn’t have been more surprised. My 18 month experience in Tunisia remains one of the most interesting, exciting, and enigmatic experiences of… [Read more…]
July 4, 2011
From my bedroom balcony I can see small circles of men on the corner by the garbage pile, conferring in low tones. They are regular men, from our poor, central neighborhood. Their families are at home. In the far distance I can see groups of people walking like burnt matchsticks, with large packs on their… [Read more…]
April 26, 2011
There was whispering and shuffling outside my bedroom door. The room was dark except for dim light coming in through tall, closed shutters. After a moment I realized the sound was Avril, Holly, and Cyrus trying to leave quietly. They had wanted to collect Stephen from Djamel and Claire’s a few blocks away, as soon… [Read more…]
April 3, 2011
When I opened my eyes it was day and I was hurtling through space on a high-speed train. After several graduated moments, it came back to me that its destination was Budapest. Cloudy pop-ups of my previous night began to surface in my mind, a mythical blur of Zagreb, Croatia. I had flashes of twinkling… [Read more…]
March 7, 2011
When I answered my phone it was Thelma my boss. In a low voice she said they were going to run the first class the next day, and cancel the later ones. But it was up to me. If I didn’t feel safe coming in I didn’t have to. I thought about it for a… [Read more…]
February 13, 2011
It has been called the Facebook Revolution by many, and as silly as that might sound, for the people who experienced the Tunisian revolution, it was undeniably true on some level. Especially since so much of it was underground, first due to political danger, and then physical. Yes the real, exciting action mostly took place… [Read more…]
January 26, 2012
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