Around six a.m., Sol Invictus awakens to greet Rome’s citizenry, his soft sunlight illuminating two thousand years of a parabolic empire. I too rise, my well-worn running shoes resolving into focus as I touch the window to get a sense of the morning’s chill. Outside, my journey awaits. Stones the color of old dimes – … Continued
I arrived in the painful, bitter cold of winter. It was far below freezing! It was the first day of snowfall of the year and school was cancelled. I walked my little Bhutanese students’ home as we shielded our wind-burned cheeks against the stinging frost. However, my layers upon layers of clothes couldn’t stop the … Continued
When my father was 16-years old, his father took him and his older brother to Wyoming to climb The Grand Teton. Towering above beautiful Jackson Hole, WY, “The Grand” is the highest mountain in the Teton Mountain Range and the second highest in Wyoming. Its what many would call a “starter mountain.” Experienced mountaineers can … Continued
Tripe Soup My husband and I were wondering through the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, a few streets from the now infamous Taksim Sqaure. The multi-colored flags strung diagonally across the intersections and alleys waved calmly with the Bosphurous breeze. We came to this part of town on a tip from a friend. We were hunting … Continued
“Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum . . . (Hail to the lotus one!).” For several months, every morning I blissfully woke up to the repeating hums passing outside my window; the beloved morning routine of a vibrant seventy-seven year old Buddhist nun circumambulating the nunnery with a prayer bead in her left … Continued
I got off the bus in a small town in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, where I would change over to another bus on my way to Itaúnas for a famous forró festival. It was late at night, the skies were dark and the small dingy streets illuminated by artificial lights. I was 6 … Continued
Finland is a country that is so familiar yet so foreign to me. I have to admit the idea of going there did not fascinate me greatly and I would have never ended up there, until an offer to participate in a summer school and later, a 3-month exchanged period in Turku, Finland appear on … Continued
Mannheim, Germany is an unassuming place. A small industrial city about an hour south of Frankfurt, a major hub for international travel, it is often overlooked. It is really not surprising. Compared to the major cities in Germany, Mannheim is austere and lacking in brilliant photo-worthy castles. It has a well-known university and most of … Continued
Our ship was scheduled to dock at the seaside town of Katakalon, situated off the Ionian Coast, at 9am. Referred to as the “gateway to Olympia” the town often gets overlooked as most visitors use it as a passage to ancient Olympia – the birthplace of the Olympic Games. It was the fifth stop on … Continued
Deep South Texas in the summertime is hot. The humidity is high and the constant Southeast wind is dry and full of dust. The ground cracks and the grass turns brown. Even the native plants droop and shrivel in the extraordinary heat. People hide inside with their air conditioners on full blast. During one long … Continued