Bhutan’s Seasons of Change

Bhutan’s Seasons of Change

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

Tripe Soup from Turkey

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

Bhutan: Nuns Secrets to Life

“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

Search: Mannheim, Germany is a…

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

Let the Games Begin in Greece

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

Hot in the Texas Summertime

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

Dreaming in Barcelona, Spain

The constant going of time has a petrifying effect. It worries me so much I end up diving even more into the dark swallow of inaction where I imagine there are undying puddles of steaming tar that bind me to the nothingness even more. Then, the cells in my body shout out all at once, … Continued

Something Unexpected in the Philippines

Searching frantically for scraps of food, like ants trapped inside a lunchbox, it was that all too familiar look of confusion mixed with a hopeful desperation that brought us together. We were the only Americans in the international terminal of the Manila, the Philippines Airport, five minutes into a four-hour layover on Christmas Eve. There … Continued

The Contemplative Life in Kentucky

It’s the winter of 2009 and I find myself eager to take a holiday, to abandon my work and leave the cell phone and computer behind, but mostly to have a Christmas (since the death of my parents) that doesn’t involve my being an orphan at someone else’s table. It’s always a difficult decision, how … Continued

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