Tag: travel
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Freeze Frames
You said you write because you don’t like talking. Had you asked, I would’ve agreed, adding I write to shape and reshape my reality, to flush out “what grooves me” (shoutout to Amiri Baraka), what to throw out. Sometimes, I write pretending to educate others when I’m really educating myself. Sometimes, I reach too high…
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Thoughts From The Goat Farm
I walked almost two hours in midday heat to a goat farm (I know, I know, but I’m unemployed, ok?). The owner is also a priest. I’m in rural Colombia, Zona de Cafetal. The courtyard is filled with greens and blues, ivy and potted plants in full bloom. There are at least 7 dogs, a…
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When the Answers Are the Questions
I’m on the 5 month anniversary of my departure from my home, and all I have are questions. Mira: Does a grain of rice cost the same in rupias and pesos, dollars and shekels? If a coffee farmer in Zona de Cafetal makes 600 colones ($0.17) for collecting a kilo of coffee beans, where’s my…
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Palm Oil Wisdom from Pa
I was hangry, sweaty, and cramped in the back of a local bus in West Sumatra, exhausted from the morning’s jungle trek on little sleep. An older local man (which are all referred to as “pa” in Indonesia) started inching closer to me. “Hello! Where are you from?” He asked cheerily. I was expecting the…
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Bad Connection
I hop on the back of a motorbike, terrified. I’m in Bandung, Indonesia, and riding motorbikes is like Uber here. We swerve up the spines of hills, between racing cars, through the crevices of alleyways that expose neighborhoods hidden from tourist’s view – a slum, I want to say, I don’t want to say. I’m…
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Eyes Pried Shut
I’m sitting by the Bosporus in Istanbul, perched on a rock not unlike those that line the Puget Sound at the base of Seattle. I’ve been away from home for two months, pulling my body across continents, over oceans, up mountains, through forests, deserts, and UNESCO World Heritage sites. I’ve been in awe, out of…
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When Life Laughs At You
I woke up early, ready to seize the day and do a 12-mile trek to a glacier in rural Georgia. Since most of my trip is in warm climates, I was terribly ill-prepared for the 40 degree rainy weather (plus windchill) in a thin windbreaker and sweater. Nevertheless, I jumped out of bed to meet…
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Filling in The Blanks of Our Ancestors
A few months ago, my family gathered in my Uncle Marc’s living room, excitedly anticipating the birth of my cousin’s twins. She was due to give birth in a few weeks, and we spoke of the usual pregnancy obstacles and asked what the baby’s names would be. “Henry and Hazel,” she replied proudly. There is…
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