Traveling is in my Blood
Traveling is in my blood. When I was four my mother, with my sister and I in tow, escaped the evil grips of my biological father. I remember vividly the…
Escape from Chung King
A double decker bus, obtuse and flimsy, jerked to a panicked halt in front of an evolving high-rise that towered over Tsim Sha Tsui like an emperor cast in bronze.…
Building Bridges in Northern Ireland
During the summer of 2007, I was running on the National Mall during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival which focused on Northern Ireland. The country was experiencing a seminal moment…
Haiti Earthquake
I sat distraught and exhausted in the American Airlines Admirals’ Club, staring dreamily at my laptop screen. I was applying the final touches to my enduring midterm — a take-home test for…
The Forgotten War
We first landed in a C-17 in Kabul at the International Airport. There were no limos waiting; no meet and greet holding signs — just a thick haze of dust and…
Family Reunion of a First Kind
“Sometimes life brings you pleasant surprises — it’s not scripted or orchestrated, but just right. Life can be charming, like that, if you let it.” It was a family reunion…