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Under African Skies: A photo tribute to Mikumi National Park, Tanzania
Posted on May 19, 2012 4 Comments
Paul Simon brought me to Africa. Since I was a wee one, pre-wanderlust, I have enjoyed putting on Paul Simon’s Graceland, kicking off my shoes, and dreaming of Africa. This album conjured all the ideas I ever had of Africa: Grassy plains, shirtless drummers, and super-sized beasts laying in the shade of a single Baobab […]
Beirut: The Un-Broken Mosaic.
Posted on March 22, 2012 5 Comments
The buildings in Beirut still wear bullet holes from an era we would all wish to soon forget. Their façade an ugly reminder of public violence that neither the Lebanese government nor the media could hide. If bombed out buildings and war stories from baby-faced teens are not reminder enough of Lebanon’s torn past, the […]
In Search of the Allusive Snowy Owl
Posted on February 25, 2012 Leave a Comment
I take after my parents more than I used to like to admit. Now that I have discovered it is cool to have interesting hobbies, I tag along with them on every adventure I can, even if it means spending 3 hours in the freezing rain trying to find a single owl somewhere in a […]
Puddle Jumping in Portland
Posted on January 23, 2012 2 Comments
“ And the rain, rain, rain, came down, down, down, and washed right over piglet.” The capital of pork and PBR, and home to an alphabetical listing of odd from Arsenic flavored ice cream to Zealots in Zebra galoshes, Portland was the logical escape route from my life in the Middle East. I even welcomed […]
7s Heaven: The HSBC Dubai Rugby 7s
Posted on December 10, 2011 2 Comments
My relationship with my fiancé closely mirrors my relationship with rugby. I began dating Matt seven years ago when I moved in next door to the infamous “rugby house” located strategically between campus, and the bars. If ever a real life “Animal House” were to be, this would have been it. I spent afternoons wrapped […]
Lordy, Looks Who’s 40! : The UAE Turns 40
Posted on December 1, 2011 6 Comments
I haven’t been home in the USA for three 4th of Julys. The last time I waved a red, white, and blue flag in a patriotic parade, I still thought it appropriate to prance around in a bikini and cow-girl boots. The amount of energy exerted on building parade floats, making red, white, and blue […]
A Holiday in Muscat, Oman
Posted on November 21, 2011 4 Comments
The UAE landscape shows us a stark contrast between the way the Arabian Desert was, for over 5,000 years, and the futuristic horizon of a nation that has seen some of the most rapid growth in history. What the UAE is lacking however, is an architectural history. I hadn’t noticed the significance of this gap […]
We’ll Always Have Paris.
Posted on November 3, 2011 2 Comments
I had been warned prior to my gap year in Europe by the University doctor who, let’s face it, must have seen hundreds of students returning from exchange programs showing symptoms of strange rashes and itchy privates. She explained quite frankly that “travel is very romantic, you might find yourself on a train, winding its […]
Leaving the Wild West.
Posted on September 24, 2011 130 Comments
In January 2011 I left behind my chapped, winter lips, wearing instead a gold wedding band, and rode in the passenger’s seat to Seattle, where Matt and I would board a plane bound for the Al Gharbia Desert. We didn’t speak Arabic, couldn’t have told you where this desert lay on a map and were […]
Sugar, Spice, and Souks: Deira Spice Souk
Posted on July 11, 2011 4 Comments
If you came to the United Arab Emirates in search of old world vignettes, tucked in narrow alleyways, filled with magic carpets, Arab men in colorful head scarves and puffs of jasmine flavored incense, you may be disappointed when confronted with the modern city. While Dubai rises high into the clouds with its contemporary sky […]
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