Many of you know I returned from my Peace Corps experience via cruise ship. I snapped this short video last night. It was a nice way to end the cruise:
St. Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands, or How I was Technically Home in America for Five Hours
How much can you really say about a place when you’re only there for six or seven hours? Honestly, if there’s one big critique I have about cruises, that might be it. At least stay overnight. Then again, St. Thomas was the first time I felt that way the whole cruise. Eight hours in Madeira […]
Hamza.
My host brother, Hamza (Omar’s brother), died a few days ago from internal bleeding in his kidneys. I just found out, so I thought I would share. Hamza was 18 and the nicest kid I think I ever met. That’s all I can really handle saying about it right now.
A Barbadian Thanksgiving at Sea
I’m not sure how many people know that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I was standing on deck earlier leaning over the railing and staring at the open sea trying to figure out why that is; I’ve discovered that staring blankly into a few thousand miles of ocean feeds my brooding mind. I went out […]
The Open Sea
Yesterday, when I was headed to board the MSC Poesia in Barcelona, there were two large buses shuttling passengers to the harbor. I stood in line next these absolutely beautiful Spanish girls and just thought, “Awesome.” Then when I showed the bus driver my ticket, he said, “No, no, your bus is the next bus. […]
Barcelona.
It’s honestly just a bit weird being back in a culture again where I don’t know the local language and can’t easily get around. Every time I take my change from someone at the restaurant, I have this awful tendency to say “Chokran” instead of “Gracias.” I really hope I don’t do that in America. […]
Driss.
When you live in the countryside of Morocco, and someone approaches you speaking English, I have to admit, I’m always just a little skeptical. A lot of the folks who want to use English with you will want to try out the five words of English they know, and that turns into a somewhat annoying […]
Omar.
When I first got to his house two years ago, it was just a visit. Before going to our final sites, Peace Corps dispatched us out on a one-week test run, so to speak, giving volunteers the chance to say, “Y’know, I went to this place, and I didn’t like it; send me somewhere else, […]
The Party that was Almost Perfect
What a whirlwind of a few days. I feel a little bit like life lately has been moving at rapid speeds but in slow motion here at the end of my service. Like the Matrix. Yeah, that’s a good comparison. I’m like Keanu fighting Agent Smith with rapid judo chops you can only see when […]
On the other hand…. ten year-olds will be ten year-olds
Six months ago, Caity and Avery were nothing short of exasperated with several people as they prepared to leave. I remember both of them just repeating, “It’s awful, Phil. It’s absolutely awful.” This morning, I finally got a taste of what they were talking about. I guess it can’t all be peaches and cream, right? […]
