Category Archive: United States

One part transportation hub, another part monument to the human experiment, Grand Central Terminal is said to be number six on the world’s most visited places list with 21,600,000 visitors each year.

Hitler sent spies to sabotage it, Croatian nationalists attempted to bomb it and visions of the future once conspired to demolish it. Continue Reading »

Last weekend, I arrived in Asheville, North Carolina to visit family. And boy, was I tired.

The last two months have been chock full: traveling from Central Europe to Crete to Istanbul to Iran, back to Istanbul, Germany and finally to a series of family visits up and down the east coast of the United States.

But I’ve been feeling a little spent. It’s not only the movement, but also my head, to the brim with fresh experiences and quite frankly deprived of the time and space to properly process them all. Amidst the fatigue, I began to wonder if perhaps I had reached some limit in what I could do, what I could take on.

Then I began to listen to my 95-year-old grandfather and his pals telling stories at their retirement home. They offered me a lift and a few lessons about life and determination. Continue Reading »

It’s a long road home.

Over the course of five days last weekend, we made our way from Iran to Turkey to Germany to the United States by two trains, a boat, two planes and a car — arriving home in time to spend Thanksgiving with family.

And for this, we are thankful. Continue Reading »

Ah, kids these days. The list runs long of their digital addictions: texting, gadgets, Facebook, internet, and video games. But during our visit to the U.S., we bore witness to a few fleeting moments that reaffirmed that kids are still kids. That is to say, kids as we knew them: little girls leveraging the lemonade-stand model to raise money for an afternoon trip to the toy store, middle schoolers oohing and aahing over stories about eating bugs and engaging with giant rodents, and high schoolers jumping off absurdly high cliffs to demonstrate their mettle.

With cultural evolution at high speed, it’s comforting to know that while many things have changed, a few remain the same.

Note: If you are looking for eye candy, check out the time lapse audio slideshow of the kids jumping off the ledge at the waterfall here. Continue Reading »

Only two days ago, we were learning about biodynamic Chilean wines and ziplining through vineyards in the hills outside Santiago, Chile.

Just yesterday, en route from Santiago to New York City, we took advantage of a long layover to peek into and poke around the colonial streets of Bogota, Columbia.

Today we arrived in New York. (We are writing this on a bus from New York City to Washington, DC.)

As we catch our collective breath from a rapid change in context (it took almost 15 months to go the opposite direction), we thought it might make sense to bring you up to speed as to what’s going on. After all, some of you might be wondering: “Is this the end?” Continue Reading »

In our previous piece, we shared – hopefully with a bit of levity – a few features of life in America that we’ll miss.

Now comes the part where we offer some critical observations from our recent visit home, the longest in seven years. Continue Reading »

Article Series - America: Things We'll Miss, Things We Won't

1. Saying Goodbye to America, Again: What We’ll Miss
2. Saying Goodbye to America, Again: What We Won’t Miss

Our recent visit to the U.S. was our longest in over seven years. Becoming reacquainted with our home country was in its own right a learning experience. Having just departed a few days ago for the Latin America leg of our journey, we take inventory of a few things that we’ll miss – and a few that we won’t.

Continue Reading »

Article Series - America: Things We'll Miss, Things We Won't

1. Saying Goodbye to America, Again: What We’ll Miss
2. Saying Goodbye to America, Again: What We Won’t Miss

Can somebody please come up with a better name for the ongoing financial crisis? Vote in the poll below with your choice.

Continue Reading »

Think a press pass to the 2009 Presidential Inauguration meant that crowds parted at security gates like the Red Sea did for Moses?

Think again. Continue Reading »

Article Series - 2009 Presidential Inauguration

1. Inauguration Day Images
2. Inauguration Day, She Said: Peace Corps on Parade
3. The Inauguration, He Said: Of Mobs and Men

Start: 5:30 AM. Finish: 7:00 PM. Time actually spent marching in the inaugural parade: 30 minutes. Was it all worth it?

You bet.

The possibility of participating in the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Parade hadn’t even entered my mind two months ago. However, a series of well-timed and serendipitous events resulted in the inclusion of my name on a list of returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) who were to march in the parade. I was honored and humbled, both to represent the Peace Corps and to take part in this historic day.

And what a day it was.
Continue Reading »

Article Series - 2009 Presidential Inauguration

1. Inauguration Day Images
2. Inauguration Day, She Said: Peace Corps on Parade
3. The Inauguration, He Said: Of Mobs and Men