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Soft Kisumu

Kisumu sounds smooth and balmy doesn’t it? Like the texture of a dream where Shamu, a Hawaiian women in a mumu and a squishy kiss are all involved. This is how it felt. Mostly. The soft, square back cushions of the boda (bicycles) felt easy on my ass and much more forgiving than recent mattresses [...]

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Africa Panic Attack

When we arrived at couchsurfer Mutinda’s home after two hours in a matatu, a taxi ride which ended in a flat tire and a forty five minute walk. . .even after we shuffled along the red dirt road lined with cow-herders, vintage bikes and a valley view of coffee beans and bananas, I experienced a [...]

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When Courage Begins to Crumble

What do you do when you’re the only white people on a hill full of hundreds of Kenyans and everyone starts getting up to clap and sing and raise their hands when identically dressed dancers emerge from a semi with the words “Jesus Big Miracle Crusade” written on it? You join in. We were nervous [...]

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Skipping the Sudan

We’d planned on it. Swapped passports in Israel and avoided stamps in Jordan to be sure they’d let us in. Astonished fellow backpackers with our overland plans. Explained how we’d avoid Darfur and Juba. Researched the visa situation. Found the cost of a ferry along the river Nile from Aswan to Wadi Halfa. But in [...]

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City of the Dead

Some call it the Northern Cemetery, Bab el Nasr or the Cemetery of the Great. Those in a hurry might say: el’arafa, meaning simply “cemetery”. We were tourists so we called it City of the Dead, which just didn’t translate. But we were no longer in tour-bus territory. As usual, as education decreases, hospitality increases, [...]

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The first days of Egypt. . .

Every day in Dahab seemed a lot like the one before. Every morning brought flies, breezes, heat and cats. Michael went running. I read or did yoga. Every day, Shepl would deliver our meals. Every day, Mustafa and Waleed would wash another section of rugs, positioning the pillows like crayons in a box before late-rising [...]

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Flashback to Turkey: The Fish

Back in Antakya with the girls, they treated us to a different restaurant each night, planning or outings as if they’d known us for years. Even when we were ready for bed, they insisted: more tea, more fatoush, more kunefe.   I never caught the name of this particular place, but I’ll never forget it. The air [...]

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The Garden Tomb

Due to some botch in planning, and despite enough churches to lift entire town at least a few kilometers closer to heaven, there was no Catholic mass in English on Easter Sunday in Jerusalem. So we went to sunrise service at the Garden Tomb, the spot where Protestants believe Jesus is buried. I’d slept just [...]

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Ramallah

Maybe I should buy a longer skirt. Yes, maybe you should. I mean, the men are either “tsk”-ing or ogling. The women are looking at me like I’m a two-bit whore! My skirt is not that short! Yes, it is. But it’s not my fault. I didn’t know. Yes, you did. It’s been cold. I’ve [...]

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Demystifying and Not Exactly Christian

To remain in awe in Jerusalem, you must not only BELIEVE COMPLETELY but truly abandon all reason and logic so as to accept that some council at the ministry of tourism and religion in Israel knows the exact spot of baby Jesus’ birth. While Rome shines with a self-aggrandizing decadence that refuses to be bothered [...]

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