Lessons

Helga

Months ago, on our way to the “cotton castle”, in Pamukalle, Turkey, we were beckoned inside a home by a squat women, let’s call her Helga, with chapped hands and a ruthless expression of hospitality. It was something we’d seen before. Come, come, it said. Take off your shoes, it insisted. Have some tea, it [...]

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Journey to the Center of Myself

“I always thought that as I got older, I would have more people around me,” said Brenda in an old Six Feet Under episode. “But it’s just the opposite. We’re just focused more inward, get more honed into ourselves. She’s so right. While I certainly know more people as my rings slide down the banisters [...]

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MOT

Seven years ago, on a scuba diving excursion in Mexico with my family, far before my husband Boudreaux and I were even engaged, we ran into a fellow American on the boat. He said to Boudreaux: “You’re a MOT, right?”And Boudreaux’s like: “What?” And the guys’ like: “Member of the Tribe” And Boudreaux’s like: “What?” [...]

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I Quit

I’ve always been one of those annoying people who follow through. I call people back. I complete the course. I finish my taxes on time. In fact, discovering that the world was full of people who tended to flake was incredibly annoying. But as I learned in my business, it also meant I got credit, [...]

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DONE

I am depleted. I don’t know how to address the next room or meal or shower or person or bus or price. I am tired. Of my hairy legs and bug bites and greasy hair. Of dust. Of crazy drivers. Of the children at the window. Of rearranging my backpack. Of conserving toothpaste and treating [...]

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Survival

At the market that morning, there was nothing special for sale. It was Goodwill in the shape of a shoe horn along the lake. Fourth-hand dresses and Old Navy sweatshirts and shiny department store shoes minus the box on blankets. Frowning vendors sold tough-skinned tomatoes. Very occasionally a car would roll by entirely too fast [...]

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Naked Eyes

We started this trip with two cameras. We now have none. Yes, the whole stolen thing really sucked. So did the day-long police report experience. There was disbelief, devastation and denial. But there was, eventually, a solemn belief in the idea that this didn’t mean the world was bad, just that two people were bad. [...]

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The Gift

Growing up, my Mom taught me that going the extra mile meant giving the extra gift. So I selected souvenirs on trips and kept emergency items in the guest bedroom drawers. You never knew when a silver duck-head wine opener or a pear-scented candle set might be right. A small gift, she said, was a [...]

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Pyramids

Although there exist over 100 Egyptian pyramids, the three Giza structures, made of limestone, with the Sphyinx reigning amidst, remain the most famous. The Pyramids are a full-on Monet. From far away, pretty cool. See above! You can see their swagger and hear their sexy voice say: “I’m not sure how to tell you this, [...]

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The Condom of King Tut

Egypt could be the first country on our trip where we found the history more fascinating than current life. We’re talking about a land which was ruled by thirty dynasties and dozens of pharaohs for three thousand years. A civilization with customs so appealing that even the Romans played along for a century or two. [...]

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