5 Pieces of London in NYC
. . When I first went to London one of the first places I went to visit was Chinatown. I went for multiple reasons but one of the biggest ones was to find a little piece of home in my new temporary home. I was craving a red bean pastry and Chinese food I didn’t have the spices for. And when I moved to NYC–a city that I technically am familiar with–I searched for a bit of, well, London. I have found 5 places in NYC that remind me... Read More
The Road Less Traveled
http://www.joondalup.wa.gov.au/explore/libraries.aspx Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. -“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost (1874–1963) We’ve all heard this famous Robert Frost poem a thousand times, or at least at every school convocation and graduation we attend. Over the last century, this poem has been used symbolically... Read More
Water and Leaves
Ever since I was young, I’ve enjoyed a cup of tea. Unfortunately my parents don’t really know what kind of teas we have in our cupboards. And yes, there are two cupboards to look for tea. One has tea bags in boxes that are clearly labeled–Cozy Chamomile, Lemon & Honey, etc.–and another full of beautiful metal canisters with mysterious leaves that turn into fantastic Chinese tea. If asked what tea she’s drinking,... Read More
Our Newest Go Girl in Avignon
Having studied French since middle school for eight years, I had many expectations, most of them pretty stereotypical, about the beret-wearing, cheese-eating nation of France. I was drawn to the French language ever since I learned the names for colors in my first seventh grade French lesson. The sound of each syllable was fresh, exciting, and like a new genre of music to my ears. As I took more and more French classes, the complexity never ceased... Read More
There Once was a GoGirl in Ireland
I tried to write a limerick for this post, but the truth is that rhyming is not my strongest field. Besides, limericks are supposed to be obscene by nature, and my trip to visit my good friend definitely could not be defined as obscene. Amanda was spending the semester abroad studying in Cork, so it was easy to fly out to see her while I was in Barcelona, especially on America’s favorite food holiday- Thanksgiving. It seemed like to perfect... Read More
Sevilla
After a short bus ride from, we finally made it to the ‘real’ Spain. Barcelona (our home city at that time) is an amazing city, but as many Catalans love to tell you, it is not Spain. Sevilla (Seville), however, is southern Spain’s capital of culture, flamenco, and tapas. I was ready to experience this southern city with my group of travel buddies, and luckily we were all very chill, easy going folk. So, we started off our... Read More
Back on the Road
It was the end of a long day. I’d spent several hours bouncing around in the back of a van as we drove through rural Côte d’Ivoire. We’d spent the day in meetings with community leaders in preparation for a “day of solidarity” to take place that weekend celebrating the achievements of that community in mediating land conflict. After our last meeting my co-workers and I went out to get dinner. As usual, I was the only woman in the group,... Read More
The Ins & Outs
While spring has surely arrived in other parts of the world, in northern Japan it is puttering along in fits and starts. The first signs were the pale green cabbage-flowers cropping up along the roads. These homely weeds were soon joined by lily-looking plants, lurking in the dark marshes in the woods. The trees are just now budding, so cherry blossom season (which has already hit and run Tokyo) is a couple weeks away. Patches of snow still... Read More
Have to be flexible
My first night aboard the MV Explorer was rough. As soon as we pulled away from the port and Nassau began to disappear over the horizon, the ship began to rock. And when I say rock what I really mean is it dipped so far from side to side that it felt like we were going to do a full turn and plunge right into the Atlantic. To say I was quietly freaking out would be an understatement. No one, including me, was expecting for the waves to be as... Read More
Bonus Day
Last year, around spring break time, I was getting ready for a trip to the Keys to visit Grandpa and enjoy a vacation away from Boston’s grey skies. Sun, relaxation, and an inexpensive visit were all necessary, so staying with Grandpa and Annie (his lovely lady friend) made perfect sense for the boy and I. Grandpa and Annie met us at the Key West airport and drove us back to the vacation park where Grandpa has been a snow-bird nearly every... Read More
