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Page 26 of 37
Observations: Benin
The Beninese people have no concept of personal space or personal comfort, as demonstrated by squeezing into taxi buses and cars with no complaint.
Tags: Africa, Benin, Musings, Observations
March 25, 2011
Where Am I
The number one question that I get when communicating with people on facebook, twitter or email is “where are you?” This has been pretty consistent since I left Japan in February 2009. After leaving Japan, I set out on a…
Tags: Japan, Musings, Random Thoughts, Travel
March 23, 2011
Back to Being a Minority
On the plane from Paris to Rome on the continuation of our exodus from rural Africa to the industrialized world….well Italy for now….I noticed that I was the only black person and I sighed, “back to being a minority.” While…
Tags: Musings, Race Relations, Random Thoughts
がんばって 日本
February 2008 – February 2009 I had the pleasure of living in Kusatsu-Shi, which is a suburb of Kyoto, Japan. Over the year I fell in love with the language, the people, the culture and the country. So on March…
Tags: Development, Japan, Musings
March 21, 2011
Things I won’t miss about living in rural Benin
Risking my life daily by riding on the back of motorcycles, sans helmet. Bugs. Bugs that bite. Bugs that just crawl. And bugs that interrupt my meals. Boredom. 90F (32C)+ days without air conditioning. Laying in the bed, 6 hours…
March 15, 2011
Have you ever…
…rode on the back of a motorcycle at 60km/h (37mph) down an unpaved road with no helmet? It feels like death coming at you at 100mph (160km/h).
Tags: Africa, Benin, Have you ever, Musings
March 14, 2011
Things that I am longing for
A few of the things that I have been missing since I have been in Benin. Manicures and pedicures. In London, I painted my nails fun colors every week and once spring and summer (read: eternal fall in London) I…
March 13, 2011
Bye Benin
Ok, so I know I said I was staying here until the end of March but plans have changed…..again. I will be leaving Benin next Friday. Yup, Friday March 18, 2011 I will be on my way back to Europe,…
Tags: Africa, Air France, Benin, Musings
March 12, 2011
A Weekend in Dassa
So this weekend, the Italian is in town to visit me and say goodbye to our co-workers. Friday night we headed to Amadou’s house just before dusk and played with his super cute four year old daughter Fatima who speaks…
Tags: Africa, Benin, Dassa-Zoume, Musings
Standing My Ground
Everyday I take Zems, which are motorcycle taxis, to the same locations. These include the office where I work, the restaurant where I eat lunch, the pharmacy, the “supermarket” (it is super small and I don’t think really qualifies as…
Tags: Africa, Benin, Musings, transportation, Zem
March 8, 2011
Page 26 of 37
Village Life
Whenever I visit Uganda, I inevitably end up in “the village” as this is where my mother is from. She is from a small village outside of Masaka. The first two times (ages 7 and 10) that I came to
Five things that struck me upon arrival in Uganda
1. Entebbe is really far from Detroit. I travel, A LOT! Having not been to Uganda for eight years, I forgot how long the distance between DTW and EBB is. No, it isn’t as far as Australia, but it is
On going home…and ramblings on identity
For those of us that are born to foreign parents in any country the question of identity and home may often have an illusive answer. I have previously written about this and know this duality well. Born in the US,
Starhotels Michelangelo Florence – Beware
I rarely stay in hotels when I travel, but when I do I use Hotwire (though Air BNB has become a solid contender), which I wrote about back in 2009. Up until late last year when my sister and her
What is all this stuff? On minimalism.
If you follow me on Instagram you know that I have been purging the last few months. I have made up my mind and I do not want to own a lot of stuff anymore. I HAVE ENOUGH STUFF. I
Eating Detroit: Vegetarian Restaurants
I have been pescatarian (no meat, but seafood) for nearly a month now. I started doing it as part of a 30 day challenge that I put myself on. I have always wanted to try being a vegetarian but I