The first in a series of reflections on the incredible Dialogue 2010, curated by Rose Deniz and on the topic of hybrid identities and location.
The first in a series of reflections on the incredible Dialogue 2010, curated by Rose Deniz and on the topic of hybrid identities and location.
In 1973 Erica Jong wrote the feminist anthem, Fear Of Flying. The heroine, Isadora, though terrified of flying, boards a plane and her subsequent journey leads to a spiritual and sexual awakening that was the one of the first of its kind in print. Jong’s thesis is that the fear of flying is the fear [...]
My first ever guest blog has gone live at expat+HAREM, a neo-cultural hub for expats and voyagers.
http://www.expatharem.com/2010/02/25/the-inside-outsider/
Many of the things that I did in the Naughts Decade. I probably left out a bunch, but anyway.
When I first moved to Europe going on seven years ago I was bummed that I felt they didn’t really celebrate Halloween, American style. Dressing up, spider webs, pumpkin carving, creepy music, Trick-or-Treating…Halloween was always my most favourite holiday. I love costumes and basically will use any excuse whatsoever to dress up. Movie premieres, themed [...]
As a gun-crime survivor who now lives in Europe, until there are better gun control laws in the USA then every American city would be a stressful place in which to live. Not to mention the general lack of public transportation. Here I don’t have to worry about someone shoving a gun in my face [...]
When I was first covering the human rights meetings in Geneva in 2004, long before I knew about this thing called a “weblog,” I was posting reports about the UN sessions through FreeWebs and handing out business cards with the site address to build readers. In 2005 I retained the rights to www.Sezin.org, but continued [...]
I always thought that the airlines that offered a personal TV for each seat were the super-duper fancy airlines that only the wealthy could afford. Imagine my surprise at Christmastime to discover that Emirates Airlines has a personal TV built into every single seat in their airplanes! Wow! You get to choose what movies you [...]
After so many years of travelling and living around the world, I have finally learned that there is a huge difference between spending a couple weeks somewhere on holiday and living there full time. When I first went to Spain it was indeed on holiday to Barcelona and I was enchanted. I had always wanted [...]
you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone is the gift that keeps on giving.
when i lived in france with my parents, backdropped with the jura mountains all fresh air, trees and snow, i enjoyed every moment of it because something told me it would be a long time before i got to live [...]
it’s good that aside from tommy i may have a new friend here in istanbul, a person not a cat. of course, she would be the one person that none of the other ditzy english teachers like because she is older and far more worldly than them. we connected over the stray cats and now [...]
so many days have passed since i have been able to write. our internet connection is shaky at best and i am trying my luck to post this.
yesterday, i had my first physical contact with Tommy, the stray cat who adopted us and is now a part of our family. he is the sweetest little [...]
we went to see ‘the illusionist’ today. wow. just, wow. go see it!
i love watching movies in their original language. there was just not enough of this in spain and here it is more common than not that films in the theatre are in their original version. blessed be the Cinema Gods.
after many days of [...]
friday is sunday in muslim countries. it is the holy day, mosque day, but in istanbul, unlike more radical muslim countries, life goes on more or less as usual. there is just no work. it is very quiet and the workers in the lot in front are off today. how nice! fridays are such a [...]
Confronting Cholera: My Zimbabwe Diary
Dear Emile,
This is a beautifully written piece about your experience in Zimbabwe. I love that you’ve gotten involved with Oxfam, an organisation in which Chris McCandless believed so much; he would have been so happy that he inspired you to get involved. But I also appreciate your candor describing not only the Zimbabwe that you [...]
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