“There’s nothing like being from a country still suffering from the trauma and repercussions of a long and drawn-out civil war and then hearing from a white male travel writer that everything is hunky-dory now and people should start visiting the country again.” For Wear Your Voice Mag, January 2017.
“The thunder and lightning crash so hard around my home it knocks paintings from the wall and tchotchkes to the floor. A wall of rain smashes down so thick I can’t see the road just metres from my front door, nor the community pool out back. I wait for the inevitable sound of sirens that follow these epic peals of skyscape fury — the majority of my town’s residents are elderly retirees; someone once had a heart attack from the noise. As the wind wails, altering the direction of the wall of water this way and that, I imagine this is what it feels like to be in a meteor storm in outer space, frightened and alone. I wait for the power to cut out as it would in Asia, but it never does. This is America, after all. And while I might have experienced ferocious typhoons in Thailand and savage monsoons in Sri Lanka, all those storms combined pale when compared to Florida’s minor tropical furies. I wonder if I’ll ever get used to these terrifying and magnificent displays of nature.” For Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel, December 2016.
“For as long as I can remember, I wanted to get married. A huge part of this desire was most certainly Disney movies and romantic comedies, where a dorky bookworm like me takes off her glasses, becomes beautiful, and weds the hunk everyone else covets. Another part was that getting married felt like an escape from my own dysfunctional family, where I’d be whisked far away and have a chance to build a new life with someone who actually loved and respected me.” For Wear Your Voice Mag, August 2016.
“My tattoos teach me how to own myself, to shape my figure into who I want to be, not the person anyone else expects. My new curves make me feel solid and present in my body like I’ve never felt before, fierce and strong. And now all I need is a sparkling plus-size sari to pour all this fabulousness into.” For Wear Your Voice Mag, August 2016.
“Abrams did a marvelous job of complicating the notion that just because you may fight for the side of Light, that doesn’t mean you’re a good person, just as fighting for the side of Dark doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person.” My 26th article for HuffPost, published in February 2016.
