This is a short experiential piece I wrote after a near death experience trying to find our riad in the medina of Marrakesh GPS was our only hope to find our riad and she was not in a helpful mood. Looking back, I don’t know why we followed the Garmin GPS’s commands in Marrakesh. She was domineering. Demanding. Relentless.
Portrait
The Trip That Changed My Life
On the car ride from the South London bus station where all of us exchange students dispersed to our home stay families for the week, I’m pretty sure Danny had only said hello. Though with his thick Devon accent, I wasn’t totally sure. He seemed big for a sixteen-year-old – and I thought I was […]
La Vida Cubana: Chirino’s Taxi Songs
“My friends say I’m a singer who drives a taxi. My band says I’m a taxi driver that sings.” Chirino, our driver, didn’t hold back. Flying westward down the gritty highway towards Viñales, Cuba, we were in a 1990’s diesel Peugeot. The radio played a recording that Chirino had made with his band – a […]
La Vida Cubana: Mauricio, Nuclear Engineer
“Please, I need a favor of you: Spread the word. Talk to the people about what you saw and enjoyed in Cuba. The good and the bad. We are not perfect.” I could hear Mauricio’s impassioned tone and his easy laugh through his email this week. This was not the first time Mauricio had indicated that […]