Rwanda, make an honest woman out of me
In Rwanda, I find myself thinking anew about something which has preoccupied me for the last several years: meaning things. I phrase it to…
Read MoreRwanda
Having house help makes me nervous
There are two wonderful people who make our ridiculous lives here possible: Mathilde, and Saidi. Mathilde is a big, beautiful woman whose smile you…
Read MoreThat is, literally, not what I meant
I was having a meal with a Rwandan friend earlier today, and in the process learned that “Dufugurua” means both “We am eating a…
Read MoreOn hearing what you want to hear
I have been keeping track, for no explicable reason, of the number of places outside of the States where I hear a song that…
Read MoreRelationships with places are still…relationships
Early in my adult life, I became a serial dater of places. I had a long, happy love affair with Boston, but we plateaued….
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Goat Love
In an afternoon worthy of his epithet, the Great Dane made a goat. Well, two goats. “Two perfect goats,” as he could be heard…
Read MoreThere are only so many ways to say something
Earlier this week, I went through recording after recording from Sierra Leone–interviews with forced wives, and with women who suffered every denigrating crime even…
Read MoreMurphy’s law meets Occum’s razor
For whatever reason, the cultural differences in dating practices have been coming up in many of my conversations recently. Today, it was Kenya. “So…
Read MoreWhat do white people know about exotic plants, anyway?
That stuff in the garden I thought was bamboo? It’s sugar cane. This is just the latest in a long, long list of things…
Read MoreStamp your passport at my gate
Fifty percent of my current household is European. European men, to be exact. (Actually, with the exception of me, everyone who lives here at…
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