In abstentia
Here’s a quick note from Butare, where in one Internet Explorer window, this French keyboard does, in fact, write in French…and in a new…
Read MorePlaces
If I had been there at creation…
I would have lobbied that languages be easier to learn; that we can all choose 12 to store in our brains at birth, and…
Read MoreOf reconciliation, reunion and returns–the $$ kind
Thanks to Diana for sending this link from CNN, where Christiane Amanpour just did a story about justice, forgiveness, living wages… Amanpour’s story is…
Read MoreDon’t say he didn’t warn you
I’ve been holding this little tidbit for the right moment… The day Clinton wins in West Virginia seems apropos. When I was in Burundi,…
Read MoreDecoding electoral news, or, I’m from a state of racists
Here are several “dog bites man” stories, which is journalism code for “stuff that’s so obvious it doesn’t merit a story.” Except this is…
Read MoreFrom the Department of “You’re Not Allowed To Be So Cynical”
I enjoy glibness, a little bit too much, and nothing gets me more interested in a conversation that well-deployed sarcasm. So it’s easy–sometimes a…
Read MoreA country’s worth of caretakers
Last time I came back to the States from Rwanda, I had some serious separation anxiety, and I spent a lot of time just…
Read MoreThis doesn’t count as materialism, does it?
I want a pair of fitted sheets. I miss fitted sheets so badly, which is funny because I didn’t often consider their existence, except…
Read MoreLanguage Lessons II
Our gardener sought me out today–and before I go any further, yes, I feel strange and a little queasy saying “our gardener”–because he wanted…
Read MoreThe cultural aestethics of being half-naked
Last night, a friend was telling me how foreign the concept of “roommates” is to Rwandans. “No one really believes that men and women…
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