Don’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 MoreVignettes
The 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…
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 MoreWhy I love mangoes too much
I do. I love them too much, which is also a favorite English locution, both here and in Sierra Leone, for saying “a lot”…
Read MoreWildway
19 March 2008, Freetown He is my taxi driver. A friend of a friend gave me two driver’s numbers, and I called this one…
Read MoreHow to tell an American
It’s a 15-minute walk to my house from the nearest bus stop — or taxi stand, in local parlance — up a cobblestone street,…
Read MoreDo YOU know Doug?
First, you have to imagine the bus. It’s not anything like ours. It’s a small van, like a VW line cast off, with four…
Read MoreQuasi-lands time zones forgot
They are airports. I have never liked layovers—I can’t think of anyone who does—but I like to think I have always been rather stoic…
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