Can you return to where you have been? Would it be at all the same? It’s been a weird year back in the states. I sorta fell into a mid-east role without any mid-east work and various worries about unemployment or even continued employment but as anything time keeps moving forward. I realized I had been losing my Arabic at an accelerated … [Read more...]
Category: Asia
Art Exhibit – Zaatari Refugee Children – Amman Jordan
I’m always the last person to know anything that seems to go on around town. As I went into my new favorite café (Café Fann wa Chai) in Jabel Al-Webdeih I noticed they were having an art exhibit that opened tonight. The exhibit is sponsored by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and featuring artwork from Syrian refugees in the … [Read more...]
Adventures in Middle East Living: Visiting the Embassy
I didn’t take photos of the embassies so I just have a photo of Amman traffic to share. So wanted to get another story and update on life, love, and study in the Middle east. Or at least two of the previous three. Besides regular classes, I've been working on trying to get my business visa to Saudi Arabia. On advice I woke up really early to … [Read more...]
Return to Amman Jordan – Middle East Living
The lovely and ancient Roman Theater in Amman Jordan It is interesting to be finally back in the middle east and one of my now favorite places Amman Jordan. Cities of the world are known for so many things, and I try to think about the distinctive thing that I think about when I imagine Amman and perhaps it is the city of hills. If you have … [Read more...]
Photo Essay: Views of Mysore – India
As I wrote earlier I had taken a quick trip down to Mysore and Bangalore from Hyderabad with my cousins. For all of us it was our first time in Karnataka and against my better judgment we ended up taking a day tour of each of the places. Alas, however that doesn’t mean I am without photos, although probably without as many good stories. Beyond … [Read more...]
New Travels to the Middle East
So people have been asking me what’s been going on and I’ve slowly been answering it in various forms randomly in phone calls or on Social Media. But yesterday I learned that my Visa arrived which was a great surprise. I mailed it to the embassy the previously Friday and it returned on Thursday. I actually thought there was … [Read more...]
My trip to Bangalore and Mysore – or why (most) day tours are terrible
He looked at me, his nose scrunching at the idea and a look of dejection ran down his face. I could tell he was not pleased with my suggestion. “But, But, But, how will we see…everything?” – he asked. I sighed, past experience dictated it would not work out, but I knew I didn’t really had it in me to fight. Sometimes with new travelers only through … [Read more...]
Quick Trip Report: Hyderabad India
I’ve been terrible about posting India photos I know. Getting into a car accident right after coming back sorta threw the normal schedule out of alignment and for some reason I haven’t quite brought it back to normal. I haven’t even sent out my email of photos from the trip (sorry!), so hopefully at least I can try to make up some by trying to … [Read more...]
Photo Essay: Prophet’s Birthday in Hyderabad India
It was a warm January over there in Hyderabad this year. We were there mostly to try to catch up with family, go shopping, and relax and enjoy the escape from the terrible “polar vortex that hounded the US”. The Prophet Muhammad's (SAWS) birthday is not something that is generally celebrated with a lot of fanfare. In many … [Read more...]
Notes from an Indian Train
It’s been 20 years… Wow 20 years…seems almost unbelievable. I really can’t believe its been that long. I had to recheck my math to verify that. But yes strangely in fact 20 years since my last train ride in India. And you would probably think so much has changed in that amount of time, but maybe not as much you would imagine. To be honest I’m … [Read more...]
Breakfast with Bedouins – Petra Jordan
It was early. The kind of early that does not align well with vacation plans, even "vacations within a vacation" as I tended to describe this trip. Only moments prior the sweet cacophony of the Adhan, a mainstay of Muslim countries, punctured the arid desert air of Wadi Musa and the surrounding valleys. With my cat like maneuvers honed … [Read more...]
Wandering in the Jungle – Andhra Pradesh
“Time spent in India has a extraordinary effect on one. ” – Tahir Shah He clearly never spent much time at an Indian bus station, or perhaps that effect might be anger, frustration, or confusion. I jest…sort of. It’s 600am and we are wandering through the crowds of the city bus terminal in Hyderabad. Buses, cars, rickshaws, carts and people of … [Read more...]