I’m not exactly sure why I chose to go to Palestine. Maybe it was because of the Palestinians I’ve met in the last few years. Or because of the rich history and heavy religious heritage. Maybe I just wanted to try Palestinian food. Or maybe I’m drawn to places that are on the troubled end […]
Category: Culture
Palestine, a crossroad of religions
The Holy Land, Palestine is the place where the three Abrahamic religions were born, diverged, and then intersected again throughout history. My trip there did not have a religious focus, but even so, I was impressed by the density of the religious landmarks and the devotion of the believers. Some of them – Palestinian residents […]
The Crocodiles of the Sepik, Papua New Guinea
Life on the Sepik the canoe – the indispensable method of transport on the Sepik River, carved out of a single tree trunk The atmosphere was tense in the boat. We were surrounded by silence and darkness. Every few seconds, a flying fish smaller than my palm would violently shatter the stillness, making my heart […]
The Mt. Hagen Show in pictures*
An outer-worldly experience There’s little I can say about the Mt. Hagen Show in the highlands of Papua New Guinea that would get remotely close to depicting the experience of being there. In a nutshell, I was in the middle of what felt like an old National Geographic documentary. Thousands of miles away from what […]
The heaven of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
Adjusting to Papua New Guinea The sun has already set and it must be a bit after 7pm. I wouldn’t know for sure cause I stopped checking the time since I arrived in New Ireland, my first destination in Papua New Guinea. In Planet Earth time, this is my 3rd day here, but time flows on […]
Life in a monastic school in Myanmar
The introductions “Hello! How are you?” It was the voice of a novice monk with a shy smile and warm eyes. The Mandalay Hill is a popular place among tourists for watching the sunset, and among monks for meeting tourists. I was the tourist of choice for Sai and his friend. We covered the basics […]
Rwanda then and now. The rebirth after the Genocide
I met Donatella on a minibus going from Gisenyi to Ruhengeri. She works ‘with the schools’ in a church-led program and she’s from the French-educated generations*. I congratulated her for how clean and organized everything was in Rwanda. My praise was heartfelt and honest and I could see the pride in her eyes when receiving […]