Away She Goes
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The Things that Comfort Me
As I was writing my last post, it felt important to be honest. I know that we’re all supposed to see the silver lining and be uplifting, but that’s not particularly how I feel. But I also know that there is so much good that has happened in the last day or so, and that … Continue reading
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Boston has always been my city, just like it has always been my mother’s city and her mother’s before that. The only place my family has ever been from, other than Boston, was Ireland. I was born at the Brigham and spent some precious early years on the South Shore, just outside the city limits, … Continue reading
Since moving from a study abroad participant to a leader of trips abroad, I have had some recalibrating to do. There is a difference between the risks I’m willing to take myself and those I’m willing to allow my students to take. This came rushing to the fore last summer when I was walking at … Continue reading
This April, I will be participating in Boston Area Rape Crisis Center’s Walk for Change. I first learned of the organization last year, during my final semester at Northeastern, when I got involved in some related activism. BARCC is a local organization serving the Greater Boston Area with counseling, a 24-hour hotline, medical advocates, and lobbying power. … Continue reading
I came across an article recently about the growing phenomenon of students who spend almost every weekend of their semester abroad traveling somewhere outside of their host city, and often outside of their host country. I immediately thought of my students last fall in Greece, many of whom spent exorbitant sums of their (or more often, their parents’ money) … Continue reading
In October, we lost someone so magnetic that he’s still pulling us together, even in death. Someone so funny and kind that at his funeral we laughed (almost) as much as we cried. Someone so good to the core that he was donating as much time and money as he could, without fanfare or pretense. … Continue reading
Okay, so full closure: for the last month, I’ve been a one-woman Get Out The Vote campaign. I helped my UK/US dual citizen intern register for her first ever Presidential election. I made sure my ex-expat coworker was properly registered. It has gotten to the point where people have blocked me on facebook, and people … Continue reading
Today a pretty amazing thing happened: Raul Castro made good on a promise to abolish the dreaded exit visa, or Tarjeta Blanca. Cubans will be able to leave (starting “before January 14, 2013″ or as I like to call it, January 13) without acquiring an exit visa. The exit visa was an excellent way for … Continue reading
So much about this trip, this country and this traveler is exactly as it was two years ago. I carry much of the same clothing, from my blue and orange dress to my running shoes, tinted pink from Cuba’s clay soil. I still thrive on books and music, and breaks to watch movies and television … Continue reading
Last Wednesday was a good, good day. Kade is doing his project on recreation in Cuba, so it was only a matter of time before running into the ninos, the skate kids Mi les befriended who were the inspiration for Cuba Skate. I hung back and searched faces while Kade chatted them up and started taking photos. … Continue reading
I never meant to be a return traveler. The allure of more and more exotic passport stamps is pretty strong. Almost as strong as the allure of new and different countries. But at this point, I sit firmly in the category of a return traveler. I went to France in 2006 and returned in 2010. I went … Continue reading
I never truly thought before about how disconnected Cubans are. Perhaps because I was too preoccupied with my own lack of communications. Or because that narrative is so ingrained that all I learned here last time was about the opposite of stereotypes. I found out they watch House and Gilmore Girls. They know America’s music and … Continue reading
There are some beautiful photos coming out of this group. Some, though, don’t look like the Cuba that I know. Not that they’re going to new neighborhoods or meeting new people. Rather, some students are so good with their tools that they can manipulate a country (and a people and even buildings) I know so … Continue reading
At its heart, In the Time of the Butterflies is a book of historical fiction about the four Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic. They went up against the dictator Trujillo and each woman became a revolutionary in her own way. This all happening in the 1930s-1960, at a time when Haitians had been massacred by the … Continue reading
Cuba chases me around. I never really expected to be back here again before all hell breaks loose, but here I am. I’m glad today went well, because I needed a win this afternoon. This morning I tried to take some photos of Coppelia (the famou ice cream shop of Fresa y Chocolate fame) then wandered accidentally … Continue reading
Paris is like that first love that will always hold your heart. You two can fall easily back into each other’s arms, where everything comes quickly, lasts long, and feels right. Canada is like that guy from your hometown that you paw around every once in a while just to feel alive, or to remember … Continue reading
“Slacktivists don’t raise money” “Slacktivists aren’t informed” “Slacktivists aren’t connected to the cause” “Slacktivists aren’t real activists” “Slacktivists don’t accomplish anything” I’ve heard and read these complaints a million times over. How many times do we need to see a campaign like the one launched to restore Planned Parenthood funding when Susan G. Komen Foundation pulled … Continue reading
In the last week, I’ve had a few thought-provoking incidents. When picking out go-to attire for a woman’s closet, I was thinking of a scarf, black and white cardigans, and skirts that go to the knee. In my mind, everything was lightweight and flowing, and colors and patterns are encouraged. They all said LBD and plain black … Continue reading
It was a Saturday night and was wandering around Berlin alone, soaked through in rain. Canvas shoes were a poor choice. The wind was inverting umbrellas, in spite of the German engineering that undoubtedly went into them. So I turned up my music, pulled my scarf over my head and wandered back toward Alexanderplats Station. … Continue reading
Over our fall break, my friend Kathy selflessly took on my duty shifts so I could go away for a few days. I spent a glorious time sneaking off to Cairo and getting reacquainted with one of my favorite cities in the world. Of course, when I say I “snuck off” I mean all my coworkers and … Continue reading
When I was in Tahrir Square and a gun went off, I remember being afraid of the cops. I instantly knew that the gun was not from a civilian, and it crossed my mind that the scariest thing in the world may just be the feeling of living in a place where you can trust … Continue reading
I knew that if there were any demonstrations while I was in Egypt, I was going. Absolutely, 100%. So when Sarah got the call to cover a march to the Maspero Building, where 27 people were killed and about 300 were injured just a week and a half ago, I was excited. We started at … Continue reading
Before we ever put on hiking boots, we had heard the worst. “If your students have asthma, or weight problems, or smoke, or aren’t fit, or complain, or have ever had injuries, they should just stay home.” Uh, what? If you even have a cold, stay home. In the pre-trip meeting, students were asked to … Continue reading
I thought I would spend this past 9/11 like I spend it every year: listening to Bruce Springsteen’s album The Rising and watching The West Wing’s Isaac and Ishmael episode. I’ve written about Isaac and Ishmael before, as a jumping off point for the discussion of who exactly this other is, and whether they really … Continue reading
After a long day at the beach, watching backflips and swimming to sandbars and eating little cajitas of fried chicken and potato chips for a CUC, we would climb the fourteen floors up to the penthouse. A shower and a Cuba Light*, dancing along to Otis Redding, the Hold Steady, Lady Gaga or perhaps all … Continue reading
Say it’s for respect, say it’s because of religion, say it’s just a rule and don’t ask questions, say it’s arbitrary and sexist. Just don’t say we need to wear high necklines and low hems so that we are not sexually harassed. Don’t do it. Don’t victim blame, don’t lie. In harassment-heavy countries like Cuba … Continue reading
“If you feel like it’s a duty or hard work to help the poor, don’t do it.” It was the first time I had ever heard someone say that many people who help the world’s poor do so because they find it fun, interesting and challenging. I smiled in spite of myself, and felt like … Continue reading
How can you not love a Revolution wherein a human chain forms to protect its museums and priceless antiquities? A mob that thinks to maintain its history and culture, even in their anger and confusion? How do you not love revolutionaries who form a citizen police force, because they don’t want looters or violence and … Continue reading
