Blog

  • In Which an East Coaster proves the West Coast is Too Hard To Understand (Or at Least Itineraries…)

    I’ve traveled quite a bit since I started college (not to mention all the family trips/moves with my parents).  My first international flight (to Jordan) was at 18, and while I was with a group of like 13, I like to think it was the start of my education in how to travel, travel smart, Read more

  • Photobooths, Whiteness, Westerncentrism

    So remember the photobooths at the beach (if any of you grew up going to Ocean City, MD, you know exactly what I”m talking about) or the mall?  Pile in some friends, throw in some dollars, and you get a great, usually black and white, memento of your day.  Throw in some silly faces and Read more

  • I’m in Tokyo!

    So I’ve basically failed at blogging since I returned from Lebanon.  The second year of a Ph.D. is far busier than I could have ever imagined. What I’ve failed to mention in the interim is that I’ve landed a TA position this summer with Northeastern University’s Dialogue of Civilizations program in Japan!  I am typing Read more

  • Election Musings – US and Lebanon

    Yeah, I’m not going to get on a soapbox about which candidate to vote for in the US general election.  If you don’t know who you’re voting for by now, nothing I can say will change your mind.  Just vote from an informed position, please. We’ve heard a lot this election cycle about voter fraud Read more

  • Devastation in Achrafieh

    I was heartbroken to read the news of car bomb in Achrafieh this afternoon, killing eight and injuring far more.  The site of the bombing, Sassine Square, was home to a memorial for former President Bachir Gemayel, assassinated at that spot in 1982.  I cannot believe this community has yet another event to mourn.  Some Read more

  • “You’re So Brave”

    I often have conversations with my family about what I’m doing in school and get the idea from them that they think what I’m accomplishing is “exceptional” in some way.  I always have a rough time seeing this.  I mean, I am daily surrounded by people doing the exact same things as me, often far Read more