Observations: Languages
In German, Italian, French, Spanish, Japanese, Swahili, Luganda, and Hindi the letter "i" is pronounced "e" (think the long english e). Yet in English it is never pronounced "e". Why…
Observations: Benin
The Beninese people have no concept of personal space or personal comfort, as demonstrated by squeezing into taxi buses and cars with no complaint.
Where Am I
The number one question that I get when communicating with people on facebook, twitter or email is "where are you?" This has been pretty consistent since I left Japan in…
Back to Being a Minority
On the plane from Paris to Rome on the continuation of our exodus from rural Africa to the industrialized world....well Italy for now....I noticed that I was the only black…
がんばって 日本
February 2008 - February 2009 I had the pleasure of living in Kusatsu-Shi, which is a suburb of Kyoto, Japan. Over the year I fell in love with the language,…
Things I won’t miss about living in rural Benin
Risking my life daily by riding on the back of motorcycles, sans helmet. Bugs. Bugs that bite. Bugs that just crawl. And bugs that interrupt my meals. Boredom. 90F (32C)+…
Have you ever…
...rode on the back of a motorcycle at 60km/h (37mph) down an unpaved road with no helmet? It feels like death coming at you at 100mph (160km/h).
Things that I am longing for
A few of the things that I have been missing since I have been in Benin. Manicures and pedicures. In London, I painted my nails fun colors every week and…
Bye Benin
Ok, so I know I said I was staying here until the end of March but plans have changed.....again. I will be leaving Benin next Friday. Yup, Friday March 18,…
A Weekend in Dassa
So this weekend, the Italian is in town to visit me and say goodbye to our co-workers. Friday night we headed to Amadou's house just before dusk and played with…