June 2010: Arriving at the airport in Irbil (also spelled Arbil or Erbil), the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region […]
Nature’s Fury
Nature is what we all have in common~Wendell Berry The summer of 2017 has been one for the record books […]
Cultural Comparisons
Haitham, one of my brightest communications class students, stood in front of my desk nervously fidgeting with his notebook until […]
America’s Latest Culture War
The flashpoints that sparked the clash between world views earlier this month in Charlottesville, Virginia are just the latest battle […]
ME Primer 3: The Ghosts of Bahla
Sometimes, fate gives a traveler time to slowly absorb the intricacies of a new culture, but at other times […]
ME Primer 2: First Impressions
Even as a rabid student of geography, I must admit I had very little knowledge about the cycle of daily […]
A Middle East Primer: Part 1
Following US President Donald Trump’s first visit to the Middle East, it’s a good time to take stock and refresh […]
What’s Real?
Is anyone else having difficulty these days sorting reality from fiction??? Life seems more and more like the plot of […]
The Safety Myth
I had just snapped some pics when I heard what sounded like GUNFIRE ring out. As I turned, I saw […]
Being abnormal in a ‘normal’ world
In my zeal to discover myself as I move from place to place around the globe, I often find myself […]
My quest blog 