I’m not sure where Khalid’s taking me, but right away I know I’m not supposed to be there.  The lights are dim and the air is ripe with cigarette smoke. The holler of men’s laughter fills the room. I walk […]Read More ›

On my second morning in Sarajevo, Bosnia, I amble along the Miljacka River. The river is the color of tea, just a few inches deep in some places, and flecked with trash. It trickles north to south, meandering along the […]Read More ›

When I arrive in Varanasi at twilight, on a crowded bus, the first thing I notice is the Ganges River.  It’s wide, shrouded in fog. There are steps, called ghats, along its west bank.  Everything looks clean and ordered and […]Read More ›

It’s February and I’m alone, navigating a street in west Udaipur. I cross a small plaza. The crowd is thick, shoulder-to-shoulder, the smells, speech, and skin assailing my senses. I push, prod, and pummel through. Vendors cry out, “Miss, miss!”  […]Read More ›

I met Claire for the first time after my deployment to Afghanistan. I was walking my shiba inu near our apartment, and she intercepted me and said, “What a beautiful dog. He looks like a fox. Gorgeous.” And she bent […]Read More ›