When I was 22 years old, I made a rather unusual promise to myself. I decided that by the age of 40, I would speak Spanish. I don’t really know why I made this promise. At that time, Spanish was irrelevant in my life. I had no exposure to the […]
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We were sitting on the rocks by the Baltic Sea, laughing hysterically. “It was like a scene out of a sitcom!” I gasped between laughing fits, “Who does something like this in real life?” Victor buried his head in his hands, “I don’t know! I don’t know what I was […]
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On the fourth day in Tallinn, we were in the back seat of a taxi, chatting with our Russian-speaking driver about the intricacies of the daily life of ethnic Russians in Estonia. “I’ve never been to this one,” he said as he pulled the car over. “Enjoy!” I peeked out […]
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I am sitting on a stony curbside in complete darkness. My head hurts. Dogs bark in the distance. The sweet darkness of Albanian night is hugging me gently as I rub my temples, trying not to throw up. That’s not how I envisioned our first meeting, Gjirokaster. Last summer, we […]
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The train arrived at 3 a.m. We descended from the passenger railroad car, groggy and disheveled, into a dimly lit platform, the edges of which were swallowed by the night. Kolya, our team captain, silently motioned, and we marched down the platform behind him. I was 19 years old, and […]
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