“We have a gap in the itinerary,” I said, “I don’t have an Airbnb booked for the night of Dec 30th. Where are we going to be?” “We are going to camp on top of the volcano,” Victor said. Here’s the thing. I didn’t even question it. I know Victor […]
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I was on my hands and knees digging in the damp dirt outside my patio. My knees were wet, my hands were dirty up to my elbows. Victor watched me from the window, his brow furrowed. Sometimes even a short international trip can have lasting consequences. But let’s start at […]
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I am sitting on a stony curbside in complete darkness. The narrow, crooked street shoots up the hill and then makes a wild turn. My head hurts. Dogs bark in the distance. The sweet darkness of Albanian night is hugging me gently as I am rubbing my temples trying not […]
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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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The world is shocked by the unprecedented Russian aggression in Ukraine. But the sad truth is that it was very much precedented, by Russian aggression in Georgia in 2008. Much like Ukraine, Georgia began eyeing integration into NATO which led to a deteriorated relationship with Russia and eventually to the […]
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