Take a minute and think back to the first time you got your period. Maybe you got your first bra right around that time, and wore it so proudly, even…
The 5 Coolest Global Mobile Libraries
Books on a burro! Image from Wikimedia Commons via Acción Visual/Diana Arias. No better method has ever been devised for reaching the dweller in the country. The book goes to…
Travel Isn’t Perfect: Why You Always Need a Plan C
Rescue efforts by Global Rescue in Nepal. Photo courtesy of Global Rescue. In 2010 I visited Port-au-Prince just six weeks after its terrible earthquake. I was traveling on a volunteer trip,…
Art Therapy: The Movie
How can art be used to bring people together in a way that not only helps them, but touches their soul? That is ultimately the question that Art Therapy: The…
Nails, Part II
I am in Haiti for the third time. Unlike the first two times, when I traveled here for work, this time I am here for pleasure. Though it’s possibly a…
Life is Good
On Saturday, my friend Ysmaille takes me and some other friends to Life is Good. He’s tried to explain it to me before. Inspired by some friends he met from…
Parasites
Shaina smiles widely with big dimples. “Are you afraid of dogs?” she asks me. “No,” I say. “Can you do this?” I stick my tongue out and curl it. She…
I Like Mosquito Nets
It is my second night in Haiti, and I’m living on the edge. Call me crazy, but this time I’ve finally decided to go without the Doxycycline– the friendly pill…
Destinations
At a cafe in Cambridge, MA, a cappuccino machine is whirring. Every few seconds the front door opens and a slight rush of cold makes its way through the doorway,…
Haiti: Thoughts of One Year
This morning I have been watching Haiti’s one year anniversary stories flood the newswires. They are nearly as numerous as they were last January, and in many ways they still…
Milestones- Beth
It’s noon and I’ve been working for hours at my kitchen table. It’s a bright table – I purchased the fabric from a market in São Tomé e Príncipe this…
Hitting
SMACK. A hand comes down upon Lidia’s body while she sits in class. You can hear the crack of the teacher’s hand from across the room, I know. No one…
Mothering
Christo jumps up into my arms and kisses my face, over and over and over and over. His big toothless smile and wide eyes are absolutely irresistible. You never see…
Adventures in Underwear
If you are queasy about “girl things”, don’t read this article. I was feeling horny as hell in Haiti. There’s really no other way to say that. Hormones are hormones…
Thank You
At the end of our two-week stay at our friend Zo’s house in Darbonne, we realized that we never bought his family a parting gift. This is a standard thing…