Month: April 2016
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Z is for Zambia
“White Rhino” (CC BY 2.0) by SarahDepper I never wanted to go to Africa. I was sure of it. That is, until I went to Yemen, another place I never wanted to go. But a good reason to go to Yemen came along. And I am so very pleased. I enjoyed Yemen so much more than I had […]
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Y is for Yemen
“YE 97 Ponte di Shahara” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by Luca Bruno Photographer There is only one rule when driving in Yemen–basic rule #1–whoever is in front has the right-of-way. Rear-view and side-view mirrors are optional. Most Western men just can’t give up the driving habits of home, choosing instead to be driven crazy by the behavior of every […]
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X is for Xanadu
“Bali Beach House – Bale” (CC BY 2.0) by Jesse Wagstaff Merriam-Webster defines Xanadu as an idyllic, exotic, or luxurious place. My image of Xanadu is what I saw in Bali, Indonesia, on an all too short stay as I traveled from Iran in 1977 back to the United States through Asia. Everything in Bali looked perfect. White sand […]
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W is for Weehawken
“Sunset on the Hudson waterfront” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by joiseyshowaa It was the summer that changed my life–1968. I spent it in New Jersey where I shared a house in Union City with seven other young women, all college students, while we volunteered in an interdenominational arts/crafts/recreation program for elementary school-aged children. The church where I volunteered was […]
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V is for Virginia
“Wreaths Across America Sunset at Arlingt” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by joseph.gruber One of the original 13 colonies, Virginia became my home state when I joined the US Department of State in 1985. For the first six months of my career as a Foreign Service Officer, I lived in a studio apartment at the top of a hill overlooking the Iwo […]
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U is for United Arab Emirates
“Homeward bound” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by gordontour We moved to the United Arab Emirates in 1996. Abu Dhabi was my second Foreign Service assignment in the Middle East, and my third living experience in the region. When Ramadan came around our first year in Abu Dhabi, I thought I knew what it was all about, having lived more […]
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T is for Transnistria
“Transnistria” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by Marco Fieber/Ostblog.org Transnistria, a sliver of land at the eastern border of Moldova, right next to the Ukraine, wanted to be part of Russia, not Moldova, when the former Soviet Union broke apart in 1992. Refusing to assimilate into Moldova, Transnistria continued to use the Russian ruble even after Russia had issued new […]
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S is for San Francisco
“San Francisco” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by Pedro J. Jiménez From January 1973 through March 1975, I lived in San Francisco while studying at San Francisco State University. Before I enrolled, a package from the registrar’s office arrived with a list of what I needed to bring with me on the day of registration. One requirement: the result of a chest […]
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R is for Romania
“Romania-1727 – Peles Castle” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by archer10 (Dennis) (70M Views) I learned I had been selected for a Fulbright grant to teach English in Romania just weeks before I expected to leave Iran in July of 1977. And I was astonished that a friend was able to find a Teach-Yourself-Romanian book in Tehran so I could get a […]
Sandra Yeaman 