The Hope Preparatory School, Hill Cut, Freetown, Sierra Leone Yesterday afternoon, Emma suddenly started talking about something that has bothered us both on and off for a while now. I’m not sure what triggered it, but, out of the blue, she said, “It’s weird how all these kids at my school were so excited about … Continue reading Musings on a Tuesday afternoon
Where we are right now
At the Salton Sea, January 2021 Well, we are still in California, and now hope to get to Mongolia during the summer, one year later than planned. I haven’t written for a while because first things were too chaotic, and then I had to recover, and then I just didn’t feel like thinking about it. … Continue reading Where we are right now
Our rooted rootlessness
Rootlessness is so strange. Don’t get me wrong. I love that world-is-our-oyster feeling that I’ve had since I sold our house in July. That feeling that I haven’t been able to act on because the global pandemic has shut us out of the country we had decided to live in. I love it. But what’s … Continue reading Our rooted rootlessness
Post # 101: A non-food post
Barley soup Everyone seems to be posting their meals on social media these days. It’s like the boring old days of Facebook, when everyone posted photos of their restaurant meals. We’re all trapped at home now (in the US, anyway), so no one is getting those restaurant meals anymore. They are trying to replicate them … Continue reading Post # 101: A non-food post
Traveling while female
In front of the Chinggis Khan statue, Mongolia This is my 100th post to this blog. Two Vegetarians in Mongolia turns two today, as well. I'd like to thank everyone for following our lives these past two years. I was hoping to be writing this post in Mongolia, but of course we are still stuck … Continue reading Traveling while female
Return to Asahikawa, Part 2
After two days touring around Asahikawa and seeing some of its most famous spots with my friend Yumiko, we were dropped off at the Asahikawa Art Hotel for two more days of independent tourism. I chose the Art Hotel because I remembered it vaguely, though I think it had gone by the name Palace Hotel … Continue reading Return to Asahikawa, Part 2
Return to Asahikawa, part 1
View from the Art Hotel When I was 29, I went to Japan to teach English, as people do. I hadn’t really taught before, just informally tutored people who were trying to learn English, through a community program in Boston. But I got hired by an English language school called Nova, and they were sending … Continue reading Return to Asahikawa, part 1
Grief redux
Photo by Iewek Gnos on Unsplash Trigger warning: This post discusses the death of a child. As I sit here, I’m heartbroken. Torn apart. It’s been a rough week, what with Beirut blowing up and all. And the mess we’re in. But today I read something a friend of mine had written, and I am devastated. My heart … Continue reading Grief redux
Into the light of day
Photo by Bima Rahmanda on Unsplash One of the things I’ve been wanting to write about is why the work I’ve been doing at Mongolia International University has so meaningful to me. People have told me, “You can do better.” But it depends on what you mean by better. What I really want at this point in my … Continue reading Into the light of day
Realizing what we’ve lost
Really, she's photo bombing. Start of school, 2018 It’s August now, and usually I/we start to think of the coming school year. I took July “off.” I wrapped up the sale of our house, did some administrative stuff (you never realize how many people and organizations have your address until you move, especially when you … Continue reading Realizing what we’ve lost
Two Vegetarians in Mongolia 