I met Noa through Couchsurfing in October 2010 in Jerusalem, where she and her two flatmates hosted me in their apartment for several days. Since then Noa has moved to Tel Aviv, and I’ve seen her again on a couple occasions — a random encounter on a Tel Aviv sidewalk in 2013, and then again […]
Meeting One’s Past In Some Bend In The Road
After World War I, while stationed in what is now Pakistan, T.E. Lawrence wrote to a friend back home, “I do not want to meet my past, round some future turn in the road.” Lawrence, better known by many as Lawrence of Arabia, didn’t much care for his past; he certainly didn’t want to be […]
Views From The Window On Qatar Airways Flight 740
Qatar Airways flight 740, direct from Los Angeles to Doha, reminded me all over again what I love about flying long distance, especially with an ethnically diverse group of passengers and crew, and with mostly clear skies. During 15.5 hours of looking out the window, I saw the Santa Monica Pier, the cities of Twin […]
The Patrick Henrys of Tahrir Square (Cairo, Egypt – 2011)
The day was February 11, 2011. About an hour before Friday prayers began, while walking through Cairo’s crowded Tahrir Square, a man named Mahdy grabbed the sleeve of my shirt and said, “Hey, where you from?” He had a beard (that’s him in the center of the photo), a thundering voice, and when I said […]