http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Simon Says/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Simon Says en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:57:33 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:57:33 UTC The Catholic University of America is located in the Washington neighborhood of Brookland once farmland on the outskirts of the nationrsquos capital. In the 19th century the university was built and it does have a strong catholic emphasis. Its President for example is a priest. Other aspects of Catholicism are apparent in the code of student behavior. Students of the opposite sex are not al http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-59698.html Not far from the White House and in close proximity to Lafayette Park is the home of one of the most famous heros of the early days of American historyStephen Decatur. Not too long after the War of 1812 Decatur a returning hero decided to move to Washington and just near the White House because from national hero there was only one more place to go the Presidency. Thus his strategy was to http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-58992.html In Upper Maryland and Eastern West Virginia the Washingtonians are comingHistoric Frederick Maryland feels like another world from Montgomery and Fairfax Counties. The city of Frederick has an unsual and impressive array of old historic buildings. This is not just a downtown made up to satisfy a fleeting desire for urban renewal. There is something to see and it extends a long way. Signs point http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Maryland/blog-58168.html ldquoHere God ordered the blessing.rdquo This is Crown Heights also known as the Rebbersquos neighborhood a section of Brooklyn in New York City. The Rebbe was Menachem M. Schneersohn the deceased leader of Habad Lubavitch an extremist Jewish cult. These days one can see all types of photos of the Rebbe in the Judaica stores of Crown Heights from when he was young man with a black beard http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/New-York/blog-34099.html A Chinese policeman in a blue uniform ties up a bloodied and bruised female prisoner. He then holds up a thick wooden stick and readies himself to beat her once again. Pedestrians stop in astonishment and curiosity to watch what will happen next.This could be an act of real torture happening in China but today it is only a reenactment taking place on 59th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/blog-23080.html Lying under the palm tree paradise felt with in reach. A can of beer in my hand a newspaper on my lap a blond Swedish girl with in ight. The weather was warm. The skies clear blue. Thai music played in the background. After two weeks here I came to believe that this was in deed the promised land. Here was calm. The pressures of everyday life were in the distance. I had only one responsibility http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Israel/blog-16455.html St. Stephenrsquos church did not take long to figure out. The purpose in visiting this Episcopal Church located in the Columbia Heights area was to attend a lecture on Cuba. But meandering around the building I discovered that this so called church was actually a hotbed of progressive activity. Going up the narrow stairs to the second floor I chanced upon the ldquoThe Washington Free Clinicr http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Cuba/blog-16453.html On August 3 members and friends of the Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists assembled to hear Haim Regev of the Israeli government speak about the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank labeled the Disengagement Plan by the Israeli government. The meeting took place at the Israeli Embassy located on International Drive in the Van Ness area of Washington D.C. Reg http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-16451.html ldquoDulce et decorum est pro patria mori.rdquo It is sweet and fitting to die for onersquos country. These words originally written by Horace are inscribed on top of the amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington cemetery honors those who sacrificed their lives for their country. Of all the monuments in the Washington area this cemetery begun during the Civil War embodies the http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-16449.html In a recent statement condemning Israeli weapons sales to China the American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice explained Americarsquos objection by sayingrdquo After all we defend in the Pacific. America does not merely defend in the Pacific. America is an Asian power. Just as Russia is considered a Eurasian power whorsquos landmass extends from Eastern Europe to Vladivostok United http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/blog-16114.html Americarsquos first contacts with Japan were aggressive. The United States forced Japan to open its doors to trade and western influence. At one point the US even planned to make Japan a colony. The thought to expand towards Asia began right away after the war with Mexico when American acquired the Pacific coast. Secretary of State Seward who is famous for purchasing Alaska was an advocate of ex http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/blog-16112.html He tells me the Chinese are no longer poor. The government has money so they can build big border stations. People here they just sit at the table and talk loudly on their cell phones.After eating a meal of lamian or laghman noodles. We are in this car and everthing has worked out fine. A couple of days ago Bruno thought he would be imprisoned in Tajikistan for the rest of his life a prisoner of http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Xinjiang/blog-14559.html Stephen has gone away and I am by myself. And since I am by myself I feel good. He has given me orders like to wash the dishes so I went down to the stream to wash the dishes and put them into the river. It is hard to clean out those dishes. Then I made and tried to cover that up as well. Two shepherds passed leading donkeys and there was an older woman there prodding them on. If you watch closely http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Kyrgyzstan/blog-14557.html I am near the Hotel Shark here right across the street from the Ovir office. The hotel was closed because it is filled with German soldiers on their way to Afghanistan. I spoke to one German and he told me that it was his first time in Afghanistan. Here in Termez there is a special police involvement in tourist life because it is a border city according to her it borders with Tajikistan Turkmen http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Uzbekistan/blog-13831.html I realize that I am not really keen buying clothes is difficult for meeating. I am really not taking care of myself. For exampe today my first meal. I had in the afternnon and I didn't sleep well and I was really exhausted. Now it is almost six oclock and I still haven't slept.So the first rule of traveling should be to eat one meal in the morning and buying new clothes should not be so difficu http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Uzbekistan/blog-13830.html I am now in the Tara hotel and I again arrived late in my attended city. The first thing I did was get into a taxi and had him drive me to the address of where I was supposed to go but then I couldnrsquot find it and I wandered around in the middle of the night there was a woman with a dog and she directed me to a building and I went up to an apartment there and rang the bell and asked if this w http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Uzbekistan/blog-13828.html I am now in Samarkand in a hotel at the railway station. Getting here was a battle. When I got off the bus I was a little pessimistic about finding a place because it was night time. I decided to get into a taxi and go to the center of the city. It is a good thing I did that because unlike Bukhara the center of the city was very far from where I was and I got driven for free to a hotel and they wa http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Uzbekistan/blog-13827.html It is very early in the morning in Bokhara and there is nothing mysterious or exotic about this city. The bus left me in the middle of no where and I had a choice of taking a taxi or going out on my own and I decided to go out on my own. I thought about sleeping outside near the police station instead I walked into the city but I donrsquot really know where I am and I am tired an dusty. There http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Uzbekistan/blog-13826.html Now I have entered the state or wilayet of Khorazem and the city of Urgench. Not too far for me. It is a nice atmosphere for me relaxed. No longer desert. Small houses. Because of the bus break down it has taken a while to get here. The taxi broke down and all of the other passengers found rides except me. Near the river there were boats and each one had an interesting name like khiva and Khorezm http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Uzbekistan/blog-13824.html I am in Guwahati Assam and I was talking before with owner and he was telling me that in Manipur there was a incident where a woman was killed and raped by the military and in response there has been demonstrationsagitations in Indian the whole state of Manipur has been rising up against the military and they even burned themselves alive when you are in the north east here you feel a little bit http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-13822.html