I just toured Lisbon, Portugal, during an eleven hour layover. As I stood in line to exit the airport, I chatted with fellow passengers, one of whom I discovered is also a fellow classmate for the summer in Fez. She, too, wanted to take advantage of the layover in Lisbon. We joined non-Portuguese speaking forces –my willingness and her preparedness made a pretty good combination. She knew which bus ticket to buy, which allowed us 24 hours’ worth of city bus riding; however, the additional bus tour cost money, and I of course preferred to walk. She decided to join. I had been advised to go uphill once arrived in center-ville, so we did, searching for something about Sao Jorge… Up and up we went, sometimes going down to continue in a direction we believed to ... read more

I have re-entered academia. I am with academics- people who like to learn as a profession. I identify well with that description, and am enjoying my time as a student again. (My perpetual mouth does not, however, benefit my reputation as a student…) My brain is nearly constantly engaged with a new concept- primarily adapting to the Arabic language. I am picking up on the right-to-left method, well enough to write my English backwards, fairly adeptly. Once I remember which language flows most fluently from my pen, I admire the ease with which I create strokes that make words using letters from an alphabet in which I naturally recognize the phonetics. (Sometimes I indulge in my attraction to alliteration and otherwise play with words.) When I return to my Arabic homework, I re-start at the right, ... read more

Any easy comparison between Kansas and Peru is this: in Kansas, I see worms, I see birds, I see spiders, and I am generally interested. But in the Peruvian Amazon, I see worms! Spiders! Birds! Amazing! I spent a week in the Amazon rainforest in the Loreto department of Peru, along the Tahuayo River, a branch of the Amazon. I was on a biodiversity tour of the region with the best people to do so: the Benedictine College Biology department. We flew from Lima to Iquitos, a town in the middle of the jungle. Iquitos has no incoming or outgoing roads; unless, as any tourist soon realizes, the river is defined as a road. I soon learned by observing the guides that the many waterways were as entirely navigable, landmarks and all, as any gravel road ... read more

In the last week of my Peace Corps Volunteer experience in Benin, I realize I have not yet posted these photos. I might even have some more later... I went exploring in the ruins of Athieme. I went the first time randomly, and without the camera. The second time I went, someone warned me that snakes like to hang out in ruins, so the dogs accompanied. I was assuming a snake would find the dogs before me. The other photos are of things dear to me- mangoes and small children.... read more

With elections approaching I find myself much more often with Beninese friends who have satellite television. Via satellite I can follow the American presidential campaign. Fortunately I don’t have to bribe them with cake to be allowed to watch; even they are interested in the campaign process. Benin is also preparing for elections, so my friends and I profit from the news by discussing political systems in Benin and in America. My friend Mathurin, who I also call Mr. Know-it-All, is a candidate for elections, and is my well-informed resource on the Beninese political system. I am not as qualified of a resource on the American system, but I do my best. As a Peace Corps Volunteer I am apolitical, but I am interested in the comparisons between the two systems. Thus I do a little ... read more