Here is a comprehensive list of every singe blog post I’ve ever written. Happy Reading!
Market Day in Gondar
We journeyed into Gondar on a Friday night, and the next morning, we caught the weekly market in town. I love market days! It’s the time of the week when the town comes alive. Anything you could possibly need, you can find on Market Day. The key word here is…
Castle, Church, Coffee
Our Gondar adventures continued the next morning with a sunrise breakfast on our hotel’s terrace. We stayed at Lodge du Chateau. It’s centrally located with superb service. The lodge is just that, a lodge, hence pretty basic. Very Lonely Planet. The Peace Corps Volunteer nearby works closely with this hotel,…
Journey Through Ethiopia
Everyone knows that you don’t get a true sense of a country by simply visiting its capital city. And for that, I ventured on a 13-hour bus ride up north, to see the ancient capital of Gondar, Ethiopia. It was an incredibly nostalgic ride as I had spent many hours of my Peace Corps service on similar journeys.
Coffee on Entoto Mountain in Addis Ababa
By my second week in Addis Ababa, I had visited all of the notable museums listed in the Lonely Planet. I wanted something a bit more authentic. So, I hired Million, the taxi driver who is buying a goat for his sister, to drive me up Entoto Mountain – the…
Art in Addis Ababa
After sipping coffee on a mountain top, I ventured to Asni Gallery, an art gallery in Addis. This was listed in the guide book as having some interesting art. I thought not much of it, just as something to kill time and to see something different. The entrance fee for…
Reality Check
On my last day in Ethiopia, I was reminded of the frustration of living in a developing country. People’s memories are selective, and often biased towards the positive bits. Two weeks of blissful vacation in Addis and around made me think about this life once again. It’s been so wonderful,…
30 Day Challenge: Social Media
Sometime toward the end of February, I suddenly had this idea to go on a social media purge for the month of March. If you know me at all, you know I tend to make impulsive decisions. I am one of those nutty people who say crazy things, and then…
Evening Snapshots of Shanghai
The passing of the 26-year-old photojournalist, Camille Lepage, has been on my mind for the past few days. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her work, and what it must be like uncovering the untold stories in conflict-ridden areas of the world. Her life was unfortunately short-lived, but…
Shanghai Social Run
A relatively new co-worker of mine is really into running, and has been trying to get the office to join in on various runs around town. I’m not a serious runner, but I do enjoy the occasional jog. I used to run a lot more when I lived in places…
China Cameroon Connection in Luoyang
In August 2008, I visited Bafoussam, the provincial city of Cameroon’s West Province for the first time. A volunteer whom I would replace, showed me around this city that is a 30-min bush taxi ride from our village. This is where I could bank, buy essentials, and splurge on good meals. He mentioned that there is a Chinese store, and led me there. That was the first time…
24hr Vacay
Recently, I’ve been getting back into running. I’m not a good runner by any means, but I enjoy the process. I enjoy the meditative nature of zoning out to music and having time totally to myself. Since being introduced to Runnershai, a running group in Shanghai, I’ve been going to…
San Francisco Beauty
This summer, I’m back in the Bay Area again for work. Last year, I was in the area for about a month, yet didn’t spend much time in San Francisco. This year, my sister was visiting over the weekend, and I played tourist with her. San Francisco is a small…
California Surprises
Last year, during my trip to Cali, I discovered my love for mountains. I love the surprises that the mountain tops reveal after a good climb. After being trapped in the concrete jungle of Shanghai for the past few months, I was dying for a good climb. This afternoon, my…
Home Again
Amongst my travels, people seem to be the most impressed by my stint in Cameroon with the Peace Corps. People often asked, “What was it like adjusting to the culture?” Surely, something so different would have been massively difficult. Yet what most people don’t realize is that moving to a…
28 Gratitude
It is with immense gratitude that I welcome another new year of my life. Within merely 36 hours, I traveled 8,237 miles from St. Louis to Shanghai, caught up with friends who have been in my life for over a decade, as well as celebrated this milestone with new friends whom I’ve met over these past two years. In between, flurries of message came in from all corners of the world. I marvel at the connections that I have made, literally across the globe.
At times, the life of a wanderlust can feel awfully lonely, but today, my heart is full and I feel love coming from all corners of this magnificent world. How wonderful it is to travel between my different worlds, and be reminded just how wonderful the human connection is. I don’t know how else to express how thankful I am to the universe, so, in honor of my 28th birthday, I share the 28 things that I am thankful for today, in no particular order:
