Visiting Hours
At the prison outside Vienna, Austria, the visiting room is an open space: a sort of junior high craft room with long tables and church-like wooden benches. There is no … Continue reading
Cheers.
At the border crossing from Croatia into Bosnia, my bus pulls to a stop next to a bus parked and pointed in the opposite direction. There’s an elderly couple in … Continue reading
The Lost Tourist as Herself
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
Mothers walking with daughters needed time to assess whether to engage strangers, especially strangers who smiled too much and managed to turn…
The Hamam Opt-Out. Istanbul.
Because the idea of sitting in a hot room and being scrubbed by a stranger sounds more like Dante than vacation, I’m parked in the waiting room of the Turkish … Continue reading
Charge!
The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit. We don’t just put off our lives today; we put them off till our deathbed. Never forget: … Continue reading
Poll: What Might Make The Nice Thing Nicer?
This week I realized that The Nice Thing About Strangers has been up and running for just over two years. Glory! I started this project hoping to get some use … Continue reading
Bitte Schön
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
He stands up when the little old lady comes through the doors, since there are no available seats in his section of…
Sweet Kids. The Airplane Edition.
Before we board, the mother in the pink Adidas t-shirt leaves her two daughters with her husband as she storms away to take a call, announcing to the gate area, … Continue reading
Without a Hitch
You only get married for the first time once. –Zlata’s Diary. Zlata Filipovic
Packs of Blondes
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
Granted, it was a small sample, but from the Turkish TV dramas I’d watched in passive attempts to learn the language, all…
Places I’ve Gone on Account of a Book
I read a book one day and my whole life was changed…Where were the kindred spirits with whom I could talk? Where was the country in which I’d find the … Continue reading
For the (Mean) Professor who told me to be Realistic
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
On a brilliant November day, my students talked me into teaching outside. So we were at an outdoor amphitheater on the Danube…
Just Enough
Post-fender-bender, the two men pull into the bus station parking lot to inspect the damage. Those of us waiting for buses watch with delight any activity that may pass the … Continue reading
What We Deserve
He is a terror. He keeps kicking the trash cans that are on hinges, so they screech and rock forward and back. His mother has been trying to pray a … Continue reading
Split Scenes
The teenage girl wears a tshirt that reads: “Love My Smile,” but she isn’t smiling. She stands next to an ad for shoes where none of the models are smiling. … Continue reading
Groove, Death, Italians
“Groove is in the Heart” is on the radio and the Italian tourists are certain that we’re all going to die. For me, the pace and aggressive passing of Croatian … Continue reading
Writing on the Beach
Writing is the only activity which makes me feel “only I could produce this.” Whether or not “this” is any use is of course the crucial question to which I … Continue reading
Follow The Turtle
I’d lost track of how many bridges I’d crossed, which was not my first mistake, but one among many. I thought I had been retracing my steps, but must have … Continue reading
And Are You Happy (As You Wait)?
Sometimes your heart’s desire hung from the highest branch of the highest tree and you could never climb high enough to reach it. Or else you just waited patiently and … Continue reading
Consolation
I love that if you’re writing in a notebook in public, everyone thinks you might be a spy. A spy of sorts, I suppose, but not a very glamorous one, … Continue reading
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