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Berlin Natural History Museum: Observations
In the Natural History Museum of Berlin, I wandered through a gallery of rocks. The ones that go bling bling and sparkle in the light. As a young teen, I read a book about a girl who had lapis lazuli...
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Art and Architecture in Berlin
Berlin Modern Art Museum “People had lost all control and discipline, all concept of ‘mine’ and ‘yours’ was gone. Of all the horrors of war, this was the most terrible: Since then I have feared nothing...
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Living with a German Builds Character
Coming to Germany at three o’clock in the morning by car share and desperately tired, I thought it was time to treat myself to a little luxury, so I stayed four days in a hotel with a swimming pool and...
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Belgrade Confluence at Le Molière
Sitting in a French restaurant in Belgrade named Le Molière, I am content. There is a peace in moments of contentment that allows for a clarity and insight not otherwise tapped into. Everything...
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Lude Mare, Crazy Women
It’s like with a rifle, if you just hold it in your hand, you know it’s the right one, you don’t have to shoot.”~Serbian idiom Novi Sad sounds like Christmas. I thought this when I first heard the...
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Chivalry is Not Dead
I spent my last day in Serbia walking around Kalemegdan Fortress in Belgrade alone in the snow. On the way there, I slipped and almost fell. An older gentleman saw me, and as we both continued on our...
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All Roads Lead to Rome
Resistance: You would think after three months of traveling, the leaving part would be easier, but I still find it difficult. I want to stay in Belgrade, and the resistance to leave has never been...
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Flying Home
Chasing Fire Horizons See you soon…Very soon Amongst gentle clouds Above green shadows Farewells cannot find us here Surrounded by the hazy in-between. Love carries the soul Where the body cannot go...
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Good-Bye World: A Year of No Regrets
Today, a friend sent out an article that I received earlier this year by someone dear to me at a critical time in my life. It is titled “Top Five Regrets of the Dying” by Susie Steiner of The...
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There and Back Again
It has been some time since I have written on here. Free moments were swallowed up quickly during the month of May. This week is the first in a while where I have chosen to relish solitude. I have had...
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Goodbye Diego
Last week my housemate and I lost a friend…a crazy friend. A friend I sometimes wanted to kill myself, but a friend none the less. The home feels empty without our little dog, full of spirit, chasing...
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Lonely Moon
Lonely Moon Soul sunken moon Dying orb Distant shadow You cry as though you lost Do you ache for love as humans do? Dust ridden cold surface An opening with no sound Dark raccoons Circling empty pits...
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The Ice Monster
Living in Copan is always an adventure… yesterday, Kristen and I decided to tackle the ice monster growing in our freezer… note to self, using a knife may seem like the best option, but it is not,...
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Santa Lucia and Tegucigalpa Weekend
I ventured out to Santa Lucia this past weekend to visit a dear Honduran friend and her family. The little town reminded me of some of my favorite places in Italy with steep cobblestone roads, quaint...
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Pablo Neruda and Love
In an attempt to better my Spanish, I have been reading the works of Spanish speaking poets. The Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, has quickly become one of my favorites. He expresses romantic love so...
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The Life Undefined
Melt Melt into me Bodies no more Unity in the differences Making us complete. What keeps us apart but the minds own limitation? Its need to define that which needs no definition You and I are words...
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Appreciating the Best of Both Worlds
I had a lovely visit in Oregon spending quality time with friends, enjoying Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, and relaxing at Gleneden beach with family. I was so inspired by all the people who supported...
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Letting Go of the Ego
I find traveling in a plane always gives you new perspective. Spending hours packed together in neat little rows with complete strangers feels like prison at first. If it is the red eye flight, you...
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Just Enjoy the Ride
Well I am back in Honduras and adjusting to life in my home again. I was so thrilled to see the little garden we planted before I left is already taking off. I ate some delicious cilantro from it...
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Signs You are Adapting to Life in Honduras Quite Nicely
You are an Electrical Engineer: You now know how to strip the protective sheath around wires if they don’t have plugs and create your own plug, and you no longer get electrocuted when you stick it in...
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The Obvious Choice
I have been doing a lot of thinking about my travels this past year as it is almost my one year anniversary after leaving my job in the states to start a new path within my life journey. I wrote this...
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The Road Less Traveled
The Road Less Traveled On the road less traveled There are no footprints to guide Transcending the typical human experience We can create. There are no footprints on this beach Before light touches...
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Walk in an Undocumented Immigrant’s Shoes for a Day
Feeling a deep frustration today with the world. I am quickly realizing how lucky I am to be able to travel and discovering how little opportunity Hondurans have to do so. For the average Honduran, it...
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The Endless Trek and Life Without Expectations
Two years ago, I would not have thought that my life would take me where I am now. I am nursing, not as a career, but as a volunteer, writing professionally and creatively, living in Honduras,...
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My First Visitor in Honduras
I had my first visitor in Honduras! My lovely sister came to visit me, and it was nice to be a tourist again for a week. I ended up visiting places I didn’t even know existed and learning a lot both...
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Following the Artist’s Way
I am coming to the end of The Artist’s Way, a creative self help book by Julia Cameron. There is a part of me that does not want to finish it. I get that way with books, feeling attached to them like...
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“There is Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself”
When I came to Honduras in January, my intention was not to stay here. I was supposed to leave in March after studying Spanish for a month in Copán Ruinas and working in Catacamus with a Healing the...
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Wedding Bells: Congrats Allison and Jeff!
Traveled back to the states for some wedding fun and of course dancing… “We can dance if we want to… We can leave your friends behind… ‘Cause your friends don’t dance and if they don’t dance… Well...
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Love That Whispers Smiles Through Trees
Love That Whispers Smiles Through Trees I sat noticing only the passing of time Lost in the chatter of a world unable to be silent and listen I longed to stand to ease the discomfort of sitting My...
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The Honduran Dung Beetle: Reflecting on Human Suffering and Empathy
(Photo borrowed from Society of Biology) As a young girl, I used to go to a horse camp during the summer. Occasionally, I would receive mail, and as part of camp fun, those who received letters or...
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The Honduran Life
I have never been much of a fútbol (soccer) or sports fan because I find games boring to watch on TV. I love watching from the stands, but here in Honduras, you feel like you are in the stands when...
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Fishing for Peppers in the River
I was standing in water with a stranger from Paraguay who was quickly becoming my friend over blueberry ice cream and travel stories when peppers started coming my way. Reds, greens, big ones, small...
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The Expat Dilemma
Living in two countries that are so starkly different, I have found it difficult to really put into words how having a life between the two feels. I love both Honduras and the United States for...
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Full Circle: NY Again
More confused than ever about what I should be doing and where I should be…everyone keeps asking what are my plans…maybe I just don’t have any, and I don’t want to…at least the more people ask me, the...
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Reading is Sexy in the Northwest
Signs I am back in the northwest: Servers in restaurants wearing beanie hats and covered in tattoos; vintage and second-hand shopping extravaganzas; the smell of quality coffee and fresh loose-leaf...
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Phoenix
Phoenix Like ships that pass in the night We pass into and out of each other’s lives We learn our lessons Then return to the dark Open and free A little light in the distance Close but out of reach....
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En Mis Sueños
I was so nervous coming to “the murder capital of the world,” but the walls I built around myself are quickly crumbling as I fumble through Spanish with my taxi driver, a man of patience and smiles. I...
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Yo Estoy Enferma.
After only a few days in Honduras, I find myself horribly ill. I felt queasy leaving the states. On my second flight, I was asked if I really wanted to fly from Atlanta to Honduras by the attendant as...
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Copán/Antigua…”Some Like It Hot”
I love the flowers here…I try to mirror my accesssories after them…the brighter and more colorful the better. The Parque de Aves is home to various plants and the endangered Scarlet Macaws amongst...
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La Vida Loca
It never fails to amaze me how the perfect people appear in my life to help me grow and expand myself. I think they have always been there throughout the years, but I perceived them in a different...
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My Heart Will Be Full Again
I relished the last moments with my dear friend before she left to return to the states. I had the best night of salsa dancing in Antigua, moving my body to the rhythm until parched of all fluids,...
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La Feria
My trepidations about deciding to stay here are quickly being replaced with excitement of the daily adventures that come with living in a new country. I am finding that friends come easily. For...
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Creating a Community: Building a Village in San Jose, Guatemala
This past week I visited a clinic under construction in San Jose, an isolated, impoverished community in Guatemala 30 minutes from Copan Ruinas via unpaved roads. A few years ago, the people there...
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Roots, Revolvers, and Ruby Waterfall
Rooted stillness Certainty in extended fingers Patiently stretching, reaching out Savouring the sun’s gentle caresses Veins exposed The soul longs to fly Running in place Resisting until carried by...
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Paint the World a Different Color
Before I left for Honduras, my niece copied the following poem on paper for me and said,”Auntie, this is a poem about you.” I found it tucked away in my journal today and felt gratitude in reading it...
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Machismo
If women see themselves as possessions of men, it is that much more impossible for men to think of women as anything else. Living in Honduras, where machismo is the norm, is much different than...
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Lights Out
Lights Out The light ends the day When it shuts off Hot, sticky Plastered to the bed Hoping the stillness will bring reprieve From the umbearable heat Waiting for air The night is alive With those who...
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Making a Home in Copan Ruinas
During Easter week an evening was dedicated to making las alfombras, which are made of colored sawdust. The streets are cleared and these sawdust mosaic carpets of religious and Mayan symbols are...
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Casita Copan Adventures
The last couple of weeks have been a lot of fun at Casita Copan with adventures to the ruins and a movie and popcorn day. I love seeing their little faces light up. Literacy classes have begun for the...
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Machismo is Not Culture
I recently was discussing with a friend in Copan the word culture and how we both thought it was often misused to make excuses for unacceptable treatment of women and children. Until she had brought...
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