Which continent, exactly?

This blog's title isn't in reference to actual continents (I've now been to four), but is rather drawn from "The Third and Final Continent," a stunning short story by Jhumpa Lahiri, from her collection, The Interpreter of Maladies. In particular, I'm inspired by the following quote that summarizes the attitude I try to carry with me through life and on my travels

I am not the only person to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly I am not the first. Still there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination.

I love this. It calls on us to consider the tiny details of our experiences, both one-by-one, and in the aggregate, and to maintain a sense of wonder even about the seemingly mundane things that are the building blocks of our lives, and often, the glue that binds us to our traveling companions.

This blog began as a chronicle of my study abroad experience in Cairo in Spring 2008, and continued last year while volunteering in Geneva, and South Sudan with a wonderful organization, VIDES.

Now in graduate school, I'm returning to the Continent this summer while interning in New Delhi, India.

Please enjoy, inquire, and learn.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Behibbak ya Filistin: A day in the West Bank


The best way for me to show you the West Bank is through my pictures and their extensive captions, which I put up on Facebook; I plan to put more pictures on Picasa at a later date. Go to the above link and look through the pictures and read the captions. Please share in this, please comment and let me know your thoughts on my picture.

Of all the things that I have posted, and said, this is the most meaningful experience I have had while studying abroad, the things I saw and felt and reacted to in this most contested part of the world. Please read, please learn, please think and read and consider with open eyes.

In addition, please check out the following related article:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0425/p07s03-wome.html

With hopes for peace in the Holy Land and for humane treatment for all of humanity
Laura
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