After two years of invitations, I finally made it to Africa to visit my friend Moses, a Maasai elder, at his village in Kenya. That first night, while sitting around a fire, he offered to …
Literate
How to Hunt a Lion
Into the Heart of Magic Realism Country
There is a family somewhere near the Colombian Caribbean coast who have a novel way of caring for their elderly, infirm grandfather. Supposedly, along the banks of the river Magdalena, the very same river that …
October 22, 2012
One Night in the French Quarter
Before Katrina devastated New Orleans, the State of Alabama sent me and two other newly appointed law clerks to attend a conference there. We were given a pre-paid twin room at the Hotel Monteleone (for …
October 16, 2012
Giving Face in Kashgar
It was my final day in Kashgar, China. I had all the photos I needed and was ready for a good meal before catching my flight out, when I noticed a tiny man sitting outside, …
October 9, 2012
Breakfast in Macon
When the plane landed in Macon, our manager had to create a little disturbance to throw us off balance. Sometimes, I think he felt it was his job. “You know, this is the largest card-carrying …
Benin, West Africa: Begging for an Education
In the first century A.D. a Christian mystic named Augustine said, "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read but the first page." Those words have guided a great deal of …
October 2, 2012
Tonlé Sap, Cambodia: What's in a Word?
Winston Churchill once said the Americans and British are two peoples separated by a common language. The more countries I visit, the more this seems to be true around the globe. For better or worse, …
Thirsting for Knowledge in Macau
In the former Portuguese colony of Macau, the tourist office pamphlet promoting the wine museum offered an incredible enticement. Admission with wine tasting costs 15 Macau patacas (U.S. $2), and “of the new wines, about …
September 7, 2012
A Return to Cuba
As I walked through U.S. customs down the hall and out the electric doors into the Los Angeles sunlight, I was excited to see my mother. My mother, upon seeing me, both smiled and then …
August 26, 2012
Hong Kong: The Number One Wanchai Rule
A female undercover cop in Neptune, the notorious subterranean disco in Wanchai’s red light district, pulled out her badge and shouted over the band at my well-served friend. “Excuse me, sir. Did you just say, …
July 21, 2012
Mysterious Encounter in Bangkok
There are events that happen occasionally while traveling that are destined to remain mysterious and unexplained. It may be a chance encounter, a brush with fate, or something that brings to mind the Shakesperean quote …