So excited to get the weekend started with my first guest post! One of my most favorite people in the world, a Tarheel transplant to D.C. who served her country as Peace Corps Volunteer from 2007-2009. Enjoy her wonderful photos . . .
28 Friday Sep 2012
Posted guest blogs, off the beaten path
inSo excited to get the weekend started with my first guest post! One of my most favorite people in the world, a Tarheel transplant to D.C. who served her country as Peace Corps Volunteer from 2007-2009. Enjoy her wonderful photos . . .
27 Thursday Sep 2012
Posted off the beaten path, road trips
in≈ Comments Off on Cotton Picking in the Hamptons of the Delta (Lake Village, Arkansas)
During the years that I was proud to call New Orleans home I evacuated for hurricanes on several occasions. Lake Village, Arkansas or the “Hamptons of the Delta” as it is fondly called by Teach For America corps members was my go-to hurrication destination. A Tarheel transplant to Lake Village always opened her home to me and several teacher friends from New Orleans.
My first time in Lake Village I noticed that there was a tourist information center and because I was “stuck” for a couple of days until the city opened back up I decided to check it out and see what I could find to do in the area. I walked in and approached the receptionist. At every other tourist information center I had ever entered this person normally talks your ear off, gives you way too many pamphlets, and tells you what you need to know. This time, not so much.
The gentleman actually told me to, “keep driving, there is nothing to do around here.” When I explained I was staying with friends while evacuated from New Orleans for the hurricane he then told me that the farmer up the road was hiring day laborers to pick cotton that week if I was interested. I ended up declining that networking opportunity, but in years since have wondered if I should have taken him up on the introduction and seen what it would be like to pick cotton. (photo of cotton fields below for your viewing pleasure)
While there was no “tourist attraction” (he was right on that one), Lake Village is still a beautiful little town. Especially the neighborhood that is built around the lake and if you are lucky enough to know a local there is a 95% chance they have access to a dock and a boat. The swimming is great and if you want to try fried green tomatoes those are also in plentiful supply at any local eatery.
26 Wednesday Sep 2012
Posted history, museums, road trips
in≈ Comments Off on How to Visit China, But Never Leave Texas
One summer long ago (well six years back anyway), I spent working in Houston, Texas with an amazing group of teachers. We were always up for an adventure on the weekends, or as much of an adventure as we could fit into the couple of hours we had free on a Saturday.
We discovered that without leaving the greater Houston area we could fulfill our dream of visiting China and even better it would take 3 hours tops.
Forbidden Gardens was built in 1997 at the pleasure of Ira P. H. Poon, AKA “Mr. Poon,” a Hong Kong real estate mogul who wanted people of Asian descent (including his teenage children) to know something of Asian culture besides firecrackers and kung-fu. Mr. Poon lives in Seattle, but preferred constructing the sprawling exhibit somewhere outdoors, open year-round, on flat, cheap land, where there was a large Asian population. Houston, 25 miles east of Forbidden Gardens, has the third highest in the nation. Read more here.
As I write this I am saddened to share that: (1) my pictures of this glorious occasion were taken in the great laptop crash of 2008 and (2) as I searched the internets it seems that Forbidden Gardens was closed in 2011. While you may not ever get to experience China in Texas – you should definitely check out the Terracotta Warrior Exhibit. I had the chance to see it in Montreal and it was amazing! And speaking of Montreal, check out this Canadian photographer/blogger here.
25 Tuesday Sep 2012
Posted get outside, history
inA day spent kayaking along North Carolina’s coastal waterways is a day well spent – whether you are a seasoned kayaker or just trying it out for the first time. There are kayak rentals and optional guided tours available almost anywhere you want to set off from along the coast (for example Barrier Island Kayaks). Taking a guide your first time is a good idea because it is easy to get lost if you are not familiar with the area.
While it’s hard for me to pick a favorite, I would say kayaking out to Bear Island is a near perfect day. You can walk in Blackbeard’s footsteps, enjoy a picnic and a swim before kayaking back to the mainland. More info on Bear Island’s history here.
16 Sunday Sep 2012
As I spread the thank you’s around this week it would not be fitting if I did not spend a post thanking one of the greatest teachers EVER. J. spent countless hours reviewing my term papers and giving feedback — he helped me to develop both my voice as a writer and a life long love of literature.
In recent years, as I became a teacher myself he because a mentor and friend to swap stories with of the funny happenings that only another teacher would truly appreciate and offer his advice as I struggled through the first several years in the classroom.
My all time favorite piece of advice that he shared, not just with me but with all his students on the first day of class was to not be wordy in your writing, REVISE REVISE REVISE before you turned it in because he had a pile of books sitting in his office so high that it was not possible he was going to get to them all before he died. By his calculations for each student, if they only used 2 more words than necessary it would create a great and horrible impact on his goal to finish those books. So in closing, another big thank you to a teacher’s teacher (and I really really hope this was not wordy).
15 Saturday Sep 2012
Posted history
in≈ Comments Off on Before “Google” Was a Verb in North Carolina
First, a special welcome to my first visitors from Costa Rica!
As you start your Saturday, a glimpse back into North Carolina’s past. The scene: early 20th century Charlotte — no Google, Facebook, or Twitter BUT there was the good old U.S. Postal Service. Hope you enjoy a laugh and I don’t know about you, but I really would like to know the back story on this “Blue Bird” character:
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
14 Friday Sep 2012
Posted good eats, guest blogs
inThank you so much for the warm welcome to the blogosphere! Grazie mille for reading and sharing with your friends across North Carolina, the U.S., Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, and Turkey! I hope you enjoy what you read and keep coming back!
Coming up soon . . .
Last, but not least some amazing Tarheel blogs you should check out:
14 Friday Sep 2012
My top three picks from my summer 2012 travel related reading. Ready. Set. Go . . .
(1) Yoga For People Who Can’t Be Bothered to Do It
I came across this gem while perusing the shelves of one my favorite D.C. book stores and was hooked instantly. Geoff Dyer has to be one of the funniest writers ever (and I don’t say that lightly). As you move from chapter to chapter he takes you through his off the beaten path travels through Europe, the U.S. and Asia.
Utterly unclassifiable. If Hunter S. Thompson, Roland Barthes, Paul Theroux and Sylvia Plath all went on holiday together in the same body, perhaps they could come up with something like it. This is the funniest book I have read in a very long time.” – William Sutcliffe, Independent on Sunday
Blessed to call her a friend (so I am slightly biased here . . . fact: her encouragement is 85% the reason you are reading this blog right now), J. Yinka Thomas’s book is a wonderful read. A world traveler herself, she has lived, worked and/or vacationed in each place that her main character Remi’s adventures take her to – Geneva, San Francisco, Sydney, Dakar, and Tokyo. You better hurry and get How Not to Save the World read because her sequel is coming soon. You can check out her website here or follow her on Facebook here.
(3) Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India
If you love understanding other cultures, religions and the perspective of the individuals that belong to those faiths this is an amazing book for you. William Dalrymple travels across India, listening to the the stories of people from Mataji who became a Jain nun against her family’s wishes to Srikanda Stpathy whose Brahmin family have been idol makers for nearly 700 years (now that is a family business!). Each chapter takes you to a different region and shows you the place and the religion through the eyes of not Dalrymple, but the story teller.
Have any great book recommendations? Comment away!
13 Thursday Sep 2012
Posted current happenings
in≈ Comments Off on Highlights From My Morning Search of the Internets (Libya, Egypt, Yemen)
(1) Muhammad-Film Consultant: ‘Sam Bacile’ is Not Israeli; and Not a Real Name (The Atlantic)
I asked him who he thought Sam Bacile was. He said that there are about 15 people associated with the making of the film, “Nobody is anything but an active American citizen. They’re from Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, they’re some that are from Egypt. Some are Copts but the vast majority are Evangelical.”
(2) “Libya Surprise” Could Be Death Knell for Romney Campaign (The New Yorker)
The reaction to Romney’s desperate gambit has been almost universally negative. About the only people who are sticking up for him today are Jim DeMint, the Tea Party senator from South Carolina, and Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard. Even Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, failed to echo his line of attack. Speaking in Wisconsin, Ryan described the killings in Libya as “pretty disturbing,” but he didn’t criticize Obama, and he said it was “a time for healing.”
Includes a great timeline of events as they unfolded yesterday, from the various happenings on the ground in Arab countries to statements from Secretary Clinton, Speaker Boehner, the White House, and the Romney camp.
(3) What jihadists want you to believe about Libya (CNN)
The attack apparently occurred because in recent days, the al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri posted a video online calling on Libyans to avenge the killing of al-Qaeda’s second in command, Abu Yahya al-Libi.
According to our own sources at Quilliam Foundation, the attack was the work of roughly 20 militants prepared for a military assault. It is rare, for example, that an RPG7 — an anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher — would be present at a civilian protest. The attack against the consulate had two waves. The first attack led to U.S. officials being evacuated from the consulate by Libyan security forces, only for the second wave to be launched against U.S. officials after they were kept at a secure location.
See earlier post Libyans to Americans: Pictures Are Worth a Thousand Words.
13 Thursday Sep 2012
Posted current happenings
inAs our prayers and thoughts go to the families of those Americans who lost their lives today and we wonder what today’s news means for the future – messages from Libyans to Americans.
For more go here.