Into the Desert
Last week I left my city for the first time. And this is the story of how it happened. My teammate and I had been talking about getting out of town for Christmas. We’d thrown some possible dates around, but nothing was set in stone. Upon meeting at my leader’s house one evening, we decided to try to catch a train that night. So we packed our things, and were on our way within an hour. Getting a train ticket to a tourist city as a tourist ended up being a lot more difficult than it would sound. Turns out, for security reasons, foreigners can only purchase tickets on the… Read more >>
Tarha Tales (and Other Strange Stories)
This month, in the spirit of the season, I offer you a compilation of ridiculous, hilarious, and just plain stupid things that I am thankful for this month. First of all, I am thankful for my Tarha. This month I killed a few dozen cockroaches by the power of my potent Middle Eastern poison. Of the many things a headscarf is good for, one is tying around one’s nose and mouth so one can breathe as one sprays poison across the floors and corners of one’s bathroom. I am also incredibly thankful for my Tarha because it keeps people confused for a little bit longer about what is going… Read more >>The Other Side of the World
Throughout each month, I make notes on what I want to write about on this blog, and I gradually compile them into a coherent post. At the request of a friend, I’ve been making notes based on this prompt: describe my neighborhood, as experienced by my five senses. What do I see? What do I hear? What do I smell? What do I feel? What do I taste? Originally, this post was going to look something like this: I see garbage piled up on the streets, people sleeping in the garbage like corpses, dogs running wild with whole chickens in their mouths, rusted out cars sitting on flat tires along the… Read more >>
Training For a New Fight
Around New Years last year, I won a free week at a local boxing club. I had never gone boxing before, but it was free, I was bored, and I like trying new things, so I went. The thought of hitting things to work out also had me especially curious. It’s now September 30, and I’ve been going boxing for ten months now. My form has improved, and so has my fitness level. I look forward to going to my boxing classes every week. They’re one hour of sweat filled, knuckle bruising fun. And I’m going to miss it so much. When I first started boxing, I found it very fun, but very difficult. I… Read more >>