Category Archives: Blog

Maybe it’s because of the bombing yesterday here in Beirut–or because I’m planning my next trip to Africa–but today I can’t stop thinking about my time in December excavating and exploring in the desert of Sudan…

O lovers, lovers it is time
to set out from the world.
I hear a drum in my soul’s ear
coming from the depths of the stars.

Our camel driver is at work;
the caravan is being readied.
He asks that we forgive him
for the disturbance he has caused us,
He asks why we travelers are asleep…

— Rumi

A giant explosion just rocked south Beirut–the number of people killed and injured in this second bombing in Beirut in two weeks is still unconfirmed…

After spending the last few days of 2013 getting tear-gassed in Taksim, retreating with Sufis in Asia, and joining friends on a culinary adventure through Istanbul, I hopped the pond yesterday from Turkey to Lebanon to ring in New Year’s Eve at home in Beirut–where funky hats last night were all the rage to kick off 2014…

When I stumbled upon the shop below selling all kinds of colorful hats, there was a line out the door. In the distance, sounds of celebratory gunfire rung out throughout Beirut–a city already on edge from last week’s deadly bombing downtown.

“Listen,” the hat seller said, “Victoria has her secret, and these hats are mine.”

Despite the recent violence, local clubs and bars were rowdy and crowded last night–crazy hats included–to celebrate the start of a new year and hopefully leave this year of extreme violence behind…

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do
than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

– Mark Twain

Though sometimes it feels like I’ve reached the end of the road, I’m still trekking on…

From the sand of Sudan–and the sea of Lubnan–wishing all of those celebrating Christmas today a joyful and peaceful holiday!

Back home in Lebanon, Smurfette and the gang have been whirling up some holiday cheer in the Beirut airport…

I found Mr. Claus hanging around the lobby of my hotel in Sudan…but instead of snow outside there was only sand…

As I passed through the Cairo airport, on my way to Sudan, I stumbled upon Santa in a coffee shop–playing some jazz…

Traveling this month between several countries in the Middle East and Africa, I’ve had time to explore Christmas decorations this holiday season in a few different airports. On my way to Sudan, I stopped to admire this gingerbread house on display in the Beirut airport…

Since I spent the past few weeks living in a mudhut without a car in the Sahara in Sudan, I ended up hitching a ride on a lot of donkey carts whenever I needed to travel long distances in the desert to go procure food…

When we finally arrived at this Amun Temple in the middle of the desert in Sudan, after getting stuck several times in the sand, I remembered my favorite hieroglyphic prayer to Amun from the site of Deir el-Medina to the north in Egypt…

You are Amun, the Lord of the silent,
who comes at the voice of the poor,
when I call to you in my distress,
You come to rescue me…

Though the servant was disposed to do evil,
the Lord is disposed to forgive.
The Lord of Thebes spends not a whole day in anger,
His wrath passes in a moment, none remains.
His breath comes back to us in mercy.
May your spirit be kind, may you forgive,
It shall not happen again…

— Votive Stela of Nebre

When we got stuck in the sand on our journey to visit a Temple of Amun deep in the desert in Sudan, some nice folks with a few big guns helped us push our way out of this sandy dip in the (non-existent) road…

While doing archaeology in Sudan this month, I went with a colleague to visit a magnificent temple dedicated to the Egyptian god Amun in the middle of the desert. Since there was no road paved through the Sahara to help us access these ancient ruins, our car got stuck in the sand several times while we made our pilgrimage to Amun…

Today, I caught some festive cheer at St. Jude’s in Beirut–where a holiday party, in conjunction with visits by Santa and a magician, got the kids excited about the upcoming holidays. Maybe it was the sugar from the cake, but the kids today seemed extra hyper and happy–sharing their toys, dancing to music, and smiling up a storm…

This evening, as I left the playroom and navigated my way home through the dark streets of Beirut, I heard Christmas carols being sung in the distance. Following the unexpected singing to its source, I found myself standing near the open door of a Baptist Church–where the congregation was singing a beautiful and solemn rendition of Silent Night. From the doorway, an old man gestured for me to come closer and step inside, but I preferred to listen from the curb, where I couldn’t stop thinking about the kids at St. Jude’s–and wishing that this coming new year is a healthier one for all of them…