PUBLIC
HISTORY
Surprises in Belgrade, Serbia
Our plane from Rome to Belgrade, Serbia,, was three hours late. The Serbian government had shut down its airport to rehearse for its upcoming military parade. Despite the ominous delay, I enjoyed the flight. It was a cloudless day. We saw the contours of both Italian...
Local Global Switzerland.
When we were in Sarajevo, a politician said he wanted Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH ) to be like Switzerland. I thought that was ambitious. In our global Capitalist system, Switzerland is where world leaders solve a "problem" like Bosnia. But he was not referring to...
Latvia: Enchantment and the Weight of History
Whenever the pine recalls the olden days, a few tears still push their way through the pine’s bark in the shape of the drops of resin Latvian folktale ....The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living". Karl Marx, ...
Bosnia and Herzegovina: “The Power Lies with the People.”
Multicultural Sarajevo A melodic chant drowned the raucous sounds of Old Town in Sarajevo. We sat in black wooden chairs facing the chancel in the Serbian Orthodox Museum. A couple crossed themselves in front of holy images. Two women—young, English-speaking,...
Sister Strangers: Japan
Our place in Ibaraki, Japan, was dark, cluttered, cheap—and three blocks away from the Sōjiji Temple. There are 80,000 Buddhist Temples in Japan. Sojiji must be the prettiest, kindest, most sanguine, and welcoming. We made it ours, coming every morning to...
The Sound of Silence: Jeju Island, South Korea
White waves, green water, and black volcanic rock, stirred by high wind. The view was wild, but inside the Jeju coffee shop, all was calm. A Korean ballad played softly. I was alone. My partner in this Aging on the Run venture was grocery shopping, leaving me...
Chaos, Order, and the Desire to be Free: Egypt.
"For the ancient Egyptians, the universe was composed of dualities: fertile and barren, life and death, order and chaos." Andrew Humphreys, Cairo and the Nile, Eyewitness Travel. 2009. "A new museum has been built to showcase Egypt's ancient artifacts, yet no...
Icelandic Winds
Iceland is a land of ghosts and ghouls, sea monsters, and an earth that howls. It is an island of volcanoes and fjords, endless flat petrified lava fields, green valleys, black, white, and grey mountains, outdoor swimming pools, and salted fish. It is also a...
People’s Living History: Northern Ireland
The Political Geography of Northern Ireland Then and Now. To begin to understand Northern Ireland, I needed to stare at some maps. Ireland before 1920 was divided into four provinces. Ulster, the most northern province, was itself divided into nine counties....
A Good Tourist in Oslo?
Oslo is on a hill. From the central train station, it climbs steadily. Four miles up is Frogner Park— a grand stretch of green. Advancing to the pinnacle, we passed a mass of bronze, iron, and granite, naked, ordinary people across the age span. Vigeland Park...