NOT KEEPING SCORE

Tay Ho District & West Lake
These past couple of days I’ve felt a bit like a child, a ‘kept’ woman, or a pet.
Every morning, my generous friend and host, Bắc, goes to work, and every day I find myself behind the locked gates of her property. Yes, I have a key… but, frankly, I’m a […]

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How I thought I could go to Vietnam and write, I know not. There is an unfathomable energy, and noises to rattle the calmest nerves.
There is an ever-present hum of traffic punctuated by the piercing blare of vehicle horns and sounds all through the night of creatures — cats in heat, dog-barking, pig squeals, and something […]

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Freelancing abroad in the Holy Land for 18 days
I wrote before on the security in San Francisco, but it ain’t got nuthin’ on Israel (just try getting through security in under 3 hours).
There is a reason Israel is said to have one of the most secure airports in the world*[1]: three screenings, two bag x-rays, […]

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Freelancing abroad in the Holy Land for 18 days
1. Shalom, Shanni! Feeling Lucky? 
The best part of being in Israel is that when I’m online my browser streams ads in Hebrew. How does iGoogle know I’m in Israel?!
2. Castro Worldwide
There is a popular clothing brand in Israel named Castro that has just come out with a men’s line. Everywhere […]

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Freelancing abroad in the Holy Land for 18 days
 
The bus I’m on now does have, in the front seat opposite the driver, a uniformed guard sporting a semi-automatic.
At work, we had a meeting in a small, windowless concrete room at the end of a narrow corridor. When I remarked at the strange architecture for a conference […]

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Freelancing abroad in the Holy Land for 18 days
My landlady Margalit and her husband Jacob have decided to adopt me.
Everyday I come home from work, I find a basket of fruit at my front door, or homemade jam in my fridge, or a row of my freshly washed underwear hanging in a tidy little row […]

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Freelancing abroad in the Holy Land for 18 days
After weeks of trying to get there, I finally made it to the lowest place on Earth (er, correction: lowest place on dry land. At 1, 378 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea is the world’s saltiest body of water (second to Lake Asal in Dijibouti… […]

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Have flu. (Backlog of stories). Will post soon.
Please Keep Faith. (But never Score). -Shannon

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Freelancing abroad in the Holy Land for 18 days
I’ve spent much money on light flowy dresses and jewelry. Does anyone think I can write this off as a business expense?
I’ve already accumulated an extra bag worth of clothes and gifts… and I haven’t even made it to China. Please, in the future, if there are […]

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Freelancing abroad in the Holy Land for 18 days
I’m tired.
There comes a point in every travel adventure when the homesickness begins to whisper in your ear; when you find yourself thinking Yes, this pita is impossibly fluffy and falafal? Mindblowingly divine. But– I’d really just like a big, fat, dripping burrito from El Castillito […]

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