First Person Foreign

The Dolphin Show

July 16, 2024July 17, 2024 First Person ForeignAunt

It was not in the baking heat of Phoenix, but in the boiling sauna of Atlanta in July, that I stuck myself in a sticky situation. A man was shouting “Ma’am, Ma’am” and I turned[…]

The Ocean, Oh The Ocean

June 29, 2024 First Person ForeignArizona

The Beach. Oh, the beach. You can’t be a kid and love it, not if you grew up in Florida and got sunburns or accidentally wore tennis shoes to the beach and couldn’t leave when[…]

Guatemala, Mi Amor (Day Two): Knocking on the Door

March 31, 2024April 5, 2024 First Person ForeignAbuelita

I hadn’t made it to my house when I saw a familiar face on the corner. She was holding a young hand, the eldest of Doña Cecilia and I couldn’t remember the father’s name. “Y mi[…]

Guatemala, Mi Amor: Day Two (The Return)

March 30, 2024March 30, 2024 First Person ForeignCultural Difference

I watched the driver reach for the machete with his free hand as we careened across the InterAmerican Highway. With his hand clasping the wheel, he used the machete to push something unstuck. There we were, all[…]

Guatemala, Mi Amor: Day One, Phoenix to Mexico to Guate to Mayan Punishment

March 24, 2024March 30, 2024 First Person ForeignArizona

After much separation anxiety, I decided to leave my computer in my small apartment in Phoenix. For lack of a better term, I call Phoenix home. As a woman living alone, and just becoming more[…]

My Seven Places

March 2, 2024 First Person Foreigncoffee

There are actually big, sad, tragic events happening concurrently in hospitals inches from my breath, if air moves, and in zip codes I’ve never known except on the faith of my own imagination and the[…]

Las montañas: Returning to Guatemala, 1

February 26, 2024 First Person ForeignBeauty

So, I booked a trip. I’ve been lucky to book so many before, but this one took some plotting. All of the layovers on the US dollar looked egregious: red eyes on opposite coasts, or[…]

‘Twas the Flight Before Christmas

February 10, 2024 First Person Foreigncoffee

Trigger Warning about thoughts related to self-harm mentioned at the end. Read with care! Did I mention how hilarious I find it? I am 37 and a thought will attack me as I rush to[…]

Lockdown

April 30, 2023April 30, 2023 First Person ForeignHard Thing

If you aren’t sure about a career, like if you are in tears by third period because the jittery 13-year-olds didn’t learn anything in three days reading the same chapter, and they keep singing the[…]

The Grand Canyon and a Tiny Speck

March 15, 2023March 15, 2023 First Person ForeignArizona

For each man sees himself in the Grand Canyon – each one makes his own Canyon before he comes. Each one brings and carries away his own Canyon.-Carlsburg Traveling makes me think about mortality. Well,[…]