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You know that moment when you revisit something – or somewhere – that you loved as a child only to discover it's not exactly how you remembered it? The first time I watched Roman Holiday was in preparation for my first trip out of the country. I was 11 and my extend family was going to …
I know I didn't write all that much about Cuba, in the end, but hopefully this piece I wrote for AFAR magazine's October 2013 issue – about ropa vieja, paladares, and the Revolution – will make up for it. Oh, and if you do ever make it to Havana, be sure to have dinner at …
Allow me to disabuse you: being broke in Paris is not romantic.When you look at your bank account and the euros in your wallet and realize you cannot make rent and still eat, there is nothing romantic about it. When you wander around the streets for hours on end in search of nowhere in particular, …
When I think of my grandfather, I think of his deep, melodic voice, like a chord reverberating on a bass. I can't recall him ever raising it – in my memory, he is a solid presence, a tall, strong man who didn't need to shout to make it clear that he was in charge, that …
Continue reading "The Speech I Gave at My Grandfather’s Funeral Last Week"
My first time in Berlin, I stayed at The Circus. Yes, it's a real place, and it's even better than it sounds. It started as a hostel – the kind of hostel with a sidewalk cafe with mirrors and wood paneling and where people who weren't even staying there might come for a cappuccino or …
In anticipation of my meditations on Cuba, here are some things I saw there. Feel free to ask questions, though I can't promise to answer them. (In case you were wondering, Montreal was also awesome and I'd highly recommend it, but pretty much nowhere can beat Cuba for cool factor.) You can't tell but these …
At some point in college, I made a top five list of countries I wanted to visit. Ridiculous, I realize, but, as someone who wants to go everywhere all the time, I had to order my thoughts and plans somehow. The list was as follows, in no particular order: Turkey Morocco Cuba India Denmark As …
Okay guys, time for our first ever officially interactive post! Get excited. I'm quite familiar - as are those of you who followed my blog in the first half of 2009 - with the Indian/Southeast Asian man's way of treating women, particularly foreign ones, on the street. I imagine it's also similar to that in …
In the last year, I have realized many times how fortunate I am to be a native English speaker; English absolutely is the international language. It's one thing to say it, or to know it in theory - I think we all know it - but to see it in action is another thing entirely. …
This weekend, my friend Susannah came to visit from Arles, where she's teaching English on the assistantship program. Thanks to her need to experience as much of Paris as possible in one weekend (she studied abroad here too, but living in France away from Paris can cause strong pangs of longing for Paris, so she …
Kate Thorman 