“Want to go to a Mexican baby shower?” asked Jeanne, a woman I’d just met hours before. We were at a bar in La Paz, Baja Sur, and she was a friend of a friend–someone I’d met randomly on a shuttle bus (click here for that story). The mother-to-be was […]

When I ate at my favorite local taco place in La Paz for the 4th time, I had no idea that I’d get more than some free samples. There was also an unexpected kiss from the taco maker. How the heck did this happen? Where Was I? La Paz, Baja […]

When I first spotted him in the Aleppo Souq (market) in Syria, I thought–he looks like a body builder. An Arnold Schwarzenegger lookalike, perhaps, but not exactly. See, he was built. Really built. And I’d never seen anyone quite like that in the Middle East. And I was taken aback […]

How did a simple chat about my phone with a man–a complete stranger (see below)–lead to some crazy shopping in a busy market and then, eventually, to me taking a 17-hour overnight bus ride with him and 20 teenagers a few days later? Read on to find out! Meet ‘Jaka’–the […]