The mystery of acrylic Masai blankets and when to post the photographs others ask you to take.
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I liked Ethiopia’s capital so much, I went twice.
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The morning after my youngest brother's wedding, I flew from Albania to Switzerland to start research on the global experience of singleness. Once I'd waddled off the last train, maneuvering probably close to 100 pounds of gear, I met the first of what will be doubtless many strangers to help with my research this next year.
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Marie worked on Monday, so she took me to the train that morning for a day of exploring mostly on my own.
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Sunday morning we started the day with church. On several past trips, I've attended services in other languages, so I was relatively well prepared for the experience. This time, though, the sermon held a surprise.
Read MoreMy third (!!) international trip of the year started on a Thursday, immediately after a week-long work trip to New Orleans. In fact, the two trips were so close that I pre-packed the Europe bag in case I needed help swapping luggage (I did, but my housemate's help actually made for a much more relaxed layover).
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Wednesday morning we planned to go to the Great Wall because of rain forecast for Thursday. But after a leisurely start to our day, our homestay host counseled us to get a tour instead and go Thursday. After Dad successfully negotiated a pretty low price - about $30 per person for the whole day - we instead went to see an ancient temple.
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After a cheerful breakfast at Denny's, we set off for a large Buddhist temple popular with tourists. It was interesting to see all the commerce surrounding the temple and how multi-sensory the experience could be: incense, things to shake or bang, and the vivid colors of paintings and robes as you neared the central room, where they were concluding some sort of ceremony or service.
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So far, one of my favorite things about Tokyo is the toilet music. I first noticed it at airport - a button with musical notes, labeled "privacy" - one of many ways you can customize your toilet experience. Today I saw one that played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and had a seat warmer (!!).
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