More Than Four Sides

Category: outside the US

  • A New Adventure…

    Today I spent my first day orienting at Partners In Health, in Boston.  In three days, I and my 1/2 dozen new colleagues, and fellow adventurers, will be travelling to Sierra Leone, to assist with eradicating the remaining Ebola outbreak that was so much in the news last summer and fall (and has so remarkably…

  • Jewish Identity

    I’ve been catching up on my podcast listening, partly because of a reminder from my daughter about the new podcast Serial (which is fabulous!). My podcast subscriptions include three podcasts produced by The New Yorker magazine: New Yorker: Comment New Yorker: The Political Scene New Yorker: Fiction New Yorker: Outlook And the most recent episode…

  • I have OKCupid to thank…

    For my daughter finding and marrying the man who suits her to a T. and apparently, the data of the OKCupid algorithms predicted their compatibility and bliss pretty well, as they scored around 95%, according to her. It’s a funny thing to see your daughter get married, and then to see her happily interacting with…

  • Africa! Ethiopia!!

    I’ve been immersed in the connection of our kids to the continent of Africa, for the past month or so. Of course, they are never not connected to their place of birth, but, in the same way that my own connection to Sri Lanka, the birthplace of my father, has ebbed and flowed in my…

  • Growing up Anglophile

    I was born in England, and carry a British passport (in addition to my American one), but I have a decidedly American accent, American habits, and American sensibilities. And, yet, I’ve always loved England, and more specifically, London. I love English food (really!), and drafty old English houses, and the amazing museums and galleries of…

  • Dining with the enemy

    There are those times when we have to go out to a meal, usually at a restaurant, or sometimes in the context of a party, when we know that we will have to spend substantial time with people that we would never choose to have as our personal friends.  Examples: evenings out with the spouse’s…

  • Mr Anxiety

    I’m sitting in a small room, watching my anxious 5-yr-old mixing up the batter for Chechebsa, a traditional Ethiopian pancake eaten for breakfast. Yesterday, Dad took it screaming child to participate in his age group’s (the Rabbits) activities, and he got stuck all morning, firmly glued by the hand to our son. This morning, it’s…

  • This Is Paradise – Island Culture

    Geography influences people.  No question. If you live in a place with harsh winters, you know the value of a good pair of boots, and bundling up in layers. But if you grow up in a temperate clime, you may never experience the pressure of external forces on your everyday choices, and may develop a…

  • Connecting Cultures…

    Yesterday was a full day. It started with Tot Shabbat, in the morning at Tikvat Israel, and despite following the excellent advice of my friend Mary (Thanks, Mary!), the morning didn’t go much better that last month‘s (separate post on this to come). J and I drove the car to the synagogue, as we had…

  • Secrets & Lies

    When I was in my early teens, my Sri Lankan aunt (my father’s sister), had my stars read by her astrologer. She asked me for the exact time of my birth, and the exact place I was born. And, after a few weeks, I got a folded piece of thin paper with quite a number…