The second episode of my new YouTube series, GlobeSongs, is out. I’m discussing and singing the Georgian folk song, “Tu Ase Turpa Ikavi,” also known as “Satrpialo.” Enjoy, and let me know if you have any feedback on how to improve the series.
Tag: culture
New Series: GlobeSongs
Hey y’all (as they say around these parts), I’m starting a new YouTube series called GlobeSongs, and have just uploaded the first video. Each episode, I will sing a different folk song from around the world and give it context, considering themes of culture, language, and geography. First up is the Scottish/Irish folk song, “Wild…
Keeping Unscheduled, On Purpose
I keep reading people recommending sticking to a schedule as a way to get through the home-bound time of coronavirus, but I beg to differ. Sure, I think it’s important to get enough sleep, so I could see sticking to a bedtime and wake-up routine, but overall, I find that not having a schedule is…
Ever Wanted to Join the Peace Corps? Now You Can—from Home!
For the first time in its history, Peace Corps has evacuated all volunteers from their posts and is temporarily suspending operations. On one hand, this is terrible, as it interrupts projects, severs relationships, and makes the greed, irrationality, and xenophobia of the Trump administration the face of America instead of open-minded and well-meaning volunteers. On…
Toilet Paper Fixation
In the face of a potential quarantine, people are understandably worried and trying their best to be prepared. I find it comical, and sad, however, that running out of toilet paper is the idea that worries folks in our country most. As if, they could survive without food, but not without toilet paper? When I…
Taking the “Night Plane”
Before I go to sleep at night, I put my phone on airplane mode in an attempt to limit exposure to harmful radiation and rest undisturbed. I was recently going back through some of my notes and video from Togo and saw that avions de nuit, or “night planes” (also called sky cars in the…
Visiting a Catholic Mass in Togo
When I first arrived in Togo in September 2009 to begin my Peace Corps service in that country as a Girls’ Education and Empowerment volunteer, the other trainees and I stayed in Tsévié, a town twenty miles north of the capital, Lomé. Unlike the Northern, Lamba town of Kanté that would become my home for…