Reflecting Pool

Manhattan, New York

From 9/11 Memorial

I knew sooner or later that someone would come to visit me in New York who wanted to go to the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero, but I was in no hurry. I'm still furious about how all the goodwill the United States had in the aftermath of the attack was squandered, only for the tragedy to then be appropriated as an excuse to do terrible things in the world.

But I have to admit that it's a impressive, beautiful site. When the construction is finished and the square is open on all sides, it will be a beautiful place to, say, take a lunch break from your job in finance. It's crowded now, a pilgrimage site of sorts, but I can anticipate a time when it will just be a quiet oasis of trees, water and white noise in the bustle of downtown.

From 9/11 Memorial

Marina and the Diamonds

Manhattan, New York, USA

From Marina and the Diamonds

When my cousin Peter said last week that he was coming to New York for a concert and could he spend the night at my place, I said, "Of course!" It wasn't until he called as he was leaving Boston this morning that he said, "I told you I have an extra ticket for you, right?" No, but at least I had time for my beauty regime before he arrived. Good thing, too, because Weber Hall was packed with the uber-fashion conscious.

The opening act, Ms Mr, was hard to hear, but pretty good. Very similar to Florence and the Machine, we decided.

I think I'd heard the name Marina and the Diamonds before, but I don't think I'd heard her music until tonight. She's been opening for Coldplay all over Europe, where the Welsh singer is much more widely known, but she was popular enough here in the States that she needed to schedule a second show in New York after the first one sold out. And the lady sure knows how to put on a show!

From Marina and the Diamonds

Boy on a Bike

Westford, Massachusetts, USA

From Boy on a Bike

It turns out that training wheels are the wrong way to learn to ride a bike. The hardest part of riding a bike isn't actually the pedaling, as the training wheel presumes. In fact, it's the balancing that's the hardest part, and if you learn that first, it's much easier to get on a 'real' bike and learn to pedal. My cousin's son is testing out that theory on his balance bike.

From Boy on a Bike

Independence Day

Bridgton, Maine, USA


It's been a long time since I had a traditional American Independence Day celebration. I was in the U.S. this time last year, but I didn't really celebrate, because I didn't yet have the friends in New York I now have to celebrate with. This year, in contrast, I had to choose between celebrating with my friends in New York, a friend with a front row balcony to the fireworks in Boston, or my family in Maine.

Family in Maine was an excellent choice!


Last night we joined mobs of other tourists for fireworks at the local elementary school, and contributed to some of the fundraising efforts of townies (like a band trip to Montreal). We took my cousin's son to the parade in Bridgton, where he was an enthusiastic scavenger for candy, but the firetrucks' loud sirens sent him cringing in his Grammie's lap.

Then we had an awesome beachside lobster picnic, thanks to Grandpa who paid and my brother Ben with the new job slinging fish and lobsters at the docks in Portland.

I love my life of travel and adventure, but sometimes it's true ... There's no place like home!

From July 4, 2012

Maine!

S Bridgton, Maine, USA

It's so nice to be in Maine for vacation!

I went swimming in our little pond....

I took pictures of Grandpa's amazing flowers....

I practiced flower close-ups like the ones I so admire by Jennifer Khoury Photography....


And I played around with a unique way to get a photo of the house I've vacationed to in Maine all my life....

This is what vacation should be!

From Lake in Maine

UU Values in Action

Brooklyn, NY, USA

Do the values and principles of Unitarian Universalism inform how I live my life?

I've been thinking about this since May Day, when I marched with All Souls UU's Director of Religious Education, Taryn, and she asked me that very question. I think she asked in part because she was preparing the youth service in which the 9th graders in the Coming of Age class read to the congregation the credos they'd been working on since September, and because I generally say that I was "raised UU," because compared to most adult UUs I was. 

In fact, my family didn't actually discover UUsim till I was in middle school, though we're among those who would say we were always UU and just never knew there was a term or a community for that.  We became active, affiliated members of a UU congregation because we were already living the liberal religious and social values that the Unitarian Universalist Association affirms and promotes. Initially, that's what I told Taryn.

As our conversation continued, however, something amazing popped out of my mouth.  "You know," I said, "I think I probably study Arabic and the Islamic world because of the Neighboring Faiths curriculum we did in my middle school religious education."  That was the first year that my family attended UU services, and it made an indelible mark, so much so that I have come back twice and taught parts of that curriculum. So that got me thinking about other ways UUism has influenced the way I live my life.

In fact, I would say that "acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth" in any and all religious communities is a cornerstone of the way I lead my life. Since even before I considered myself a UU, I sought to learn and teach as much as possible about all world religions, with respect for the truth and value in all of them. I think that's what mothers in my Peace Corps village were seeing when they said to their daughters, "Do you see how Maryah dresses / behaves? She's a better Muslim than you are!"

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;

These are the foundational values for which I was a Rotary Youth Exchange Scholar and active ROTEX member, for which I was a Girl Scout camp counselor, for which I joined the Peace Corps, for which I taught refugees in Amman and Cairo, for which I became a NYC Teaching Fellow, because of which I couldn't keep my mouth shut and stay a NYCT Fellow, and for which I now teach immigrant women.

Those values and "the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process" are the reason I visited Tahrir Square every morning of the Egyptian Revolution and frequently thereafter, and then blogged and published my observations of what I observed. It's why I continue to avidly and empathetically follow the fight for democracy across the Arab world in the last two years.

"Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part" is the one I wish I lived more consciously.  While I certainly live almost every day aware of the interdependence of human existence, I am less conscientious about my interdependence with the natural environment. I do more than some people, perhaps. I was raised to take what some call a "navy shower," turning off the water while I shampoo or soap up. I've given up Ziplocs and Saran Wrap in favor of reusable Tupperware, and try to remember to take my reusable shopping bags to the grocery store. I try to dress for the weather and rely less on heat and A/C. But I'm also addicted to my electronics with their high electricity needs, and to my hormone-injected beef and cheaper, more convenient non-organic produce.

Still and all, I've discovered over the last month or so that I really do live by the values and principles of my faith. The next question is this: Where can I take those values and principles from here? 

We Really Go To the Beach

Arverne on the Sea, NY, USA

From Rockaway Beach

This time we didn't take any chances on meeting in the city where we might be distracted. Instead, we met towards the far end of the L line, halfway to the beach.We meant to go to Rockaway Park Beach, but missed our stop and ended up in Arverne On the Sea instead.

Ultimately, that was probably fortunate. The beach was almost empty when we arrived, more birds and mussels than swimmers. A woman we met while jumping waves said the beach down at Rockaway Park is much more crowded, shoulder to shoulder. This beach, with ocean waves and laughing toddlers, was just perfect!

From Rockaway Beach

We Don't Go to the Beach

Manhattan & Staten Island, NY

The plan was for a friend, her sister and I to meet at All Souls and go to Brighton Beach after church. That was the plan.

From Not the Beach

But when we got to church, a group of the young adults organized a spontaneous gathering in Central Park. I've been going to Central Park every Sunday after church to take in some sun and revel in the grass, and in the last few weeks I've found myself there with ever larger groups of young adults. This Sunday, our plans notwithstanding, turned out to be no exception.

Then someone suggested getting lunch, and we were hungry. At the end of lunch, a visiting Canadian asked if anyone wanted to join him on the Staten Island Ferry. My friend and her sister thought that was a great idea, so off we went.

Our new Canadian friend Chad Pratch is a Fine Arts major (check him out at chadpratch.com), and a guy, so naturally he started building things on the beach: found object sculpture. The girls really got into it, creating ever-more-intricate sculptures from driftwood and other materials laying around. It wasn't the beach, but it was fun.

From Not the Beach

"You're so patient!"

Brooklyn, NY, USA

Today I was teaching some Yemeni and Sudanese women useful language for making an doctor's appointment. We had a dialogue that I had read with one of the students, and we were going through it sentence by sentence to practice pronunciation.

Some of my students didn't have the soft /th/ sound in their native dialects, so I showed them how moving their tongues from behind their teeth to between their teeth changed the /s/ sound to the /th/ sound. Then I had them practice blending words, like the way we don't say "Do you want to make an appointment?" but instead we shove it all together into "D'ya-wanna make 'n-appoin'ment?" I had them repeat it over and over, first together as a group, then one at a time, again and again.

"You have such patience!" said one student in Arabic.

After I'd taught her how to say the same sentence in English (and showed them how it was not quite the same as a "patient" at the doctor's), I said, "That's because I've learned several languages, so I'm sympathetic."

"You know exactly what it's like!" she agreed.

This is what I love about teaching. We laughed so much that two hours just flew by, and these women not only learned what to say and how to say it, but I could see them gain confidence from the beginning of the lesson to the end. One woman, who was only going to stay a little while until the citizenship class started, was still there at the end of the class, glowing with accomplishment.

A few months ago, when I was hating my job and wishing I could just give up working altogether and become a stay-at-home Mom, a friend said, "We just have to find you a job that doesn't feel like work." I found it. Unfortunately, it doesn't pay any money....

May Day NYC

Manhattan, NY, USA

From May Day NYC

When I first came to New York City, I told myself I wouldn't get involved with activism in my first year. I was teaching full time, going to graduate school at night, and the teaching alone was all the activism I needed in my life.

Then I left teaching and graduate school. For the first weeks of my unemployment, I moped and was miserable and sat at my computer all day long looking and applying for jobs ... any kind of job that seemed remotely related to my talents and would pay the bills. Over time, I became more and more involved with All Souls UU Church's young adults, for fun, networking and plain old human contact. Last week, I realized that even that was not enough.  I needed to get out more, to volunteer for something, to do more fun things with people. With lingering Socialist sympathies from all my years in Europe, and a life-long interest in civics, I asked around the church to see who was doing something for Occupy Wall Street's General Strike on May Day.

That's how I found myself on Union Square this afternoon with Occupy Faith. Their intention today was to bring a message of peaceful nonviolence and be witnesses to whatever might transpire. Several among them have previously been arrested and detained for their participation in a variety of Occupy-related demonstrations, while standing as examples of nonviolent civil disobedience. (I don't believe any of us were today, but apparently one never knows....)

In our march down Broadway to Zuccotti Park and Wall Street, we saw a lot of signs for a lot of different campaigns and issues. We sang songs and chanted. When we passed people watching from balconys and windows, we chanted, "Don't watch! Join us!" In the shopping district, we chanted, "Don't shop! Join us!" When construction workers and other union sorts paused their work to come out on the sidewalk and salute us, we cheered them on. It was a lot of fun. Here are some of my favorite images, with more in the WebAlbum:

From May Day NYC

Staten Island Sunshine

Manhattan and Staten Island, NY, USA

From Staten Island Ferry

Today, Arwen and I set out to see the Statue of Liberty. We couldn't have picked a more perfect day, or hit the Staten Island Ferry at a more perfect time, as the sun set behind the Green Lady.

Crossing Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn and Manhattan, NY, USA

From Brooklyn Bridge

An old Peace Corps friend came to visit this week, and the timing couldn't have been better. In a happy/unhappy coincidence, I am newly unemployed this week, very glad to have a friend in town, and free all day every day to spend with her!

Today's agenda was a walking tour of downtown Manhattan, beginning with a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. My brother had done a similar walking tour when he was visiting in August, and it came highly recommended. And for good reason. The Brooklyn Bridge is a strikingly Old World piece of architecture in a very New World city.

Not to mention iconic. The Geiko Gecko has a great ad on the white line separating walkers from bikers. None other than Hugh Jackman jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge into another century in "Kate and Leopold."

Once in Manhattan, we wandered around in the historic seaport district, and along the wharf. I don't think of New York City as the home of tall ships, as I do Boston, but there they were! Not as old as Old Ironsides, I teased Arwen, but yeah, pretty old. Not long after, I had to leave her to wander the city alone, while I went back to Brooklyn for class.

From Brooklyn Bridge

Winter, At Last!

South Bridgton, Maine, USA

Naturally, we got beautiful snow the night before I had to leave....

From Real Snow At Last!

One of the things I was most looking forward to in moving back to America was real winter ... especially after living in Cairo! Maybe it's symptomatic of global climate change, or maybe it's just bad luck, but once again this is a terrible winter for snow!

Sure, I saw snow in the White Mountains on my way to Vermont. I mean, when there's no snow in the Kancamagus Pass, then global warming is a serious problem! But it wasn't the same as having snow at home.

I wish it had come sooner, so I could spend more time in it than the 20 minutes it took to snap these photos, but it was so wonderful and refreshing to see the world blanketed in white!

From Real Snow At Last!