Enjoy these excellent photos from Ljubljana. Ljubljana is an exceedingly pleasant city that sits on the banks of the Ljubljanica river. This 300,000 person capital of Slovenia was once part of Yugoslavia. The city is highly walkable and well-preserved but lacking any must-see landmarks. This is the view of Ljubljana from the castle that overlooks the [...]
Volunteering in the slums of Bangkok, Klong Toey. This book motivated me to move to Bangkok. That and the winter in Chicago is bone-chilling cold. The The Gospel of Father Joe: Revolutions and Revelations in the Slums of Bangkok is a true account of a Catholic priest who moves to Bangkok in the 1970s. He is a [...]
Saying goodbye in Klong Toey. The times I have volunteered I have felt that I have received more than I have given. It is a hackneyed expression, but my four months in the slums of Klong Toey proved it to be true. The teachers at the kindergarten always treated me with great respect and support. More [...]
Father Joe and the Mercy Center have an outsized commitment to education for the youth of Klong Toey. There is a strong belief that education is the springboard to a better opportunity. With that in mind, graduation from kindergarten is treated with all due pomp and circumstance. Over 800 children (from all of the Mercy kindergartens) [...]
Maidan Square in the heart of Kiev has been home to four major political movements/protests in less than 25 years. Maidan Square (formally known as Maidan Nezalezhnosti translates to Independence Square) dates back to the 1830s when some simple wooden structures appeared. Development accelerated in the mid-19th century when it became the commercial center of Kiev [...]
Let’s be honest. I am not an expert when it comes to child care. I am a childless, sibling-less child. In fact, one of my last babysitting experiences included me duct taping a baseball glove to a broom as I rubbed my eight year old client to sleep while I focused on the A-Team on TV. [...]
It is a country with three people holding the office of president simultaneously. Their national anthem has no lyrics since there is no consensus on the final wording . There are soldiers from 26 different countries providing additional security in the nation. Some in the west are frustrated with partisan politics and gridlock, but the political situation [...]
The Killing Fields is rated the number one “Thing To Do” in Phnom Penh by TripAdvisor. When you encounter these two signs at the Choeung Ek Genodical Center, you will soberly realize you will be witnessing a horrific event: the Cambodian Genocide. Not a traditional tourist site. For a riveting account, author Loung Ung recounts her [...]
Spend 2 days in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (the world's worst nuclear disaster) with over 100 photos! Sign up to get your free copy of the book.
