Carrying the Cat’s Meow
Sweetness showers on me in unexpected ways. It happened before a trip to Italy, cloaked in a dubious situation: when a friend asked me to do a favor. “Diane, would you do me a favor and take something with you the next time you go to Rome?” In her loving and imploring...An Auspicious Autumn
Swiss cheese itinerary? Opportunities for sporadic adventures? Both? In any case,it felt good to deliberately leave open a sprinkling of dates throughout:It had been a year since my trip to Puglia, and I could barely contain my eagerness. A couple of weeks before my...Liceo a Roma – Part 2: The Forum School (’73-’75)
The Forum School, Rome, Italy My head buzzed eerily as I heard the Headmaster’s words reverberate in my brain. Expelled?I walked out of his office and passed his smirking secretary who seemed to relish the scene. I continued into the open air courtyard. It was early,...Liceo a Roma – Part 1
St. Stephen’s School in Rome (‘72) In moments, I would be… Solo. No parents. No siblings. Glancing around the spartan departure area, I manufactured a yawn with that well-practiced cool look teenagers wear to mask all the excitement inside, feeling triumphant,...
Thanks, Gaddafi
“No one sleeps in the front bedrooms tonight.” I’ll never forget my father’s directive. It was September 1, 1971. A military coup had swept into power in Tripoli, Libya. My family lived in a villa adjoining our Jordanian landlord’s villa. Outside, it was getting dark...
Deserts and Beginnings
A few days ago, I got into a massive project. You know, the dreaded yet invigorating purging ritual so folksily called, “Spring Cleaning.” The upheaval, not the reorganizing, challenges me. Stacks upon stacks of family photos – how did I ever collect so many?...A Saharan Welcome
I was ten arriving with my parents and three brothers in Tripoli, Libya, on a hot August day. The man holding our passports didn’t look at us. He wore military khakis and a cap. His skin was dark and somehow light at once. He spoke quickly, constantly, in a rapid,...In Mother’s Garden
The villas in Tripoli were generally hidden behind enclosing garden walls. Built of concrete block, workers sprayed the two meter tall walls with tan or cream pigmented cement. Once in a while, the wall might be as much as three meters tall. Other walls warned off...
