Escaping the Empty Nest
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Roselle

9/26/2016

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​Hong Kong has a kind of market they call a “wet market.” It’s a street market with stalls of fresh fruits and vegetables, and sometimes meat and fish. They are usually set up in pedestrian side streets in busy areas, but this one was on the covered pedestrian overpass linking the ferry piers to the IFC mall. There was just one stall, set up in a circle in the middle of the overpass, and they sold only vegetables.

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Travel Diary: Long-Haul Flight

9/22/2016

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When we flew from Madrid to New York, my husband cashed in some milage points and we upgraded to Premium Economy.

We were on Cathay Pacific, which is already a nice airline, so I was excited to see what a 12-hour flight felt like in Premium Economy. I know that a 12-hour flight in economy feels like purgatory with a side of angst, followed by a dessert of leg cramps drizzled with fear and self-loathing. I’ve flown the 15-hour flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong so I know there are plenty of long flights out there where going into a catatonic state during the last few hours is your best survival tactic. Actually, there is usually a slap-happy, giddy, embarrassing phase preceding the catatonic state.

I’m a twitchy flyer, and I don’t usually sleep on planes. Maybe Premium Economy would feel better.

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Spanish Bidet

9/19/2016

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Isn’t that tile work beautiful?

When we got to our hotel room in Spain, there it was. Right in front of the toilet, silently offering us its services. A bidet. I always wondered, why would you need that? What are you doing in the bathroom that you need to hose off afterward? I thought about googling it, but I was afraid something would come up that I would wish I could un-see. After playing with the faucet to see what kind of water flow it had, I just left it alone.

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Getting Ready for Spain

9/15/2016

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My friend got a teaching job in Spain, so I knew I had to go visit her while she was there. When I visit a country for the first time, I like to do some prep work so I don’t just bumble around the place. I’d never been to Spain, so here’s what I did.

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24 Hours in Chicago

9/12/2016

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I just visited Chicago for the first time, and I really loved it! It has beautiful architecture, great food, friendly people, and it's both drivable and walkable, depending on your needs.

​Here's how I spent twenty-four hours there. By the way, it was a beautiful August day, with unusually mild weather. I hear it can get quite steamy, windy, icy, sticky, slick, sultry, cold, or hot. Check the local weather before you go.

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California Dreaming

9/8/2016

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When I was a burned-out sad grad student in Michigan in 1991, Sam in California proposed to me. I could either stay in Michigan an extra year and finish with two degrees, or drop the second degree and my TA and leave in one semester. I couldn't decide. But every time I got in my car, California Dreaming came on the radio. I heeded the advice of the Mamas and the Papas and Sam, and fled to California. When I left 24 years later,  that song came on the radio as I approached the state line. Cheers, California! I'll always love you, but I've got to go.

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The Rotating Nest

9/5/2016

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On the way to an empty nest, life happens. The little birds sometimes come back between schools, between jobs, between relationships. Sometimes they bring more little birds back with them.

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