mft author at My Family Travels
Article
Fighting for My Place in Paris

I forced myself to fight for a spot on the ligne 13 this morning. A little girl squeezed my knees and gave me a genuine smile. Her honesty relaxed me. I can feel a lady with a wrinkled forehead breathe...

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Article
Neredesen, Margaret…Where are you?

Life as an exchange student opens up doors to many curiousities. During my summer in Istanbul, Turkey on a full government scholarship for Turkish language study, I did a lot of thinking about the location...

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Article
Lost and Found: Yosemite

I’m flat on my stomach flying at 9,000 feet, legs tight and arms stretched wide. My neck and head are over the edge, and the...

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Article
We Share the Same Blood

Echad, shtayim, shalosh, arba…”The foreign sounds of counting came from the deck of a dhow, a traditional Arab sailboat, cruising through a harbor filled with open sky, twinkling city...

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Article
Les Vendanges in St. Georges

I am a little late on recounting this story, but it's worth telling. Our program director, Joelle, told us our morning class was cancelled and would be replaced by an...

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Article
Upon My Rocky Path

Traveling alone without speaking the local language is no simple task.  Why, then, do I continue to do it? This was a question I was asking myself two winters ago when I was traveling alone to...

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Article
Chapter 6 (of 11): The Osa Peninsula

"This is worse than bland," declared Paddy in his London accent. "It tastes like wet socks." He passed the cup of watered oatmeal to Lochy. "It`s energy,"...

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Article
Tzedakah in India

Every afternoon, sixteen-year-old Salim came home from school, through the doors of the Nav Jagriti or the “New Hope” orphanage and shook my hand. He asked me: “You are feeling?”...

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Article
Nigeria

My name is Chigozilim Udonna Menakaya and I am a Nigerian-American. Whenever I tell somebody this, they’re always like, “please, there's no such thing as a Nigerian-American. Either you’re Nigerian...

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