Land of the Royal Bengal Tiger
“Who are you?” The question that appeared on my last summer English assignment kept lingering on in my head as I flew back to my home country, Bangladesh, for the first time since I came to America....
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To Hell and Back
This was the summer of our epic father/son journey out West. My dad and I set out on a six-week adventure full of camping, hiking, mountain biking, rafting and fly fishing. We mountain biked the Deadman’s...
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India: A Tale of Two Worlds
As the plane descended, I peered out my window toward Chennai and witnessed a stark contrast. Surrounding gleaming skyscrapers and glimmering hotels were slums that stretched out from the city center....
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Discovering My Irish Family Heritage
My heart raced as the van slid around yet another tight corner, narrowly missing the oncoming traffic by inches and sending me sliding into my fellow passengers. Was I in a car chase? An action movie?...
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A Sicilian Timetable
By the time my two aunts, grandmother, and I finally boarded our six-hour-late Volotea flight from Venice Marco Polo Airport to Palermo, Sicily, it was way past dinnertime. I had long since stuffed my...
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Ponds, Pagodas, and Prayer at NanPuTuo Temple
A warm blanket of heat enveloped me as I clambered out of the group van. I had prepared for a fun school-organized trip to China, but hadn’t prepared for these conditions. Sure, I had faced high temperatures...
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Into the Great Wide Ocean
My family seems to have an aversion to flying unless absolutely necessary, so we drive everywhere. Fifteen hours to Texas to visit friends. Ten hours to Kansas to visit grandparents. And most importantly...
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Ice Cream, Donkeys, and Dingle
It was July 7, 2015 and we were four days into our family vacation to Ireland. I was standing on a grassy hilltop, overlooking this gorgeous, shallow, green valley. Small clovers and blades of grass twitched...
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