One Person's White is Another's Black

Years ago while living in the south-western corner of the Arabian peninsula, now unnameable, the sun shone almost everyday...almost.

At times the clear blue sky would darken with sand blowing in from the vast deserts that ring the mountains and then for about 2 weeks a year irregular monsoons would blow through and flood the streets.

Rushing torrents of suspiciously dark water would replace what had been dusty streets and the walk to work would become a challenge.

Wet teachers ended up at work and could easily be divided into two camps. Grumpy expats, unhappy that their continuous sunshine had been interrupted and smiling and cheery locals, thrilled that their water table would refill, if just a little.

Today, years later and a continent away, we were sitting in a bar drinking a beer and eating tapas when a friend jumped up and said, "It's snowing!"

3 Spaniards at the table smiling.

One foreigner, not.

It does depend on how you look at things.

Caceres covered in white.

Biblical Taxis

Every traveler has been there...jet-lagged and coming out of an airport or getting off an all-night train where the only wink you got was from the fellow across the aisle with the extremely dirty fingernails, stepping into a new country with no language or local currency and suddenly the mass descends on you. If not there, then standing in the driving rain trying to make a plane and every taxi seems to be full.

Sometimes it's enough to make you want to turn around and wonder why you didn't stay at home...

...but sometimes it isn't.

Click over here for a new piece on a taxi ride south from Damascus.