District of Carberry

If you're bored of watching the Olympics, you can listen to my story about the political impact of the 1988 games on the host country, South Korea. This aired on the public radio program Here and Now on August 6. http://www.here-now.org/shows/2008/08/20080806_9.asp

I think that in my entire high school and college career, I smoked less than one full pack of cigarettes. It was an easy decision--basically whenever I smoked a butt, I felt sick. I could never understand what all the fuss and attraction was about. It was an easy decision with simple cause and effect logic--I smoke, I feel sick. Simple solution: don't smoke. Despite a few attempts to use the cigarette angle to pick up a girl back in the college days, I still think I smoked about 15 cigarettes in my life. Granted, I do enjoy a good cigar... Read more

International travel always presents certain challenges in terms of staying in touch with friends, family, and of course, work. Last fall, after painful research, I determined the best option was to switch from Verizon to T-Mobile and get the Blackberry Curve. The wifi enabled device allows for unlimited free calling (to US numbers) over the internet when connected to a wifi network. So, I can be in a hotel room in Sudan and make calls over the internet to America at no charge. Add to that your standard Blackberry email services and you have an impressive package. Of course, theory... Read more

Why is it always the south side? "The South Side of Chicago," the southern suburbs of Beirut, just about the whole southern hemisphere.... It seems that the south side of town is often the less affluent, and less appealing area. Damascus is no different. The northern side, I'll admit, is surprisingly developed, clean, and attractive. It's far from a modern looking city, and there are certainly no modern architectural spectacles like in the gulf, or some of the new buildings going up in Beirut. There actually seems to be some urban planning, along with some very attractive neighborhoods and areas.... Read more

Covering political events is usually more work than fun, and covering the Hezbollah side of the prisoner exchange event wasn't exactly the most pleasant day of work I can remember. The excitement started the night before when I found out the call time would be 9 am, which meant leaving Beirut by 6 am to make the drive (which isn't that long) and pass through all the military checkpoints (of which there were many). At a little after midnight, I got a reprieve in the form of a message from my driver saying the event had been pushed back to noon.... Read more

Some days don't go quite as expected--what a horrible cliche, and I'm disappointed I couldn't come up with anything better, but I digress. My trips to Saida and Tripoli started out with some semblance of structure, and I ended up accomplishing a couple of main objectives, but things didn't quite follow the plan. In Saida I was supposed to meet with a local NGO, learn about their activities, tour some of their sites and work, then meet the mayor, then do more of a demographic tour of Saida. The city is predominantly Sunni, and largely pro-Hariri (that's ruling party, or pro-western... Read more

I have to admit, it’s always cool to enter a presidential palace. Not that I’ve done it too many times to begin with, but I can’t imagine the feeling getting too old. Today I also created a lasting memory for a Beirut cab driver by asking him to take me to the presidential palace so I could interview the president’s political advisor. At first the driver thought I was asking him to take me to a hotel. It hadn’t even dawned on him that a sweaty, scruffy-looking American would hop in his cab in downtown Beirut and ask him to... Read more

OK, all the metaphors, similes, and aphorisms are overused: a study in contrasts, a case of extremes, paradoxical, whatever… But the fact is, Lebanon is a place of amazing contrasts, contradictions, and conundrums (mostly political, but some of the women too—but we’ll leave that aside). The country exhibits staggering beauty—mountains, valleys, coastlines (and the women)—but some of the ugliest scenes imaginable—refugee camps, scars of war, extreme poverty. There may be no better summary of Beirut than the 2006 photo that instantly circled the globe via the Internet. You know the one, the young and beautiful people in the shining red... Read more

I'm not exactly sure what time we landed. Given the 13 hour time change, and the 13 hour flight, that adds up to 26 hours, and that's more than one day, so I simply can't count that high. I'm not sure, but I think I might have traveled into the future (in case you're wondering, gas prices are still high, and there's no peace in the Middle East). Anyhow, I think it was around 4:40 pm on Friday when I finally got off the Korean Air flight in Seoul. I proceeded through immigration, customs, and the cellphone rental counter--my Fommer's guide... Read more

No, not that kind... work frustration. I've been spending hours on the phone, sending countless emails, and attending every event I can (so far I have crashed a US embassy party at the JW Marriot Ballroom, and a press conference about the beef crisis in the Foreign Correspondent's Club) in hopes of getting interviews with people about the Seoul Olympics. But, it seems that there are five people left alive who have anything to say about it. I have managed to interview two of them, another is in jail, and it's not looking good for the other two. Considering that... Read more

It was my spiritual guru Hunter S. Thompson who sagely quipped that "there is nothing more helpless and irresponsible than a man in the depths of an ether binge." While truer words may never have been written, the fact is, we are a long way from the halcyon days of ether binges. Today, I would modify the aphorism to read: "there is nothing more helpless and irresponsible than a drunk in a suit." I say this having just returned to my room from the bar at the Four Seasons hotel in Chicago. Now, a quick disclaimer is in order--I am on... Read more

To say I have been remiss is to enter in the Understatement of the Year contest... I have written nothing since I was in Taiwan in February. Not only that, I never completed stories from my trips in October and November of last year. Add to that the fact that since Taiwan I hopped off to Miami for a story-and that was a disaster of a trip. I brought my girlfriend who came down with the flu-from-hell as soon as we landed in Miami, and I ended up sick as well. We didn't make to the beach or do anything... Read more

There is simply no excuse... I'm sitting on the Taiwan High Speed Rail heading south to Tainan. The train is traveling at a speed far in excess of what the Acela could ever hope to achieve. The ride is smooth, tight, and feels like a Porsche or some other exotic sports car. The Acela on the other hand is like a Ford Mustang--it can go fast in a straight line, but the ride and handling are sloppy, it feels heavy and inefficient, and the whole package feels like it was designed and built by a committee (that couldn't possibly be... Read more

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What does it say about the world when I am constantly and pleasantly surprised when people are nice? The people of Taiwan never cease to amaze me. Every customer-service type interaction I have had has been fabulous. People have been friendly and helpful. They have smiled. They have shown a pride in their jobs. They have been patient if I have had a language problem, or didn't understand a rule or custom. Compared to my recent travels to Russia, Sudan, and Egypt (and true it's not really fair to compare those countries to a young, modern, and democratic country like Taiwan)... Read more

OK, more musings on Taiwan. Taipei strikes me as a very young city. I can't think of any other place I've been where I have seen so many young people on the streets, in stores, and on the subway. Granted, it's not any kind of representative sample, but to my eye it seems like half the people I see in public are under 25. It certainly adds to the energy I feel here. It's still raining in Taipei, and it doesn't look like I'm going to see a clear day while I'm here. It's too bad because it makes the city... Read more

Well, of course I never finished chronicling my adventures in Cairo. I went on that trip before I finished blogging about Sudan. That trip followed my trip to Serbia and Russia that I never seemed to finish writing about... notice a pattern yet. Well, time to start another chapter, and we'll see how far this one gets before I hit the road again... Right now I'm sitting in my room at the Caesar Park Hotel in Taipei Taiwan, with the bright, white "Taipei Railway Station" sign beaming into my window. The weather is disgusting--9 Celsius according to the station's thermometer, and it's... Read more

So, back to the topic of ranting about driving in DC... This afternoon I had to go to the office to pick up some of my audio gear, and I decided to drive the one mile in each direction. I figured it would be a quick trip, but I had to stop for a red light at the end of every block. Without exception. Whether I turned onto a new street, or continued straight on a street, I did not go a single block without having to stop for a red light. I'm simply dumbfounded by the light sequencing here.... Read more

So I spent part of one afternoon wandering around Zamalek, which is the upper class neighborhood on the island of Gezira. I stumbled across the Botanical Gardens and Aquarium, and paid the $.20 entrance fee when the guy wouldn't accept my press ID. The park looked like something out of a Twilight Zone episode when mankind is wiped out and you see a park that had been abandoned for 20 years. There was trash all over the place, and the same layer of filth that coats the whole city. I also felt very much out of place walking around since... Read more

OK, I want to modify my previous statements about Cairo--it is the dirtiest major city I have visited. Even worse than the nasty parts of Bangkok, which had some pretty filthy neighborhoods. And, rather than a cross between Shanghai and Bahrain as I initially thought, it is definitely a cross between Shanghai and Khartoum. Now, this isn't to say I didn't like Cairo, it's actually a fun and exciting place with a lot to see and do. It just so happens that I didn't see and do a lot since I was running around working much of the time, and... Read more

Expectations really are everything. Well, not really, but they count for a hell of a lot in life. I can't count the number of times I heard people talking about how dirty Cairo is. I heard it from Egyptians as well as others. People painted a pretty stark picture--one that the city couldn't possibly live up to, especially considering that last month I was in Sudan, where it's hard not to think about E.Coli and hepatitis, among other unpleasant things. Anyhow, Cairo isn't a place where I'd eat my food off the floor, but it wasn't as bad as I was... Read more

I was expecting trouble from the Sudanese government, but I have to admit I wasn't expecting a run-in with the American government while in Sudan... Nobody expects the American Government. Our chief weapon is fear... fear and surprise... But I digress. Anyhow, Sunday November 11, Fixer #1 picked me up and took me to the AMIS (African Union Mission in Sudan) office. I filled out my paperwork and made my request for AMIS services--flight to El Fasher in Darfur, lodging, interviews, etc. From there I went downtown with fixer #2 to register my passport... again--well I mean attempt to register it again.... Read more

My fixer picks me up (he has secured a rental car for me) at the hotel to take me to the mall to the Western Union office to get my cash. I’m feeling reasonably well rested, though the cold shower wasn’t what I was hoping for—the funky wall-mounted hot-water heater in the showed didn’t work, so I had to make due with cold water that smelled worse than I did before I got into the shower. Anyhow, we get to the mall and retrieve my cash without incident. I’m feeling better now—nothing like the security of having a few dollars in... Read more

Friday is a holiday in Muslim countries, and Sudan is no different. I spend the day making calls, preparing to face the crushing bureaucracy of Khartoum, and learning an important lesson about Sudan. It’s one of those details you’d think I would have come across in my research and conversations with others who have traveled to Sudan, but somehow it didn’t. I decide to change hotels, and therefore have to pay the bill for the night at Bougainvilla. When the woman adds it all up, I ask her which cards they take, and she tells me they don’t take any. She... Read more

Thursday, November 8, 2007 I actually arrive in Khartoum on time. Getting off the plane is easy, but getting through passport control isn’t. The lines are painfully long, and the agents show no interest in making this a quick process. It doesn’t help that half the staff is in a prayer box just to the left of the row of counters. Timing is everything. I look around at the people in line, and the majority appear to be Chinese. That makes sense given the relationship that China has been cultivating in Sudan (diplomacy dollars). Oil workers, engineers, aid workers, and businessmen, all... Read more

I was warned. I read information. I prepared myself. Yet, I was still shocked by the level of bureaucracy in Sudan. If there is one word that sums up the experience of working in Sudan, it’s “Permission.” There’s no point mincing words, Sudan is a police state, and a horrible place to try to do journalism. The government gets in your way at every turn—and often has some interesting explanations why. The first challenge is getting into the country. Some journalists report that it took months or even years of waiting to get an entry visa. I got lucky and managed... Read more

Clearly I'm not cut out to be a blogger. It's been a month since my last entry... Although, in my defense I do have a day job that tends to keep me busy, and the travel (that I want to be blogging about) takes up a fair amount of time. I haven't even finished writing about my October trip to Serbia and Russia, and I've already been to Sudan and back. A week from tonight I'm off to Cairo, so who knows when I'll get any of this stuff online, but I'll try (not like anyone's reading this or anyone... Read more

A quick interlude as I continue to search for time to complete the travel log from my Serbia/Russia trip... Last Thursday I had the privilege of seeing one of my favorite musicians--Johnette Napolitano. For those of you who do not recognize the name, she was/is the lead singer of the band Concrete Blonde. For those of you who are not familiar with Concrete Blonde, 1) I'm sorry to hear that because you're missing out on some fantastic music, and 2) I'm not going to give you any more hints or information--try google. Anyhow, she was performing at Jammin' Java, a funky little... Read more

I hopped out of bed at 7 am and “enjoyed” a shower using the hand-held unit—I was getting better at not spraying down the entire bathroom. I decided to take my chances on Hotel Union breakfast. I sat down, and about 5 minutes later someone decided to actually come over and take my order. I had the choice of sausages, omelet, and a couple of other standard breakfast items. I figured that sausages in “Europe” would be a good choice. Minutes later the waiter presented me a plate festooned with three boiled hot dogs and a pile of mustard. I... Read more

Not surprisingly I woke up a little later than I wanted to, and I immediately hopped into the shower, got dressed and wandered out to the pedestrian street and Kalemegdan park/fort to talk with people. Along the way I stopped at a store to buy a disguise. To this point I was clearly sticking out as American, and more than once I had been asked if I was a spy of some kind or another. I wandered into a clothing store and found a Scandinavian-style jacket—one of those grey, military-looking things so common in Europe. I figured it might help... Read more

I arrived in Belgrade around 1:30 pm Saturday. The DC-London and London-Belgrade flight were uneventful and on time. I walked through passport control faster than anywhere else in the world I can remember. No questions, no funny looks, no landing card; just a stamp and a grunt. That struck me as odd given the rumors of Serbian suspicions about Americans entering the country—the suspicions being that we are all spies. Anyhow, I proceeded to baggage claim, and after a pleasantly short wait, my bag came through and I walked through customs. There weren’t even any officers in the “Nothing to Declare”... Read more

Well... much has transpired since I posted my last bit of drivel. I finally moved into my apartment. It was an ordeal, as moving usually is. I flew up to Boston on the evening of the 14th, spent a couple of hours packing and then went out to meet some Kennedy School folks at a party in Cambridge. I got home around 3 am and then got up at 9 to begin the moving adventure. Of course I started out the day with problems at U-Haul (which reminds me that I haven't complained to their management). They had my reservation,... Read more

A quick update, even though I don't have much to say at the moment... Did more "adventuring" over the weekend. Went to Havana Village on Friday night for a salsa lesson and some Cuban food. Both the tostones and maduros were excellent. The chicken dish was spectacular. Dancing was a bit crowded for a lesson, but still fun. Mojitos were on the sweet side, but above average. Saturday I ran my first 5k "race". It was the Arlington, VA Sheriff Dept's 9/11 memorial 5k. I haven't exactly trained for race conditions, but I finished ahead of my goal. I'll leave it at... Read more

Hello from DC. I figured it was time to start talking about myself and my life as if anyone out there cared since... well... everyone else seems to do it, and I'm such a conformist by nature. Anyhow, it's more of a case of the technology existing, so why not do something with it... I've now been in DC for a month. I started my new job at America Abroad Media on August 6. This is the first time I have "permanently" moved outside of Boston. I went to college in Bethlehem, PA, and that certainly wasn't going to be my home.... Read more