For the third time now, I’ve said goodbye to my friends and family back in America and returned to Jordan. I kept myself busy in my last few days in the country, attending (and helping host) Ty’s New Year’s Eve From The Future bash (where I dressed in a dishdash, because in the future all [...]

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In which Zach makes some interesting observations on how often certain cities in the Middle East have their Google Earth satellite photos updated, compared with his own hometown and also large cities in Israel. He was surprised by what he found, but actually…not too much.

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In which Zach and his visiting family visit Bethlehem. Most famous of course for the birthplace of Christ in the Church of the Nativity, but just as moving for Zach for the presence of the Separation Wall winding like a fat concrete snake through the city.

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In which Zach, his family, and a fellow choir family journey “across the river” to the mysterious and oft-violent land of Palestine/Israel. As immortalized in the Lebanese singer Fairouz’s song “The Flower of the Cities,” Jerusalem is a beautiful but fragile treasure of history and mystery that has flowered for millenia – and hopefully more to come.

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Ironically, I don’t think about the occupations of Iraq or Palestine as much as I used to back in America, even though I’m closer to it than ever before. Every day, my work influences the lives of dozens of different refugees from Palestine and Iraq. We do business, they learn from me and I from [...]

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In which Zach summarizes his opinions about his recent trip to Tajikistan and Central Asia, describing the corruption of their government and the failure of the rest of the world to acknowledge and attempt to correct it. He offers his observations on differences in the country’s culture, clothing, and food, and some statistics.

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