View From Here

Books Are Like Water: The 24-Hour Bookshop

STORY BY HEATHER M. SURLS, WITH TRANSLATION HELP BY MARADI AYED ALHAWARI
PHOTOS BY HALA MAHMOUD

Our resident correspondent in Amman has been working on this story for ages. As she ran into road block after road block, we thought we might have a mysterious mini-series on our hands, complete with legends, cracked-open doorways, and classical Arabic to decipher. But our intrepid writer persisted and now brings you a delicious story of the power of a multi-generational love affair with books.

MicroView: Jewish Cemetery, Sarajevo

STORY AND PHOTOS BY CAT NORMAN TAHIROVIĆ

Cat Norman Tahirović is particularly gifted at learning of the hidden treasures of her adopted home in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Here, she takes us on a stroll to one of them, in the newest installment in our roving View From Here series.

My Kaleidoscopic Commute

STORY BY KORI WINTER

One recent Friday, Kori Winter Hutchinson, an American who has by now lived half her life in southeast London, was so struck by just how beautiful and fascinating her normal commute is that she made note of it. As a result, we all get to step inside this little slice of London life, and with Kori, we find hope there.

MicroView: Chenonceaux, France

STORY AND PHOTOS BY JC JOHNSON

During a summer visit to France, JC Johnson toured a chateau that was the site of its fair share of intrigue – making it the perfect setting for the newest installment in our roving View From Here series.

The Anatomy of David

STORY AND PHOTOS BY TOBI AMOSUN

Physician Tobi Amosun takes us along on her recent trip to Florence, where her science knowledge helps us better understand just how magnificent an accomplishment Michelangelo’s David is.

I had dreamed for years of going to Italy with friends for my 40th birthday.

This past summer, that dream trip happened.

MicroView: Khuruskhul, Cox’s Bazar

STORY AND PHOTOS BY NIHAB RAHMAN

Our View From Here series is back as Nihab Rahman takes us inside a little moment of Bangladeshi life.

Near Chowfol-Dondi Bridge in Khuruskhul, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, Ziyaul Haque, 21 years old, repairs his five-year-old boat for its next destination, which is Sundarbans, the only mangrove forest in Bangladesh.

Following the Coffee Trail to La Sierra

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MEGAN FINCK AND MIKE PLUNKETT

La caminata de Megan Finck y Mike Plunkett a una finca de café en Colombia nos sumerge en la historia de las alianzas que han ayudado a una comunidad a transformar su pasado sórdido en un presente floreciente que marca un futuro lleno de esperanza.

Megan Finck and Mike Plunkett’s hike to a Colombian coffee farm plunges us into a story of the partnerships that have helped a community transform its sordid past into a flourishing present that marks out a hopeful future.

Cox’s Bazar: An Aid Worker’s Journal – Part 1

STORY BY SCOTT J. WILL

Physician assistant Scott Will recently spent a month providing medical care to Rohingya people from Myanmar living in a large refugee camp outside Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. This journal-style article from him offers a behind-the-scenes view of aid worker life as well as offering a small introduction to the Rohingya people. He previously wrote for Culture Keeper about the family he gained while living in South Sudan for five years.

From India with Love and Fire: Delhi Love

PHOTOS AND TEXT BY AMBER KIDNER

What do you think of when you imagine life in one of the world’s largest, pulsing cities? What markers of light and distinctiveness would you find there? Our contributor Amber Kidner describes what she’s come to love about her home du jour in Delhi, India. You’ll find her other From India with Love and Fire posts here.

My Week in Mysterious Thailand

STORY AND PHOTOS BY ARMON A. MEANS

It was the colors that surprised me the most. Color is wrapped into the essence of this place. Chiang Mai’s vibrancy is translated in hues of such intensity, often unlike anything I’ve come to know in the States. These colors were formed into surface and texture, adapting pattern and creating form across textiles such as scarves of hand-woven cashmere, and across silk dyed with such delicate precision that it seemed as if nature organically created the object itself.