travel
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Clearing and Cleaning for the Year to Come
One of my fondest memories of the year I spent teaching English in rural Japan back in the 1980s was New Years. I was a recent College graduate with minimal preparation for being dropped into a part of Japan that was still quite traditional in mores and cultural patterns. My first New Year’s surprise happened Continue reading
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Honoring the Mountain, Honoring the Water
Imagine partying non-stop for a month, as a sacred act. That’s what goes on throughout much of the Ecuadorian Andes starting on the summer solstice. In a tradition that extends back to long before the Inca in this part of the globe, communities and villages celebrate Inti Raymi, or the sun festival long and hard. Continue reading
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RETELLING OUR STORIES
Stories – personal and collective – have so much power. The stories that we tell about ourselves and about our families and communities can move us towards healing, or away from it. Because of the power of these stories, a power we are too often unaware of, most of us have tales that are untold, Continue reading
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Apu Mt. Monadnock
In the central Andes, where the second highest mountain chain makes their imposing presence viscerally felt, the indigenous people have since time immemorial venerated their mountain peaks. Quechua-speakers (the language of the Inca Empire) call them Apus. Certain Apus are designated sacred mountain peaks, based upon teachings of the wise ones. Typically these sacred Apus Continue reading
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Barth, Germany and a Springtime of Hope
This Spring Equinox found me in Barth, Germany. I had traveled to Austria and Germany for work, taking advantage of the College spring break. First night in Europe, jet lag kept me up until the wee hours – so I turned on my computer and began surfing the web. One thing led to another and Continue reading
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Winter Solstice and The Spirits of Jade
This Winter Solstice marks the 5th anniversary of the death of the my mother, which launched an intensive month of writing the initial draft of what is now my new novel – “The Spirits of Jade”. The story opens on a winter solstice eve when the main character – down-on-her-luck Jade – finds her life Continue reading
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My monthly newspaper article: “THE WISDOM OF ANDEAN INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION”
THE WISDOM OF ANDEAN INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION Seven years ago, the Intercultural University Amawtay Wasi (UIAW) of Ecuador was accredited by the Ecuadorian government and began to offer courses. Through those coincidences of life that feel more like synchronicities, I happened to be on my first visit to Ecuador right around this date, and spent several Continue reading
SKYE stephenson 