Christmas in Algiers

One thing I’ve learned about living in non-Christian countries is that if you want Christmas, you have to create it for yourself. In Algiers, come December, there’s no “All I Want for Christmas” blasting from grocery store speakers, no twinkling lights on street poles, and certainly no falling snow. But all those cozy and funContinue reading “Christmas in Algiers”

Easter and Passover in Jerusalem

Jews around the world say “Next year in Jerusalem!” at the end of the Passover seder. I know because, while I’m not Jewish, I’ve joined Mr. Em in Jerusalem’s family seders pretty much since I’ve known him (and we even co-hosted a particularly interesting one at our hotelpartment in Yemen).  I’ve now spent two Passovers inContinue reading “Easter and Passover in Jerusalem”

Searching for Christmas in the Holy Land

  Last weekend, hoping to catch the Christmas spirit, I went on a tour of Bethlehem (which is just a 15-minute drive from Jerusalem, a fact I was totally oblivious to until arriving here two months ago). While my new city is the place where Jesus is believed to have died and been resurrected, JerusalemContinue reading “Searching for Christmas in the Holy Land”