July 6, 2010 The nation’s capital was recovering from the festive Independence Day events, and piles of trash were strewn all over the lawn and pavement. I was on my routine run on the National Mall when I suddenly realized how much better it would be to run in a foreign country. I was on …
Category Archives: Travel
Five Qualities of the Diaspora
There were two milestones I needed to achieve in order to complete my MBA — a new venture capstone project and a study abroad trip to compare and contrast cultures, business practices, and management styles. In the spring semester of 2012, I enrolled in a six-week course entitled Engaging Diaspora Communities for International Business and …
RUNIN — the Theme
RUNIN is not exactly about the joys (or pain) of running. It’s not about running out of food either. Did you realize that RUNIN is actually a back acronym? Huh? Let’s take a look at the qualities of the Ethiopian Diaspora. They were all Resourceful in surviving tough living conditions and eventually found success in …
Vapiano
I applied for the GWU Business Plan competition in 2011 and 12 with high hopes that perseverance would pay off. After all, I had a couple of notches such as Startup Weekend in my belt, and unlike the vast majority of applicants, I actually had a real business that was gaining traction. April 1 2012 …
Meskerem
When Meskerem opened on March 15, 1985, there wasn’t much of Ethiopia in D.C. Its owners were amongst the first wave of immigrants who fled their homeland after a Marxist military junta overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974.1 That coup triggered the civil war between Ethiopia and Eritrea that lasted until 2000 with the final …
Building Bridges
The next day, I hopped on a train to Northern Ireland to see Mark and Lee, my folklife fest friends who I had not seen since 2007. They took the entire day off from work to give me a grand tour of the Antrim Coast showcasing the scenic, untouched Northern Ireland coastline — one of the most …
Patriots’ Day
We were conducting routine flight operations off the balmy coast of Southern California — in the distance stood the coastal mountain range of Santa Ana where the blistery, dry winds blew from deep within. On that gray September day, I woke up like any other, and switched on the remote to see whether the Atlanta Braves still …
Europe on a Whim
The tall white fir draped with multi-colored lights shined bright and festive in front of the U.S. Capitol. A mile and a half to the west, the nation’s most iconic monument was bathed in a spotlight embodying the history and culture of the nation’s capital. On December 18, 2010, I was on my routine run …
Folklife Fest
July 7, 2007 I was running vigorously along a cinder path, flanked by the Smithsonian Castle and the Museum of Natural History, when I suddenly realized that running was my heaven on earth. It was also the optimal time to be in D.C. during the pomp-filled Smithsonian Folklife Festival, showcasing Northern Ireland and the Mekong …
O Canada!
I checked into the HI Vancouver Hostel and started searching for a Drupal developer who would be willing to take on my project at a reasonable cost. Then she walked in. I tried hard to keep my eyes on my screen and not at the soft, velvet flesh of her long, graceful legs. As she …