The air smells like smoking meat and roasting chestnuts. From my hotel room, the rooftops never end. I strain to see the Bosphorous, but the rooftops just go on and on. The landscape is dotted with mosques – each with a skinny rocket tower from which the call to prayer comes five times a day. […]
I PRd my snatch today. (PR=personal record, or personal best. Snatch=one of the two Olympic lifts. Now onward to the story). As I stood, holding the weight overhead that was 1 kilo more than my previous best, I laughed. I have been chasing this for 6 years. And simultaneously, I have not. It came unexpectedly, […]
As the plane lands in Marrakesh, there is only one color visible below: terra cotta. From the sky, everything looks faded rusty red. Passport control takes nearly two hours; the wait is unbearable. I head to the exit, wade through the sea of drivers with signs, and find mine. Small scooters and motorcycles congest the highway: […]