James Duvalier

In the autumn of 2006, I moved to Romania to pursue a master’s degree at Babes-Bolyai University and I had a roommate named Danny who used to bring back all kinds of delicious traditional foods from his home town.  One time he returned with something that looked like a cross between pudding and porridge, made from a base of cooked wheat mixed with raisins and nuts and ornately decorated with dried coconut, cocoa powder, bits of chocolate…
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In early November of 2001, while I was living in Spain and attending university, I took a trip to northern Portugal as a requirement for the Portuguese language class I was taking.  We left Madrid on November 1st, the Feast of All Saints, and meandered by microbus through Spanish villages dotted with cemeteries overflowing with flowers and candles placed on that holy day as offerings for the dear departed.  We passed though the dense, mysterious and undeniably…
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When I get a chance to leave the city I am always amazed and how refreshing and reenergizing nature can be. While exploring the village with a friend of mine, we found an old wooden church that a neighbor woman, who happened to have a key, was kind enough to let us enter.  She told us that it was over 200 years old.  I could definitely feel the strong spiritual vibrations of the people who have prayed…
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