Restless Clouds

At 6,000 miles away from home, I’ve had to transfer my immediate affections to objects. So for Valentine’s day, I dedicate this post to the lovely items pictured below.

My espresso maker. One of the only reasons I got out of bed in the mornings during my first week in Nablus–and I’m not exaggerating–is to have coffee. I knew from previous trips that drip coffee is virtually non-existent and that my choices would be instant or Turkish-style, made in an ibrik. My little pot is the best thing I packed.

My slippers. I also knew to expect unheated buildings. Unfortunately, I somehow failed to pack enough socks even though I clearly remember looking a a pile of them on the bed beside my suitcase. So my feet are still often very sad, but without the slippers, I probably would have made my coffee and just crawled back into bed that first week. You can be glad that technology does not yet allow you to smell things over the internet.

The heater. I didn’t pack this, but it quickly became an object of my affection

My little tablet. This was a last-minute decision. I’ve had this thing for nearly 5 years and rarely used it, but it’s been wonderful to borrow books from the Richmond Public Library and read –where else but?– in bed. It takes a full 104 seconds to get the Kindle fired up, but then I can read without a bedside lamp, which is not pictured here because it stopped working less than 4 weeks after I bought it. At the moment, I’m reading The Keep by Jennifer Egan and Orientalism by Edward Said.