Dear Gentle Reader,
 
I am back at working and currently blogging about a conference that I am attending for Crain's Detroit Business.  The regular blog will be back next week with the last updates of the trip and my reintegration to the US and work-life!  Here is the next installment:
 
They Are Today's Leaders

 
Young talent is the [...]

 
Dear Gentle Reader,
 
I am back at working and currently blogging about a conference that I am attending for Crain's Detroit Business.  The regular blog will be back next week with the last updates of the trip and my reintegration to the US and work-life!  Here is the next installment:
 
 
So Why Don't We Treat the State [...]

 
Dear Gentle Reader:
I have made it back to the US and to my home East Lansing, Michigan.  I will be finishing my posts about Israel next week.  I am jumping into my job feet first by attending a policy conference on Mackinac Island for the Detroit Chamber of Commerce.  I was asked to blog about [...]

                      Pictured: The Temple of Kom Ombo.
Part of my trip through Egypt included a three day Nile Cruise. A friend of mine from college, Katie Armstrong, found me on Facebook and mentioned that she always wanted to go Egypt so I told her to organize a trip and I would join her.  Another of my [...]

             
Dear Gentle Readers,
The last week of my journey is upon me.  I will continue to blog into the summer so you can get a sense of how I integrate back into the "real world."  As I get ready to head home, I am asking you to help with one last charitable event, a fundraiser for my [...]

 
I had taken the bus from Amman to the town of Wadi Musa, a few kilometers from Petra.  The night before I ventured to Petra, we watched the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at my hostel.  Petra is featured in the movie, near the end.  It was my favorite of the Indiana Jones [...]

Flat Mallory's Last Stand
As I was finishing up my tour of Syria, I had an e-mail discussion with Mallory's father, Steve, about getting Flat Mallory home.  Mallory's project was due on April 30 and Flat Mallory needed to be back in Owosso for the festivities.  I was initially thinking that I would send Flat Mallory [...]

We stop this blog to give you a perspective on the Pope's visit to Jerusalem since it is in the news right now.
Media ReactionI decided to stay in Jerusalem a few extra days so I could get a sense of the historic visit of Pope Benedict XVI's pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  There was [...]

The Quick Tour                       Pictured:The Qala'at ibn Maan castle overlooking the Temple of Ba'al-Shamin.
After spending a few days in Damascus, I made a quick tour of three historic areas in other parts of Syria.  My first stop was the ancient city of Palmyra. 
Palmyra (Arabic: تدمر Tadmor‎) was in ancient times an important city of central [...]

I was at a cafe in Damascus having lunch when an older German women said something to me in German.  I understood the gist of what she was asking but I responded in English.  She looked at my with a puzzled look and asked me where I was from and I told her, "the USA."  She said [...]