In college I volunteered at a soup kitchen near campus, in the basement of the church with the big red doors on 114th and Broadway. I did it independently of the student groups that organized students to interact with the community beyond Columbia, but I volunteered more regularly than anyone else, so they invited me to the annual August retreat for the student organizers. On the way back from upstate[…] Keep reading →

The Beginning It began last year with a scene in Motorcycle Diaries where the lead character did something that led me to wonder if I could do the same. I mentioned my thoughts to a few friends. Only one, Dave, said let’s do it. (What “it” is, I’ll get to below). We scheduled it for June 15. A trip to Rome delayed that. Rescheduling was a challenge. Thursday it seemed[…] Keep reading →