Archives for category: IFSA-Butler

I had the privilege of interviewing Juan Pinera, a friend of the late Alfredo “Freddy” Tello, Jr., who was killed in 1997 by Samuel Sheinbein. Sheinbein was killed in an Israeli prison Feb. 23.

This the first A-section story for The Washington Post I have worked on. It begins on A1, and my contributing tag is on A5. It also lived on the homepage of washingtonpost.com above the jump.

It was a pleasure working with Dan Morse, Victoria St. Martin and Maria Glod on this story. Coordinated effort well done by all.


Grisly story ends in shots 6,000 miles away
BY PAUL DUGGAN AND DAN MORSE
The Washington Post
Feb 25 2014

Zach C. Cohen, Ruth Eglash, Victoria St. Martin and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.

“A neighbor described the missing youth as a shy and conscientious teenager, the youngest of three children, who was ‘extremely handy with tools.’ ” — The Washington Post, Sept. 23, 1997 Samuel Sheinbein, then 17, a senior at Montgomery County’s John…read more…

You can also find the story online at washingtonpost.com.

UPDATE Feb. 25, 10:34 a.m.: This post was updated with info on the print story as well as mentions of members of the team I worked with.

Screenshot of my story on the New Voices home page

It was hard being Jewish. There were no Shabbat dinners or daily prayers in my life, so I felt Jewish a grand total of three times in Costa Rica. I had to seek out spiritual enlightenment, and that usually only happened within the walls of the synagogue.

That stood in stark contrast to Israel, where being Jewish was pervasive and, by extension, easy. Everything around our hotel on the Kinerret closed on Shabbat, forcing time for reflection and relaxation. Kosher food is bountiful. Hebrew is omnipresent.

But I felt just as Jewish at services at B’nei Israel as I did when I was surrounded by it in Israel. 10 hours in a shul in Latin America was as spiritually fulfilling as 10 days in the Holy Land.

Read the rest of my reflection on my travels at New Voices.

IFSA blog 12.2.13

Some final thoughts on my trip to Costa Rica. I’ll miss it dearly, but I’m happy to be moving on.

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Today is my last full day in Costa Rica. And I’m OK with that. I’ve got a great winter break and semester in the works, and what I’ve done here has been phenomenal.

Hasta luego, Costa Rica. 

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The fact that seeing the gaping maw of an active volcano is considered a day trip here reminds me just how amazing this country is.

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I haven’t toured churches this intensely since my trip to Italy in 2010. But Costa Rica was the perfect place to do it. With such a rich history of Catholicism, the country is a rich case study in religious architecture, both old and new.

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Seeing the beautiful red-eyed tree frogs and learning how to make chocolate from scratch was a great way to close my study abroad program.

Don’t worry, I’ve documented both for you.

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I’m going to go ahead and call Monteverde the ziplining capital of Costa Rica. Absolutely incredible. Plus, some waterfall rappelling is quite the workout.

IFSA blog 11.14.13

The Caribbean isn’t restricted to the islands. Costa Rica has its own beautiful slice of tropical heaven. 

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Volunteering at a turtle conservation project in Matapalo was simply incredible. A couple of reflections and photos from the experience after the jump.