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Around the planet
  • John Lee Evans
  • John Lee Evans

Around the planet

Meeting people around the world in 3 months. Lue lisää
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  • Matkan aloitus
    17. elokuuta 2025
  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    Everybody has a backpack.

    Arriving in London

    18. elokuuta 2025, Englanti ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    The people on the street in the city center are amazingly subdued compared to other big cities with loud people and horns honking. I’m sure there are louder places around town. And I don’t stand out wearing my backpack, because it seems everyone is wearing one—especially the guys. A city of immigrants from India, Africa, Asia and the Middle East—and some Anglo Saxons mixed in.Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja

    Back to school

    18. elokuuta 2025, Englanti ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    I have a recurring dream of being back in a college dorm. So here I am at the London School of Economics staying in one of their urban dorms. A lot of students here went on to be Nobel Prize winners and heads of state, but they must all be left wingers, because the cafeteria is supplied with fresh food from sustainable agriculture, whatever that means. No animals were harmed in the making of this food—except for the sausage.Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    At Buckingham Palace

    Okay, I will go to a landmark

    18. elokuuta 2025, Englanti ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    It’s not like I’ve struck up conversations with the commoners as I walk around the quiet city, so I might as well go by the royal palace (Buckingham) and walk the gardens. The guards are supposed to be unflappable when people try to talk to them, but this one actually yelled (screamed) at someone I didn’t see, “GET OFF THE FENCE!!” and then went back to being a statue.

    I’m not sure who is interested in all this detail from the trip, but my MOM would have loved to hear it all. She liked to hear about everything I did-even about the conflicts and bad actors on the school board. She even wanted them to post videos and speeches I gave on her church website, but they said no, too political. (But she would also be worried about me traveling around the world—even though she spent a year in Communist China.)    Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    A local mosque
    Buildings around the main square of TiranaNo more Soviet style architecture hereBuilding boom supposedly supported by the Albanian mafiaEven the roundabouts have color

    A mosque and quirky architecture

    21. elokuuta 2025, Albania ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    The mosque on the main plaza. Albania has Muslims, Orthodox and Catholic Christians who all live together respectfully. Religion was banned under 50 years of communism and isolation from all of the countries of the world. A veritable North Korea in Europe. When I visited what was the former Yugoslavia (50 years ago!) nearby Albania was off limits.

    The central plaza also has a lot of quirky architecture. Elsewhere around the city things are painted in bright colors, even a roundabout. The president is doing this in reaction to the gray paint of communism.    Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    The enthusiastic Albania/Montenegro staff

    They really did roll out the red carpet

    21. elokuuta 2025, Albania ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    I thought it was just a little meet and greet, but they treated me like some sort of dignitary (so I had to quickly act like I was). Albanians are so kind and polite. This is the Peace Corps office staff. The volunteers are out in the field. Peace Corps Albania and Montenegro are under the same leadership. They are doing smart work with a lot of heart and they really value what the Peace Corps Volunteers are doing. The city center looks like a nice European capital, but out in the rural areas there is extreme poverty and the Albanians appreciate what the Volunteers are doing with the youth.Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    Cady, new college grad, with her host mother
    Jane, the retiree on her next chapter. After 6 months she already wants to stay longer than 2 years.Traiditional Montegrin dancers from the school where Cady teachesAnd the little ones, so serious. Listen.

    Visiting 3 PC Volunteers w/hosts

    21. elokuuta 2025, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    We drove all across Albania and Montenegro to meet with three Volunteers. Cady, just out of college from Montana; Lana, just out of college from Ventura; and Jane a twice retired grandmother from Chicago. They are all teaching in local schools with national counterparts and are staying with wonderful families who love them like their own. Cady took us to a community festival where the big and little kids were doing traditional Montegrin dances.Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja

    A kindred spirit

    22. elokuuta 2025, Montenegro ⋅ 🌙 70 °F

    Peace Corps Montenegro driver, Luka, drove us around Montenegro, but he was more than a driver. He had traveled around the world, has lived in other countries and is a student of life. Many hours of great conversation—in English. Montenegrin language seems harder to me than Albanian, also because Google Translate does not even have it on their long list of languages. Montenegro wasn’t on my list of countries to visit and I knew nothing about it. Well, one thing: I saw a video of Trump pushing their president out of the way to be in the center of the picture at a meeting of European leaders. That’s not much knowledge. Oh, and I knew it used to be part of the former Yugoslavia. Tiny country (half the population of the city of San Diego), great people.Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja

    And on a sad note

    22. elokuuta 2025, Montenegro ⋅ 🌙 68 °F

    Albania and Montenegro know too well wars of ethnic cleansing from the breakup of Yugoslavia, particularly for Muslims of Albanian descent in Yugoslavia in the 90s. And now Montenegro, with a mix of Muslims and Christians, stands in solidarity with the people of Gaza. I’m on a self imposed news blackout for a little of my own cleansing, but this struck me.Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    The dogs were trained to catch people trying to escape from Albania

    To the Dear Leader

    24. elokuuta 2025, Albania ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    A pyramid was being built and not finished for the “great leader,” the communist dictator for 50 years who completely isolated the country (North Korea style). Thousands were killed trying to escape, but were caught by the dogs. The reign of terror ended in the 1990s. One guy told me he learned in school that Albania was heaven, the best place on earth (but don’t try to leave heaven), but at home he would hear his father and uncles cursing the regime. Now he understands why.

    What a difference 50 years makes!    Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    Three colorful ladies having phone together on their phonesColorful fruits and veggies: delicious and nutritious

    Color everywhere

    24. elokuuta 2025, Albania ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Brightening up the former communist city. In the 1970s I was critical of American consumerism until I went to Poland behind the Iron Curtain where all the buildings were gray and the foods at the stores were all wrapped in brown paper.

    And a funny scene of 3 women enjoying their time together in the park…on their phones!

    And delicious fresh fruits and vegetables everywhere.    Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja

    Too many zeros.

    24. elokuuta 2025, Albania ⋅ 🌩️ 72 °F

    Oops! I pressed too many zeroes on the ATM machine and Albanian lek is not acceptable in any other country and I’m leaving in a few days. I’ll have to exchange it for dollars and carry a hefty amount of dollars. When we went to Cuba we had to take cash for the whole trip, because American cards don’t work there due to the crazy blockade.Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    Live practice!

    Impressive Peace Corps Volunteers

    25. elokuuta 2025, Albania ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F

    Peace Corps Volunteers are not just 22 year olds out of college, but people of all ages, including mid-career and retirees. They are a very dedicated group and I got a chance to talk to them in Tirana. Some of them were happy that they are out of the US for the next couple of years. This group arrived in Albania and Montenegro on Inauguration Day and did not know if Peace Corps would be eliminated soon after they arrived. They are still there.

    Learning Albanian does not seem easy. Here is a group in the video speaking to each other in Albanian without reverting to English. Some have counterparts who speak English also, but not this group, so they are learning faster. And then there is Montenegrin, which is spoken nowhere else.    Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    Minibus sauna
    1Too bad I missed the bus. Nice ride.

    A cheap sauna?

    25. elokuuta 2025, Albania ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    For the cheap price of about $5 I got a 3.5 hour sauna that was offered fully clothed and also performed a good stretch of knees to chest while enjoying the scenery passing by as the hours whizzed by. 1970s relived. 🥵

    On the return trip I unfortunately missed the bus and had to take a private driver car back to the capital in half the time. 😎 Nice to have money to solve problems.    Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    Berat on the hillsideMosque in the center of townThe call to prayer over the microphone several times a dayMy hosts at the guesthouse

    Berat and the Ottoman Turks

    26. elokuuta 2025, Albania ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    Like Spain ruled by los moros, the Albanians by the Ottoman Turks. Influenced the architecture of the city, but now the mosque and Orthodox cathedral are across from each other.

    Several times a day the call to prayer is heard throughout the city.

    Ariana and George my hosts and George, my savior driver back to the capital to catch a flight to Moldova tomorrow.    Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    Spanish family on vacation

    Was I born in the wrong country?

    26. elokuuta 2025, Albania ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Some people tell me that they were born into the wrong family. I find that an unusual concept, considering how babies are made.

    But then sometimes I wonder if I was born into the wrong country. Case in point. The family in the background was speaking Spanish and I immediately felt right at home, more than if they were to speak English. The mother and I had a long conversation about life is Barcelona, life around the world, the psychology of the masses,and the current state of affairs.

    How is it that my personality shifts when talking to someone in Spanish, maybe from Latin America, but especially from Spain? I am more gregarious and expressive and intellectually stimulated.

    “No offense, but”… is how my cousin Mark would start off before saying something offensive, like “your car transmission really sucks.” No offense, but…maybe I don’t fit in well with most Americans unless they have more of an international perspective or they are foreigners living in the US. I even got along with the Romanians in Montenegro.

    Then there is the perpetual foreigner, my good friend Enrique. Came to the US for the first time when I met him with a US passport at age 26. He was born in Denver when his father was doing a medical residency until he was 1. Family from Spain, grew up in Venezuela, spent summers in Spain, one year of high school in England. Then in San Diego. Went back to live in Spain with his American wife where he was known in the village as The Foreigner. Came back to the US and raised their kids in Oregon, then back to Spain. How’s that for a complicated identity! My compadre, Melissa’s godfather. I do miss him on this trip.

    So am I a self hating Anglo Saxon? (I coined the term from a Jewish mother who called her son a self hating Jew, because he didn’t identify much with his background). I don’t relate much to my Kentucky and Texas roots or my varied British roots and German roots. I don’t feel particularly in tune with Texans and Brits and Germans though I look more like them. But looks don’t lead to a conversation.    Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    With Peace Corps staff Moldova
    Moldova Peace Corps Country Director Sara ChesterThe village couple who spent the afternoon showing me aroundSitting down while his wife tries to hitch me a ride to the restaurant in the countryA friendly hitchhiker picker upperNo luck. Nobody stops for me on the way back. A long walkPeace Corps Volunteer Adam's host "mother" prepared us a banquet, followed by a food coma.

    Moldovans are really hospitable

    29. elokuuta 2025, Moldavia ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    The Moldovans go out of their way. I had a delicious lunch of traditional Moldovan food with the Moldovans on the Peace Corps staff. Today I went out to a village and Maxim and his wife gave me directions and then spent the next hour showing me around. (Turns out Maxim was taught by a Peace Corps Volunteer in 1997.) Then his wife stood by the side of the road to hitch me a ride to a restaurant while Maxim and I sat nearby. I used to do this in Spain and Honduras. The girl would stick out her thumb and I would hide in the bushes until they stopped. Picked up by a friendly couple from Chisinau. Hospitality abounds. I need to learn a few more words in Romanian. But on the way back I had to walk. Nobody would stop for me.Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    The Orthodox Church in the villageAlways a golden domeWomen chanting in response to the priest behind the wall

    I didn’t realize how much I had aged

    31. elokuuta 2025, Moldavia ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    …on this trip until someone took this picture of me walking up the steep hill to the monastery under the heat of the sun. 😎This monastery was closed during Soviet rule until that ended in the 1990s. Not sure what this monk did during those 40 years. When I was in Bulgaria in the 1980s there were some monks allowed to stay in their monasteries as museum pieces. Now that they are allowed to practice their religion they are more devout. The women responding to the priest.Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    Going down...Inside the caveAnd on the other side of the cave: the view from the cliffThe old monk. Is there such a thing as a young one...in a cave?

    Going into the monks’ cave

    1. syyskuuta 2025, Moldavia ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    I am not super tall, but all of the doorways in the old buildings are very short and I keep bumping my head. Watch your step. Watch your head. An acrobatic skydiver in his 70s told me he holds onto the bannister on stairways, so now I do, too.

    Going down into the cave where the monks live. I’m starting to think maybe there’s just one monk. The guy in the cave looks a lot like the one I saw walking up the hill yesterday…but maybe they all look like old monks. And then upstairs there was a steaming hot meal looking through the window in the dining room. And it looked like a meal for one.    Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    Civilization!Teachers celebrating the FIRST day of school

    Can’t trust AI, but might find a party

    1. syyskuuta 2025, Moldavia ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    I walked about an hour past my destination, but to get back, ChatGPT, Google and Apple said it would take 3 to 4 hours. (It didn’t)

    Restaurant Agricolorului was advertised on the sign, down a trail, across the footbridge, through the forest and Voila! a restaurant.

    Only people there were 20 people dressed up and giving toasts. Not fancy enough for a wedding. Turns out it was a group of teachers celebrating the first day of school (short day I guess). I was able to congratulate them with a few Romanian words. But the best part was that I could talk to the cook in Italian and thank her for the delicious food. And, of course, the famous Maldovan wine.    Lue lisää

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  • John Lee EvansAround the planetMatkaaja
    Couple from Spain traveling in Moldova

    Finally, a discussion about politics

    2. syyskuuta 2025, Moldavia ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Anatoly, the owner of the eco-resort in Butuceni, Moldova, generously gave me a ride to the next city to catch a bus. He first asked about my attitude about Trump and then he unloaded about the “two idiots, Trump and Putin.” Moldova and USA are in similar situations. Moldova just barely approved a referendum to start the long process of gaining entry to the European Union. But the other half wants to align with Russia. There are complaints about a lot of misinformation coming from the Kremlin. And the Orthodox Church follows the Patriarch of Russia. Misinformation, religion and politics. Sound familiar? Moldova has elections later this month. The president invited Macron and other European leaders here last week’s Independence Day celebration to support Moldova aligning with Europe. It will be interesting to see what happens. One region of Moldova, Transnistria, is controlled by Russian soldiers and it is not exactly in either country now.

    In the restaurant I heard a couple speaking Spanish and I went to talk to them about Spain. They had just visited Transnistria, the Russian occupied zone and had no problems. It is officially part of Moldova, but they are effectively not part of Moldova or Russia. The husband and wife are adventurous travelers to many countries and they say the whole world is waiting for the current US administration to end. They also blame the US for supporting Israel in Gaza. End of politics. I haven’t been following the news from the US. Maybe when I return it will be a different country. (Wishful thinking)    Lue lisää

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