Couple of Coffees

My faraway friends

I've always had friends who didn't live near me, starting with pen pals when I was young. As an adult who moved 3,000 miles from my hometown, that's even more true. The wonderful girlfriends I grew up with are busy living their wonderful lives in apartments and houses and condos all over the East Coast.

What's amazing in the past year or so, though, is how many of the people I've met along my journeys are in distant lands. It surprises and delights me to hear from them, whether through their blogs, their letters or their e-mails. Brooke is in Mongolia, although I'm not sure for how much longer, with the Peace Corps. Rose is in China, teaching English. Ezra's in Ukraine, also with the Peace Corps.

My friend Piya, who I met in college and who joined us for part of our summer road trip, is now in Dubai, and soon on her way to India. She has lived in New York City for three years and is now returning to New Delhi. She's writing about her experiences online at There's No Place Like Home.

I'm not going to be doing much traveling for a while, which is another story, but I can listen to their stories and smile when I think of them living in faraway places, learning new languages and surrounded by different cultures.

Tonight in our neighborhood, it's snowing. There's a shimmery coat of white on the lawn and the street. It may not stick around, but looking out the window, it doesn't look like our street. That's as exotic as we'll be getting any time soon, so I'm going to put my nose against the glass and savor the moment. The snow will be gone soon enough.

posted by Laura the Writer @ 9:01 PM