Somebody's Heart is Burning

Informationen zum Autor Tanya Shaffer has spent time helping human rights groups in Guatemala, picking coffee in Nicaragua, and even digging ditches in the Czech Republic. She lives in San Francisco. Tanya first wrote about her experiences in Africa in the "Wanderlust" section of Salon.com where her articles were extremely well-received and popular. Many of those pieces have been reprinted in anthologies and some have been incorporated into Somebody’s Heart Is Burning . The chapter in the book called "Sand Angels" served as the basis for a one-woman stage production entitled Let My Enemy Live Long! which she has performed to critical acclaim in over 40 cities during the last three years. The show won the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle Award for solo performance and ran in San Francisco for more than six months, before moving on to Seattle and other West Coast venues, including a month-long run in San Diego in February of this year. She is working now to bring the show to New York City. Klappentext "It's my life! and if I want to run from it I can!” quips Tanya Shaffer. An incorrigible wanderer! Shaffer has a habit of fleeing domesticity for the joys and rigors of the open road. This time her destination is Ghana! and what results is a transformative year spent roaming the African continent. Eager to transcend the limitations of tourism! Shaffer works as a volunteer! building schools and hospitals in remote villages. At the heart of her tale are the profound! complex! often challenging relationships she forms with those she meets along the way. Whether recounting a perilous boat trip to Timbuktu! a night of impassioned political debate in Ghana! or a fumbled romance in Burkina Faso! Shaffer portrays the collision of African and North American cultures with self-deprecating humor and clear-eyed compassion. Filled with warmth! candor! and an exuberant sense of adventure! Somebody's Heart is Burning raises provocative questions about privilege! wealth! and the true meaning of friendship. Looking for Abdelati Here's what I love about travel: Strangers get a chance to amaze you. Sometimes a single day can bring a blooming surprise, a simple kindness that opens a chink in the brittle shell of your heart and makes you a different person when you go to sleep--more tender, less jaded--than you were when you woke up. When my relationship with Michael got too complicated, I did what I always do under such circumstances: fled the country. I know some people think this isn't the healthiest possible way to deal with personal crises, but I figure it's my life, and if I want to run from it, I can. My wandering habit began in childhood, when I was obliged to trundle myself back and forth between my dad's house in Kansas, where I spent the school year, and my mom's California apartment, where I passed the summer and winter breaks. To everyone's surprise, I loved the journey. Whenever my hand passed from my parents' protective grip into the cool, neutral grasp of a flight attendant, I felt a reckless, giddy thrill. As I grew older, my meanderings led me farther and farther afield. I'd stay put for a year or so, begin to build my career as an actor-slash-writer, and then off I'd go. As I traveled to increasingly poorer places, I began to volunteer. I didn't like feeling like a parasite, and the work connected me to a community and gave me a sense of purpose. It also allowed me to stay a long time without spending much money. I picked coffee in Nicaragua, met with human rights groups in Guatemala, dug ditches in the former Czechoslovakia, and tilled the land in rural Maine. This time, I was headed for Africa. After a year of exhaustive research, I'd located a suitable volunteer project in Ghana, a small country on the west coast of the continent, which was renowned for the friendliness of its inhabitants. The organization I was going to work for was extremely fl...

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Tanya Shaffer
• Editore: Vintage USA
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 13.05.2003
• EAN: 9781400032594
• ISBN: 978-1-4000-3259-4
• Pagine: 336
• Dimensioni: 130 mm x 202 mm x 16 mm
• Serie: Vintage Departures; Vintage Departures
• Categorie: Narrativa > Romanzi > Epistole, diari; Viaggi > Guide turistiche