I recently returned from a bucket-list trip to South Africa. There is much I hope to write about, but one experience stands above the rest: visiting Robben Island. Robben Island, about five miles off the coast of Cape Town, served as South Africa’s maximum-security prison from the mid-1960s until 1991. Most of the inmates were political prisoners who had been arrested for opposing Apartheid. Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 and remained on Robben Island until … read more »
Traveling with the kids
Today is the beginning of the February school break in NYC, so I thought I’d share some ideas about traveling with the kids when you are co-parenting. There’s a balance between protecting your privacy and respecting your co-parent’s right to know where and how their child is. The general rule of thumb, I think, is to use the Golden Rule (‘do unto others as you would have others do unto you’). In other words, think about what you would want … read more »
DOMA and the States
There is no doubt that the Supreme Court’s recent decision regarding the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was historic, and will forever change the lives for millions of same-sex couples and their families. There are over 1,100 federal benefits now available to married same sex couples that were previously only available to married heterosexual couples. But DOMA is not entirely deceased. There were 2 parts to DOMA – the part that remains intact is the part that says that states … read more »
Gay couples and immigration
We all know that an immigrant who marries a US Citizen can get Legal Permanent Resident status, commonly known as a green card.– But what if the spouses are the same sex? Same sex marriage is legally recognized in a few states, yet not by the federal government. Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) during the Clinton years specifically stating that they will only recognize marriage between a man and a woman. This puts same-sex married couples in … read more »
A Lesson from Tangier
I just came back from vacation in Spain. As part of our adventure, my husband and I took a train from Sevilla to the south coast, and a ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Tangier, Morocco. We only stayed overnight, but in that short time, I learned a lesson. The guidebooks warn you about the hustlers who see the tourist as an easy target. For that reason, many tourists only come for a day trip, hiring guides in advance … read more »