We are not born with culture, but we are born into it. As we grow from babies into children into teenagers and finally adults, we collect memories, languages, behaviors, and customs. In this Freely Free Write, we asked writers to tell us a story from childhood in 10 minutes. Here are the responses… Chick By […]
Illustration: Sana Kewalramani In history books, Rome is a static place. The Colosseum, the Roman Forum, every piece of art and history is preserved on the page in two dimensions. But even the most ubiquitous historical emblems never remain the same for long. In real life, Rome is a dynamic city, one confronting the challenges […]
Illustration: Sana Kewalramani Everyone who studies abroad hopes to discover a new culture. In Rome, perhaps this means attempting to converse with locals in Italian, wandering through ancient ruins, drinking unhealthy amounts of espresso, or diving into a plate of bucatini. These are the typical experiences, the ones which every student expects, and which attract […]
On January 26th, the graduate adviser of the Masters in Biostatistics program at Duke University, Megan Neely, sent an email out to international graduate students expressing the dissatisfaction that two faculty members had with several Chinese students speaking Chinese loudly in the break rooms instead of English. The letter went on to warn students that […]
Graphic: Peter Natkin Trudging up the hill, sweat forming small rivulets across my back, I tried to let my mind fall into the haze of summer heat. Every movement and sound seemed to slow down as the weight of my backpack and the very swollen purplish foot I was pulling behind me became my singular […]
Throughout my internship with Hummustown, a Syrian refugee catering cooperative in Rome, I was swept into the magic of food and family. This essay is dedicated to both the amazing Hummustown staff and Laura Esquivel whose book, “Like Water for Chocolate” never ceases to inspire a love of food and writing. ****************************************************************************** Mujaddara: Mujaddara is […]
“Prossima fermata: Basilica San Paulo. Uscita lato sinistra. Stepping off the subway at Basilica S. Paulo, I find myself in another part of Rome. The apartment buildings aren’t the color of sunsets and no pretentious cobblestone threatens to trip me with each step. If I blinked, I might be somewhere else, some other city. Here, […]
Seven twenty-five. I checked my watch again, stretching my legs to avoid the uncomfortable stares of students and pedestrians watching me loiter outside the IBC in the early morning. They would be here soon. We had formed our informal running quartet over the course of the fall semester, meeting weekly to jog a few miles, […]
“Today we recognize the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital…This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality.” President Trump’s declaration and decision to move the U.S. embassy during the first week of December came as a shock to both sides alike. Though the Jerusalem Embassy Act was passed in 1995 to move […]
“The more that you read, the more things you’ll know. The more things you know, the more places you’ll go.” Dr. Seuss. The editors at Freely Magazine have compiled a list of books written by a diverse mix of international authors that we wish to share with you. Each of these books have changed the […]
“We’ll save a lot. We don’t care,” President Trump insisted in his recent threats to pull $285 million in funding from the UN budget. While the Trump administration insists that the recent ‘null and void’ vote against the U.S.’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital did not bear weight upon the decision, the recent […]
Introduction We would like to wish all of our readers a happy holiday season and offer up some of our favorite dishes for your table! Enjoy! Cacio e Pepe I’m a terrible cook. Thank goodness little is expected from me by my family during the holidays. We don’t have much family in the US, and […]
A tragedy of modern times, suicide has pushed itself to the forefront of world health issues in recent years due in part to the rapid globalization of the 21st century.The World Health Organization (WHO) reports suicide as the second leading cause of death among fifteen to twenty-nine year olds. In a world of technological communication, […]
The signs are all there. A chronic rasp in the back of my throat. Dry, bloodshot eyes. An inescapable tendency to space out. An all-too-familiar feeling, fatigue has become a staple of my existence. I can recall in high school many nights when my mother would complain about me being awake at 1:00 AM doing […]
Emmanuel Macron does not care. He does not care that his approval ratings are the lowest in modern French history. He does not care if he has been derisively christened the next Napoleon. And he certainly does not care what people think of his marriage to his high school drama teacher, twenty-five years his senior. […]
“Nuh jukgo, nah jukja!” Translation: “You die, I die.” This is common North Korean rhetoric, and its succinct message epitomizes the escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. Unless you have been living underground, you have no doubt been listening with worried, and rather helpless anticipation to news about North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. Since […]
