E. Rae Barnes

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Lessons From the Staj

Each cohort in Peace Corps Morocco is called a “staj.” I was lucky enough to be a part of Staj 102. An incredible group of people who taught me some of my most powerful lessons.

Kingdoms of the Night

Darkness. Pitch black at every turn. No difference between eyes open and eyes shut. Fear naturally sets in as the sun sets. But what truly scares us about the dark is what might be lurking right in front of us, waiting to strike. Animals that thrive in darkness are often thought of as monsters, like…

The Lied Jungle

Stalking down the dirt path, she ducked under vines and peered between leaves. Faced with a shallow stream, she looked down to judge the distance as the sunshine filtered down and gleamed off the pink and purple beads that decorated her socks. She easily hopped across the large, smooth stones to her next challenge. She…

Western Heritage Museum

Exploring Omaha’s Durham Western Heritage Museum and its limited engagement about the history of Rock n’ Roll’s influence throughout history.

Halloween at Bunratty Castle

Let the Halloween festivities begin at this Irish castle and folk park full of fortune tellers, dungeons, and history.

TV Rots Your Brain

There was a girl who binged TV a lot. Her mother said her brain would rot. “Don’t worry, Mother, you’re thinking of my brother, who became an alien robot.” “No, I didn’t,” my brother cried. “I only used them to catch a ride! “Mother looked down, face all afrown, to see the snail that had…

Bridging Fate

Not sure where else to go, I turned toward the bridge. The trees once serene, now looked threatening, reaching out to grab me. I ran past them as they closed around the entrance. I prayed they would provide enough cover. I hadn’t seen the figure after the bend, but I could feel it, stalking me.

Ted & Wally’s: A Scoop of Nostalgia

Few things are able to bring my family together quite like ice cream. And nothing is better than homemade ice cream. But Ted & Wally’s can even do one better than that with homemade ice cream in flavors you cannot find anywhere else.

The Nebraska Pilgrimage

After 25 years, I finally made it to my first Nebraska Cornhusker football game and truly experienced Husker Nation.

Confessions of a Pipe Band Groupie

I suppose it is fair at this point to call me what I am…a groupie. It was completely unintentional and, frankly, I’m not sure I ever really chose it. It just happened. Like when you enjoy a nice family dinner until you look up from the last bite and notice everyone else is gone, leaving…

Canada Day

I felt as if I was intruding. Like I was wandering a set only to realize as I came center stage that the play was in full swing. Wrapped up in the excitement of the night before, I had invested in a tank top that I now used to try to blend in, throwing them…

Cotopaxi National Park

If you are trying to make the most of a limited time and you have the budget, I would definitely recommend a guided tour in Quito. One of my biggest splurges of the trip was a private tour of Cotopaxi National Park or Parque Nacional Cotopaxi. Twisting through some now familiar roads, our first stop…

TelefériQo

It looked like any other gondola, or what they always looked like in the movies anyway, I had never been on a real gondola before. The closest I had come was the ski lift at Adventureland Amusement Park or the Skyfari at the Henry Doorly Zoo. It seemed mostly safe, only swaying in the stronger…

Jardín Botánico de Quito

I did not think about it, my feet simply followed the neatly laid bricks. Winding along to my right, I stored the map in my back pocket. The leaves set within the bricks corresponding to the leaves on the map were meant to guide me along, but I let nature choose my direction. I wandered…

Quito’s Historic City Center

The narrow gaps between buildings that passed as streets reminded me of Ireland. The outside of the church was unassuming, the white and light blue did not draw attention to the quiet sanctuary. It was only after passing through the black gate and heavy wooden doors that we began to see hints of the splendor…

Mercado La Mariscal

“Ecuador!” “Ecuador!” The lines on his face and weariness in his soft, brown eyes did not diminish the determination in his voice as he moved up and down the block. He waved a yellow, blue, and red flag, condor flying proudly, in each hand and let the surplus stick out of every hole in his…

Intiñan Museum (The Real Middle of the World)

Less developed than Mitad Del Mundo, the entrance to Intiñan Museum (located closer to the real middle of the world as established by GPS) is tucked away off the side of the road. Walking across a bridge, the winding path led through some greenery before arriving at a gathering of modern buildings made to look…

Mitad Del Mundo

As I walked through the gate and up the sidewalk, nothing seemed out of the ordinary…then, the monument came into view. Rising 30 meters (about 90 feet), it dominated the center of the “village” that has sprung up around it. The bright center line separated the two halves of the world and acted as a…

Papallacta Volcanic Pools

It was difficult to give up my layers at first. The chill in the air and the mist sticking to my goosebumps made me reconsider, that is until I put my first toe into the water. I registered the sting only for a second before throwing everything below my shoulders under the surface. My muscles…

Travel Quito, Ecuador

I should have been tired after a two hour flight, two hour layover, and five hour flight, finally arriving in Quito at 11:30 p.m.,  but all I could feel was the excitement. It was chillier than I was expecting (whenever I hear equator I automatically picture a tropical paradise), but my friend from Quito had…

The Wooden Board

Dark, chocolate brown to chestnut, wood changes, stains. Patterns swirl like hurricanes unchallenged; holes form, splinters flake off every corner. Sanding is temporary, shaving layers, inching further toward the depths. Someday there will be nothing left to strip. What remains has character, weak, brittle, slightly rotten, yet essence of the wood stays; roots firmly smashed…

Childhood Dreams

Ask children what they want to be, the answers will vary tremendously… From the first colonists living on Mars, to regal princesses or movie stars. Nothing can dampen their super powers, or a ray of sunshine through purple flowers. They fly by a fancy, lives so simple, worlds of magic until the first pimple. A…

From the Trench

His face is eager, waiting for my report. No sign of hope or despair, just the muck on his cheeks, skin clinging to the sharp bones right below the dark bags. “What’ve ya got, Ed?” His head cocked upward as if to see over the edge. He had to be about George’s age, maybe a…

Broken Bridges…

leading to nowhere, linking one corpse to another, sinking into muck, lost and forgotten, peeking through the surface, rotting away, leaving only slivers behind. No longer raised high, providing safe passage… Cluttering the ground, tripping men in their tracks, all sense of purpose gone. Once a means forward, pushing higher ground, a path to victory,…

Stories Frozen in Statues

A few of the stories I found in frozen faces sculpted by John Lajba as part of the Victory ’95 50th Anniversary World War II Memorial in Heartland of America Park, Omaha, Nebraska. Folded… Hat in hand, the farmer cannot bear to look, Eyes shut, head tilted down, It was not his son, It never…

My Conversation With Ireland Now Available!

For a country the size of the state of Iowa, one month isn’t enough to even scratch the surface… Join me as I wander through 21st century Ireland, documenting my perspective (on the left page) and recording what I imagined to be the country’s response (on the right page). From surfing to must-sees to family…

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