KATRINA WOZNICKI

6:32 a.m. at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu is a rapid current of silence and hope, a clockwise ritual that welcomes me without question. I can come. I can go. I can pray. I can walk and pretend to pray. It is the hour of the observant, of chants and prostrations, of prayer and potential.

Only hours after arriving in London—my fourth visit to a city I claim to know so well I refer to it as “my first boyfriend”—I botched the English language. Famished after traveling across 8 time zones, I walked up to the hotel bar, glanced at the menu, and blurted out, “Can I get chips and guac?”

The bartender gave me a quizzical look. His eyes moved to where I was pointing. “You mean tortillas and guacamole?” he said in a crisp English accent. “Absolutely.”

London: always accommodating, like a trusted old friend who forgives your gaffes

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