The Recession Refugee

We looked like a mini-United Nations. There was Dorji, an older Asian male with an inviting smile and organized desk. Eshagh, the 15 year-old class clown, couldn’t stop laughing and barely made it past “Ich.” Hussein demonstrated his extensive vocabulary by speaking for five minutes about kitchen utensils.

Introductions took 40 minutes because none of us spoke the same language. Yet, we all found ourselves in Vienna, Austria, taking Beginners German for similar reasons. Theirs became apparent on the third day of the course, when we learned how to say our nationalities.

“Ich komme aus Afghanistan!” I come from Afghanistan.

Ich komme aus Somalia!

Mongolia!

Angola!

Then came my awkward, unexpected announcement: “Ich komme aus den U.S.A..”

5 Things We Learned From Losing Our Dream Home

On June 30, 2009, we handed over the keys to our dream home, a beautiful house on a ridge in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. We had lost the 10-month battle to save it and were headed into the unknown with nothing but the solace that we had at least avoided foreclosure — and more importantly, that we had each other. We finally got it. It took losing our dream home to profoundly ground us in what really matters and teach us that it’s possible to be happy in the face of any circumstance… even foreclosure.

Here’s what we learned along the way.

1. Love wins. In the battle between love and money, love definitely wins. I know this for fact. I had the chance to prove it…