When Sam goes on a gay website looking for romance, he finds more than he bargained for. Rejecting all the usual requests for hook-ups, he searches for something more sincere. And he finds it in the most unexpected of places, as he is drawn to the profile of a man in a faraway place. Amir, an Algerian descended from desert nomads, has posted a profile looking for the love of his life. Sam finds it amazing that a gay man born in the Algerian desert has the bravery to not only declare he is gay, but also to admit his dream is to find a husband to spend his life with. While Sam doesn’t consider himself the marrying kind, he starts chatting with Amir, telling himself he just wants to learn about another culture. His friends laugh at him, saying this man just wants to use him to emigrate to the west and take him for his money. But he refuses to believe it, sensing a sincerity he has never seen with anyone else. The two begin a dialogue that moves to weekly Skype sessions, discussions of religion and world politics, assistance with life challenges and, finally, a declaration of love ... and an invitation. Can these two men from vastly different worlds and cultures meet and find common ground for a romance? The challenges are great, and spending a life together seems like an impossible dream. While Sam’s friends continue to discourage him, he knows he cannot give up this man. Is Amir sincere, or is Sam being used? There is only one way to find out if Amir is really sincere. And Sam knows what he has to do.

Not on My Bucket List

It was March, and at his insistence I began researching travel arrangements on the internet. As I suspected, the cheapest flights were out of Montreal, a six-hour drive for me. I had flown to London from Toronto several years before, having had several bad experiences with American carriers who would miss my connecting flight out of Kennedy or Newark on the home trip, and leave me marooned. Yes, I could fly to Algiers through Paris or Rome. That was not a problem. What to do with the car while I was gone? On the advice of a friend who had found cheap parking when he flew to Turkey from Toronto, a bit of research found some cheaper alternatives in hotel parking lots. I looked at hotels and settled on one. But a friend advised me to look into renting an apartment through a website. “It will be a lot cheaper,” he said.


Chapter 17