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sassycassie-s-series · 5 years ago

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All My Fault 31

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): DC, BatFam - Damian Wayne/Batman

Rating: PG-11/T- (for implied mature themes but nothing explicit)

Notes: (Masterlist) It only took me 156 (slightly double-spaced) pages to get here, but we’re here! I don’t know how to write non-slow-burns so... yeah.

Tag List (Open): @batboys-and-other-messes @haylo4ever @lostredrobin @na-n-na @probsjosh @spooder-moon @welovegroot

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30

^^^^^

Jon glanced at the sun as it cleared the horizon and wondered if he should start wearing a watch. After dawn meant Damian was probably awake, right? Usually the new Batman was up at four in the morning for a workout. And Jon left Metropolis at like six…

He skirted around the outside edge of Gotham City so hopefully no one would notice Superboy flying around where he probably shouldn’t have been, and ducked into the woods that surrounded Wayne Manor.

He touched down gently on the window ledge outside Damian’s window, still using his flight to keep him from falling over.

He tapped on the window with his fingernail, used a trick Damian taught him to pop the lock, and slipped in. “Psst! Hey Damian!” Jon hissed, getting into a small slap-fight with the curtains trying to find the gap so he could actually see Damian’s room. “I found this thing that I wanted to run by you—OH MY GOSH! WHAT THE HECK?! WHY AREN’T YOU WEARING CLOTHES?!”

Jon almost fell over. There was a girl in Damian’s bed! With Damian!

Damian was holding her. He was asleep on his back, one arm around the girl’s shoulders and the other across his chest to hold her upper arm. She was curled against his right side, her head in the crook of Damian’s shoulder with her face resting on his right chest, her arm bent over his torso so her hand was resting on the left side of Damian’s chest. Her other arm was under Damian with her fingers curled on his left trapezius. They were both covered in the sheet modestly but that didn’t hide the fact that they both appeared to be naked and their legs were tangled together.

Jon clapped his hand over his eyes and shut his eyelids, hoping his X-Ray vision didn’t decide to activate without his conscious control.

^^^^^

I jumped awake. Who was yelling and why? What was going on? Where was I anyway? Why could I feel a heartbeat under my right hand?

My eyes peeled open.

I was cuddling Damian’s side. He was holding onto me—which was almost more surprising than—

What happened last night.

I gasped and yanked the sheet up more securely to cover up the fact that I wasn’t wearing anything.

“Jon?” I demanded, noticing the tall teenage boy standing just barely in front of the window curtains, one hand over his eyes, though his fingers were pried apart so he could peek with one eye. His eyes were blue and his hair shaggy and black. He was about the same height as Damian—maybe an inch shorter—and a skinny beanpole.

“Wait. Cloudburst?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?! How are you alive and why are you in Damian’s bed and WHY ARE YOU BOTH NAKED?!”

Damian woke up too from Jon yelling, taking a deep breath and holding me more snugly against his side as he shuffled. His bright green eyes opened, gave me a soft sort of smile, and then also seemed to realize we weren’t alone. He glanced over at where I was looking.

“Kent?! What are you doing here?!” he demanded.

“I came to show you a file I found. Why is Cloudburst in your bed and why are you naked?”

Damian cocked an eyebrow. “Do the math, Kent,” he said.

Jonathan Kent—Superboy, who I hadn’t seen since he was 10—scrunched his eyebrows. “What math? Math doesn’t apply here. That doesn’t make any sense Dami—OH MY HECK YOU TWO SLEPT—”

“Jon!” I exclaimed, cutting him off. “We don’t need you shouting for the whole world to hear!” My face was turning red and I was wishing that I was anywhere but here. Like maybe Kyrgyzstan. Or Mars.

Damian’s doorknob started shaking, like someone on the other side was trying to come in. But I remembered Damian locking the door last night somewhere in the mess that was our makeout session.

Before I could even think of doing anything, the door opened. “What’s with all the shout—OH MY GOSH! CLOUDY?!” Dick exclaimed.

I ducked under the covers and curled up, absolutely mortified.

“Get out of my room!” Damian ordered—at Jon or Dick or both I wasn’t sure. “What part of a locked door doesn’t imply that I wish to be left alone, Grayson?!”

“You mean, you two want to be left alone,” Jon corrected.

“Shut up, Kent. You’re not helping your own situation,” Damian snapped.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands, still hiding under Damian’s sheets. This was a disaster. Not only had I just guaranteed I’d never willingly return to the past, but I got caught the morning after by Mama Bear Nightwing and Superboy.

“Sorry. I heard yelling and I thought someone was hurt,” Dick said.

“Both of you, out of my room. Now,” Damian ordered. “And do not speak of this to anyone. Do you understand me? If you say a word about what you think you saw, I will not hesitate to string you up by your own intestines. Kent, I’ll speak with you down in the parlor shortly.” There was a darkness in his tone that almost frightened me.

I heard a few noises—footsteps, a quiet whoosh—and then the door shut.

Damian tugged the sheet up. “It’s safe to come out now, habibi,” he said.

I groaned in complaint. “I cannot believe we got caught,” I muttered.

His hand rested between my shoulder blades. “It’s alright.”

“How is this alright?” I sat up, clutching the sheet to my chest. “I’ve been thinking for a while now that I don’t want to go back to my past. I want to stay here. But I didn’t… I didn’t think it would happen like this.”

“Nor did I, habibi,” he agreed.

I sighed. “What does that even mean?” I asked.

Damian brushed some of my messy hair out of my face. “It means beloved,” he replied.

My heart pounded. I scrunched my eyebrows. “But… you called me that… before last night too.”

Damian gave me a soft smile. “Of course,” he said. “I’ve been in love with you since before you returned to us.”

I took a deep breath. “Really?”

“Yes.”

I sighed. What was I supposed to say to that?

Damian noticed my hesitation. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I just guaranteed that I'm never going back to the past. Ever.”

“Why not?”

I looked him dead in the face. “Because I wouldn’t be able to look teen-you in the eye ever again.”

Damian brushed some of my hair out of my face. “Is that the… only reason?” he wondered, his fingers trailing through my hair and rubbing the ends between his fingertips when he reached them, his eyes watching their progress.

“What other reason do I need?” I asked.

He met my eyes. “Well… I was… hoping that you might feel the same way about me as I feel about you,” he said quietly, quickly looking away from my face, back down to his fingers.

I lifted my hand up and held the back of his hand where it was still playing with the ends of my hair. “Dami. If I didn’t feel the same way, I wouldn’t have agreed to… last night,” I said, ducking my head so he had to meet my eyes. “I… I'm in love with you too, baby bird.” I threaded my fingers into his hair, smiling softly.

He smiled back at me, leaning down—and pausing. “May I kiss you?” he asked.

“Always such a gentleman,” I said.

“Only for you,” he said.

I grinned and nodded. “You may.”

He closed the distance, sealing our lips together. It was a far more tender kiss than both of us attacking the other’s face the night before. I sighed into the kiss and tilted my head to the side, searching quietly for a better angle.

When it ended, Damian pressed our foreheads together. “Where does this leave us?” I asked quietly. “We’ve never even gone on a proper date.”

“That is a simple fix,” Damian said. “Unfortunately, for the moment, we should probably go catch up with my brother and best friend before they tell the whole house what they saw.” He sighed, like he didn’t find the notion pleasant.

“Right,” I said.

We kept our backs to each other as we got dressed. Damian put on a change of clothes while I put on what I’d been wearing yesterday. I’d run back to my room—hopefully not running into any of the rest of the family—and change.

Once we were dressed, we both left the room. Damian to go downstairs, me to go to my room.

“Hey Cloudy!” I heard Jason call from behind me as I was ducking into my room. “How was your night off?”

“Good. I feel much better,” I said, trying to shut the door in his face before he could see anything.

No such luck. Jason caught the door. “You sure? You look like you didn’t get any sleep,” he said.

“What do you mean?” I asked innocently.

“Well for one, your hair is even messier than usual,” he said.

A brief flash of Damian’s hand tangling in my hair in the dark shot through my head. I forced the image down and hoped Jason wouldn’t notice the blush creeping up my neck.

“And for two, you’re in the same clothes you wore yesterday,” Jason finished.

“Yeah I passed out in the game room on the beanbag,” I said. “I'm gonna shower and change. See you at breakfast.”

“Hey, before you go,” Jason said, stopping me from shutting the door again. “I thought I heard Jon. Do you know if he’s here?”

“No idea,” I said, trying to shut the door again.

“Hang on, Cloudy,” he said. “I stopped by the game room last night to grab a mag I hid from Dick. You weren’t in there.”

“I, uh…” I began.

Jason’s expression dropped as his eyes took in my hair and my clothes again. “OH MY %*^&ING G—”

“Jason!” I protested.

But he wasn’t done. “YOU AND DAMIAN SLEPT—!”

“JASON!” I shouted, putting my hand over his mouth. “Don’t go shouting accusations like that for the whole house to hear!”

“So you did!”

“No! Even if I did it’d be none of your business.”

“Oh, Cloudy, I knew somethin’ was going on between you two since the night you got here but, %^&* that escalated quickly.”

“Jason. Do me a favor: shut up, okay? And don’t tell anyone about your speculations because I don’t want unfounded rumors running rampant around this family or this city that could potentially end up in some misunderstanding that culminates in someone firing me from being Cloudburst.”

Jason didn’t look at all convinced that I was telling the truth, but relented. “Okay, sure. See you at breakfast.” Finally he left. I slammed my door shut.

I took a very brief shower before pulling on new clothes and braiding my hair behind me. The whole time trying to figure out what to do and what to say now. I sat on the floor in front of my mirror as I braided my hair and stared at my reflection.

Yes, I was in love with Damian. No, I didn’t want to go back to the past anymore. But how was I supposed to address that topic to Bruce and Tim and Cass? Were Damian and I supposed to keep… whatever we were a secret from them? Could we even do that? This was Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake—the two best detectives in the world. I’d be lucky to keep a hangnail a secret from them.

I tied off my braid and got to my feet. I really needed to go talk to Dick and Jon.

———

#All My Fault #Chapter 31 #All My Fault Chapter 31 #Damian Wayne #damian wayne fanfiction #damian wayne imagine #Robin #robin fanfiction #robin imagine #Batman #batman fanfiction #batman imagine #DC #DC Imagine #DC FanFiction #BatFam #batfam fanfiction #batfam imagine

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rusticastravels · 5 years ago

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Road to Osh

Leaving the cosmopolitan city of Bishkek, we go to the airport with plenty of time to catch our flight to Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s second city in the south of the country.

However, arriving at the Manas International Airport, our guide (Ulan), who has been checking the flights finds out that the airport was closed to everyone. Apparently, this happens once in awhile, especially when someone important is flying in and out of the airport.

Change of plans since it was unknown when the the airport was going to be opened. With some quick thinking, we drove to a park/restaurant nearby to relax and have some lunch. Usually used for a wedding venue, the park provided a quiet place to wait out the time complete with a collection of exotic birds and a lovely lake where we had a lovely lunch (prepared by the restaurant with short notice for 20 people).

We were also entertained by a photo shoot assumed to be part of an advertisement for the place as a wedding venue. The ‘bride’ and ‘groom’ went out on the lake in a small boat. We were afraid that they would tip over as it didn’t seem like they knew how to maneuver the boat!

Alas, we heard that the airport was re-opened and we headed back to the airport. After quickly unloading with our luggage, we walked to the airport entrance and went through security. Then we waited and waited, watching the monitors for our flight status, getting delayed and then cancelled! Other flights to Osh for our airline was being cancelled as well. What’s the next plan? After much consultations and discussions our guides and trip leader decided that we will hire 2 vans and drive the over 12 hours to Osh over the mountain pass.

The Sprinter vans (with the drivers) met us at the airport, leaving at 4:30pm for the long overnight drive. Complete with a bottle of vodka for each van and some samosas and snacks for dinner, we were on our way! With the awesome landscape outside, we were pretty soon taking vodka shots and in a lighter mood even though we had over 12 hours ahead of us.

Unfortunately, we were going over the highest mountain pass (Too Ashuu) at 10,433 ft/3180 m in the middle of the night. However, I was awake when we went through the 1.7 mi/2/7 km tunnel at the pass. Giving the drivers rests and and pee/stretch breaks, we stopped a few times with varying degrees of toilet quality - some were proper toilets and some were just hole in the ground. After almost 14 hours, we arrived at Osh at 5am. After checking into the hotel and a quick refresh and breakfast, we were on the road again to our next destination: Tajikistan.

For some pictures from this adventure, click https://photos.app.goo.gl/2Le1QCe7EPhze4Aq8

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eleventhsever · 6 years ago

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So, I translated some information from denisten_official on Instagram. My English isn’t great but I was trying to translated it as much correct as I could. I just want to help spread this.

screenshot #1:

The judgment was made, but the judge didn’t answer the aggrieved party’s motion. We have a lot of unanswered questions. Such as:

Who did Zhanar Tolybaeva call? And who called her from Switzerland and England?

Arman Kudaibergenov demanded from Saduov $5,000 after what happened. Why?

The knife was bought on the night of July 17-18 at 1:30 am.

Why are Tolybaeva’s lawyer and Zhanar telling lies?

Her cell phone records confirm that she has two-way communication with somebody from Switzerland and England.

Lawyer and Tolybaeva said that calls were made from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. But the cell phone records didn’t confirm it.

Arman Kudaibergenov wrote in a letter to Denis’ mother, “I had no choice”

Tolybaeva is a teacher from village Korday. She has a car, expensive phones (such as iPhone and Samsung), communication with Europe. Who is she?

How can an ordinary teacher from village Korday afford it?

screenshot #2:

One of the most important witnesses wasn’t interrogated because investigating officers couldn’t get through him.

Despite multiple requests from Denis’ mother the judge didn’t call Saduov who is one of the most important witnesses in a case and who know Kudaibergenov. Kudaibergenov demanded from him 5,000 U.S. dollars right after what happened. Why did he demand money? He couldn’t answer the question. The court explained why they didn’t call Saduov because they couldn’t get through him.

screenshot #3:

Nuraly Kiyasov’s brother was convicted of group violence. He was sentenced to 2 years conditionally.

July 18-19 in 2018 perpetrators were driving a car of Kiyasov’s brother, that Kiyasov allegedly stole from his own brother. The judge refused to call for interrogation his brother because he can’t give evidence against his sibling by the law. But Kudaibergenov and Tolybaeva aren’t his relatives. But they found the answer within the law and Kiyasov’s brother wasn’t interrogated.

Kiyasov and Kudaibergenov have already been prosecuted three times! And every time they were released because of reconciling the parties. Kiyasov’s brother was a suspended sentence. Kiyasov himself and Kudaibergenov still haven’t been convicted.

What're the untouchable men?!

screenshot #4:

About policemen. Denis’ family asks to prosecute policemen Nurpeisov and Musaev, who saw the fight between Denis and perpetrators and didn’t react.

January 11th they were interrogated at the hearing.

Policemen were going to Central stadium, but somehow they were on Kurmangazy-Baiseitova street. They were there before the fight. According to Nurpeisov, they wanted to buy a hot dog on Nazarbayev-Kurmangazy street. But according to Musaev, they wanted to buy a burger on Nazarbayev-Bogenbay Batyr street. Policemen ran and help when perpetrators had been already running away. Meanwhile, one of the policemen go after them without staying with Denis and calling an ambulance. Running out on the road he found out what direction perpetrators went. He sent another police car in a different way (instead of Nazarbayev avenue to Ablai Khan). Later this car will come back to the place of the incident and namely these patrolmen will call the ambulance, tourniquet the leg and help doctors. Time was lost.

Second policemen went to “catch” perpetrators by car along Panfilov street and magically didn’t notice them when they were moving in the same direction as his car.

Nurpeisov and Musaev’s evidences aren’t the same as patrolmen’s, who was providing real help.

During interrogation, judge withdrew all media to another room and asked them to take out all cameras and microphones from the courtroom, despite the fact that aggrieved party wasn’t against it. He didn’t allow the lawyer to ask policemen questions. He also didn’t respond to almost every Denis’ mom question.

screenshot #5:

The judgment was made, but the judge didn’t answer the aggrieved party’s motion. We have a lot of unanswered questions.

Why do they need to check two-way communication of Tolybaeva with England and Switzerland?

Why do they need to interrogate Kiyasov’s brother who invited everybody, fed them and give them his own car?

Why do they need to interrogate the third founder of restaurant “Hedonist” Dimash Izbasar who didn’t show up in court because he dislocated his shoulder? (Hedonist is a place where Denis was before he was killed).

Why do they need to interrogate Saduov, from whom Kudaibergenov was demanding $5000 right after what happened?

Why do they need to make a fuss because of rogue policemen, who sent patrolmen to a different direction so they couldn’t catch the perpetrators?

After all, why does the judge need all these problems?

Hushed up, he thinks that everything’s going to die down and aggrieved party is going to let it go.

screenshot #6:

January 16th in the court Tolybaeva said that in December some people had come to her to remand centre. She told that they had threatened her. Again, someone familiar usually threatens and only those who know too much or who can compromise those people about whom person just mustn't tell about.

screenshot #7,8,9:

Tolybaeva isn’t that person she seems to be.

Zhanar Tolybaeva who’s 7 months pregnant in the dock.

During her first interrogation, she pointed out that she met with Kudaibergenov a few days before the incident but in court, Zhanar was trying to deny all charges and articles saying she saw or know nothing.

Aggrieved party answered that even if she didn’t know, there’s an article 434 Criminal Code of Republic of Kazakhstan, which punished the misprision about well-known preparing or committed crime. Moreover, criminal responsibility for the above-mentioned crime was expanded by the new Criminal Code of Republic of Kazakhstan. Whereas previously the maximum punishment for misprision about the crime was 1 year restriction of freedom. It’s now a maximum punishment is 6 years restriction of freedom and it includes serious crimes accordingly.

During the investigation in the court for which her lawyer asked one more day (despite they had 5,5 months for preparing!!), she suddenly said that she knew Kudaibergenov for a long time and they’re going to get married. According to the Constitution of Republic of Kazakhstan and criminal law people who hide their husband or wife or close relative that committed a crime are not subjects to criminal responsibility.

January 16th 2019 prosecutor asked for Tolybaeva 4 years restriction of freedom according to the article about misprision. 4 years instead of 6 years because of mitigating factors such as pregnancy and existence of a minor child.

In accordance with the cell phone records accused called each other since July 16th. Denis’ mother said, “everything points to the fact that this trinity like the army has met July 16th and before that they didn’t know each other. Cell phone records prove that acquaintance Tolybaeva with Kudaibergenov happened on the eve. They started to communicate more often a day before the tragedy of July 18th. Maybe they had another phone numbers and it’s possible that they were communicating using them. But those phone numbers which they showed to interrogators officers did not have their common calls.”

Zhanar Tolybaeva is a teacher from Korday village. She has a car and expensive phones such as iPhone and Samsung. She can speak Russian, Kazakh and English. According to cell phone records that were closely reviewed by Denis’ family she has communication with foreigners structures which also had a connection with Denis’ circle. In the court, Tolybaeva said that she called only to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Such calls weren’t found at any of the two her phone numbers.

Denis’ family asked to punish her accordingly to article 188, part 2, paragraph 1 for group stealing by preliminary conspiracy. Since there's new information probably she was head of the gang they also asked to add charge under article 99, part 2, paragraph 8 that is the murder from mercenary motivations involving robbery.

—————————————————————

(I’m sorry for possible mistakes as I said my English isn’t good enough. But I hope you can understand the point.)

I was so disappointed by the court’s verdict because I thought results will be worse for them cos they killed Denis Ten who was a real hero of his motherland. They grab his life and got this. Moreover, I’m really disappointed by the police and court again. I thought only russian courts is meaningless but no. This is so unfair! Still can’t believe that Denis isn’t alive anymore.

I’d like to wish his family to be strong. Hope they will achieve what they want. But you know nothing could bring Denis back.

(ig cr.: denisten_official)

#denis ten #figure skating #kazakhstan #денис тен #фигурное катание #казахстан

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dontshootmespence · 7 years ago

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Harbored Feelings

A/N: An anon request for a Ralvez piece with jealous Morgan. I decided that Luke isn’t on the team yet. He met the team through the police department he worked in, so it’s worse for Morgan because he and Spencer work together daily. @coveofmemories @sexualemobitch @jamiemelyn @unstoppableangel8 @iammostdefinitelyonfire26 @bestfluteninja

----

He’d honestly never expected this.

For so long, Morgan had harbored feelings for his best friend, Spencer Reid. At first, the images in his mind started out fairly innocently, like going to a baseball game together or teaching Reid how to surf, which he thought would be hysterical, but then the images morphed into something else entirely, and he had no idea what to do with them. Now, the images that plagued him day in and day out were much harder to deny, much harder to push off as platonic, because these weren’t “friendly” at all. Imaging Spencer’s lips on his brought him a peace and comfort he hadn’t known existed. The problem was that Morgan had never imagined himself attracted to a man, and he didn’t know how to reconcile how he grew up with how he was currently feeling, so he pushed it all to the back of his mind.

And now it was too late.

Spencer was involved with someone. It would’ve been difficult for Morgan whether he’d started dating a man or a woman, but for some reason, the fact that he was seeing a man for the first time in his life as well, made it all that much more difficult for Morgan.

Although Morgan felt no attraction to Spencer’s boyfriend, Luke Alvez, he was able to acknowledge a good-looking man when he saw one, and Luke was definitely handsome. And Spencer was whole-heartedly smitten.

Morgan was too late, and now he found himself in a position he never imagined - heartbroken over the lost possibility of love with the only man he’d ever had feelings for.

Going into work was going to suck today - like it did every day at this point. Nearly four months ago, the team had been called to a case in the Bronx, where Spencer met Luke and sparks flew; he could see it the second they locked eyes and Morgan instantly knew it was too late for him to say anything. After leaving the Bronx, having completed a successful case, Luke asked Spencer for his number and the two had been seeing each other ever since.

The relationship grew more and more serious as the time went by, with Luke even considering transferring to the DCPD so they could stop dating long-distance; it was unbelievably hard, but they made it work. Even if Luke wasn’t able to move, Morgan could see they were solid.

As long as they were in the office and not out on a case, Spencer called Luke nearly every day. For everyone else, seeing their Boy Genius so happy was all they could’ve ever hoped for, so there was no problem - Hotch even smiled when he saw Spencer calling his boyfriend, the smile on his face such a long time coming, but for Morgan it had gotten to the point where he was waking up every morning with interrupted dreams of him and Spencer together. Today was no different. He woke up in a cold sweat. Spencer’s lips had been on his shoulder blades, an almost featherlight touch that left Morgan breathless. And then he’d woken up.

Monday morning again. As he hopped in the shower and got dressed for work, he dreaded having to go in. His and Spencer’s desk were situated across from each other, so he was going to have to watch yet again as the man he fell in love with called his boyfriend in New York.

The morning slogged on like he was walking through quicksand, but he was quickly tugged out of it when he saw Spencer already sitting on his desk on the phone with Luke. “Actually, I do know that answer,” Spencer said, causing Morgan to smile despite the feelings raging in his brain. Spencer knew everything. “China is the country that has the most borders, touching 14 countries: India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal.” Spencer rattled off the countries like he was giving his coffee order. After all these years, Morgan never ceased to be in awe of the amount of knowledge Spencer’s brain could hold. How had they even gotten on that topic?

As he sat at his desk, he motioned to Spencer with a drinking motion, basically asking if he’d had a cup of coffee. In turn, Spencer tilted his coffee cup towards Morgan. He’d had a cup of coffee already, but he could always use more, so Morgan grabbed his cup and headed over to the coffee machine to refill Spencer’s cup and grab one of his own.

“So you don’t think you’re going to be able to move up right now?” Spencer asked. Morgan hated hearing only one end of the conversation; he was nosy, especially concerning Spencer and his relationship. “We’ll figure it out,” Spencer said. He was trying to inject levity into his voice, but Morgan could tell it was forced. Spencer was severely disappointed; he’d probably be cranky and on edge all day today, and Morgan didn’t really blame him.

It was in that moment, hearing Spencer so sad and dejected, that he realized he wanted Luke to move down here. That meant Spencer would be happy, which in the end, was all Morgan really wanted for him. Sure, he wished he’d had the courage to confess his feelings to Spencer, but if Morgan couldn’t be with him, he still deserved to be happy.

Spencer hung up the phone as Morgan came back over with a cup of coffee. “Bad news?”

“Yea,” Spencer shrugged. “Luke can’t move just yet. He’s not sure if he’ll even be able to move soon. His mother is sick now.” Spencer rubbed his temples and rested his head in his hands. Morgan felt horrible for him.

“It’ll all work out,” Morgan said, both for Spencer and for himself. As a child, Morgan’s mother used to sing to him. Que Sera, Sera was a staple. Whatever will be, will be. “If it’s meant to work out, it will. You two seem really good together, so I’m sure it’ll work out eventually.”

Spencer gave him a strained smile, appreciating the comforting words even if he didn’t totally believe them himself. “I hope so. I really want this to work out.”

“I want it to work out,” Morgan replied quickly, realizing that the words had come out genuinely. He really did; he wanted Spencer to be happy, with or without him. If it was without him, he just needed to take time to get over it. “Just know that if it doesn’t, you aren’t alone, okay?”

“Thanks, Morgan,” Spencer replied before taking a long sip of his coffee. “And thanks for the coffee.” The two exchanged pleasantries for a few more moments after which Morgan returned to his desk.

For a while, he’d been debating whether or not to tell Spencer about his feelings, even though he was with Luke, but he couldn’t do that to him. First and foremost, he wanted Spencer to be happy, so he’d hope for the best in his relationship with Luke, and if it didn’t work out, he’d figure out what to do then, but until that point, he’d move on himself. He’d go on dates, and allow thoughts of Spencer to fade away to the back of his mind as best he could.

Because it wasn’t about his own desperation for Spencer to know about the feelings that lay within his mind. It was about Spencer being happy. He’d been through hell and back twice over, and he was finally happy. No matter how much it hurt him, Morgan wasn’t about to ruin that for him. His harbored feelings would stay just that, walled up behind a shaky dam, ready to give way at any moment.

#spencer reid #luke alvez #derek morgan #ralvez #reidvez #spencer reid x luke alvez #dontshootmespence #harbored feelings

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bunvoyagesarah · 5 years ago

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Bosnia & Herzegovina

(Herz-ee-go-vina because I have trouble saying it everytime.)

Mostar, then Sarajevo

Wednesday

I arrive after a very long nine hour bus drive from Kotor to Mostar. I had researched some hostels and had some recommendations but hadn't reserved anything, thinking it would not be a problem. So I get off the bus and go to the hostel I had in my mind only to find they didn't have any beds. I asked if I could use their wifi or if they had a recommendation and she suggested two around the corner. I leave. This old man on a stoop who had seen me go in the hostel, tells me to come to this other hostel. He rings the doorbell chats with the owner for ten seconds and leaves me there to check in the last bed of the night. The owner was very friendly, offering me juice and giving me a very long rundown of the town. Thirty minutes later, a girl comes into the room and says, "We're all going to dinner, wanna come?" Five minutes later, I have some untied sneakers on my feet and I'm standing outside the hostel with six strangers saying thank you for saving me from who knows how much more explanation of the the tiny town of Mostar. We went to this restaurant for dinner, walking through the town on the way. Thais, the girl that invited me to dinner, was informed they no longer had veggie burgers after we all received our food, so we wait and wait for her new dish to come out. After asking a couple more times for her food, it finally comes. Then we ask a few times for the bill, when that finally comes we ask for a discount or shots of rackija, the local drink. The waiter quickly brought over shots for the whole table and we all left happily for some ice cream before walking back to the hostel.

Thursday

The hostel, Mirror Hostel, has many rules which I had learned over dinner the night before from my friends.

1. No shoes inside

2. Don't open the door when people ring the bell

3. No hitchhiking

4. Don't be late for the free breakfast

5. If you sleep upstairs, you eat upstairs, away from everyone else in the group

All the "rules" were found out by trial-and-error and left everyone getting yelled at by the owner at some point. Breakfast in the morning was dramatic as a guest upstairs tried to eat with everyone at the communal table. After breakfast, a girl and I made plans to walk around the town and then go to the pool. As I was giving my laundry to the hostel worker, we gained a French girl who spoke about ten words of English. We set out for the town, stopping by stalls to shop and hoping to catch someone jumping off the famous Stari Nav bridge. Frenchie kept disappearing and then finally told us she was going to go eat, despite her turning down the free breakfast thirty minutes prior for unknown reasons. After walking all through the town, Marleen and I left for the pool where we hung out for most of the 100 degree day. We returned to the hostel, hanging out with other guests and slowly adding to our group before all going to dinner at the same restaurant, this time having a coupon for free shots and dessert! We return to the hostel to find Frenchie very drunk. Although she was in a different room, she wanted her own air conditioning unit off, even though it was still quite hot out. She came into our room three or four times to steal our remote and try and turn off her air conditioning unit. After an hour or so, the owner was yelling at her to go to bed or she would call the police. Eventually she must of gone to bed. But she was very dramatic.

Friday

I woke up at 6am to catch a train to Sarajevo. As I'm getting ready, Frenchie knocks on the bathroom door, then as she leaves asks if I'm cooking in the kitchen right there. She was an odd one. The train to Sarajevo was beautiful, just as everyone had said. I arrive very early and am able to get into my hostel, which has a giant, friendly yellow lab that greets you everytime you come in. I drop my things and go on the free walking tour learning all about the Serbian siege of Sarajevo from 1992-1995, the ruling by the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. I met some nice Brits on the tour and an Argentinean guy and we all got lunch together. The guy and I went to the Genocide Museum and then split up. I met up with the Brits in the evening for a couple drinks, but then threw up in a bathroom before enjoying one drink. I think the lunch did not agree with my stomach. I went home and ended up throwing up three times in a couple hours. My hostel mate from Kyrgyzstan tried to give me a hot dog. I refused.

Saturday

I woke up in the morning not feeling great but determined to make it to the abandoned bobsled track from the 1984 Olympic Games, even if it meant taking all day to get there. I made it up the gondola with two guys who happened to have just graduated from University of Chicago. We explored the bobsled track and ran into the British girls I knew. We walked all the way down and spent a couple hours exploring the town. The guys went to another museum and I went back to rest, still not feeling great. By evening, I went out to find a print store to print my bus ticket for the morning and spend the rest of my Bosnian Marks. I had two marks left, and with a little bit of an appetite left bought some corn on the cob from a street vendor for exactly two marks. It was delicious. In the morning, I got on a 6am bus to Belgrade.

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aftermyshahada-blog · 8 years ago

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Sharia Law

A Jewish friend of mine asked me yesterday about Sharia law; now that I am Muslim, he wanted to know exactly what Sharia law was. He didn't understand how I could possibly adhere to Sharia Law if I am an American and live in the United States and the USA is a democracy with its own legal system. Because his questions were excellent, I am going to share with you what I shared with him.

Now, I am not an expert, but I am going to explain this the best that I possibly can. If my explanation is simple and it seems as though I am speaking to a child, I apologize. I am just trying to explain in in the clearest way possible because I know there are tons of misconceptions about Sharia.

What Exactly Is Sharia Law?

First of all, don't think of Sharia as an actual legal system (especially here in America).

Sharia is Arabic for "path"; as in a path to be followed. Muslims use the Quran and Sunnah as their two sources of guidance in their daily lives.

I am going to break down/elaborate a little bit more.

Sharia comes from the Quran (literal word of God) and the Sunnah (the divinely guided tradition of Prophet Muhammad).

Does that make sense?

Sunnah means "method" or "way"; as in method or way of living. Hadith is part of the Sunnah. Hadith are a collection of traditions containing sayings of the prophet Muhammad, and Sunnah are a collection of the accounts of his daily practices. Even more simply put: Sharia Law come from the Quran, as well as two bodies of collection of the words, actions, and habits of the Islamic prophet Muhammad

Interpretation of Shariah is called fiqa. Because fiqa is man-made, it can be changed. Some Muslims (but not all Muslims) believe that Shariah is divine and cannot be changed.

There are some Muslims (but not all Muslims) that use the term Sharia to mean both the injunctions in the Quran and Sunnah, as well as the interpretation of the Quran and Sunnah.

What Does Sharia Law Cover?

Many people think of Sharia as a type of legal system, but it is really not a legal system at all.

Basically, Sharia covers topics related to morals and daily life. There are three components to Sharia law: belief, character, and actions.

Most of Sharia does not even literally relate to law. In fact, only about 80 of the Quran's 6,236 verses are about specific legal injunctions.

The "belief" component of Sharia says that Muslims must believe in God, the angels, prophets, revelation, and a few other metaphysical and physical aspects of the faith.

In terms of "character", Sharia says that Muslims should strive for traits like humility and kindness, and avoid traits such as lying and pride.

"Actions" include those relating to God, such as prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage, as well as actions relating to other humans, such as marriage, crime, and business.

So really, some actions relating to other humans can be regulated by the state or country, which actions relating to God (as well as belief and character) are between an individual and God. Nevertheless, there are some Muslim-majority countries that have criminalized violations of the belief, character, and action components of Sharia.

Who Is Qualified to Issue Rulings on Sharia?

After the 10th century, the core components of Sharia began to be exhaustively debated. To this day, it continues to be debated. We have to look at Sharia with critical eyes. Sometimes new interpretations of Sharia are expressed in fatwas (religious edicts) and legal opinions.

Jurists (known as "fuqahaa") interpret Sharia by looking at the practicality of both time and place regarding how a ruling can be applied. In places and countries that Sharia has official status, it is interpreted by judges known as "qadis". Fiqh interpretations divide human behavior into five categories: obligatory, recommended, neutral, discouraged, and forbidden.

Where Is Sharia the Law of the Land?

There are classical Sharia systems, secular Sharia systems, and mixed Sharia systems.

In countries like Egypt, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Malaysia, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates, a classical Sharia system is used. Shariah has official status or a very high degree of influence on the actual legal system. It can cover family law and criminal law. In some of these countries it may also include influence on personal beliefs, and have penalties for apostasy, blasphemy, and not praying.

In Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Syria, there is a mixed system of Sharia. This is the most common type of Sharia system. It covers family law, while secular courts cover everything else.

There are some Muslim-majority countries where Sharia plays no role: Chad, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Albania, Kosovo, and Turkey.

Some countries like Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, India, Israel, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the United Kingdom have Islamic family law courts available for their Muslim minorities.

In the United States, there are no Islamic courts, but occasionally judges have to consider Islamic law in their decisions. For example, a judge may have to recognize the validity of an Islamic marriage contract from a Muslim country in order to grant a divorce in America.

Many Muslims and Islamic scholars argue that true Islamic belief cannot be coerced by the state and therefore belief in Sharia should only come from the individual and not be codified by the state.

Does Sharia Prescribe Harsh Punishments like Stoning Adulterers?

Yes, but these punishments are often taken out of context, abrogated, or require a near-impossible level of evidence to actually be carried out. For someone to be convicted of adultery, for example, there have to be four witnesses to the act, which is rare. The Quran also says something about amputating the hands of thieves, but not if the thief has repented and apologized.

Many Muslims and Islamic scholars say that such a punishment system can only be instituted in a society of high moral standards and where everyone's needs are met. In such a society, the thinking goes, corporal punishments would be rarely needed.

And with that being said, corporal punishments have been used by Islamic militant groups and extremists in places like Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, and Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

But again, harsh punishments as portrayed in the media are truly not what Sharia Law is even about.

That's the gist of it

The Pew Research Center did a study (here) that concluded that most Americans are remarkably uneducated about Islam. Muslims were the only group of religious people in the study to be perceived more negatively than atheists, which is amusing because how can you hate something that you know nothing about? So, if Americans are uneducated about Islam, then it is really no surprise that they are just as confused and ignorant about Sharia Law. I am so glad my friend asked me this question and encouraged me to address it in my blog. Thank you for reading, liking, and reblogging. I hope that this serves as a very educational piece :)

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hearteyesdiaz · 4 months ago

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When you don't realize how drunk you are until you're sitting down to pee

#the world tolted help #i met someone from Kyrgyzstan!!

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charllieeldridge · 4 years ago

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5 Steps We Took to Reach Location Independence (+Tips For You)

In this article, I’m going to share the 5 steps we personally took to go from budget backpackers with no jobs, to fully location independent business owners — while learning a variety of useful skills along the way.

It’s been 8 years since we became location independent, and we’re incredibly grateful that we took the leap into a life of remote work and financial independence back when we did.

It seems that now in 2020, remote work is becoming the norm rather than the exception.

These days, more than ever, it’s imperative to have financial freedom and the ability to work from anywhere in the world. I hope this information gives you some tips and ideas while shedding a little light on the current climate of remote work.

This is our story and our experience, with actionable steps and information to help you on your journey as well!

Us in the Philippines in 2012 – we’ve come a long way since then!

1. Teaching a Language

Changing someone’s life by showing them the gift of language is a very rewarding feeling.

For us, that language was English, but you could teach your native tongue as well. There are many companies that you can teach online (some, you don’t need a Bachelor’s Degree).

Volunteering

Our first teaching experience came when we were in the Southeast Asian country of Laos in 2009. At a cafe, we saw an ad posted for volunteer work and jumped at the opportunity.

In between exploring the historic city of Luang Prabang in the morning and wandering the vibrant night markets in the evening, we would sit with children and teenagers and help them with their English conversational skills — through chatting and reading books.

Where our love for teaching started! Us in Laos 2009 reading and speaking with teenagers to improve their English.

The second experience was when we were in Myanmar in 2012. We met up with a small group from Taiwan who were there to teach English to the children in a rural village near Hsipaw.

They welcomed us to join, and the next 7 days were spent in the village teaching everyday vocabulary words to our students through physical objects, drawings, games, and songs.

Teaching in our makeshift classroom in rural Myanmar – one of the best weeks of our lives.

Evenings were spent dining with the villagers while enjoying the homecooked meals they prepared for us.

The lessons took place on a tarp on the dirt ground, with pigs and chickens roaming through the classroom. The excitement, interest, and giggles from the Burmese children were priceless.

Those two volunteer jobs that we took on really gave us a love for teaching. Aside from travelling, this became our new passion. But, in order to live and travel around the world, we needed to earn an income from this profession.

So, we moved to China in June 2012 and got a job in a private school.

Dinnertime in the village in Myanmar. So much fun preparing food, and it was delicious!

Teaching English and Living in China

Yangzhou, China would be our home for one year while we taught children aged 4 – 16. By actually moving to China rather than teaching online, we were able to be fully immersed in the culture and made many lifelong friends along the way.

Finally, we were earning an income, and returning to our home in Canada for work wasn’t necessary.

At the time, we were able to make around $1,400 per month each from working 20 hours a week. Housing, healthcare, taxi costs, flights to and from China, a year-end bonus of $1,000, and our TEFL certification were included in our contract.

We were happy with the position and enjoyed our year in Yangzhou! Teaching English really was the catalyst that sparked our life of fulltime travel and remote work, and we’re forever grateful that we decided to give it a try.

Having fun with some of my students in class in Yangzhou, China

Actionable Steps to Take

These days, teaching online (rather than in-country) is a much more common way to teach. With many schools, you can work from your laptop, while living anywhere in the world.

Teach students from your villa in Bali, or your house in the USA, it’s up to you!

If you want to move abroad and have a more immersed cultural and teaching experience, you’ll want to make sure you get your TEFL certification through a company that offers job placement and assistance.

There are many reasons to get TEFL certified, but knowing you’ll receive help with finding work is a big one.

Here are some of our best teaching posts to get you started:

7 Best Online TEFL Courses For Aspiring English Teachers

10 Best Companies To Teach English Online

Teach English Online Without a Degree: 10 Companies That Pay

If you’d like to learn more, have a look at our teacher interview series:

Teaching English in China and Cambodia (and online!)

Teaching English in Nanjing, China

Teaching English Online While Living in the USA

2. Starting a Website

Creating this website was the best thing we ever did.

As teachers, we worked for someone else, but by becoming digital marketers, travel bloggers, and content creators, we’ve been able to generate income through our own sources and be our own boss.

Starting Goats On The Road

Back in 2012, we read an article from a fellow blogger who said he was earning around $2,500/month from his travel blog. To us, this was a lot of money and we couldn’t believe it was possible to earn an income from sharing travel stories!

We bought the domain name, www.goatsontheroad.com, while travelling in the Philippines, but it wasn’t until a few months later when we were teaching in China, that we used much of our free time to actually build up the website.

The first photo we have of blogging! 2012 in El Nido, Philippines

We shared musings from the road, information on how people could travel to the places we had been, and photos and blog posts on what it was like living and teaching in Yangzhou.

Goats On The Road is our baby and our flagship site. Everything (well, almost everything!) that we’ve gone through in our lives since 2012 has been written about here. As our travel style and lifestyle has evolved, and as we’ve grown, so too has this website.

Earning an Income Through Blogging

We earned our first money in 2013, and from there, this website has grown to be one of the top travel blogs online, with a large and loyal readership.

There has been a wide variety of ways that we’ve diversified our income streams through blogging. Our most profitable ones are affiliate marketing through SEO, in-content advertising, sale of digital products that we’ve created ourselves, and press trip opportunities.

One of the coolest press trips we’ve had – creating a new trekking route in Kyrgyzstan

We’ve been fortunate to earn enough money from this website to travel full time, live abroad, and save money for our future. We’re proud of the business we’ve created and are grateful for the continued support from our “Tribe” (that’s you!).

Actionable Steps To Take

Think of a topic that you’re knowledgable and passionate about. Are you into fashion and beauty? Cooking and meal prep? Tech? Animals? Golf?

If so, start a website around that topic and share your useful, first-hand information with the world — while earning an income along the way.

Do you have a skill that you want to turn into a business — construction, landscaping, pet sitting, hair styling? If so, you’ll want to start a basic website to show what you can offer to your clients.

Many people think that having a website is simply for blogging and telling stories, but as you can see, that’s not the case!

One of the many blogging offices we’ve had

If you’re interested in starting a website today (in any genre), you can get your website up and running in around 10 minutes. If you use this link, you’ll receive our Beginner Blogger Course, and blogging tips ebook for free.

By starting a website and creating content in the way that the course outlines, you’ll see an audience grow over time and you can earn money from your site in as little as just a few months (as Nick has proven with his newest website).

3. House Sitting & Pet Sitting

Can you imagine living in a penthouse in New York City, on a vineyard in Italy, or a beachfront bungalow in the Caribbean? Well, it’s possible through house and pet sitting, and those are all job opportunities that we’ve personally received!

Our Experience House Sitting and Pet Sitting

While we were on the road, we started to hear about house sitting but didn’t really think much of it. After our teaching contract in China was up in July 2013, we travelled on the Trans Mongolian and Trans Siberian Railway into Central Asia and Iran.

We weren’t sure what to do when that 5-month trip was over. So, we set up our house sitting profile with Trusted Housesitters and crossed our fingers.

Sunset in the Kaluts of Iran. We set up our housesitting profile during this trip

Within a week, we had received an offer to “Take care of a Divine Dog in the Caribbean”. We took the job and spent a good portion of 2014 in Grenada. And yes, he was the most divine dog.

Since then, we’ve taken care of dogs in Barbados, Grenada, and Costa Rica, while enjoying free accommodation and wonderful experiences along the way.

While we haven’t utilized the house sitting platform since 2016, it was a great way to supplement our income when we were getting Goats On The Road off the ground.

The best part, however, was being able to have a pet for a while — something that isn’t conducive to our nomadic lifestyle.

The diving dog, Spare. So many adventures with this sweet boy.

Why House Sitting?

When a homeowner goes away for a holiday or other reasons, they need someone to take care of their beloved fur baby and property. Most of the time there is an animal included in the job, but there are some cases where you’ll just be there to take care of the home.

In exchange for loving and caring for the pet(s), you’ll receive free accommodation in the owner’s home. Depending on the job, you may also receive a vehicle for you to use and payment.

The perks of this job are endless. Live and travel around the world for free while fully immersing yourself in the country and living like a local, rather than a tourist.

And, of course, enjoy the company of a furry friend!

One of our house sitting jobs in the Caribbean

Actionable Steps to Take

If you love animals, travelling around and are a responsible individual, then house and pet sitting may be right for you. Not all gigs are in exotic, tropical destinations — many are in the UK, USA, Australia, and Canada.

Create your house sitting profile with all of the required information (and video). The homeowners will contact you, or you can reach out and apply for the job.

We’ve always utilized Trusted Housesitters for our gigs. Have a look at the current jobs on offer, and sign up here to receive the latest housesitting jobs directly in your email inbox.

4. Freelance Writing

A great way to make an income from writing is through freelance gigs — either in print or online. This is another one of the stepping stones we utilized along the way to earn an income remotely.

Our First Freelance Writing Jobs

During our first house sitting and pet sitting job in 2014, we were growing Goats On The Road. In order to get our name out there, we decided to reach out to a few online travel magazines and companies to see if we could share our travel stories with them.

Working from a hammock – not the most ergonomic, but Nick loved it

Our first freelance gig was with a well-known travel website where we received a twice-weekly column! We were over the moon. At the time, we earned $50 per article from them.

A couple of months after that freelance job, we received another consistent offer with a credit card and finance website. We wrote 4 posts a month for them while receiving $250 per article.

Our articles were also published in the Southeast Asia Backpacker Magazine, The Globe & Mail newspaper, and the Vancouver Sun newspaper in Canada. We were thrilled to see our names in print!

We received a few more writing jobs back then in 2014 and 2015 and for a while, we were writing 30 articles a month. This gave us a great income boost, and combined with house sitting, we were able to travel around Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Working with wine in the evening – had to get those freelance posts done!

Actionable Steps To Take

No matter what topics you’re interested in, there will be a company that you can write for. Freelance writing is a great way to promote your brand, gain links back to your website, and earn an income.

Of course, even if you don’t have your own website, you can still be a freelance writer.

We’ve compiled a list of the top websites that pay aspiring travel writers. The pay varies depending on the magazine (in print and online), but you can find a gig that pays upwards of $4,000!

Another great way to find writing opportunities (on a variety of topics), is through the company called Solid Gigs. They siphon through all the online freelance job boards and only send you the top 1% legitimate, well-paid gigs to your inbox each week. To find out more, click here and use promo code GOATS2 to receive the first month for just $2.

Finally, you could sign up for Upwork and see what sort of writing jobs are available on that platform.

5. Creating Digital Products

Why not create a product that you own and can sell to your audience? Work hard to create a useful digital product, and reap the benefits of selling it for years afterward.

After a few years in the blogging world, we started to realize that we were quite knowledgable on the topic and that we were able to quickly and easily grow and monetize websites.

So, we decided to teach new bloggers how to start a website, and how to then turn that website into a profitable business. We created digital products to share with our audience to ultimately help them on their path to blogging success.

Nick working on his course for Goats On The Road

The eBooks

First, we started with what seemed easiest at the time, an online book. Ebooks were really popular (and still are), but even more so back when we created them in 2016.

We chose to make our first ebook free for people who sign up for our weekly newsletter. It’s titled: 101 Ways to Earn Money and Pay For Travel and you can still get it for free if you sign-up.

That was our first ebook and once we got the hang of it, Nick decided to put all of our best blogging tips together into one place. The second ebook is titled: “The Absolute Best Blogging Tips: Advice For Making Money From Your Blog”.

Initially, we were selling that ebook on Amazon, but since then, we’ve changed and it’s now available on our site for $4.99.

Online Courses

From ebooks to online training! We kicked it up a notch and went from writing to video. Virtual courses and training are much more interesting, and valuable for students.

We remember all too well the mistakes we made when we first started our website in 2012. Our Beginner’s Blogger Course aims to help bloggers and website owners start their sites quickly, and correctly. We wish this was available when we started out!

It took a while to get it “right” and to figure out how to do a video course vs. just a simple ebook.

Nick updates the course from time to time to keep it current, and ultimately, it’s been our top product to date. We offer the course for free when people start a website through our link. Or, we also sell if for $69.

Start a website through our link, get a discount on hosting, and our course and ebook for free

The second video course is more advanced. Once you have your website up and running, you’ll want to take it to the next level by learning how to monetize it and have your content seen. The best way to do this is through search engine optimization (SEO).

Nick created an actionable, useful digital course and has received amazing feedback from his students! Check out the free 1-hour mini-training, to see if it’s right for you.

Actionable Steps to Take

If you feel comfortable on camera and are somewhat savvy when it comes to computers and all things digital, then I recommend skipping the ebook stage and heading straight for online course creation. It’s more lucrative as well.

But, if you feel you want to ease into creating digital products by making an ebook first (like we did), then I recommend Canva. It’s free, easy to use and there are quite a few graphics and design options available to make a nice book.

When it comes to online courses, we use and recommend the program Teachable. It’s easy for you as the course creator to set up, upload your content, and manage. And, it’s really simple for the course students to navigate as well.

Create your own digital products and give yourself the freedom to work from anywhere in the world…such as Argentina.

Initially, we had a membership plugin attached to Goats On The Road. It was very difficult to set up, and in the end, it wasn’t compatible with our website and we had so many issues! Stick to Teachable and save yourself the headache and to keep your own website running fast and smooth.

In Conclusion

There you have it! The past 8 years of our lives in a nutshell. I hope you found our story and the steps we’ve taken to get to this point in our lives useful and inspiring.

As you can see, our journey to location independence started long before the creation of this website. Every step of the way we’ve learned something new, been inspired to try another creative outlet, and have always followed our Personal Legend and the path of least resistance.

Thanks for reading and being a part of our Tribe!

If you’re searching for ways to work remotely and become more financially and location independent, give some (or all!) of the ideas in this article a try. You never know what you may discover. As always, thank you for reading.

The post 5 Steps We Took to Reach Location Independence (+Tips For You) appeared first on Goats On The Road.

5 Steps We Took to Reach Location Independence (+Tips For You) published first on https://travelaspire.weebly.com/

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superhollywall · 4 years ago

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Everyday people

Sky Taing was only seven years old when, at the height of the Cambodian Civil War, the Khmer Rouge stormed his village, separated him from his parents, blindfolded him, and drove them to the countryside where they were forced into slave labor. There he planted rice and cut trees with his brother and other children five to 10 years old. At night he would sneak out to where his mother was being held—when he was caught, the soldiers would whip his hands with sticks. He was eight the last time he saw his father.

"He and some other men tried to escape," Taing remembered. "I don’t think they ever made it because I tried to find him after."

His father’s attempt turned his family into "the enemy," and they were taken to the killing fields, Taing said. "The day they intended to kill us, the Vietnamese army took over our camp and we were set free." The journey to refuge was long and treacherous, taking them back to their home village and through ghost towns where war had either driven people out or left them dead.

"We began to find comfort in dead bodies because we knew the Vietnamese had already been there," Taing said.

Taing and his family eventually made it to a refugee camp in Thailand and were later sponsored by a Christian group in San Diego and brought to the United States. Of Chinese descent but born in Cambodia, Taing was 11 when he came to America and in fourth grade when he started school for the first time. As an adult, he studied seminary in Dallas and, after marrying his wife, moved to China to aid persecuted Christians.

Now living in Tulsa, Taing was one of the human "books" available for check-out at the most recent Human Library Tulsa event on Jan. 20 at Gilcrease Museum.

Human Library Tulsa was founded by Steve Denton and Lily Owens, who met as classmates of Thrive Tulsa, a program of Leadership Tulsa that aims to improve participants’ leadership skills while also helping them hone and develop a social change project they can implement in Tulsa.

Owens is a stay-at-home mom and writer. She has written a series of children’s books based on 90s hip hop hits and volunteers with Poetic Justice, which uses poetry to help incarcerated women find their voice and tell their stories. Owens was looking for an opportunity to bring the concept of Poetic Justice to a broader, public audience.

Denton, Director of New Student Programs and Services at the University of Tulsa, wanted to find a way to make Tulsa a more empathetic city. "Empathizing with someone doesn’t mean you have to give up something like your convictions, your ideas, or beliefs," he said. "It simply means that you are seeking to understand what it is like to be in their shoes or understand their perspective or view of reality whether or not you agree with them."

Denton has seen the power of connection to change your opinion of something, someplace, or someone—most notably by developing a relationship with a homeless man he met through charity work. Now that person has become like a grandfather to his daughter, Denton said.

Denton found the Human Library online, and thought it could be a vehicle for empathy. Owens loved that it did that by encouraging people to tell their stories.

Founded in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2000 at the Roskilde Festival, the Human Library offered 50 different human "books," available eight hours a day for four days straight. To check out the books, readers simply approach one and begin asking questions.

"The idea is to bring people together to hear other people’s stories—people who are potentially different from you," Owens said. "So you have human books, which are the people, and they tell their stories. They pick their own titles, and that’s typically what they want to talk about. You have them all in one room, and people go in and say, ‘I want to check out that book.’ And you would sit with them for 15 minutes and ask questions.

"But for 15 minutes you’re able to have conversations and break down barriers and presumptions you may have had. That’s the concept—building community and a better understanding between people you might think you know, but have never actually sat down and had a conversation with."

The first Human Library Tulsa event was last September during 918 Day, a citywide scavenger hunt hosted by the Mayor’s Office. Different books were stationed at locations throughout Tulsa, each with a diverse story that represented their own unique culture, as well as the part of the city they represented.

Most recently, Human Library Tulsa had a selection of books available at Gilcrease Museum’s Funday Sunday, a monthly free event for families. The January event was inspired by the museum’s ongoing exhibition, "Americans All!," which draws from its permanent collection to showcase works by American immigrants and their contributions to the country.

In addition to Taing, whose title was "Finding Refuge: Escape from Cambodia," other books included: "Kyrgyzstan: Communist by Upbringing but Capitalist by Heart" by Nasiba Chaboya; "A New Identity: Indian, Tswana, or Tulsan?" By Ipe Paramel; "More than Undocumented" by Valeria Linares Gomez; and "Living the American Dream: A Venezuelan in the USA" by Frank Kiulkaitis.

Human Library Tulsa provided readers with a list of titles as well as suggested questions intended to help readers and their books break the ice and gain a better understanding of one another.

"Most people feel like they’re empathetic or feel like they’re understanding, but until they’ve actually met somebody who deals with that issue that they’ve been charitable about, like my story working with the homeless—here I show up thinking I’m doing a good thing, passing out food, and suddenly I’m in a relationship—and my daughter’s in a relationship—with this guy," Denton said. "It’s like, I had no idea. I just had my own perceptions when I saw a homeless person.

"We’re so quick to make judgments; this is about, how can we create a pause? When you sit in front of another person, it creates a pause."

Owens and Denton say they’re working with local art galleries and nonprofits to schedule more Human Library Tulsa events, and they’re also in talks with Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences to create a Human Library at their school with a focus on breaking down stereotypes in order to stop bullying.

"We want to create space where people can grow in empathy," Denton said.

Originally published in The Tulsa Voice on Feb. 6, 2019. Read it here.

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topfygad · 5 years ago

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Kyrgyzstan – Tajikistan border crossing at Kyzyl Art Pass

At 4,280 meters above sea level, the Kyrgyzstan – Tajikistan border crossing at Kyzyl Art Pass is one of the highest and most stunning border crossings in the world, as it goes along the M-41, more popularly known as the Pamir Highway, one of the most epic road trips on Earth.

Surprisingly, crossing it is pretty easy but there are some important things you need to know regarding transportation and other stuff.

For more information about these 2 countries, read:

75 Tips for traveling to Kyrgyzstan A guide for traveling to Tajikistan

Index:

Things you need to know before crossing the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border Kyzyl Art Pass location Transportation – How to cross the border? From Sary Tash to Karakul – Kyzyl Art Pass journey report

Remember to have proper travel insurance for both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. I recommend you read: how to find the right insurance for backpackers

Crossing the Kyzyl Art Pass – Things you need to know

You need a Tajik visa – a Tajikistan visa is not available on arrival. You can get it online or apply for it at any embassy. I got mine in Bishkek. For more information, read: How to get a Tajikistan visa

And also your GBAO Permit – Kyzyl Art Pass is the gate to Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, an autonomous region in Tajikistan for which you need an especial permit.

There is no public transport – No public buses or marshrutkas enter Tajikistan and vice-versa. Instead, you will have to go by shared local taxi or in your own vehicle.

Get some Tajik SOMONI in Osh – If you enter from Kyrgyzstan, you should get a couple of TJS in Osh. In my experience, banks don’t have SOMONI, so you’ll have to exchange at the stalls located next to the bus station to Sary Tash.

Buy snacks and water – Between Sary Tash and Karakul there are no towns or shops where you can get food.

Don’t give money to the authorities – If your visa is in order, you don’t have to pay anything extra to the authorities. Occasionally, especially on the Tajikistan side, the policemen will make up any story, like you need a health certificate or something like that, in order to get money from you. It’s a complete scam so you must say NO. If you stay firm, they will let you go.

Read: Backpacking in Kyrgyzstan, the ultimate itinerary

A Marco Polo sheep statue in the Kyzyl Art pass – No man’s land

Kyzyl Art Pass – Border location

Kyzyl Art pass is located in the most southern part of the country, very close to Irkeshtam Pass, the Kyrgyzstan-China border

Sary-Tash �� Closest town to the border on the Kyrgyzstan side.

Karakul – Closest town to the border on the Tajikistan side.

Transportation – How to cross the border?

Shared local taxi

There are local shared taxis ”almost” every day connecting both countries but, unfortunately, they only run from Osh (Kyrgyz city) to Murghab (Tajik town) and vice-versa.

It’s possible to get one in Sary-Tash and get off in Karakul, but you will have to pay the whole journey, from Osh to Murghab.

How to get the shared taxi from Osh to Murghab – The shared local taxis to Tajikistan don’t run regularly and timings vary and change every day, as it depends on how many people want to cross the border on that day.

Furthermore, there is no ”taxi station” for Tajikistan, which means that you’ll need a local contact. Luckily, there are several people who can arrange it for you.

First of all, I recommend you contact Ibrahim, a taxi driver from Murghab who does this journey a few times a week. He is the only man who charges the local price to tourists, which is 2,000KGS ($30).

He speaks English, so call him at 0778790365 and ask him when is he planning to cross. Additionally, if you can’t go with him, Osh Guest House can also organize a shared taxi for you.

However, they will charge you 2,500KGS ($37), meaning that they get a 500KGS commission. If you are in Sary-Tash or Sary-Mogol, CBT Sary-Mogol can arrange it but they will also charge 2,500KGS, although they can tell the driver to pick you up in Sary-Tash, instead of Osh, no problem.

Read: A guide to the Pamir Highway

Kyrgyzstan side

Hitchhiking

If you have time, hitchhiking is also possible. For this, you would first need to go to Sary-Tash.

If you go there by public transportation from Osh (185km), marshrutkas run until 2pm and they cost 350KGS ($5).

It’s a 3 to 4-hour journey. After 2pm, it’s also possible to go there by local shared taxi but it will be more expensive.

In Sary Tash, go to the intersection that leads to Tajikistan and wait there until someone picks you up.

You are most likely to hitchhike on a Chinese truck, as local cars tend to be full and, sadly, many tourists won’t want to pick you up. Just be patient!

By the way, most truck drivers may expect a little money.

Own vehicle

Of course, the easiest and most enjoyable way would be to go there on your own vehicle. Please note that if you go in your own car, with a foreign license plate, you may have to wait at the border for longer.

Cycling

I am not a cyclist but, throughout my journey along the Pamir Highway, I met several cyclists who told me their story.

You can’t go from Sary-Tash to Karakul in one day and you’ll need to camp in no man’s land. Remember to bring loads of water.

Read: The highest border crossing in the world: China to Pakistan

The road between the two borders – No man’s land

From Sary Tash to Karakul – Kyzylart Pass journey report

Here’s a just a short report of the journey from Sary-Tash to Karakul, which is a small part of the M-41 (Pamir Highway).

Find here the ultimate guide to travel the Pamir Highway

From Sary Tash to the border (44km)

This is one of the most scenic roads in Kyrgyzstan. Before arriving in Sary Tash, you pass Teo Morun, a 3,500m mountain pass from where you get stunning views of the Alay Valley.

In Sary Tash, there is a gas station, as well as a few shops and restaurants, so it’s a great place to stay have a break or spend the night.

After Sary Tash, you will cross the Alay Valley, a magnificent, dreamy plain.

After the valley, you reach the Kyzylart Pass, so the border.

Kyrgyz desolated border and customs

Kyrgyz border – No man’s land – Tajik border (Kyzyl Art Pass)

Kyrgyz side – We just had to get from of our car and got our exit stamp very quickly.

No man’s land – No man’s land goes through the Kyzylart pass and it’s frankly spectacular.

Tajik border – We didn’t even get out of the car. They checked that our visas were valid and, in a couple of minutes, we were good to go.

From the border to Karakol (50km)

A pleasant and stunning part of the Pamir Highway. In my opinion, the best part of the M-41 on the Tajik side.

For more information, I strongly recommend you read my Guide to the Pamir Highway

Tajikistan customs and border

More information

For more information, including an itinerary, transportation along the Pamir Highway, safety, accommodation, etc., don’t forget to check my guide to the Pamir Highway.

Also, read:

A guide for traveling to Tajikistan Trekking in the Fann Mountains Between Afghanistan and Tajikistan – A guide to the Wakhan Valley Trekking in Kyrgyzstan, a beginner’s guide 75 Tips for traveling to Kyrgyzstan Backpacking in Kyrgyzstan – 1-month itinerary

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tamboradventure · 5 years ago

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How to Explore Tajikistan on a Budget

Posted: 02/10/20 | February 10th, 2020

This year, I’m going to try to visit Central Asia in the fall. I’ve never been to the region and it’s long one that’s held great appeal to me. It seems raw, beautiful, and unspoiled. So, when someone reached out to write a guest post on a country there, I was excited. It was a chance to learn a little before I (hopefully) go. In this guest post, traveler and writer Paul McDougal breaks down what it’s like to travel Tajikistan on a budget.

Aptly and romantically known as “The Roof of the World,” Tajikistan is a hikers’ paradise. More than 93% of the country is defined as mountainous — and more than 50% of that sits at over 3,000 meters (9,800 feet)! It’s a striking country, full of glacial peaks and mountain lakes that are best for multiday hikes (but equally astounding on short jaunts too).

Traveling around Tajikistan requires a sense of adventure, as the nation is also dotted with poor-quality roads, rudimentary facilities, and a massive lack of infrastructure. But, after spending almost a month there, I learned that it’s easy and affordable to get around these problems with a smile and a shrug.

Many tourists spend more money than necessary when in Tajikistan. Most do so on an organized tour, which is why there’s a prevailing — and inaccurate — idea that it’s expensive to visit the country. A ten-day organized tour booked online can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $3,500 USD, equivalent to a hefty $150-350 a day.

But if you travel independently, you can easily navigate this country for about $45 USD per day.

So, how do you see Tajikistan on a budget? Here’s how:

Transportation

Instead of booking a tour through an online agent, you have four much more affordable ways to get around to choose from:

1. Find a multiday driver when you arrive Hostels and guesthouses can put you in contact with local drivers, with whom you can negotiate your own rate, itinerary, and trip length. Typically, travelers spend $50-100 per day per person for this. The better your negotiation skills (and the more stubborn you are), the greater the chance you’ll get a driver for closer to $50 a day.

Drivers can be found in Murghab, Khorog, Dushanbe, and other larger places. If you’re traveling the Pamir Highway (like pretty much everyone else in Tajikistan), you can also find drivers in Kyrgyzstan’s second-biggest city, Osh.

2. Hire a 4WD yourself This typically costs around $100 per day for the vehicle, so if you’re traveling with a few people, this is a great choice. It gives you freedom and it’s good for your budget!

It’s very easy to organize this upon arrival. All hotels, hostels, and guesthouses in both Osh and Dushanbe can put you into contact with agencies that can arrange 4WD rentals. Don’t arrange this online, unless you want to spend more money.

3. Public transport Long-distance public transport doesn’t really exist in Tajikistan. However, enterprising locals have filled this gap in a very affordable way. Every day, before they travel from one city or town to another to go about their daily business, they always ensure that every single spot in their vehicle is filled.

To find these travel opportunities, ask your guesthouse where “the bus station” is. They’ll direct you to a car-crammed area (usually near a market) where there will be drivers waiting to fill their cars. Using this method, it’s not unusual to end up squashed into the back of an ancient car with four other people on a five-hour trip. These trips typically only costs around $10. And it’s a great way to immerse yourself in local life.

The price of the trip depends upon its length. The most I paid was for any single trip was $35 USD for a 12-hour, 600-mile voyage from Khorog to Dushanbe. And that was in a 4WD.

A quick side note: If you’re traveling within a city or town, there are many small minibuses (marshrutkas) that can take you from one destination to another along prescribed routes for the measly price of around $0.20 USD. But along those routes, they’ll stop anywhere to take on new passengers and drop off others. And I mean anywhere: houses, outdoor markets, the middle of busy roads — it’s all fair game.

4. Hitchhiking For the vast majority of my trips in Tajikistan, I hitchhiked. Local people hitchhike in Tajikistan every single day — it’s a valid, recognized method of transport here as not every has a car and, as mentioned above, public transportation is scarce.

When you hitchhike in Tajikistan, don’t stick out your thumb. Keep your stretched-out hand parallel to the ground and wave it up and down. Depending on where you’re hitchhiking, you will probably have to wait a while — on some barren stretches of road, you might wait thirty minutes to see one car. But, if that car has an empty spot, it will stop and take you without fail. (You might have to pay a little money.)

I experienced nothing but positivity and warmth doing this. People were happy to take me and introduced me to all sorts of Tajik food, drinks, and music. It’s not unusual for those who pick you up to offer you snacks, buy you a meal, or take you to their home. I always offered money in return for these treats, but it was never accepted.

Accommodation

1. Guesthouses In any town or city, you’ll see houses with the word “guesthouse” written on them. Go inside one and strike a deal. It’s the easiest and most affordable accommodation, the perfect way to save money and have a better experience. You’ll be given great food and an even greater welcome.

Throughout Tajikistan, local people will let you stay in their home for around $10-15 a night. This usually will cover breakfast and dinner too. You can negotiate lunch for a little more if you like — or you can eat elsewhere. Most guesthouses offer much the same welcome and much the same food, so it doesn’t really matter which you choose.

Often, if you’re in a car with Tajiks (whether through hitchhiking or other means), they’ll take you a guesthouse they know of. And it’ll usually be a good one so don’t be too worried about scams.

And even if you can’t find an official guesthouse, you’ll find a friendly local who’ll let you stay at their home for a small price.

2. Hotels and hostels These can be equally budget-friendly if you choose the right places. Some hotels are very expensive, but spots such as Pamir Hotel in Murghab offer affordable stays starting at around $15 USD a night. Some smaller towns such as Jelondy, a popular hot spring spot for locals, also offer hotel stays for around $10 USD. (Generally speaking, if a town is a popular vacation spot for Tajiks, there will be a cheap hotel.)

Hostels are a good cheap option in bigger towns and cities, and especially in Dushanbe. Green House Hostel in particular is a fantastic, affordable hub and is packed with travelers. It’s an excellent place to team up with others to save on transport costs.

3. Camping Your third option for accommodation is camping. In some ways, Tajikistan is very camper friendly. I’m not sure what the actual laws are on wild camping, but I’d be very surprised if any exist. Although I didn’t do so myself, I met many people who camped in the wild, and none of them encountered any trouble. You should, of course, follow the normal rules of wild camping: don’t camp in the same place for more than one night, don’t camp on private land without permission, and don’t camp in cities. You should also research whether there are any dangers in the particular area you’re keen to camp. But otherwise, you will not draw any attention, since camping is very well tolerated here.

Moreover, guesthouses and hotels will often let you pitch your tent on their land for only $2 or $3 USD.

Note: the harsh weather conditions can often make camping an unpleasant experience. Because much of Tajikistan lies at such a high elevation, the temperatures can be unpleasant and even dangerous — and the ground in some conditions can be too tough to push tent pegs into. So you should be careful when planning where you want to camp.

Food

Everyone gets sick in Tajikistan. I have the world’s strongest stomach, and even I got sick on three separate occasions. You should also wash your hands as much as possible and avoid putting them into your mouth after handling money. And don’t drink the tap water!

Hiking

here and follow his Instagram here for photography and scenes from the road.

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)

Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and that will save you time and money too!

The post How to Explore Tajikistan on a Budget appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

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bountyofbeads · 5 years ago

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How the impeachment inquiry has revealed a long and murky campaign to oust a veteran U.S. Ambassador

By Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger | Published November 14 at 8:21 PM ET | Washington Post | Posted November 15, 2019 |

In February, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine — a 33-year career diplomat who had served presidents of both parties — received a blunt warning.

“Watch your back,” Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch said she was told by Ukraine’s interior minister.

The Ukrainian official relayed that a pair of Florida businessmen and a Kyiv prosecutor with whom Yovanovitch had clashed were working to oust her from the post she had held since 2016, she later told House investigators.

The trio had a powerful ally, he added: President Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani.

“I thought it was exceedingly strange,” Yovanovitch said, according to a transcript of her closed-door testimony last month.

The impeachment inquiry has pulled back the curtain on a long and murky effort to engineer the ambassador’s removal — one driven by an array of figures whose motives are still not fully understood. They include a former U.S. congressman-turned-lobbyist, a then-sitting member of Congress and the two Giuliani associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who have since been charged with campaign finance crimes.

Yovanovitch’s public testimony Friday is expected to showcase how what appears to have begun as the personal crusade of private individuals became intertwined with efforts to use Ukraine to benefit Trump politically.

The attacks on the ambassador — and the fact that the president capitulated to the smear effort against her — led to widespread alarm among national security officials, several told Congress in recent weeks.

“She’d been subject to a pretty ruthless, nasty defamation to basically remove her from her place,” former National Security Council adviser Fiona Hill testified in her closed-door deposition last month.

“The most obvious explanation,” Hill testified, “seemed to be business dealings of individuals who wanted to improve their investment positions inside of Ukraine” as well as an effort “to deflect away from” findings that Russia had interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

Yovanovitch has said she knows little about the pressure the administration put on Ukraine to investigate Trump’s political opponents, much of which occurred after her departure from Kyiv, but her appearance Friday offers the possibility of a compelling emotional moment in the Democrats’ impeachment hearings.

The little-known diplomat has described how she was taken aback when conservative media began to advocate her removal in March and to spread her name on social media, where the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. called her “a joker.”

And she has said she was shocked and frightened when she read a rough transcript of Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, released in September, in which the U.S. president called her “bad news” and predicted she would “go through some things.”

'THE BEST OF THE BEST'

Born in Canada to parents who had fled the Soviet Union, Yovanovitch joined the Foreign Service after graduate school in 1986. Since then, she has served in seven countries, across the administrations of six American presidents, including as ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.

In May 2016, she was named ambassador to Ukraine by President Barack Obama and, this spring, the Trump administration asked her to extend her service there into 2020.

In testimony, colleagues vouched for Yovanovitch’s professionalism and expertise.

“The best of the best, in terms of a nonpartisan career official,” Hill testified, noting that it is rare for women to reach the upper ranks of the diplomatic corps. “I just see her as epitomizing what United States diplomacy should be.”

Top State Department official George Kent added that Yovanovitch was “someone who follows very [strictly] what is deemed proper and proprietary.”

In her post, Yovanovitch worked to advance U.S. interests by countering Russian aggression and backing new legal structures intended to root out long-standing corruption in Ukraine’s economy, she and others testified.

The mission earned her enemies, Kent told the House this week.

“You can’t promote principled anti-corruption action without pissing off corrupt people,” he said.

The first signs that forces were agitating to push her out came in 2017 or 2018.

It was then that veteran Foreign Service officer Catherine Croft received “multiple calls” from a prominent Republican lobbyist, former Louisiana congressman Bob Livingston, urging Yovanovitch’s firing, she told lawmakers.

At the time, Croft was detailed to the National Security Council and reported the curious calls to her superiors.

“He characterized Ambassador Yovanovitch as an ‘Obama holdover’ and associated [her] with George Soros,” the wealthy liberal donor, Croft said in a written statement provided to the committee. “It was not clear to me at the time — or now — at whose direction or at whose expense Mr. Livingston was seeking the removal of Ambassador Yovanovitch.”

Livingston did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Justice Department records show Livingston is registered as a lobbyist representing companies and organizations connected to Yulia Tymoshenko, a Ukrainian politician with energy investments, who has sought to regain political power in Ukraine since she lost her job as prime minister in 2010.

Jim Slattery, a Washington lawyer who represented Tymoshenko in the past, rejected the idea that his friend and former client would have sought the removal of Yovanovitch.

“I have no knowledge of her directing anyone to seek the removal of the ambassador and I am confident that, if she had, I would know,” he said, adding that Yovanovitch is “a competent and dedicated” diplomat who has commanded “enormous respect” across party lines.

Yovanovitch was also a topic of discussion at a small dinner for top Trump donors in a private suite of the Trump hotel in Washington attended by the president and Donald Trump Jr. on April 30, 2018.

In attendance were Parnas and Fruman, who had pledged a major donation to a pro-Trump super PAC. Last month, the two men were arrested at Dulles International Airport and charged with illegally funneling foreign money into U.S. campaign contribution. .They have pleaded not guilty.

According to federal prosecutors, Parnas and Fruman had also embarked on an effort to oust Yovanovitch at the request of an unidentified Ukrainian government official.

An attorney for Parnas, Joseph A. Bondy, has denied that claim and has said Parnas was not motivated by personal business interests. A lawyer for Fruman, Matt Blanche, declined to comment.

During the 2018 dinner, Parnas has told associates, he and Fruman told Trump that Yovanovitch was unfriendly to the president’s interests, people familiar with his account have said. Parnas claimed that Trump had an immediate and visceral reaction: He declared Yovanovitch should be fired.

Ten days later, Parnas was on Capitol Hill, meeting with then-Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.), according to photos he posted online. That same day, Sessions penned a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo complaining that Yovanovitch was biased against Trump, according to the indictment of Parnas and Fruman.

Sessions has said he did not “take any official action” as a result of his meeting with Parnas and sent the letter because he had come to believe Yovanovitch was bad-mouthing Trump abroad.

The letter played a significant role in spreading dissent about Yovanovitch in Washington. Giuliani has told The Post that it was Sessions who helped inspire Trump’s distrust for her.

Giuliani has said he was introduced to Parnas and Fruman by a mutual friend in the summer of 2018, and eventually collected $500,000 to advise a company Parnas started called Fraud Guarantee.

By early this year, Parnas and Fruman were also working with Giuliani on his efforts to dig up dirt on Democrats in Ukraine. They helped connect him to former Ukrainian officials who claimed their country had interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and that an investigation into former vice president Joe Biden’s son Hunter had been quashed.

DETERMINED ADVERSARIES

In so doing, the two men linked Giuliani up with some of Yovanovitch’s most determined Ukrainian adversaries.

One was Yuri Lutsenko, who had been appointed prosecutor-general in 2016. Yovanovitch testified that she had at first hoped Lutsenko would clean up the prosecutor’s office, but that he failed to do so.

By 2018, he was openly complaining about the ambassador and clashing with an independent anti-corruption bureau, known as NABU, which was set up in the aftermath of a 2014 pro-Europe uprising and that was supported by the United States and other Western allies.

Giuliani met with Lutsenko in New York in January to discuss the possibility that Ukraine would open a new investigation into the 2016 election or Burisma, an energy company whose board of directors included Hunter Biden, The Post previously reported.

Notes from Lutsenko’s meeting with Giuliani that were turned over the State Department’s inspector general and submitted to lawmakers show that Lutsenko also discussed Yovanovitch with Giuliani, accusing her of spending “money on good public relations for NABU.”

Giuliani’s displeasure with Yovanovitch appears to have mounted when State Department officials declined to issue a visa to another Ukrainian, a former prosecutor named Viktor Shokin, who wanted to travel to the United States to meet with him.

As vice president, Biden had pushed for the firing of Shokin, who U.S. and European officials believed was not sufficiently aggressive in pursuing corruption cases. Shokin has claimed that he was fired because his office was investigating Burisma and Biden’s son — a probe that anti-corruption activists and former officials said was actually dormant at the time.

The decision to deny Shokin a visa was made at the recommendation of career consular staff, Yovanovitch testified. Angered, Giuliani appealed the decision to the White House and senior State Department officials, she said.

Consular officials, she said, “held firm.” Shokin was forced to meet with Giuliani via Skype, rather than in person. In their conversation, Shokin claimed that Yovanovitch was “close to Biden,” Giuliani’s notes show.

Before his arrest, Parnas told The Post in September that Giuliani was upset by the episode and suggested that it contributed to Yovanovitch’s ouster. “That’s why I think the ambassador’s not there,” Parnas said.

By March, Parnas and Fruman were telling associates that Yovanovitch would soon be removed from her post, according to people who encountered them.

At an energy conference in Houston, they explained to a top official at Ukraine’s state-owned gas company that Yovanovitch stood in the way of their plans to broker gas deals in Kyiv, according to an American energy executive, Dale Perry, who spoke to the gas company executive soon afterward.

The agitation against Yovanovitch became public that same month, when conservative columnist John Solomon interviewed Lutsenko for the Hill. In the interview, Lutsenko alleged that Yovanovitch had given him a list of people he could not prosecute.

The State Department issued a statement calling the allegation an “outright fabrication.” and Lutsenko quickly recanted. Last month, he told the New York Times that his interview had been mistranslated.

Soon after The Hill column was published, Trump Jr. fanned the flames, retweeting another article calling for her removal and writing we need “less of these jokers as ambassadors.”

AN ABRUPT OUSTER

In late April, Yovanovitch testified she received a call to leave Kyiv “on the next plane” to meet with top State Department officials. The department’s No. 2 official at the time, John J. Sullivan, who has since been nominated to be the U.S. ambassador to Moscow, told her she was being recalled from her job in Kyiv because the president had lost trust in her.

“Although I understand that I served at the pleasure of the president, I was nevertheless incredulous that the U.S. government chose to remove an ambassador based, as best as I can tell, on unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives,” she told the House panel last month.

Veteran diplomat Michael McKinley, a top aide to Pompeo, testified that after the rough transcript of Trump’s call with Zelensky was released in September, he urged the secretary of state to issue a public statement in support of the ambassador.

When Pompeo didn’t respond, McKinley said he emailed other senior officials proposing a “strong and immediate statement of support for Ambassador Yovanovitch’s professionalism and courage.”

A few hours later, one of the recipients of McKinley’s email, a State Department spokesman, called to say that Pompeo had rejected the idea, citing a desire to protect Yovanovitch from “undue attention,” he testified.

McKinley resigned 12 days later. He told lawmakers he had no choice.

“Since I began my career in 1982, I have served my country and every president loyally,” he said. “Under current circumstances, however, I could no longer look the other way as colleagues are denied the professional support and respect they deserve.”

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Alice Crites contributed to this report.

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