Vegetarian restaurant owner

“My partner and I started the first vegan restaurant in Tarragona. We got a dog a few years ago. That made us start thinking about why we save some animals and eat others. All animals have a right to life. This as a justice issue. I’m a trained economist and my partner is a musician. We changed careers because we feel so strongly about this issue.”

(Tarragona, Spain)

Rock singer

“I’m the Don Quixote of rock and roll. I live with my wife in New York City. She just retired, and we’re deciding what to do next.”

(Tarragona, Spain)

Owns icon and jewelry shop in Grand Bazaar

“I’ve worked at this shop for 50 years and 8 months. Time passes quickly when you love your work. I plan to retire soon, but I will miss it … here I call myself Burhan, but my real name is Bihnan. I’m a Syriac Christian from Mardin.”

(Istanbul, Turkey)

Simit seller

“I came to Istanbul from Tokat 30 years ago, and selling simits was the first job I could find. It was the easiest thing to do. I still enjoy doing it.”

(Istanbul, Turkey)

River rafting guide

“I never fight with my wife. We wouldn’t even know how. We have a rational relationship. It’s not based on emotions like my first marriage. I told her when we decided to get married that ‘I don’t love you now, but I can learn to love you a little more each day.’”

(Absarokee, Montana)

Mormon missionary

“I’m here in Salt Lake City for an 18-month mission. I’m originally from Basel, Switzerland. When I give tours here at Temple Square I meet people from all around the world. I really like that. The people who come here for tours are ready to listen and learn, so it’s a lot easier than when you’re a missionary walking down the street and trying to start conversations with strangers.”

(Salt Lake City, Utah)

Salesperson at Schiphol Airport

“I enjoy working here at the airport because it’s exciting. It’s never dull because there are so many people here. I meet lots of interesting people every day, and no days are the same. I rarely get to meet customers more than once here. My next plane trip is to Berlin this fall and I can’t wait!”

(Schiphol Airport, Netherlands)

Cook 

“I never do anything with a plan. That’s not the way I live my life. I followed my girlfriend here to Leiden. Before that I was working as a video editor for TV shows in Italy. I never worked as a restaurant cook before, but I got hired and learned on the job. I like it because it keeps me busy, and I enjoy the atmosphere in the kitchen.”

(Leiden, Netherlands)

Steven

Blacksmith

“The thing I like most about my job is that every day is different. You never know what you’ll be asked to make next. Some clients come in and ask us to make some really crazy things.”

 (Leiden, Netherlands)

I was a child during the war. One of the worst memories from the war for me was the cockroaches. Many of the old buildings in Sarajevo had a cockroach problem, and there was no electricity. It was dark at night with no lights. I used to wake up in the middle of the night with cockroaches walking on my chest. It was terrible. You can get used to the sounds of shooting, but you never get used to the cockroaches. The Germans lost World War Two, and then there was a re-education in Germany after the war. But there’s been no re-education with the Serbs. They still think Karadžić and Mladić are saints though they are convicted war criminals. There’s no change in their thinking.”

“I was a manager of musicians before the war. I started paying more attention to religion during the war. I started to see how life really functions, how nature functions so perfectly. Religion is much higher than human affairs. I believe that prayers and religious belief saved my life many times. I survived when my car was hit by a train. I used to come to my shop every morning at 9 o’clock. The morning that a tank shell destroyed my shop I was five minutes late. If I was on time, I would’ve been killed. I always try to help my neighbors. Now I’m raising money to build a home for elderly people. We can all die suddenly. I want to bring as many good deeds to God as I can before I die.”

“I fought in the Bosnian army around Sarajevo. I have PTSD from my war experience. I’m very angry with the government now. The government has forgotten about the war veterans. I owned a shop before the war, but it was destroyed. I’m now a caretaker of this mosque. I watch over the tourists and welcome them to the mosque.”

“In a strange way, the war made my life more interesting. I was a poor kid living in a poor neighborhood when the war started. Our family had to flee to a different part of Sarajevo. We were like refugees in our own city. My father and my uncles fought in the Bosnian army defending the city. These days I try to concentrate on the present and the future, but I still remember everything that happened. One of my uncles was killed. The fighting was horrifying. You can’t forget that. I’m 100 percent sure that war will come again to Bosnia. The Serbs think we are lower than them. They hate us, and they still want to expand their territory.”