"I love the Maldives--one of the most astonishing places I've ever been--and I'm hoping to adopt a boy, or maybe even two boys, from the Maldives and raise them in my home in New York City. The Maldives is extraordinary in every sense. I remember vividly the feeling of the first night I spent there. The entire country is just above sea level, its islands protected by reefs from the ocean's full force. I was in a bungalow on the beach about three meters from the waves, and I opened all the doors and lay in my bed looking out beyond the palms at the black sky filled with stars like ivory dust. It was probably as close as I'll come to being in outer space. It was beautiful.

I've been to quite a few of the Maldives' islands now, but the most extraodinary is perhaps Manadhoo in the Noonu Atoll. It's one of the local islands, and foreigners almost never visit them. The resort islands are cleaned, pruned, and perfected, but the local islands are the real Maldives, and although it was very hot, it was magical. I went with my good friend Abdullah, his wife, and their daughters Iba and Luba to visit their families. I stayed with Abdullah's mother. Her house was next to the mosque, and I sat in the mosque and watched the men praying. Abdullah's brother-in-law Hassan showed me how to open a coconut and drink the water. He lent me his knife, and I cut coconuts and drank them all day. We went swimming in the lagoons, watched the fruit bats fly overhead, and rode bikes under the palm trees. I played with Abdullah's nephews, Shazlan and Shua'u, and I loved that; we walked around, I fed Shua'u, Shazlan spoke with me in English. This is why I'm hoping to adopt a child from the Maldives. These boys made me realize how wonderful Maldivian kids are: happy, playful, healthy. Ultimately I hope to adopt an orphan or child. I would bring them back to the Maldives from New York and show them where they came from, and I would keep them in touch with their families. I will send them to college and make sure they're well-educated, and I would take them to see the world with me.

Maybe the most wonderful thing on Manadhoo was night fishing. Hassan took Abdullah and me on a fishing boat. We departed under the sunset, the orange and yellow in the sky turning the turquoise sea the color of turmeric powder. We motored out, and from the water the island looked like paradise. We dropped our lines and waited. The sky got increasingly dark and began to glow with stars. I got the first bite. It unnerved me. What was astounding was not just the number-- we hauled fish after fish up onto the small deck from the jet-black water-- but the variety. Bright red-and-coral colored fish, sleek blue fish, fish with frilly gills and huge mouths that flopped around violently, long silvery fish. It was like fishing colors out of the water. I felt bad about catching them, but Abdullah said they would all be eaten, nothing wasted. The people on Manadhoo, like all Maldivians, live on local fish. We motored back toward the dock in the dark. Abdullah and I lay on our backs on the deck looking up at the stars and singing songs. I sang American songs and one Japanese song. Ab sang Maldivian songs. I wonder if the people on the island heard us singing in the night."