I thought I’d never experience it… and then I was there! — I almost gave up on ever seeing Venice again My first visit was in 1989, a stop on a solo ten-week trip with my time divided roughly in half between Italy and Greece. If I had to distill into one word how I felt about Venice in 1989, this is it: enchanting. It was unlike any other place I…

It’s a funny thing about foreign words that have become so popular in English that they are considered to be English. Now that they are English, they are made to conform to the rules of English spelling and grammar. …

Telephone books get the credit. Twice! — I have my parents’ wedding album. I was born fourteen months after they married. Then, when I was approaching two years old, my brother was born. …

Your family’s culture played a part in this decision — I listen to a lot of podcasts. My main focus is to be able to hear about the lives, cultures, and backgrounds of other people, with an emphasis on understanding people from societies that are different from my own. My own background: white, lower middle class, born in New York…

I love cities, so I didn’t venture very far from Iceland’s capital — Originally, I had this titled “A Week in Iceland,” but then I thought, I should be realistic with whoever reads this. Being a lover of cities, I hardly ever left the capital. As such, that led to this title. Wednesday-Thursday A few days before the journey, I called Icelandair to arrange…

My best option to use the clothing I would no longer wear — When I lived in Mauritania, West Africa for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I had lots of clothing made. Early on in our training period, I was surprised to learn that imported ready-to-wear Western-style clothing was much more expensive than buying fabric and then hiring a local tailor…

Discovering this crossroads via international vocabulary — Sunday: vocabulary lessons The rain followed through on its promise, but it didn’t impede my getting on my way for the day. When I entered the hotel lobby, Ramazan took his umbrella and handed it to me, insisting that I may need it. My first stop was the Suleymaniye Mosque, which was designed…

Impressive Turkish hospitality from Day 1 — Wednesday: Arrival from Frankfurt The flight to Istanbul from Frankfurt was only two hours and forty-five minutes. Turkey is one of the countries that not only has a reasonable fee for its visas ($20 in US cash) but makes it especially easy for travelers by providing them on arrival and without even filling out…

Now I finally understand what’s behind that! — For many years, I have been scratching my head trying to understand why anybody could possibly admire and support the 45th President of the USA: our Grifter in Chief. …