Three years ago I headed off to Lebanon for 6 weeks with grand plans of studying the beautiful Arabic language. After minoring in Japanese in college and studying in Tokyo for 5 months, I had no delusions of language grandeur. I knew I wasn’t going to leave Lebanon with a full grasp of the language. But I thought… Read more
Last Monday’s post focused on photos from an outdoor art exhibit in the Hague city centre. It is a week later and I can’t resist putting a few more pictures up from life in one of my favorite countries – Holland.Breakfast of [Dutch] ChampionsFrom Los Angeles to UtrechtSo Much Green Space in the city of UtrechtArtists… Read more
Want to recapture your youth and feel like a child again? Simply head to a foreign country, especially one where you don’t speak the language, and you’ll suddenly rediscover the joy of not having any responsibilities. Has anyone else ever experienced this? When you’re at home, you’re clearly a capable adult and you make decisions for yourself… Read more
Have you ever traveled to a foreign city spent a few hurried days, got back on a plane and headed home only to feel like you never really experienced the city at all? I sure have.Usually its when I travel on a business trip. I spend more time in sterile offices, eating box lunches and looking… Read more
Pep Talk: OK, Nailah! The calendar has turned, it’s a new year, your travel year, so let’s get to it! If operation *escape the cubicle* is truly going to come together, I need to start taking action. I’ve taken two steps in the right direction in the last two days. I decided on an Arabic language… Read more
Most who know me know that I am not an aggressive person. I tend to be fairly laid back and I avoid confrontation like the plague. Arguments and fights make me very uncomfortable and if I can feel something “brewing” between people I go into diplomat-mode trying to smooth things over to avoid any unnecessary hostility… Read more
I love foreign languages. The sound of them, the cultural influences on them (and the influences they have on the culture), the way they look hand written on a page. Maybe it was ingrained in me when I was little and my mother would listen to Sergio Mendes albums non-stop. I heard those songs so often… Read more