Chapulines and chicatanas – Oaxacan traditions It was difficult to decide which foods to include in this third instalment of Oaxacan Food from A to Z – since my initial list for the letter C included over a dozen food items. This is also complicated by the fact that the le
A situação atual da mulher Estamos no século 21 e, inacreditavelmente, a mulher ainda precisa lutar pelos seus direitos. Direito à liberdade, à igualdade e ao respeito. De diversas maneiras a mulher continua oprimida. Nos países ditos ‘desenvolvidos’ ou ’em desenvolvimento
Another side of Turkey You want to visit Turkey, but without a million sun-burned tourists and another million carpet salesmen. Consider the southeast. Here are three spots to get you thinking. Diyarbakır: Famous walls, vibrant feel Walk on top of the huge basalt walls, apparently the
A very basic introduction to Kurdish languages Even if you don’t plan to learn a whole new language, here are some fun facts that you can bust out to impress your other language-loving friends. Kurdish is in the Indo-European language family This is really exciting news if you
A Year Was Not Enough to See it All in Spain In 2006, I got a job teaching English in the small town of Cuenca in Spain. I had never heard of Cuenca before and it was a long and nerve-racking journey to get there but it was definitely worth it. Although at times it was difficult livin
Good at geography? Then you already know some Arabic 1. Medina = ‘city’ This city of Medina in Saudi Arabia is considered to be the second holiest city in Islam after Mecca. In Arabic, medina just means ‘city’. In some cities, though, people say medina to speci
How much do we know about other places and their languages? After three days on this Mediterranean island off the coast of Spain, I meet a woman who resembles neither the average local Mallorcan nor the average European tourist. She says that she is from Bolivia, and has been working
This post is inspired by my recent trip to Quebec, a province that intimidates me (it feels like a foreign country) and also stimulates me to live up to the bilingual potential of my Canadian identity. 1. French is the sole provincial official language in Quebec. “6,102,210 people (78
This is the second installment in a series about my favourite things about some of the countries I’ve traveled to (see Part 1: Cuba). The views expressed in these posts are subjective but I explain my choices so that you can determine if my favourites could become yours. In 2004 I par
My Introduction to Latin America This is the first part in a series about my favourite things about some of the countries I’ve traveled to. The views expressed in these posts are completely subjective but I will give an explanation of my choices so that you might determine whether or
