“How long have you lived here?” someone asked me on my first night in Moscow. I loved it. It meant that I had managed to get to the heart of things right away. I ended up at the top floor bar of a fancy 19th century building on my first night in town by having …
“You are alone?” The young woman’s raised left eyebrow gave away her surprise. It was Christmas Day during a pandemic and I had just driven 10 miles on a gravel road. The other woman behind the Hobatere Lodge reception didn’t bother hiding her alarm. Both eyebrows raised, she chimed in, “You don’t have children?” “No …
The music was nothing like I had heard before. The rhythm energetic, even a bit aggressive, yet laid back at the same time. The singer spew out words, half singing, sometimes half screaming: a few might have been in English and the rest in a language I didn’t recognize. The set up was unusual for …
Mohammed is walking so fast in front of me I have a hard time concentrating on anything but keeping track of his black polo shirt and shiny hair. “It’s the wrong time of the day to come,” I think to myself. The sun is relentless. There is so much sand in the air it’s hurting …
At a 3-star lodge in the western hills of Eswatini, the receptionist pushed back my haphazardly filled out check-in form. She pointed at the boxes next to the titles all of which I had left unchecked. I’m a patient traveler except when it comes to hotel check-ins. After all, do they really need my zip …
A vivacious, middle-aged woman in a swim cap is just finishing a Farsi song with her mother, cousin and our guide Miriam. The small room is filled with their proud, strong voices, which echo in the tiled dome above us. I’m immersed in the moment, marveling at my luck for being there, when Miriam suddenly …
It’s drizzling rain as my Lefa, a Namibian Uber, taxi pulls over in front of Sicilia, an Italian restaurant close to my Airbnb. Though I’m not a big fan of Italian food, I decide to have my last dinner in Windhoek here because it looks cosy and many restaurants are closed due to corona shutdowns. …
Mexican food’s popularity reaches far. Once, when traveling in Uganda, we were looking for a late night dinner in a town called Masindi. After a long day of traveling on dusty roads, we were absolutely ravished. Luckily we found a dark, little corner restaurant with barely two lighting fixtures, ordered some Bells (a Ugandan beer), …
Read more “Beyond Tacos and Burritos: Mexican Food Globally”
I had just spent two and a half weeks in Jordan, but nothing came out of my half-hearted efforts of taking Arabic classes there. One course I tried to sign up for ran too long for my travel dates. Then I just traveled (secretly happy that I had at least tried to take a class), and learned about Jordan …
She’s on the third floor, next to a statue from Cameroon. She’s young and beautiful, just a girl really. Her expression is difficult to interpret. We pass a loudly chatting group of Senegalese women, all dressed in a medley of primary colors. I wish I’d understand what they’re saying, what they think of the recently …