“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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
One of my favorite things to do in a new city is to get naked with strange women and bathe. Well, that’s how some people have described it to me, but in my mind it’s the most normal thing. This probably has to do with me being from Finland, where nudity and going to sauna …
On my first night in Johannesburg, I’m in an Uber heading downtown. My driver is a tall, quiet 50-something local man. He picked me up at my guesthouse called Melvilla, in a leafy northern suburb, which I had heard was safe enough to walk around during the day. I was told nowhere in Joburg was …
I’ve been desperate to experience Manila – never have I been to a city and not seen it, heard it, felt it, tasted it, like the past few days. As we walked out of the university building, I already mourned how short a time I’d have to take the city in; mourning the loss before …
I’m on the back of a boda boda, Uganda’s ubiquitous motorcycle taxi, worried about being late for a meeting. In a traffic jam, my boda driver passes cars and other bodas in a way that should make anyone scared for their safety. The drivers have helmets but there are none for the passengers. I am …