Sheron Long's Blog, page 26
May 4, 2015
Connecting Through the Universal Language of Music
Sunday morning dancing on the rue Mouffetard in Paris
© Meredith Mullins
I want to make people cry, even when they don’t understand my words. —Edith Piaf
It’s Sunday morning in the Square St Médard in Paris. I am singing in the warm sun . . . belting out the words “Tant que l’amour inondera mes matins” from Edith Piaf’s “L’Hymne à l’Amour” (The Hymn to Love).
With my limited French, I don’t quite understand what the words mean; but the song swells up inside and puts a little lump of emotion in my throat. I feel an unexplainable nostalgia.
There are people all around me singing the same words, with the same nostalgia. There are dancers swirling to the accordion accompaniment. Everyone is involved in the song. We are connected by a powerful...
April 28, 2015
What’s Underfoot on the Camino de Santiago?
Carried by their feet, pilgrims from around the world follow the signs of the Way of St. James.
© StockPhotoAstur / iStock
Not because I’m religious,
Not because I believe in spirits,
Not because I love Spanish cuisine,
And not because I needed to be punished.
I just wanted a long walk.
This is one pilgrim’s reason to walk the Camino de Santiago. More than 100,000 people every year walk the International Heritage Trails. They come from all over the world, taking different routes to reach the same destination: the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.
Why do so many people take a 500-mile trek across highways, mountains, valleys, cities, towns, and fields? Each pilgrim has a personal reason: to get away, to be a part of an ancient tradition, to make a change, weight...
April 20, 2015
A Taste of French Sayings
Inspiration for tasty French idioms—mustard, beans, and bread
© Meredith Mullins
You may never have had the pleasure of mustard up your nose.
You may never have felt the desperation of having no beans in the house.
You may not know the boredom of a long dreary day, which, in French lore, is “a day without bread.”
But, if you’re living in the world of French sayings, these expressions are common—and mean more than their literal translations.
Oh, I See: A Culture Rich in Language . . . and in FoodThe beauty of the French language is enhanced by the creative flavors of its idioms.
These expressions provide a glimpse into the traditions and history of France. They tell stories. And, in many cases, they have food at the core. Why? Because France is proud of its longstanding legacy of exceptional cuisine.
...
April 13, 2015
Five Sure-Fire Ways to Break the Language Barrier
Dive into cross-cultural connections by bringing a bridge language to the table.
© Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock
My best travel connections have had little to do with making a flight and everything to do with making friends.
Like many, I was intimidated by the idea of traveling in a country where my language is not spoken. But I took off anyway and found ways to communicate with local citizens, establishing a kind of lingua franca, or bridge language, that neither of us spoke.
Soon I was breaking the language barrier and making the kind of personal connections that become the best souvenirs. Here are my top five strategies.
1. Let Your Smile Do the TalkingIndia is a country of many languages (780 recorded by People’s Linguistic Survey). When I encountered Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, and other languages unfamiliar to me, I learned the power...
April 6, 2015
A Virtual Vacation in Southeast Asia
Wanderlust inspires the perfect vacation.
© Zilla van den Born
Zilla van den Born had always wanted to see Southeast Asia—the crystal blue waters of the Indian Ocean, the vine-encrusted temples, and the bustling streets bursting with color and the energy of daily life. Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos called. Her wanderlust answered.
She set off on a 42-day adventure—a vacation of a lifetime—the envy of her friends and family.
The Dutch graphic designer was soaking up the sun on pristine beaches, snorkeling eye to eye with exotic fish, sampling spicy Asian food, visiting ancient monuments, and traveling in rickety rickshaws.
A taste of Thai
© Zilla van den Born
Like any good friend and family member, she was letting the folks back home experience her adventures—providing photos and updates so that they could travel with her via...
March 31, 2015
Oh, Deer! Road Signs in Different Cultures
In Hertfordshire, England, the deer on road signs have a certain regal look
with antlers fit for a bejeweled crown.
© Simon Gurney
Why does a chicken cross the road? Ponder that all you wish, but know for sure that a chicken and a host of other beasts are gonna cross the road.
Humans devised the idea of warning signs to help you avoid a bump in the road. Governments and international commissions created copious specs (669 pages in the US Manual alone) to make sure the humans got it right.
With all the international constraints and the small size of the “canvas,” you might think road signs would be boring, routine, standard. But—surprise!—they show more about different cultures and geographies than you might think!
Deer DesignsDeer are native to every continent except Australia and...
March 24, 2015
Mexico in March—Monarch Butterflies Take Wing
Documentary filmmakers meet a golden subject in the central highlands of Mexico.
© Carol Starr
Any day now, the eastern monarchs will leave their winter home in the Sierra Madre mountains of central Mexico and begin their epic journey across the US to Canada. Theirs is a know-no-boundaries flight pattern.
These pollinators are crucial to a continued food supply. Yet, like the honeybees, their numbers are dwindling: the 2014–15 estimate is about 56.5 million, a fraction of the 1 billion monarch butterflies that wintered in Mexico in 1996–97.
Who can help these fragile long-distance travelers? Global citizens, who work for monarch conservation with a know-no-boundaries fight pattern.
The fragile wings of an adult monarch propel it on a
migration of up to 2,800-miles (4,500 km).
© Carol Starr
...
March 16, 2015
India—Cultural Encounters of the Colorful Kind
A car-to-car flower seller in Delhi
© Meredith Mullins
I expected sensory overload . . . and India delivered.
Bright colors warmed by the sun Labyrinthine bazaars, far more organized than first glance implies Horn blasts and shrill shouts from streets crowded with cars, rickshaws, animals, cycles, and carts Spices that pervade the body—smell, taste, and touch Dust and wood-fire smoke permeating air and clothes Mounds of golden flowers—in markets and on shrines to the gods People living their lives in the open—in the streets, on rooftops, in alleys, in unwalled shops, or in just about any open space
Up on the roof . . . in Old Delhi
© Meredith Mullins
What I did not expect was the depth of hospitality or the pride of place that I experienced from the people of India.
Hospitality at the Jaipur...
March 9, 2015
The Travel Ninja’s Lost and Found
A traveler’s worst nightmare
© Creatas
It takes only a moment, literally seconds, to change a trajectory, a plan, a journey. That’s the moment when you lose everything.
I have slippery fingers (in the sense that I often lose things). I misplace an item, forget to take it with me, or stash it somewhere so secret, so perfectly hidden that I never find it again.
When I travel abroad, however, lost and found has come to have a different meaning for me. Yes, I have left on flights from Lima, Zurich, and Mexico City without money and belongings—all lost— but I have also come home with wisdom found through a series of “Oh, I see” moments.
The wise travel tips here surfaced during these moments after losing what seemed like everything and finding the creativity of my travel ninja...
March 2, 2015
Countless Connections in Peru’s Amazon Rainforest
Each species, big or small, has a part to play.
© Eva Boynton
My t-shirt was soaked in sweat from heat and humidity. Diverse shades of green were my landscape and horizon. Howling monkeys and buzzing cicada bugs echoed in the distance.
The Amazon rainforest was unlike any classroom I had ever known. What was once a distant place, the subject of textbooks, now came to life in accentuated brightness and flavor.
It became my home for a winter semester. And, as it changed the way I understood our interdependent and connected world, it answered the question, “Why study abroad?”
Wide rivers of the Peruvian rainforest not only provide a home to a variety of plants and animals,
but also serve as a main mode of travel for locals and visitors.
© Eva Boynton
Reaching ...
