Ok, so we didn’t actually take shots of olive oil, at least in the sense of downing them quickly. We did take pictures. And we did have to drink it. From a glass. Without bread…
On Mountains and Olive Hills — A Professor Abroad
We’re on a bus on our way to Córdoba (a three hour drive from Granada), and though I’m writing from my phone, it seems as good a time as any to pause and reflect on the last four days. The WiFi in our apartment went out yesterday (the one evening I planned to stay in […]
On Being a Morning Person in a Night-time Kind of Place — A Professor Abroad
Technically, I am awake. That seems obvious, even if it doesn’t exactly feel true. It’s day… 3? of our trip to Spain (and later Morocco), we’re in Granada, and although I slept well last night out of sheer exhaustion, this morning is a struggle.
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On Jordanian Hospitality
It’s not every day someone offers to find me a husband. But after two hours of conversation and a spectacular feast with a Jordanian host family, the mother assured me that if I ever came back to Jordan, I simply had to tell her my preferences she’d have a line of potential suitors waiting for me. Apparently being a “pretty American girl” with “great hair” makes me a hot commodity around these parts. So, I’ll be keeping that in my back pocket for the time being. (She was definitely mostly serious.) Continue reading
On My First 26 Hours in the Middle East
I got into Jordan around 9:00 pm last night (Saturday) after leaving my house around 3:00 pm Friday. Since then, I’ve been going through cycles of exhaustion and inexplicable alertness, and I think it’s safe to say my circadian rhythm is as rhythmic as my regular rhythm (i.e. not at all). But I’m hopeful things will get on track tonight.
On the Importance of Good Weather
Until the past couple of days, I hadn’t truly realized how much of this trip was contingent on nature cooperating. Overall, we’ve had outstanding luck. Admittedly, our photo tour of the northern lights was a blizzardy bust. But we got to see them the next night (if not take great photos), and for our trip to Lillehammer today, we couldn’t have asked for nicer weather.
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On Experiencing a Two-Hour Sunrise
Light is a pretty big deal in Scandinavia. With its scarcity in winter and abundance in summer, the light here is much more a part of the culture and daily living than in any of the places I’ve lived.
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On Herding Cats
Maybe the title isn’t totally fair, but being responsible for the general well-being of 20 18-22 year-olds is definitely a new way for me to travel. And I think it’s at least partly contributing to my on-going sleep deprivation. Continue reading
On Fika, or, Why I Wouldn’t Mind Being Swedish
Fika: the Swedish (and Finnish) concept of having coffee (or tea, or hot chocolate, or lemonade) and probably a pastry or two. To be completed any time of day. Possibly more than once. Can be used as a noun or a verb. As in, “would you like to go out for fika?” Or just, “let’s go fika!”
This has been on my list of things-to-look-forward-to pretty much since I started planning the trip and learned this was a thing. It started with a post about Swedish cinnamon buns (Kanelbullar), then the ordering of a cookbook devoted exclusively to fika, and it pretty much snowballed from there.
I resisted the fika temptation after dinner last night – but only because I’d been up for roughly 36 hours and needed to get some glorious, glorious sleep. We left Spartanburg at 2:30 pm on Thursday, arrived in Stockholm at 2:10 pm on…
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On Preparing for Two Weeks Below Freezing
At 4:30 this morning, my eyes opened of their own accord – for the second time in three days. But the crazy thing is, I’m not even mad about it. Because in about 12 hours, I’ll be departing with a group of 20 intrepid students on a trip I’ve been scheming up for more than a year. And I’m beyond stoked about it.
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