I have a friend back home who’s afraid of flying. Though I’ve never actually discussed it with her, I imagine she thinks I don’t understand that feeling at all. After all, I’ve taken at least a few dozen flights just this year! I also tend to argue for flying over driving, and I don’t take…
There are bright-colored flowers all over the country, even though much of it is in the desert. Hot pink ones seem particularly common, and they often appear along the roadside. Many (non-Muslim) Israelis seem to have dogs – especially small ones. There are also many stray cats. They are neither aggressive nor timid: they mainly…
Over the course of this year, we have visited over a dozen countries in which English is not the primary language. In each one, we’ve tried to learn some basic vocabulary to help us get around and communicate with locals. What not to learn One thing that complicates this effort is that when you Google for things…
I love words. Maybe I have an innate appreciation for them, or maybe my affection was born of necessity – because I was an immigrant and never wanted to be behind. Either way, I’ve been interested in language and vocabulary since my early teens. Even so, learning vocabulary can be tedious – even for a logomaniac (my word-of-the-day a…