Posts tagged Travel

Check out a video compilation documenting my trip to Turkey in November 2011.

A Unique Cultural Exchange I recently found myself falling in love with Istanbul’s food, culture, and people during my most recent international trip to Turkey. Among the most memorable of moments during my time abroad was posing with a group of kids (presumably on a field trip) at the historical Topkapi Palace located in the city center. After snapping a candid photo of the class, the teacher invited me to join them for the next picture. Here I am demonstrating my childlike side with an eager display of bunny ears. I deduced that this concept was foreign to them, as most of the children initially seemed confused, but once they caught on, they loved it! (Hence, the smiles and laughter). —Jessica

A Unique Cultural Exchange

I recently found myself falling in love with Istanbul’s food, culture, and people during my most recent international trip to Turkey.

Among the most memorable of moments during my time abroad was posing with a group of kids (presumably on a field trip) at the historical Topkapi Palace located in the city center.

After snapping a candid photo of the class, the teacher invited me to join them for the next picture. Here I am demonstrating my childlike side with an eager display of bunny ears.

I deduced that this concept was foreign to them, as most of the children initially seemed confused, but once they caught on, they loved it! (Hence, the smiles and laughter).

—Jessica

Foreign Language Learning Inspiration From fluentin3months.com

I’m a 20-something year old who has mastered one foreign language (Spanish), and is currently working on the 2nd and 3rd (Portuguese and French). 

Impressive this may seem to those who can’t hold a basic conversation in anything other than their mother tongue to save their lives.

However, my language ‘skills’ pail in comparison to those of Benny The Irish Polyglot, who has successfully mastered 8 foreign languages in a relatively short period of time. In fact, his accomplishments make me a bit ashamed to admit that I’ve only got one under my belt. Sheesh.

Benny’s website offers insight on travel and unconventional language learning techniques, and is definitely worth checking out if you’re itching for some inspiration.

Benny, thanks for showing us that there is no limit to what we can achieve!

—Jessica

The Museum of Broken Relationships grew from a traveling exhibition revolving around the concept of failed relationships and their ruins. Unlike ‘destructive’ self-help instructions for recovery from failed loves, the Museum offers a chance to overcome an emotional collapse through creation: by contributing to the Museum’s collection.

Whatever the motivation for donating personal belongings – be it sheer exhibitionism, therapeutic relief, or simple curiosity – people embraced the idea of exhibiting their love legacy as a sort of a ritual, a solemn ceremony. Our societies oblige us with our marriages, funerals, and even graduation farewells, but deny us any formal recognition of the demise of a relationship, despite its strong emotional effect. In the words of Roland Barthes in A Lover’s Discourse: “Every passion, ultimately, has its spectator… (there is) no amorous oblation without a final theater.”

Conceptualized in Croatia by Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić, the Museum has since toured internationally, amassing an amazing collection. Although often colored by personal experience, local culture and history, the exhibits presented here form universal patterns offering us to discover them and feel the comfort they can bring. Hopefully they can also inspire our personal search for deeper insights and strengthen our belief in something more meaningful than random suffering.

Source: http://brokenships.com/en/about

Freya Stark - Adventurous Woman Travel Pioneer

 

“Dame Freya Madeline Stark, Mrs. Perowne, DBE (born 31 January 1893, Paris, France — died 9 May 1993, Asolo, Italy) was a Britishexplorer and travel writer. She wrote more than two dozen books on her travels, which were mainly in Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan.”