As we find ourselves slowly getting through the middle of the work week I decided to pick this shot out of Iran taken by La Nina Melon, during her trip early last year of the two men working. Not sure if the shot was taken on Chahar shanbe or Wednesday during her Tehran travels or if the men are even finding any pain in having to set up shop and work like the rest of the world. Lucky for La Nina Melon to have had the opportunity to visit the country and I can’t help wondering what goodies she may or may not have scooped up after taking this picture. Please do care to share Ms. Melon.
Word for the Travel Wise (12/31/06)
As promised I’m taking this one full year of language from across the globe and from the teeny tiny villages found in the Congo out with an explosive big bang! Okay, so you saw right through my attempt to hype it up, but really this is an exciting time. 2007 is only hours away for us and this completes a full year first year for the “Word for the Travel Wise” feature. I hope that the lessons have not only been helpful, but a little memorable. For the last time this year I just want to relay that while I do not have a degree as a linguist or speak fluently the mother tongue of several far more exotic places than my home digs in Florida, I appreciate the feedback and minor corrections that have been given and look forward to building a better world language feature in the new year.
Here is Happy New Year in various languages:
- Yiddish – A git yor
- Portuguese – Feliz ano novo
- French – Bonne année
- Italian – Buon anno
- Persian – sal-e no mobarak
- Japanese – Akemashite omedeto
- Turkish – Mutlu yibasi
- Catalan – Feliç any nou
Happy New Year everyone!
Word for the Travel Wise (12/30/06)
Since I started this whole word feature off with a word out of Iran I figured I’d end it in the same manner. Today isn’t the last day of the year, but tomorrow I’ll be bringing a language medley and so this day will act as the last day for any single country language lessons. Farsi gets first and last word only because it is the language I’m trying to continue learning the most. Sorry for any inconveniences.
Today’s word is a Farsi (Persian) word used in Iran:
khoda hafez – goodbye
Excellent sites for learning Persian online include a personal favorite called Easy Persian and Farhangsara. Both sites have an excellent beginner’s guide into the language and use images, sound and music to assist you in the process. Check out Lonely Planet’s Farsi (Persian) Phrasebook for a shorthand guide at the ancient lingo.
Past Farsi words: be salamati, toot farangee, kheyli golabi, tazeh, dovidan, khastam, safar kardan
Word for the Travel Wise (12/25/06)
Wishing all who are celebrating this Christmas holiday a very merry day. May Santa bring you everything you wish for and more!
Today we say Merry Christmas in various languages:
- Hawaiian – Mele Kalikimaka !
- Catalan – Bon Nada!
- Lithuanian – Linksmu Kaledu!
- Dutch – Gelukkig Kerstfeest!
- Persian – Krismas-e shoma mubarak!
- Spanish – Feliz Navidad!
- Swedish – God Jul!
- Korean – Sungtanul chukaheyo!
- Turkish – Neseli Noel!
Alex Nicks and Tweaking the Nose of Terror
Alex Nicks is probably the best white water kayaker I’ve ever paddled with. Perhaps that’s not saying much, as I’ve only been white water kayaking about a dozen times, but the fact is Alex is a phenomenal kayaker. He is, as I understand it, one of Britain’s best.
I took a clinic with Alex a few weekends ago in the frigid waters of High falls near Kingston, New York. We paddled in very small boats, which I believe are made for freestyle paddling. Either way, they were much smaller boats than I was accustomed to.
So Alex took me through a series of Class II rapids (ripples, really) and then we ran a quick Class III that was one fine hoot. It had been a while since I paddled on a river (I’m mostly sea kayaking these days) so the experience was a reminder of how much fun it can be. Then we came to a wicked class IVish rapid that I had to portage around. Alex did not. Alex plunged right into the rapids and spent five minutes doing graceful pirouettes in the maw of the beast. I was amazed. Blown away.
Anyway, all of this is to make a further plug here for Alex’s work. You see, he is not only a superb kayaker, but he is an excellent filmmaker. He not only shoots for Jon Bowermaster’s awesome paddling series for National Geographic – the highly regarded Ocean’s 8 series (which I’ve blogged about before) – he also makes his own films. I got a copy of one of these DVDs and can tell you it will take your breath away. The DVD I have is called Tweaking the Nose of Terror and features a “terrorizing 43 minutes” of the most amazing white water footage you will ever see. From Patagonia to Iran to a run down the exceedingly treacherous stretch of the White Nile, this is a DVD that both amateur and extreme paddlers should own. I’m going to re-watch mine several times and, in fact, and going to try and get it autographed. ;-)