Word for the Travel Wise (11/23/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on


Today marks the day of my all-time favorite holiday where year-long stories are exchanged with family and friends over warm plates of turkey, ham, stuffing, and veggies. As people from all corners of the country either relax in the comfort of their own homes or dine out at some fabulous restaurant there will be many toasts, cheers and wishes for good-health over their good meal. It is for this very occasion that I pass this small fruit of knowledge your way to whoever may be reading at this hour.

Today I leave you with various ways to say Bon appetit!

  • Croatian – Dobar tek!
  • German – Guten appetit!
  • Hebrew – Bete’avon!
  • Hungarian – Jó étvágyat!
  • Korean – Mani deuseyo!
  • Persian – Noosh-e jan!
  • Polish – Smacznego!

For a complete list as found on the New York Public Library site in their World Languages Collection follow the link found here. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Don’t Drink the Water

by Iva Skoch on

The famous River Jordan, described as a raging or “violent” river in the Bible, is now just a sad trickle of raw sewage and agricultural runoff. Even on the site where John the Baptist performed the ritual on Jesus, Kasr Al-Yahud (near Jericho), the river is now “an opaque, brown, sluggish” mess.

Apparently, Israeli water diversions, started in the 1960s, have been a large reason for the ninety percent drop in flow over the years. However, Syria and Jordan are also to blame. Now, a planned, joint Syrian-Jordanian “Unity Dam” threatens to do even more damage by stopping the river’s largest tributary, the Yarmuk, and possibly completely drying up the river in parts.

Rather than the “original” spot four miles north of the Dead Sea, most religious pilgrims have had to move their re-enactments of the baptism to Yardenit (near Alumot, near the Sea of Galilee), over 60 miles away to the north, to the only clean-water spot: a lonely 3km stretch on the 200km river.

Fantastic Portrait Photos

by Erik Olsen on

I am tasked on Tuesdays with coming up with our photo of the day and I promise to do so later this afternoon. But in the meantime, I would like to direct you to a site that quite took my breath away with its amazing photo portraits. I could pull enough Photos of the Day shots from this site to last a month, but instead let me just point you to the site so you can click and scroll to your heart’s delight. While the site seems to have Cyrillic writing, suggesting Russian talent, it features the work of one Yuri Bonder who, it seems, lives in Tel Aviv, not Moscow. And since I can’t read Cyrillic, I can’t say for sure where the photos were all taken, but many of them appear to have been taken in Israel. Whatever the case, this is as fine an example of portrait photography with an international flair as I’ve seen in a while.

Word for the Travel Wise (09/25/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

This City of David website is something to check out! The music alone takes me back to a period in history I still have so much to learn about. If I could take a month or two months to do a huge religions of the world themed tour I would definitely start in Israel. The website is completely interactive and very eye-appealing not to mention highly informative. Go take a gander with your own two if you have the chance.

Today’s word is a Hebrew word used in Israel:

todah – thank you

For a short list of the very basics in Hebrew check out Israel Visit. Jewfaq.org has a clear and excellent guide to the alphabet, pronunciation, styles of writing, fonts and word processors. ZigZag World provides learning materials at a level for children and beginning adults. Lots of pictures! Hebrew Online is not a free service, but allows you to learn through video-conferencing technology to communicate live with professional Israeli Hebrew teachers. Before paying anything they allow you to sign up for two trail lessons. Ancient Hebrew is a thorough site on people, language, culture with additional links and learning resources.

Past Hebrew words: shalom, en ba’aya

23 Years Old and on the Road

by Erik Olsen on

Oh, to be 23, free and on the road. To be able to travel around the world…AND, get this…to have a newspaper pay for it? Or at least, have them publish regular articles while you travel. Such is the life right now of 23-year old Haley Edwards, a world-weary gal, apparently fresh (or near so) from college and sharing her thoughts about the world with others.

Now, I could make all sorts of nasty quips here about how youth is wasted on the young, but that would certainly be an expression of envy. Those of us who also traveled in our youth for long periods know that being on the road is about as healthy an experience as exists for mind body and spirit. So good for young Haley.

Let’s see where young Haley went:

Haley’s stated purpose is to go to places that scare her. That places her first and foremost in Egypt with a camel named Michael Jackson <insert poor-taste hump joke here>, and then on to Israel, Jordan Kashmir andIndia.

And so it goes. The pieces here (though I confess I didn’t read them all, are thoughtful enough for a 23-year old. Needless to say, for most of us the joy of reading them comes from the vicarious remembrance of our own past travels. We are glad for Haley, but we read and hope and wonder if we, too, will be able to set out upon the world again someday so free and innocent and hopeful.

Naw, I doubt it.