As I sat on on a cushion with my legs tucked beside me, I was struck by my unique privilege. I had joined Hind at the mosque and also the hammam, where we had lain naked on marble slabs as the bath attendant sloughed dead skin from our bodies. I had sat chatting with her grandmother about her tattoos and taken the groom’s 12-year-old sister to the market to buy sweets. Yet as a Western woman, I was not expected to follow the rules of my Muslim counterparts.
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The greatest mystery of all may be how its residents have forged a culture where more than 50 ethnic groups live together in peace and harmony. The secret may be in how they describe themselves in Papiamento: “yiu di Korsow,” literally, “I am a child of Curaçao.” Islanders claim that Curaçao is the only country in the world where residents refer to themselves as children of a nation.
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As our new Kazakh friend noticed that a male (the apartment owner and host) was so kindly pouring everyone tea from a dainty silver teapot, he asked in a bewildered yet serious tone, “Wait, there’s a girl here. Why are you pouring the tea?” His comment very clearly relayed the idea that I automatically had a role to play because of my gender, and I was having none of that. I started walking down the streets of Bishkek thinking, “Watch out, Kyrgyz boys! You’re not snatching this one!
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The Big Island of Hawaii isn’t the first place you expect to come across cowboy culture, but paniolos (Hawaiian cowboys) have been roping and riding on the island for over 200 years. It all started in 1793, when British Captain George Vancouver gave Hawaii’s King Kamehameha five longhorn cattle as a gift.
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Aside from the many shore excursions at each port, the Galavanting Gals got to take a trip through the ship itself during a sea voyage we recently took. It turned out to be a fun highlight.
The Ultimate Ship Tour aboard the Crown Princess is normally a three-hour tour for which a limited number of Princess Cruises passengers can pay $150 for a behind-
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From scouting for the freshest ingredients to the way food is prepared and presented in both restaurants and private homes, Japanese people are serious about their fish.
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What if death was not the last destination, but just an exit on a larger cosmic freeway? This is the way many Mexicans have programmed their philosophical GPS systems, and their Dia de los Muertos—or Day of the Dead—holiday, celebrated each autumn, is the result.
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Dark lagers of the Czech variety are often sweeter but maybe the Czech myth about women and beer had something to do with my decision as well. According to local legend and the wise bartender at my favorite pub, consumption of dark beer enhances the size of a woman’s bust resulting in dark beers often being favored by the ladies.
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With a fresh perspective and ready to take it all on attitude, Monica Zibutis is slowly photographing her way around the world. Monica, along with her husband of three years, is a destination wedding photographer.
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It is not published in any guidebooks and perhaps not even known outside the Bariba-speaking community, but in this little hamlet lives the finest potter in all Benin. Her very name, Mamawekegii, means “amazing pot woman”.
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