Title image: View of Biscayne Bay from the fifth-floor restaurant/bar of the Mr. C hotel, Coconut Grove, looking east. In the distance is Key Biscayne. I am loving being in Miami for the academic year and teaching at Florida International University. After spending two weeks in Brickell, I decided to... read more
My first week of teaching at Florida International University just ended. Now to explore my Miami neighborhood: Brickell. I chose to hang out here for a couple of weeks. You know, fancy Miami. While I find a more permanent place to live for the semester. I had expected a more... read more
My around-the-world trip is over, but the adventures continue. Yesterday I began teaching at Florida International University – known as FIU – in Miami. My first course was “Language and Cultures of the World.” The students were bright and interested, and I was delighted to be back in the classroom... read more
Oina is the traditional national sport of Romania. I’d heard of it but I didn’t understand it until last week, when my Romanian teacher gave me a reading about it. Then all sorts of things started clicking. The title image of the vintage Romanian postage stamp is a big huge... read more
This past week I hung out in Balchik, Bulgaria. Thus I had the opportunity to speak with the locals about famous Bulgarians. Once again, I had lots of fun with my project. People the world over like to name who among them deserve a claim to fame. Famous Bulgarians Historical:... read more
Balchik, Bulgaria is a resort town on the Black Sea. The name has various spellings, which include: Balcic and Balchick. The reason for the variations derive from the fact that Bulgarian is a Slavic language written in the Cyrillic alphabet: So the name comes out as балчик. Thus, how to... read more
Acasă din nou în Bucureşti – Back Home in Bucharest. Note: acasă = ‘at home’ I’m in the fourth month of my around-the-world Adventures with a longish stay in Romania until the end of August. I’ve owned a condo in Bucharest since 2006. My current one is near Piaţa Dorobanţi.... read more
Title image for Hotels Around the World: the key card to my hotel room in Doha, Qatar I evidently forgot to turn the card into the front desk. It now decorates my desk in Bucharest. Travel tip: I have chosen an international hotel chain where I stay in big cities... read more
Title image: Doha, Qatar skyline seen from the balcony of my hotel room across the bay. Why Doha? From Myanmar I aimed for Romania for the rest of the summer. I figured I could fit in one more stop on my around-the-world ticket. Qatar Airways offered an easy flight from... read more
Title image: My guide, Win, took this picture of me in front of the Tayok-phi Temple in Bagan, Myanmar. When he showed it to me, I was put in mind of a similar picture of me – always with my umbrella. Here I am in 2016 in front of Guri... read more
