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Discover more about your world by living in it. Learn foreign languages through immersive study. Master new skills by going to where they do them best. Go to where you feel uncomfortable, until strangers become your friends and you begin to feel at home.


English Doesn’t Belong to White People
Languages | Culture | Editorial

English Doesn’t Belong to White People

ByDana Hooshmand July 25, 2019September 28, 2021

Judging another country’s English as not perfect is at best ignorant, and at worst, racist.

Read More English Doesn’t Belong to White PeopleContinue

The Joy and Pain of Travelling While Non-white
Editorial | Culture | Travel

The Joy and Pain of Travelling While Non-white

ByDana Hooshmand June 27, 2019July 5, 2023

I’m called lao-wai in China. We’re called agaanib in Egypt and wazungu in East Africa. But even those we’re those things, we’re other people, and we’re ourselves.

Read More The Joy and Pain of Travelling While Non-whiteContinue

Living in Zanzibar: Seven Things We Didn’t Expect
Tanzania | Editorial | Travel

Living in Zanzibar: Seven Things We Didn’t Expect

ByDana Hooshmand June 7, 2019July 4, 2023

Did you know that to say “7am” in Zanzibar, you say “one o’clock”? That’s called Swahili Time. It’s just one of many things we learned about living in Zanzibar.

Read More Living in Zanzibar: Seven Things We Didn’t ExpectContinue

Israel-Palestine Politics in brief: Language, Culture, and Identity
Travel | Editorial | Israel

Israel-Palestine Politics in brief: Language, Culture, and Identity

ByDana Hooshmand May 1, 2019July 17, 2024

The complicated politics of nation, cultural identity and religion in Israel, Palestine or whatever you want to call “this part of the world”.

Read More Israel-Palestine Politics in brief: Language, Culture, and IdentityContinue

A Brief and Interesting History of Hebrew
Languages | Culture | Editorial | Hebrew Language Learning

A Brief and Interesting History of Hebrew

ByDana Hooshmand April 15, 2019November 3, 2020

Hebrew is thousands of years old and yet has evolved into a language that many use as their primary — or only — language. This is its story.

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The Zabbaleen: The Unique Story of the “Garbage People” of Cairo
Egypt | Culture | Editorial | Travel

The Zabbaleen: The Unique Story of the “Garbage People” of Cairo

ByDana Hooshmand April 12, 2019July 4, 2023

The story of the Zabaleen – “Garbage People” who have for generations been the informal backbone of Cairo’s waste management.

Read More The Zabbaleen: The Unique Story of the “Garbage People” of CairoContinue

Egyptian Arabic in 60 days: From Start to Finish and What we Learned
Languages | Arabic Language Learning | Editorial

Egyptian Arabic in 60 days: From Start to Finish and What we Learned

ByDana Hooshmand March 19, 2019June 2, 2022

We learned to speak Egyptian Arabic in 60 days. See the video evidence, read how we did it and what we learned for our future challenges.

Read More Egyptian Arabic in 60 days: From Start to Finish and What we LearnedContinue

Tech Worker, Will Work for Vegan Food
Editorial | Egypt | Travel

Tech Worker, Will Work for Vegan Food

ByDana Hooshmand March 12, 2019January 20, 2023

The story of how we nearly ended up living on a beachfront paradise in exchange for management skills.

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The Challenge of Travelling “Like a Local” in Egypt
Editorial | China | Culture | Egypt | Travel

The Challenge of Travelling “Like a Local” in Egypt

ByDana Hooshmand February 25, 2019July 3, 2023

Why we’ll never be truly be local foreigners in Egypt… and that’s OK.

Read More The Challenge of Travelling “Like a Local” in EgyptContinue

Awkward Questions they Ask in Egypt: Rent and Religion
Editorial | Travel

Awkward Questions they Ask in Egypt: Rent and Religion

ByDana Hooshmand February 1, 2019June 3, 2023

What do you say when the government asks you “What’s your religion”? (This is an archive of our letter of 2 Feb 2019.)

Read More Awkward Questions they Ask in Egypt: Rent and ReligionContinue

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