Languages are funny in how innocuous words in one, can often be quite offensive in others. And when it comes to colorful curses that are hilariously inappropriate and borderline reprehensible (you draw your borders and I’ll draw mine) Turkish is full of them. So much so that English speakers can walk right into them without even realizing it. Here are some common colorful terms to know so you can avoid calling your hotel reception a vagina or telling market vendors you love eating bastards – or not, depending on your circumstances.

1. Straight Translations to Look Out For: ‘Hıyar’ (Pronounced: Hou-yar) – Cucumber

Let’s start out with this word which means cucumber, and you might see it labeled in grocery stores or open-air markets that way. Though calling someone a hıyar is equivalent to calling them a moron or stupid prick. Remember that next time you’re yelling for cucumbers to a vendor and consider the more agreeable word “salatalık”.

2. ‘Ayı’ (Pronounced: Ay-ou) – Bear

This word can go either way but mostly it goes to mean someone is an ogre or large, graceless, mentally-impaired idiot. Or something like that, Turkish curse words are like Legos, you can put them together in infinitely insolent combinations.

Phonetics F-U: You Say Tomato And I Say, What Did You Say About My Mom?

Translating words incorrectly is just fracking fun but so sleazy smooth when both sound pretty much the same in each language. Yes, while these words might, say, describe your health in English, they could be announcing you’re ready for intercourse in Turkish.

3. Sick (Turkish: Sik) – Translation: Rhymes With Duck

The ever popular F-word is also a single syllable in Turkish though in classrooms in Turkey, “sick” is usually translated into “ill”. You can imagine keeping a group of students from snickering as the teacher reads, “Timmy is going to the doctor today because he is f–k and coughing.”

4. Um (Turkish: Am) – Translation: Rhymes With Runt

If I haven’t offended you by this point let me tell you to not, um, like, um, use “um” as a filler word in Turkey. Most Turks won’t bat an eye at it because they understand the context you might, runt, be, runt, using it…but it’s secretly amusing nonetheless. Now you can use, um, while pretending not to know what it means.

5. Peach – (Turkish: Piç) – Translation: Bastard

Piç isn’t quite the same pronunciation in English and sounds more like saying the word “peach” quickly (or “pitch”). Be careful not to mix languages if that’s what you’re shopping for in Istanbul though or you might end up with a kilo of bastards at the grocery store, rather than the juicy peaches you were referring to.

Bonus: Rounding Out Some Other Coincidences

In English you don’t want to be “pushed” and in Turkish you don’t want to be one (pronounced the same, “puşt”.) There are a variety of translations on that one (don’t you just love how languages evolve) but we can settle with a male sex-toy for other men. Also, I hate to break it to rapper 50 Cent but being a pimp – or “pezevenk” – in Turkish isn’t nearly as glamorous as it is in English slang. When taken seriously calling someone a pezevenk could get you punched but among friends it’s likely to get you a chuckle.

I hope you’ve had a ball with these translations that might not go over so well and I’d love to hear what colorful terms you’ve come across in your travels or have in your native language. (The Turkish word for “ball” doesn’t always translate well either, but I digress.) Language is all about context and when you’re learning the fundamentals before your next trip, these 3 language social networks can help you discover any…unintended meanings.

[selected photos by: inflatable Chicago Bears by Chicago Man and man blowing nose by Svenstorm]

No related posts.

Copyright @2012 foXnoMad

Back in March, through 4 weeks of voting, you picked Porto, Portugal as the best city to visit in 2011. Last month I made good on a promise to explore the city before the end of the year. What I found as a guest of Visit Portugal was a city that captivated me with its artistic nature. From the gigantic battle of design and ego that was waged over Porto’s two most famous bridges to Harry Potter’s birthplace, what’s uniform in Porto is an attention to unique.

The best way to show you Porto is to look at what the city has inspired, slowly working your way back to Portugal’s second largest city.

A Tale Of Two Cities

Somewhere around 300 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement of Cale – named after Greek for “beautiful” or Latin for “warm”; either way renaming it Portus Cale. Say that 5 times fast and you can see how the name Portugal likely came about. Porto is now known as a city of bridges, one of two in Europe to have 6; all of which cross the Douro River. The other city in Europe with 6 bridges is Vila Nova de Gaia (Gaia for short) – and it happens to sit across the Douro. Yes, Porto is right next to Gaia, taking up the limelight and making up two of the 12 cities in the Porto Metropolitan Area.

For travelers, the differences aren’t obvious and if you didn’t know better, would be convinced you haven’t left town, even after walking across Luis I Bridge.

Sound And Sight In A Little Big Fight

One of the most obvious displays of deliberate creativity in Porto is the Casa da Musica (House Of Music). The Casa da Musica is at its core a music hall; but it’s surrounded by individual rooms focused on different aspects of sound, art exhibitions, band practices, reading rooms, and things that vaguely have something to do with the giant concert hall in its core.

The Casa da Musica is free to enter, deliberately to signify that money isn’t a part of the creative process. (Although it helps to have wealthy investors.) The building itself was designed by the Dutchman Rem Koolhaas who wanted it to look like meteor crashing into the pavement. Cost and physics prevented him from making the exterior more elaborate and he almost had a fit when told his bar overlooking the concert hall required support beams. That, and the fact that the porous floor needed to be covered by glass because women in heels found it nearly impossible to walk across – and men below were enjoying more than a view of the concert hall.

Smaller battles were waged however in the VIP room, which is decorated with thousands of hand painted tiles, representing scenes from other museums across Portugal. Not one to be told what to do, the artist slipped in his signature hidden in grass, quickly noticed by museum’s staff. It would take another 7 years and an 8-year old to find the other mark of the artist – a tile that’s 90 degrees in the wrong direction in surprisingly plain sight.

• I picked up these and many other stories on a tour of the building. 3 Euro and interesting enough that I didn’t notice it was an hour long; I would highly recommend it.

You’ll get a preview of those tiles, known as “azulejo” and all over the city or if you arrive by train to the Sao Bento station. There are over 20,000 hand painted tiles throughout the station painted by Jorge Colaco in the early 1900s.

Where Harry Potter Was Born

The Livraria Lello is over a hundred years old and consistently voted as one of the world’s most beautiful bookstores. What makes it enchanting these days for thousands of tourists is it might be where Harry Potter was conceived. Not literally (you’ll have to ask his parents for that information) but it’s widely rumored to be where J.K. Rowling first came up with the series’s overall concept.

Rowling has never actually discussed details about her inspiration but was teaching English in Porto when her marriage to a Portuguese man failed in 1993. Prior, in 1990 the idea of a boy attending wizard-school came to her and the depression that followed her divorce fueled many of the darker tones of the Potter series (including the dementors). Rowling completed the first Harry Potter manuscript in 1995; spending two years of her free time in Livraria Lello.

Controversial – especially for Potter fanatics who know about Edinburgh’s The Elephant House – so you let your imagination decide (*cough* Hogwarts).

• By the way, the Livraria Lello is still a private shop and photos (you can see mine here) haven’t been allowed for the past 6 months since the owner found it difficult to maintain business with the influx of curious tourists. I was given special access thanks to ATTTurismo so don’t think I broke any rules. This time.

The Blood Of The Heart Is Made Of Port Wine

Although I’m very familiar with wine in a bottle (and glass), it was kind of Porto Calem to teach me where their ideas for every blend come from and the work that goes into turning grapes into goodness. A 20 minute tour of their cellars ends with tastes of their selections. 4 or 5 glasses and I’m out the door, my thirst quenched; followed by a francesinha to kill any lingering hunger.

Though despite this taste, there’s more much more of Porto to be found. Some of it you can see, others you taste, but I think the reason so many of you voted it the best city to visit is for everything that’s much less tangible.

Related posts:

• The Best City To Visit Travel Tournament 2011 Winner Is Porto, Portugal
• The Best City To Visit Travel Tournament 2011: Championship
• The Best City To Visit Travel Tournament 2011: Final Four

Copyright @2012 foXnoMad

There are over 40 unrecognized states around the world, all in various states of progression towards self-determination. It’s not a direct path in the least and one with no obvious final destination. These 3 unrecognized states are all somewhere along this path, lost primarily due to the political and economic isolation they face jut outside of their de facto borders.

Kurdish Autonomous Region – Iraq

The nation of Iraq has essentially split into three loosely related regions, delicately coordinated by a central government in Baghdad since the 2003 Iraq War. And while the disenfranchised Sunnis and stagnant southern Shiites work reluctantly together, the stable Kurdish north has taken a drastically more positive turn. That’s one of the reasons Kurds told me enthusiastically how much they love George W. Bush; Kurdish rights were consistently suppressed and abused during Saddam Hussein’s rule, often to horrific extremes.

These days the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) flies their own flag (concurrently with the Iraqi one) all over the lands they control which sit behind a well defined and armed border. For many violent years in the rest of the country after the US invasion, both the Americans and Iraqi government were happy to turn a blind eye to the increasingly autonomous and assertive Kurdish north.

This growing autonomy and the ambiguity of the term “Kurdistan” however illustrates its complex position in the region. Kurdistan can refer to either the area of the existing borders but is also often used to describe the region where Kurds form a significant minority or majority in the Middle East. That area happens to overlap with neighboring Turkey, Iran, and Syria; giving them an uneasy feeling about a potential uprising in those countries. (One view two terrorist organizations are currently spilling blood over.)

Nerves are one thing and if you’re not confused yet about the relationship the KRG has with it’s neighbors, consider this. Turkey is northern Iraq’s biggest economic partner, exchanging over 6 billion dollars in 2010. That’s an increase of 50% from 2008. And while the fate of Kurdistan is in question the optimism of its people is not. Kurds in northern Iraq are extremely optimistic about their chances to finally be the controllers of their destiny. They’ve got a very long way to go than the next unrecognized state below but I could almost feel the hope floating on the streets of Sulaymaniyah. The Kurds have been waiting for this chance for decades since the British drew arbitrary borders around Iraq in 1920 and are nurturing the opportunity in front of them.

Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus – Cyprus

When the Turkish military arrived in northern Cyprus to prevent a Greece-backed coup d’tat in 1974, Turkish Cypriots fled north and the Greeks south, as violence erupted between the two communities who had been living on the island for centuries. 9 years later, while tensions remained high, the Turkish north declared itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). That state is officially not recognized by any government in the world except Turkey (although there have been rumblings from Russia and others).

Jump ahead more than 25 years in the future from 1983 and you would think the TRNC would be in much better shape than the less organized and recognized KRG in northern Iraq. But it’s not. The European Union currently sees Cyprus – the entire island – controlled by the Greek south, as the legitimate country whose north is occupied by Turkey.

Economic isolation has been detrimental to the TRNC, who can only trade with Turkey; meanwhile their southern counterparts have since joined the EU. A crucial vote to reunify Cyprus went to referendum in 2004 with the Turkish north voting yes to the deal, while the Greeks in the south voted against it. Since then, the TRNC has been stuck.

Most unrecognized states around the world want some form of normalization but the citizens of the TRNC actually rejected it only to be rejected themselves. The Turkish Cypriots fear a lose of their culture as more Turks (from Turkey) move to the island – and many Turks don’t appreciate 400 million of their annual tax dollars being spent to keep the TRNC afloat.

Although today formal recognition by anyone isn’t on the horizon, there are soft spots. You can find North Cyprus flight and vacation billboards in the London Tube, Italian cruise ships regularly dock in Girne, and until recently, ferries went back and forth once a week from Syria. The TRNC may have to embrace its independence or completely give it up in order to move in some direction other than neutral.

Freetown Christiania – Copenhagen, Denmark

Christiania is an unusual unrecognized state in the world because of its size and the fact that it has been allowed to exist in the first place. Basically a neighborhood in east Copenhagen, Christiania was created when a group of squatters took over what was the site of a former military base in 1971. Generally, unrecognized states have enough guns behind them to deter being reabsorbed into their larger states, but Denmark has dealt with Christiania differently. Although Christiania is not completely independent, much if its control was transferred from the local government to the nearly 900 residents in 1989.

Christiania was based on very idealistic democratic principals and while a look inside reveals it has strayed somewhat from them, decisions in the community are still made by unanimous vote. Yet, it is the freedom of Christiania that threatens its existence today. Organized crime has taken advantage of the community’s very liberal drug laws and raids by the police have the Danish government thinking twice about Freetown Christiania.

Christiania is independent to an extent, but cannot exist without the supplies, electricity, nor police protection of the big brother that surrounds it. So, while the community may be able to police itself, it hasn’t been able to control the invasive external elements that have moved in to take advantage of its semi-independence.

Recognition Isn’t Utopia

Often the struggle for independence is one that sees self-determination as the end goal. Really though, it’s only the beginning. In fact, the push toward recognition helps to unite the nation that doesn’t exist. Afterwards ambitions, hopes, and ideals take different paths – the teenage years of a country if you will. As we’ve seen in Egypt’s recent revolution, the hard part begins after birth. The KRG, TRNC, and Freetown Christiania are now going through various stages of a difficult process in which they are forced to hold one trait, patience, in common for the unforeseeable future.

Related posts:

• Recognizing The Tensions In The Unrecognized Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus
• Kemer Cafe In Girne, North Cyprus Review
• A View Of Girne Harbor In The Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus

Copyright @2012 foXnoMad

When traveling to other countries where they speak a language you don’t, fluency isn’t typically required to get around. Yet the first few lessons of a language course may turn out not to be as useful as you would have hoped either. A specific dialect is more relevant for your vacations: the language of tourist.

Travelers use language for very specialized functions where you can focus your educational efforts – with the right technology – to become functionally more fluent than learning language in linear fashion. You’ll not only be able to get around words, but streets better as a result.

Don’t Start At Step #1

The advice to “pick up a language” when going on vacation is a bit misleading since you’re only ever learning parts of it at a time. You’re not going to “pick it up” like a box from the ground to the back of a truck – you’ve got to start thinking that there is no truck. The true masters of language acquisition – children – aren’t concerned about some hypothetical perfection of communication, they just want to get their ideas across. Once you accept that, you’re well on your way to learning tourist.

Focus On Greetings, Transportation, And The Five Three Double-Yous

Hello and goodbye are language essentials; though “what is your name” might not be the logical next step for a traveler. You’ll want to pin down directional words and those specifically referring to the most common methods of transportation you’ll be using. Car, bus, train can seems simple enough until you’re in the middle of Oman and nobody knows what you’re talking about.

• Of course, languages aren’t purely spoken and you can pick up a general idea of what gestures to expect the free site Travel Etiquette. Combine that with the nifty site Fasten Seat Belts to learn how to count to 10 with one hand in Chinese or figure out the Turkish mini-bus (dolmus) system.

Much like bulking up your muscles, work your brain cells in pairs. These are 4 word combinations to begin your tourist tongue eduction in because our minds work better with groups. Double words and double, well the “W” triplets of what, when, where. Who and why are optional if you really what to boil it down.

Where To Learn The Words That Are Coming Out Of Their Mouths

There are so many good, free online language resources it almost makes it difficult to find the right one for you. I’ve covered my favorite free online language courses in the past and later updated it to include these free language social networks. Practicing with a partner online can help reduce your anxiety about speaking that language before your next trip and also help you pick up 3 things that turn you from a stumbling tourist into a confused local.

Learn To Curse, Pick Up Filler Words, And Talk With A Lisp If You Have To

Let’s face it – the dirty curse words of any language are often the most memorable and fun to learn. Also, they tend to be coupled with body parts, family members, and animals which come in handy too. You Swear is an ad-heavy site that’s good for it’s digital worth in filthy language to balance out the nice greetings you’ve already picked up.

Filler words like “um” in English, “yaw” in Swedish, and “eh” in Italian are technically called disfluancies. Those words which seem useless to us adults actually help children learn their mother tongues. That’s because a disfluancy (aka. filler word) indicates the word to follow is one we are less familiar with. Research from the University of Rochester shows that children tend to take special notice of the words that come after fillers. The fillers highlight what’s unknown and worth learning – and since we’re thinking like children – can do the same for us.

On the flip side, you can use this Wikipedia list of filler words in various languages to put natural stops when speaking in a foreign tongue. You’ll sound more fluent while searching for the next term you’re looking for. Also, while there’s no solid research on it yet – filler words may subconsciously highlight words you need to pay attention to and recall in the future.

• Most Spaniards speak Spanish with a variation of a lisp (substituting a “th” sound for a “s”). In Bulgaria people nod backwards and in the United States south, people tend to use “ya’ll” for “you-all”. Paying a little extra notice to those local deviations and adding them to your own speech make you sound more natural – and may endear you even more to locals. People appreciate you how much effort you put into learning their language, when you take the time to also include their local version it goes that much further.

Use The Universal Translator In Your Pocket

While there are many smart phone translation apps, the future is a Star Trek Universal Translator – the first version of which is Vocre for the iPhone. It’s not perfect by any means – limited to to around 10 languages and requiring an Internet connection to work. (Plus it’s noticeable lack of an Android version.) Still, if the stars align for you, Vocre might be a good addition to your iPhone.Upcoming improvements and competitors mean we’re only seeing the beginning of dynamic translators to come.

• Aside from practicing your speaking skills with your online buddies (see above) you can check your pronunciation with Free Pronunciation Checker for Android or Forvo for iPhone.

Also, you can try switching you Facebook account over to the language you’ll be visiting for a few minutes each day. Learning words by associations (you might not have noticed it say “Home”, “Photos”, and “Friends” all up there but you’ll likely recognize them in another language without even thinking about it.

Don’t Be Afraid To Use What You Know

When using the language or tourist – or just when traveling in general – it’s understood that you’re foreign. Get over it – much like a little kid doesn’t care she’s not getting it quite right and just wants her damn cookie – your objective is to get to the train station or find out how much that camel ride costs. The first step of language is the most important for communication – if you don’t take it, you’re not traveling quite as far as you could be.

[top photo of men talking by: dobrych, F*CK license plate by batigolix, word decree shirt photo by RLHyde]

Related posts:

• Learn New Languages For Free Using These Online Resources
• 3 Free Language Social Networks Travelers Can Use To Learn And Converse With Others
• Word2Word An Online Collection Of Free Language Resources

Copyright @2012 foXnoMad

Many people travel the world to see monuments, landscapes, and attend festivals; while others hit the road to dress up as Klingons, learn how to reverse engineer ATM machines, or reenact scenes from Lord Of The Rings. I recently attended the 2011 Las Vegas Star Trek Convention with nearly 10,000 other people; and more than 2.2 million people attend science-fiction conventions each year. That’s not where geek gatherings begin or end however and these are a few of the top events that see many more people than you may have ever imagined.

Star Trek Conventions

We’ll start here as it’s a topic I’ve introduced you to before but one surprising trend is their growing popularity. There are now over 100 Star Trek conventions every year around the world in countries like Brazil, Serbia, and Australia. In others, like Germany, it has taken off to the extent that there are now monthly Trek meetups and dinners in practically every city. The first Star Trek convention took place on March 1, 1969 in Newark, New Jersey and was arguably the beginning of the sci-fi convention phenomena.

• Where The Biggest Star Trek Conventions Are: Las Vegas: Creation Star Trek Las Vegas, Dusseldorf: FedCon, Melbourne: OzTrek

Hacker Conventions

I’ve been to my fair share of hacker conventions as well which are something of a visual cross between corporate conference, the movie Hackers, and an acid trip. The larger events usually have some set of experts talking tech security, but often the discussions branch out into other related topics like lock picking and reprogramming ATM machines. Speaking of, you usually don’t want to use one within a 2 kilometers of the convention and it’s not the best place to try and get online. Don’t worry though, most of the presentations themselves are hacked by the audience as they’re being presented.

Where The Biggest Hacker Conventions Are: Las Vegas: DEF CON, New York: HOPE, Berlin: Chaos Communication Congress

Renaissance Festivals

Also known as “Ren Fairs” these semi-reenactments of the Europe’s 1500-1750 time period feature ancient booze like “mead”, bow and arrow contests, and plenty of ladies dressed as though they belong in Oktoberfest. Although Ren Fairs got their start in the United States, they can be found all across Europe, Australia, and parts of Canada. Ren Fairs are incredibly popular and draw nearly 2 million people each year in the US alone.

• Where The Biggest Ren Fairs Are: Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, Maryland Renaissance Festival, Texas Renaissance Festival 

Anime Cons

Convention (“Con”) fanaticism may have begun with Star Trek, but it was quickly met on the other end of the spectrum by Anime. That world of anime – revolving around Japanese animation – has a huge cult following all over the world if this list of conventions is any indication. Of the sci-fi conventions I’d have to say anime cons are the most colorful and usually have more people dressed up than not.

• Where The Biggest Anime Cons Are: Tokyo: Comiket, Los Angeles: Anime Expo, Sao Paulo: Anime Friends

Board Game, Video Game, And Collectable Conventions

This is where Germany really shines in terms of its convention culture and considered the place to visit if you’re all about board games. In this digital age the Internationale Spieltage SPIEL sees more than 150,000 people over 4 days each year in Essen, Germany. In fact, gaming conventions are considered the fastest growing genre, particularly in eastern Europe. Though it’s the Italians who’ve got the biggest gaming convention anywhere – with 140,000 attendees (not including vendors) visiting for Lucca Comic And Games in…well, Lucca, Italy. Video and board game manufacturers often announce their upcoming games at these larger events, making them sort of the Macworld for game geeks.

• Where The Biggest Gaming Conventions Are: Essen: Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, Indianapolis: Game Con, Toronto: GX Gaming Expo

Comic-Con

There are conventions and then there is Comic-Con, perhaps the most well known comic, science-fiction, fantasy gathering held in San Diego each year. While there are many “Comic Cons” held around the world annually, San Diego has blossomed from 145 people in 1970 when it began, to over 125,000 this past year. Actors from upcoming films and current TV shows like Dexter, Chuck and Big Bang Theory have panels to discuss what’s coming up in the seasons ahead. It’s worth noting while Comic-Con is arguably the most publicized, it’s not the biggest. Comiket in Tokyo, Japan sees 500,000…twice a year.

• Where The Biggest Comic Conventions Are: Angouleme [France]: Angouleme International Comics Festival, Johannesburg: ICON, Atlanta: Dragon*Con

How Conventions Help Local Travel

While every trip of ours may hold a variety of purposes, conventions have an impact that any local economy can appreciate – money. Entry fees, hotel reservations, and dining associated with Dragon*Con alone was estimated to bring in 25 million dollars to Atlanta’s economy. Comic Con (San Diego) generated around 163 million dollars this past year and that trend is seen in convention cities around the world. Although on the surface nerd-travel might look different, underneath the costumes that travel mechanics are much the same.

People getting together with others who share their passions, while at the same time perhaps venturing to a new city or country and adding those experiences to their own. Many of my own 2012 upcoming stops revolve around sci-fi conventions though my travels will revolve around the cities and areas their held in.

[Anime photo by VideogameVisionary.com]

Related posts:

• A Beginner’s Guide To Star Trek Conventions
• In Pictures: The Costumes Of The 2011 Las Vegas Star Trek Convention
• Which Star Trek Crew Member Do You Travel Like? [POLL RESULTS]

Copyright @2012 foXnoMad

Admittedly, Germany‘s orderly architecture with its brick foundations dotting the landscape of uniformity doesn’t interest me very much. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great for the Germans – who doesn’t like clean streets or houses that last from one World War to the next – but efficiency can be rather cold. So, when I came across a building in Lubeck that’s lopsided – and intentionally at that – it grabbed me immediately.

Back when cities had gates to keep thieves and conquerors out, the wealthy state of Lubeck (tied to the Hanseatic League at the time) put up several gates and fortifications around the city. There was actually a complex of 4 Holsten Gates, each demolished over the 1800s to make space for development. And because they kept sinking into the marshes they were built upon.

What you see above is actually the Middle Holsten Gate, the only remaining one that was saved by a single community vote in 1863. That vote sealed the fate of the Holstentor, which was half a meter in the ground already until it’s restoration 8 years later. Of course, it’s not the design of the Holstentor that’s the problem but it’s position along the Trave River. Although an excellent defensive position along the water’s edge, a high water table means the land is often saturated, making it too soft to plunk several tons of Holsten Gate on.

So, again, in 1934 the Nazis came to Lubeck, restoring the Holstentor “once and for all,” and converted it into a museum. A rather odd gesture, considering that Adolf Hitler hated the city for not letting him campaign there 2 years earlier. (Ironically, the Holstentor was the last public building to adorn a swastika until it was stolen in 2005.) The Nazis, being the type to exaggerate and  bend make up history didn’t do the best job on the Holstentor however, lasting only 15 years before needing another touch up.

Fast forward to 2006, the last time the Holstentor was restored to prevent it from collapsing. (The Germans should really start a Holstentor-Didn’t-Crumble-This-Year celebration or have Holsten-Nicht-Kaput-Fest.) It’s still crooked as you can see and how long it will last this time is anyone’s guess. Over the last 150 years the Holstentor has come to represent of the City of Lubeck – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – ensuring its residents will continue to support their slumping symbol with pride.

The Holstentor (aka. Holsten Gate) museum is open most days of the week and costs about 5 Euros to enter.

Related posts:

• New York City Pride
• My Trip To Delhi (Part 3 of 8): India Gate
• The Christmas Market In Lubeck, Germany

Copyright @2012 foXnoMad

Throughout it’s short history as a city beginning in 1829, a lot of people have bet on Las Vegas and lost. Beginning with the Southern Paiute native peoples’ displacement during the mid-1850s, the Mormons tried their hand around the same time in an attempt to make Las Vegas a refueling destination for western travelers. That idea lasted 2 years before the environmental hardships created enough tension to split up the inhabitants.

It wasn’t until Benjamin “Bugsy” Seigel, a Genovese crime family associate, was lured to the area around Las Vegas in 1937. Seigel was originally sent to there to create illegal entertainment opportunities for the thousands of workers building the Hoover Dam in 1934. That was a much riskier venture than Seigel preferred, rather deciding to use Nevada’s legalized gambling laws to create a lucrative, legitimate business front.

The Great Depression and World War II both created the economic incentives for Nevada to further liberalize its gambling laws and gave Seigel the momentum he needed to seek investment from various mob bosses. Motivated by greed, the investments by Charlie “Lucky” Luciano and others were huge, topping out around 6 million dollars. And Seigel made sure to spend every cent of it on his casino The Flamingo. Although the old adage goes you can’t cheat a cheater – that’s exactly what happened to Seigel. Organized construction workers ran up costs nearly 10-fold mostly by not delivering supplies but making it seem as they though they had. Unions, being manipulated by other crime families, went on strike to delay construction or simply be used as bargaining chips.

It also turned out that Seigel was stealing money from the investments he had received, quietly stashing some of it away in foreign banks. When investors found out – it was the financial success of The Flamingo that would determine Seigel’s life. In a rush to get The Flamingo open, Seigel neglected to finish the hotel, but threw one of the most expensive grand openings in the world. Celebrities chefs, actors like Clark Gable, and entertainers were brought in from around the globe.

The press was incredible – the stars were the biggest – but nobody else showed up. It was right after World War II and few people had the expendable cash to spend. And the celebrities couldn’t stay at The Flamingo since there weren’t any rooms.

Approximately 6 months later however, the glamorous press coverage along with a rapidly improving economy made The Flamingo a gold mine allowing Seigel to payback nearly a quarter of the loan. By that time though, he had stolen too much and made too little. Bugsy Seigel was killed by gunfire in his home on June 20, 1947 – just 5 years before 10 more casinos opened and the Las Vegas strip was born.

Much of this Las Vegas history is covered in great detail in the book Five Families, a fascinating read about organized crime’s relationship with the United States over the 1900s.

Related posts:

• In Pictures: The Costumes Of The 2011 Las Vegas Star Trek Convention
• Rio All Suites Hotel And Casino In Las Vegas, Nevada Review
• How Do You Define A Successful Travel Blog?

Copyright @2012 foXnoMad

The tobacco water-pipe, nearly 600 years old known as a hookah, shisha (many parts of the Arab world, including Egypt), argile in Syria, nargile in Turkey, and galyan in Iran, is an integral part of Middle Eastern cultures whose misty clouds of smoke are often a mystery to visitors. No, they’re not getting everyone high on the streets Cairo – well, not technically – and each puff isn’t quite the equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes. While shisha (the term I’ll stick with for the rest of this post) contains plenty of nicotine, it’s not what hooks it into life around the Arab world; it is something entirely more addictive about that culture in general.

Shisha – What It Is Exactly And Are There Drugs In It?

Shisha’s fundamental components consist of a (specialized) charcoal at the top that heats flavored tobacco beneath it; both separated by a piece of aluminum foil. The downward force for the heat is provided by two dedicated human lungs sucking in tobacco smoke through a hose. In a public setting, the tip of the hose is capped with a removable plastic piece, so you’re not sharing germs with others who’ve been smoking the same shisha. Traditionally, the tobacco air isn’t inhaled, but rather enjoyed more like a cigar, by keeping the fruit-flavored smoke in your mouth before exhaling. Cigarette smokers and others though do inhale the smoke however, which often produces a slight buzz and a lightheaded feeling, primarily due to carbon monoxide (CO) accumulation in the blood. That effect typically lasts 3-4 hours, the approximate half-life of CO, in the body at most altitudes.

It’s not so much hearing about the mild woozy effect that leads many to conclude there’s marijuana in shisha, but rather the appearance of the water pipe itself, which many associate with a bong.

I was quite perplexed last year while smoking shisha (nargile in Turkey) by the Mediterranean waters off Fethiye‘s coast to notice an entire British family wide-eyed starring at me. They were looking at me as though I were a green alien or had 7 arms. I kept looking over my shoulder and wondering if I had forgotten to wear pants that day and eventually asked the waiter what was going on. He told me the family was wondering if I was getting high and what exactly I was smoking. They seemed quite disappointed to find out it was tobacco only. Especially the mom.

Although you can put marijuana or hash (very popular in Arab subculture) in shisha, it’s not part of the usual mix. That’s not the traditional allure of the pipe which has roots in places from Nepal to Morocco and is spreading worldwide via seeds of Arab immigrant communities.

Smokey Shisha Bonds The Cafe Culture

The peoples of the Middle East – not just Arabs – are generally cafe cultures. Spain has its siestas and Oman has its shisha to get through the working day. Sips of tea and puffs of shisha at cafes typically crowded with men (though that is changing across much of the Middle East) is where you exchange the troubles of the day, exhaling both literally and metaphorically. You smoke a cigarette for the quick nicotine fix but a shisha for the conversation, relaxation, or both.

Gaining Ground Where It Was Once Found, Now All Around

While shisha as been quite popular throughout most of the Arab world (with a few notable exceptions publicly in places like Saudi Arabia), it’s prevalence elsewhere has brought it back to life in places more familiar with it. The hookah, it’s mostly agreed, was originally invented during the 1500s by the Persians, in what is today northwestern India. Since that time it became passe over the mid-to-late 1900s in places like Turkey and India, something considered too arabesque for rapidly modernizing societies. Shisha and the cafe ambiance around it, continued to spread during that time as Arab communities established themselves in many parts of the world. Popularizing shisha across South Africa, the Philippines, and (especially) Europe – pretty much anywhere you have Arab or southeastern immigrant populations, it has come back strong in places looking west but reexamining their eastern roots.

What we eat says a lot about where we came from and as cuisine travels around the world, so does the history, culture, and people whose tale it tells. Apparently the same is true of what we inhale as well.

Some Prevalently Common Shisha Myths

Aside being packed with marijuana, there are some rather common myths about shisha not matter how familiar its smoke is to you.

• Smoking One Shisha Is Equivalent To A Pack Of Cigarettes – One hookah can last a very long time coal after coal so it’s important to define a typical smoking session; they average about 45 minutes. Now, in terms of equivalency, there are many things in cigarettes that are bad for you, including 4,000 chemicals and 50 carcinogens – a pack generally consisting of 20 cigarettes. We’ll focus on three things – nicotine (not a confirmed carcinogen), nicotine-free dry particulate matter (NFDPM – basically tar and other crap that sticks around in your lungs); and finally, carbon monoxide which is toxic to all forms of life that depend on oxygen to survive.

So, in one 45 minute session of shisha smoke you inhale about 2.25 milligrams (mg) of nicotine, versus the average 6mg per packet of cigarettes. As for NFDPM, it’s roughly 245mg per shisha session and 120mg per cigarette packet. Lastly, when it comes to carbon monoxide via shisha you’re getting a total dose of 42 parts per million (pm) CO and a heavy smoker has about 35 ppm on average.

To add things up, a shisha session (where you inhale) gives you less nicotine, more NFDPM, and about the same CO as a pack of cigarettes according to current research.

• Smoking Shisha Is Ancient – No, it’s not, no matter what the Caterpillar in Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland is doing, it’s about 600 years old. Remember, tobacco was only introduced to Asia about that time, so while it took off quickly, it did not take off before.
• One Shisha For The Group – Although getting a shisha for the table is common in Western countries, generally it’s one shisha per person in the Middle East and Asia with the occasional sharing.
• Shisha Isn’t Bad For You – I think we’ve covered that well above but the consensus is that while it’s not good for you, people tend to smoke them less frequently than cigarettes, and that’s kinda good.

Perhaps the biggest myth about smoking shisha is why it’s done in the first place by the peoples who enjoy it so much and often.

Conversations Around The Coal

Much like eating paella in Spain, drinking raki in Turkey, or fika in Sweden, it might be the food, alcohol, or caffeine that brings you to the table but it’s company that keeps you there. Ordering coal after coal (free without charge – you pay for the hookah once) people help their shishas keep up with the conversations gently blowing into the air all around them.

Related posts:

• Overcoming 7 Major Obstacles To Traveling The World – #7 You Will Travel The World…Later
• Your Personal Introduction To The Travel Blogosphere
• A Background And Traveler’s Introduction To Bahrain

Copyright @2012 foXnoMad

Those of you who’ve been following me anywhere online for any length of time have probably come to know I’m a huge Star Trek nerd fan. I attend conventions on occasion but had never made it to the largest one in the world held every year, over 4 days in Las Vegas, Nevada – until last month.

I’ll be writing more about this convention in the coming days (and here’s a beginner’s guide to the whole thing if you’ve got no clue what I’m talking about.) Basically a Star Trek convention is where fans of the shows meetup to hang out, meet the actors, and…yes, dress up in a variety of costumes. The Star Trek convention in Las Vegas this year was held at the Rio All Suites Casino and Hotel, and well, there’s nothing like watching a group of Klingons play craps while three drunken Vulcans gamble at the blackjack table next to them.

Enough people dressed up as various aliens at this convention (more than 1,100) to break a Guinness World record for most Star Trek costumes in one place and celebrate the show’s 45th anniversary. (Yesterday in 1966 was the first time Star Trek aired on television.)  Sci-fi fan or not, a convention certainly changes the visual landscape, even in a city where unusual dress is often hard to define.

A Ferengi

This guy’s species might be able to teach you a thing or two about bargaining and getting a good deal anywhere on Earth.

Two Andorian Females

These ladies actually come from one of the best planets in the galaxy to visit if you’ve got a vacation coming up and have a thing for skiing and snow.

Two Klingon Warriors

These two were the nicest Klingons I’ve ever met and actually had a different Klingon outfit for each day of the convention.

Orion Slave Girls

Admittedly, Orion slave girls aren’t something I come across frequently in my travels.

…so when I do, I figure I should say hi.

The Tallest Vulcan I’ve Ever Seen

Who is also holding a My Little Pony doll. I’m as confused as you are.

Thanks, But I Just Got A Haircut

To be honest, I don’t know what episode from the original series these two are from but I didn’t tell them that until I was out of extremely-large-crazy-blade range.

A Borg

This gentleman won the costume contest that was run during the convention, netting himself $1,000 to assimilate.

Where The Costumes Come From

Many (like the above Borg) are homemade and generally the most creative, but standard uniforms are on sale at most conventions.

A White Alien Gorilla With A Horn…Duh

From the ever cheesy episode A Private Little War, and the other guy is dressed as Captain Kirk in that same episode.

Legos In Space

Anything in Lego form is better. Never forget that.

Alien Phenomena

This guy gets points for creativity and you get nerd points if you get, and chuckle at it.

Starfleet Is Pet-Friendly

And so is the Rio All Suites Casino and Hotel.

Ladies In Command

Starfleet seems to have a pretty liberal wardrobe policy.

Klingons Don’t Mess Around

That bat’leth (Klingon sword) isn’t plastic by the way, so be sure to stay on her good side.

A Romulan

Hope he didn’t get too close to the Klingons, especially the ones that were armed. Which was pretty much all of them.

More From The Costume Contest

I wish there were a tutorial somewhere on how to photograph aliens because I just couldn’t get it down over the 4 days. It was much easier to get a photo of Max Grodenchik without his makeup from Deep Space Nine, above.

The Following Runs Deeper Than The Surface

So much of what brings people to conventions (originally a fan grass-roots effort to keep the show alive after it was canceled) is creator Gene Roddenberry’s bright vision for humanity’s future. One brought on through exploration and the understanding we are all much more alike than we are different. In Star Trek, it takes aliens landing on Earth for humanity to realize what we can already simply by traveling more of our own planet.

For a few more aliens and the rest of Las Vegas, check out my album here.

Related posts:

• A Beginner’s Guide To Star Trek Conventions
• Which Star Trek Crew Member Do You Travel Like? [POLL RESULTS]
• Star Trek’s Top Intergalactic Travel Destinations

Copyright @2012 foXnoMad

Qatar is a country I keep coming back to in my mind as one that I never could quite wrap my senses fully around. What makes Qatar what it is, in many ways, is defined by all of the things it isn’t – combined with the onslaught of what it wants to become. Qatar, aside from being the Middle East’s fastest growing nation, a peninsula sitting on the southeast end of Saudi Arabia, has the world’s highest GDP. More than 75% of the population lives in the capital city Doha, and more than 60% is foreign born in a country that only became sovereign in 1971. Since that time Qatar’s monarchy, fueled by more oil and natural gas per capita than anywhere else, is speeding to establish its place in the changing global economic dynamic.

A Focused Vision Forward

So much of what you see in Qatar is some part of its future. There isn’t much immediate evidence of anything that came before, or the nomadic tribes roughly brought together with the introduction of Islam around 700 A.D. Once that happened and in between visits from various conquerors like the Ottomans and Persians, Qatar acted as a linchpin to commerce in the Persian Gulf.

Much of this history is covered in great detail in Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art, 3 floors and 45,000 square meters encompassing one of the most interesting and visually impressive museums I have ever visited. It’s new too, built in 2008 – sitting along a mostly artificial concrete corniche – and is subsequently one of the best places to take photos of new Doha while learning about the old one.

Building A Base Upon A Foreign One

One of the reasons it’s tough to get a sense of Qatari essence is that so many of the 1.5 million people, including 71% of all women in the country, are foreign born. Of those, more than half have arrived within the last 10 years. (With numbers doubling in 2005, then again in 2010.) They’re mostly coming for work, to build that future that Qatar has envisioned for itself. The skyscrapers, World Cup 2022 stadiums, and modern bazaars like Souk Waqif that Qatar’s government is hoping will give Dubai a run for it’s money in the coming years.

Extremely reminiscent of Dubai, Doha at times almost feels too much like it, except a bit rougher around the edges. The immigrant neighborhoods and communities are more apparent in Doha but there isn’t much else to set it aside on the surface from it’s shiny neighbor to the east.

The Future Is In The Stuffing

The path to a culture’s heart is often through its kitchen and there are many culinary roads in Qatar to follow. They’ll take you to places like Morocco, Yemen, and Nepal albeit in a controlled manner. Foods aren’t fusing together in abundance yet as they tend to do when diverse counter tops cook in close proximity. It’s these various paths that are the roads to Qatar’s essence, not where it’s going, but in the footsteps of all those who have built and are building its future.

Related posts:

• Qatar Travel Information
• A Taste Of Morocco In Qatar: Lentil Soup At Tagine In Souk Waqif, Doha
• A Deceptive View Of Downtown Doha, Qatar

Copyright @2012 foXnoMad