BRAVISSIMO!!!!!!!  Italia A dictionary definition of Italy:  Italy |ˈitl-ē| Italy is a country in southern Europe with a population of 58,126,200 (est. 2009). Capital, Rome; Official language, Italian. Italian name: Italia.  A human’s definition of Italy:  Italy is a country in Southern Europe where pasta and pizza were born.  My definition of Italy:  Italy, home…

Cow heads, sheep heads, goat heads, camel heads, a lot of bread, and a religious pilgrimage for my geeky head (Star Wars)…. Click here for Return to Tunisia in October 2015 Click here for Djerba Hood Street Art People have probably heard of Tunisia from the country where the Arab Spring first erupted.  It quite…

Living in the Land of Sun, Sand, History and Noise The past three years of living in Cairo have certainly seen its ups and downs.  I can say I am not fond of the city because of the noise, traffic, pollution, and constant disregard for trying to clean up the city.  The bus rides to…

A crazy 3 years in an unpredictable country For more on Venezuela, please see the Angel Falls Blog. Venezuela was definitely a crazy time for me, but I loved it.  I lived in the city of Maracaibo which is the second biggest city behind Caracas.  It is on the west side of the country a…

Off the Beaten Path- International Trips With Students So my Off the Beaten Path is usually places that no one goes that usually involves a struggle to get to or danger. So why am I putting trips to Washington DC, Greece, and Italy with my Off the Beaten Path Section? Let me ask you a…

Last night in Yangon It was now time to head back to Yangon. We got in the early afternoon and went around the city for a little bit to see some of the attractions we didn’t see the first time around. It was bittersweet to be there because we knew our time in Myanmar was…

Ngapali Beach Our last stop before heading back to Yangon was Ngapali Beach. I am not in the least bit a beach person so I was not excited about going, but again I was surprised. Our accommodation literally was on the beach. You can stop outside our hut and the beach was right there. I…

Trekking We started our trek just outside of Kalaw in a small village. We hiked for a bit and then stopped in a small village in which ladies were making scarves for the winter. It looked to me that their main source of income was harvesting spicy chile. We continued for another few hours through…

Inle Lake Inle Lake is the biggest and most known lake in Myanmar. We hopped on a boat and continued to be impressed of all the houses that were built up on stilts around the whole lake area. We saw the women that are from villages that have the rings around their necks, went to…

Kalaw We left Bagan in the morning and drove to Kalaw. I am trying to find the best way to describe Kalaw, but it is hard. It is a very small rural type town, that is a starting point for many backpackers doing treks in the mountains. It reminded me of a small town in…

Bagan We arrived in Bagan at night and had two nights there and one full day. Our guide was an interesting one as he spoke perfect “textbook” English and pronounced his words very literally. I enjoyed our hotel here the most as you stepped out on the balcony and you could see all the pagodas…