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My teacher invited me to a fiesta de los santos, a festival of the saints. I had no idea what to expect, but assumed it was some public affair. I met up with Eddie at the Rumba school. The school is literally a "hole in the wall." Upon entering, you find yourself in a maze of tiny abodes, each not much bigger than most American kitchens. Over your head clothing dries in the breeze and dark wrinkled faces peer out from each doorway. Eddie and few other musicians greet me warmly, with rough, smoky voices. They are all well built, wearing beaten up clothing. We collect the Cajon's, (wooden boxes played as percussion instruments in the Santoria rituals), and walk down the street through the crowds of tourists and locals. Children, dogs, chickens, prostitutes and policeman all add to the morning crowd. Music pours out of restaurant doors, and beggars sit in the sunshine trying to get the attention of any and all passers-by. This is Havana Vieja, "Old Havana", and it feels so alive.I ask Eddie if the fiesta is public or private. He say's private, which makes...

This is my follow up to Surviving India.So, after the basics of getting by in India, my next tips are all about enjoying the food & nightlife that India has to offer.Food Basics India has such a wide spectrum of food, it's hard to know where to begin.  First, I'll start with some of the basic health stuff.  Make sure to only eat throughly cooked food & veggies.  Fruit is ok, provided it's not already been pealed.  Also, it's best to avoid drinking tap water anywhere unless you've been told that it's filtered.  You can usually ordered bottled water along with your meal (ask for 'bottled mineral water').  Another tip I got before I left (thanks Natala!) is to make sure to have a good amount yogurt along with your food.  One, you can use this to tone down the spice of anything that's too hot, and two it's chock full of the local good bacteria that you don't have but the locals do.  This will help you do your best to avoid the dreaded Delhi Belly.Veg. vs. Non-Veg.A large portion of the Indian population is vegetarian.   Therefore, most of the menus will clearly state wether something is Veg or Non-veg.  Sometimes these are indicated by a small icon with a square and a dot in the middle that's green...

Written by Chris Titus
Avoiding the Nightmare
Apartment hunting for expats can be a real nightmare. Spend five minutes surfing an expat bulletin board and you might think twice about your journey. However, with some help, you can avoid these problems, save time, and protect yourself.
Few Deals to Be Had
As an expat, you expect to find cheap accomodations. As a language teacher, it’s necessary to find cheap accommodations. You might think, “people here make 1/5th of your salary back home, so housing should be 1/5 the price of an apartment in Boston.” This has not been the case in Greece or Prague. Idealistic thoughts of finding a cheap accommodations are quickly squashed when you realize that expat flats carry expat prices. Your options are limited by language and cultural differences. If you don’t speak Greek, Czech, or whatever the local language happens to be, you must find a landlord who speaks English. With limited options, rising real estate prices, and a continued influx of western expats, you will not find any cheap deals in Prague’s expat rental market. In Greece you may fare a little better.
Note: When deciding upon your destination country, do not rely upon average salary data. These numbers are skewed downward by the large discrepancy between urban and rural cost of living data. Once you leave the major cities, the economic landscape changes far more drastically than in the US or other more developed countries.
So, Where Can You Look?
Athens Athens has no established short-term or expat rental market. I was repeatedly told, “nobody will rent an apartment for 3 months. The landlord will only accept a long term lease. One to three years.” One to three years! Are they crazy? ‘Short-term rental’ in Greece means a minimum of 6 months. I needed a three month rental and a hotel was not going to cut it. I was unable to locate real estate agencies that served the expat community in Greece. Most brokers do not speak enough English and their selections were too limited. Your best bet is to look in the English newspapers, online searches, expat websites, and the...

With airlines actually charging for checked baggage nowadays (what nerve), people are feeling the crunch to limit themselves to one checked bag or just one carry-on. Efficient packing is no longer a time-saver but also a money-saver, and here are some tips to save space in your suitcase.1. Roll your clothes. You can either roll your clothes by themselves or roll larger items (such as shirts) around some object, like a can of shaving cream. (Remember, if you only have a carry-on, liquids and...

    If any of you have ever watched 24 you know that Jack Bauer is never without his trusty shoulder bag.  As a matter of fact, if it weren't for Bauer's bag and its contents, America would have been destroyed by some terrorist organization or something equally terrible some time ago!  You (hopefully) don't need to keep a 9mm or vials of truth serum on hand to deal with the situations in which you routinely find yourself.  So be the Jack Bauer of everyday life with these tips about stocking your purse or pack with some very helpful gadgets and items!1. Travel Med Kit    See my previous article about making your own tidy and convenient travel med kit.  I don't go anywhere without one.  2.  Multi-Tool    Leatherman's or Swiss Army knives are just so incredibly versatile!  A simple model is fine, but I prefer to have the full gambit of corkscrew, bottle/can opener, knives and...

Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared!As a former scout I like to be prepared for anything wherever I go.  So I'm prepared for any physical ailment that I or those I run into throughout the day have I like to carry a travel med-kit.  I normally use a sandwich ziploc bag to keep the items together.  I keep one of these in each of the bags I carry and another stays in my glove box of my car.  The idea is to not carry a bunch of bulky bottles but have enough pills for a few doses on hand in the kit and to restock whenever you are running low.  Its imperative to keep track of which pills are which, so sometimes I use small plastic sealable bags that I get from local craft stores. They measure about 1.5"x2".  Most of the pills don't come in bottles, but instead in individual wrapped packets, so this isn't too much of an issue.A quick note on meds: Follow the dosage directions on the bottle to the letter. More is NOT better.  More can KILL you, or at the very least make your body very unhappy with you for a while.  Trust me, I had a really bad back-ache last year and decided to swallow a handful of painkillers on an empty stomach and wash it down with several ounces of *ahem* ethanol *ahem* (had to make sure there wasn't a bacterial infection!) and it gave me an ulcer that reminded me for about 2 months to read the labels on medicine bottles.  That being said, onward!Each travel med-kit should have:1. Ibuprofen    Generic for Advil.  All around good pain killer...

    We all have been in the airport security line behind that one individual that has seemingly never flown before.  They are juggling clothes, dropping bags and are bashfully muttering apologies through the passport that is stuck between their lips.  Don't be a TSA security check n00b.   Here are some really simple tips to help you get through security as painless and quick as possible.1.  Photo ID and Boarding Pass    I know this seems silly as there is always, without fail, a disgruntled person from TSA that is like a pull string doll, repeatedly saying "Please have your photo ID and boarding pass ready."   Before you even approach the security check lines have these in an easily accessible spot.  2. Get Ready to Strip    You know you have to take off jackets, footwear, and belts (unless you are unlucky and then it doesn't stop there).  Don't wear a pair of laced up boots that will take 5 minutes to take off and then another 5 to put back on. ...

When I was 11 yrs old, the Rejto family (which consisted of my mother, Alice, pianist; father, Gabor, world-class cellist; brother, Peter, cellist; and I, Nika (then known as Sali), flutist, left Europe to travel by air, instead of car (as we had for four months through Europe, in a Citroen stationwagon - actually my friends back in Los Angeles called it a vacuum cleaner because it looked so weird and rose up an down using hydralics) through Greece, Turkey, India, Thailand, China and finally, Japan.  My experiences in India, however, have always remained as THE MOST memorable of my entire six month journey, and here is why.Let's back up to Vienna again.  We had to get shots there for travel to the Orient.  Painful ones.  I'll never forget the day we walked into the doctor's office.  It was not a very nice looking office, and being only ten was, well, let's just say that I was a bit freaked out!  There was a jar on his desk with needles in it.  He picked one up and filled his syringe, and then used it on all four of us!  OMG!  Can you believe he did that, knowing what we know now about AIDS?  Mind you, this was 1961.  When we got back to our apartment and tried to undress for bed, none of us could get our clothes off due to the fact that our arms were so sore. It was impossible  to lift them up! No kidding.  We had another three weeks to go of shots, 4 each week, for a total of 16 shots!  The next week, we noticed a bowling alley across the street and my dad thought we could loosen up our arms if we bowled afterwards.  It was a success!  Thank god! So, now onto India.We landed at 5:30am in New Delhi, but before we were allowed to disembark, they sprayed us with bug spray...lovely, NOT!  Like a can of hair spray, as if this was going to save the world.  I'm only 11, but I know this is not the answer.  By the time we got to the...

I've just gotten back from a two week vacation in India, and figured I'd share some of what I've learned.  I've never been to India before, so it was a pretty new and awesome experience.Language TipsFirst off, a bit of Hindi.  While most TV and movies in India are in Hindi or English, it's primarily spoken in the north.  If you're traveling in the south, this will be less helpful.Namaste - Hello/Good Morning/Good Afternoon/Good EveningHaa (sounds like 'huh', but a little more drawn out) - YesNahee (sounds like 'nuh-huh') - NoCello - Let's go! (like vamos in Spanish)Hallis* - (with a hard H, like Challah or Chanukah) It's done/completed (as in lunch, shopping/etc) * note: this word may be Arabic, and not Hindi, I'm not really sure.These are just a few various words that I learned from talking with people.  There are obviously a lot more, but most people you'll encounter are pretty familiar with English.  Body language and slang can vary slightly, however.  If you are talking with someone and they begin to shake their head from side to side (at a slight angle), don't worry, they are actually agreeing with you.  This is the Indian head nod.Shopping TipsFirst, you'll want to get rupees out of a local ATM.  Your US ATM card should work just fine (provided you've called and given them a heads up that you're...