My love of books about other cultures

Having been a travel agent for 20+ years, I obviously have a love for other cultures, having visited a lot of different continents. I find the African cultures all very diverse and very very interesting.

Senegambia, The Gambia by Lisa Hardy

Whilst in The Gambia, we befriended a local man called "Kabs" who was a Tour Manager for a local independant company in Senegambia. He was so friendly and introduced us to his family, taking us to his home which was a compound, where he lived with his mother, and his brother and brothers family and his other siblings. They were so welcoming despite most of them not speaking English. We took with us a bag of rice as a gift. This cost us about £12 but would feed the whole family for a month.

Kabs and his family

Kabs took us to a local school where we went armed with books (of course) in English for their library, pens, pencils, paper and sweets. The children swarmed round us like bees around a honey pot. They were so lovely and so delighted to see the white people.

Children at Bakoteh school

Before I go anywhere on holiday I buy all the guide books, as I love to read about the country before I go, so I know what to expect. I am quite street wise on holiday and like to take my Husband and I off independently, although obviously being aware there are places you can and can't go on your own. We found that if we went with Kabs or his colleagues, he stopped people from pestering us.

I found one excellent book on Gambia whilst I was in The Gambia, called Tomkinsons Gambia. It was rich with colour and information.

Tompkinsons Gambia

This trip was the one that inspired me the most to read up about different cultures. I have since travelled to the Far East and been immersed in the sights and smells of Bangkok and the surrounding villages in Thailand. I have experienced the poverty in Malaysia. I have seen the way of life of the Aborigine people in Australia, how they eat from the land, all sorts of things we would turn up our noses at. I have experienced how in Mauritius, people of all religions live amongst each other quite happily and the rich live amongst the poor. That was quite eye opening and very humbling.

All in all these experiences have pushed me to read about the ways of life of other cultures. I love to read books like Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, where the author, quote "brings to life not only a character but an entire culture, and a sensiblity so strikingly different from our own ... engrossing and completely convincing". If you haven't read this, I strongly suggest you do. It's a book that has stayed in my mind.

 I also love books like Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, about a young girl growing up in Afghanistan. I just wish the author would write more books!

I have just therefore bought from New Books Magazine The City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris. In it "The burkha-clad body of a young woman is discovered on the grimy sands of Jeddah Beach".

Overall I love books of all genres, but I would just say, if you are stuck in a routine of reading modern fiction, thrillers or historical fiction then broaden your horizons and read one of the fiction books I've mentioned. They really do enrich your mind.

Full postbox today!

You know how it is when you are waiting for something to come through the letterbox and it doesn't come, well today was different! We have had a couple of bank holidays so no post, but today everything came together and it was like Christmas!

First thing opened was a new magazine I subscribed to, which combines several of my loves; Food, Travel and of course reading. It's the Food and Travel magazine that I subscribed to at the Cruise show in London.

It shows you food from around the World and some recipes, plus some City Breaks, recommending where to go, what to do and where to eat and drink. I am a really fussy eater, so often the recipes are too fancy for me, but I like to look at what is traditional in the different places. It gives you ideas for when you have friends for dinner. There are lots of ideas for the gourmet traveller. This magazine gets passed around a lot to friends and family, so get my moneys worth out of it.

The next thing I opened was a jiffy bag containing two "Free" books that I got from New Books Mag, where I just had to pay towards postage. They have some great free books on offer, so have a look.

The two I had were "City of Veils" by Zoe Ferraris and "The Surrendered" by Chang-Rae Lee. Despite having my kindle I still can't resist a good paperback too.

Just awaiting the New Books Magazine Trial Copy, to see if it's something that I will get any use out of. Trial copy was just £1.00

I also had this weeks Graze box through, but it had nuts in it, and I thought I had cancelled all nut products so hubbie will have to eat them. Not that I'm allergic to them but I just don't like them. 

Never mind, back to the scrummy (and healthy) flapjacks and raisins next week.

Now just waiting for my Lonely Planet magazine and Wanderlust magazine to make my week complete!