http://susansword.com Global Citizen on the Move Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:51:26 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en On Mother’s Day, a 30-year old friend of mine called me from New York City, where she was lamenting the site of mothers with their children in Central Park. She was sad because she hadn’t had a child yet and felt like she hadn’t accomplished anything in her life and ... http://susansword.com/having-children-to-fill-a-void-wrong/ My admiration for Dr. Oliver Sacks is no secret. He was just on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night talking about the effects of music on the brain. I am thrilled that he was discussing this on mainstream TV as more people watch The Daily Show than have ... http://susansword.com/language-and-music-are-linked-watch-the-daily-show/ People get under my skin. Sarajevo got in my veins. Boston doesn’t escape my thoughts. For the past two weeks, I’ve been wandering in the North End, the old Italian neighborhood in Boston. I actually visited the North End on June 11th, fifteen days ago. I’ve spent more time since ... http://susansword.com/boston-on-my-mind/ Music must be one of the most powerful forces of nostalgia!Yesterday, I had a lot of fun dancing to the gypsy music of Goran Bregović, a Sarajevo-born musician and composer. He has collaborated with Iggy Pop and Cesaria Evora and created the soundtracks for Emir Kusturica’s films (Time of the ... http://susansword.com/music-brought-me-back-to-my-dear-sarajevo/ Last week, at Book Expo America in New York, I had some extra time and went to the Latino Book Awards, not knowing anything about the event. I walked in on Bill Santiago’s stand-up comedy routine in Spanglish, the mixture of Spanish and English by Spanish speakers in the US. ... http://susansword.com/is-spanglish-a-new-language/ There’s proof that music leads to learning!Last week, I was helping my friend David Mathison at his booth at Book Expo America. David was selling his book, Be the Media, a guidebook for authors, musicians, film makers, radio hosts and other creative people to create their own media companies. David’s ... http://susansword.com/from-merengue-to-borscht-learning-russian-with-soviet-army-music/ Economic Hit ManCandidate character description:Multilingual, sensitive to other cultures, can mix with local populations in difficult areas around the world, can get used to harsh living conditions, can gain trust of people if different countries, smart, and resourceful. Education: Economics, international affairs. Job: Be an economic hit man. Lie for ... http://susansword.com/not-an-economic-hit-woman-or-spy-i-am-in-between-two-worlds-in-the-middle/ In January 2000, I returned from Argentina on crutches and with a cast on my left leg, with no desire to retain my recently acquired Argentine accent in Spanish. After spending a year in the country, I wanted no traces of the Argentine “sh” sound for the double “ll” and ... http://susansword.com/accent-comeback-i-am-back-in-argentina-in-my-mind/ I was recently back in the former Yugoslavia as an election observer in Macedonia and was pleasantly surprised at how I was able to use Serbo-Croatian to communicate with various people: a Slovenian diplomat, an ethnic Albanian woman in Macedonia and a Macedonian man. When the Slovenian diplomat and I ... http://susansword.com/political-barriers-shouldn%e2%80%99t-be-linguistic-barriers/ Being a world traveler and polyglot can disorient someone, even a seasoned traveler like myself. I think my brain is not able to process multiple realities simultaneously. I am actually kind of embarrassed to say this given how much I love travel and believe in its benefits. However, my recent ... http://susansword.com/living-in-multiple-realities/