Dolina – Santa Fe, New Mexico
For my dad, a professional educator for thirty years, it wasn’t enough that his children learned how to spell cat, dog and all the other traditional first words kids learn to spell in school. He taught us how to spell Czechoslovakia, rhinoceros, aesthetic and other multisyllabic words. He also taught us what those words meant. Being kids, we giggled when he taught us about Lake Titicaca in the Andes of Bolivia, but marveled at its size and altitude. Because of his teaching, one of my sisters could (at age seven) recite the alphabet backwards as quickly as most people can recite it forward. Two of my sisters were double-promoted and both finished high school as valedictorians. My dad didn’t teach his precocious brood so we could show off in school, but to inculcate a love of learning. It’s served the six of us very well. Every one of my brothers and sisters has been highly successful in their chosen professions and in life (I’m the family dunce). You might think learning about Czechoslovakia didn’t have any value, but it gave me a lifetime of curiosity about other nations and cultures. It’s a curiosity that extends to the cuisine of exotic…
