Winter 2020

Who knew a root crop could be a key dessert ingredient? Filipinos did. The Philippines is famous for its diverse and unique flavor combinations, especially when it comes to sweets. And one of the most-used flavors for desserts comes from a purple yam called ube (pronounced “ooh-bay”).Ube is a food native to Southeast Asia. It has a mild taste, somewhat like vanilla, and is definitely sweeter than other root crops. On the outside, however, it’s often confused with taro root. But there’s a pretty important distinction between the two: ube is bright purple all the time. Though some taro has a slightly purple coloring to it, ube is a much deeper, more luscious purple both as a root and as an ingredient.

Travel has been steadily increasing for the past several years. Whether it’s for business or pleasure, education or social media posts, travel seems to be a part of everyone’s lives nowadays. But should it be?

If you want to gain some perspective on your life, you need to spend some time in the Galilee.

Where did China get its first cup of tea? Who invented boomerangs in Australia? How did African leopards get their spots? Though there are plenty of factual answers to these questions, we can often learn more about a country from its bedtime stories than its history books. After all, humans have used stories to explain their surroundings for thousands of years, passing legends down from generation to generation. Through these legends, we learn about the gods our ancestors worshipped, the traditions they held dear, and their relationships with the world and the people around them.

The elements can be ruthless. Whether it be fire, flood, tsunami, or earthquake, natural disasters have been known to thoroughly destroy the lives and livelihoods of people worldwide. Take the 7.5 earthquake and tsunami of December 2018 in Indonesia, in which more than a thousand people were injured, more than ten thousand people were displaced, and hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed. When natural disasters ravage communities, many people want to know how to help, but the disaster seems so large, they feel limited by their own resources, the distance, and other factors. Here is a break-down of the various ways you can act in response to natural disasters.

I first saw the Danube River at night.

It’s 2019, and there are more people traveling solo than ever. In fact, solo travelers proclaim that their individual adventures are some of their most treasured travel experiences. While there are many perks to traveling alone, the truth is that it’s not as safe as traveling with a group—especially for women.

Are you in for a ride? Then coast through history with us and discover some of the oldest amusement parks in the world.

Sometimes Instagram can get you down—especially the week of spring break, when your feed is filled with exotic photos from your friends’ vacations. For many college students, extravagant vacations just don’t fit in the budget. But there’s a new trend that may just put your travel envy to rest: alternative spring breaks.

Film, in a sense, is a form of magic. It has the power to transport us to new destinations, different time periods, and various situations—all from our seats. It’s no wonder that as humans we want a little more of this magic in our lives, so we travel to locations appearing in our favorite films. But what is the motivation behind the desire to travel to these places?

Renovated Airstreams, trailers, and camper vans have mixed nostalgic wanderlust with modern conveniences, making many Millennials dream of selling their belongings and hitting the open road. The freedom of going wherever, whenever, is enticing—especially when these adventures are documented with hashtags and validated with likes, comments, and virality.However, Millennial minimalists are not the first ones to hit the road—not even close. First there were the pioneers on covered wagons, then the railroaders, and still today there is a large community of people who spend their lives driving, almost 24/7, without any pomp and circumstance.Enter truckers—the opposite of hipster #vanlife, and the unsung heroes that keep our grocery stores stocked and our businesses running.One of these hidden heroes is Val Stokes, founder and owner of Stokes Trucking. As a 17-year-old in the early 1970s, he worked at a local truck stop, the Crossroads, in his hometown of Tremonton, Utah, and felt the wanderlust bug bite him.Val loved watching people come and go. “I’d see the truckers pull into the Crossroads, get their fuel, go into the café and have dinner, then get in their truck and head off. I thought, ‘Geez, I wonder where he’ll be tomorrow.’ All my life, I’ve loved seeing what’s over the next hill. So I just thought it would be fun to drive for a living.”In 1978, he began driving trucks for others. But the following year, he persuaded his father-in-law to cosign on a loan that would finance his first truck. Leaving behind his wife and one-year-old son, Val began to drive five or six days a week, 600 or 700 miles a day, at the then-national interstate speed limit of 55 miles per hour.With a trailer full of canned soup, or dairy products, or bananas, or pharmaceutical supplies, or baking flour, or even bowling balls, Val would head to a new destination each week: maybe Las Vegas, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Wisconsin, South Dakota—anywhere. All without any form of GPS.“I had an atlas,” says Val. “A good old Rand McNally. I had a briefcase full of city maps, like Chicago, LA, San Francisco. You could buy those at truck stops readily. Anytime I’d go to a city I’d never been before, I’d stop on the outskirts of town and buy myself a map.”And if he needed to call a customer to verify directions, he’d have to stop at a truck stop and use the payphone.Still to this day, Val knows not only how to navigate across the country on the interstate, but how far all the cities are from one another. Photo by Paul Waldron“From right here in Tremonton, it’s 110 miles to Evanston, Wyoming,” he recalls from his inner map. “403 miles across Wyoming, 456 across Nebraska, and 310 across Iowa—and you’re in Illinois.”On his cross-country treks, he would tune into a good AM or FM station or listen to one of his cassette tapes. He would also check out books on tape at one truck stop that could be returned at another, like an interlibrary loan.Truck stops were and are central to life on the road. At truck stops, truckers refuel both their bellies and their trucks, take showers, and park for the night so they can snooze in their sleepers. Nowadays, like everything else, many mom-and-pop truck stops have been taken over by large chains.When Val would get hungry—the ice in his cooler from home melted and the homemade sandwiches long gone—he’d stop at a truck-stop café, where he consumed “good, home-cooked meals.” (Unlike today, his early trucks lacked amenities such as a microwave and refrigerator.)“You could get anything,” Val says. “Omelets, chicken-fried steaks, mashed potatoes. Any kind of breakfast, lunch. A lot of times they’d have a lunch special. Most truck-stop cafés would have a special at night. But you could get anything from spaghetti or chicken parmesan to a patty melt or a steak.”After eating, he’d head back out to deliver his load until he needed to stop again. Truckers are only allowed to drive for eleven hours at a time, meaning that if a trucker hits his or her limit fifteen minutes outside of a big town, they have to stop on the road and wait until they can drive again. In the early days, trucker logs were on paper, and a creative mind could get around the eleven-hour limit easily. Today’s trucks, with their electronic logs, are not so forgiving.Despite the daily grind, Val enjoyed seeing the sights as he drove. One of his favorite routes traversed through the Upper Midwest.“I liked the Upper Midwest in about May, when the corn’s about that tall”—Val’s hand demonstrates about three or four feet off the ground—“and everything’s green. You can look at the corn rows over the rolling hills and it wasn’t too hot and humid yet. It was beautiful.”He also loved driving to California, where you could see relics from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Now, the desert drive is bumper-to-bumper from Vegas to LA. He misses the days when you could pull a big truck onto the Vegas Strip, right up to a hotel casino, and indulge in the $1.99 buffet.The increase of traffic is one of the biggest changes Val has seen through the years. That and gas prices—when he bought his first truck in 1979, diesel fuel was just 35 cents per gallon.40-plus years, a brand-new office building, and forty trucks in the fleet later, Val only takes a load when one of his drivers is sick. But he’s still proud of being a trucker.“It’s a great profession,” he says. “It’s one that’s severely underappreciated, and that’s kind of a sign that we do our jobs so well. If we weren’t doing our jobs so well, we’d get a lot more attention.”—Ashley Evans

Transylvania is home to over six million Romanians and one incredibly mythicized monster: Dracula. However, Dracula isn’t the only thing that makes Transylvania alluring. But it is a big factor in the region’s tourism. Interestingly enough, all of this hype started with a British novel.Vampire HistoryBram Stoker’s namesake character in his 1897 novel Dracula was likely based on the historical Romanian figure of Vlad Dracul, more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler, a 1400s vigilante who basically singlehandedly took back his principality, Wallachia, from the Turks.Vlad was famous for torturing his enemies and impaling thousands of their heads on spikes, namely his Turkish enemies. Dracula has since become immortalized in pop culture, and Transylvania definitely takes advantage of these myths and all the hype around the story to promote tourism. Now, when you hear “Transylvania,” vampires are what come to mind.Bran CastleIf you’re seeking to take part in the vampire craze, you’ll want to stop by Bran Castle, the designated tourist site for all things vampire in Braşov, Romania. Though not the main castle of Vlad the Impaler, the building still gives an impressive image for what Bram Stoker might have had in mind for his villain. One of the features of the castle is a creepy secret passageway. There is also a gift shop and several other shops along the streets outside the castle where you can buy Dracula-themed paraphernalia and scare yourself in a little haunted house.But there’s so much more to this Romanian region than the vampire stories. Along with Bran Castle, consider visiting some of the following sites on your trip to Transylvania that aren’t about vampires.BearsBelieve it or not, Transylvania’s Carpathian mountain range is filled with a not-so-mythical creature: the brown bear. In fact, at Braşov’s Libearty Bear Sanctuary in Zărneşti (just over thirty minutes from Bran Castle), you can observe these incredible creatures.The bears come from zoos or other caged environments. At the sanctuary, they are free to roam a much larger, more natural space. The sanctuary is comprised of 160 acres of forest, plenty for the bears to roam freely (though there are safety fences and security cameras throughout).It’s safe and comfortable for both bears and visitors and makes an amazing stop when touring the Transylvanian landscape. While the sanctuary is a great way to ensure you’ll actually see bears, you could also book a tour with a guide to take you to look for bears in their natural habitat—the forest.While the sanctuary is a great way to ensure you’ll actually see bears, you could also book a tour with a guide to take you to look for bears in their natural habitat—the forest.ASTRA Museum of Traditional Folk Civilization Photo by Andrei Dan SuciuTo the west of Zărneşti stands a pretty unique museum. Located in Sibiu, the ASTRA Museum of Traditional Folk Civilization is completely outside! With over 400 traditional folk buildings from times past, including the museum’s famous windmills, it may feel like you’re in an old Romanian village. There are even restaurants and activities you can try inside to help you latch onto that feeling even more.Salina Turda Photo by Robert AndersAt Salina Turda, you can find yourself exploring the depths of an ancient mine. Excavated with various wells, this salt mine has been remodeled as a museum depicting the history of salt mining (you can see the thick, natural salt on the walls), and as an amusement park-style attraction. There are several different spaces within the mine, but the craziest one of them all is what was once the Terezia Mine: now, it houses a UFO-shaped structure on top of a lake where guests can ride a ferris wheel, take boat rides on the lake, and play mini golf.Lake UrsuDespite Vlad Dracul’s notoriously destructive nature, Transylvania’s nature is remarkably reconstructive. Transylvania is known for its many health benefits—including its salt water. The most famous healing water is found at Lake Ursu, or Bear Lake, which gets its name from its bearskin shape. Part of the Sovata resort, the lake has a ginormous salt content and is able to absorb heat from the sun. In fact, it’s the largest heliotherm lake in the world. The lake has a layer of fresh water that acts as a barrier and keeps the warm sunlight in the salt-water layer below. (Supposedly, the salt water can help heal fertility issues.) While you relax in these sun-heated waters, you can also observe the luscious greenery surrounding the lake, courtesy of the rich volcanic soil. Patrons can swim between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. and enjoy the other various spas the resort has to offer.High HighwaysIf you’re hankering for a road trip, Transylvania is home to some of the highest roads in the world. The Transfăgărăşan Road reaches the lofty altitude of 6,699 feet (2,042 meters) and spans a windy 60 miles (90 kilometers). The road includes dark tunnels and curves like a long snake along the mountainside.The best way to truly enjoy the Transfăgărăşan is to stop along it for adventure. You can take a hike in the Făgărăş mountains, view the Vidraru Dam, and go fishing at the gorgeous Bâlea Lake. During the winter, the lake can be accessed only by cable car, and because of the high elevation (6,673 feet or 2,034 meters), it is cold enough that every year an incredible hotel is built out of the area’s ice.The Transalpina Road is the highest road in Romania, reaching 7,037 feet (2,145 meters), and is about 92 miles (148 kilometers) long. Like the Transfăgărăşan, there are plenty of beautiful stops on this highway. You can explore Lake Galcescu, the biggest lake in the Parâng Mountains, wander around the historic Oasa Monastery, and enjoy the Ski Resort Transalpina. Both of these roads are so high that they are closed off during the winter months because of all the snow and ice, so be sure to take that into consideration when you plan your trip.Whichever road you choose to take, don’t forget to pack a lunch—you’re bound to enjoy the view.While you may still go see Bran Castle, hopefully when you make your visit to Transylvania, you’ll consider the other awesome places you can go as well. Be sure to check out as many as you can!—Laura Combrink

One of the most important parts of experiencing other cultures, in my mind, is eating their food. Here are three delicious Jamaican eats to flavor your next visit.Chilitos JaMexicanJaMexican cuisine: It’ll make your mouth water like nothing else on this planet. Count it—Jamaican and Mexican culture blended into some of the most delicious meals that money can buy. In my two years of living on the island, I found nothing even approaching it.Unfortunately, there’s only one place where you can experience this delicious treat: Chilitos. Located on 88 Hope Road, Kingston, Jamaica, Chilitos isn’t out of the way for tourists already in the city—and it’s more than worth the trip.The menu has everything you could expect and want from a Mexican restaurant: burritos, tacos (with soft and hard shells), enchiladas, and nachos. Combine this with unique Jamaican ingredients, such as jerk pork, jerk chicken, plantains, and ackee, and you’re in for an incredible treat.When I first walked into Chilitos, the restaurant felt exciting and inviting. The restaurant itself is largely open-air, with a good view of Kingston.It has a roof and some half-walls to protect you in the event of rain, and some fans in case it gets too hot. On the walls are colorful murals that depict Jamaican settings with the vibrancy of Mexican art.The staff was incredibly friendly, and I was seated and got my food fairly quickly. I ordered a burrito with rice, beans, and plantains—and let me tell you, I would have never imagined this combination myself, but the flavors felt as meant-to-be as peanut butter and jelly.The Cook ShopBut JaMexican isn’t the only food that Jamaica has to offer. If you’re feeling friendly, talk to some locals and ask them to point you in the direction of the nearest cook shop. A “cook shop” in Jamaica is like an immobile version of a food cart you might find in the US. A chef sets up a small kitchen on a street corner, starts cooking, and is open for business almost 24/7.You can’t get more local than a cook shop. Although most cook shops sell only fried chicken with rice and peas—beans are referred to as “peas” in Jamaica—every shop I visited was delicious and tasted unique. You also get an incredible amount of food for how much you spend—for around US$5, you can get two fried chicken breasts and a huge plate of rice and peas!Most cook shops come and go fairly quickly, but every once in awhile, one will prove to have staying power. These cook shops usually grow until they almost look like regular restaurants—but no restaurants can beat the low price and personal, local touch of a cook shop.You can easily find permanent cook shops in Montego Bay, Kingston, and Port Antonio, just to name a few towns. If you see a new dish on the menu, don’t be afraid to try something unique and scary—turkey neck may sound strange, but it’s some of the most flavorful and tender meat I have had in my life.As a final note, if you’re ever in Port Antonio, ask around for Boston Jerk—this cook shop is mobile, and it prepares the richest, most savory, most melt-in-your-mouth jerked pork to be found in the Caribbean.Jamaican PattiesThe unfortunate similarity between the above shops is their lack of air conditioning—so if you’re feeling the heat but still want unique food, head toward your nearest Tastee or Juici. They are Jamaican fast food joints, and they sell cocobread and patties.What Jamaicans call a “patty” is comparable to a US calzone, but it’s not exactly the same. Patty shells are pinched together and thin and flaky—crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. The most common ingredient within is corned beef, but patties can also contain chicken, pork, curried shrimp—tasty, but risky if you get sick easily—and other ingredients.Throw a patty between two pieces of cocobread—coconut bread—and you have an inexpensive, tasty, and filling meal that you can eat in one hand. Don’t eat too fast, though—they’re served burning hot.As for which restaurant to choose, it’s hard to say—I like Tastee cocobread much more, because it’s softer and larger, but Juici has much more variety in the types of patties they sell. You’ll probably need to try both—several times—to find what suits you most.For the adventurous of location and of palate, I can’t more heartily recommend anywhere above the land of Jamaica. Let’s eat, mon!—David “Boo” Ludlow