Author: Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

Retired writer and teacher, now living outside Lisbon, Portugal. I was born in Chicago and have lived overseas for about 25 years in: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Egypt, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, France, and most recently, Turkey. I earned my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and a teacher's license from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. I am presently writing THE EXPATS: DAYS & NIGHTS IN ARABIA, condensing my overseas experiences into one book.
EFL Teacher Blog, WHITE PRIVILEGE+COPSLeave a comment

White Privilege – I have about 20% of it and belong to a family of cops

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

PS – I was wrong. The difference between being born with black or white skin does shape one’s freedoms. A good education is the key for all people of all colors, especially those born poor. A good education improves life. I was wrong. To wake each day, housed in black skin, immediately makes a person a target. For thousands of daily arrows to kill one’s body and soul. I used to wonder who so many Black families lacked a father. As even The Rock said, all men feel the need to protect and feed their families But when a man, … Continue reading White Privilege – I have about 20% of it and belong to a family of cops

EFL Teacher BlogLeave a comment

Exotic Food from around the World

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

When introducing food vocabulary, I asked students what their favorite food was. When they asked me, my response was: “Free food. Or food someone else cooked.” But even a non-foodie learns to appreciate food when living abroad. Here’s some wonderful food that can sometimes only be experienced on foreign soil. My first exotic food was experienced in Canada. PINEAPPLE & HAM PIZZA, SALMON, FRIED PASTA – CANADABack in 1974, pineapple & ham pizza was a rarity, introduced to me by fellow writing  students in Vancouver, Canada.  Another classmate, a gourmet cook, introduced me to salmon. It felt like I had … Continue reading Exotic Food from around the World

EFL Teacher BlogLeave a comment

Reading List to Self-Educate

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

Reading List for Freshman Year Person NationalityDate of Death Specialties Aeschylus   Greek, 456 BC Playwright, wrote 60 plays, but only 7 still exist. Archimedes Greek, 212 BC Scientist, mathematician.  Proved a body in a fluid becomes lighter by the amount the fluid replaces, and yelled “Eureka!” Famous expression for – I found it. He did this to see if a gold crown was really made from gold or a cheaper metal for a king. (I think). Aristophanes Greek, 388 BC Playwright, wrote 54 plays, only 11 extant. Wrote satire. Aristotle Greek,  322 BC Philosopher, scientist, physician, tutor to Alexander … Continue reading Reading List to Self-Educate

Education, EFL Teacher BlogLeave a comment

“If I Knew Then What I Know Now….” for First-Generation College Students: A short guide on how to make your own destiny

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

I was the first in my immediate family to earn a Bachelors then the only to earn a Masters. My mother often said the above. Undergraduate school was a lesson in understanding social class realities and how to maneuver within a bureaucracy. Graduate school included a program of manipulating and being manipulated. I envisioned a doctorate as more intense, dangerous, as well as humiliating. I skipped it. But the Masters opened doors I naively thought the Bachelors would have but didn’t. In brief, lower/working class people need to learn to be overly polite and plan activities in advance. Remember, wealthier … Continue reading “If I Knew Then What I Know Now….” for First-Generation College Students: A short guide on how to make your own destiny

EFL Teacher BlogLeave a comment

American Romance with Europe

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

A Jewish friend walks towards the Jewish District in Seville, Spain The romance Americans have with Europe is astounding.  Europe – the home of mass slaughter, entangling countries with two world wars – romantic? Recent wars have created populations with PTSD in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Concentration camps are now tourist traps in Poland and Czech. Germany opens its arms for Muslim migrants – Jewish cousins – to propagate its factories. Even the American Sixties romance of the Volkswagen bus was not obliterated with VW’s wartime history, and with its recent auto emissions scandal. Reality merely dents VW’s reigns in German … Continue reading American Romance with Europe

EFL Teacher BlogLeave a comment

THE GUITAR PLAYER & THE LADY KILLER: Review from a high school boyfriend, 50 years ago

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

I spent the last two days reading The Guitar Player and the Lady Killer: 1. You have unbelievable writing skills.  Your ability to come up with such a captivating story shows you have the tools and mindset to write a best seller. 2. The poetry of words that you used to describe Quebec when Peter the musician takes the mandolin girl Sheonaid to see where he grew up was such great imagery I thought I could actually see the beauty of the city without being there. 3. The way you weaved the story kept the reader wondering what would happen next, I … Continue reading THE GUITAR PLAYER & THE LADY KILLER: Review from a high school boyfriend, 50 years ago

EFL Teacher Blog3 Comments
Sticky post

17 Old Age Advantages

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

Able to satisfy my addiction to readingThe Internet, a free-English rotating library, and scrupulous spending on Kindle satisfies that need. Can use the excuse ‘I’m old’ I flash my passport to healthy young men on crowded trains when no seats are available. Don’t have to worry about getting into college or grad schoolDid that. Know a lotHow I wish I had understood money, food, health, hormones, and the brain and nervous systems! As well as sexuality; how culture forms personality; and, differences – on all levels – between men and women, as I do now! Living in 10 countries and … Continue reading 17 Old Age Advantages

EFL Teacher Blog, HealthLeave a comment

Old Age Health – Problems & Cures

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

Kidney Stones & Constipation Diabetes E Coli Rotary Arm Cuff Pulled Knee and leg muscles Stevia – diabetic sugar substitute Dry Skin Fatigue 1. KIDNEY STONES  – Quebra Pedra tea Diagnosing a kidney stone is problematic. Many doctors, including urologists, are clueless that kidney stones cause constipation. “Oh, it’s just constipation,” one young doctor casually dismissed my distress. Finally, with unbearable pain, a late-night rush to an emergency room, then an MRI, an infected kidney stone was discovered. The cure? An IV hook-up. After three hours, I was woken. The label on the IV’s bottle was Cipro. Horrors!  Cipro can … Continue reading Old Age Health – Problems & Cures

EFL Teacher BlogLeave a comment

Three Books I Love

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

My Forbidden Face by Latifa which chronicles the plight of a teenager living in Afghanistan when the Taliban invades her village in 1996. While in high school in the 1960s, Anne Frank’s Diary was required reading.  This should be added to that list. It records recent history from a young person’s point of view, about a terrifying reality most of us will, hopefully, never live. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/jan/29/firstchapters.reviews   (opening chapter) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53693.My_Forbidden_Face  (reviews) Lost Discoveries by Dick Teresi is a science book written for the masses. Teresi manages to explain the history of mathematics with its details and horrors early mathematicians experienced in … Continue reading Three Books I Love

EFL Teacher Blog1 Comment

Christmas Cards from Arabia, Indonesia and Egypt

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

Living in Arabia, constant contradictions, surprises and sometimes disasters caused culture shock. However, one delightful but highly unknown, is Christmas cards – designed as either ‘Season’s Greetings’ and ‘Happy New Year’ cards, available in December. In 1985, I was able to mail such cards to friends and family in the States. However, I heard other women complain that the clerks at Riyadh’s main post office refused to accept them. Following are many Arabic cards, designed by Oriental Art Gallery and others in Dubai. Also included are two from mostly Muslim Indonesia and one from Egypt. Continue reading Christmas Cards from Arabia, Indonesia and Egypt