Samar (sah-MARH) is an Arabic word used to describe staying up late with friends after the sun goes down. It’s a derivative of the Hebrew word “shamar” which means “to preserve”. It reminds me of hanging out with a couple of close friends after a party or a night out, specially in the summer and the breeze blowing and the bugs chirping. It’s a word that values friendship and companionship and it’s something I hold find valuable.

The word poronkusema (pronounced: po-ron-ku-seh-ma). The Finnish term poronkusema refers to the distance a reindeer can travel before needing to urinate. Which is approximately 5 to 7.5 km. It is traditionally used to measure how far a reindeer can travel without a break to use the restroom. There is no English equivalent word to poronkusema because we don’t measure distance based off of animals bladder. This word is used by the Sami people, who are an indigenous group native to Finland. I find this word interesting since it specifically means “reindeer’s urine.”