On Saturday, October 5th, my host family took me along to Hamburg. The reason for our visit was because my host mother, Malalai, was involved in a theatrical production about the journeys of refugees. Not only was she involved, as it turns out, the production was an exposition on her journey from Afghanistan to Germany […]
Musical Friends
One of the most intriguing aspects of Berlin life is the music. Music is a constant here. Any day of the week, if you walk long enough, you will begin to hear live music. It could be a full band playing at a local venue or a singer/songwriter busking in the subway. Early on in […]
So Many Animals
There is a stereotype of India, reinforced by works like the Jungle Book, that India is one big jungle with some villages and deserts. This is obviously untrue, but being in Delhi, a city with a population of eight figures, I had no idea I would observe so much biodiversity. There are a variety of […]
Hamburg
Last weekend, a friend and I took a three-hour bus ride to Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany (after Berlin). Hamburg is situated on the Elbe River, and is close enough to the coast that it has traditionally served as an important port for Germany. This gives Hamburg, from my perspective, a significantly different […]
A Lifetime of Jury-Rigs
I have begun looking at articles on “jugaad” as the basis of my India abroad research paper. Jugaad is not a mere word; it is a mode of action, a philosophy of out-of-the-box thinking (or sometimes out-of-the-law thinking), and a generally creative and perpetually adaptive and unfinished form of problem solving. It is easy to […]