Books

HAITI: BREATHE, EYES, MEMORY

“God grant us the courage to change those things we can, the serenity to accept the things we can’t, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Hey everyone! The end of January 2021 is almost here. This month we went #booxploringtheworld to Haiti, with Edwidge Danticat’s ‘Breath, Eyes, Memory’. This is the story of Sophie, who wasContinue reading “HAITI: BREATHE, EYES, MEMORY”

MALDIVES: DON HIYALA AND ALI FULHU

Everyone of you must’ve heard of the small Indian Ocean island nation of Maldives. It had a plethora of folklore, full of odis (fishing boats) and fanditha (black magic). This one that I tried out was one such short and fascinating folktale. Originally, it was sung across and through generations, in the traditional Maldivian formatContinue reading “MALDIVES: DON HIYALA AND ALI FULHU”

CYPRUS: BITTER LEMONS OF CYPRUS

“Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will—whatever we may think. They flower spontaneously out of the demands of our natures—and the best of them lead us not only outwards in space, but inwards as well. Travel can beContinue reading “CYPRUS: BITTER LEMONS OF CYPRUS”

Belarus: Flight from the USSR

Hello peeps! I’m back with #booxploringtheworld again and this time we’re going to Georgia. Georgia is a country situated on the landmass between the Black and the Caspian seas.It shares its northern border with Russia, which played a role in shaping its modern history. It was a part of the USSR as the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.Continue reading “Belarus: Flight from the USSR”

Mali: Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktu

Who here knew that in the medieval period Mali, especially Timbuktu was a centre of trade and learning? There was also a bustling trade in manuscripts during the era. Numerous such manuscripts were collected by households and were passed down in families. They conserved these as best as they could during all the subsequent turbulentContinue reading “Mali: Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktu”

Belize: How to Cook a Tapir

I’m back with #booxploringtheworld Belize, which we read for November.✌️ “I suddenly grasped what Aaron had been trying to tell me about not treating the Maya the way I would treat my neighbours in Verona. What had just happened was, to me, a terrifying, once-in-a-lifetime experience. To Maxiana it was commonplace. So was the bite of aContinue reading “Belize: How to Cook a Tapir”

Canada: The Tin Flute

“He was no longer asking, Why am I going? but, Why are we all going? We’re leaving together, it should be for the same reason. It was no longer enough for him to know his own motive. He had to know the truth that was guiding them all, the principle which had guided the soldiersContinue reading “Canada: The Tin Flute”

South Africa: Born a Crime

For #booxploringtheworld July, I went to South Africa with ‘Born a Crime’ by Trevor Noah. “We spend so much time being afraid of failure, afraid of rejection. But regret is the thing we should fear most. Failure is an answer. Rejection is an answer. Regret is an eternal question you will never have the answerContinue reading “South Africa: Born a Crime”

Chile: The House of The Spirits

“…she did not believe the world was a vale of tears but rather a joke that God and played and that it was ridiculous to take it seriously if he himself never had.” “My son, the Holy Church is on the right, but Jesus Christ was always on the left.” ‘The House of the Spirits’Continue reading “Chile: The House of The Spirits”

Korea & Japan: Pachinko

“because she would not believe that she was no different than her parents, that seeing him as only Korean—good or bad—was the same as seeing him only as a bad Korean. She could not see his humanity, and Noah realized that this was what he wanted most of all: to be seen as human.” “PatriotismContinue reading “Korea & Japan: Pachinko”