“How long have you lived here?” someone asked me on my first night in Moscow. I loved it. It meant that I had managed to get to the heart of things right away. I ended up at the top floor bar of a fancy 19th century building on my first night in town by having …
The music was nothing like I had heard before. The rhythm energetic, even a bit aggressive, yet laid back at the same time. The singer spew out words, half singing, sometimes half screaming: a few might have been in English and the rest in a language I didn’t recognize. The set up was unusual for …
It’s drizzling rain as my Lefa, a Namibian Uber, taxi pulls over in front of Sicilia, an Italian restaurant close to my Airbnb. Though I’m not a big fan of Italian food, I decide to have my last dinner in Windhoek here because it looks cosy and many restaurants are closed due to corona shutdowns. …
I had just spent two and a half weeks in Jordan, but nothing came out of my half-hearted efforts of taking Arabic classes there. One course I tried to sign up for ran too long for my travel dates. Then I just traveled (secretly happy that I had at least tried to take a class), and learned about Jordan …
She’s on the third floor, next to a statue from Cameroon. She’s young and beautiful, just a girl really. Her expression is difficult to interpret. We pass a loudly chatting group of Senegalese women, all dressed in a medley of primary colors. I wish I’d understand what they’re saying, what they think of the recently …
On my first night in Johannesburg, I’m in an Uber heading downtown. My driver is a tall, quiet 50-something local man. He picked me up at my guesthouse called Melvilla, in a leafy northern suburb, which I had heard was safe enough to walk around during the day. I was told nowhere in Joburg was …
“We smoke like Turks. And like similar sugary desserts,” says Ljiljana when we break for soya lattes midway a four-hour street art walking tour. We’re sitting on one of the numerous Belgrade terraces enjoying the mild early May weather. I’m surprised to hear the admission of similarities to Turks from a Serbian as the hundreds …
I’ve been desperate to experience Manila – never have I been to a city and not seen it, heard it, felt it, tasted it, like the past few days. As we walked out of the university building, I already mourned how short a time I’d have to take the city in; mourning the loss before …
I’m on the back of a boda boda, Uganda’s ubiquitous motorcycle taxi, worried about being late for a meeting. In a traffic jam, my boda driver passes cars and other bodas in a way that should make anyone scared for their safety. The drivers have helmets but there are none for the passengers. I am …
I really hadn’t planned my visit to Tanga at all: the previous night in Dar es Salaam I had randomly booked a cheap hotel online. As soon as I got there after my 6-hour bus ride from Dar, I headed out to wander around in the afternoon heat in search of food. Although a big city, Tanga …