Which continent, exactly?

This blog's title isn't in reference to actual continents (I've now been to four), but is rather drawn from "The Third and Final Continent," a stunning short story by Jhumpa Lahiri, from her collection, The Interpreter of Maladies. In particular, I'm inspired by the following quote that summarizes the attitude I try to carry with me through life and on my travels

I am not the only person to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly I am not the first. Still there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination.

I love this. It calls on us to consider the tiny details of our experiences, both one-by-one, and in the aggregate, and to maintain a sense of wonder even about the seemingly mundane things that are the building blocks of our lives, and often, the glue that binds us to our traveling companions.

This blog began as a chronicle of my study abroad experience in Cairo in Spring 2008, and continued last year while volunteering in Geneva, and South Sudan with a wonderful organization, VIDES.

Now in graduate school, I'm returning to the Continent this summer while interning in New Delhi, India.

Please enjoy, inquire, and learn.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

A Tsunami in Geneva?

Lake Geneva, 1.26.13
Yes, you read that right.

Anyone who knows me personally knows of my strong affection for the Economist.  I love it for a number of reasons, including that it addresses in detail, global events and issues I never would have known or even considered.

Such as this article, "Lake Monsters: Tsunamis on Lake Geneva," which I read a few months ago, and with my plane ticket already booked, I haven`t been able to get it out of my mind.

Apparently, a) lakes can get tsunamis and b) Lake Geneva has had a history of them, the latest of which was in 563 AD.  At that point the New World (as defined by Europe) wasn`t even a glimmer in anyone`s eye, but there was enough of Geneva there for bridges, windmills and nearby villages to be wiped out.   Conventional wisdom said it was a one-off caused by a rockslide, but recent research suggests it may have happened before, perhaps 5 times in the last 13,000 years.  Science is pretty cool, no?

So the odds are extremely good that I won`t experience a tsunami while I`m here.  But it's not impossible. I`ve used this article to help put my inexplicable love of the Middle East and next placement in Juba into perspective for those who simply think: "Africa/Middle East=scary and dangerous."  Yes, the news reminds us daily that these regions are dominated by developing countries at risk for instability. Still, what the news doesn't always get across is that these places are homes to millions and billions of people, including foreigners and expats, almost all of whom will get up tomorrow and go about their days in peace. We're wired to be awful at risk assessment, and media bias only makes it worse.  Of course, I'm absolutely taking risks with my choices of locale, and I will have to exercise a great deal of caution anywhere I go, monitor the social and political situations that affect me closely, and take measures like registering with the State Department.

But Juba, Cairo, and their neighbors are not the only place where bad things happen, and I try to keep that in perspective.  I could get hit by a car in St. Louis,  get struck by lightning, or, apparently, experience a tsunami in Geneva.  If I let scary unknowns put me in a permanent state of fear, if my life decisions perpetually overcount the potential dangers and undercount the incredible things I can do and experience, well that`s so much worse than facing a once-in-a-few-millennia tsunami striking a landlocked country and destroying one of the world`s wealthiest cities.


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