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.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Fauna-tastic: Small Animals of India Edition

(Many not exclusive to India. Just an excuse to throw up all my cool animal pictures.)


What I've taken to calling squirrelmunks hanging around the Qutb Minar in New Delhi. They have the stripes of a chipmunk, and the tail of a squirrel, hence the name. In reality, I think they're just a local species of squirrel.


Lucky shot of a pigeon emerging from a very, very deep well in a Maharashtra village I was helping to survey.


A Whitebreasted Kingfisher (say my powers of observation, and a Google image search), hanging out among a bunch of tombs in Jaipur. Rajasthan.


Monkeys! Taken while sightseeing in Maharashtra



Bird family near Jantar Mantar in Jaipur. The baby was precious, though it took me a good while to spot it.


Puppies!  Spotted at the center in Maharashtra where Data Camp was held


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1 comment:

Kathleen Basi said...

Those are great shots, Laura!

August 21, 2014 at 3:46 PM

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