In Cambridge, we had an unusually warm week: September 14-21. I took full advantage of this rare weather, temporarily hanging up my fall jacket and scarf, and levitating towards the warm weather clothes. A week prior, I regretted bringing these clothes when I was greeted by cold winds upon exiting the London Airport. I took […]
Month: September 2024
Springtime?!
It has been snowing here in Ushuaia, but today was sunny, and melted the snow on the rocky beach. Sunny but obviously still cold and windy. I got a bit sad today thinking that when I go home to Vermont in December it will be winter, meaning that I missed fall and the last bits […]
omitting the negative
The sky has been melancholy, and the air has been feeling cooler lately. Despite the unyielding wind and dropping temperatures, I can feel the warmth of tradition as the season beckons cultural events, like désalpe. It’s been raining often here in Geneva, but I think it rains much less heavily here compared to Massachusetts. I […]
Orange jasmine
Autumn arrived in Copenhagen as I expected, in one long rainstorm. The city is known for a rainy autumn season, and I’ve been warned of a plunge into cold darkness. I felt my homesickness for Boston ease this week-the chilly air and wet cobblestones reminded me of Harvard Square in the fall. It began to […]
Mistral and mi-saison
When I close my eyes and tune in to my surroundings, I am surrounded by the gentle rustling of leaves as the wind dances through the air. Today is windy—not quite as windy as it was a few weeks ago, but pleasantly breezy—a pleasant counterbalance to the sun’s warmth and yesterday’s humidity. It’s the mi-saison—not […]
An insight in an avocado tree’s mind
I did this poem when I was sitting in the backyard at home in northern Rwanda before I leave for the program in London. My dad is a naturalist so he has a collection of so many plants including fruits, flowers, herbal medicine,… The avocado tree is the biggest but not the tallest however, still […]
Cemeteries
Denmark’s cemeteries are manicured and inviting. Each one I’ve seen has been cordoned by hedges, which I compare to the sprawling, hilly cemeteries back home. I learned how to drive in graveyards like that, paved with asphalt, lacking in benches and shade. I remember looking across the rows of headstones while standing at my grandfather’s […]
Secret Gardens and the Beginnings of Fall
I’m sitting in a little garden, just off the main road between Sciences Po campus and the Wellesley-in-Aix center. Just to my left is the Musée du Pavillon de Vendôme, a stout yellow building with rows and rows of tall windows framed by stone garlands. It’s just after lunchtime, sunny with a slight breeze, and […]
When The Only Thing You Can Predict Is Unpredictability
My relationship with rainy days is complicated. These days were characterized by the awkwardness of finding a place to put my drenched umbrella, deciding which clothes I didn’t mind getting wet, and carefully navigating puddles. When I complained about the rain, my mother would ask “Are you made of paper?” Yet, I enjoyed that there […]
welcoming the new season
I arrived in Geneva, Switzerland exactly three weeks ago. Whenever I go through the motions of change and inevitably face uncertainty, I never seem to get used to it or have the ability to stay level-headed by referencing how I tackled difficulty in the past. Sometimes this anxiety I feel turns into a source of […]