August Journal

Mexico City, Mexico

Through the eyes of Nuria Benítez Gómez

At the highest peak since the burst of Covid, president AMLO still doesn’t wear a mask and the country still has no restrictions of travel (nor in or out). Now we can easily see the overcharge and stagnation coming out of almost two years after Covid. With the world bursting into flames, the Afghans facing seriously challenging times, and whatnot, I am overwhelmed to see that Mexico is prosecuting Latin-American migrants crossing the country, acting absolutely indifferently to a generalised gender violence, caring noting about gas emissions or resources conservation, being hypocritical and blind, incapable of truly generating empathy to the world and to its own citizens.

Berlin, Germany

As lived by Moritz Dittrich

A few weeks ago the german army followed the US with leaving Afghanistan after 20 years occupation resulting in a takeover of the power by the islamic extremist Taliban.

In my opinion and in the context of Germany’s history, we are taking men and especially women to the butcher again. I’m ashamed to hold the German passport these days.

Marrakech, Morocco

Through the lens of Rime Cherai

This summer was probably overwhelming for many of us, including me : too many heartbreaking events happening across the world. Many of these sad news were caused by global warming and climate change.Reading the IPCC report helped me understood better what is at stake, what is expected for the next decade and what might be the consequences.

I have been reading two books recently which I both enjoyed. The first one proposes to follow food and more specifically British meals routes. Where they come from and how they have evolved. The afternoon tea has no secrets for me anymore :). The other book I am reading right now is completely unrelated to the precedent. It tackles the big topic of how to embrace emotions at work. I am fascinated by emotions, and always wanted to know how we can invite those unruly friends to the work place. After all they are part of who we are and knowing how to embrace them could lead to feeling comfortable, productive and happy.

Athens, Greece

From the mind of Kiproula Bartzoka

August has been a very difficult month for Greece. A lot of places all over Greece had wildfires which threatened towns and villages. A lot of people lost their properties, and the natural landscape was destroyed. Fortunately, we didn’t have any human deaths but in contrast of what news said we had deaths because animals’ lives are matter too. A lot of animals died, and this is something that our government didn’t seem to care about.

Although August is the month of vacation, I can’t say it felt like vacation for me. I visited some islands, but I couldn’t help thinking the awful situation of fires. The worst part was that I felt incapable of doing something to change it. Then I thought to offer my house for fire victims, but when I did everyone had found already a place to stay. This made me realize that even the situation was so bad people still care and that the most important thing in any situation is to have each other.

New York City, New York, United States of America

Experienced by Jon Gayomali

The U.S. withdrew troops from Afghanistan, and the U.S. occupation came to an end this August, resulting in the Taliban overthrowing the Afghan government and seizing control of the region. President Biden faced a lot of scrutiny, but claims that holding occupation longer would not have changed the result. His foreign policy priorities are becoming more clear, as the move exemplifies his efforts to change the U.S. foreign policy to one of diplomacy. With criticism coming from both sides, it seems there was no easy way out, as the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches.

August marks the last month I will spend in my current apartment and I will be moving into a new brownstone with another architect and a construction manager. I felt like I needed a more social and stimulating setting. The move isn’t far, but I will be officially moving to Bed-Stuy (short for Bedford Stuyvesant). An interesting topic in New York is that people very heavily and judge others on the borough that they live. Christopher Wallace “The Notorious B.I.G.” actually claimed to be from Bed-Stuy, even though he is actually from Clinton Hill.