My fellow students

Are a pretty interesting bunch. One Swiss student spent a year working for an NGO in Lebanon. She met and married a Syrian, who is in Lebanon awaiting a visa to come here. She flies to Lebanon every other month to see him. Another student, a Dane, spent four months in Iran giving tours to Danish contributors to ActionAid. Another student, Majeeb, was born in Afghanistan, fled to Pakistan with his family when he was 8, got a visa to go to Denmark four years later. He is attending university there now and has raised over 200,000 pounds for a charity that has so far put 20 students through school in Afghanistan.

And all of these kids (all but four of whom are European) get around--Laos, New Zealand, Argentina. Many have done internships at the UN, embassies, or at trade unions. About half are PhD students. When I listen to them talk about their adventures, I find I have nothing to say. I always thought I've had an interesting life, but not relative to this bunch (who've lived half as long as I have). The greatest thing is how friendly they are. A Swiss student had us all over to her apartment tonight for a cook out. It was great fun. As we did dishes, we took turns singing songs. Oleg sang a Polish wedding song, Si sang a traditional Chinese song, and so on.

I was at the Air BnB for a quiet night last night. Right now I'm back in my hostel room, where I will be for the next two nights. There's a loud band playing in the park and six people sitting on folding chairs across the street at the African wig shop. People talking loudly and laughing, with electric guitar and traffic in the background, creates a nice vibe at 6:45 p.m. (i.e. right now). I'll be tired of it by midnight though.

I felt a bit sheepish getting an Air BnB when the students remain at the sweaty hostel. They told me they were surprised I've lasted this long. I'm taking that as a compliment.
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