Globe, Volume IV, Issue I

The Bishop’s School 2016

G lob e Volume IV, Issue I

>> Tiruvannamalai, India

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From the Editor-in-Chief We often hear the word globalization in the context of economics and foreign trade, yet recently global education has become the forefront of classroom and enrichment discussions on campus. Being globally educated means understanding the realities of the modern world and striving to bring human rights, equity, and greater justice to all. The first part, being aware of the outside world, comes with experiencing and learning about the outside community. When I visited Indonesia this year, I remember going on a hike to a hidden temple, and on the way back, encountering a women selling American sodas and being able to pay in dollars. From the American brands to acceptance of the U.S. dollar, it was without a doubt American influence had penetrated Indonesia. However, this influence tends to be one-sided. While people in other countries are aware of the U.S.’s happenings and current events, it seems as if people in the U.S. unintentionally forget about the outside world. Here on campus, we speak of the “Bishop’s Bubble,” our self-given name for being caught up in our own lives and losing track of the outside world. However, although this term carries a negative connotation, being aware of our limited knowledge is the first step to becoming a global citizen.

Understanding our limitations and pushing to remove these limitations breaks down many barriers that disdain us from being said global citizens. I think that as a community, we have already made great strides towards the ultimate goal of globalization. The desire to be aware of the outside world, to hold school wide discussion on current events makes us more aware, more curious, and eager for more information. With articles ranging from experiences abroad to student commentary on current events, I hope that this issue of Globe provides insight on this emerging multinational community and becomes a catalyst for conversation on what it truly means to be a global citizen.

Nataliya Bystrova Class of 2017

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Obstacles The Rich Play, While the Poor Die

Bianca Serbin‘18

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Change is Coming to the East End Hannah Robbins ‘19

Graffiti

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Aaron Liu‘19

Brexit

Millie Mabbutt‘17

Gender Inequality Deja Brown‘19

Co-Editors-in-Chief: Nataliya Bystrova ‘17, Niki Buss ‘17 Heads of Layout and Design: Justine Chen ‘17, Sam Steele ‘17 Junior Editor: Faizan Jamil ‘18 Secretary: Davina Dou ‘17 Co-Founders: Jenny Chen ‘14 and Kamran Jamil ‘14 Faculty Advisor and Editor : Dr. David Moseley Editors: Alyson Brown ‘19 • Bianca Serbin ‘18 • Diana Ardjmand ‘17 • Naomi Kim ‘18 Evan Peng ‘18 • Maya Hertz ‘17 • Kendall Lobo ‘18 Esha Kashyap ‘19 • Reed Wester-Ebbinghaus ‘17 • Richa Mathur ‘17

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Globe Staff:

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Culture

The Window of Culture Ellie Hodges ‘22

Wordless Language Fritz Kuhn ‘19

Weddings

Davina Dou‘17

Zee Mundo

Richa Mathur ‘17

OBSTACLES

Aaron Liu ‘19

5 The Rich Play, While the Poor Die

10 Gender Inequality

7 A Change is Coming to the East End

11 Brexit

Bianca Serbin ‘18

Hannah Robbins ‘19

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9 Graffiti: A Tool for Political Opinions

>> Yunnan, China

Deja Brown ‘21

Millie Mabbutt ‘17

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THE RICH PLAY,

WHILE THE POOR DIE

By Bianca Serbin ‘18

Despite much skepticism going into the games, Rio de Janeiro hosted a successful Olympics. Brazil pulled through with nineteen medals (seven gold, six silver, and six bronze), finishing in thirteenth place overall in both total medals and number of gold medals, exciting much of the population.

The Zika virus and the polluted state of Guanabara Bay, which were major concerns leading up to the games, did not end up being issues. City officials boast about the creation of close to 100 miles of bus lanes, four new tunnels, and a 17-mile light rail system, all of which will improve transportation in the city.

Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio, states that Rio has built 75,000 units of affordable housing since 2009. The city has also expedited the construction of 400 health clinics and schools in poverty-stricken neighborhoods. Experts and the mayor of Rio himself claim that many of these advancements would not have been possible without the pressure and funding provided by the Olympic games.

Nevertheless, it is hard for Brazilians to see the Olympics as an overall positive affair.

Although affordable housing may have been built, many people (most of them destitute) lost their homes to Olympic-related endeavors. City officials instructed hospital administrators to put aside supplies and medicine to aid tourists while many Brazilians did not have access to any sort of affordable or reliable health care. Even though there have been sig-

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>> Rio de Janiero, Brazil

ing, upgrades for Olympic purposes favor upscale, wealthy neighborhoods like Barra da Tijuca. At the same time, nearly 25% of the population of Rio lives in favelas, or slums, where basic sanitation is a daily struggle and the benefits of new construction will never be appreciated.

The divide between the rich and the poor is more evident than ever. In his article for The New York Times, Michael Powell interviewed Marie Auxiliadora, a 64-year-old Brazilian. Auxiliadora said, “I am so upset…

I have not gotten my retirement check for a month. Our hospitals and schools are broken.

Shooting every day, and they spend all of our money on this Olympics… The rich play, and we die.”

Another major concern for Rio during the games was the safety of its people and of all the athletes and spectators who traveled to the city to compete in or watch the games. City authorities deployed a security force of 85,000 to alleviate the fear of crime. Now that the games are over, however, those who came to protect Rio will go home, leaving those who are left behind prone to extreme violence.

In the midst of competition and Olympic excitement, Brazil was undergoing major political changes. Dilma Rousseff, who served as president of Brazil for five years, entered the process of impeachment in March 2016. On August 31st, she was removed from office after being officially impeached by the Brazilian senate. Instead of the political turmoil, the me-

skewed version of Brazilian reality: the country is very fragile. The official reason for Rousseff ’s impeachment was improper government spending. This is seen, however, as more of a coverup for the real reasons. During Rousseff ’s presidency, Brazil entered one of the worst economic recessions in its history. Now, under new president Michel Temer, Brazil faces a long road back to achieving the economic stability it had under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

There is a Brazilian proverb that goes, “É só pra gringo ver,” which translates to: “It’s only for foreigners to see.” In other words, the positive effects of the Olympics are more for show than anything else. The harsh reality is that the majority of the population of Rio will never benefit from the event and will continue to live life in poverty, while the rich prosper.

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A CHANGE IS COMING

TO THE EAST END

by Hannah Robbins ‘19

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It was a cloudy London afternoon in February when my dad and I set out to visit Brick Lane, a street in East London. He wanted to visit one of his favorite record stores and I wanted to go to a gourmet cereal shop called Cereal Killer Cafe. During our cab ride from King’s Cross Station, we began to talk to the cab driver.

He had lived in East London his entire life so, in his heavy Cockney accent, he told us stories about his life there. He told us about how he would walk to the market every weekend with his dad, sitting down with a coke while his father shopped and how he repeated this ritual with his own kids. You could tell he loved his family and his community. He told us proudly about how “Call the Midwife”, a popular BBC show, took place in East London. As we entered the East End he excitedly guided us through the place he called home. About seven months after I had visited the cereal shop on Brick Lane, it, along with a real estate agency, was attacked. Protesters wearing pig masks vandalized the outside of the building. The protesters were fighting against the high priced cereal, which they claimed was a sign of gentrification, and they might be right.

Gentrification is essentially when affluent people move in and “renew” urban neighborhoods. It’s happening in San Diego with North Park slowly gentrifying and replacing family owned shops with brew pubs. New York is going through serious gentrification as well; there are neighborhoods of Brooklyn that have changed completely in the past few years. These are examples of only some places all over the world that have gentrified.

Now it’s happening in the communities of East London.Once a neighborhood gentrifies, it becomes safer, but also more expensive, forcing the original residents and businesses to find cheaper rent in another neighborhood . These fears are looming large in the neighborhoods of East London. In 2015, The Guardian reported that residents of East London were finding out that their houses or apartments were worth up to one million pounds.

These prices may push long time residents to sell their properties and move out of the area. Also, as these neighbourhoods become more desirable, landlords will often raise the rent so high that business owners have to move. This can, sometimes, wipe out neighborhood staples that have been around for a long time.

So, why does a neighborhood gentrify? In the case of East London, there were a couple different reasons. One is reason for the gentrification of a neighborhood is that the people, namely artists, are not able to afford other neighborhoods. People, like the owner of the record store my dad and I went to, will move to “urban” neighborhoods, because it’s cheaper. This particular record store was able to procure a large space, something they might not be able to afford in a neighborhood closer to central London.

Musicians set up recording studios and artists set up galleries and studios. Soon, more and more people are moving in. Coffee shops, clothing stores, and fancy restaurants flood the neighborhood. This is a common way that many neighborhoods gentrify but, East London has another, more unique, circumstance. When London was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games, the city chose East London as their location to build the Olympic Park because London developers saw this as a great place to develop. However, in doing this they forced out residents of two different council estates and affordable housing communities, along with many other businesses and residents. Although this development hurt many families with smaller incomes, many people saw the Olympic Park as a good thing. They believed it would help in the redevelopment of East London. This proved to be true, as developers have shown a huge interest in the East End after the announcement of the Olympics. The area now holds huge malls and attractions which seems to be hurting local business owners.

Gentrification is a complicated thing but, it seems inevitable for East London. In 2016, researchers at Cambridge University published a study that predicted that the East London borough of Hackney was the most likely to gentrify in the next five years, and The Independent backed up this story with a picture of a vegan cafe located in Hackney: a sight you would not have seen fifteen years ago. The study also found that the borough has lower crime rates and boasts higher housing prices than London’s average housing price. The Independent has also reported that, as well as the protest on Brick Lane, there have been protests in Camden and Brixton over a lack of affordable housing. It seems change in East London is unavoidable. All the tell tale signs of gentrification have already arrived and, people have noticed. The question becomes whether it will actually renew neighborhoods, or if it will just drive out communities that have lived there for generations.

Brick Lane, London <<

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GRAFFITI: A Tool for Political Opinions

By Aaron Liu ‘19

Recently, I had a chance to visit the ancient city of Athens, which was a dream come true because I am very interested in that part of the world and its history. Athens is known for being one of the civilizations that gave birth to Western culture. Today, it is known for attracting many tourists from all over the world to have a good look at one of the world’s most famous landmarks: the Acropolis, the site of many Ancient Greek worshipping sites and temples. As I strolled under the cloudless blue skies in the city of the Goddess of Wisdom, I came across many walls covered with graffiti. I found street art not only on the walls, but also on almost all the trains in the city’s metro system, overlapping each other with rich and bold colors. Many of these murals tend to include aspects of the ancient culture, such as depictions of Ancient Greek deities. Many also seem to be depressing in nature.

My family and I were greatly baffled at first. Eventually, we discovered the great issue that indirectly led to the explosion of street art in Athens.

The Greek debt crisis crippled the country’s economy. Before I go into detail about this issue, I would like to talk about the European Union (E.U.) first. The E.U. is a political and economic union. The countries in the European Union have the freedom to trade and cooperate politically easily with each other. This has allowed Greece to borrow great amounts of money from the rest of the E.U. in the past.

It fell into so much debt that it needed to limit government and public spending so that the E.U. would bail out its debt. One of these bailouts had been as much as half of the debt, according to BBC News.

Therefore, the Greek government has set up strict austerity measures, which incited many protests and strikes. As a result, there has been a high unemployment rate, with a record high of 28% (as stated by the BBC).

Many Greek citizens have taken to the streets to create art on walls, streets, trains, and alleyways, protesting the the economic situation and how the government has dealt with it. When I visited the city, I noticed that virtually any surface in public was covered in graffiti art. An example of this was a dentist, who became unemployed and later painted an image of a “masked man hurling a firebomb,” as reported by the The New York Times. An example of graffiti art I saw was one that depicted masks from Ancient Greek Tragedies. These masks had great, wavy beards, with eyes tilting down, and mouths filled with complete darkness, probably representing the despair that the people were feeling.

Much of the graffiti and mural art in Athens included political statements. I remember seeing the word “ Grexit!” spray-painted on a wall. This and the work of the unemployed dentist definitely reflect the dissatisfaction that some in the country have with how Greece has been working with the Eurozone to deal with the crisis There were also many pieces of art denounced as Neo-Nazism. According to The New York Times, the authorities and police often do not condemn graffiti unless it is done by supporters of the Neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn or other anarchist groups.

Through these works of art, the deep political concerns and opinions of the Athenian people are clearly expressed in the graffiti. If you want know more about Athens, aside from its tourist attractions, “look at its walls,” said iNO, an Athenian graffiti artist (interviewed by The New York Times).

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Gender Inequality

Many places all over the world are currently suffering from gender inequality.

The average man in 2006 was paid $11,000 while the average woman was paid $6,000, and just last year, the average man was paid $21,000 while the average woman was paid $11,000.

By Deja Brown ‘19 In 2006, the difference was only $5,000, but last year the difference increased to $10,000. There is no reason why men and women should not be treated equally; after all, women make up 50% of the world’s population.

Within the last 10 years, the gender gap has decreased by a mere 4%. Rwanda was the first country in the world to close the gender gap. Rwanda closed the gender gap by looking at the four main factors: health, education, economy, and politics. Overall, Rwanda beat all of the other countries because it has changed the country’s most painful event into something positive for women and politics. Japan, on the other hand, has closed it by 6.2% as of now and is hoping to achieve its goal in closing it by 30% in 2020.

Japan has one of the worst levels of gender inequality in the world. Even though most Japanese women are college graduates and are employed, they still earn 40% less than males and only make up 77% of part-time work force. On the WEF (World Economic Forum), Japan places 101st between China (91st) and India (108th) in the bottom half. Taking India, 108, which is the lowest, and China, 91st, which is the highest, as you can see the difference here is 17. Even though it may not seem like a lot, it is when you are looking at gender inequality. The percentage of women lawmakers and managers declined to 9% in the past decade. To get in the top 50 of WEF, Japan would need to raise the 9% to 26%, which is a very difficult task. Men also are not treated fairly, because the ratio for non-regular employees is higher for women at 33.4%. Regarding housework, men spend half their time on domestic chores. This is a huge worldwide issue, because we cannot all live in freedom and peace if we are not all equal. The Prime Minister, Abe Shinzó launched an ambitious plan widely known as “Abenomics” to restart Japan’s economy. One of the Prime Minister’s planned structural reforms is a strategy to convince more Japanese women to join the workforce after they have children. While Prime Minister Abe Shinzó has said that he plans to create a society where women can shine, Japan still continues to struggle with a bridge in its gender gap. Everyone should ask themselves this one question: is it really fair?

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The United Kingdom has recently undergone an extreme change. It is no longer a member of the European Union (E.U.), a supranational organization of 28 European countries. This union has been intact and quite successful since 1993, dealing with economic, political, and various other issues. In recent years, England, one of the largest political and economic powers in the world, has become frustrated with the lack of focus on English moral values, traditions, and independence. The main reason that they felt that they were losing touch with their English identity was because they had become a multicultural country, and the E.U. has strict guidelines about the incorporation and allowance of many different people to travel and to move freely within the E.U. Since the recent increase of the need to relocate Middle Eastern refugees due to conflict, England and all the other E.U. member countries have been pressed with the issue, with the E.U. constantly pressuring them to allow more and more immigrants into the country. England was skeptical about allowing a large number of immigrants in, mainly due to the fear of incorporating terrorism into their country, and because of British concerns about losing touch with their traditional English heritage.

With the constant flow of immigrants to the United Kingdom, citizens felt that they were losing their national identity because British citizens felt that they were quickly becoming a minority.

Although only about 10% of the British population is actually foreign born, they still felt as if their government was quickly losing touch with the English population, and prioritizing the well being of the immigrants. “Pro-Leave” supporters believed that they would gain back their national identity if England left the European Union, thus stopping the constant flow of migrants into the country. This would allow the British population to increase and the foreign population to decrease. This change would allow a greater representation of the views and ideas of English-born people rather than foreigners.

On the other hand, “Pro-Stay” supporters thought of the bigger picture, such as the economic and political damage that could be done if the country were to leave the E.U. The people who voted to stay in the E.U. believed that the economic development of the country was more important than the concern of immigration, while the “leavers” believed the opposite.

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After a vote that occurred on June 23, 2016, British citizens voted to leave the E.U. Just hours after the vote took place, British Prime Minister David Cameron resigned from his position, after stating his belief that England needed a new leader to take them in the new direction they voted for. This decision put large amounts of stress on the British Parliament, who quickly had to appoint another head of government. It also completely damaged the relationship that had been continuously successful and strong between England and other European countries. The English Pound dropped in just a few days after the Brexit decision, evidencing the possible damage that could be done to the economy after Brexit.

So how exactly does Brexit effect English citizens? Being a subject of the United Kingdom myself, many things will change that will affect the way that life works over there. Now, traveling within Europe will be much harder. Before, since I had an English passport, I was able to hop on a plane and quickly enter a different E.U. country without any immigration restrictions. Now, all British citizens have to go through customs, a long process in popular cities. The issue of working in European countries is one of the biggest concerns. Approximately 1.3 million Britons live and work throughout the E.U., and a main concern is whether or not they will continue to be able to do so with such ease. As for myself, I hope to one day study or work in the E.U., and this decision will make things much more complicated. Before, all British citizens were able to work freely among any member country in the E.U. - now, however, this process will not be as easy as it was before. This transition will not take effect automatically; but when it does, it will create a huge issue for those who are currently living abroad.

Those 1.3 million Brits will have to return from the E.U. to find work, pushing up the need for more jobs in England. This problem has a chain effect: not only will people have to leave their existing jobs in other countries, but they will also have to find new jobs, possibly damaging the economy of the country they were working for.

Overall, the damage that Brexit can cause on the economy and well-being of England is uncertain. There is no way to predict the danger that can now occur from Britain leaving the E.U.; but so far, we have seen a few results from it that will hurt the economy and political life in England...but only time will tell.

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HISTORY 15 The Storybook Immigration Aleksander Navarro ‘19

17 From Russia to Greece:

My Grandmother’s Immigration Story Nicola Xanthopoulos ‘23

19 The Emperor’s Experiment Reed Ebbinghaus ‘17

13 >> Myvatn, Iceland

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>> Warszawa, Poland

“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”

- President Franklin D. Roosevelt

The Storybook Immigration

By Aleksander Navarro ‘19 The little girl did not know what the bright lights that she saw from her seat in the plane meant. That day was July 4, 1976, and the little girl was my mom. The date was important for two reasons. It was the date the mom was to start her life in the United States. It was also the date that marked the Bicentennial, the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.

My mother was born Katarzyna Malgorzata Biernacka, in Warsaw, Poland in 1972. At that time, Poland was called the Polish People’s Republic. For the 37 years between 1952 and 1989 Poland was under a communist regime. Those were very difficult years for the Polish people. They were watched, censored, and deprived under the totalitarianism system of government.

Her father, my grandfather, was in college when she and her twin brother were born. Four months later, he accepted an invitation from an American friend, Steve McClune, to travel and visit the United States. My grandfather, Andrzej was always fascinated with the United States. His own father, my great-grandfather, traveled to the United States in the 1920’s. My grandfather grew up hearing amazing stories about America and the incredible opportunities it had to offer. He was excited to see America for himself and to consider whether there were any opportunities there for him to pursue.

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My mother and her twin brother were three-and-ahalf months old when her father left for the United States for a one-month visit.

During his visit to the United States, my grandfather stayed in the Los Angeles area in California and was hosted by his friend Steve McClune, and his parents Harland and Arlene McClune. My grandfather quickly realized that there were more opportunities for a better life for him and his children in America than in communist Poland. He decided he wanted to stay and raise his family in the United States.

With the help of the McClunes, my grandfather applied for permission to stay in the United States. With his engineering skills, he was able to find a company interested in sponsoring his application for permanent residency. The McClunes also agreed to personally sponsor him. In a short nine months after he arrived in the United States, my grandfather was granted his permanent residency. Now it was time to be reunited with my grandmother, my mom and her brother. But the Polish government did not agree with my grandfather’s plans.

My grandfather spent the next four years after his arrival in the United States separated from my grandmother and his twin babies. It was the most difficult time of their lives.

During those years my grandmother applied time and time again to the Polish government for passports for herself, my mom, and my mom’s brother so that they could leave Poland and join my grandfather in the United States. They were denied over and over. During those years, my grandfather worked and researched ways to try to bring my grandmother and the twins to the United States.

Through a friend, my grandfather met Bronisław Kaper, a famous Polish film composer who had immigrated to the United States in 1935 to work for MGM. Mr. Kaper was very interested in helping my grandfather bring his family to the United States. First, he offered to contact friends in Poland who could help smuggle my grandmother, my mom, and my mom’s brother out of the country.

Because my mom and her brother were under two years old at that time, my grandfather decided it would be too dangerous. Mr. Kaper next suggested my grandfather write letters to certain politicians to ask for their help. He knew that the communist government in Poland would not want to bring attention to the fact that they were keeping a young family apart.

After four long years of waiting, working and letter writing, my grandfather was ready to give up hope. He had been separated from my grandmother. He had missed the first four years of his own children’s lives. The Polish government continued to deny passports to my grandmother, my mom, and her brother.

It was time for my grandfather to return to Poland.

And then good news arrived.

Unexpectedly, the postman delivered a letter to my grandmother that her application for passports to travel to the United States with my mom and my mom’s brother was finally granted! My grandmother left her life and her entire family behind and traveled to the United States with my mom and my uncle.

They arrived by plane on July 4, 1976 to Los Angeles International Airport and were finally reunited with my grandfather. Growing up in the United States, my mom knew the McClunes only as her grandparents her American grandparents.

In 1998, while living and studying in Washington, D.C., my mom had the opportunity to meet and personally thank Senator Ted Kennedy for his help in reuniting her family and for assisting in their immigration to the United States. It was a proud moment for my mom and Senator Kennedy. This July 4th my mom, my grandmother, and my mom’s brother celebrated the 40th anniversary of their immigration to the United States.

Imagine how promising the “American Dream” is, if people risk their jobs and lives to immigrate to the U.S. I want to end this article with a question: Imagine the U.S. without immigrants, without the “American Dream.” What do you think of? How do you imagine America then? Is it the same? Has it not changed? And has it changed drastically?

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FROM RUSSIA TO GREECE: My Grandmother’s Immigration Story

By Nicola Xanthopoulos ‘23 In Russia, the early 1900’s was a time when many peasants were peacefully protesting to get voting rights. These peasants believed that the Tsar Nicholas II was on their side. However, the Tsar believed these people were revolting against him and could cause a dispute. He requested that his guards line the Edmund Pettus Bridge so they could not reach the palace, and when the protesters got to the bridge the guards shot at them, forcing the protesters to flee. With every bullet they shot, the peasant’s trust in the Tsar was weakened until it was almost nonexistent. Today, this battle between the protesters and the guards is known as Bloody Sunday. Although this event took place thirty-two years before my Yaya, grandmother in Greek, was born, this was a moment that would change her life forever.

Before my Yaya was born, Russia was experiencing a revolution. The Tsar had wanted to expand his empire to Asia, which provoked Japan to attack. Russia was defeated and humiliated by this attempted expansion and forced Nicholas to make peace with Japan. After this, several revolts including Bloody Sunday forced the creation of a new government and the election of a new legislator named the Duma, who advised the king. During World War 1, Russia was allies with Britain and France against the Central Powers: Germany, the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. Peasants and workers were forced to join the army with little food, no shoes or training, and sometimes no weapons.

As Russia struggled to compete against Germany, Nicholas took over the army. Things progressively got worse. Millions of people died, and there were widespread food shortages. In 1917, the 1st February Revolution took place. After this revolt, Tsar Nicholas was forced to give up his crown and abdicate the throne. Later that year the Bolsheviks, who were rebels fighting against the government under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin, took total control of Russia in the October Revolution. Nicholas and his family were held prisoner. On July 17, 1918, the entire former royal family were executed by the Bolsheviks.

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Twenty-one years after the death of Nicholas and his family, my seven year old grandmother and her family had to leave everything that they ever knew behind. My great-grandparents were very rich, so my Yaya lived an affluent life. She had lots of servants, and spoke fluent French and Russian. My great-grandparents owned real estate and vineyards. During this time, the rich were living in fear of the peasants because of their resentment of the upper class. For their own safety, the Russian Aristocrats told them they needed to confiscate their land.

Fortunately, my family had Greek roots so they were allowed to leave the country and travel to Greece.

They were only allowed to bring some things from home, such as gold and some money they had hidden. My Yaya was scared, confused, sad, and even a little excited to see the country of her origins. She left Russia along with her older sister, older brother, mom, dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins. They all packed up their belongings and prepared for a drastic change. It was very hard for her to leave behind all her friends, her hometown, Odessa, and her house. She couldn’t understand why she had to go. They arrived in Greece after a long boat ride.

The transition after she arrived in Greece was very difficult. She had to learn a new language and was only able to be enrolled in one year of Greek school because of the start of World War 2. Because of this, she only was enrolled in school through 2nd grade. They lived in a house and stayed somewhat wealthy, but it was a big change for her. To make matters worse, her dad had placed a lot of their money in a bank that ended up going bankrupt. We think my Yaya is now in her early eighties, although she won’t tell her real age to anyone, and was married for 52 years to the poorest boy in her town. Unfortunately, he passed away four years ago. She has two children and two grandchildren. Reflecting back, she still thinks she should have stayed in Russia because she missed her old lifestyle, but if she would have I wouldn’t be the person I am today. She is unaware that if her family had stayed, the government would have confiscated all of their land and money.

She loves Greece and considers it her home. Now, she depends on our family to help her afford her apartment and food. My aunt lives with my Yaya and helps her through each day, but I visit her every other summer. It is very hard for me to communicate with her because she onlys speaks Greek and I only speak English. I am learning Greek to surprise her next summer. Before I can learn it though my dad has to to translate for us. I miss her very much. My Yaya is very brave and will never forget the Revolution that changed her life.

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THE EMPEROR’S EXPERIMENT

Religious Tolerance and the Creation of India

By Reed Ebbinghaus ‘17

In the 1570s, royal courts from Persia and Sri Lanka to Arabia, Portugal and England were met by ministers from a distant land, all bearing one message: their priests, mullahs, monastic leaders, and brahmins were wanted. Those who agreed to make the journey would be taken to the Ibadat Khana, a massive center of learning established by the powerful king of Hindustan. The many who interpreted such an unorthodox approach as a blatant attempt at conversion were met with surprise when they learned that this legendary ruler, known to many only in parables and hearsay, was yearning for a level of spiritual wisdom yet unseen by humanity. For this king, one way of understanding the world was not enough.

In the 1570s, royal courts from Persia and Sri Lanka to Arabia, Portugal and England were met by ministers from a distant land, all bearing one message: their priests, mullahs, monastic leaders, and brahmins were wanted. Those who agreed to make the journey would be taken to the Ibadat Khana, a massive center of learning established by the powerful king of Hindustan. The many who interpreted such an unorthodox approach as a blatant attempt at conversion were met with surprise when they learned that this legendary ruler, known to many only in parables and hearsay, was yearning for a level of spiritual wisdom yet unseen by humanity. For this king, one way of understanding the world was not enough.

The son of King Humayun ascended to the throne of the Mughal Empire at age 13, imbued with a

mission. At the time, his royal power from the capital city of Lahore extended only across the Ganges plain south of the Himalayas and east of the Indus River. “India”, to the inhabitants of the known world, was nothing but a geographical distinction. There had never existed the concept of an Indian nation or a united Indian people. But by 1590, what was for centuries a land of warring Hindu and Muslim kingdoms each headed by their own warlords, had become a centralized state encompassing nearly the entire Indian subcontinent. This was the work of the new king, who, by the end of his campaigns, was unanimously known as Akbar, or The Great One. He crafted his empire with impressive military organization and the advancement of firepower and cannonry. But he intended to keep it together with far more than the sword.

Throughout history, India has been the meeting point of cosmologies: the homeland of the Vedic texts, the birthplace of Mahavira and the Gautama Buddha, and the eastern extent of the Arab caliphates. Powerful and nearly immutable religions whose doctrines did not see eye to eye were both forced to coexist in the same land. This proximity led to warfare and mistrust, but also to a level of spiritual innovation not seen elsewhere. The 15th century saw a rise in influential thinkers, all affected by the divisiveness of India, who either consciously or subconsciously tried to mediate opposing ideologies in search of Truth. Notable figures included Kabir, a mystic who denounced both Hinduism and Islam for what he considered a lack of selflessness, and Caitanya, a reformed Hindu who elevated the god Vishnu to a level of monotheism, claiming the oneness of all beings. Certain folk leaders even claimed the coming of a messiah and styled themselves as prophets. These were, indeed, radical notions from radical thinkers, and they received reactionary condemnation from religious authority.

But they were crafted from a society that claimed dichotomous truths about the nature of the world, humans, and the afterlife.

In the Mughal court, just like everywhere else, these new ideas were well-known. But for Akbar, they became a source of serious influence. Previous rulers, especially Muslim kings, had governed their regimes according to the state-sponsored official religion, a system under which religious minorities were made second-class citizens or forced to pay a special tax. The multireligious nature of the Indian subcontinent, however, posed a dilemma for the Mughal kings of Lahore that did not exist for the kings of Safavid Persia, in which non-Muslim groups were a small minority. Previous Mughal rulers, being Sunni Muslims, had imposed the jizyah, a tax on non-Muslim inhabitants of Hindustan.

But an expanded empire brought issues of religion to the forefront, for Akbar’s military campaigns had made him the Muslim emperor of a enormous region populated by millions of Hindus and significant enclaves of Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs and Zoroastrians. All these groups had a history of regarding Islamic rulers with deep mistrust, and Akbar knew that in order to keep his name as the greatest of greats, he would have to win over the hearts of his people. The idea of turning away from “heretical” ways of thought did not have a strong hold on Akbar’s mind, both for moral and practical reasons. As he matured, he began to see the frivolity of such a view, the view that previous spiritual leaders had already put a name to: intolerance.

Yearning for knowledge of the world, Akbar pursued his obsession with Truth, commissioning his Sufi advisers (Muslim mystics) to build a House of Wisdom in 1575 where Muslim spiritual leaders would discuss matters of faith. He built a royal library where he housed works of literature from ancient Greece to the contemporary. He participated in Hindu festivals and took a number of Hindu daughters of Rajputs, or regional leaders, as wives. His emphasis on understanding the various religions was, as he well knew, a necessity for staying on good terms with the Hindu majority over which he ruled. So interested was Akbar in maintaining positive relations with Hindus that he forcibly removed a number of cultural stigmas around Muslim-Hindu relations. The marriage of a Hindu

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event of fortune when Akbar raised his wives’ families to equal standing with his Muslim royal family members. He went on to repeal the jizyah, essentially equalizing Hindu citizens, and in order to style himself as a protector of Hindu values, forbade the slaughter of cattle and urged members of the court to abstain from eating meat on certain days of the week. He even took a Hindu, Harka Bai, as his chief wife--Harka Bai is often credited as being a major influencer of his decision to lessen the Islamized nature of Mughal politics. The repeal of apostasy laws, thus allowing forcibly converted Muslims to return to their original faith, was likely the most controversial of Akbar’s initial liberalizations of the empire. The changes Akbar made to the Mughal system made him extremely popular among Hindus and Jains, often at the expense of orthodox Sunni members of the court. He took steps to lend a sense of reform to the Sunni establishment, appointing himself as the reciter of invocational prayers at the courtly mosque instead of granting the role to a traditional Imam.

A few years after the establishment of the House of Wisdom, Akbar concluded that what he had intended to be a place of intellectual discussion and debate had become an environment in which dogmatic narrow-mindedness prospered and in which religious leaders ridiculed and cursed those who did not adhere to their own interpretation of the Qur’an. Seeking a sense of legitimacy, participants in House of Wisdom debates asked the king to endorse a certain school of Islamic thought. So disturbed was Akbar by their unwavering adherence to personal dogma that he decided to open the Ibadat Khana to elites of all faiths, in order to prove the necessity of allowing personal views to be questioned. He invited Hindus, Jains, and Zoroastrians to participate, hoping they would bring their perspectives to the table. Being on good terms with the Portuguese empire, Akbar requested Catholics come to his royal court and join the House of Wisdom debates. Scholars record the Jesuits as being extremely intolerant during their time at the House,taking care to slander all the other religions being analyzed. So enraged were some of the Islamic scholars that they declared open rebellion against Akbar, who had allowed the Jesuits to say what they wanted. In 1580 Mullah Yazdi of Jaunpur sent out a decree stating his belief that Akbar had renounced Islam, and many of Akbar’s advisors turned against him and joined Mirza Hakim--Akbar’s own brother--in open rebellion against him. Akbar, however, defeated all his detractors with ease. His experiences with religious division borne out of the Ibadat Khana debates only helped prove to him the importance of spiritual discourse. He even invited atheists to the Ibadat Khana and protected their right to speak their mind.

Akbar’s boldest idea for the empire, however, was likely only anticipated by a select few of his highest court advisers. In 1779 he passed a “Decree of Infallibility” granting himself full ijtihad, or scriptural interpretation, of religious matters. His goal was to pursue what he knew as Sulh-i-Kul, or universal tolerance. Muhammad Baki writes, “Akbar extended toleration to all religions and creeds, and would recognize no difference between them, his object being to unite all men in a common bond of peace.” His vehicle for achieving that object was not simple observance of pluralistic customs. It was Din-i-Ilahi: the Divine Faith. What Akbar proposed was the theology of a unified Indian people: a complete syncretization of Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity. It derived its moral codes mainly from the Abrahamic religions (Islam and Christianity), with mystic elements from the Rigvedic ones (Hinduism and Jainism). The Divine Faith emphasized the oneness of God within all beings and encouraged principles of goodwill and abstinence. It regarded fire as a symbolic element of divine energy, as in Zoroastrian teaching, and its worship rites combined Islamic prayers, including the phrase Allahu akbar, with Hindu prayers, of these the practice of reciting the thousand names of the Sun. In theory, it served as a standardizer of Indians of diverse religious backgrounds. It was also the culmination of Akbar’s lifelong search for Truth. In the words of historian S.R. Shama, the Divine Faith was “the crowning expression of the Emperor’s national idealism.”

The Divine Faith, for all its ingenuity and forward-mindedness, was stopped short at the gates.

The king’s new ideology, which he had tried to present to the more conservative Imams as a reforma-

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tion of Islam, was denounced as heretical by the religious authorities. Once again, Akbar was accused of apostasy. Most Hindus simply considered the cult a modification of Islam and thus were not drawn to it; Akbar did not take it upon himself to spread the Divine Faith because of his opposition to religious coercion. Without any exposure to the ideas presented in the king’s cult, the people of Mughal India continued with the beliefs under which they were raised. Only about 20 people, all political acquaintances of Akbar, became followers, and they did not pass it on after his death.

Din-i-Ilahi, though designed out of the necessity of unifying India, died with Akbar the Great.

But many of the king’s other achievements did not. His creed of Sulh-i-Kul stood as an enlightened approach to the “religious question” of ruling Indian society, and its strains of equality of belief remained strong in Indian political tradition. The possible relation between a Muslim ruler and his Hindu subjects changed from one of division to one of unity in which Hindus were granted political positions and in which Muslim-Hindu marriages were regarded honorably. The role of a king came to imply a level of awareness of the religious inclinations of his people. It likely took centuries for scholars and political leaders to understand that Akbar the Great created the concept of an Indian nation inhabited by a unified people. He transformed a small Muslim state ruling over its Hindu masses to a pluralistic yet unified nation known throughout the world. India’s test is to see if it lives up to the principles established by its greatest king. A lack of understanding of the Mughal legacy has spelled disunity and separatism in south Asia, from the partition of Pakistan and the Dominion of India which resulted in the genocides of millions of warring Hindus and Muslims to the separatist parties gaining strength in India today. It is the duty of India to take a look at its national identity and consider the hypothetical reaction of Akbar the Great to such growing religious movements as Abhinav Bharat and the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front. For with the help of a 16th-century king, India need look nowhere but its own past to understand how the “religious question” is solved.

Page 19: A stylized scene of a meeting at the Ibadat Khana Page 22: A Mughal-era painting of the young emperor

TRAVEL

29 The Anne Frank Museum

25 Bruges: Venice of the North

31 Deep into the Amazon — and Beyond

26 Two Different Indias

34 France’s Colony

Alyson Brown ‘19

Harsha Kenchareddy ‘19

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>> Reykjavík, Iceland

Tatum Kent ‘23

Esha Kashyap ‘19

Niki Buss ‘17

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BRUGES Venice of the North

By Alyson Brown ‘19

If you drive two hours southwest of Amsterdam, passing small and large communities in The Netherlands and Belgium, you eventually see a sign on the highway that says: Bruges (9km).

Southern Californians living in drought-affected areas cannot help but notice the vivid greenery surrounding this beautiful part of the world. The ample rain this region receives each year only adds to the beauty of the little town of Bruges. Perhaps it is incorrect to call Bruges ‘little’ when it has a population of over 100,000 people, but it felt like a small village to me, in the middle of nowhere, when my family and I arrived in June 2016.

Dubbed ‘The Venice of the North’ because of the stunning canals and natural rivers that traverse the city, Bruges left a great impression on me. My first experience in Bruges was the same as that of many other tourists- open-mouthed amazement at the city’s architecture, beauty and history. While wandering through the side streets, trying to make my way to the main square, I saw dozens of horse drawn carriages, countless churches tucked away on side streets, and rows of homemade-chocolate shops. But after arriving at the city center and participating in a walking tour, I learned that Bruges’ fascinating past rivaled its beauty.

Because of its coastal location, Bruges has had a significant economic importance in the region throughout history. Its strategic position at the crossroads of the northern Hanseatic League trade and the southern trade routes made the city a chief commercial center. The first fortifications there were not built until the Roman Empire reached the region and constructed structures in order to protect the coastal area against pirates. Although the Romans are credited with essentially founding Bruges as a small merchant town, the city gained greater importance during its Golden Age in the 12th to 15th centuries. While on my walking tour, I was overwhelmed by the history of this city which was often caught between the mighty French and other military forces trying to invade because of its growing commercial wealth. Again and again, Bruges overcame invaders including the mighty French army in its past-- an impressive feat. However, despite my preparation and studying of the history of Bruges, there was one aspect of my trip that remained unanticipated-- the continuous, heavy, unrelenting rain. It poured the whole time while I was in Bruges, but somehow that only added to the charm of the cobblestone streets and the myriad of bridges we crossed while exploring the city. And this unyielding rain led to my family and I to take shelter in a church- the Église Notre-Dame.

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The 13th century architecture of this church was breathtaking and its tower, at 401 feet in height, remains the tallest structure in the city. But inside of this church, we came upon something even more awe-inspiring- a piece of art that had survived centuries while many others just like it were destroyed: Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child. This masterpiece survived the seizing of art by the Nazis during World War II, when innumerable masterpieces were stolen from museums and churches throughout Europe, and were burned or completely destroyed.

Here I was, facing Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child, the focal point of the recent Tom Hanks movie, “The Monument Men”, which depicted the story of a group of American soldiers who were tasked with finding and restoring stolen art and sculptures to their rightful homes. And there it stood, just twenty feet away from me, in all of its glory. I saw the incredible sculpture of the baby Jesus on the Madonna’s lap, and the details on both of their faces. And even though I then explored the rest of the church with my family seeing the many other amazing pieces of art displayed, we returned once again to the Madonna and Child before leaving the church. We soaked in the history of this work of art and wondered in amazement how a group of American men fought to save these historical treasures, some of whom lost their lives in this endeavor. They held the value of something that would remain thousands of years making people in the future feel something over their own lives.

When I traveled all the way across the globe to The Netherlands, I did not expect to be driving hours to a town in Belgium or seeing this renowned piece of artwork. But what I also did not know is that Bruges is actually one of the most popular tourist destinations in Belgium, and for a good reason.

Bruges taught me that every place is unique and has its own charm and history. Sometimes the best places to visit are not necessarily the metropolitan centers with the huge museums.

Although the world’s capitals provide wonderful opportunities to explore and learn, an offthe-beaten path city can leave an enduring mark on your spirit. And let’s not forget that Belgian chocolate truly is the best in the world!

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TWO DIFFERENT

INDIAS

Dust, sounds, and lots and lots of people.

These words effectively sum up the city of Bangalore at first sight. The city is the home of my uncle’s family; I visit them every summer. Called “the Silicon Valley of India,” Bangalore has a population of 11.5 million and boasts one of the world’s fastest growing economies, with over 10,000 millionaires as well as over eight billion U.S. dollars of exports annually. However, the real Bangalore lies underneath these impressive numbers and statistics. The life of my cousin Pawan, who is two years younger than me, differs greatly from my own. His school is about six kilometers from his home. Pawan wakes up every morning at five o’clock to get ready and catch his school bus that leaves at six o’clock, although his school does not actually begin until eight o’clock. The sounds of cars honking, people strolling across the streets – comparable to someone walking across the freeway – and the millions of cars and trucks packed bumper to bumper extended what could be a twenty minute journey to a miserable, two-hour long ride. The amount of traffic in the crowded Bangalore streets makes the traffic in Los Angeles look like a breeze.

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by Harsha Kenchareddy ‘19

During this time of day, I usually walked around the streets trying to absorb and understand the culture of the city. One of the first things that I noticed was the scarcity of water. My uncle was always telling me to use less; as I walked around the city I could hear others complaining about the problem.

The second issue that I noticed was the amount of trash littered on the streets. People seemed to utterly disregard what was going on in their environment.

When I asked my dad about this, he told me that only ten years ago, Bangalore was a beautiful city with great infrastructure, sprawling lush green gardens and great weather. However, in recent years, too many people have been migrating to the city and the population has been rapidly increasing. In the last five years, Bangalore’s population has grown at a staggering rate of 8% annually. To put this in perspective, San Diego’s population has grown at a rate of 1.1%. As a result, the existing infrastructure has been unable to cope with this surge in urbanization.

After several days, we left the city and traveled north to visit my extended family. Most of my relatives still live in isolated villages in the state of Karnataka, untouched by drastic urbanization and modernization, and where agriculture is the main source of income and employment. While some may be under the impression that living in a village entails having little food or water and living in a straw house, they could not be more wrong. There is a different style of living in these villages.

>> Bangalore, Karnataka, India

On my first day, my grandpa and my dad woke me up in the morning and took me to my grandpa’s farm. As soon as we arrived, my dad handed me a list of vegetables and a bag while he warned me to look out for snakes that roamed around my grandpa’s farm. He then left me to myself. I slowly came to grasp the reality of what was expected from me and began picking the vegetables; however, I soon learned that snakes were the least of my worries. Red ants and other bugs crawled on my feet, bees were humming in my ear, and the blistering heat of the sun pounded on my neck. In the end I got about fifteen red ant and mosquito bites, was stabbed by three thorns, and nearly lost my eye to a branch that was blown in my face by the wind. My shirt was soaked, my head was aching, and my body was itching in the miserable heat. Despite my obviously poor condition, I eventually managed to fill the bag with close to eight kilograms of vegetables before lunch time. When I asked my dad how much money I would get for selling the vegetables I picked, he simply smiled at me and said that those vegetables were not for sale: they were going to be my lunch and dinner. This did not improve my mood whatsoever.

Once I got back to the house, my 80-year-old grandma took the vegetables from me and immediately started preparing the lunch. She cooked food for at least 10 people in the house that day; I was truly amazed.

It was as if time had done nothing to take away the strength from her. I was given a traditional South Indian meal consisting of assorted cooked vegetables in gravy, along with a traditional type of bread in our village.

Unlike much of the food in the city, this food was completely safe to eat since my family does not use any pesticides or GMOs on our farm. We have been farming and eating the same food for countless generations–in fact, my dad mentioned that we have family records that go back up to five generations. There was something satisfying about eating food that had been freshly picked from the farm.

Furthermore, there was something wonderful about the village life that the city failed to offer me, aside from its lack of noise and pollution. As I explored the village I saw many beautiful temples, all dedicated to the gods that my family has been worshipping for hundreds of years. The ancient carvings of gods and creatures displayed a unique style of art. My understanding and appreciation of the culture was deepened by the multiple traditional activities and social events which I had the opportunity to partake in. On one occasion, I helped a group of kids carry a one hundred pound clay statue of a god to a well, which was the closest water source. I would have liked to say that we submerged the statue of the god into the water respectfully, but its immense weight resulted in us hurling the statue down the well. Ultimately, however, this activity helped me bond with the kids and adults around me.

Unlike the heavily western-influenced cities, the villages of India have retained much of their traditional culture. Although the villages are somewhat secluded from the bustling cities, my relatives are not missing out on technology; many of my relatives have smartphones, and some of my cousins have even asked me for my Facebook account. In addition there is a lot of hard work and tension included within village lifestyle. There is constant concern about the amount of rain because it determines how many crops they will be able to grow; and if you get severely injured or sick you must drive great distances to see the nearest doctor. As a result of the independence of the people in the villages, my cousins are forced to study very hard so that they can get good jobs in the city of Bangalore. In my family there are only two acceptable jobs: a doctor or an engineer. This pressure has led many younger people from my family to leave the village in search of a better life in the city. They are leaving their culture, and in turn are living a more modern life. Living both in the city and the villages have their advantages and disadvantages, but my visit to India greatly enriched my knowledge about both my culture and myself.

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THE ANNE FRANK MUSEUM

By Tatum Kent ‘23

During the summer of 2016, my family and I traveled to Amsterdam, Paris and London. Amsterdam was our first stop of this European adventure. Some activities in Amsterdam were touring the Rijksmuseum, bike riding, and going on boat tours of the canals -, but what really stood out to me was the Anne Frank Mmuseum. I first learned about the Holocaust when I was in 5th grade.

In class, I learned about the Nazis’ cruelty, which resulted in the murder of 6 million Jews, including 1.5 million children. These facts terrified me. When I first learned that my family and I were going to the Anne Frank Museum, these statistics immediately came to mind.

Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929 into a Jewish family. Anne was born during a time when Germany was facing many Economic crises after from losing World War I. Many German citizens had lost family members in the war, were laid off from their jobs and lived in poverty. Germany also had to give up some of its territory due to the Treaty of Versailles.

Some people, including Adolf Hitler, were anti-semitic, or believed that Jewish people were responsible for losing the war, and they began political parties against Jewish people. Soon the many Germans used Jewish people as scapegoats, which are people that are punished for the errors of others, and voted for Hitler’s anti-semitic Nazism party. In January of 1933, Adolf Hitler was crowned Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg and not long after, Nazis began implementing organized an anti-semitic policies. They banned all Jewish shops, forbade Jews from entering certain buildings, and began cutting them off from society. Signs that read “Jews not welcome here” appeared all over Germany.

As soon as Anne’s family heard of Hitler’s plans to capture the Jews, they emigrated to Amsterdam. They felt safe in Amsterdam until September 1, 1939, the day that Poland was conquered by

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Hitler’s army. A few months later, the Dutch army surrendered to the Germans, allowing the Germans to take over The Netherlands, including Amsterdam. Soon after the Nazi occupation, Anne and other Jews were banned from going to parks, libraries, movie theaters and the beach. Anne’s parents, Otto and Edith Frank attempted to emigrate to the United States, but weren’t able to. Anne’s parents soon organized a secret hiding place without telling their two daughters. When Anne turned 13, she received a diary to write her thoughts, which became her confidant in hiding.

On July 6, 1942, the Franks and their friends, the Van Pels, entered their hiding place: an old furnished attic in Anne’s father’s office building, which was hidden behind a bookshelf. Anne wrote in her journals about her life in the “Annex.” While they hid in the Annex, their Jewish neighbors were sent to concentration camps, 75% of them dying at the hands of the Nazis.

On June 6, 1944, France, Britain and the United States began an attack against the Nazis. When Anne and her family heard the news, they got excited, believing they could hide in the Annex until the Germans were defeated. One night though, a Dutch police car stopped in front of the office building, and officers stormed up the stairs to the bookshelf hiding the Annex. The policemen opened the bookshelf and arrested the Franks, as well as their four friends living with them. They were all sent to various concentration camps. Anne never saw her family again, and died of typhus in a concentration camp in February of 1945. The only survivor who hid in the Annex was Otto Frank. He later published Anne’s diary and today, Anne is recognized as a hero whose story continues to inform people about the atrocities of the Holocaust.

The Anne Frank Museum consisted of 15 areas. The secret annex was in the top corner of an office warehouse. To get to the Annex, my family and I had to walk up narrow passages. I was extremely fascinated to be able to stand in Anne’s bedroom because it was where she lived for four years, and where she wrote her diary! Another highlight from my visit was that I saw a video of Otto Frank talking about Anne and Anne’s real diary. This museum really fascinated me and it is a great experience that I would really recommend. Even though it is terrifying to learn about historical crises, it is important for us to understand why it occurred so it won’t happen again.

Amsterdam, Netherlands <<

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DEEP INTO THE AMAZON — AND BEYOND

By Esha Kashyap ‘19

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Hiking to the long-lost city of Machu Picchu, visiting ancient, rustic Inca ruins, and swimming in the crystal-clear waters of sandy beaches—these are only a few of the unbelievable adventures I had from this past summer during my trip to Peru. Along with my parents and my younger brother Ashir (‘23), I traveled all over the country—starting in the urban city of Cusco (near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range), where we made the two-day trek to see the great remains of Machu Picchu, and later visiting the beautiful beachside town of Mancora. However, the highlight of our trip was definitely our week-long stay in the Amazon rainforest.

For the duration of a week, my family and I stayed in the incredible Tahuayo Lodge, located deep within the Amazon Basin on the banks of the Tahuayo river. Its remarkable location completely submerged us in natural Amazonian wildlife and flora, with mischievous monkeys swinging on the huge, towering canopy trees, caimans and waterbugs silently drifting around in the muddy Amazon, and the loud, synchronized chirping of millions of crickets, audible all throughout the night—though I wouldn’t necessarily call the myriad of mosquitoes remarkable. The lodge not only completely immersed us in the rainforest, but also provided an experience of a natural and simplistic lifestyle. The infrastructure was completely hand-built from real wood, the facilities were powered by independent solar panels, mounted high into the air on long wooden poles, and light was the only source of electricity accessible to us—meaning that we had to survive the greater-than-100 degrees temperatures without fans.

Perhaps even more extraordinary than the lodge itself and the amazing immersion experience it provided, however, was the lodge’s attempts to preserve and maintain the Amazon rainforest. The ever-expanding economies as well as the globalization and modernization efforts of countries all around the world have led to the destruction and devastation of acres of rainforest. But, the lodge aims to tackle that devastating problem and to preserve the biodiversity of the rainforest, while also maintaining the lifestyle and income sources of the indigenous people. Biodiversity is defined as “diversity among and within plant and animal species in an environment”, and is an vital, integral part of the Amazon rainforest.

And though those living in city centers view the rainforest solely as a source of income, oblivious or indifferent to their effect on the flora and fauna, the rainforest provides all of the necessary resources for the locals and natives living in villages within the forest- they use its materials as a source of food, and for building houses, canoes, hunting weapons, etc. as they rely on plants, wood and bones to construct all of their facilities- the native people heavily rely on the rainforest as their principal resource for food, building and health. In order to work towards the preservation and protection of Amazonian wildlife, as well as to support the indigenous people, the lodge has been working together with a non-governmental organization called Angel of the Amazon (AOA) for over 15 years. And, the lodge actually donates 5% of its total income from tourist visits in order to support and fund these projects.

AOA’s main purpose is to provide for the principal needs of the local people, from helping them support their families to providing better education for their children.

Their first major project is one dedicated to helping the local Amazonian people by changing their lifestyles. The main source of income for these locals, before the implementation of a rainforest reserve, was made by hunting of wild animals and game, but after restrictions imposed by the institution of reserve laws, they had no way to make money. So, the lodge, along with AOA, initiated a project called “Native Market”, in which the women of the communities are taught the practices of basket-weaving and craft-making. With these new skills, they have the ability to sell products to tourists or in the markets of Iquitos (the capital of the Peruvian Amazon, and sixth largest city of Peru, located inland of the rainforest), which provides local families with a way to support their families, through a new source of income. The lodge even provides job opportunities for several of the locals by recruiting them from their villages and training them to become actual tour guides for the company.

Another project that the Tahuayo Lodge, in cooperation with AOA, is working towards is the rebuilding of medical clinics and facilities in the Esperanza Village, one of the communities located within the Amazon rainforest. Several years ago, the government funded the construction of a small, 15 by 15 foot, one-room, concrete medical clinic within the village, which is much too small for actually providing proper medical treatment and services to locals. Therefore, the lodge created a new project that worked towards building a new, proper, 100 by 100 foot facility that has three separate sections for triage, doctors offices, and laboratory work (for researching cures to tropical illnesses like malaria). There is even a maternity ward, providing proper services for the pregnant women of the village, and quality medication, made possible by generous donations, is now available, rather than the limited, government-provided supplies.

One last project created by the Lodge and AOA strives for the improvement of education for local students. They have a year-long program for the distribution of school supplies like notebooks, paper and pencils in over 200 backpacks to all of the students in the Chino, Esperanza and Charro villages of the Amazon basin. The purpose of this project is to help the students receive a better, fuller education as well as high-quality school supplies. In addition, the lodge also works towards the rebuilding of schools in the Chino village. Since the community is located near the flooding areas, the schools are completely flooded during the rainy seasons, when overflow from the Amazon river and excessive downpour destroys the communities’ wooden establishments. So far, they have built 2 new, taller concrete classrooms that even have proper bio-digestible bathroom facilities. Their goal is to have completed brand-new classrooms for all grades from 1st-12th within five years.

These amazing projects carried out by the Tahuayo lodge and Angel of the Amazon in order to help preserve the Amazon rainforest, as well as to improve the lives of local residents inspired me so much that I decided to spend the rest of my time in the basin volunteering at a local village—the Chino village, located in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.

Within the village, I volunteered my time in many different ways. Firstly, I spent a day with one of the local families, conversing with them in basic Spanish. The father of the family told me about his daily fishing trips to the Amazon river, which he uses to catch fish not only for their meals of the day, but also to sell to the mainland cities like Iquitos for profit. I spent time with the mother of her family, and her two adorable daughters! They taught me some basic basket weaving skills, which they learned as a part of the first AOA project I described, and I even made a small basket (though it wasn’t nearly as good as their expertly crafted goods!)

At other times, I volunteered at the local middle school and focused my time in their History and English classes. During the time of my visit, the students were learning about Christopher Columbus and his discovery of America in their social studies classes, so I was easily able to assist them with their class work and projects (and it was good practice for APUSH…). In their English classes, I helped the teacher with instructing the students in basic English speaking, using my limited Spanish knowledge to explain what different words and phrases in English meant. Volunteering at the Chino village school and spending time with these funny, interesting students was so exciting and definitely helped me improve my Spanish!

Traveling to Peru was an amazing opportunity, and I absolutely loved visiting and sightseeing around this culture-filled, vibrant and colorful country. The most enriching experience was not trekking to the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu or swimming in the warm, sparkling waters of Mancora. Rather, it was the time I spent in the Amazon rainforest. I not only treasured the opportunity to learn about all the work these charitable organizations do to help preserve wildlife and to help protect the livelihoods of indigenous people, but also to volunteer my time at the local villages, spending time with the locals and their middle schoolers, immersing myself in their lifestyle and environment— it made for an incredible experience that has greatly broadened my worldview, and that will continue to impact me for the rest of my life.

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FRANCE’S

COLONY

By Niki Buss ‘17

After traveling all over the world, I had certain expectations as to what French Canada would be like. Most of these expectations were quickly shattered as soon as I stepped foot into the region.

My family and I were traveling through Quebec City on a larger tour of Eastern Canada and, after hearing the constant comparisons between the Canadian French Province of Quebec and France, I had two polar opposite expectations of Quebec: either it was going to be exactly like France, or it wasn’t going to be like France at all.

At first glance, Quebec City shares many similarities with a European city: fortified walls, historic buildings, large cathedrals, and even a giant castle. Of course, the official language in Quebec is French which, even though there were many differences between how French was spoken traditionally versus in Canada, I was proud to be able to understand the conversations spoken around me.

One surprising difference between French Canada and France is that in French Canada, most signs are bilingual, so that both native French and native English speakers can understand the information, while in France, they are only in French, the country’s only official language.

The pedestrian-only streets of the city were packed with locals selling their souvenirs, art, and food, just as I would expect in France. At the same time, Quebec City feels very different from French cities because the historic town is a very small neighborhood surrounded by an extremely modern city while many French cities are only historic downtowns.

The most striking difference between France and French Canada for me though was the history of the old town. While many villages in France date back to medieval times, Quebec City only dates back to the early 1600’s, with much of the old town being built in the 1700’s or 1800’s. This was striking to me because it crossed the historic building that I would expect in France with the historic buildings that I would expect to see on the United States’ East Coast to make its own historic style.

After visiting Quebec, I still can’t decide whether it is more similar or more different to France.

For me, the best way to describe it is as a melting pot of three rich histories and cultures: French, Canadian, and North American colonialism.

If any of these three contributors had not influenced Quebec, it would not be the culturally diverse region that it has become.

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37 Wordless Language Fritz Kuhn ‘19

CULTURE

41 Weddings

Davina Dou ‘17

43 Zee Mundo

Richa Mathur ‘17

40 The Window of Culture Ellie Hodges ‘22

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>> Akureyri, Iceland

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WORDLESS LANGUAGE

By Fritz Khun ‘19

At Bishop’s, we are taught an additional language, enabling us to communicate with a wider range of people (with the exception of Latin). Nevertheless, learning only one of the world’s nearly seven thousand languages doesn’t seem like enough anymore. I am here to disprove that assumption.After experiencing situations in numerous countries that do not speak my primary language, I can attest that conversation is not the only effective form of communication. Attempting to create dialogue can be futile and sometimes harmful; however, I have stumbled upon multiple alternatives that build human interrelation, no words necessary.

Saharan Percussion My camel swayed back and forth in its stride.

The sun was slightly past its pinnacle in the sky, and our caravan began to thirst. Alone in the sea of sand dunes stood a slight hut; its wood deteriorated and bleached from years in the heat. I dismounted to explore the hut with others. The rusting metal door was pried open, and a hole lay at the center of the damp ground as shards of light broke through the heterogeneous roof. Pots and pans lined one of the walls, and buckets encircled the well. Using a pulley system I

37 >> Erg Chebbi, Morocco

gathered water and replenished my bottle. A few locals appeared, and we welcomed them inside.

The man in dark clothing and a vibrant coiffure stood in the doorway and began to speak an unfamiliar language which I assumed was Arabic. He and Abdul, our guide, were exchanging in a jovial dialogue from what I could discern. A woman accompanying him she sat down on an overturned bucket to my left, removing a skillet from one of the hooks on the wall.

I was slightly befuddled as to where she was planning to cook, but I soon realized she didn’t intend to do anything of the sort. She began to bash the pan against her bucket to a distinct rhythm. Following her example, I grabbed a bowl and struck it with a metal spatula, maintaining the rhythm. The bowl added a unique tone to the mix. My sister and mother began to shift and feel the beat, ultimately inclined to join in, followed by Abdul and the other man. We all sat in a circle, dancing and creating music. Some of us repeated beats, and others improvised. Looking around the circle, I shared eye contact with the group. We grinned and laughed; I had never felt so connected with two strangers.

El Fútbol de Buenos Aires I enjoy water polo, but I had never considered polo on a horse. A friend of a friend lives in Buenos Aires, and was gracious enough to invite my family to his Estancia de Polo in order to learn the sport. Estancias in the suburbs of Buenos Aires equate to the mansions of Rancho Santa Fe, complete with stables and acres of land. My sister, Vienna, and I did not speak Spanish, but my mother is nearly fluent. When we arrived at the airport, we were promptly met by a driver sent by Santi, the generous estate owner, to take us from the airport to his house. On the way, I spotted over ten stadiums, unsure what sport was played there.

The driver was a heavier set man with a resplendent eyes and wrinkles that suggested a happy demeanor, who pointed out to my mom that there were over sixteen soccer teams in the city. He jokingly forced us to promise we would support a team called “River Plate” and detest the team called “Boca Juniors.” We agreed cheerfully, failing to grasp the magnitude of the rivalry between the two sides. Later, he explained that only the upper class citizens of the city supported Boca, while River was generally the team of those lower on the socio-economic ladder.

I begged my mom to take our family to a soccer game, on the grounds that it is an integral part of the Argentine culture. However, I was subtly shushed by my mom because she, like many Americans, is not interested in soccer. The first thing I noticed when our car pulled into the roundabout in front of Santi’s house was the two guys who looked to be around my age playing soccer in front of the house. Their makeshift field consisted of a small area of grass with poles welded together to form goals. The last time I had kicked a soccer ball was about the time of my last Spanish lesson. Regardless, as I observed the two kids from the car window, I was eager to explore the game that seemed beloved by the whole world. Tapping into my little memory of Spanish, I racked my brain, but couldn’t remember how to ask the boys if I could join their game. I got out of the car and walked over, but before I had the opportunity to ask, they passed me the ball and I passed it back.

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Their fingers showed the numbers two and one; I assumed that meant they wanted to play a game of two versus one. Although I couldn’t introduce myself, I remembered how to affirm their proposal, mumbling a hesitant “Sí” with a nod. I may not have been Messi, but they wanted me to play, either because I was a suitable opponent or an easy rout.

As the game progressed, it became apparent that they had allowed me to join for the latter reason. I finally put together a decent attack and scored after letting in about fifteen goals. They patted me on the back and we all laughed at my lack of skill. To this day, I am friends with the boys on Facebook.

My mother, who was conversing with the driver, called for my help bringing our luggage into the house. The driver must have understood my expression of interest in soccer; as I helped him with my luggage, he told my mom that he had an extra ticket to see River Plate play Huracán. My mother translated, and I was ecstatic. After much begging, she conceded to let me go if I promised to be careful. I got right back into the car, and we picked up he driver’s teenage son and his friend before heading to the game. I did not say much in the car, but the driver showed me great hospitality and the other guys spoke a bit of English.

39 >> Buenos Aires, Argentina

A sea of red and white surrounded the stadium’s entrance. At last, we got to our seats. There must have been one hundred thousand people at the coliseum-like stadium, with every inch of the concrete seating occupied.

For the duration of the ninety minute game, every spectator was on their feet chanting and swaying back and forth with their arms around the people next to them, energized like an army marching into battle.

Music and athletics have both served to bring me closer with relatively unfamiliar people in a matter of minutes. Due to their universal recognition, both activities can be considered worldwide languages. These two experiences shaped how I view language today: not only as dialogue, but as any form of kinship between individuals.

The Window of

By Ellie Hodges ‘22

Culture

Many people today make stereotypical assumptions about certain races and ethnicities. Recently, I have been exploring this idea. In school, we have discussed what “single stories” are: information that states things about other parts of the world and what’s wrong with them that doesn’t always seem to tell the truth. It is enormously important for our generation to be informed truthfully of what’s going on in the world around us. Therefore, it is essential that we hear both sides of stories when they are presented on the news and from social media sources.

One single story that I have learned about is hunger in our world. I feel fortunate to live in a house in such an amazing city, with food and drink on my table. In the world not everyone is as fortunate as us, but there might not be as many people in need as we may think. The World Bank reports that in 2015, 90.6% of people had access to a sustainable source of water, and 12.7% of people were living in poverty. I first found these figures shocking as I thought the world was plagued with starvation and tragedy. My class made a similar mistake when taking a quiz in Social Studies. So why do we think the world is so much worse than it actually is? News and Social media flood our minds about the world’s problems, and sometimes overgeneralize the amount of people affected by these problems.

Chimamanda Adichie proves this point very well. Adiche comes from a middle class Nigerian family. She gave a Ted Talk about how we perceive the world and others in it. She talks about her idea of a “single story” and her experiences with it as a child. It is surprising when she said that in college, her roommate created “single stories” about her.

Adichie’s roommate thought she listened to “tribal music”, and was surprised that she could speak English fluently. Adiche’s roommate proves that not everything we hear from our peers and news channels is true. While media places most of the world’s problems on impoverished people in developing countries, the United States has many impoverished people as well. By listening to the single stories from the media, we are trapped in our own cultural bubble, secluded from others. Poverty is not culture, although many may think the two go hand in hand. Culture does not always have to be associated with death and trouble.

It is clear that we cannot make assumptions about other cultures based off of our beliefs, which are created by single stories. Culture is essential to our understanding of the world, and we should seek to learn more about it. We should explore the world around us to become more informed of other people and how they live. As world traveler and author, Deborah Cater says “You have to taste a culture to understand it.”

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WEDDINGS: A TRADITION ACROSS

By Davina Dou ‘17

CULTURES

By Davina Dou ‘17

One of the first cultural lessons we learned in Chinese class was the difference between Chinese weddings and American weddings. A seemingly random topic to be studying about on the first week of Chinese school, weddings are nonetheless an extremely important and universal event. This summer, I had the opportunity to take part in the festivities of both a Chinese and an American wedding.

Everyone knows what an American wedding looks like— the white dresses, the walk down the aisle, the exchanging of the vows and rings, the toast, the bouquet and garter toss, the cake-cutting, the reception, and so on. The wedding I attended was for my parents’ good friends, and it was no different from any other traditional American wedding. I enjoyed myself, meeting new people, dancing, and singing. I also shed a few tears during the vows, because - come on! - who doesn’t cry at weddings?

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Today, a Chinese civil wedding ceremony might look quite similar to a wedding ceremony here. Of course, they have become westernized over the years, but many traditional Chinese elements remain very much the same. My cousin, who lives in Zhengzhou, the capital city of the Henan Province, got married this summer to her longtime college boyfriend. The reception, like many Chinese weddings nowadays, took place at a big, fancy hotel. Guests included family and friends from both sides. Following the vows, there was a toast from close friends, as well as cake-cutting, feasting, and a lot of partying. However, there are many more complex customs and pre-wedding planning that come into play here. Weddings in China are very much an industry.

There are still arranged marriages among people in certain ethnic groups.

Sometimes, however, the government will make arrangements for single people to meet by hosting events for them to get together and socialize.

After the engagement, the bride’s mother will demand a fortune from the groom to pay for the price of the wedding and for the start of their new family.

There has been an evolution in this payment within the last several decades: in the 1980s, the groom’s family provided bicycles and sewing machines; in the 1990s and 2000s, color TV and houses; and now, houses and cars. Clearly, the groom’s family must work very hard to meet these expectations.

This phenomena is very common in China, and it is known as “mother-inlaw economics” since, to some extent, it helps China’s economic growth. After the wedding, a car will take the bride away from her family as a symbolic gesture of her new life.

Increasingly, couples buy engagement rings, but they are still required to apply for marriage certificates at an official government registrar (the Civil Affairs Office). Then, they may have pre-wedding photoshoots in their hometowns, and sometimes the bride will choose to wear both the traditional red dress, also known as the qípáo and the modern white wedding dress for the shoot.

Before the actual ceremony, couples may consult a fortune teller to calculate an auspicious time and date on which the wedding should take place. These are normally based on the bride and groom’s birthdates and time of the day, and they sometimes also factor in the lucky numbers: 6 (smoothly, or without a hitch), 8 (good fortune), and 9 (longevity). My cousin and her fiancé determined the date of the wedding with a fortune teller, set for the 22nd of May. As for the wedding ceremony itself, the hotel is decorated with red and shuāngxi (double happiness) banners. Guests show up, not with wedding gifts, but rather with money in red pockets for the couple. In addition, many brides and grooms now choose to wear modernized and westernized dress; in more rural areas, brides will sometimes wear the qípáo and a red veil over her head. The reception is usually followed by a tea ceremony, where the newlyweds serve tea to the elders of the groom as a symbol of respect.

People love weddings because they are a representation of happiness, of laughter and good cheer, of families and friends getting together to sing and eat and dance. I loved taking part of the weddings this summer because I learned much about the two cultures. American and Chinese weddings are fundamentally different in ways, but upon analyzing the nature of weddings, we find that they are a celebration of the formation of new families, marking important milestones in the lives of people in both America and China.

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ZEE MUNDO

A New American TV channel airing Bollywood movies

By Richa Mathur ‘17

I have grown up loving to watch Bollywood movies, yet besides my Indian friends, there are very few people I can share that experience with. Now that could change. Indian TV giant Zee Entertainment Enterprises has launched the first-ever Spanish-language Bollywood channel targeting the U.S. Hispanic market, called “Zee Mundo.”

Headquartered in Miami, Zee Mundo is promoted with the tagline “Te Encanta!” Bollywood movies, known for their extravagant action sequences, song and dance numbers, and vibrant costumes, have already enjoyed some success in non-Hindi speaking countries such as Nigeria and China, and some parts of Latin America.

The company believes the Spanish-speaking market has cultural similarities to India, and that Bollywood content will appeal to audiences used to Spanish-language soap operas.

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Some of the film available would be films such as Haider, a Bollywood take on William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, romantic drama Khubsoorat, spy thriller Agent Vinod and family drama English, Vinglish, among others. The channel is carried on Dish Network’s Dish Latino service.

According to Javier Lopez Casella, Zee U.S. Hispanic and Latin America’s head of business, Zee Mundo will eventually expand into other countries, such as Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Chile. Entertainment Enterprises said its entire catalogue of Bollywood films, recorded with Hindi dialogue, would be dubbed into Spanish. The channel, Zee Mundo, is the first attempt to market Indian movies in the Hispanic market. The firm plans to expand into Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Chile.

Explaining the rationale behind launching Zee Mundo, Zee international TV business CEO Amit Goenka said that the Hispanic markets and India “share strong cultural similarities in terms of family structure, socioeconomic conditions, food, music, art and culture.” He added: “We are confident that Zee Mundo’s programming will cross frontiers with storylines and themes that are relatable to Hispanic audiences.”

And he said that Zee Mundo was “an exclusive Hollywood-quality product that is designed to attract and captivate pay TV subscribers through the best of Bollywood productions.”

Showcasing a sensational foreign-film genre that is feverishly adored by more than a billion fans [in India], Zee Mundo will premiere global blockbusters and feature the biggest worldwide stars the Americas have yet to fully discover,” he said, given that the channel will air films featuring top Bollywood talent.

“We are confident that Zee Mundo’s programming will cross frontiers with storylines and themes that are relatable to the Hispanic audiences,” said Amit Goenka, head of the company’s international arm. Zee Entertainment Enterprises, one of India’s largest media companies, claims to reach over one billion viewers globally. How exciting is this! This opens up the possibility that maybe in the future, there will be more international television being aired in the U.S.

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Photo Credits Cover..................................................Fritz Kuhn 2.................................................Jordan Howard 2, 3, 14, 23, 31...................................Evan Peng 5......................................................Cork Gaines 7.....................................................Bruno Abatti 8...............................................Clem Onojeghuo 9.................................................Martin Wessely 15...........................................Alexy Topolyanski 25.................................................Alyson Brown 25...................................................Roman Kraft 27..............................................Shreyans Sipani

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29.....................................................Wim Peters 31.................................................Drew Coffman 34.................................................Esha Kashyap 41........................................................Lin Qiang

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