this weekend i am:

continuing my quest to find my favourite masala dosa in bangalore, watching a comedic performance of hamlet, catching up with my gugi-love, going for a long run in lalbagh, and skyping with ellie-bear. and finally taking down my christmas decorations <insert sad face>.

interesting things from around the interwebs:

have you guys heard about skillshare? you can watch videos and learn all sorts of new skills, such as the basics of photography, making the perfect meatball, or learning calligraphy. it sounds fascinating, and like another rabbit hole for me to fall into.

a look inside bombay’s dhobi ghat.

i am still a little bit in denial about alan rickman having passed away, but this bonus cartoon from the new yorker just about sums it up. he was severus snape to me, but he was also hans gruber and the sheriff of nottingham and a hundred other wonderful characters, and i will miss him. always.

this article about a british woman and the male syrian refugee staying with her is really great.

46 of the best maptia articles from 2015. and now i want to go everywhere.

beautiful photographs of istanbul’s grand bazaar, one of the most mesmerizing places i’ve ever visited.

i came across this video last month of 48 things women hear in a lifetime that men don’t and was floored. “each individual remark may seem inconsequential, but listening to them in totality shows just now never-ending [and exhausting] subtle sexism really is.”

this guy re-enacting girls on tinder is fantastic.

jodi discusses how to eat street food without constantly falling sick.

kamikatsu is trying to become the first zero waste city in the world.

all the us presidents, back when they were young and hunky. who knew rutherford b hayes was such a stud? also, this might be my new favourite website.

the harry potter books got a cool new makeover. glow-in-the-dark and pop-up illustrations? yes, please.

some of the biggest challenges facing first-generation college students. hint: money is not always the greatest barrier.

this will be a separate post in itself one day, but the short of it is this: alex, one of my favourite little boys from my jamaica trip days, is now ready for university! caroline, a fellow member of the jamaica trip family, has started a gofundme page to help finance part of alex’s educational journey. this is one of those times where a little bit goes a long way to helping alex become the first person from his family and from his community to attend university.

in case you missed it:

highlights from my visit home for the holidays.

xx