Cold Hands, Cold Hearts

The end of the world

Sorry for this delayed post that has been sitting in my drafts. I want to post an update about what is going on with me, but that is obviously overshadowed by the vote heard ‘round the world this month. And oh, it was heard, and is reverberating in the ears of the international community, while fear is echoing in the hearts of those at home, particularly in those of people of color, the LGBTQ community, women, whose reproductive rights are at stake, and a special shout out to the Muslim people (or those who could be mistaken for Muslim) and ‘Latinx’ people (or those who could be mistaken for ‘Latinx’*) as they have been the most publicly targeted in the campaign rhetoric.

The atmosphere here has been funereal. The Americans (that I know) are crushed/enraged/deeply saddened/etc., the British are painfully sympathetic, and the rest of the extremely diverse community has been approaching us with the slow, wordless hug, or the unblinking eye contact and an “I’m so sorry”. Really, we should be the ones apologizing.

It is particularly relevant to where I am right now. The news broke on Germany’s “destiny day”, which is the anniversary of a spooky number of events important to Germany’s history, not the least of it being- wait for it- Kristallnacht. Watching this happen from a country that is EXTREMELY aware of Hitler’s rise to power and, to borrow a much-repeated phrase, the banality of evil, feels prescient and chilling. So, before I talk about my extremities, which are almost as cold as I feel psychologically/emotionally in relation to the state of the US right now, I just want to remind all my friends and family to take the next steps, speak out, organize, and (to the exclusion of all that if necessary) STAY SAFE.

Don't want this to be a photo post, but here is a shot of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin

To quickly update you on much less important things here: it snowed all day the other week! That’s right, a mere week into November, and the crazy cold that’s been bearing down on us for the last week found a voice. Actually, it was pretty beautiful (though nothing stuck) (YET). I changed my phone’s weather app to Celsius and it is DEPRESSING to see temperatures in the negatives.

But, on the other hand, my classes are finally sorted! I'm still not sure if the program, in World Heritage Studies to remind all those who conveniently "forgot"/never really knew what I was talking about, is leading me where I want it to, but everyone has said, "you really have to make the program your own." So, aside from the couple of mandatory classes where I'm learning about the history of the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of World Heritage (as well as many other conventions, declarations, recommendations, and other forms of hot air), I am learning about things like the ins and outs of site management, whether 'sustainable tourism' is an oxymoron, evaluative techniques for human impacts on the environment and cultural heritage, how to nominate a site to the World Heritage List... and eating a million homemade dishes from all over the world courtesy of the other folks in my program. Mmm, lecker.

But enough about me- solidarity with the folks at home. Take care of each other.

We’re all here now, so.

*Quoted to designate potentially problematic language because, though the intention of it is good, I know some people don't like it from a linguistic identity point of view

*quotes to denote this language is imperfect and disputed