cue the intro music

i find introductions awkward (*shuffling of feet back and forth). as much as blogs are a form of self-centered ego ("look at me! i'm special/different/new/alive!"), i'm not entirely sure i like writing about myself. which is why i end up using the technique of writing about myself in third person, like some schizophrenic talking to all her selves at once. or maybe just like someone with a bluetooth thingy stuck in her ear - now people walk around everywhere seemingly talking to themselves, and as soon as you begin to believe they may be slightly mad, they turn and there it is, gleaming, like some symbiotic, mutually beneficial parasite, a barnacle, and leech. we are indeed slowly becoming obsessed with the self.


my name is zainab, and please, refrain from the usual jokes about zucchini and zebras and xylophones (that last one starts with an 'x' you idiots). i was born in...well no wait, i'll save that for last. if i put it in the beginning of the story, people automatically begin to make judgements, though they've probably already begun their judging by my name. i've lived in this same town in central new jersey (usa) my entire life, ever since my family moved here when i was a year old, and except for the three years i spent in germany, studying and traveling about europe like there was no tomorrow. and ok, i was born in pakistan. i'm a muslim american, and THAT is why i see things differently. that, and the fact that i spent some time in europe, spend even more time (as much as i can afford) wandering the world.

this blog is a compilation of thoughts on places i've traveled to. i figured it was about time i put them down, beore i begin forgetting lucid details and such. also, since i did get my bachelor's degree in political science and history from ruprecht-karls-universitaet heidelberg, germany's oldest and most prestigious university nestled in the hills of heidelberg, i tend to rant. i read lots of newspapers (the new york times, le monde, die welt, die zeit, the guardian, the times of london), speak 4 languages, and almost always have something to say about something. this is where the world comes together, becomes cognizant and whole and tangible for those without the time to travel or read a dozen newspapers a day.

i had a french teacher in high school, whose words stuck with me much longer than i had expected. her big thing was to immerse us in the french culture, not just the language, to show us that there was another way of life that had potential to be better than ours. she talked about how isolated we are in america, how closed in, the island mentality, the "me-against-the-world" ideaology. and she animatedly urged us to open our eyes, see things a little differently, actually live and take part in the world around us. so madame williams, this one's for you...um, i should probably do the banal and expected ("do it so we can get on with it damnit!") and introduce myself.