Sunday Strolls #2

What I'm reading, loving, and discovering

Hello lovely readers and welcome to the second edition of Sunday Strolls!

If this is your first time reading this, Sunday Strolls is a nod to one of my favorite writers on Substack Emma Gannon’s Slow Sunday Scrolls, where she shares a weekly round-up of links, podcasts, and books. (If you’re already acquainted, you can skip ahead to the What I’m Reading section.)

Since my delicious days of uninterrupted hours of reading, writing, and scrolling are long gone, my Sunday Scrolls are more like Sunday Strolls which mostly consist of me sweating and panting as I push my son, Jaad, up these God forsaken hills in Lisbon, in his largely American stroller.

So really the name of this should be Sunday Sweats, but let’s go with Sunday Strolls anyway!

Here I’ll share with you what I’m thinking a lot about, what I’m discovering, reading, or loving in general. I’ll mix it up. I’ll try new things. I hope you enjoy it! 

What I’m Reading

I recently read Shibboleth, an essay by English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer Zadie Smith about the student protests that have erupted across U.S. and global college campi (or campuses). Smith offers a grounded and nuanced reflection on the danger of words in this war, and why in a deeply divisive time in our history, a ceasefire in Gaza is the most imminent need.

Living in Europe has made me much more conscious of our collective impact on the environment. I learned about gas flaring while reading this article about an Iraqi father who is pursuing legal action against oil titan BP after his son, Ali, passed away of leukemia at the age of 21.

Ali’s father alleges gas flaring in their village of Rumaila, which lies within a BP-oil field, caused his son Ali's leukaemia. Rumaila oil field has the highest documented levels of flaring in the world, according to BBC analysis of World Bank figures. After reading the article, I want to learn more and will be watching this BBC documentary about it called Under Poisoned Skies.

What I’m Thinking About

While recently reconnecting with my friend Gintarė in Lisbon, she told me that she was taken aback by the current U.S. political landscape, and in particular the response to Palestinian solidarity. She said when she was growing up in Lithuania, “We idolized America. Now we don’t know what to make of it.” Ultimately she was asking, “What happened to America?”

While her question came at a time when I am personally struggling with America’s position in the Israel-Hamas war and its unabated support for Israel, it has been a recurring question that I have constantly fielded since I first moved to Portugal in 2020.

And while is one which I do not claim to have the answer to, it has become evident to me that America, once a nation admired for its purported values of equality, freedom, and opportunity has become a moral and political question mark to the world at large.

Our conversation got me thinking a lot about what happens when our beliefs about a person, institution, or nation are shaken. How do we reconcile that and our place within it? 

What I’m Discovering

I recently attended a spectacular launch party (also with my friend Gintarė) for Portuguese jewelry designer, Cata Vassalo, which offered a glimpse into a side of Portugal that I had never seen before. Cata Vassalo’s show, Utopia, was a whimsical world debuting her newest line of jewelry that offered an escape from the actual world for a little while. The fashion show ended with a lively drum band which gave New Orleans vibes that I very much appreciated. I’m still dreaming about the most delectable dessert table I have ever lay my eyes on!

And lastly, I’ll leave you with these words that I came across from fellow Substacker Jane Ratcliffe’s beautiful, Beyond: 

“The world can feel particularly hard these days. How do we get through without losing our joy and hope and compassion and playfulness and sense of ourselves as tender, grounded, creative, big-hearted humans? How do we not lose our minds?”

What are you doing to stay soft these days in a world that feels so hard? Is there something that you’re reading, discovering, or loving right now? Let me know! I love hearing from you.

If you enjoyed this roundup please consider sharing it with a friend or two! Sharing is one of the best ways to support my work. 

Until next time, happy strolling!