Day 22: A Very Bollywood Christmas

In my Indian American family, where no occasion passes without celebration, getting into the Christmas spirit means grooving to Bollywood music. Though none of our elders grew up celebrating Christmas, they’ve embraced it wholly, and when we come together for Christmas dinner at my in-law’s home in Los Angeles, everyone has a task. While the…

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Exploring the World in Miniature: A Model Train Lover’s Paradise in Hamburg

We had an all-encompassing view of Rio de Janeiro and its surroundings: Sugarloaf Mountain, the Christ the Redeemer statue, Copacabana Beach. Architectural novelties like the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum and the Metropolitan Cathedral stood out among the sea of buildings, as trains and streetcars passed by, and thousands of dancers swayed and strutted during the…

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Prepping for Christmas and Kwanzaa

Christmas is this weekend, and people around the world who celebrate are preparing in all sorts of ways. For many Arab families outside the Middle East, that means stuffing a heady mixture of spiced rice and ground beef into grape leaves to make warak Dawali, and combining bulgur dough with a cinnamon-scented lamb and nut…

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