Category Archive: Frontier Market Scouts

Liming

Liming

Monday we set out to call on some family. We’re staying just down the road from the village of Gros Islet where Jacqui grew up. The name of the village makes no sense apparently: gros means large, and islet means small island. We can walk there from ou…

 

Sa ka fete?

Sa ka fete?

Sa ka fete (which keeps trying to autocorrect to fête) is the ‘What’s up?’ of greetings here in Saint Lucia, and I love it because it sounds like you’re asking everyone if they’re having a party (which is fair here on an island where it seems like each…

 

The afternoon we drive through a mobile COVID testing site

The afternoon we drive through a mobile COVID testing site

After protesting in Boston against police brutality and the unjust justice system in this country, we do the only sensible thing to do: We get tested for COVID-19.  The night of the protest, we take every reasonable precaution we can take, but—just as …

 

The night we walk home past the grave of the first American killed in the Revolution

The night we walk home past the grave of the first American killed in the Revolution

It was one of those moments that are such that I will never forget where I was when it happened: Sitting on the couch. I was on the left, Eva was on the right, and Matthias was in the chair playing Fortnite (killing it, obviously). I was scrolling thro…

 

Help Yourselves

Help Yourselves

We have set alarms for 3:30 in the morning, an unholy hour to be waking up. We have a car to the airport at 4AM—more unholy hours. Once we’ve successfully navigated more of the racist bureaucracy of the Indian domestic travel system, we settle at…

 

Indian Office Life

Indian Office Life

We’re only here for two days here in Indore, really. We have a 6:50AM flight from Indore Wednesday morning, so we have Monday and Tuesday here to complete our work. We have even more difficulty than usually getting picked up at our hotel Tuesday,…

 

Indore Is for Foodies

Indore Is for Foodies

We travel from the city with the worst air quality in the world to the cleanest city in India. Indore has banned plastic bags, and—like Delhi does in some places—employs compostable cups, bowls, and other dishware when providing street food. After our …

 

How to Disappoint Indians by Being Vegetarian

How to Disappoint Indians by Being Vegetarian

One of the engineers on my team has a cousin in Delhi, and we start the day by texting her to see whether she’s still willing to meet up with us. We had already agreed in Vietnam that we wouldn’t try to fit Agra and the Taj Mahal into our…

 

Japamalas and Bindis

Japamalas and Bindis

We encounter some unexpected international travel issues at the Hanoi airport, which is especially annoying considering we are entitled Americans with the 6th most powerful passport in the world and unaccustomed to restricted movement. Even though I&#8…

 

At Long Last, Our Moped Ride Has Arrived

At Long Last, Our Moped Ride Has Arrived

So the thing I was probably least prepared for on this trip was how much I have to work. I know, I know—it sounds contrived, saying that I wasn’t prepared for work on a work trip, but what I mean to say is that I was unprepared for not having…

 
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