Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

The Flamenco Museum in Seville provided an unequivocal description of the dance as an output of multicultural integration. The southern Spanish city, the description read, was able to give birth to this unique dance style because of an infusion of religious, musical, and cultural influences from Catholic, Muslim, gypsy, Amerindian, and African sources. Those influences congregated so thoroughly in this city only because of its status in the past as the capital of Moorish Spanish rule and the headquarters of the country's exploratory voyages to the New World.

I recently noticed that there is something that I have begun to do without fail every time I travel to mainland Europe from Malta. Whenever I order anything in a restaurant in the city I visit, I always (secretly, of course) complain about the small portions, barely enough to fill me until the next meal, much less have anything left to take home. Combined with the high prices that almost always define traveling in tourist hotspots, it becomes a foregone conclusion that the meal ends with an expected praise for the Maltese restaurant scene.

"That's just wishful thinking," the old gentleman slowly shook his white-hair-topped head as I mentioned the plan for the Maltese government to construct an island-wide modern subway system to alleviate the ever-worsening traffic on its clogged roads. It is a largely expected answer given that the government has already announced the plan's cancellation to much dismay of the population that is looking for alternatives for being stuck in the country's narrow roads that are unable to cope with the increasing population and the proportionate number of cars.

A few days ago, global tech news was suddenly taken over by the emergence of DeepSeek AI, a previously unknown Chinese startup that released an AI chatbot that claimed to have the capabilities of the best that the likes of OpenAI can offer, but developed with a fraction of the cost. The firms providing the tools to the global AI race, most notably semiconductor designer Nvidia, saw their share values tank in response, driven by investors fearing that future improvements in AI can be done without the constant increasing number and sophistication of chips and equipment that their producers previously claimed.

Milan is not a cheap city for tourists who want an "authentic" experience. The "Milanese" restaurants near the city's famed cathedral and canals exchange beautiful views, beautiful interiors, and beautiful food in exchange for small portions and prices that can easily hit 35-40 Euros for a moderately hungry person. In the well-trafficked old city, even a takeout sandwich can be as much as 9 Euros. With entrance fees, public transport, and hotels, a visitor can easily spend 200 Euros per day without tasting any proper luxury.

In the remote western corner of Gozo, the three-street village of Gharb (population: 1,549) is, like every town and village in the country, centered on a gigantic church. But right around the corner from the church is a primary health clinic, in the familiar light green and red livery that also coats its siblings dotted around the island. Next to the clinic is an elementary school and nursery complex, flanked by a soccer field and playground, the grass and equipment looking well-maintained despite their clear age. 

The streets of Kadikoy on the Asian side of Istanbul remind me of Europe. Its backstreets are flooded with the orange-ish streetlights common in Rome and Paris, with the stylish cobblestones and the tiny cars rambling by to match. Many residents dress no differently from their European counterparts, with stylish body-hugging jeans, shirts, and coats accentuating their figures. Many walk hand-in-hand with their spouses and significant others, and some engage in happy public displays of affection that find no equivalence in the Middle East or the Far East.