To be in their shoes

I pick up my weekly TIME magazine and read the international snippets about many countries. But rarely any stick. I often tend to read the same piece of news a couple of times. I even try to regurgitate the piece on a paper when I am doodling. I tend to obsess over my memory skills. It's gotten worse over time, just in the past 7-8 years. I always dread being diagnosed with a memory loss condition. I am THAT paranoid.

Anyway, coming back to news. Remember the Arab Spring of 2011? I read so much about it, but nothing ever sticks like a visual memory.

I have realized that the best way for me to remember all the little facts, that I want to, about different countries and people is through books (fiction) and movies. Stories and characters paint history like none other. I am going through a phase of Iranian fascination. I started with Marjane Satrapi and her Persepolis I and II (in the same league as Spiegelman's Maus) and I am working my way through a lot of other good work set in Iran, since the 20th century. Middle-East is a black hole for me. I have no perception of their culture and history. Two things that come to mind are Islam and Oil. Thanks to the American war propaganda.

I am not sure how I did not realize this before, especially since I immersed myself in the German culture for quite some time since college. When I read an article about the German Green party or Angela Merkel, I at least feel I see more than what a foreigner does.

Hopefully one day I can pick up that same TIME magazine and be able to relate to a lot of the news that I read. I am sure it would foment a pleasant unifying feeling.