Conversations in a time of Covid, Episode 7: X

*** Final Episode in this Series ***

X is an eloquent cultural educator, storyteller and tour guide born in Amman, Jordan to Palestinian parents.

We discuss the influence having exiled Palestinian parents has had on his own political awareness and activism. X recalls the nascent Arab Spring in 2010 and how it is having a positive, progressive and measured effect in Jordan ten years later.

I learn about Wasta: obtaining both basic services and benefits from personal contacts. While it is pernicious, Wasta is a way of life.

Citizens use Wasta to jump the queue to schools, universities, jobs and speed up government paperwork.

In a light-hearted moment X tells me about a former health minister who thought he was George Clooney.

This is the final episode of this series. I will be back soon so (continue to) subscribe to Travel Worn Satchel podcasts

Music: Fesliyan Studios music https://www.fesliyanstudios.com (https://www.fesliyanstudios.com)

Iraq.

Thura, a young diplomat, and I discuss the misconceptions about women in Iraq and how, in fact, women have always had a pivotal role in Iraqi society.

We talk about how the people are now more positive in the aftermath of recent conflict in Iraq, due in no small part to the people and their culture.

Music: Fesliyan Studios music https://www.fesliyanstudios.com (https://www.fesliyanstudios.com)

Conversations in a time of Covid, Episode 5: Ketaki

Ketaki is a young market research analyst working in Hyderabad. As the city emptied during the pandemic she returned to her parents’ home.

Ketaki tells me about the Diwali festival and how the attitude to the caste system is changing among young professional people.

We discuss politics and how the adoption of new technology is starting to impact Indian society.

Music: Fesliyan Studios music https://www.fesliyanstudios.com (https://www.fesliyanstudios.com)

Conversations in a time of Covid, Episode 4: Sajad

Sajad, a young Afghan MBA student at Kabul University tells me about daily life in Kabul. We discuss the impact of Covid on the population and his family.

Despite regular suicide bombs he remains optimistic about the future. A future, he sees, being driven by young people like the group of 16 year old girls from Herat who build ventilators from old car parts.

Note: the interview as recorded over a mobile telephone so at times the sound quality dips.

Music: Fesliyan Studios music https://www.fesliyanstudios.com (https://www.fesliyanstudios.com)

Hafsa is a South African lawyer living in the outskirts of Pretoria. She talks about life in a township, the rise of informal settlements, crime, corruption and fat cats in South Africa. But also how the community rallied round the local population during Covid.

Conversations in a time of Covid, Episode 2: Mustafa

I hear how life is very tough for Egyptians at the moment through a conversation with Mustafa, a teacher from a small town outside Cairo.

Music: Fesliyan Studios music https://www.fesliyanstudios.com (https://www.fesliyanstudios.com)

Thanks to Woodstock (Woody) Taylor from Absolute Pitch for introducing us.

Conversations in a time of Covid, Episode 1: Manuela

I talk tango and finding love with Manuela, a Portuguese psychologist living in Buenos Aries, Argentina.

Music: Fesliyan Studios music https://www.fesliyanstudios.com (https://www.fesliyanstudios.com)

Thanks to http://dustinmain.com/ (Dustin Main) (photographer, traveller, humanitarian – check him out) for introducing us.

Denied access to the other 192 countries in the world, Covid confined serial traveller David Harden to a small house in the south east of England.

Swapping airplanes for airwaves and tarmac for digital highways, David now travels virtually, meeting ordinary folk from round the world on the way.

Conversations in a time of Covid is a series of Travel Worn Satchel podcasts in which every day folk talk about their daily lives in a time of pandemic.

We find out about the challenges of living in a South African township from lawyer Hafsa and growing up with Palestinian heritage in Jordan with Anas. We hear, in Manuela’s voice, the joy of Tango and finding love in Argentina and the despair in Mustafa’s as he describes his life in Egypt.

Discover, that despite the seemingly relentless bad news cycle, there is hope and optimism for the future of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Episodes of Conversations in a time of Covid will be available every 10 days.