Beauty, Profundity, Love and Shit

[Amman, 7/9/25]

Yesterday, I took a bus to Sweileh, eight miles away. Founded by Chechens in 1906, this town has been absorbed into Amman. Like all empires, the Ottoman moved people around. The French explored settling Vietnamese in Africa. There’s still a community in Madagascar. Most Indians brought to that continent by the Brits have moved on, or been chased out. The mayor of London is Sadiq Khan. It sure looks like Zohran Mamdani will be NYC’s next chieftain. I didn’t say skeikh, did I?

Mamdani’s mother, Mira Nair of Salaam Bombay! fame, actually had a Jewish husband, Mitch Epstein. I traveled with Mitch through remote, mountainous Vietnam right to the border of Laos, then China. Near Lào Cai, we overheard a young Israeli say how much he hated Vietnam. They’re notoriously obnoxious as tourists. Though Paul Theroux has written about this, he can only go so far.