International Musings

After securing 62% of the Iranian vote, “ultra-conservative” Ebrahim Raisi has won the Iranian presidential election. According to Statistica, out of the 59.31 million eligible voters in Iran, only 28.93 million of these voters opted into casting their vote in this most recent election. In the past, Iran has relied on a high voter turnout to support the notion that Iranian elections are legitimate and fair (even if the Guardian Council virtually handpicks candidates). Recently, however, “#nowayIvote” was trending heavily on Persian social medias in the time leading up to the election. BBC credits this lack of voter enthusiasm with a growing sense of Iranian dissatisfaction with their government. Extreme reactions to political protests, general crackdowns and an economic crisis have resulted in an Iranian population that seemingly distrusts the legitimacy of their government. This corruption and economic crises served as the foundation for the 60-year-old Raisi campaign. Despite his cam...

I spent the past week in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, a small surf town in the Puntarenas Province. There are no stop signs or street lights on the unpaved streets of the town, but during the 3:30 rush hour, you hear a cacophony of laughter as opposed to honking. This small town- with a resident population of under 3000- seems to rely on communal joy as a source of fuel. Because the town is so isolated from any main city like San Jose, there is a lack of variety in job opportunities, resulting in what seems to be a lack of wealth disparity amongst the population. These somewhat limited jobs revolve mainly around tourism and fishing, two fairly job industries. In the absence of tourism due to COVID, Santa Teresa’s population relied heavily on fishing as a means to maintain a steady income. Armando, our hotel manager and a lifetime resident of Santa Teresa, let me know that COVID weighed heavily on the town, not because of case numbers, but because of the lack of fish on the coast of the su...