i really like doing these studies between latam and southeast asia because they're so similar in so so so many ways esp when analyzing them from a postcolonial lens but the ways in which they're different is fascinating to me. i feel the same way about east africa because of indian ocean world (iow) studies that focus on that big coastal swathe from southeast africa up through the coasts of india and sri lanka and down through coastal southeast asia and the thousands of years of trade across the maritime cultures of this region and movement of people and languages and plants and objects etc. for example because swahili shares so many influences from the same languages (colonial and otherwise) as malay, with both functioning as languages of trade across this massive area, whenever ive heard swahili being spoken i feel like i almost understand it even though they're completely different language families and watching documentaries showing cities and towns and food in east africa so much feels familiar to me in a way that is difficult to explain. it's so interesting this world is so interesting we are all so similar and the small ways we are different are so interesting to me and trying to think about how these differences came about and the material conditions that inform them is just so interesting
