Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
Kigali: Or Tijuana??
May 4, 2012 11:59pm
Nothing says Viva la Mexico! like three Americans trying to explain Cinco de Mayo to a German and a Rwandan at a nightclub in Kigali.
Check that one off my bucket list.
Nothing says Viva la Mexico! like three Americans trying to explain Cinco de Mayo to a German and a Rwandan at a nightclub in Kigali.
Check that one off my bucket list.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Kigali: RwandaWalk
May 4, 2012
On Friday I met up with Timo, an intern I had met during his orientation in Eschborn the day before he left for Rwanda. The connection came full circle as we met up again in Rwanda for dinner at his house. As we were sitting around the dinner table, two temporary flatmates, Steph Fellows and Morris Weintraub, arrived in a flurry. They were accompined with a local Kigali named Ronald, who was to become their new translator.
Steph works for an art-focused non-profit and Mo is a photgrapher and they had arrived in Kigali to start the first leg of their new project, "Rwanda Walk". Their goal is to "walk 200 miles across Rwanda, delivering personal letters to the people we meet along the way – many of whom have never received a piece of mail in their lives."
I am curious to see how two white people - one of whom will be photographing everything - will be received in communities that are so apart from the worlds experienced and reflected in the letters they are bringing. I would be totally suspicious if someone came into my neighborhood and asked to talk and reflect with me about a random letter from a stranger, and I can only imagine what it would be like in a community where electricity is a rarity (much less internet or telephones) and in a country that experienced genocide less than 20 years ago. It also raises questions of what exactly the developed world could or should do to connect with those in developing countries, and what outcome exactly we are searching for when we undertake such project.
Both Steph and Mo are aware of these questions and have themselves reflected on them and much more quite a bit, so if anyone is well placed to try this experiment, it's them. They are not blindly coming in and expecting to be welcomed with open arms, but they have hope that some will be open to this exchange that will create a unique work of crowd-sourced art and inspiration.
I've been following their three-week trip and if you're also interested, you can follow them at: http://rwandawalk.com/. Click on the photographs at the bottom of their webpage to see their stories. A sample of Mo's work:
On Friday I met up with Timo, an intern I had met during his orientation in Eschborn the day before he left for Rwanda. The connection came full circle as we met up again in Rwanda for dinner at his house. As we were sitting around the dinner table, two temporary flatmates, Steph Fellows and Morris Weintraub, arrived in a flurry. They were accompined with a local Kigali named Ronald, who was to become their new translator.
Steph works for an art-focused non-profit and Mo is a photgrapher and they had arrived in Kigali to start the first leg of their new project, "Rwanda Walk". Their goal is to "walk 200 miles across Rwanda, delivering personal letters to the people we meet along the way – many of whom have never received a piece of mail in their lives."
I am curious to see how two white people - one of whom will be photographing everything - will be received in communities that are so apart from the worlds experienced and reflected in the letters they are bringing. I would be totally suspicious if someone came into my neighborhood and asked to talk and reflect with me about a random letter from a stranger, and I can only imagine what it would be like in a community where electricity is a rarity (much less internet or telephones) and in a country that experienced genocide less than 20 years ago. It also raises questions of what exactly the developed world could or should do to connect with those in developing countries, and what outcome exactly we are searching for when we undertake such project.
Both Steph and Mo are aware of these questions and have themselves reflected on them and much more quite a bit, so if anyone is well placed to try this experiment, it's them. They are not blindly coming in and expecting to be welcomed with open arms, but they have hope that some will be open to this exchange that will create a unique work of crowd-sourced art and inspiration.
I've been following their three-week trip and if you're also interested, you can follow them at: http://rwandawalk.com/. Click on the photographs at the bottom of their webpage to see their stories. A sample of Mo's work:
London: Breakfast Club and Flower Market
May 11, 2011
I went to meet up with Becky, an awesome friend of a friend, on Sunday. We found ourselves at the Breakfast Club for....breakfast! I got a vegetarian English breakfast, which I have to say was quite delicious. The veggie sausage was quite tasty and as always, I love me some baked beans.
Then we meandered over to the Columbia Road Flower Market, where sellers were hawking their flowers over the sounds of sweet sweet street music. I love markets of all shapes and sizes. They are very possibly one of my favorite activities wherever I may be, and I will in all probability pick a market over a museum any day. This one was no exception. Despite being relatively empty on account of rain, it was crowded, difficult to navigate, and an assault on the senses as sellers yelled over each, people jostled into each other, and the scent of flowers mingled with fresh rain.
Breakfast Club
Columbia Road Flower Market
Want to get your hair and make-up done in vintage style? They got that!
Want a dry place to chill away from the rain? They got that, too!
I went to meet up with Becky, an awesome friend of a friend, on Sunday. We found ourselves at the Breakfast Club for....breakfast! I got a vegetarian English breakfast, which I have to say was quite delicious. The veggie sausage was quite tasty and as always, I love me some baked beans.
Then we meandered over to the Columbia Road Flower Market, where sellers were hawking their flowers over the sounds of sweet sweet street music. I love markets of all shapes and sizes. They are very possibly one of my favorite activities wherever I may be, and I will in all probability pick a market over a museum any day. This one was no exception. Despite being relatively empty on account of rain, it was crowded, difficult to navigate, and an assault on the senses as sellers yelled over each, people jostled into each other, and the scent of flowers mingled with fresh rain.
Breakfast Club
Columbia Road Flower Market
Want to get your hair and make-up done in vintage style? They got that!
Want a dry place to chill away from the rain? They got that, too!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Change in Location!
As you may remember, my time in Germany as a Bosch Fellow is *sadly* limited to one year, meaning I needed a new location starting in June. That has now just been established and confirmed:
NEW YORK CITY!!!
That's right ladies and gentlemen, I'll be moving back to the good ole' U.S. and to a brand new city in July, marking a huge shift from the life I enjoyed in Germany. I am looking forward to what this will bring and sharing my photos with everyone.
And yes, my goal for June is to bring my blog up to date. It'll happen. Seriously, it will. No, seriously.
NEW YORK CITY!!!
That's right ladies and gentlemen, I'll be moving back to the good ole' U.S. and to a brand new city in July, marking a huge shift from the life I enjoyed in Germany. I am looking forward to what this will bring and sharing my photos with everyone.
And yes, my goal for June is to bring my blog up to date. It'll happen. Seriously, it will. No, seriously.
London in December
From: December 10, 2011
I got to take a business trip to London, so naturally I took the opportunity to go earlier and spend the weekend. I was hosted by the fantastic Mr. Kershaw, who made it his mission to keep me entertained. Hats up to you sir!
On my first day we went to a breakfast place by his house, where we ended up sitting next to what appeared to be band members enjoying breakfast together, only they were having the sort of conversation you would imagine at a 13-year-old-girl's sleepover. *Apparently* one guy was having girl issues, and you see, he really really loves her, but he's tired of her b.s. And his friends think she's just messing with him because she can and he should just leave her and they're tired of always having this conversation. Ohhhh, he knows that, but when it's good, they're just so good together. The conversation was amazing and when I ignored their shaggy hipster look and late-twenties age, it took me right back to middle school. I definitely understand now how alternative/pop bands manage to write so many whiny romance songs.
TOURIST!
Most of these pictures are obviously edited for coloring and light (I got Paint.net recently and I've been having a field day with graphic editing), but I took them all during our touristy foray into London.
It's London people! Spiry buildings and double decker busses!
Protest against the elections in Russia, particularly regarding Putin. Ironic, really, that I post these pictures the day after Putin is sworn in as president again. I wonder if Medvedev will disappear into anonymity or develop a sudden case of radioactive poisoning...
London closed off a few major roads for the holiday shopping season, and they thought it would be fun if they had old-timey vehicles on display. One of K's friends' Dad owns the lovely steam-operated firetruck below, so we went to check it out!
Old-timey picture! (Yes, I've reverted to elementary school editing. It's fun, ok?!)
I got to take a business trip to London, so naturally I took the opportunity to go earlier and spend the weekend. I was hosted by the fantastic Mr. Kershaw, who made it his mission to keep me entertained. Hats up to you sir!
On my first day we went to a breakfast place by his house, where we ended up sitting next to what appeared to be band members enjoying breakfast together, only they were having the sort of conversation you would imagine at a 13-year-old-girl's sleepover. *Apparently* one guy was having girl issues, and you see, he really really loves her, but he's tired of her b.s. And his friends think she's just messing with him because she can and he should just leave her and they're tired of always having this conversation. Ohhhh, he knows that, but when it's good, they're just so good together. The conversation was amazing and when I ignored their shaggy hipster look and late-twenties age, it took me right back to middle school. I definitely understand now how alternative/pop bands manage to write so many whiny romance songs.
TOURIST!
Most of these pictures are obviously edited for coloring and light (I got Paint.net recently and I've been having a field day with graphic editing), but I took them all during our touristy foray into London.
It's London people! Spiry buildings and double decker busses!
Protest against the elections in Russia, particularly regarding Putin. Ironic, really, that I post these pictures the day after Putin is sworn in as president again. I wonder if Medvedev will disappear into anonymity or develop a sudden case of radioactive poisoning...
London closed off a few major roads for the holiday shopping season, and they thought it would be fun if they had old-timey vehicles on display. One of K's friends' Dad owns the lovely steam-operated firetruck below, so we went to check it out!
Old-timey picture! (Yes, I've reverted to elementary school editing. It's fun, ok?!)
Friday, May 4, 2012
Weihnachtsmarkt
Yay! I'm now almost only five months behind on posting. I know, fail. It's strange posting about Christmasmarkets in Berlin while I am in the rainy season in Rwanda. I WILL catch up, eventually. I promise. I hope. *sigh*.
I happened to catch the opening of the Christmas Market in Gendarmemarkt in Berlin, one of the few markets that actually charges. I'm not sure why they charge, it's not that awesome of a market. But I got to see a choir performance and the opening ceremonies, so I'm not complaining! I also met one of the Berlin hockey team players, some guy from Canada (Yes, Germany imports Canadian hockey players and American basketball and football players for their city teams. Don't ask.).
I wish I could say I know who these people are, but I really really don't.
The Berlin Mascot!
I happened to catch the opening of the Christmas Market in Gendarmemarkt in Berlin, one of the few markets that actually charges. I'm not sure why they charge, it's not that awesome of a market. But I got to see a choir performance and the opening ceremonies, so I'm not complaining! I also met one of the Berlin hockey team players, some guy from Canada (Yes, Germany imports Canadian hockey players and American basketball and football players for their city teams. Don't ask.).
The Berlin Mascot!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)