A Name is a Name

A cross between a documentary and a feature film, A Name is a Name is instead, a classic ‘road film,’ made largely on the proverbial and literal road over a period of seven months in the Republic of Macedonia. At its heart, the film is about a group of people who call themselves Macedonians and what it means to them to be known as such.

الكتب وجهات نظر عدد كانون الثاني / يناير: مريم المسلمة

الكتب وجهات نظر عدد كانون الثاني / يناير: مريم المسلمة

PORTUGAL - Costa Vicentina: the real Algarve

From The Times January 23, 2010

Skip the golf - the awe-inspiring beaches, cliffs, pine forests and rivers of Costa Vicentina are well above par

All you need is love....

http://www.starbucksloveproject.com/#/main/

Microsoft stop FYROMing me !!!

Microsoft stop FYROMing me !!! Say Macedonia !!!

Ecuadorian people

La memoria debe ser un arma revolucionaria

La memoria debe ser un arma revolucionaria

Es imprescindible que comience estas palabras evocando la memoria del gran compañero Cintio Vitier, quien fuera hasta su muerte presidente de honor del Centro de Estudios Martianos y ejemplo vivo de lo que es, de lo que debe ser un martiano. Pues esta denominación no es dable aplicarla primordialmente a quien esté informado de la vida y la obra del Maestro, conocidas en plenitud por Cintio, sino, sobre todo, a aquel cuya conducta esté regida por sus lecciones. Y tal fue el caso del autor de Ese sol del mundo moral, quien nos dejó páginas imperecederas sobre Martí y, a la vez, fue fiel discípulo suyo.

Esto último se puso de manifiesto en su defensa lúcida y apasionada de las mejores realizaciones de la Revolución Cubana, cuya filiación martiana fue proclamada desde el 26 de julio de 1953 por el propio Fidel.

Este Encuentro se realiza en vísperas de conmemorarse el bicentenario de la fecha que se da como inicio de la emancipación de nuestra América, lo que Martí llamó en Caracas, en 1881, “el poema de 1810”, al que él quiso, dijo, “añadir una estrofa”. Pero Martí sabía bien que tal poema empezó mucho antes, pues se remonta a revueltas indígenas y alzamientos de esclavos contra los invasores europeos y sus sucesores, se hizo realidad en Haití entre 1791 y 1804, ocurrió en 1809 en Ecuador y Bolivia, y se retrasó en otros países, como Cuba, donde se dilató hasta 1868.

...

Malnutrition in Guatemala: A national shame | The Economist

Malnutrition in Guatemala: A national shame | The Economist

Moggamengunamartöð

"Ég fékk mér heilsubótargöngu í morgun til þess að vígja nýju blátunnuna"

Það er gamli unglingurinn sem hefur orðið. Hann hafði komist að því við lestur bæklingsins um blátunnuna, að í hana skyldi mogginn fara að loknum lestri. Hann tók sig, sem sagt, til og bar í tunnuna stærðar haug af mogganum, sem hafði safnast umm hjá honum undanfarnar vikur.

Hann er í þeirri aðstöðu að fá moggann hvort sem hann vill eða ekki. Það er hinsvegar augljóst, að hann vill hann þó svo Tíminn hefði verið hið eina sanna dagblað.

Aðspurður um hvort hann óttaðist ekki að smitast af boðskap moggans svaraði hann því til, að svo væri ekki því það sæti ansi lítið eftir að lestri loknum.

Hvað um það, hann flutti moggastaflann í blátunnuna nýju, sem stendur enn þar sem starfsmenn sorpfyrirtækisins höfðu skellt henni niður - á hálfgerðum berangri - þó slíkt fyrirbæri sé nú ekki til í Laugarási.

Sá gamli hafði síðan heyrt það að spáð er víðáttubrjáluðu veðri í nótt og á morgun og velti því fyrir sér hvort ekki séu líkur á að tunnan fjúki af stað og mogginn með og síðan úr tunnunni og út um allt.

Það verður fróðlegt að sjá hvernig staðan í trjágróðrinum í Laugarási verður í fyrramálið. Ætli maður sitji uppi með moggann fyrir augunum eftir allt?

Ja, hann Davíð!

Zimbabwe now

It's been a while since I updated, but I find I don't have much to say about Zimbabwe at all. (Perhaps I am one of those people with much to say when things are going wrong, but who are reluctant to shower praises for things done well!). Things are moving along, and I agree with the friend who said that perhaps the government should leave things to the people, because they tend to get things going again without a fuss. I have the same contempt for governmental interference, I fear.

Bulawayo is abuzz again (and those who know will tell you that if Bulawayo is alive, then things must really be better, lol). Buildings are getting their first lick of paint in ten years. Every second shop is a supermarket. We even spot the occasional tourist. Everyone is complaining about the exchange rates- most people earn their salary in US dollars, but everything is priced in rand (except utility bills)- and when we first switched to foreign currency, the rate of the rand to the dollar was 10:1. Now it's 8 or 7.5:1- which means that salaries have actually been eroded (since almost no one is getting a raise at the minute). Most people seem to want us to switch completely to the dollar -which, to my mind, would be a nightmare. I am campaigning for the rand, myself.

Things are very upbeat on the street, if people have rather got used to griping... No one will tell you they are happier now that they can eat normally but believe me, they are :) Bigger things are still an issue- like power supply- but I know a few people who have even been able to buy cars in the last few months, something that had become completely impossible for most. I imagine the struggle is still uphill, but we're getting somewhere on the ground, if not exactly in government.

Image: flower seller at work at the City hall, Bulawayo.