tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319390582024-03-13T17:26:07.602+01:00Screams from the Pink Collar GhettoThe musings of a feminist humanitarian worker cruising around the worldSmartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.comBlogger345125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-24965172045161220852021-03-12T10:38:00.005+01:002021-03-12T10:38:26.558+01:00COVID -19 and 2020 recollections<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgikeVX-1nvFzb-CDMWBlmpsvgf5SNmuFUd2RXOGGZTV7R7DehD0X2EHmKOfdiqkkyv7CUfGjmQ6taqiWInNUmPdqqIAvSnSKBLA86R6BY-gFxg4tOxAPbOaqiKboBhNw95Wr-zQA/s640/IMG_3751.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgikeVX-1nvFzb-CDMWBlmpsvgf5SNmuFUd2RXOGGZTV7R7DehD0X2EHmKOfdiqkkyv7CUfGjmQ6taqiWInNUmPdqqIAvSnSKBLA86R6BY-gFxg4tOxAPbOaqiKboBhNw95Wr-zQA/w240-h320/IMG_3751.JPG" title="Sylvester and Pinky and I enjoy the sunset" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sylvester and Pinky and I enjoy the sunset<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><div>I'm writing to you from lovely green <a href="https://www.greeka.com/ionian/kefalonia/">Kefalonia, Greece</a>. I came here in October for a writing retreat with a bunch of Berlin writers that had been postponed from May
(due to the pandemic). Back in January 2020 when I first signed up for
this retreat, I envisioned taking a month off and writing for a week
then going on holiday and "island hopping" for a month before returning
to Berlin and my work as a consultant. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Little did I know how much things would change for me. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This
is probably the year I've done the least amount of travel since I got
my passport in 1997 to go on a study tour/vacation to Jamaica! The year
started off with a bang - new year's eve in the village in NYC with my
friend Alec from my days in DC, visiting old friends in NYC and
shopping and eating. I then went to DC on the 3rd of January for my
first vacation trip there for a few years and caught a terrible flu
around the 6th. I recovered but I remember the weeks of fatigue
afterwards and the wheezing and difficulty breathing. I look back now
and wonder if it was COVID although the virus had not yet arrived in the
USA at the time. Magical thinking to hope that I'm immune is more
probable. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I flew back to Berlin after
recuperating with my friend Cat in Pennsylvania and my sister in South
Carolina and almost immediately went to Bulgaria for a training of one
of my favorite projects last year, developing a curricula for
interpreters and cultural mediators on how to respond to GBV survivors
and provide psychological support for them, as well as addressing
vicarious traumatization and burnout for themselves. Interpreters and
cultural mediators are the front line workers - particularly in Europe -
and it was a very meaningful and lovely project. I met amazing people
that really gave me a lot of energy to do this work. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And
then I went on a quick holiday jaunt to Dubai to see a friend
(thinking, well, I don't love Dubai but its just for a few days!) I had
the idea that I would then go from there to a conference in Bangkok and
visit friends there, visit my friends in Maldives, and then go to Fiji
to see friends there - possibly spending some time getting to know the
Pacific before returning to Europe for spring. Boy how those plans
changed! As I traveled back on February 11 on the terrible Pegasus
Airlines from the budget terminal in Dubai and had a 3 hour layover in
the "third" airport of Istanbul from 2am to 5am, the stories of the
virus in Asia had spread and one by one, all the events in Asia were
being canceled. "Good," I thought, "I could use a rest. These last few
flights have been horrible! I am tired of traveling." Little did I know
what that meant! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So I stayed at home.
February in Berlin is not a pretty month - dark, grey, cold, and rainy.
But i was happy to be in my apartment for a while. We had an amazing
spring and I had a small balcony where I could sit in the sun and plant
flowers. But it was not restful and the fear of contracting COVID,
spreading COVID, or learning that my loved ones had COVID was ever
present. At the same time, the humanitarian world was coming to terms
that GBV was the shadow pandemic coming alongside the lockdowns and
quarantines. Never have I wished more that I had a cat. Simon Le Bon,
the Siamese would have reminded me to sit, nap, breathe, eat, and purr
to stay calm. <br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDb1S8DwuJ0V745MUB62JKVRS0vXkpbPYuYfytudX-BoRHqqCDUuF8SyopIXpuHks7nGpKLjNCWJ5POpnSjFTZGN-z-exnx4ER1XyTJwh6oEwi56_fTSYEUtL4wl5oBkQx4LSHg/s1024/722af3f6-fc54-4b07-95e0-d7e34e52d440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDb1S8DwuJ0V745MUB62JKVRS0vXkpbPYuYfytudX-BoRHqqCDUuF8SyopIXpuHks7nGpKLjNCWJ5POpnSjFTZGN-z-exnx4ER1XyTJwh6oEwi56_fTSYEUtL4wl5oBkQx4LSHg/s320/722af3f6-fc54-4b07-95e0-d7e34e52d440.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancing with Lukas in Templehof<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p> Berlin was a strange place
to be in - we seemed to have the most beautiful spring in a long time
and the summer saw the sidewalks and outdoor cafes packed with people
outside, not a mask to be seen. And the noise from my neighborhood
became unbearable. I hated being in my apartment (although its lovely). I
couldn't get away from the stomping neighbors upstairs, the chattering
coked up people at the restaurant downstairs under my bedroom, or the
drunken mobs coming home from dancing and partying in the park near my
house at 4am. I felt miserable and angry all the time. We did have some bright spots, all social activities moved to the parks so we had a few birthday parties in the outdoors. So in October, I
came to Kefalonia for the writing retreat... and just stayed.<br /></p><div><br /></div><div>And
- its March and I'm still here! I wake up and look at the Ionian sea
and a grove of olive trees. 5 cats (Pinky Tuscadero, Cutie Pie,
Sylvester, Filos, and Jenny) come onto my balcony and stare at me until I
feed them. We discuss the seasons. I check them for ticks. They fight
with each other and sometimes they curl up in the sun with each other
and clean each other. We've been on lockdown since November which means
there's a 6pm curfew and you have to get permission from the police to
go out. So I go out once a week to buy groceries. I go downstairs to
talk to my Greek neighbors and cook with them. And I walk around in the
olive groves to the sea and listen to Stephen Fry reading Greek
mythology to me on an audio book. Thanks to zoom and the internet and a
kindle, I can still talk to friends, work full-time, and read books and
watch movies. Its a very different existence than February 2020! But a
good one. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So forgive my tardiness in
sending you holiday greets and instead accept this as Saint Patrick Day
or Ides of March greetings! A few photos of Kefalonia, cats, and COVID
outdoor party in Berlin </div><div><br /></div><div>Much love,</div><div>Sarah<span style="color: #888888;"><br /></span></div>Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-67008680800957558742020-09-26T13:23:00.000+02:002020-09-26T13:23:03.285+02:00Proust<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">When he asked me to marry him, I knew that my dreams of a
proper British academic life would come true. We had settled down immediately
and his lecturer’s salary at the university was just enough to cover a small
cottage in the back of an old church near a graveyard. I was 22 and had just
graduated and my head was filled with dreams of musty 1930s books and vicars
and rambles in the countryside. He was 48, already losing his hair and
developing a bit of a stoop. But I loved him – or rather the idea of him- my
dreamy academic. My childhood in India had left me plenty of time in old
library of my girls’ school to read old books. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When we scrimped and saved for holidays, we found a cheap
hotel in the Algarve where we went every year. His idea of fun was to read
these Proust novels to each other. One day he told me that when we finished the
books, he thought that we should start over from the beginning. And that’s when
I saw the next 10 years of my life stretched out before me – the same as the
last ten. I realized I had never seen the world. I had never figured out my own
story. So I said to him – we’ll never finish these books. And then I packed my
bag and left him. </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-55080502093333007442020-09-26T13:21:00.003+02:002020-09-26T13:21:20.518+02:00Childhood Scenes<p><span class="NjE5zd">My mother straightened the collar of my blouse, tugging at it and licking her finger to wipe away a bit of chocolate smudged around my mouth from the candybar given to me as a bribe on the drive to the airport.
"Now be a brave girl and don't embarrass us," she instructed. She stepped back and looked at me with a critical eye. </span></p><p><span class="NjE5zd">"Why did you put her in that get up" my father asked, lifting a skeptical eyebrow and lighting a cigarette.
I glanced down at my blue polka dotted suit - a bit tight and very shiny. The shorts showed my pink thighs, a bit chaffed from the vinyl car seat and goose bumped from the cool Irish rain.
"They're French! We have to show them that we have some style!" she tutted at him, "we can't be sending her off to France in some dungarees!" "sure, but they aren't in Paris," he exhaled, "they live on a farm in the countryside." </span></p><p><span class="NjE5zd">My mother ignored him and turned her attention back to me. "You won't understand a thing they say," she lectured. "You had better do us proud. You will make your bed every morning the minute you wake up. Don't eat fast, gobbling down your food like a starving piglet at the trough. And for god's sake, keep your hands and face clean." </span></p><p><span class="NjE5zd">I didn't understand why I was off to the French cousins. Just last week I had been running around in the park, thrilled that school was over and now I was standing in the airport in this hot tight suit clutching a small bag with my belongings- told that I was on my way to France on an airplane. </span></p><p><span class="NjE5zd">The stewardess came over and pinned a name tag to the jacket, pushing the floppy frills of the blouse out of the way. "Don't you look as a cute as a button," she smiled with a chipper cold voice. I frowned. My mother kissed me on the cheek and my father patted my head. </span></p><p><span class="NjE5zd">"Don't forget!" my mother called after me as she waved, "Say Bahn Jar when you get there!" </span></p>Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-28115051578494573232020-07-21T16:42:00.001+02:002020-07-21T16:42:55.206+02:00Reflections on current allegations of racism at MSF<div>So recently, MSF has been in the news again - this time for their <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/10/medecins-sans-frontieres-institutionally-racist-medical-charity-colonialism-white-supremacy-msf">racist and colonial tendencies</a>. A sign-on letter circulated accusing MSF of failing to acknowledge the extent of racism
perpetuated by its policies, hiring practices, workplace culture and
“dehumanising” programmes, run by a “privileged white minority”
workforce.</div><div><br /></div><div>I often encountered racist attitudes there and in fact worked on a national staff perceptions study where many of the national staff I talked with decried the colonialist attitudes of the organization where a naive young inexperienced Westerner might be the supervisor of a much older and experienced person from the country where they were working. Many of the expats that I met had an inborn belief that only a "Expat" (i.e. a Westerner or European) could truly be neutral. I was actually instructed when I worked for them to note what pieces of evidence I had from National Staff vs Expatriate Staff as I guess the Expat staff wee more "reliable" . <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">In the words of my friend Saleem Haddad who I met when I worked at MSF "...make no mistake, like I've said before, MSF is one of the most colonial and racist organisations I've ever worked for. [The linked article above] also notes: "The statement follows fierce internal debate about racism and the Black Lives Matter movement. Some staff were angry at a recent statement released by MSF Italy, suggesting it should not use the term “racism” and that “everyone, starting with MSF”, should talk about “all lives matter”.</div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">This article doesn't mention that after this, the statement goes on to say "because discrimination exists against blacks, whites, yellows, women, men, gays, old, young, etc."</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br /></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Yellows, ladies and gentlemen. Yellows.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">I'm not harping on MSF for any other reason than I believe in its mission, and believe that, if the institutions of white supremacy and patriarchy within the movement are dismantled, the organisation could do some truly revolutionary work. Ultimately, I don't mind speaking honestly about this because I've got no skin in this game. I have no intention to work for MSF again so long as these sexist and colonial structures remain in place. Others have more to lose."</div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>I feel the same way. I didn't sign that letter. I whole-heartedly support the authors of the letter for sure. But I saw some of the same men I complained about in my my blog post on Cassandra Complexity. White men who had power (and still do) signing on to complain about something that they could have done something about if they tried. But its easier to jump on the bandwagon than actually do something. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I originally wrote that blog as a letter to the Director General of MSF Holland and UK in support of a woman of color who had complained about discrimination there. When I heard nothing back from management, I decided to publish it as a blog post to raise the profile. Since racism often goes hand in hand with sexism, I thought I would just put this blog post from Cassandra Complexity here as a reminder that the women of color working at MSF are probably the ones getting it the worst. <br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Holier than Thou: Is it time for MSF's #Metoo moment? </b><br /></div><div><a href="https://cassandracomplexblog.wordpress.com/2018/05/12/holier-than-thou-msf-needs-its-own-metoo-moment/"><i><br /></i></a></div><div><a href="https://cassandracomplexblog.wordpress.com/2018/05/12/holier-than-thou-msf-needs-its-own-metoo-moment/"><i>This is my témoignage about the sexist culture of MSF Amsterdam where I
worked from 2007-2011. Its the product of a lot of thinking and
processing since the #metoo hashtag appeared, re-triggering lots of
toxic memories and suppressed emotions. – Sarah Martin</i></a></div><div><br /></div>Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-40616617661015911142020-04-04T13:21:00.004+02:002020-04-04T17:08:11.792+02:00A Poem for a Corona Quarantine in Berlin in the Spring<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hobbling along the cobblestones of New Cologne, I notice the small purple bluebells push past the döner wrappers and cigarette butts. Butter yellow daffodil petals compete with the screaming neon of some American's latest electro-swing band flyer to dance in the wind.<br />
<br />
Blackbirds sing over the garbage bins.<br />
Swans squabble in the canal.<br />
<br />
The corona erases our physical presence and turns our attachments to our loved ones into electrons vibrating across the Atlantic Ocean.<br />
<br />
My love language is Zoom.<br />
<br />
Your love language is Instagram Chat.<br />
<br />
Plague ships haunt my dreams while you act as if nothing has changed at all.<br />
<br />
Quarantine suits you. I"m kidding a bit. Shelter in place makes my hair glow like candles on a Buddhist altar.<br />
<br />
Which flower will bloom tomorrow?<br />
<br />
Socially distancing Germans line up at the Edeka to buy their geraniums but I prefer the wild trees bursting forth in the void that was the Death Strip.<br />
<br />
Alone but together. Calls form Fiji where I sing of bombs bursting in air. Colombia sends me minions. But nothing from Sweden.<br />
<br />
There was never ever anything coming from Sweden. So normality, at last.<br />
<br />
--inspired by a book of prompts from Chen Chen and the poem Night Falls like a Button. Prompted by the fantastic Jane Flett of the Reader in Berlin</div>
Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-86452900476664691252019-11-25T10:33:00.000+01:002019-11-25T10:33:28.372+01:00South Carolina, Summertime, and Tomatoes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the summer time in South Carolina, the rich red Southern
earth produced the sweetest tomatoes on god’s green earth, her father used to
say. She loved the red beefeaters, the dark orange oblong tomatoes her mother
used to make salsa, she loved the funky green smell of tomato plants – fresh
after the rain – so beautiful she had once bought a perfume called “tomato” so
she could smell like that plant. The feel of the warm prickly stems that
cradled that delicious fruit when you were sent out in the morning to harvest
the fresh ones. The best way to eat them, it was commonly agreed was to pick
them fresh and hot out of the garden, or freshly purchased from the old man who
sold them on the highway turnoff to John’s Island. You took some white bread,
it didn’t matter what kind – even wonder bread was fine, and a lash of Miracle
Whip (although fancy people sometimes used Duke’s mayonnaise), and then just
slices of that luscious tomato with a little salt on top. It was best to eat
these drippy delicious slices of sunshine over the kitchen sink, leaning
forward so as not to ruin your shirt. The sweet warm taste of the tomato,
slightly salted, summoned up long summer days lounging by the pool, or swimming
at the beach, or just sitting with her mother and father in the air conditioned
dining room when her mother just didn’t feel like cooking. Tomato sandwiches
and sweet tea. </div>
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Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-49405944248772868252018-04-02T15:03:00.000+02:002018-04-02T15:03:34.319+02:00Ten Albums that changed my life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In no particular order, here are ten albums that really stayed with me and changed my life.<br />
<br />
1. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny3K8Dqth1M" target="_blank">Heart of a Saturday Night</a>, Tom Waits<br />
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Reminds me of driving all night with my perfidious boyfriend, Kevin Krieger to New Orleans. And late nights as a bartender and dreams of living in New York and my life long love of talking to taxi drivers. Based on Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours of the Night.<br />
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2. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZIISfOm3dI&list=PL68D998D2C9FC89B8" target="_blank">Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash</a>, The Pogues<br />
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Another great album that I listened to over and over and over. As a half Irish-American, I feel a connection to Ireland (even though I had never been there when I got this album). The songs that I love the most are Dirty Old Town, the Sickbed of Cuchaillan, and A Man You Don't Meet Everyday. I once sang Dirty Old Town with the Irish Quick Response Force in Liberia on Saint Patrick's Day.<br />
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3. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGbvI2cCfnk" target="_blank">Tupelo Honey</a>, Van Morrison<br />
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In my hippie days, I dreamed of a man who would love me and play Tupelo Honey to me on his guitar. We'd get dance to Moonshine Whiskey and You're My Woman and I'd wear flowers in my hair. I still dream of this. :) I can't believe I agree with Bob Dylan but yes, "<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Tupelo Honey' has always existed and that Morrison was merely the vessel and the earthly vehicle for it"</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">4. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttj6hRFnj5Q" target="_blank">Green</a>, REM</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Lying on the beach in Surfside, South Carolina with this in my walkman in 1988. Conjuring up memories of lying in the backseat of my parent's car and coming home late on a summer night and the sound of the crickets and cicadas. Drowsy hot southern nights. Best songs Orange Crush, You are the Everything, I remember California, The Wrong Child....</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">5. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1X2ZWnO760&t=455s" target="_blank">Outlandos d'Amour</a>, The Police</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">My favorite band of all time. Buying this album and listening to it over and over. Stings voice, Stewarts propulsive drumming, and Andys guitar. Beautiful Blonde British boys. I'm SO LONELY. SO LONELY. Singing this into my college boyfriend Nick's answer machine. Still the best album ever. Can't Stand Losing You might be the only song I still know all the words to- next to you! Roxanne! </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">6. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PczlQsTohO4" target="_blank">Fear of a Black Planet</a>, Public Enemy</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Oh learning about how different the world is from the eyes of black people as a privileged young white girl in South Carolina. Listening to "911 is a joke" and watching Flava Flav dance blew my mind. There was not a party in 1990 where we didn't play this album and dance. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U35MvblI4og" target="_blank">Fight the Power and Rosie Perez dancing</a> inspired so many lame dance moves of my predominantly white group of friends. Sigh. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">7. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug33xMC7duk&list=PLv8ZCmeG525bcSLD2IOKKIaBzK6Kp1o2v" target="_blank">Unforgettable Fire</a>, U2</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">1984 was when I discovered this album. My father bought it for me as a cassette and I listened to it on my little boom box in my bedroom in the dark over and over again. The hazy romantic guitar and the clear voice of Bono calling to my teenage life. Wire, A Sort of Homecoming, and Bad are my favorites. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">8. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiPnx1QYFI8&list=PLQK6jXJbNDTPH-kzcSJ5jgD-qLSSA7YsK" target="_blank">Paul's Boutique</a>, Beastie Boys</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">I love this album so much, the clown princes of Hip Hop. I had a huge crush on Ad Rock. SHAKE YOUR RUMP! An electric blast of coolness and New York for a girl from South Carolina. I'm just a beatnik chick wearing my smock but I wanted so much to be a New Yorker.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">9. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-voC5IrYeAA" target="_blank">American Beauty</a>, The Grateful Dead</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Ah my Deadhead days in the early 90s in South Carolina. But the music and the lyrics of Box of Rain, and Sugar Magnolia, and Brokedown Palace still make me feel optimistic and hopeful and like putting on my hippie skirt and doing some circle spinning. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">10. <a href="https://youtu.be/QybR25RPt-8" target="_blank">La Revancha del Tango</a>, Gotan Project</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">I discovered this album at a Borders in the early 2000s, I think and it changed my life. I love tango, have desires to learn how to dance tango, and have been to see Gotan Project in concert which was amazing.. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Tríptico, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Santa María (del Buen Ayre), </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Una Música Brutal - so evocative and haunting and powerful. One day I'll tango. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Honorable Mentions: </span></div>
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The Police Regatta de Blanc</div>
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U2 Joshua Tree</div>
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Arcade Fire The Suburbs</div>
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Van Morrison Astral Week</div>
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The Beatles Rubber Soul</div>
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Neil Young Harvest </div>
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So Peter Gabriel</div>
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Lauryn Hill “the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” </div>
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Kate Bush Hounds of Love</div>
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REM Life’s Rich Pageant</div>
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Tom Waits Rain Dog</div>
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The Smiths Strangeways here we come</div>
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The Smiths The Queen is Dead</div>
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New Order Substance 1987</div>
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Marvin Gaye What’s Going on</div>
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Blur Park life</div>
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Belle and Sebastian The Boy with the Arab Strap</div>
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The B52s - The B52s</div>
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Bjork Debut</div>
<div class="p2">
kd lang ingenue</div>
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Sinead o connor the lion and the cobra</div>
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Crowded House: Crowded House</div>
<div class="p2">
Nine Inch Nails: Pretty Hate Machine</div>
<div class="p2">
Steely Dan: A Decade ofSteely Dan</div>
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Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-19598736649091115572018-02-14T00:30:00.000+01:002018-02-14T00:31:05.474+01:00Valentine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Not a red rose or a satin heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I give you an onion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It promises light<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">like the careful undressing of love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It will blind you with tears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">like a lover.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It will make your reflection<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">a wobbling photo of grief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I am trying to be truthful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Not a cute card or a kissogram.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I give you an onion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">possessive and faithful<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">as we are,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">for as long as we are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Take it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">if you like.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Lethal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Its scent will cling to your fingers,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">cling to your knife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">- Carol Ann Duffy </span></o:p></div>
</div>
Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-21170760811054814092018-01-16T12:00:00.000+01:002018-01-16T12:00:11.983+01:00Welcome to Liberia: Creative fiction excerpt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">When I was 24 years old, my mother died.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">She was the strongest and toughest woman I
knew and fear of her had kept me on the straight and narrow path – afraid to
really live. In the past, I had rebelled against her by refusing to get an
office job and becoming a bartender but her influence still controlled me. I was
terrified to try the joints passed to me at parties because I was convinced
that the moment I placed one to my lips, the police would burst through the
door and arrest me.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">I could vividly
picture my mother’s disappointment and anger as she bailed me out of “Drugs
Prison.” It was clear that this would lead to my bright future unraveling and a
destiny as an “unwed mother” working in the Piggly Wiggly grocery store. However
strong my fear, she was also the one who always fixed things.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Without her, I didn’t know how to navigate my
life and I had lost my magnetic North. So in my haze of grief and untethered
from her disapproval, I found myself adrift – and looking for an escape from
responsibility and from suburban America.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So I followed a timeworn path followed by
other mad white people from around Europe, North America, and Australia – I
went to Africa to save the people. Classic White Savior trope. I was going to
use my heartbreak and grief and powerful American passport to save Africa –
even if I didn’t yet realize that Africa was not a country, white girls like me
were a dime a dozen, and that all humanitarian aid workers fell into one of
three “M”s: Mercenaries, missionaries, or misfits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">That’s how I found myself on a plane from
Lagos to Monrovia in 2003 with a more experienced 27 year old aid worker named
Michelle. She was showing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>me the ropes
and was an old hand. She casually tossed out facts to me that in retrospect
were designed to terrorize me – “ there are about 5000 Nigerian and Ghanaian
peacekeepers in Monrovia right now,” she told me as she casually sorted through
her purse. “They are there to keep the rebels and the government forces from
tearing each other’s throats out. But god knows what will happen if they are
tested. They are completely outnumbered and can’t even control the airport.” I
nodded and tried to pretend like I knew was happening and desperately tried to look
cool. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The tiny plane bounced along over the rain
clouds- rainy season in West Africa. The outline of the West African coast was
our map. This was the “milk run” – we stopped and expelled passengers and
picked up new ones in Conakry, Abidjan, and Freetown. The people getting on and
off the plane could have been in a John Le Carre novel. Skinny bald French
gangsters in plaid suits with fat gold chains, sweaty fat Nigerian business
men, bored Lebanese men who smoked incessantly and tried to catch my eye. Aside
from two flashy women in outrageous weaves with skin tight clothes – better
suited for the disco than the dinky airport in Freetown – Michelle and I were
the only two women on the plane. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wore
my aid worker uniform – khaki pants, a black tank top with a white no-iron
shirt opened over it, and tevas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my
tevas were new and my white shirt was unblemished. Michelle’s tank top was grey
and stretched out and baggy- which proved she was a real aid worker who had
“field clothes,” unlike me – who had purchased everything on a shopping trip to
Old Navy with my sister two weeks before. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">My father frets about me doing this work – do
you have health insurance? Do you have a pension plan? I know he worries about
the men I’ll meet – freaking out that I might show up with a Liberian child
soldier turned business man and some illegitimate child. My father is proud of
my daring, though. But he also worries. Mostly that I’m going to be killed in
some sort of Hollywood shootout. I don’t know how to reassure him that I feel
safer going into this war zone than I did in my cheap apartment in Washington
DC where I heard gunshots on a daily basis and was once chased down O Street by
a hooker for daring to poach her territory. I don’t know how she thought I was
going to poach customers from her unless there is a group of DC men who have a
secret yen to get it on with hippie girls in grateful dead skirts, ankle bells,
and Birkenstocks. I wish there were – I never seemed to get dates in that
uptight city of student body presidents and “the man behind the scene” types
that populate that place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Finally the plane begins its descent to
Monrovia – I lean towards the window to get a glimpse of where I will be living
for the next 8 months. To my disappointment, it looks just like where I left –
South Carolina. Red clay, rambling green trees, and grey squat buildings.
Except these buildings are mostly missing roofs, and the runway is not paved –
just a slushy strip of that deep red mud. We land and the door opens up and the
smell of Liberia washes in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- wood smoke,
dark pungent earth, and something faintly sweet – something I can’t place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We start to climb out down the stairs and onto
the runway – not mud as I had assumed – gravely but covered in puddles of muddy
red water. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">My first impressions: A derelict old plane
has been pushed over to the side in a field – rotting and covered with mildew.
Giant white cargo planes with the black block letters of the UN are parked in
front of the airport. Tanks line the runway and bored African men in uniform
lean on top. Men in uniform are everywhere - and a contingent of Nigerian
soldiers snap to attention and salute as the man behind us emerges. He’s in a
magnificent peacock blue robe and wears extremely dark sunglasses even though
it is overcast. A truck full of soldiers pulls up and the African soldiers jump
out leisurely- laughing and joking and slapping each other the back, oversized
helmets hanging over open handsome faces. They shout to each other and start
throwing bags into the back of the truck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Michelle and I are insignificant specks of
dust in this world of important men –swept away and overlooked as the Nigerian
dignitary is greeted and fawned over. I hike my backpack over my shoulder as
the thick humid Liberian air clogs my lungs and start trudging to the airport
building. Just like in the movies, there are drums in the distance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">********<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I accompanied the senior protection officer,
John, to the stadium in Monrovia where thousands of displaced people live. I
entered the warren of training rooms, locker rooms, and other hallways meant
once for football teams and athletic demigods, and the smell was a mockery of
the smell of good honest sweat and hero worship that should be there. It stunk
of unwashed bodies pressed in together, of fires to cook unappetizing meals of bulgur
wheat usually without even a bit of salt to enliven the taste. The building
reeked of body odor, urine and shit. This is what it smells like when you press
thousands of people together in one compound to help them live and protect each
other just by the sheer mass of their bodies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I walked in there, scared but also feeling rather
fearless. I would not be repulsed. I would not flinch. I didn’t know what I was
going to see on this, my first trip to a displacement camp, but these were
human beings and they needed their human dignity restored. And I was going to
do it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Liberian society is dominated by extremely
pushy men that have negotiated some power as “block leaders” or “chiefs” who
you have to meet with and have long convoluted conversations with before you
can get to the business at hand of trying to talk to the women and assess their
needs. I was impatient but I knew I had to put on my best face, try not to be
irritated, anxious, and pushy right back at them. Although I had only been in
the country for a few weeks, I already knew that Liberians liked to “palaver”
and formalities could take forever. As a cultural anthropologist, I knew the
importance of the formalities but I hated them! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I sat smiling and writing in my notebook, listening
to their grievances – there’s not enough food, you should pay us to ask us
these questions… John had told me that these are common complaints. Ask any
refugee or IDP anywhere in the world how things are going and they will tell
you immediately – “they don’t give us enough food”. And it would be pathetic
and sad if it weren’t for the old Catskills joke that immediately popped into
my head. “the food – its so bad. Yes, and not enough of it.” Of course, I’m
sympathetic – I struggle with my own food issues. I am not that picky about
WHAT I eat but I am about how its prepared. I like spices. I like tasty foods.
I wish I was a gourmet chef. But I’m not. I’m a Southerner so I travel with
Tabasco sauce and instant grits so that I can always have SOMETHING I can eat
if things get bad. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I look at the sacks of donated bulgur wheat
with the irritating USAID logo printed on it – two white hands stretched out
shaking with the phrase “a gift from the American people” printed alongside and
idly watch the Liberian women cooking it over open fires inside the hallways, adding
some small dried fish from the nearby market to flavor it. They are already
complaining – why can’t we have rice? Don’t the Americans know that Liberians
like rice? I do wonder about the bulgur wheat. Why are American farmers growing
bulgur? For export to Lebanon to make innumerable tabouli salads? Has the
bottom dropped out of the tabouli market? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I am sitting on a little plastic stool – the
best seat in the house. The Africans really know how to treat their guests. The
best food, the nicest seat, formal, treating you with importance. John is
talking, explaining our mission, getting their permission. I sit smiling and
nodding and waiting. I’m finally going to talk to some refugees and my real
life is about to begin. I fidget and try to pay attention as the old men talk
and talk. I doodle – anxious to get out of this smelly hot room and try to
ignore the sweat running down my back and soaking through my underwear. I’m
from the South but I can’t handle living without air conditioning. There is no
air here in the inner offices of these men and it is stifling. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">These Liberians have almost nothing but they
hold themselves with dignity. The old men reminding you to shake hands
properly, bringing out old ledger books, and carefully preserved papers that
have been handed out to them by humanitarian agencies in the past. Listing
their grievances carefully and formally and looking at me as if there was
something I could do about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I’m ashamed at my impatience with them but
I’m also excited. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The little kids gather around me. I’ve got a
digital camera and am snapping photos and showing them their photos and they
are laughing and laughing. The boys strike crazy macho poses- holding up
stringy arms and popping out their nonexistent biceps. “White womaaa, White
womaa – over here over here” they sing to me. The girls with their braided hair
giggle and giggle and smile shyly and reach up to hold my hands. The boys fight
and roll around and push against each other trying to get closer to me and my
magic camera. Half-naked little babies stagger up to me, their faces smeared
with snot and eyes round. They gape in horror at my ghastly pale skin and
freakish red hair and begin screaming and crying. Their mothers laugh and scoop
them up to reassure them. Most of the children have only one item of clothing –
undies or a shirt but not both. The bloated stomachs and skinny legs of the
girls make them seem like heavily pregnant women – they already act mature and
maternal – scolding the little babies, bouncing them on their hips, and even
carrying some of them around wrapped on their backs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">John and I walk slowly through the corridors
- he’s talking on his mobile to our driver and I’m entertaining the children.
Our bright blue t-shirts sort us into our tribe – we wear a uniform so the
Liberians can tell us apart. Today, we’re not the only aid workers in the
stadium – ICRC is unloading some supplies off a truck out front. They are
incredibly organized and their Liberian staff wear small white tunics with the
iconic red cross over their polo shirts. The boxes are sorted, the Liberian
elders are overseeing the delivery and the only other white person in the
stadium is solemnly shaking hands in the complicated handshakes that Liberians
prefer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The white man turns to watch us walk by. He’s
young - a thin European man – I can tell by his haircut and by the way he wears
his jeans – much thinner and tighter than an American man would ever be
comfortable with. French, I think – looking at the stubble. He’s unrumpled and
fresh in his blue button up shirt opened just a bit too low to be formal. He
looks like he just stepped out of an air –conditioned office somehow even
though the truck standing next to him is covered in dust and mud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel sweaty and frizzy just looking at him.
Self-consciously, I throw my chin up a bit and try to project confidence and
authority. “He can tell I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, “ I think – “He
thinks I’m a fraud.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Sebastian!” John waves towards him, tucking
his phone between his shoulder and ear and pointing at me, “this is our
newbie.” I smile. Sebastian nods and smiles politely. The smile doesn’t quite
reach his eyes. John keeps talking into his mobile and we keep walking with our
retinue of Liberian children plucking at my shirt and begging for my attention.
I am aware of Sebastian’s eyes following us and I feel silly and frivolous and
young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What an arrogant Frenchman –
typical cheese-eating surrender monkey. Oh great- now I’m channeling Donald
Rumsfeld. What has Liberia done to me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
hear him laughing at something one of the Liberians said and my bravado
crumbles - I have the sensation that I am a small child pretending to be an
adult in high heels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-81620193177990943272018-01-13T11:51:00.000+01:002018-01-13T11:51:35.635+01:00Turning Point: Creative Non-Fiction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A turning point<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I came to work early that day which was unusual for me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not a morning person and I am a rebel by nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting up early to go to work is anathema
for me. Even, if by some chance, I wake up early, I’d much rather
procrastinate, listen to music, play with my cat, stand in the shower for along
time or even do chores than get out of the house and go to work early.
Something about the mundane routine of waiting for the bus and schlepping in
with thousands of other young women in identical uniforms consisting of sensible
Anne Taylor skirts, drab colored blouses and grungy white athletic shoes over nude
toned pantyhose depressed me. I had postponed this moment of adulthood for
years by tending bar and peddling herbs and macrobiotic food in the Carolinas. I
went off to graduate school and learned how to write about “development.” I had
procrastinated for long enough and now was officially an “adult.” Despite my
membership in the health-insurance owning, work-clothes wearing club, I still hated
adult-ing and resisted it as much as possible, specifically by coming to work
late every day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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However, today was different! I was going to Haiti for the
first time ever for work. I had just reached a point in my career where
constant travel was a distinct possibility – an exciting and thrilling feeling.
I wasn’t thrilled with the work in the “monitoring and evaluation of health
information systems” but it was a job and it was going to get me into the
field! I was still figuring out what I was meant to do with my career. The only
thing I was clear about in my career plan was 1. I needed to see the world and
travel and 2. I wanted to help people – and by people I meant women. That was
it. I wanted to do something to help women in the world. It wasn’t a clear or
compelling manifesto. In fact, in Washington DC – a city filled with thousands
of other women exactly like me, it was not nearly good enough. Washington may
be the most competitive city in the world. It’s called “Hollywood for Ugly
People” and the competition is fierce. You will never be smart enough,
connected enough or powerful enough. But at least I had a job. I was an
evaluation associate(a term I didn’t understand) and I had health insurance.
Basically, I spent the day booking other people’s travel while I gritted my
teeth in jealousy and dreamed of the day I would be demanding diva and insist on
my preferred flight routes via Geneva or Paris or Morocco as part of my
“contract” to another unfortunate young wretch. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But that day was different – I was anxious to get to work! I woke up in my orange bedroom decorated
with Colombian blankets, Guatemalan paintings, and hand-me-down furniture in
Adams-Morgan Washington, DC that I shared with a Colombian woman who worked on
human rights. She was still asleep in her room so I didn’t have to wrestle for
space in the bathroom mirror that morning as I performed my morning ablutions.
I was particularly worried about getting my nose nice and clean which required
privacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had spontaneously pierced it
two days before and did not want to get some sort of exotic Haitian infection
that might cause <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>permanent disfigurement
when my nose to dropped off. <o:p></o:p><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">I put on my adult face and off I went to the grim quasi-suburb of Rosslyn, Virginia.</span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></div>
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As I stepped out onto my street, I realized that it was a
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coast of the USA gets on an early September morning. There was a hint of
briskness in the air but the golden glow of the sun was promising a gorgeous Indian
summer day which meant lunch outside in the park. The usual foot traffic of
Salvadoran men walking to their construction jobs and professional African
American women hustling off to work in the suburbs was lighter than normal and
I even got a seat on the 42 bus which was a miracle in and of itself. I felt
the self-righteous glow of being an early riser and found myself promising to
turn over a new leaf and become a ‘morning person’. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The good mood didn’t even wear off during the drudgery of
the bus transfer to the underground train to Rosslyn. The Virginian military
officers and federal government contractors were early risers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I joined the flow of white middle aged men
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military or the khakis and blue button down shirts of the civilian mingled with
the interns and young professionals like me who were still clinging to their
Grateful Dead hippie bracelets or wore bright colors. We moved slowly and
determinedly into nameless office buildings filled with identical lobbies,
break rooms, and grim office cubicles.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I strode the well-worn path past the fluorescent lit lunch place
(where you were rumored to find bandaids in the salad) and the cheerless Ruby
Tuesday’s to our anonymous office foyer and then into the dimly lit office
elevator. I breezed through the empty reception area and into my office. Not
even my office mate was present! I plopped myself down at my desk, booted up
the computer and got to work – not even pausing for my normal morning beverage
and chat in my “work husband”, Alec’s office. A few minutes later, Alec passed
through the hall on his way in and did a double-take and stopped in my office in shock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It’s 8:15! What are you doing here?” he
stammered. I self-righteously informed him that I had “COME TO WORK EARLY” and
he retreated to his office to recover from the never-before-seen sight of me at
work BEFORE the required hours.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He swung back into my office around 8:55am – the office
halls were still surprisingly quiet and I remember thinking “so I’m not the
only person who is usually late.” “Hey,” he said, “do you wanna go to the
kitchen and look at the news? They put a tv in there – a plane hit the World
Trade Center in New York.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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I paused to think about it… there had been a small passenger
plane that had hit the White House some months before and it was not a big
deal. Normally I loved an opportunity to get out of work and socialize. But
today I was an adult. “No thanks,” I said… as he walked off. I was busy after all,
no time for my typical lolly-gagging which characterized my morning work
schedule. But I did have to go to the bathroom, so I walked past the kitchen.
As I came close to it, I noticed almost every person in my office was there -
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wall. No one was talking. No one was fixing coffee or microwaving oatmeal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone was just staring at the television.
Just as I turned my attention to it, there was an audible gasp through the
room. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
In front of my eyes, we sat <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">as a group </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">in stunned silence
as a second plane crashed into the burning World Trade Center South Tower. This
was not a novelty news story – this was not a small single pilot plane. This
was a full-blown passenger plane filled with people. This plane crashed into an
office tower probably identical to the one I was standing in with my office
colleagues. As the building on-screen erupted in flames, someone next to me
began to cry. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I knew then that my life
was about to change forever.</span></div>
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Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-34620159890040398672018-01-10T20:12:00.002+01:002018-01-10T20:12:22.989+01:00i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)</h1>
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i carry your heart with me(i carry it in</div>
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my heart)i am never without it(anywhere</div>
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i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done</div>
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by only me is your doing,my darling)</div>
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i fear</div>
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no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want</div>
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no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)</div>
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and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant</div>
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and whatever a sun will always sing is you</div>
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<br /></div>
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here is the deepest secret nobody knows</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud</div>
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and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows</div>
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higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)</div>
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and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart</div>
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<br /></div>
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i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)</div>
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<br /></div>
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- e.e. cummings</div>
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Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-42010483054154439502018-01-10T11:47:00.000+01:002018-01-10T11:47:16.237+01:00Ghosts: creative non fiction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Gm1J4eO4YRe6vbnSziJ1KuSMOJj664iWJJjE1Op2Wk7pKwnFOPneP486teKCWMSPXlmuuz5mrOeFOpPXYPBxCBTGUjUxpD3ulvLx_uWoSDjkrSij-Bx2LTWhZO2nMEaBcjgykQ/s1600/PNG+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Gm1J4eO4YRe6vbnSziJ1KuSMOJj664iWJJjE1Op2Wk7pKwnFOPneP486teKCWMSPXlmuuz5mrOeFOpPXYPBxCBTGUjUxpD3ulvLx_uWoSDjkrSij-Bx2LTWhZO2nMEaBcjgykQ/s320/PNG+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a young aid worker, I always sought out the most dangerous current crisis and took pride in my ability to face scary places. I was always jones-ing to be the first on the plane to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Somalia, Haiti, Iraq – you name it, I wanted to go. I thought very little about the dangers in the job and was naively focused on being where the action was until one afternoon in Norway. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In June 2011, I was sitting in Oslo in the Grand Café preparing for a job interview in the spring sunlight when I read about the attack on the Continental hotel in Afghanistan. I had just spent three lonely weeks in Kabul at that very same hotel leading a workshop for Afghan aid workers. Every morning, I rode in an armored vehicle, jumped out in front of the hotel, and greeted the construction crew who were refurbishing the lobby with a cheery <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Salaam Alekum</i>!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ignored the fact that the metal detector was unplugged and trusted that the UN security advisor had assured us that the Continental was the “top safety choice” for Kabul.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Afghanistan, I had thrown myself into work because my flaky long-distance "special friend" panicked and broke up with me while I was en route to Kabul - ruining our plans for a romantic summer meet up in Oslo after my work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was depressed and angry but hid it by putting all my energy into work. I showed up early, worked through the lunch hours, and focused on my work and hid my pain by being very chatty and energetic with the training participants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the secrets to being a humanitarian aid worker is to never think too much about what danger you might be in. It’s a plus to be blissfully ignorant because if you took the time to actually think about what might happen to you, it would be impossible to get up and do your job. Better just to get on with it and think about it later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Flash forward to two days after a long grim flight from Kabul to Bangkok to Berlin to Oslo where I sat drinking a glass of white wine in the Scandinavian sunshine. I suddenly realized how dangerous that job running a training workshop in a luxury “UN approved” hotel had actually been. The hotel had been the scene of a bloodbath the night before<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- those construction workers were disguised Taliban fighters who had been apparently plotting my death every morning. They had sprung their attack in the evening (when I was normally relaxing with a cup of tea) and had targeted the dining area - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shooting indiscriminately into a wedding party. There were five suicide bombers who detonated themselves and fought floor to floor as terrified guests huddled in hotel rooms until the US forces managed to secure the hotel by landing helicopters on the roof and having an extended gun battle through the night. Reports suggested that it was an inside job as the hotel ‘security personnel’ ran away as soon as the gunmen arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A chill ran through my body as I read the article - I was probably one of the ones that they had excitedly planned to kill – a red headed American woman teaching about gender equality and how to provide support to a woman in a violent relationship – the very embodiment of the principles and ideals that they detested. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt an uncharacteristic stillness creep over me. Minutes later my mobile phone buzzed, there was a contrite message from the "special friend" saying he had been wrong and could we still meet? Shaken, I said yes – postponing for 4 months the inevitable autumnal breakup in a Swedish Ikea cafeteria.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn’t realize it at the time but that’s when I subconsciously decided to take a break. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the next two years, I hung back a bit and worked in easier places - nothing near a front line. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I retreated from the front line of dating too – easy in Bangkok where white women are invisible. I wrapped myself in a ‘security blanket’ to avoid the ghosts that were haunting me – the ghosts of romantic rejection, my own frail human mortality, and my idea of myself as an invulnerable superwoman. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But time heals all wounds, I guess and suddenly, I found myself bored and accepting a job in Jordan to work with the Syrian refugee crisis - a new country and I felt excited as my plane touched down in the desert turned green and lush from the winter rains. Time to confront those ghosts and to open up my heart again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-63031114708750595392018-01-09T11:08:00.004+01:002018-01-09T11:08:26.491+01:002017 in photos (with cheesy epic music)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here was my crazy 50th year - 2017 in photos.<br />
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Countries traveled to in 2017: Oman, Lebanon, Switzerland, Germany, UK, Turkey, France, Bosnia, Italy, Russia, Mongolia, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Myanmar, Greece, Iceland<br />
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<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" gesture="media" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Cx0_93EoOiE" width="560"></iframe></div>
Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-49725514039232094532018-01-09T01:10:00.000+01:002018-01-09T01:10:10.712+01:002017: From Asia to Europe and Back Again (with a lot of stops in between)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4Sp-sIwnFsfqlTh4PHGuM8n0nT1Gegxy-59YD_q-2s3sKnjXILzXoEmFoDMtDnyvrRocBxNODbUa5WnTJqu3lVZZib5K1wVjgMSaaFBCSY0NbVGHIp5_W25CVWPx6FeQLXRZFA/s1600/image1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4Sp-sIwnFsfqlTh4PHGuM8n0nT1Gegxy-59YD_q-2s3sKnjXILzXoEmFoDMtDnyvrRocBxNODbUa5WnTJqu3lVZZib5K1wVjgMSaaFBCSY0NbVGHIp5_W25CVWPx6FeQLXRZFA/s320/image1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 14.6667px;">Happy New Year and Greetings from Berlin, Germany!</span><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11pt;">2017 was the year that
I decided to leave Asia. This decision had been a while in the making – while
my apartment was in Bangkok, I spent most of 2015 in the Middle East and most
of 2016 in Europe (Serbia, Bosnia, and traveling in Greece, Middle Europe and
Portugal). I finally bit the bullet and closed down my apartment in Bangkok and
moved to Europe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">I knew at the end
of 2016 that I was definitely going to leave Bangkok but I still wasn’t sure to
where. Motivated by an inability to stand the 100% humidity and heat and awful
sexpats of Thailand (along with an uncertain status as I was on a tourist
visa), I wanted to take advantage of my British citizenship and EU passport
before the powers that be finally pull the United Kingdom out of Europe. The
allure of cheap Thai massage, jasmine flowers, and spectacular Thai food were
not enough to hold me in Asia anymore and I had vague thoughts of “putting down
roots” somewhere where gender equality and mild summers might exist. As a
freelance consultant, I often work from home or travel for my work so I’m
fairly free about where I can be based.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I came up with a plan to check out the cities that most appealed to me
and to spend 3 months in each one until I decided where “home” would be. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had also been in a bit of a depression and
deep funk in 2016 with the awful double whammy of Brexit and the Trump election<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>.
I started to heal a bit when I was asked to speak at the anti-inauguration in
January with the Democrats Abroad in Bangkok where I spoke from my heart about
the terrors that the Trump administration was going to bring to women – both in
the USA and around the world. I took the next step in healing by returning to
Beirut, Lebanon (via Oman). Beirut is a beautiful and exciting city where my
friend Lina invited me to teach a class on Gender and Emergencies at the
Lebanese-American University for her Institute of Women’s Studies in the Arab
World<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>.
It was very healing to be teaching energetic young students in Beirut as that
was where I was when the dreaded Trump election happened. I also got to enjoy
all the delicious Lebanese and Armenian food that Beirut offers and hang out
with my friend Tom who kindly let me stay with him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">In March, after a short
sojourn in Geneva for work, I headed to Berlin where I had rented a small (VERY
SMALL) apartment in a neighborhood called Prenzlauer-Berg. Imagine my surprise
and shock to find it did not come with internet! Although spring in Berlin is
beautiful and I loved being outside, I am a free-lance consultant so need
internet at home (plus as those of you who follow me know, I’m a social media
junkie). While looking for a new temporary apartment, I unexpectedly landed a
lovely apartment in Kreuzberg and he gave me a lease til March 15, 2018 so voila
– decision made (at least for 2017). I hope to stay in Berlin but the housing
market is very difficult so maybe the other cities may become options (Athens,
Lisbon, and Paris if you are curious). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">After a great spring
and summer in Berlin (with travels to the UK to see Sarah marry Brett in
Stonehenge, in Tuscany to see Maria marry Philippe, visiting Toni, Joeri, and
Enzo to meet Yara in Bosnia, work trips with Kristine to Turkey, and amazing
days in my friend Christine’s flat in Paris), I picked up my trusty bike from
Amsterdam and spent it cycling around the parks and canal in Berlin having late
night picnics. I also signed up for some writing classes and finally started
writing (a long time dream)<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>.
I’m really enjoying the move a lot. Being in a country with seasons again is
fantastic and I love the culture and vibe of the city. If only I could get a
permanent apartment! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">2017 was also the
year I turned 50. I can hardly believe it myself. How can I be 50 when I still
feel 17 inside? Half a century of living deserves a big celebration so my dear
friend Adrienne Cox, who I met when I worked in North Carolina after the death
of my mother, flew out to join me on my adventure. After a fun night in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">biergartens</i> of Berlin, we flew off to
Moscow where I fulfilled a dream of seeing Russia for the first time. We joined
up with my friend Svetlana and her husband, Luca, and 4 others (Eva, Lora,
Jason, and Connie) and jumped onto the Trans Siberian Railway where we spent a
week traveling to and exploring Yekaterinaburg (where the Romanovs were
murdered) and Irkutsk (on Lake Baikal in Siberia). So much vodka, caviar,
Crimean Champagne, pelmenis, and “Trans Siberian bloody marys” were consumed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sarah and Svetlana’s <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Trans-Siberian Bloody Mary recipe<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Vodka <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Train generic tomato juice <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Pickle juice from the delicious Russian pickles
we bought at every stop<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sarah’s Tabasco sauce<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Svetlana’s “spicy bear” sauce<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Pour
into train proof – adult sippy cup and consume at all hours of the day. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">After a week on the
train in Russia, Adrienne, I carried on with two girls (Lora and Eva) on the
Trans-Mongolian Express and headed to the capital of Ulan Bataar. We went down
a step from our first class Russia travel and ended up 4 in a compartment with
a Dutch couple who had very particular ideas about how the train compartment
should be organized. Henk and Marlena lightened up though when we brought out
our bottle of vodka and soon we were all friends. The Russian-Mongolian border
was an experience as we had 8 hours to cross so killed the time by traipsing
around through the small Russian town on the border and making friends with the
local drunks who liked to hang out by the train station. Eva lead a yoga
session on the tracks as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Mongolia was
spectacular – after one day checking out all the Genghis Khan monuments and
listening to some spectacular throat singing<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>,
Lora and I headed out to the countryside to stay with a nomadic Kazakh family
in their traditional <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ger</i> (known as a
yurt in Europe). It was freezing cold by the time we got there and we rode some
Mongolian ponies, had a lovely meal with the family, and gazed at the
spectacular Milky Way in the clear non light polluted sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After playing an incomprehensible game with
some sheep ankle bones with the kids, there was some miscommunication and Lora
and I found ourselves sleeping in the yurt without about 15-20 people. It
wasn’t very restful but the next day we drank some mare’s fermented milk and
drove out to see some of the Gobi desert and to ride a Mongolian camel. We were
just coming in from our camel ride when who did I spot in the distance? Our
train buddy Eva and her brother! We had a nice reunion with some Genghis Khan
vodka by the campfire for the night. The next day, on the way back to Ulan Bataar
– we stopped into a national park where they are reintroducing the wild horses
(precursor to our domestic horses) and I got to sit in the wild and watch a
herd of them enjoy the sun with no fences or cages to be seen. Truly a
highlight of the year. (you can see more about them in a movie that Julia
Roberts produced called: Wild Horses of Mongolia<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>).
Mongolia is a spectacularly beautiful and wild place – one of the most special
countries I have ever been to. I highly recommend that if you get the chance, you
should go there. It has a spirit that is hard to put into words. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Lora and I bid
adieu to Eva and got back onto the train where we completed the Trans Mongolian
and headed to Beijing, China. We lucked out with some great train mates –
Barbara and Leo – two Italian punk rockers and we introduced them to the custom
of drinking vodka in the morning. All was going well until a horrific few hours
at the Mongolian-Chinese border where they locked up the toilets, turned off
the running water and the air conditioning and electricity, leaving us to
vegetate and stew in our hot compartments where I somehow managed to spill
KimChi instant ramen sauce all over Leo’s pillow on his bunk. Finally, we were
able to enter China and use the toilet! It was a world apart from Russia or
Mongolia and not at all what I expected<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>- clean public toilets in the train station, muzak wafting from the fake
neon trees on the train platform, and uniformed Chinese guards to escort us
around. We rolled into Beijing the next morning to rain and a cold front but after
a nap, we lucked out for the rest of the trip as somehow we had clear weather
and clear sunny skies without a hint of pollution. Lora and I visited the
Forbidden City (a bit dull), ate and drank our way through the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hutongs</i>/back allies of Beijing (with amazing
food like donkey burgers and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">jianbing<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[6]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a></i>,
Beijing Duck with my friend Lars from Bangkok) and met up with Barbara and Leo
to see Beijing’s craft beer scene. Lora encouraged me to be brave and hike up the
very very high and very steep Great Wall of China (instead of emulating the
Chinese and taking the cable car) and then I headed off to Shanghai alone on
the train (this time business class!). I fell in love with Shanghai – a perfect
mix of old and new. It was again, very different than what I expected – crowded
but not oppressive. The Chinese are amazing hosts- kind to strangers and their
food is spectacular. A highlight was a food tour I took through the French
concession where I sampled snake, hand-pulled noodles, so many different
dumplings, roasted lamb – and ended the evening drinking martinis in a
beautiful 1920’s style bar listening to the “Old Man Band” of jazz musicians
over the age of 80 play old jazz standards. I also learned about the 30,000 Jewish
refugees who fled World War II and were sheltered by the Chinese in Shanghai.
Very moving to go to the old synagogue and learn about Dr. Jakob Rosenfeld<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
who was grateful to the Chinese and ended up serving as a doctor with Chairman
Mao in the Chinese Revolution. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">I got back on the
train again to old Canton (Guangzho) where I got to meet up with my friends
Karen and Phillip who hosted me and showed me around this lovely city in a
monsoon, treated me to dim sum, and giggles with their kids. Finally, I jumped
on my last train and headed to Shenzhen where I unfortunately missed Nolan, my friend
from Goatfeather’s in SC, but rested my bones before hopping the border to Hong
Kong, getting on a plane to Bangkok, and packing up my apartment and saying
goodbye to dear friends in Thailand. Phew! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">I lived in Thailand
from February 2011 in the same apartment so I had a very close relationship
with Khun Nee – my housekeeper who looked after me and my cat, Simon Le Bon.
She nursed me through my kidney operation in 2011, minded Simon through all my
travels, and cried and hugged me when he died and I brought home his ashes. I
will miss her – not just her immaculate housekeeping but her warm and caring
nature and all the sweet things she gave me and did for me (she often brought
me doilies, little animal figurines, pomelos, buddhas as well as ironing my
sheets and keeping my houseguests in line). She is an amazing kind devout woman
and treated me well. I’ll also miss my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">motosai</i>
guys – the four men who provide motorcycle taxi service in front of Sethiwan
Residence. They always gave me free rides, cheered me up, and once even warned
me to stay inside during the Yellow Shirt protests on a night that got violent.
Wanchai, my favorite of them all, took me to the airport on my last day and
gave me a lovely Buddhist amulet to protect me in Europe. While I was, sometimes,
very lonely in Bangkok - the relationships I had with these lovely Thai people
will ensure that Thailand is always in my heart. I’ll also miss my great expat neighbors,
Kathy, Andrea, Richard, Jordan, and Rebecca, from Sethiwan Residence. When we
were all living there together, it was as close as I ever came to my dream of
making all my friends live in the same building a la Seinfeld. My other dear
memory will always be the Ottolenghi Cooking Club where I joined Vanessa,
Ramya, Momo, Andrea, Kathy, and others to cook for each other from Yotam
Ottolenghi’s cookbooks<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
and post instagrams hoping to lure him to Thailand. I had the chance to meet
him in Berlin where I babbled about our devotion to him so keep the hope alive
Momo and Vanessa! It might happen! We will continue our cooking adventures via
our facebook page but it won’t be the same without the food in front of us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">So after almost two
months traveling again in Asia, I flew to Berlin (via Qatar!) but for less than
12 hours before I turned around and tried to fly to Brazil (tried because in my
fatigue I lost and then recovered my passport forcing me to stay grounded for
24 hours). I presented a few papers I wrote at the biannual Sexual Violence
Research Initiative conference in Rio and got to explore that fantastic city of
contrasts. From lying on the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema to the amazing
street art and music, Brazil has it all. I loved it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">I then finally returned
to Europe to spend the rest of the year here. Well – sort of – I did a rapid
trip with my friend Devanna to Iceland to make sure I could handle winter! So
much for putting down roots! But autumn and winter in Germany are also lovely.
From bicycle rides through the golden leaves of the parks of Berlin to the cozy
glüwein fueled winter markets, Berlin has something for every season. Alyson
came to join me in December for a holiday and we headed to the Christmas
markets and the sites of Berlin before ending the year in rural Wales with my
friend Sandrine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Even though 2017
saw the world being terrorized by ISIS, a never ending war in Syria and
Afghanistan, the expulsion of the Rohingya from Myanmar (and the death of our
love for Aung Sang Suu Kyi), the cheeto faced maniac who is currently serving
as president of the United States and the incompetency of the Tories
negotiating Brexit, it was, for me, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a
very positive and fulfilling year, both professionally and personally. I
accomplished some great work (publishing a chapter of a book with my friend
Devanna<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>,
putting out two publications with my work with UNFPA for the Whole of Syria
response<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
and Women’s Refugee Commission in Lebanon<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>,
co-authoring a paper with some amazing feminists and presenting in Brazil<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>,
and working with UNICEF in Greece and Italy) and I made some great new friends
(you know who you are). And I moved to Europe. While I miss my little furry
friend Simon Le Bon, in 2017 I move forward hopefully into 2018 ready for new
adventures, houseguests, and fun! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please
stay in touch and let me know if you are coming through Germany! I’d love to
host you! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Much love, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Sarah<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> For some of my immediate
reaction to the Trump election, see my blog at: <a href="http://screamsfromthepinkcollarghetto.blogspot.de/2016/11/cooking-to-heal-your-broken-political.html">http://screamsfromthepinkcollarghetto.blogspot.de/2016/11/cooking-to-heal-your-broken-political.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> Check out Lina’s amazing
work at <a href="http://iwsaw.lau.edu.lb/">http://iwsaw.lau.edu.lb/</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> Excerpts can be found on my
blog: <a href="http://screamsfromthepinkcollarghetto.blogspot.com/">http://screamsfromthepinkcollarghetto.blogspot.com</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> Check it out for yourself
here! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rmo3fKeveo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rmo3fKeveo</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> Wild Horses of Mongolia
with Julia Roberts at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RzVQ988LDQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RzVQ988LDQ</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> Check out jianbing here: <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/jianbing-chinese-savory-breakfast-crepe.html">http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/jianbing-chinese-savory-breakfast-crepe.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> For more on the refugees of
Shanghai, see <a href="http://www.china.org.cn/video/2015-12/12/content_37300684.htm">http://www.china.org.cn/video/2015-12/12/content_37300684.htm</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> Ottolenghi has several
amazing cookbooks but my favorites are Plenty and Jerusalem. An amazing mix of
mostly vegetarian Mediterranean food – run and get yours now! <a href="https://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/">https://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> Sarah Martin and
Devanna de la Puente, Forthcoming 2018, Mind the Gap: Challenges and
Opportunities for implementing the Relief and Recovery pillar of UN Security
Resolution 1325. in S.E.Davies and J. True (Eds). <b>Oxford Handbook of
Women, Peace and Security</b> (New York: Oxford University Press). </span><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><a href="http://www.monashgps.org/single-post/2016/06/10/Oxford-Handbook-on-Women-Peace-and-Security">http://www.monashgps.org/single-post/2016/06/10/Oxford-Handbook-on-Women-Peace-and-Security</a>
</span><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> Listen, Engage, and
Empower: A strategy to address the needs of adolescent girls in the Whole of
Syria. <a href="http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/unfpa-launches-strategy-syrian-adolescent-girls">http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/unfpa-launches-strategy-syrian-adolescent-girls</a>
and <a href="https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/system/files/documents/files/wos_adolescentgirlstrategy_final.pdf">https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/system/files/documents/files/wos_adolescentgirlstrategy_final.pdf</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> <a href="https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/populations/adolescent-girls/research-and-resources/1538-engaging-male-caregivers-to-end-early-marriage-in-lebanon">https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/populations/adolescent-girls/research-and-resources/1538-engaging-male-caregivers-to-end-early-marriage-in-lebanon</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=31939058#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Cofem: Feminist Perspectives on
addressing violence against women and girls, 2017, Eclipsed: When a broad
protection agenda obscures the needs of women and girls. <a href="http://raisingvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Paper-5-COFEM.final_.sept2017.pdf">http://raisingvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Paper-5-COFEM.final_.sept2017.pdf</a>
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Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-87135178401571357762017-10-09T19:44:00.000+02:002017-10-09T19:44:34.381+02:00Leaving Thailand: Reflections 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://www.sethiwan.com/sethiwan-residence/images/gallery-exterior/sethiwan-residence-exterior-04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.sethiwan.com/sethiwan-residence/images/gallery-exterior/sethiwan-residence-exterior-04.jpg" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="800" height="264" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">On one my last nights in Bangkok, I drank some of my duty free champagne and watched "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-lDY02DThk" target="_blank">ZULU</a>" with my neighbors, Richard and Andrea</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. Richard made a pizza and some salad and I cranked up the a/c. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I have loved living in <a href="http://www.sethiwan.com/sethiwan-residence/" target="_blank">Sethiwan Residence</a> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">and have lured friends </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">to live here with me. Nothing is better than spontaneous dinner parties, movie nights, and hanging out with your neighbors. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Also, I have a fantastic cleaning lady (Khun Nee) who took good care of Simon LeBon and me after my kidney surgery in 2011. The office managers</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> have always been great and helpful. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I'll miss my motosai driver buddies out front too - they always took great care of me and remembered where my hair salon was, that I don't like to go down Sukhumvit and prefer the back roads, and would run errands for me. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">It's been a good home to me. </span><span class="_47e3 _5mfr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle;" title="heart emoticon"><img alt="" class="img" height="16" role="presentation" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/f6c/1/16/2764.png" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: -3px;" width="16" /></span></div>
Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-64293454083273510132017-09-11T08:22:00.000+02:002017-09-11T08:22:10.411+02:00Leaving Thailand: Reflections 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://hanoistreetfoodtours.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Soi-11-Sukhumvit-street-food.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="800" height="191" src="https://hanoistreetfoodtours.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Soi-11-Sukhumvit-street-food.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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When I moved to Bangkok in 2011, I was overwhelmed with choosing where I wanted to live. I saw apartments all over town and in the end - I had to pick one solely based on where they accepted cats as tenants as making Simon Le Bon's arrival comfy was my top priority! I found a place in Sukhumvit in a neighborhood called Nana...right off Soi 13. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">One of the draws was being close to Sukhumvit Soi 11 which was a lively little street which meant I could walk to restaurants and bars and walk home. Soi 11 had lots of little dive bars and two very chic ones (Q bar and Bed Supper Club). </span><br />
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<a href="http://static.asiawebdirect.com/m/bangkok/portals/bangkok-com/homepage/magazine/bed-supperclub/allParagraphs/BucketComponent/ListingContainer/02/image/bed-supperclub.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static.asiawebdirect.com/m/bangkok/portals/bangkok-com/homepage/magazine/bed-supperclub/allParagraphs/BucketComponent/ListingContainer/02/image/bed-supperclub.jpg" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Every night, little VW buses pulled up and turned the whole street into a party. We used to love going to the Red Wagon. </span><br />
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<a href="https://igx.4sqi.net/img/general/200x200/Qs7CLfATQ0K052ELuf3EsTKrhfbJyQ1KJtykfxvT1xw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://igx.4sqi.net/img/general/200x200/Qs7CLfATQ0K052ELuf3EsTKrhfbJyQ1KJtykfxvT1xw.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">My favorite restaurant on the street was the old 70s style American diner at the <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293916-d3738152-Reviews-Federal_Hotel_Coffee_Shop-Bangkok.html" target="_blank">Federal Hotel</a> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">where I could get a great crab fried rice and coke in the little bottles for less than $2. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">You could han</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">g out in the alley and drink beer at Cheap Charlie's or the Pickled Liver. Both were great because they didn't really attract bar girls or prostitutes like many of the divey bars in Bangkok. You met a huge variety of people - expats, old thai men, tourists, the young and the old. </span><br />
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<a href="http://static.asiawebdirect.com/m/bangkok/portals/bangkok-com/homepage/magazine/cheap-charlie/pagePropertiesImage/Cheap-Charlie's-Bar.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static.asiawebdirect.com/m/bangkok/portals/bangkok-com/homepage/magazine/cheap-charlie/pagePropertiesImage/Cheap-Charlie's-Bar.jpg.jpg" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">There were two beautiful old houses on the subsoi between 11 and 13 and one was a spa. The closest mall was Siam Paragon. </span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Today, as I went down the soi (which is torn up with construction), all of those things are gone and in their place is "luxury" condos, three new hotels, 2 hotels under construction, two big dance clubs (Club Insanity and Levels), an expensive "Argentine Steak House", a Baskin Robbins, a Starbucks, an Au Bon Pain, a Pomodoro, and lots and lots of empty little bars that used to be there scheduled to be knocked down for luxury condos. </span><br />
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<a href="https://16rg79206p914dhzdf2tvfcm-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/11-au-bon-pain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://16rg79206p914dhzdf2tvfcm-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/11-au-bon-pain.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">We have Terminal 21 on one side, Central Embassy on the other, and the big giant splashy Emquartier two stops away. The Thai junta banned the VW buses and all the fun character seems washed away. </span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Guess its time to go before the whole city turns into a sanitized mall of chains that you can find anywhere in the world.</span></div>
Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-6497801114230469282017-09-10T08:21:00.001+02:002017-09-10T08:21:48.023+02:00Leaving Thailand: Reflections 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://media.licdn.com/media/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAlTAAAAJDUyYzI0ZWZmLTU2ZmEtNDg0MC1iZjNmLWZiM2ViOGE3ZDk5YQ.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="646" height="107" src="https://media.licdn.com/media/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAlTAAAAJDUyYzI0ZWZmLTU2ZmEtNDg0MC1iZjNmLWZiM2ViOGE3ZDk5YQ.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I get my medical care at <a href="https://www.bumrungrad.com/thailandhospital" target="_blank">Bumrungrad hospital</a> which is a super diverse place. They have a McDonalds there that i always find myself eating a sundae at - today no different. The mix of people joining me at this American travesty of a restaurant really sums up Bangkok for me: Older Thai people with devoted adult children, sweet Thai nurses, old Arab men surrounded by veiled women and men in polo shirts and cargo pants, old white men with their young pregnant Thai wives, backpackers with motorcycle rashes, Thai and Indian families with young children, and a smattering of white expat women like me. The Japanese all go to Samitivej hospital. I will miss this slice of humanity and Thai kindness.</span></div>
Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-21125705744884810332017-06-26T10:56:00.002+02:002017-06-26T10:56:37.062+02:00A little global anti Trump sentiment: Habibi Funk<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-8278167193482724042017-01-09T17:50:00.000+01:002017-01-09T17:54:27.445+01:00Movies from 2016: My Reviews of the Good, the Meh, and the Ugly.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">My thoughts on movies I saw in 2016 </span></b><br />
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(Note: some movies come late to BKK so there are some 2015 movies that I didn't see until 2016. Also, I watch movies on planes... so some are even older.)<br />
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<b>The Good:</b><br />
A Bigger Splash: <a href="https://vimeo.com/174112497" target="_blank">That scene with Ralph Fiennes</a>! The Hot Matthias Schoenaerts. I'd link to the scene with him and Tilda Swinton in the pool but that might be NSFW.<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQfqygkNMqE" target="_blank"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />A Perfect Day</a>: Despite the fact it was shot in Spain and about Wat/San Engineers - it was quite good at the annoyances and joys of being an aid worker. I really think Benicio Del Toro has been a MSF log. And that grumpy French girl is for sure an aid worker.<br />
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<a href="https://films.sff.ba/en/detail?film=A-Conspiracy-of-Faith" target="_blank">A Conspiracy of Faith:</a> Danish film that I watched at the Sarajevo Film Festival. Sort of like a Kurt Wallendar book.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1hWLpPvTOI" target="_blank">As I Open My Eyes</a>: A stunning Tunisian film about what it means to be young and a woman who loves music. Lovely. Sarajevo Film Festival.<br />
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The Big Short - made me cry because people are so greedy and there is nothing we can do to fix the world.<br />
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Brooklyn: love Saoirse Ronan.<br />
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<a href="https://films.sff.ba/en/detail?film=Cameraperson" target="_blank">CameraPerson</a>: Lovely and evocative.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBPZMCYJt5M" target="_blank">Captain Fantastic</a>: I love <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO89rMlkvqw" target="_blank">Viggo Mortenson</a>.<br />
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The Childhood of the Leader: One of the most atmospheric and interesting films I saw this year. Loved the imagery. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnO78-d4Ybo" target="_blank">Watch the trailer and tell me what you think</a>. It's a pity that the whole crowd that came to see it at the Sarajevo Film Festival were only there to ask Ser Davos inane questions about Game of Thrones.<br />
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Dead Pool: I've always been a fan of Ryan Reynolds but he has picked some shitty movies. This one was good and brought us back to his glory days of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qShNioFXXwM" target="_blank">Van Wilder</a>.<br />
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Hail Caesar! Love the Coen Brothers but <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVQ0JFzXMgY" target="_blank">Channing Tatum channeling his Gene Kelly</a>! And "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGpsXuMvApo" target="_blank">Would that it were so simple</a>."<br />
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I, Daniel Blake: It broke my heart. Also Sarajevo Film Festival<br />
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The Legend of Tarzan: Alexander Skarsgård in a loincloth. Need I say more?<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z069ldsumxA" target="_blank"></a><br />
<a href="https://films.sff.ba/en/detail?film=Letters-From-War" target="_blank">Letters from War: </a>Like watching a poem unfold. A Portugese film about the angolan civil war - a Sarajevo Film Festival special.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z069ldsumxA" target="_blank">The Lobster</a>: One of the oddest but best movies I saw last year. What animal would I be? Maybe a long haired pony. :)<br />
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Love and Friendship: Whit Stillman! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MaSK3POHI0" target="_blank">A mean Kate Becksindale</a>! Saw it at the Sarajevo Film Festival where after watching Lady Susan scheme and cheat everyone, a clueless female festival attendant stood up and told us and Whit Stillman that she really admired her and she was a "real woman" and all of us should be more like her.<br />
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Rogue One: Oddly, I read no previews before I went so was blown away! And Diego Luna!<br />
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Sicario - Emily Blount as a bad ass and serious evil drug lords but a bit confusing and not quite sure what was going on .<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tP7k4wqVJo" target="_blank">Testament to Youth </a>- doomed british young men and Jon Snow marching off to war instead of Oxford. Weep Weep Weep<br />
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Taxi Driver:<br />
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<b>The Meh:</b><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nROIZUhRgY" target="_blank">Absolutely Fabulous</a>: I wanted it to be so much more. But it was just okay. But I still love Patsy and Edina.<br />
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Burned - Bradley Cooper trying to channel Anthony Bourdain without the charm and saucy sexy sparkle but serious food porn<br />
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Hacksaw Ridge: Andrew Garfield alternating between Jesus and Forrest Gump. Some of the grossest violence ever. But an amazing man and a real life story. Too bad Mel Gibson was directing it. <br />
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Doctor Strange: Is there a movie that Benedict Cumberbatch WON'T do? He's turning into Nicolas Cage.<br />
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Zootopia: Not a huge fan of animated films. Cute but not memorable.<br />
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Land of Blood and Honey: Angelina Jolie's film about rape in Sarajevo. Some good performances but very dull. She seems to equate dull with serious.<br />
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<a href="https://films.sff.ba/en/detail?film=Graduation" target="_blank">Graduation:</a> A Romanian film about a young girls' rape and her fathers ambitions for her. Just meh.<br />
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Various short movies at the Sarajevo Film Festival - not a fan of short movies.<br />
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<b>The Awful:</b><br />
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The Hateful 8 - awful and boring "a long racist play."<br />
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<a href="https://films.sff.ba/en/detail?film=Humidity" target="_blank">Humidity</a>: A Sarajevo Film Festival Serbian Film. I was so bored and annoyed. It made me hate everything about Serbia. At the end, the man next to me and I just sighed and said "Thank god its over."<br />
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<a href="https://films.sff.ba/en/detail?film=Los-bastardos" target="_blank">Los Bastardos</a>: Just <a href="http://www.indiewire.com/2016/10/snl-film-festival-emily-blunt-saturday-night-live-1201737211/" target="_blank">like this skit</a> from Saturday Night Live ... a pretentious and weird student film.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrDI4-BSovs" target="_blank">How to Be Single</a>: One of the worst films I've ever seen. Dakota Johnson has ZERO chemistry. She is sooo lame.<br />
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Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-37484182474828181412017-01-09T16:21:00.002+01:002017-01-09T16:21:49.387+01:002015: A year in movies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The good:<br />
<br />
Star Wars: The Force Awakens!<br />
<br />
Mad Max: Fury Road<br />
<br />
The Martian<br />
<br />
Bridge of Spies<br />
<br />
Spectre<br />
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Magic Mike: XXL<br />
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Spy<br />
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Mission Impossible<br />
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What we do in the shadows<br />
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White God<br />
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<br />
Meh:<br />
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Jurassic World<br />
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Hunger Games: Part 4<br />
<br />
While We're Young<br />
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<br />
The Bad:<br />
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Avengers: Age of Ultron<br />
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<br /></div>
Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-37087287582014584042017-01-09T06:45:00.000+01:002017-01-09T16:23:38.870+01:00Countries I have visited (2017)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Afghanistan<br />
Albania (2017)<br />
Australia<br />
Austria<br />
Belgium<br />
Bosnia - Herzegovina (2017)<br />
Botswana<br />
Bulgaria (2017)<br />
Burma/Myanmar<br />
Cambodia<br />
Canada<br />
Central African Republic<br />
Colombia<br />
Democratic Republic of Congo<br />
Cote d'Ivoire<br />
Czech Republic<br />
Denmark<br />
Egypt<br />
Ethiopia<br />
Finland<br />
France<br />
Germany<br />
Ghana<br />
Greece (2017)<br />
Guatemala<br />
Guinea<br />
Haiti<br />
Honduras<br />
Hong Kong (2017)<br />
Hungary<br />
India<br />
Indonesia<br />
Ireland<br />
Israel<br />
Italy<br />
Jamaica<br />
Japan<br />
Jordan<br />
Kenya<br />
Laos<br />
Lebanon<br />
Liberia<br />
Libya<br />
Luxembourg<br />
Macedonia (2017)<br />
Malaysia<br />
Mexico<br />
Montenegro (2017)<br />
Nepal<br />
Netherlands<br />
Norway<br />
Pakistan<br />
Papua New Guinea<br />
Philippines<br />
Poland<br />
Portugal<br />
Qatar<br />
Rwanda<br />
Saudi Arabia<br />
Senegal<br />
Serbia (2017)<br />
Sierra Leone<br />
Singapore<br />
Slovakia<br />
Slovenia<br />
Somalia<br />
South Africa<br />
South Sudan<br />
Spain<br />
Sri Lanka<br />
Sudan<br />
Sweden<br />
Switzerland<br />
Syria<br />
Taiwan<br />
Thailand<br />
Turkey<br />
Uganda<br />
United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland but not Northern Ireland)<br />
United States of America<br />
United Arab Emirates<br />
Vatican City<br />
Vietnam<br />
Zimbabwe<br />
<br /></div>
Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-67290591640587704912016-12-31T01:25:00.000+01:002018-01-09T01:30:37.508+01:002016: Cat Sitting for the Soul<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGgBsbQdIT2oq9w8oZ9CFtaBApIekEhxee0zhqC2wXV2kYayBhuCkcaYw0fuQ8admQSEpKHGoCZMQl3Xdz-hkOVjcbVg3HLu8h35zWFyMOGqGXKwAWIy2RZh9NVc2XJgJ7FpXhQ/s1600/IMG_9556.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1239" data-original-width="1239" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGgBsbQdIT2oq9w8oZ9CFtaBApIekEhxee0zhqC2wXV2kYayBhuCkcaYw0fuQ8admQSEpKHGoCZMQl3Xdz-hkOVjcbVg3HLu8h35zWFyMOGqGXKwAWIy2RZh9NVc2XJgJ7FpXhQ/s320/IMG_9556.JPG" width="319" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Hello all: </span><br />
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Happy New Year! It's a bit late but I hope you'll accept my greetings! I feel like 2016 had me always a day late on everything. So a short catch up on my whirlwind life: </div>
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Last year, I traveled to 24 countries* including 8 new ones (Hong Kong, Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzagovina, and Greece) bringing my total of countries up to 84! I still have so many places to see though, I'll never get tired of traveling but I am getting tired of moving around so much. I want a home and a place to live that I can settle into and get to know my neighbors, have a garden, and all those other homey things. </div>
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On the career front, I started off the job as the Regional Emergency Gender-based Violence Advisor for Asia and the Pacific - a job that seemed like it was something I would like but that I instead felt frustrated in. The internal UN politics are not where I am happy. I like being in the field with women's organizations and teaching humanitarian aid workers about gender and GBV and getting them inspired. I went to London to attend a certificate course on Research Methods about GBV in February and while there was interviewed for what seemed like a dream job. </div>
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In April, I took the job as Initiatives Director for Women and Children's Protection at the International Rescue Committee based in Belgrade, Serbia. I was to map what was happening with the Syrian, Afghan, and other migrants/refugees/asylum seekers (whatever you wish to call them) as they moved through Europe and tried to get to Germany, Sweden, and other countries. I moved to Belgrade in April but it was one week after the EU-Turkey deal took place which sealed the borders and dropped the flow of immigrants. </div>
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It was a fantastic job - I interviewed refugees and got to know them in Berlin, in Serbia, I traveled all over the Balkans (hence many of those 8 new countries). But unfortunately, the world's attention shifted now that refugees were being moved via smugglers and there weren't the dramatic boat and group shots at the borders on the nightly news. There were still immense protection violations and women and children were at even greater risk from smugglers and others as they attempted to illegally move through the continent but with donors attentions elsewhere, IRC decided to discontinue my position and scale back. </div>
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This also coincided with a moment I had been dreading - the death of Simon Le Bon, my adored Siamese cat. He was the loudest cat in the world, a real love bug, and a force of nature. He was 16 years old and while still quite spry and energetic and loud as ever, he had started to have some problems with his kidneys. My constant time away from him was an awful thing but I did the best I could for him. He was a well-traveled and deeply loved cat. I still can hear his meow when I come back to my apartment every day. I was in Serbia when he died and I dreaded returning back to Thailand to no job, an empty apartment, and the heat and humidity and assorted big city life. </div>
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Thankfully, after a good holiday in Budapest with my bestie Alec I felt a bit better and then a series of cat sitting gigs opened up. I am calling it <b>Autumn 2016: Cat Sitting for the Soul</b>. I met four new cats in Sarajevo, Bosnia where i stayed for August and September. Naila and Garu and Dirty Frank and the late loved Bobbie Magee (RIP). They kept me warm, purred over my broken heart, and kept me attentive to the needs of their littler boxes and food bowls. I even received some gifts of dead birds and grasshoppers. And a few fur balls. I also looked after the elegant Labneh in Paris for a while and hung out with the old dude, Primo in Berlin. </div>
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After healing up a bit, I took off traveling around Europe looking for that elusive place that I'd like to call home. I visited Athens, Greece which I loved because of its connection with my father. But there were a few too many aid workers and it stressed me out thinking I was the "old woman' being irritated with young new faces working in humanitarian aid. I went to Berlin, home of my good friend Mike Dumiak (from Drinking Big 40s in the Graveyard in Sumter, SC fame) and it seems like a great fit. I also went to Lisbon, Portugal with my friends the famous author (!!) and his handsome DJ husband, Saleem Haddad and Adam Barr. So glamorous - I hope the paparazzi spells my name right and doesn't get wind of us stuck in an elevator for 3 hours! And Paris - gorgeous Paris - home of extremely expensive apartments and my glamorous friends (as well as the elegant aforementioned Labneh). I'm still figuring it out. Alyson joined me in the autumn for a trip we've been planning for years which probably makes no sense to anyone but us: Auschwitz and Neuschwanstein. we are both mad about history, she studied German and European history and we love castles. We had a book on our living room table since childhood of castles of the world and Neuschwanstein was the cover photo and we have been talking about going there forever. We had a great trip and worked in Vienna and Prague as well. </div>
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I then went over to Beirut, Lebanon to reconnect with my brilliant friend, Lina who runs the Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World where I'll be teaching a class in 2017. And in what we thought was going to be an affirmative win of feminism over crass bigotry, we got together with two other gender-based violence activists to watch the US election returns. I have never been more frightened, anxious, and depressed over politics than I have been since November 6. I took to my bed for two days - waking up to realize it wasn't a nightmare and going back to sleep with a sense of dread and anxiety. </div>
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Sitting in a country like Lebanon that has suffered so much from internecine conflict and lives in a dangerous neighborhood - dangerous because it also serves as a battle ground for USA's political experiments and happens to have the extremely controversial spiritual hubs for three religions right next door - is humbling. It reminded me to calm down because the Lebanese know how to survive in such places but it also made me realize how high the stakes were in this election. I feel so disheartened and my normal political activism is gone. I feel cynical, scared, and hopeless about the future of our world. The fact that one of the first things that the administration of "he who shall not be named" moved to do was cast their Sauron's eyeball towards gender equality programming is chilling and doesn't bode well for the women of the world who have looked to the USA as someone to assist them in their search for equality.</div>
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So I returned to Bangkok for Thanksgiving 2016 with a group of human rights activists and americans. We were sad and subdued this year. And I returned to my apartment and did a little more travel in Asia - visiting Yogyakarta and Borobodur, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Hoi An and Hanoi, Vietnam, Chiang Mai and Hua Hin, Thailand before returning back to Bangkok to begin consulting again. </div>
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<br />So despite the many movements and job changes in 2016, I start off 2017 sort of where I started - back in Bangkok, unsure of where to go next, and working as a consultant. I'm also turning 50 this year so it feels like a year that should involve some change. However, as I analyze the findings from my sabbatical, I'm trying to focus on the good things like my cat friends taught me on my sabbatical. Find a sunbeam and lie in it to rejuvenate yourself, nap whenever possible as we all need more sleep, when in doubt - pause and take a bath, and show your love for those that feed you and make sure that you get the type of food you want. If they don't, then maybe you should pee in their fireplace. </div>
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So - what is next? I don't know! Stay tuned! Happy 2017,</div>
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Sarah (available for cat sitting gigs globally)</div>
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Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-15246815439457092052016-11-09T22:39:00.001+01:002016-11-09T22:39:18.098+01:00Cooking to heal your broken political heart<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reposted from my cooking blog <a href="http://bleucheeseandredwine.blogspot.com/2016/11/cooking-to-heal-your-broken-political.html" target="_blank">Bleu Cheese and Red Wine</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I read Slavenka Draculic's book "How We Survived
Communism and Even Laughed" this summer while on sabbatical. I had long
wanted to read it and I'm glad I did - its a bit dated but her look at the fall
of communism and the rise of capitalism through the prism of women's eyes was
much needed. She spoke about talking with women about the lousy way men have
treated them while they sit in similar kitchens all over the former Yugoslavia
cooking noodle soups. So many disappointing men, so much noodle soup.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Last night when I watched the miserable returns of the
2016 US Election, I felt broken hearted - its the strongest and most emotional
I've ever felt about a political event. I was upset and shocked as the returns
came in and I fled to be by myself as I often do when confronted with awful
news. That morning (for it was 4:45am when I realized where it was going),
I treated myself gently and just let sleep heal me. But every time I woke
up, I was reminded of the unpleasant news. I felt simultaneously like there had
been a death and a breakup. The realization and the resulting emotions were
shocking to me and I felt so sad - for the world will change in a dramatic way
soon and not for the better for the people I work with - refugee women and
children and the poor and vulnerable around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">So I turned to something comforting. I decided to make my
family's famous spaghetti sauce. Just like the broken-hearted women of
communist Croatia - it was time to retreat to the kitchen and cook and let the
smell of spices and onions and broth and tomatoes comfort me. I will feed
others and take care of myself and start to feel healing myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I made my father's famous spaghetti sauce. And listened
to music and as the meal came together, a feeling of comfort and my old strength
to fight is beginning to flow inside me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-68655252226318749042016-08-18T22:10:00.001+02:002016-08-18T22:10:51.937+02:00World Humanitarian Day 2016: South Sudan and Rape and Being an AidWorker<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 15.3333px; line-height: 25.5333px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghn9XhS57v-j447Y58w2qN2vApz3-ovjGRwEdI-MGXu79fziFpresYHJaUiSKUtWxTVx_faP5IWF6_8FBZ_bX6uT7VENcKcDUXF_mRGPcVE_CeeI-_NiU_by8aZVVij3Zs-APNXA/s640/blogger-image--1461602915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghn9XhS57v-j447Y58w2qN2vApz3-ovjGRwEdI-MGXu79fziFpresYHJaUiSKUtWxTVx_faP5IWF6_8FBZ_bX6uT7VENcKcDUXF_mRGPcVE_CeeI-_NiU_by8aZVVij3Zs-APNXA/s640/blogger-image--1461602915.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 15.3333px; line-height: 25.5333px;">I just wrote about this in the </span><a href="https://cassandracomplexblog.wordpress.com/2016/08/18/a-personal-reflection-on-world-humanitarian-day-2016-and-womens-safety/" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15.3333px; line-height: 25.5333px;" target="_blank">Cassandra Complexity</a><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 15.3333px; line-height: 25.5333px;">, a blog I help co-edit with friends but here's a rougher more personal account.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 15.3333px; line-height: 25.5333px;">August 19 is World Humanitarian Day where humanitarian aid workers like me remember our colleagues who were killed in the line of duty. Today, I am also now thinking about the particular vulnerability that women face: being raped in the line of duty. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 15.3333px; line-height: 25.5333px;">A few days ago, the </span><a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/237fa4c447d74698804be210512c3ed1/rampaging-south-sudan-troops-raped-foreigners-killed-local" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15.3333px; line-height: 25.5333px;" target="_blank">AP published a report </a><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 15.3333px; line-height: 25.5333px;">about the South Sudanese army's attacks on a popular expatriate lodging, "Terrain House", in Juba, Sudan where three female expatriate aid workers were raped by multiple soldiers. The rage and sadness I felt about the UN's refusal to deploy peacekeepers to protect these civilians threw me into a sad dark place. I'm currently on sabbatical in Sarajevo, Bosnia and this sadness was compounded by all the dark European movies I had been watching at the Sarajevo Film Festival. I cried through the movie <a href="http://chickeneggpics.org/film/cameraperson/" target="_blank">Cameraperson</a> because it had a lot of scenes that hit close to home - women chopping wood in Zalingei (reminded me of almost getting shot on my way to Kass in South Darfur), a baby being born and dying in Nigeria (reminded me of dying babies in Haiti post-earthquake in MSF's obstetric hospital, Afghanistan (the fear I felt there driving around at night), and scenes from Liberia (where I had my first security fright thanks to a dumbass Congolese man that I was traveling with). I was already feeling raw when I read this report. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 19.15pt;">I then learned that the US Embassy (my Embassy!) had also failed to do ANYTHING to protect these
American citizens and had "made some phone calls." Eventually the
Government of Sudan sent in someone to rescue the people but the local staff of
the hotel and 3 women were left behind to be rescued the next day by a private
security force. </span><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 19.15pt;">What must it have felt like to be the people "left
behind"? I couldn't stop myself from instantly imagining myself as one of the three expatriate women
left overnight with the rapist soldiers. It's every woman's worst nightmare. For my sanity, I had to stop. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Aid workers started lamenting this issue and expressing our rage and sadness. Female aid workers everywhere are deeply shaken
by this event. Some are privately expressing how afraid they feel but that they feel worse for abandoning South Sudanese women who bear the brunt of the sexual violence. </span><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 19.15pt;">The most frustrating part was the false sense of security that
being nearby the peacekeepers provided. Our so-called "safety and security systems" (including useless TRIP forms filled out on line) are not
always going to be there. It's obvious that we, as women, are usually
alone out there sometimes, and as every woman everywhere in the world has
learned since puberty, you have to take responsibility for your own safety and
security.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Our "security professionals" are often ignoring
women's needs or have REALLY outdated viewpoints on how women can protect
themselves. In Bangkok, at the recent women's day- our security personnel at
the UN told women that they should "smile more" and in Jordan, the
UNHCR security personnel who was giving me a brief there said I should
"dress decently" (to which I responded, since I'm a decent person anything
I wear is, by definition, decent). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I'm too angry and sad to write a more professional polished
piece - so I give you instead, a piece that i wrote about this in 2012. It was inspired by events that took place in 2012 after I had finished a year working in Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan for the UN. </span><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 15.3333px; line-height: 25.5333px;">I took a Hostile Environment Awareness Training course before I went to Libya with the British government for the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative. I was really nervous as in mid 2011, there had been an attack on the hotel where i had worked in Kabul right after I left and I realized I had never felt safe in that country. I didn't know how I would react to the simulated situation. I was most nervous about the "fake kidnapping" part - and as it turns out - I was fine, but one of my colleagues was not. She was a survivor and experienced a flashback during this section of the training. Our mostly male trainers had no psychologist on standby and were not prepared to support her so I was called in. In order to deal with it, I decided to take action and become an activist on this issue. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Gender-based Violence and Security<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">This blog post was published by USAID to coincide with the 16
Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence event, “Who Takes Care of the
Caregivers? Providing Care and Safety for Staff in Gender-based Violence
Settings,” taking place on Thursday, Nov. 29th 2012 in Washington DC, hosted by
the Inter-Agency Gender Working Group, funded by USAID. It is no longer
available online but a copy of it can be found </span><a href="http://screamsfromthepinkcollarghetto.blogspot.ba/2012/12/gender-based-violence-and-security.html"><span style="color: #00aadc; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">here</span></a><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 25.5333px;">The Tips that I wrote for travelers can be found </span><a href="http://screamsfromthepinkcollarghetto.blogspot.ba/2012/12/tips-on-preventing-and-responding-to.html" style="line-height: 25.5333px;"><span style="color: #00aadc; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">here</span></a><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 25.5333px;">. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.15pt; margin-bottom: .25in;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Gender-based Violence (GBV) is an issue that impacts aid workers
– not just beneficiaries and not just staff that works in GBV settings. This
post examines agencies’ duty to care for their workers by preventing and
responding to GBV. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #E9EFF3; line-height: 19.15pt; margin-bottom: .25in;">
<span style="color: #4f748e; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">“Keeping International Workers Safe:
Preventing and Responding to Gender-based Violence”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #E9EFF3; line-height: 19.15pt; margin-bottom: .25in;">
<b><span style="color: #4f748e; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Sarah Martin, Consultant and Specialist on
Prevention and Response to Gender-based Violence</span></b><span style="color: #4f748e; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #E9EFF3; line-height: 19.15pt; margin-bottom: .25in;">
<span style="color: #4f748e; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The sexual assault of the journalists Lara
Logan, Mona Eltahawy and two unnamed British and French journalists in Egypt
shocked the world and brought the issue of gender-based violence (GBV) against
Westerners working in conflict areas to the forefront. Clearly GBV does not
only affect the "locals" in these areas. Not only are journalists at
risk but also aid workers–and not just in conflict settings or in GBV program
areas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #E9EFF3; line-height: 19.15pt; margin-bottom: .25in;">
<span style="color: #4f748e; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I recently interviewed a large cross section
of women travelers who work in a number of fields (including international
development, human rights, humanitarian action and international business) about
their experiences as women while traveling and working
overseas*. Many of them brought up their frustration that sexual
harassment and sexual assault were never raised in security trainings and that
agencies refused to address this as a real security concern. Increasingly, aid
agencies are providing more “realistic” security trainings that simulate
“hostile environments to prepare their employees for gunfire, kidnappings and
other events in the field.” While some of these trainings talk about
sexual assault, there are no discussions of how to prevent sexual assault or
how to react or support colleagues if they are assaulted. Sexual harassment in
the workplace as a security issue is often ignored. In addition, the purveyors
of these trainings are mostly male and show little awareness to the issue of
sexual assault or the gender concerns of female trainees. I recently attended
one such training where one of the participants relived her own sexual assault
from years ago while undergoing a simulated “kidnapping.” While they took her
out of the simulation, there were no psychologists or female trainers available
to talk to her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #E9EFF3; line-height: 19.15pt; margin-bottom: .25in;">
<span style="color: #4f748e; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Female development and aid workers have the
same security concerns as their male counterparts: crime and landmine accidents
and armed robberies do not discriminate. Security measures, trainings, and
manuals are the same for men and women, and most agencies take a ‘gender-blind’
approach to security. Most security officers are men, and many of them come
from a military background. This gender-blind approach to security, however,
leaves out a major issue. Women also face another security threat
that most men do not encounter – gender-based violence, namely sexual
harassment and sexual violence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #E9EFF3; line-height: 19.15pt; margin-bottom: .25in;">
<span style="color: #4f748e; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Rape myths promote the false idea that women are
only sexually assaulted by strangers. While this can happen, women are much
more likely to be attacked by someone familiar to them – a co-worker, a driver,
or a friend. Most of the women I interviewed shared stories about fending off
sexual harassment by colleagues or actual cases of sexual assault in the
field. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #E9EFF3; line-height: 19.15pt; margin-bottom: .25in;">
<span style="color: #4f748e; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Rarely is their organization prepared to
handle these issues. While there has been some action taken on “building safe
organizations” – the focus has been preventing sexual exploitation of our beneficiaries
by our staff. But there is not sufficient attention paid to sexual harassment
of our staff by our staff or adequate support for staff that have been sexually
assaulted. There is little information in the security manuals that I have
reviewed about what medical care a survivor may need or what rights a sexual
assault survivor might have. Nor is there guidance on reporting to local
authorities, human resources or guarantees of confidentiality. Responsible
employers must be prepared to understand and deal with the fact that their
employees might become victims of sexual assault </span><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#13b4789b39e11aaa__ftn1"><span style="color: #00aadc; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">[1]</span></a><span style="color: #4f748e; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> and should be
prepared to support them. This means bringing the issue of sexual assault up in
security trainings and sensitizing the trainers and security personnel on how
to address the issue – but not by restricting women’s access to “dangerous
areas” but by making sure female employees are informed of the dangers,
provided with information on how to protect themselves, and given sensitive and
adequate support by their organizations in case the worst happens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #E9EFF3; line-height: 19.15pt; margin-bottom: .25in;">
<a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#13b4789b39e11aaa__ftnref1"><span style="color: #00aadc; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;">[1]</span></a><span style="color: #4f748e; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Global statistics
show that 1 out of 3 women has experienced some form of sexual harassment or
assault.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #E9EFF3; line-height: 19.15pt;">
<span style="color: #4f748e; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> * From the chapter I wrote entitled “Sexual Assault:
Preventing And Responding As An International Travelers in
the book Personal Security: A Guide for International Travelers, by
Tanya Spencer, ISBN: 9781466559448 commissioned and published by
Taylor and Francis, LLC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.15pt;">
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Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31939058.post-793523433318885932016-05-21T10:00:00.001+02:002016-05-21T10:00:04.537+02:00Spring time in the Balkans with Syrian and Afghan Refugees<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://www.thenational.ae/storyimage/AB/20150830/OPINION/150839929/AR/0/&NCS_modified=20150830151324&MaxW=640&imageVersion=default&AR-150839929.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.thenational.ae/storyimage/AB/20150830/OPINION/150839929/AR/0/&NCS_modified=20150830151324&MaxW=640&imageVersion=default&AR-150839929.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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So in April, I quit my job as the Regional GBV Advisor for the global GBV Working Group in Bangkok. I wanted to work on the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe and I had a great opportunity to do so by working with the International Rescue Committee as the "Initiatives Director for Women and Children's Protection" - sadly, by the time I had resigned and got here, the EU-Turkey deal was in place and the large migration had halted so there are far fewer migrants moving through Europe. But the job is still great and super interesting.</div>
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I'm living in Belgrade, Serbia (a place I never thought I would ever go) and I'm working with a small nice team of people here. They just found me an apartment that overlooks the big park here and I can walk down to the Danube. The beer is good, the meat is heavy and tasty, and I had better find a gym immediately or I will become as wide as I am tall. My job involves going to the different countries in the Balkans and looking at the needs of women and children migrants and seeing if IRC should open up programming and how to do it to support them. So it reminds me a bit of my Refugees International life where I go someplace for a short period of time and do intensive interviews with refugees, NGOs, and government officials and taken in vast amounts of information trying to understand the situation. But I then get to help design programs to address the needs which is wonderful. </div>
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First up: I went to Berlin for 2 weeks and met with local volunteers, the government, German NGOs, and toured many of the shelters where Syrian and Afghan refugees are living. It was both super heartening to meet the German volunteers who were devoting time and resources to helping the refugees understand the really intense bureaucracy of German life but also really depressing to see that all the same problems we see in camps in Liberia, Jordan, Sri Lanka, and Haiti are happening in a rich Western country - no segregation of vulnerable young women from the men, rape of children by "volunteers" and attacks in toilets because of lack of lighting or locks on doors. People who are interested in volunteering are also naive and soon become angry or depressed at the "ingratitude" of Syrians who are often middle class educated people who would like to just have a job, thank you, so they can buy what they need and get on with their lives rather than throwing off their veils, putting on ripped jeans, and becoming Germans. I interviewed young adolescent girls, lesbians, single mothers, and women with three children. Every single one of them discussed some aspect of groping, sexual exploitation, assault, and harassment on the journey - from the sex-starved young men of Syria and Afghanistan but also from the authorities along the route but mostly by the smugglers. The men who they had entrusted their lives with to make the dangerous journey.</div>
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For my next assessment, I went to Albania - a country that I really had very little knowledge about. I hadn't seen "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZOywn1qArI" target="_blank">Taken</a>" in which Albanian mobsters apparently play a huge role. I had vaguely read some information about their terrible communism. But mostly I knew them from a Simpson cartoon. I was blown away by the kindness, the beauty of their country, and the cultural heritage they have. i read a fantastic book called <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/708124.Chronicle_in_Stone" target="_blank">A Chronicle in Stone</a> by Ismael Kadare and fell in love with his hometown of Ghirokastra. However, I did not meet nor see a single refugee. I did spend 2 hours stuck on the Greek-Albanian border and driving through some seriously high mountains and eating some good food. </div>
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Now, I've just visited the third country for my assignment - It's been very interesting in Bulgaria - we were inside all the camps. Apparently the Afghan men (and its thousands of them) have been instructed by the smugglers to destroy the lodgings for them and take photos so they can show how discriminatory everyone is against Afghans and it will "help them in their asylum cases." It won't. All it is doing is making everyone think they are animals. I keep hearing all these terrible things about them. It makes me sad. I fight back and say I've been to Afghanistan and the people there are kind, have lovely homes, and show amazing hospitality. I remind them that its not safe there and the war still rages on despite the lack of interest from Western media. </div>
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There are SO MANY OF THESE YOUNG MEN. Young men - ages 15-17 (some younger but lying about their ages) with no future in Afghanistan, climbing through forests, swimming in rivers, and sleeping in these old Bulgarian army barracks. they only stay for one or two days and then they are off - looking for the promised land of Germany. Where Afghanistan is considered "post-conflict" and safe so they will be denied asylum status and will probably disappear into the "illegal" sectors living in the shadows. The same "smugglers" who lie to them and bring them across the continent also move the illegal drugs and traffic people into sex work. The young men are bored and restless, there is nothing for them to do in the asylum centers so they smoke and loiter around. Still, they are children - when you talk to them about sports or games or their favorite food - you see the young boy inside. there are still girls here too - and because they are fearful of all these young men, they are trapped inside the centers - not allowed to really go outside and enjoy the spring, kept inside for their safety. I will be pushing for women's centers where we can bring them together to chat, meet each other, possibly form some friendships or alliances where they can open up and find support for the troubles they have. And trying to think of ways to reach these young men. Because we know they are also vulnerable and there is a trade in sex trafficking for young men too. Behind their bravado and their male posturing, they are also vulnerable children. Some of the nights, after spending all day in the asylum centers and processing all the information, we were so tired. But as I drove through the countryside and saw the poppies and waving fields of grain and mountains, and elderflowers and breathed in the fresh air, I also felt pretty happy. </div>
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Back to Belgrade tomorrow after a weekend in Sofia, Bulgaria and next up - Macedonia? Greece? Hungary? Stay tuned. </div>
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My contract is only til July 1 but I have the opportunity to do this for a year, I'm still mulling it over but it looks like a move away from Asia may be in the books. I hope Simon Le Bon likes beef and loud Serbian music! </div>
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xoxox</div>
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Smartipantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130269875342547445noreply@blogger.com0