#it ends with a large window view of the new city of jerusalem FOR A REASON

[screw-u-vaanu]

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[wallace53wallace-blog]

Automobile Transfers Amalfi Coast, Car With Motorist Naples, Sergio And Fabio Barbaro Drivers In Amalfi

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[dd20century]

California Mid-century Architect John Lautner Part Two

Read “California Mid-century Architect John Lautner: Part One”

John Lautner’s Career During World War II

During World War II, the architect John Lautner joined the Struction Company, working on military engineering and construction projects. This would prove invaluable experience for the architect. During his tenure at Struction he was exposed to the latest “developments in construction technology” (2). In 1944 Lautner worked as a design associate for Douglas Honnold’s architectural firm. “He collaborated with Honnold on several projects, including [two] Coffee Dan's restaurants on Vine St., Hollywood, and on Broadway downtown Los Angeles and a remodel of the Beverly Hills Athletic Club” (2). According to Lautner, he designed about 150 projects under Honnold, with about 15 of them actually being built (4). That same year Lautner’s Bell House was featured in “the article "Three Western Homes" in the March edition of House & Garden” (2). The home was photographed by Julius Schuman marking the beginning of a career-long working relationship between the two (2).

Lautner’s Post-war Commercial Work

Launter left Honnold’s firm in 1947 as a result of Lautner’s affair with Honnold’s wife, Elizabeth Gilman. Lautner’s first wife, MaryBud took the children and moved back to Michigan. Lautner and Gilman married in 1948; Lautner moved into the Honnold residence with Gilman and established his architecture firm there. Despite all that had transpired, Douglas Honnold and Lautner remained good friends (2).

Publicity for Lautner’s work like the House and Garden spread gained the architect several significant commercial commissions: Henry’s Drive-in (1947), Googie’s (1949), Coffee Dan’s (chain 1946 -1949), the UPA Studio (1949) and the Desert Hot Springs Motel (1948) (4,6).

John Lautner, Coffee Dan’s Restaurant (1946), Los Angeles (demolished). Image source.

These works helped define the term “Googie Architecture.” Although “Googie Architecture” had its roots in the streamlined Art Deco structures of Southern California, the style took off as the car culture exploded in the years after World War II. Lautner’s aforementioned Googie’s. Coffee Dan’s, and Henry’s Drive-in were iconic examples. This style of architecture made use of strong geometric shapes and bright colors that would attract the motorists’ attention as they sped down the highway. Other features included “large pylons with elevated signs, bold neon letters and circular pavilions” (1). Along with Lautner, the architects Donald Honnold (Lautner’s former employer), Louis Armet and Eldon Davis became well-known practitioners of the style (1). In the decades after the 1950s “Googie Architecture” was derided for being “it too flashy and vernacular” (1).  In more recent years, however, with the publication of Alan Hess’s Googie: Ultra Modern Road Side Architecture the public has gained a greater appreciation for the style (1).

Lautner’s Outstanding California Mid-century Modern Residences 

“The Southern California climate and light allowed John Lautner to use large planes of glass, exposed wood, and other elements that brought nature into his designs,”(5) along with his superb engineering skills, he designed some of the most unique and memorable California mid-century modern residences. It was during the 1950s and 1960s when Lautner would design his most iconic residences: the Leonard J. Malin House (1960), also known as “The Chemosphere”, the Reiner Residence (“Silvertop”) (1956), the Russ Garcia House (1958-62), and the Paul Sheats House (1963).

The Chemosphere was built in 1960 on a steep slope in the Los Angeles hills. The unique structure consists of an eight-sided structure encircled in wide horizontal picture windows, supported by “a 50-foot concrete pillar that rests on a massive concrete pad 20 feet in diameter and 3 feet thick, buried into the rocky hillside” (2). The building has been used as the location for several movies and television shows. In 2000 “German publisher Benedikt Taschen purchased” (2) and restored the Chemosphere.

John Lautner,  Leonard J. Malin House “The Chemosphere” (1960), Los Angeles. Image source.

In the 1956 Reiner Residence, also sited on a sloping piece of land in Los Angeles features a cantilevered concrete driveway and a “curving living-room window wall … made of five hanging glass panels” (7). Lautner employs the curve as a recurring device used throughout the structure: the walls, the driveway, and the swimming pool – all are curved. There is no straight wall in the home. Due to financial issues original client, Kenneth Reiner never got to an opportunity to live in the house which remained unoccupied until 1976 when the house was bought by Philip and Jacklyn Burchill (7).

The Russ Garcia house “built from 1958 to 1962” (7) is comprised of two structures united under one arched roof. Lautner’s use of the curve is also prominent in this structure (7). A distinctive feature of the Garcia House is “the colored panes of glass in the living room” (2) which earned the house the nickname “the Rainbow House.” The Garcia House was used as a location in the film Lethal Weapon 2 (1982) (2).

John Lautner, Russ Garcia House (1962), Los Angeles, CA. Photo credit: Julius Shulman, 1975. Julius Shulman photography archive. The Getty Research Institute, 2004.R.10  Image source.

In 1963 Lautner designed the Paul Sheats House for a college professor and his artist wife. The Sheats House is often compared with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House (1924) for its use of structural concrete, its stunning views of Los Angeles and the complex engineering techniques used throughout the building (8). Unlike the Reiner and Garcia Houses, the triangle replaces the curves as the prominent design motif. The living room features a dramatic triangle latticed ceiling. This house has earned the nickname “The Big Lebowski House” after it was used for a scene in the 1993 film. Its most recent owner businessman James Goldstein “donated the house and its contents to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2016” (8).

John Lautner, Paul Sheats House, living room interior (1963), Los Angeles, CA. Photo credit: Tom Ferguson. Image source.

Other notable Lautner designed residences located in Palm Springs, California include the Elrod Residence (1968) and the Hope Residence (1973) (6).

John Lautner’s Later Work

In the late 1960s Lautner designed a project for low-cost housing in Jerusalem, but the project was never built (6). In the 1970s Lautner’s major work included the Arango Residence (1973) in Acapulco, Mexico, one of Lautner’s few commissions outside of California and the Crippled Children's Society Rehabilitation Center (1979) in Woodland Hills, CA. Most of Lautner’s projects during the end of his career were remodeling projects (6). Lautner continued to work until his death in 1994 despite failing health and “loss of mobility” (2) that hampered his productivity.

John Lautner, Elrod House (1968), Palm Springs, CA. Image source.

Recognition of John Lautner’s Work

In 1970, John Lautner was made a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects for Excellence in Design.  He received the Gold Medal from the Los Angeles AIA chapter in 1993 for his lifetime achievement (3). Fifty years after Lautner hitchhiked his way to the Olympic Games, he was named as “Olympic Architect for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles” (2). In 2008, Lautner’s work was the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and the following year Lautner was the subject of a documentary feature film directed by Murray Grigor, Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner (2). In 2011, to commemorate the anniversary of the architect’s 100th Birthday, the City of Los Angeles designated July 16 as John Lautner Day. 2

References

Wikipedia, (2019). Googie Architecture. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googie_architecture

Wikipedia, (2019). John Lautner. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lautner

Lautner, Judith, (2008). Biography of John Lautner. John Lautner Foundation. https://www.johnlautner.org/wp/?p=33

John Lautner, (1986). Responsibility, infinity, nature oral history transcript.  Marlene L. Laskey, interviewer; University of California, Los Angeles. Oral History Program. https://archive.org/stream/responsibilityin00laut#page/n77/mode/2up

Los Angeles Conservancy (n.d.). John Lautner. https://www.laconservancy.org/architects/john-lautner

John Lautner Foundation, (2008). Project List Report. http://www.johnlautner.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/ProjectList.pdf

Louie, E., (14 June 1990). For 50 Years, Architect Lets Nature Call the Tune. New York Times Online Archive https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/14/garden/for-50-years-architect-lets-nature-call-the-tune.html

Riefe, J. (19 February 2016). Inside the Big Lebowski house – a masterpiece donated to Lacma. The Guardian Online. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/feb/19/big-lebowski-house-architect-john-lautner

[the-record-columns]

June 12, 2019: Columns

All from a broken window…

By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

A good story is a lot like a good record — there’s nothing wrong with hearing it again — hence the advent of “oldies” stations.  

To that end, now and then I run out of time and thoughts on a Tuesday deadline, and resurrect an old column, usually a favorite for one reason or another, and run it again.  A “retread” if you will, to quote former Wilkes resident Henry Absher, a faithful Georgia reader.

Such is the case when I re-run one of my favorite pieces about the “Angel on the Third floor of Spainhour’s” in which I recounted the time I broke a window in Miss Mary Finley’s front door and the great life lesson she taught me in the following week. When I do “re-run” a piece,  some make the oldies comment, and then, some who haven’t seen it before, offer brand new and often heartening comments, which I lap up like warm milk given to a puppy.

Enter the late Charles Tesh.

Charles Tesh at ChickenFest

I never knew as much about Charles as I would have liked to, but I can tell you he was a wonderful musician and a truly giving individual.  In the case of his relationship with The Record, he performed for us at ChickenFest and at our Salute to Veterans event numerous times, as well as providing logistical and scheduling assistance as well.  

Always cheerfully done and always ending with a smile and a “…let me know what else you need, anytime.”

Charles stopped in one day, shortly after the Miss Mary Finley column appeared, and, after catching up a bit in general, he said those words I so love to hear, “Kenny, I enjoyed your column last week,” followed by “…and it reminded me of a story from my own childhood.”  

I am not sure exactly when this story took place, but it had to be a good while back. It seems as though Charles and a bunch of his childhood buddies were playing baseball on a city street in Lexington one afternoon when he took a mighty swing and fouled off the pitch. That in and of itself was not all that unusual, but this particular foul ball sailed high across the yard of one of the houses on the street and broke a second floor window.

His playmates promptly ran like scalded dogs and left Charles standing in the street with his bat in his hands and his heart in his shoes.  He dutifully trudged up the steps to the front porch of the large stately home, owned by a widower named Mr. Moffit. He was a very well-to-do man who also owned a cotton mill in town, but pretty much kept to himself.

Charles rang the bell and, when Mr. Moffit answered the door, he blurted out that they were playing ball in the street and he had broken a window in his house.

“Why were you playing in the street in the first place?” he queried.

Charles told him the school ball field was locked up for the summer and they really had nowhere else to go.  Mr. Moffit didn’t make a big fuss about the window, he just thanked Charles for owning up to what he had done and told him he had a couple of men at the cotton mill who could fix it, and not to worry about it.

Charles left relieved and didn’t think a whole lot about it, but he and his friends did find a different block to play baseball on.

Soon after, Charles noticed a bulldozer and crew tearing down an old abandoned house not too far from where he lived.  The dozer and the crew stayed on, working on the now vacant lot.  Before he knew it, a proper baseball diamond had been laid out, the outfield sown I grass and the whole shebang fenced in.

Mr. Moffit had bought the property and built a baseball field just for the neighborhood kids to have a proper and safe place to play.  Charles Tesh said as long as he lived in Lexington that ball field was a favorite neighborhood gathering place.  

All from a broken window.

All from being honest.

We lost Charles Tesh in December 2014. All those who knew him continue to mourn his passing and anytime his name comes up there’s always story after story about his musical abilities and his heart of gold. I for one promise to keep the memory of this wonderful man alive.

                                                Charles R. Tesh

                                 July 3, 1942 – December 8, 2014

                                                 Rest in Peace

 The Achilles Heel of Trump’s Deal

By EARL COX

Special to The Record

Within a year after his election, President Trump announced that an Israeli-Palestinian Peace plan was being formulated. The Middle East Peace Plan was dubbed the “Deal Of The Century” for its original thought but details were not given. Such promise elicited high expectations as many saw it as a means of hope. Prime Minister Netanyahu has been reticent from the beginning.

Just as important as the proposed peace plan itself is the timing of its release. President Trump has been waiting for a time of reduced distractions to roll out his plan. While biding the time, Trump moved ahead with filling other political promises.

In February 2018, President Trump announced the U.S. would move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. As expected, Palestinian reaction was negative.  This move prompted Abbas to declare that he will not so much as look at Trump’s proposed Deal despite the fact that Trump gave assurances, without tipping his hand, that the Palestinians will be given an equitable “good deal.”  Much of the peace plan news thereafter centered on indications from Washington that both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) would have to make tough decisions.

In the meantime, Trump’s advisors and officials crisscrossed the Middle East initiating new and closer relationships with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states such as Egypt and Jordan.

However, in March 2018, President Trump signed the Taylor Force Act ending aid to the Palestinian Authority unless they stopped using the money to fund terrorists and their families. The PA refused to stop funding terrorists. They view the issue as unfair leverage against them by the U.S.

Palestinian ire was once again raised in September 2018 when it was announced the U.S. would no longer fund UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) over what it deemed to be a flawed education program for Palestinian school children and not helpful for the advancement of peace.

As the world waited for the PA indignation to simmer down, the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 made headlines. The international implication of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman soured U.S.-Saudi relationships temporarily halting, once again, the release of Trump’s “Deal of the Century.”  

Throughout the year, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s legal troubles for alleged corruption and bribery were going forward leading to possible indictments against him. All the while, Netanyahu wore several hats handling active rocket and arson attacks from Gaza, discovery of terror tunnels from Lebanon, military missions in Syria against Iranian threats, personal legal woes, and battling political opposition over internal affairs. In addition, his barely operable coalition was choked by debate over conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews into national service that continues to this day.

Finally, Israel called for new elections in December 2018, but elections were not held until April 2019. Netanyahu’s Likud Party won but, for the first time in Israel’s history, a coalition for a new government failed to materialize and Israel now faces another election this coming September.

Other than a few ruffles, Europe has been strangely quiet. However, Jared Kushner, who is the president’s advisor and author of the Middle East peace plan, will soon be meeting with the EU’s Commission chief and Foreign Policy chief to discuss this plan. Clearly, there hasn’t been a suitable time to release the “Deal of the Century” peace plan, and doing so in the near future looks bleak.  

In early June 2019, the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and President Trump were, for the first time, conceding that the “Deal of the Century” was not a slam-dunk event and that overall prospects for a favorable outcome were dimming.  The protracted delay for release of the plan is proving to be the Achilles heel of the peace plan.

For Israel, nothing is lost.

Israel has been balancing the status quo with the PA for many years. Continuing its current policies will not be a significant problem above what they have been all along. By their own self-imposed recalcitrance, it appears the PA is opting for the status quo as well.  

Washington is hinting that it now plans to release the peace plan in stages, starting with a summit in Bahrain later this month.  Discussions will include Middle East economic boosts. Later, there will be summits on regional security issues and politics. The Palestinian Authority has publicly announced it will not be attending any of the summits that have anything to do with a peace plan. On the opposite side, the Israelis will attend every summit.  They will not miss an opportunity to forge ahead in the hopes of gaining peace.  

[ladystylestores]

Exploring Makhtesh Ramon in Israel

Guide to Makhtesh Ramon:

Makhtesh Ramon is a large, 40 Km diameter crater in the Negev Desert in the southern part of Israel. So what’s the difference between a “Crater” and a “Makhtesh”?

Crater – A roughly circular depression in the ground usually caused by volcanic activity, impact, or explosion.

Makhtesh – A crater-like geological formation created by erosion.

  The word “Makhtesh” is the Hebrew word for a Mortar and Pestle. The geological landform was given this name because of its similarity to a grinding bowl.

There are only seven such craters in the world, five of them located in the Land of Israel and two in the Sinai Desert near the Egypt-Israel border. Of the five located in Israel, two are tiny near the summit of Mount Arif. The ones in the Sinia desert are also small.

That leaves us with the three main Makhteshim (craters) in Israel:

Makhtesh Hazera (also called the “Small” Makhtesh) is 7 km long, 5 km wide, and over 500 m deep.

Makhtesh Hatira (also called the “Big” Makhtesh) is 14 km long, 6 km wide, and about 400 m deep.

Makhtesh Ramon: The largest makhtesh in the world. Over 40 km long, 10 km wide, and about 400 m deep.

The term “Makhtesh” has been adopted internationally, and geological dictionaries use it when referring to the phenomena.

  How was the “Maktesh” created?

The area was made of a harder top layer of rocks that covered underneath them softer rocks. Over millions of years, erosion removed the softer layer under the harder rock, until it eventually collapsed under their own weight, creating the carter-like valley we see today. This radical collapse of land created a unique “Geological Museum”.

  Getting to Makhtesh Ramon

The crater is located nearby the small desert town of Mitspe Ramon (Population 5,000), about 2.5 hours drive from Tel-Aviv or Jerusalem. It is also served very well with public transport. However, exploring the crater without a car is limited, and therefore a hired car is highly recommended.

  Lodging in and around Makhtesh Ramon

There is a wide range of accommodation options in town (Mitspe Ramon). You can spoil yourself in one of the most luxurious hotels in the country, the Bereshit Hotel. Besides the luxury, you will get a fantastic view of the Makhtesh directly from your private balcony.  On the other side of the spectrum, several hostels offer dormitories and modest private rooms. Besides, you can find many options in between. If you want to be closer to nature, you can sleep in the Beerot Campground located in the heart of the crater (The only lodging option inside the crater). You can sleep there in your own tent, but also in modest shacks and cabins.

  Food & Dining

Mitspe Ramon is a sleepy small town. But it offers a decent selection of restaurants ranging from street food up to higher level. There are also a few pubs and a supermarket.

Tip – treat yourself with an authentic Bedouin dinner in the nearby village Arica. (Watch Video).

  What to see and do?

Ramon Visitors Center

Go here first, as it will give a good introduction and understanding of what you are going to explore!

On the edge of the crater’s cliff sits the visitors center, a mandatory station before a visit to the area. The center includes observation from a panoramic window, dynamic-interactive exhibit, and a 3D model of the Makhtesh. The 2nd half of the center is dedicated to the story of Ilan Ramon (The first Israeli astronaut). Ilan was one of the seven crew members of the Columbia Space Shuttle that disintegrated upon reentering the earth’s atmosphere On February 1, 2003. The fact the Ilan’s last name is Ramon, lead to the idea to place this small museum here. It is recommended to book ahead of time. Phone: +972-8-6216859

  Hiking

Makhtesh Ramon is a hiker’s paradise with a large selection of hiking trails at all levels. If you are looking for shorter hikes, there is a good selection in this Makhtesh Ramon Guide.  If you want a tougher hike, the classic is to climb to the summit of Mount Ardon. Alternatively, you can pick up a hiking map in the visitor’s center and plan your own walk. Free consultation on hiking trails is available in the Field School and Beerot Campground.

  Jeep Tours

If you are not up to a hike or if you don’t have lots of time, a Jeep tour in the Maktesh is highly recommended. Several excellent local guides are offering this service. Tours are usually offered for a full or half a day.

Advantages:

The Makhtesh is large, and The Jeep tour will allow you to visit many more places in a short time (Compared to hiking).

Many sites cannot be reached by a passenger car, but you can visit them with the Jeep.

You can combine the tour with one or two short hikes.

  Star Gazing

The nights in the Negev desert are dark and clear, with minimal light pollution. It makes them an excellent venue for Star Gazing. Several local guides offer this activity. They will take you to a dark area with a good telescope and lots of knowledge and stories.

  Adrenalin Activities

If you into any of these, Makhtesh Ramon is a perfect arena to do it. The natural setting is like a big LunaPark, and there are plenty of professional local vendors offering the activities:

ATV tours.

Rappelling.

Mountain Biking.

Horseback Riding.

Camel Tours.

Archery.

  Main Sights to visit with a passenger car:

Ancient Avdat

Avdat is a site of a ruined Nabataean town in the Negev Desert about 20 Kilometers north of Mitspe Ramon. It was the most important town along the ancient Incense Route after Petra. It was founded in the 3rd century BCE, and inhabited by Nabataeans, Romans, and Byzantines. Avdat was a seasonal camping ground for Nabataean caravans traveling along the ancient Gaza-Petra road during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE. Avdat was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2005.

The impressive ruins are scattered on the flat summit of a steep hill, and include findings from 3 different eras:

Nabataean: warehouse, temple, a military camp.

Roman: burial caves, altar, watchtower.

Byzantian: Citadel, main street, houses, water supply systems, bathhouse.

Further reading: Wikipedia

  Ramon Colors road

In the old days, nature conservation was not common in Israel. A large quarry was operating inside the Makhtesh. A few years ago, Nature and Parks Authority rehabilitated the abandoned mining area and converted it into an open geological museum displaying a variety of colorful rocks and fascinating geological phenomena.

Main sites:

Colored sand and rocks from the Jurassic era

Old mining equipment.

Small winter lake at the site of the open mine.

  HaMinsara

The “Minsara” (Carpentry), is a small hill in the Ramon Crater, 5 minutes’ drive from Mitspe Ramon.  The hill is covered with sandstone columns featuring flat surfaces that look like wooden boards cut out in a carpentry shop. Most of them have 4-6 faces, some sticking out of the ground at a right angle while others scattered across the slope.

How was the ” Carpentry ” formed? Hot magma that penetrated from the depths of the earth melted the sandstone. The rock expanded, and after cooling down, it shrank and cracked, creating the rock prisms that are scattered here.

  Lot’s Cisterns

A group of 17 human-made waterholes, dug during King Solomon’s period (10th century BCE). Today, 3000 years later, they still get filled with water each winter. The sight of water in the desert is always delightful, and there is an easy 4 km circular trail that passes through the cisterns.

  Sculpture Park

The Sculpture Park is located on the edge of Ramon Crater near the entrance to Mitzpe Ramon. Scattered over a large area are sculptures built of huge rocks. Some are musical sculptures, including metal swings filled with gravel, which make noise while swinging, a “Gong” complex with large bells, and a wind chime device. The park merges beautifully with the desert scenery from the edge of the crater’s cliff.

  The Spice Quarter

In recent years, the sleepy desert town Mitspe Ramon, started to attract artists and other spiritual characters from the busy cities of central Israel. The small industrial area in the north of the city converted into what is called today the “Spice Quarter”. The area became a place of artists, creators, artisans, and dreamers. It is a pleasant place to ramble and have a drink or a bite.

  Sunset and Sunrise

The Sunrise or Sunset over Makhtesh Ramon is breathtaking. Both sky and earth are painted in magical reddish shades. Recommended spots are the lookout balcony near the visitor center or the Sculpture Park. If you feel more energetic, take a walk on the scenic trail that starts at the visitor’s center and goes west following the crater’s edge. The path is about 3 kilometers long, flat, and easy to follow. It ends at the Camel Mountain lookout on the outskirts of Mitzpe Ramon.

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[dreamsunderconfinement]

Bulletin 3: Places that are other places

A collection of ‘Metamorphosing topographies of dreamland’ from the dream document - assembled by JS, 14 April

Dreamt that I arrived in Santiago de Chile by bus, except it was in southern Spain.

Late evening in London. Brother’s been arrested so I go to bail him out. When I get there he’s already out, waiting for me in a bar from the 80s Japanese movie Violent Cop.

Was in a dream last night inside a flat that contained different rooms from all the different places I stayed when I still lived in Edinburgh.

Im at S’s flat in jerusalem, it’s not the flat but it is.

Dream is set in “Brussels Archive” located in Paris.

I am in Berlin at his place tho everything looks very different than in “real life”

i am in Florida. i seem to work at Disneyland, or at least the university is situated there. we are being sent home. there is a catastrophe or something we've done wrong. with jess we want to cross country but we don’t know if we have a car. something is too late. i am in a georgian square near my parents’ house in London - some kind of remunerated sexual act with a businessman who came to pick me up one afternoon on a motorbike.

Am in a big market place, later which later becomes fixed as 19th century les Halles, but I’m in Norway, for now it is faceless

It’s Norway except it’s clearly 19th century Les Halles and Devon stitched together.

I dream in fragments, all intense, all differently city-flavoured. My mind is trying to convince itself there are still places to go?

I’m at a crowded club which is also a theatre and an airport.

We’re in a room, a big white room. No: it’s more of a zone, a situated space that turns into something else as it lands. At one point, it feels like the sandy bed of a dry river – all white sand bushes bright sky and us free exercising. And then it’s a room again. Clear huge walls, so huge we can’t see where they end and the roof starts. But we live here. Actually it’s a club and we live upstairs and we are the new roommates

The setting was based on a photograph I made of the Block Island Ferry, which I realized later. We were there, on that Long Island Sound, but this ferry boat was actually in the Mediterranean and the angle of view (frame) was different than this camera I used in the photograph of the Ferry, because I was experimenting lazily at this moment in with a 6x9 frame, but the dream frame today was more like my normal 6x7, tighter frame,

I had to meet my friend Jane at a pub in Galway and it was snowing and I was on a bike but it looked actually like a tiny Prussian-empire kinda town

all seemed to take place in M’s bedroom.  At least the house ‘compressed’ into that space, which is differently configured in the dream.

We’re heading back to the house of one of L’s relatives, in a village called Les Malades, “The Sick Ones”. I suggest cutting through the fields, rather than walking along the road, and claim that it is more direct. The field becomes a mountain

I was in Ibiza, except it was clearly Bournemouth seafront.

I am in China. It looks like a mixture of LA and an affluent North London neighbourhood. A lot of standalone houses with incredible windows.

I’m in an airport lobby, I’m going to Brazil. I am going to someone’s birthday, but the first thing I do when I get there is to go to a luncheon with one of my friends from college (IRL she is protestant and used to be very into theology, went on to work in the Economy Ministry and now has a baby girl with a French guy). A guy I hate, who used to go out with one of my best friends is also there, with his girlfriend (IRL as well as in the dream all the girlfriends he’s had since my best friend are basically always the same girl, they all look a lot like my friend, the same exact features and always super nice. They all stay the same age while he gets older and older). We talk a bit, but I don’t remember what we talked about; this guy is a class A mansplainer, but I think I was actually enjoying this conversation. We are eating black beans, wonderful feijoada and rice. My friend from college starts laughing and says that they took the lunch from the patriarchs, I realize that we are actually in some kind of farm,

I’m looking for somewhere to live on the internet, in the physical space of my dream, the room I look at adjoins directly on to the room we live in

Dreamt I was in Ms Wheeler’s maths class again. But it was in Scotland and I was doing A Levels. I see someone running along the seafront and into the water. The room I am in is in Bloomsbury anti cuts space and it is high up on a platform. (On reflection I suppose this space resembles the first floor of the CLC - community learning centre - which was built at my school in the 2000s to make it a ‘specialist learning’ school, merely because the quality of education and the grades were so bad and the school was possibly on ‘special measures’). On the east side is a garden, on the west side, an airport which is a similar rectangular room at an angle to the rectangular room we are in, or a walkway or highway leading to an airport.

I’m going to the airport. The road for the airport is on the left, it adjoins on to the room I am in. Off to the right, something else - it is like the Beirut highway city system, where you emerge up onto a highway and can see the sea.

On our way to the airport we stop by a mall, which finds itself near to the maths classroom, on the ground floor, to the North side of it.

I move home. To a big house, in an anonymous location, except the trees are like those by the Forum in Rome, and the air is sunny, slow and grainy-grey. It may be Tunbridge Wells, possibly a private school.

He was traveling back to California from Berlin, going to his parents’ home first then coming to visit me. He was on his way, in traffic, it would take about an hour and a half.

I vaguely remember walking and running around this house which looked more like a ship made of wood than my actual flat, but I felt it was my home. I knew this place very well even if all the furniture and the architecture was different. The next thing I remember is me standing in a room that kind of looked like my bedroom, but without a roof and the op bjen sky.

I was in London (that of course had nothing to do w london, and was more of a mashup between green hills and product design degree show booths

I am moving through a city in an uncertain light flickering between day and night, there is a

I dream that my parents have bought a new house during quarantine. In my dream I call it a tudor building in my head, but really, it’s a kind of suburban red brick Victorian construction, like a mixture between what you find in the North of London, next to the M25, and Victorian Gothic in Salt Lake City.

On the way to Berlin, somewhere level with the south of France there were chaotic scenes of my adolescence, changing schools, and I got caught in a loop going round and round St Pancras way and Camley street in a caravan of vehicles going through the bayou.

Some images of Cubitt street and suburbs (Cubitt st is a kind of street where the council puts all kinds of ‘social cases’, it is a kind of containment strategy of theirs), that I float through or watch from a distance. It is like Nice: lilac-y grey modernity, palm trees. It looks like an architect’s drawing, a twilight zone.

We are in my grandmother’s house. But it is not her house, it is much more English, like a house in a Wilkie Collins novel. It is more ornamented, English and gothic than her house is. She is dead.

Very briefly it’s the 2nd version, with some dispute as to who sleeps where in a series of connected messy rooms on slightly different levels of what feels both like an office building and an 18thC (?) European battle ship a la Billy Bud maybe, separated by short staircases and strewn with floor mattresses. Money is due someone - police are in the distance, invisible but working to close in on us (‘us’ is who knows).. Dissolves into what I recognise as my room.

I walked through an urban street. I felt I was both in London and a Midwestern American city. I passed under what had been a theater awning with hundreds of individual light bulbs; many were missing. I thought how nice it must've been when this city was in its heyday. I saw a black London taxicab, which suggested I was in London.

I dreamed that I visited you. Except it was Australia.

I was in central London, maybe Paris, maybe Norwich, in a place like the Southbank. There was a large concrete wall / bank which was inset with a huge array of telephone exchange connectors.

I am walking through narrowish streets in the city I’ve been living in, maybe it’s Leeds or London or Glasgow or maybe it’s just a mix but it feels more like London, and up a back alleyway, at night,

My next dream ends with looking at a map of the Firth of Clyde OS map (which hangs next to my bed) wondering where I could do a long bike ride and realising that the town of Ayr isn’t actually on the coast any more but inland, just southwest of Glasgow. Then I find myself with my friend Callie out on some marina or dock on the Clyde estuary or the sea itself.

[topfygad]

New Zealand’s Wild Cities: A Kiwi Kinda Adventure

Short drives from Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch lead visitors to rare penguins, sea lions play-fighting on beaches, and fur seals having a lovers’ tiff.

  Wait long enough in the discreet sheds built along the Otago Peninsula and you’ll see yellow-eyed penguins waddle out of the sea after a hard day’s swim. They’re among the rarest in the world, but Otago gives visitors ample time to observe their adorable antics. Photo By: Xavier Fores-Joana Roncero/Alamy/Indiapicture

Dunedin

Come hail or harsh sun, the Otago Farmers Market pops up outside Dunedin Railway Station every Saturday morning. Its stained glass windows perk up when the morning light hits its early-20th-century facade. In the lawns, out come pumpkins the size of doll houses, Pinot Noirs from the Central Otago Peninsula, and buskers with guitars and voices like honey. A Frenchman hands me two crêpes: one with poached pear bundled in chocolate sauce and custard, another packed with Jerusalem artichokes, pork, cheese and egg. People’s purses balloon with jars of fragrant honey made from manuka bushes. A man with crinkly eyes doles out bacon butties, pepper pâté, and a smile each. And pies, oh there are pies everywhere. I try the traditional hangi (Maori feast) pie with beef, pumpkin, kumara (sweet) potato, and carrot. I feel I’ll never be able to eat another meal again. Until I move to the next truck.

It has been a long time since a group of Scottish settlers came to this part of Maori land in the mid-19th century and named it Dunedin (‘Dùn Èideann’ is the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh). Today, the city is a peppy university town, with ringing pubs, stunningly preserved Victorian and Edwardian buildings, a castle, and even its own kilt shop.

But I am here for Otago Peninsula, a mere 30-minute ride yet a world away, where the van waiting outside the railway station will take me.

Beyond the window of this little shed is a world that was never tamed. Cliffs so high that they’d tingle toes; the sea so blue that it can see into your soul. Dusk makes the ancient bays and beaches of the Otago Peninsula seem a bit broody. The wind howls and roars, but the green and gold tussock by the harbour bears it stoically.

I peer a few feet ahead, at the sea. Anytime now.

A yellow-eyed penguin emerges; it toddles slowly with hunched shoulders, as if walking back from school after flunking a maths test. I can sympathise: it has dived into the sea 200-300 times today, swimming 65-230 feet each time in search of seafood. It comes close enough to the shed for me to see its rad yellow eyebands—which gives it its name. Its irises too are the colour of van Gogh’s “Sunflowers.”

The royal albatross (top)—one of the world’s largest birds—and cheeky Hooker’s sea lions (bottom) are some of the creatures that call the Otago Peninsula home (bottom inset). The peninsula is a mere 30-minute drive from Dunedin (top inset). Photo Courtesy: Dunedinnz (Albatross); Photos By: Michael Rucker/ImageBroker/Getty Images (sea lions); Daniel Harwardt/iStock/Getty Images (coast)

Knee-high in size, this penguin species is believed to be the world’s rarest; about 3,000-odd ones are found only here, in New Zealand, on the eastern and southern coasts of South Island. I’m incredibly lucky to see them like this in the wild, where they roam free and are at home.

In seconds, more and more cuddly creatures rise from the sea, some strutting like calendar models, oblivious to me and my guide silently whooping in the hide. Mark, the guide, has seen this hundreds of times; he taps my arm when one penguin throws back its arms à la Shah Rukh Khan, and emits a long shrill cry. “Their Maori name is hoiho, which means ‘noise shouter’,” Mark whispers as the penguin sings with rockstarish head-shaking. Hoihos aren’t very sociable; I watch one accidentally headbutt a sheep on its way up the cliff behind us, waddling on quickly without meeting its eye. At the top, one curious lone penguin stands like Christ the Redeemer. For 15 whole minutes.

All life in the 33-kilometre Otago Peninsula revolves around preserving its creatures—the yellow-eyed and little blue species of penguins, New Zealand fur seal, New Zealand sea lion, and royal albatross. Large stretches are unpaved and settlements are small; it’s heartening to see some private properties have walking tracks for the easy passage of tourists. Trench-like hides built at various beaches and corners along the peninsula ensure that some wildlife (penguins in particular) rarely comes in direct contact with visitors. Operators like Mark’s company, Elm Wildlife Tours, are visibly passionate about ecotourism.

At the northernmost tip of Otago Peninsula is Taiaroa Head. The main attraction on this windswept piece of land jutting from the coastline is The Royal Albatross Centre, the only breeding colony on a mainland for the world’s largest seabird. Their wingspans are more than 10 feet (that’s twice the size of my mother). Rob, a guide at the centre, leads me to a viewing room with a glass panel. A young chick is huddled outside on a patch of grass, looking like it were made of cotton balls. Adult albatrosses spend almost 80 per cent of their time at sea, returning only to feed their young. They divvy up parenting, like the progressive spouses they are. Rob speaks of these gentle giants as if their lives are no less gripping than his favourite soap opera. “Royal albatrosses, or toroa, have a three-year mating period, so if you get bored of your partner, it’s going to be a while before you’ll settle down again,” he says. His favourite albatross here, he adds, was the one called ‘Grandma’ because she raised her last chick at 62. “She divorced one of her partners, but got back again. Then there’s one here in his 30s, who is bereaved and hasn’t put himself out there again,” rues Rob. As the perfect ending of his story, an adult toroa comes soaring in a circle, and swoops in towards its chick. I see its grace. These “ocean wanderers” fly 1,90,000 kilometres a year; I think of how, in less than eight months, a strong gust of wind will launch the baby albatross on its maiden flight.

Exploring the Otago Peninsula largely on foot, beside empty beaches, inlets, and dreamy purple clusters of hebe blossoms, feels more intimate than a safari. It also drives home an important lesson: that it’s me who’s on the turf of these creatures. Making myself invisible—huddling in hides, standing behind glass panels—is key to understanding them.

So I feel oddly exposed when Mark walks down Papanui beach in long strides, towards two, five, nay, nine sea lions roaring and gamboling in the sand. “They are endemic, the Hooker’s sea lions; confident around humans. Maintain safe distance, and you’re fine,” he says, coaxing me to stand about eight feet away from one that weighs at least 350 kilograms. He takes photos while I look over my shoulder at the way the creature bullies and playfights smaller lions around him, throwing sand over them, barking and chasing them. Almost all sea lions at Otago, I learn, are related to ‘Mum,’ a female who had a pup here in 1993—the first to be born on the mainland in over 100 years (https://ift.tt/1bDQ61i; tours from NZD122/Rs5,760 adults, children NZD112/Rs5,300).

All you need to observe New Zealand fur seals along Tongue Point, a 20-minute drive from Wellington (inset), is curiosity and a healthy 15-foot distance. Photos By: Skyimages/iStock/Getty Images (seal); Fotoshoot/Alamy/indiapicture (boy)

From the airplane, you can see the Hollywood-style sign perched on a hillside. ‘Wellington’ it reads, the last two letters askew, floating skyward. On ground, the world’s windiest city pops with Victorian homes along its harbour.

That evening, my walk from Wellington’s waterfront to Cuba Street passes through revolving doors of the world: Japanese, Vietnamese, Moroccan, and Indonesian food aromas come drifting, transporting me to secret kitchens. Coffeemakers hiss with head-clearing Cuban coffee at Fidel’s café; a puppeteer pulls strings to make her puppet paint a portrait of a little girl standing close by, sending her into squeals of disbelief. At Cuba Street’s night market, a persistent steampunk jewellery artist, a bookshop, and a paella stall tug at my heart and purse strings.

They say you can walk from one end of the Kiwi capital to the other in 30 minutes, and I do. The morning after, I book a tour with Seal Coast Safaris to look beyond the windy city. In just 20 minutes, Kent, my guide for the three-hour tour, drives the 4WD to a wind turbine on Brooklyn Hill, through private farmlands with ostrich and red deer. Soon, I see old mountains lick the waters of the South Coast. Wellington seems far away, and this place its rustic sibling—no golden sand beaches or sunbathers, no people at all.

Just the sea pummelling grey outcrops and hills that look a giant’s hairy back. When Kent stops along one of the beaches, at Tongue Point, I get out and—with a shock—realise I am surrounded by at least 15 New Zealand fur seals. Some look out at the robin’s-egg blue water. Others yawn as I tiptoe towards them, but begin hissing and spitting when I get too close. Two fur seals seem to be having a lovers’ tiff, smacking and flapping their flippers at each other. Another one scratches its neck and looks bored with their drama (www.sealcoast.com; tours from adults NZD125/Rs5,900, children 14 and under NZD62.5/Rs2,950).

A 1.5-hour drive southeast of Christchurch takes visitors to Akaroa, whose waters host the Hector’s dolphins—the world’s rarest and smallest. Don’t miss Akaroa’s other attraction: a whimsical sculpture garden with mosaic figures, the Giant’s House (inset). Photo Courtesy: Graeme Murray (dolphin), Photo by: Dennis Macdonald/ AgeFotostock/ Dinodia Photo Library (mosaic statues)

Roses bloom outside colonial homes in Rue Balguerie, and onion soup bubbles in old-timey cafés in nearby Rues. Iridescent paua shells mark some graves in the Old French Cemetery up the hill. I haven’t woken up in France, but it’s easy to forget that in the little town of Akaroa, a 1.5-hour drive away from Christchurch, South Island’s largest city.

Hewn from a volcano, Akaroa tucks charm in the little things—a walk to its lighthouse that watches over Caribbean-blue waters of the Banks Peninsula; stories of how French settlers arrived at its shores in 1840 only to find that the British had beaten them to it; or at the Giant’s House, a sculpture garden with Gaudi-like mosaics and Dali-esque whimsy.

Akaroa is catnip for another, significant reason—it is the home of the rare Hector’s dolphins, among the world’s smallest at five feet and endemic to New Zealand. When a Black Cat Cruise ship takes me and other visitors into the bay, cathedral-like coves and mystical orange-brown volcanic formations surround us. Seals scamper as our boat inches closer to the rockface. And then, as suddenly as they rose, the grey-black bodies of three Hector’s dolphins sink into the waters ahead of us. The boat stops, and a little girl beside me giggles every time the dolphins hiss and pop up like a jack-in-the-box of the sea. Our skipper points out their black dorsal fins—rounded, instead of pointed. Some cruises offer a chance to swim with Hector’s dolphins too (blackcat.co.nz; cruise NZD85/Rs4,015, children 5-15 NZD35/Rs1,650).

Flights between Delhi or Mumbai and New Zealand’s capital, Wellington—or Christchurch in South Island—require at least one layover in a gateway cities such as Sydney or Singapore. Dunedin is connected to Christchurch by regular domestic flights and two buses a day (6 hr; www.intercity.co.nz). Self-drive is the most popular way to travel within New Zealand. Indian travellers can apply for a New Zealand visa online (www.immigration.govt.nz). A month-long visa costs NZD246/Rs11,435 and is processed within 28 working days.

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[thegreenamerican]

Putting The Cart Before The Horse On Israel-Palestine

The real problem is the conflict, not what people say about it. 

By Hunter Stuart

About a year ago, after returning from a year-and-a-half working as a freelance reporter in Jerusalem, I wrote a feature for The Jerusalem Report magazine about how living there had made me a lot more sympathetic to the Israeli perspective. (I was pretty anti-Israel when I moved there in 2015.)   

My story went viral, in large part because conservative Jews (in Israel, Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere) were pleased with it. It seemed to confirm that they were “right” and the haters, so to speak, were wrong. 

So I want to clarify a few things. 

That article was written during an emotional time. My wife and I were living in central Jerusalem, in an area where Palestinians were stabbing Israeli Jews, or trying to run them over with their cars, at least once a week, for months on end.

Above: Me in Gaza, 2016.

‘While this was happening, some of my friends and family, plus a majority (yes) of the U.S. media, seemed to take the view that Israel was to blame for Palestinian terrorism. That started to piss me off, so I wrote my piece, which was titled “A View From The Frontlines: A year working as a journalist in Israel and the Palestinian Territories made Hunter Stuart rethink his positions on the conflict.” 

I wrote it in a kind of fever. Writing in a passion gives force to your prose.  But it sometimes means you’re perhaps too close to your subject to see the full picture. 

Now that I’ve been away from Jerusalem for a year, away from the mayhem of Israel and the Middle East, I feel more removed, more thoughtful, about things. 

To start, in my article I wrote that I was “no longer sure” that an independent Palestinian state was “such a good idea” because when the Palestinians in Gaza were given their own enclave in 2005, after 9,000 Israelis voluntarily left their homes (or were yanked out by the IDF), they chose to elect a political party (Hamas) that openly promotes and condones violence against Israelis and Jews in general.  

Above: A Palestinian village in the West Bank, at dawn, one day in October 2015. (photo by Hunter Stuart)

Today I believe, once again, that giving Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza political autonomy is, in fact, a “good idea.” I don’t know whether it’s possible, or whether it’s going to be better than the current status quo. 

But I believe it is at least a good option, and if that is what the majority of Palestinians want (which it seems they do, although polling in Palestine is a total can of worms), then the international community should encourage Israel to at least talk it through with their cousins. 

Above: Palestinians in the Old City of Jerusalem (photo: Hunter Stuart)

Also - The Jerusalem Post (which owns the Jerusalem Report but is editorially independent from it) reprinted my article, their editors gave it a new headline: "How A Pro-Palestinian American Reporter Changed His Views On Israel And The Conflict."

Above: How The Jerusalem Post headlined my story. 

JPost’s headline implies I’m no longer pro-Palestinian, when in fact I am. Not in the commonly understood meaning of the term, which is taken to mean “anti-Israel.” 

But I’m pro-Palestinian because I support Palestinians’ desire to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as they see fit. (As long as it doesn’t include violence.) 

I have over a dozen Palestinian friends, some of whom I still keep in touch with. I just sent one a Christmas present. And as much as it outraged me to hear the anti-Israeli and even anti-Semitic views of some of the Palestinians I met while traveling in the West Bank, Gaza and Jordan, I cannot forget that many of those same people were kind to me, and let me stay in their homes and eat at their tables, and listened to me, often with an open mind.    

Above: A man in a refugee camp near Jerusalem shows me where bullets from Israeli soldiers came through his window and into his family’s living room during an IDF raid in the street outside his home one night in 2014. His 24-year-old son was killed in the gun battle. (photos by Hunter Stuart)

While the response to my article was flattering, it alarmed me to have so many conservatives, most of whom were Jewish or Christian, who enjoyed it SO much. Jews and non-Jewish conservatives from around the world told me it was the best article they’d read all year, and that it gave them hope for the future. 

I have nothing against conservatives (as long as they’re thoughtful, humane people, which most of them are). But to have two demographics cheering my story so ardently, and others (Muslims, progressives, people of color, etc) furious with me, or simply not reacting at all, has worried me over the past year. 

“Hunter, nothing you said was really extreme,” a friend told me. “But extremists could use it that way.”  

Yes, there were Jews who didn’t like what I wrote, and there were Muslims, Arabs and people of color who praised me for it. 

But as a journalist, if the response to an article is split down ethnic or religious lines, you know you weren’t balanced enough. 

I also want to clarify that the fanatics I met in the Middle East were not just on the Palestinian side -- a lot of them were Jewish. My neighbor in west Jerusalem, for example, was an American Jewish guy in his 40s who told me in all seriousness that he believed Palestinians should be killed if they refused to leave the West Bank. 

The guy in the cell-phone shop in Jerusalem, who I got to know relatively well after going in to his shop over and over again to figure out my inscrutable Israeli plan, was virulently Islamophobic. He told me, word for word (trigger warning): 

“We stole this land from the Arabs, but I don’t want to give it back. I don’t want peace. In America, you have many enemies, but the Arabs are the worst. I’m a racist. I hate all Arabs. Islam is the worst religion. They are like animals. Their trash is all over the street.”

I know I’ve got this quote mostly right, because I transcribed it as soon as I got back to my apartment that day.

This guy, who told me his name was Mike, was a born-and-bred Israeli (or maybe he’d been born in Russia but moved to Israel when he was young, I can’t recall). He was about 30 years old, and was modern Orthodox. He was lively and could be fun to talk to. But he was also shockingly racist. 

Mike’s coworker told me that he’d lost a family member to Palestinian terrorism, so trauma may be why he’s so hateful towards Palestinians. Still, believing those things, and speaking openly about them, is really fucked up. And it sounds similar to a number of other conversations I had with Jewish Israelis and English-speaking Jews living in Israel. 

Though it was flattering to get such an overwhelming response to something I wrote, to some extent I believe that it’s putting the cart before the horse. 

Because the real problem is the conflict, not what people say about it. 

[sorayaadventures-blog]

Lalibela & the Rock-Hewn Churches of New Jerusalem

No trip to Ethiopia is complete without visiting the mystical village of Lalibela, which is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of its rock-hewn churches. 

Allow me to give you a bit of historical context before sharing my experience here: Lalibela flourished after the decline of the Kingdom of Axum (suggestively, Allen - our tour guide - mentioned he had carefully crafted our itinerary to follow the same chronology of Ethiopian dynasties, so that we could quite literally ‘walk through’ Ethiopian history). The then-emperor of Lalibela built these churches in the 12th century following his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Upon his return, he aspired to recreate the Holy Land in his homeland; hence, it was given the nickname “New Jerusalem”.

You could tell this is the country’s hottest tourist destination as the airport terminal had working wifi, albeit still being a tiny rural terminal building. As in Axum, Allen conveniently had another van and driver ready for us outside and off we went. As we navigated the hilly roads from the airport to the mountain village, one could not help but to be absolutely stunned by how green it was and the endless sight of beautiful green valleys. 

We made a pitstop at a scenic point of the mountain roads for taking photos. The cool breeze, lush greenery and peaceful silence were incredibly refreshing, and gave me an inexplicable feeling of blissful liberation; I guess I could describe it as the feeling you get from being disconnected from the world, breaking free from the shackles of technology- and information-overload that we succumb to as Millennials in the age of social media. On that green hilltop, I had the luxury of being fully in the moment, appreciating nature’s blessings - or ‘baraka’ - as I breathed in the fresh, clean and cool mountain air.

The most prominent sight in Lalibela are its rock-hewn churches, meaning they are churches carved entirely out of a single (monolithic) piece of rock in the mountains. There are multiple rock-hewn churches located next to each other, the most awe-inspiring of which is perhaps the Church of Saint George. This one is quite literally carved straight down into the ground and is in the shape of a St. George’s cross when you look at it from above.

We were lucky to have a clear sunny day as we visited the church that afternoon. Allen enthusiastically suggested doing a photoshoot while we were hanging around and sitting near the edge of the carved-in wall. His enthusiasm and demeanor resembling a professional magazine photographer was hilarious, he cracked us up and we ended up having a great time in the sun!

Down below, you could sense the wondrous aspects of the church even more. It was truly remarkable to imagine a civilization flawlessly carving an entire church out of the ground in the late 12th century, complete with symmetrical windows high up in its walls.

To watch the sunset, we drove to a restaurant called Ben Abeba Bungalow, which was located on a hilltop next to another large and lush valley. It was an interestingly shaped building with viewing points, which stretched out into the air where it felt like one had the entire valley underneath. The views were once again breathtaking.

We ordered tea, drinks and snacks as we watched the sun set behind the mountain range in the distance. The rays of light beamed through the hilltops and scattered clouds into the sapphire sky. We sat there in silence, reflecting, soaking in and cherishing nature’s beauty. Awe-struck.

The next day, Allen told us it is the Day of St. George when pilgrims come to the Church of St. George from all over the region. We had a full day of hiking planned, but we went back to the church for a quick pitstop in order to observe the church once again - this time in action amongst a sea of pilgrims dressed in white. It was a magical, better said very mystical sight to observe.

Hiking day was awesome. We did a 3-hour hike up a mountain, which supposedly had an entire village on the very top. Enroute, we came across groups of villagers heading down to the city to trade their agricultural produce and trade basic goods. This was no easy hike; we had to make our way through rocks, rivers, lots of mud, steep paths, and even path-less stretches of mud. However, these villagers made the commute down to the city and back up almost on a daily basis. Once we reached the top of the mountain, there was a door. It seemed somewhat surreal to be nearly 3,000 meters above sea level, you reach a mountain peak and all you see is a metal door - slightly Wizard of Oz-ish if you ask me. We rang the buzzer, the door opened, and there was a huge flat lot of grassland, beautiful bungalows, flora and fauna - an entire ecosystem behind a single metal door touching the sky. It was very foggy, so we didn’t get the full view of the valleys surrounding us, but it was incredible nonetheless.

On the way down, I saw a local couple coming towards us through the fog from the opposite side. They looked like an old couple. The fog surrounding them, which made it a mesmerizing scene. I couldn’t help but to feel slightly shocked to see them all the way up here, on slanted rocks edging precipice on either side. They seemed equally shocked to see us there, as they stopped and stared, wondering who are these people with colorful clothes, where do they come from and why are they here. We both stood there and gazed at each other for a good few minutes, letting our thoughts process the mild shock and numerous questions that popped into our heads. I had two conclusions: shame on my acquaintances (including myself), young and old, if we ever complain about any of life’s “hardships” and the second... Respect for the inhabitants of this village.

On our last day in Lalibela, we visited a different set of rock-hewn churches carved into pink monolithic mountain sides and partially covered in green moss in certain areas.

Inside one of the churches, a monk was stationed, guarding the church and serving as caretaker. The room was decorated in Ethiopian biblical drawings, a thin carpet on the floor and a couple of musical instruments e.g. a drum that were used on special occasions.

Conclusively, it had been an amazing 3 days in Lalibela. Tune in next week as we drive through the Ethiopian Highlands and visit the historic cities of Gondar and Bahir Dar, and sail on Lake Tana. We're also heading to the Blue Nile falls, which is the source of the Nile River! 

[realestate63141]

What does the world expect of a Trump presidency?

A waxwork of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is displayed during a media event at Madame Tussauds in London. Neil Hall/Reuters Richard Maher, European University Institute; Andrea Peto, Central European University; Jonathan Rynhold, Bar-Ilan University; Miguel Angel Latouche, Universidad Central de Venezuela; Salvador Vázquez del Mercado, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); Subarno Chattarji, University of Delhi, and Weronika Grzebalska, Polish Academy of Sciences

Today, Donald J Trump, the New York City real estate mogul whose outsider campaign led to an upset electoral victory becomes the 45th President of the United States.

As a candidate, Trump's campaign promises included building a border wall with Mexico and banning Muslims immigrants from the US. As president-elect, he has called NATO "obsolete" and the European Union "basically a vehicle for Germany", put the One China policy up for negotiation, and threatened to renegotiate most trade agreements.

On inauguration day, all eyes are on Washington, with the world hoping to better understand the unpredictable leader now entering the White House - and determine what comes next.

The Conversation Global has invited a panel of international scholars - many of whom also shared their reactions to Trump's win - to reflect on his presidency and assess its significance for their region.

Richard Maher: European leaders brace themselves

While campaigning for president, Donald Trump unnerved European leaders by disparaging the NATO alliance, celebrating the British vote to exit the European Union, and praising Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Following his surprise victory last November, many European leaders hoped that, now elected and poised to assume the presidency, he would clarify his earlier remarks and adopt positions on NATO's relevance and the value of a strong and united EU more in line with those of his predecessors over the past six decades.

But that was not to be, as Trump's interview last weekend with two European newspapers confirmed. He again called NATO "obsolete," proclaimed that the British vote to leave the EU would "end up being a great thing", described the EU as "basically a vehicle for Germany," and condemned German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to let in more than a million refugees fleeing violence and persecution as a "catastrophic mistake."

He also threatened to impose duties of 35% on German and other foreign cars made in Mexico and imported into the United States, predicted that other countries would follow Britain's lead and vote to leave the EU, and stated that he would start his presidency trusting Putin -- who once led the FSB, the KGB's successor organisation -- just as he will Merkel, the leader of one of America's closest allies.

European leaders still do not know how much -- if any -- of Trump's comments will become official US policy. They are thus bracing themselves for perpetual unpredictability and inconsistency regarding Trump's intentions and beliefs, as well as his tendency to contradict himself and his cabinet. (In their senate confirmation hearings, for example, his nominees for secretary of state and defence affirmed the vital role NATO and the EU continue to play in US foreign policy.)

Europe faces an inflection point. No American president in modern history has entered office with such ambivalence over the core institutions linking the United States and its European allies. Trump's actions will unite or yet further divide Europeans. Or as Merkel said in response to his latest comments, "We Europeans have our fate in our own hands."

Andrea Peto and Weronika Grzebalska: Trump is good news for populist right-wing leaders in Europe

For right-wing populists in Central Europe, Trump's presidency is a game changer. It signifies the steady decline both of the United States as a guarantor of military security in the region and of the dominant global paradigm of the connections between the free market, liberal democratic values and human rights.

In Hungary and Poland, Obama criticised the dismantling of the rule of law and attacks on civil liberties under the radical-right parties FIDESZ and PiS. Trump, on the other hand, has begun his presidency by cordially inviting Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán to Washington.

With Trump in power, these leaders are no longer the black sheep among Western political elites but rather partners in the building of a new illiberal international order that rejects liberal democratic values and freedoms.

Among the first victims of transnational illiberalism in Central Europe will surely be progressive and human rights NGOs, already struggling with cuts to government funding. That money has been redirected to faith-based and conservative organisations supporting the right-wing populist party agenda.

President Trump opens a window of opportunity to go even further toward de-globalisation, including - we predict - restricting the presence of international organisations like Amnesty International and expelling foreign-funded human rights donors like the Open Society Foundations.

In the short run, restructuring the NGO sector will harm feminist and human rights causes in the region, and activists may face personal security risks. In the long run, though, losing their financial and institutional basis will force activists to reconceptualise their political strategy. That could be a good thing: the post-1989 NGO-isation of Central Europe's civil society has largely depoliticised resistance, turning it into a technocratic process.

By returning to older forms of political resistance, social activism might also regain grassroots support and find a new voice in the process. At least, that's what we hope.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán arrives at a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, December 15 2016. Francois Lenoir/Reuters

Jonathan Rynhold: Hope for Israel, concern over Iran and Syria

We should see a generally positive tone toward Israel from Donald Trump, but there are very large questions about what the administration's policies will be on the substantive issues affecting the country.

For example, his son-in-law Jared Kushner has been tapped to deal with the peace process. He has no background whatsoever in this area, and we have no idea what his positions might be.

Regarding the settlement issue, my sense -- in contrast to what the settlement movement believes -- is that the administration is not necessarily pro-settlement. His nominee for the UN said that settlements could "hinder peace" and when the UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement was passed, Trump's comment was that "this makes peace harder" -- not that it was wrong.

Israel may follow the line suggested by Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, which is to try to reach an agreement with the US about stopping settlement building outside the blocs, but allowing it within them. It would fit in with George W Bush letter of 2004 and follows Obama's statements on different kinds of settlements. That would be a step forward, and relatively doable. The Obama administration wasn't prepared to do that, perhaps Trump might be.

On a symbolic level, we will probably see something regarding the idea of moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, which may be that the ambassador will work from the consulate there; but I doubt we will see a shift America's position on Jerusalem.

In any case, it is accepted that at least West Jerusalem will be formally recognised as the capital of Israel in any peace deal and the consulate is in West Jerusalem. In Israel everyone is in favor of moving the embassy. But some would say it's not necessarily the most important thing to deal with now, because it could possibly lead to an upsurge of violence.

The largest concerns for Israel is how the Trump administration will deal with Iran. On one hand, Trump seems to have a stronger stance than the Obama administration, which Israel felt did not hold Iranians to account sufficiently.

But there's also concern that Trump's good relations with Russia may actually lead to a worsening of the situation in Syria from an Israeli point of view. If he gives a free hand to Russia in Syria, it could strengthen Iran there, which is the strongest force on the ground. The Russians would then give Tehran greater freedom to operate.

Miguel Angel Latouche: Latin America is seen as a problematic region

Trump is an enigma. For the first time in the contemporary history of the US, a genuine outsider has become president.

We do know a few things about Trump, though. He is a strongman who does not belong to the establishment and enjoys polemics. He is intolerant of criticism and seems perfectly willing to use force, in the style of an old political realist. But Trump's vision on Latin America is uncertain.

What priorities will guide foreign policy toward the region?

We don't know whether the Trump administration perceives Latin America as a potential partner or a threat. If it's the former, there should be opportunities to do business and strengthen open markets. If it's the latter, there is little good to come of it. Indeed, Trump is most likely to promote an isolationist stance.

Trump does appear to perceive Latin American as a problematic region. He has expressed concerns about illegal immigration and US jobs lost as a consequence of trade agreements, open markets and industrial relocation.

Would Trump build a wall along the US-Mexican border? He certainly seems capable of it, and to want to do it. Regardless of whether he can make it happen, we must consider that he is disposed to impose an ideological barrier on Latin America.

So far, all we know to expect is the reduction of concessions to Cuba, a strongman's posture towards strongman-led Venezuela and a distancing from Mexico. For other countries in the region, there is a huge question mark.

Cuban Caridad Hernandez celebrates the death of Fidel Castro in Miami. Javier Galeano/Reuters

Salvador Vazquez del Mercado: Uncertainty for Mexico

Donald Trump's campaign was geared towards pushing the buttons of voters who, as the result of shifting economic opportunities, have seen their economic prospects decline in recent years: it was Mexico that took the jobs, and Mexico that sent the bad immigrants.

In a clear example of what Robert Shiller calls the power of narratives to shift economic and social outcomes, Trump put Mexico in the centre of his attacks. He made economic and cultural insecurity the topics that would attract the attention of his voters, framed as the purported fight against fleeing employment and the assumed woes of immigration.

For Mexico, that's quite a vulnerable position to be in. The imposition of tariffs has the potential to spark a trade war that Mexico, with its smaller share of goods exported to the US, will find difficult to win. The threatened renegotiation of NAFTA will, by itself, damage the Mexican economy by aggravating investment expectations. Then there's the eventual results of the negotiation itself: imposing taxes on remittances or blocking their delivery will deprive many Mexican families of much needed resources.

In fact, Trump's campaign has already damaged the Mexican economy: the peso continues to slide as Trump keeps making announcements related to the transnational automobile industry.

It is to be expected, then, that it will fall further when he begins earnestly pursing his agenda. As a result, the International Monetary Fund has already downgraded its forecast for the growth of the Mexican economy.

It is difficult to know what Trump will do in power because of the lack of clarity in his policy proposals. This uncertainty will be aggravated as his cabinet picks continue to sort out whether to follow their policies or his.

Some of this uncertainty may benefit Mexico: while the Republican love affair with free trade seems to have ended during the campaign, the passion could be rekindled once the president is sworn in and trade negotiations start.

A weaker peso will also benefit Mexican exports, and Mexican diplomatic efforts and public relations should profit from the rifts that will open between Trump, his cabinet and the Republican-led congress.

These benefits are not minimal, if the country plays them right, which only serves to underscore the many challenges that Mexico will face starting January 20 2016.

Subarno Chattarji: a welcome change, but points of conflict in India

Donald Trump's election was welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who said that India could take some credit for Trump's victory since he used a version of Modi's election slogan to appeal to Indian American voters ("Ab ki Baar, Trump Sarkar" - "Next time, a Trump government").

The welcome message reveals the ideological and political affinities between Modi and Trump, particularly regarding attitudes toward Muslims, terrorism, political correctness, liberal elites and minorities.

Policy outlooks, however, are mixed. For instance, Trump's call with Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif whom he described as "a terrific guy" didn't go down well in India. Trump has also said he can solve the Kashmir crisis - again a touchy subject, since India's official position is that all Kashmir is an integral part of India and any dispute must be resolved bilaterally.

A member of Hindu Sena, a right wing Hindu group, holds a placard of Donald Trump during a protest in New Delhi. Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Another area of contention and anxiety is the lottery of H1-B Visas given for workers in technology and computing industries, which are largely corralled by Indians. Trump has promised to reduce these visas. In keeping with his promise to "Make America Great Again", he also plans to push back against the outsourcing of jobs - an additional potential point of conflict.

While ideologically distinct from Modi, president Obama forged a close connection with India, part of his administrations' broader pivot toward Asia. That pivot may or may not be sustained by the Trump administration. Trump's nominee for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has made no public statements on India.

Notwithstanding these misgivings, Trump will receive a warm welcome from the Indian government (and members of the Hindu Sena) should he visit the country.

Richard Maher, Research Fellow, Global Governance Programme, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute; Andrea Peto, Professor of Gender Studies, Central European University; Jonathan Rynhold, Director, Argov Center for the Study of Israel and the Jewish People, Bar-Ilan University; Miguel Angel Latouche, Associate professor, Universidad Central de Venezuela; Salvador Vázquez del Mercado, Lecturer on Public Opinion and Research Methodology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); Subarno Chattarji, Associate Professor, University of Delhi, and Weronika Grzebalska, PhD researcher, Graduate School for Social Research, Polish Academy of Sciences

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2k82AT5

[repwinpril9y0a1]

What does the world expect of a Trump presidency?

A waxwork of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is displayed during a media event at Madame Tussauds in London. Neil Hall/Reuters Richard Maher, European University Institute; Andrea Peto, Central European University; Jonathan Rynhold, Bar-Ilan University; Miguel Angel Latouche, Universidad Central de Venezuela; Salvador Vázquez del Mercado, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); Subarno Chattarji, University of Delhi, and Weronika Grzebalska, Polish Academy of Sciences

Today, Donald J Trump, the New York City real estate mogul whose outsider campaign led to an upset electoral victory becomes the 45th President of the United States.

As a candidate, Trump's campaign promises included building a border wall with Mexico and banning Muslims immigrants from the US. As president-elect, he has called NATO "obsolete" and the European Union "basically a vehicle for Germany", put the One China policy up for negotiation, and threatened to renegotiate most trade agreements.

On inauguration day, all eyes are on Washington, with the world hoping to better understand the unpredictable leader now entering the White House - and determine what comes next.

The Conversation Global has invited a panel of international scholars - many of whom also shared their reactions to Trump's win - to reflect on his presidency and assess its significance for their region.

Richard Maher: European leaders brace themselves

While campaigning for president, Donald Trump unnerved European leaders by disparaging the NATO alliance, celebrating the British vote to exit the European Union, and praising Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Following his surprise victory last November, many European leaders hoped that, now elected and poised to assume the presidency, he would clarify his earlier remarks and adopt positions on NATO's relevance and the value of a strong and united EU more in line with those of his predecessors over the past six decades.

But that was not to be, as Trump's interview last weekend with two European newspapers confirmed. He again called NATO "obsolete," proclaimed that the British vote to leave the EU would "end up being a great thing", described the EU as "basically a vehicle for Germany," and condemned German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to let in more than a million refugees fleeing violence and persecution as a "catastrophic mistake."

He also threatened to impose duties of 35% on German and other foreign cars made in Mexico and imported into the United States, predicted that other countries would follow Britain's lead and vote to leave the EU, and stated that he would start his presidency trusting Putin -- who once led the FSB, the KGB's successor organisation -- just as he will Merkel, the leader of one of America's closest allies.

European leaders still do not know how much -- if any -- of Trump's comments will become official US policy. They are thus bracing themselves for perpetual unpredictability and inconsistency regarding Trump's intentions and beliefs, as well as his tendency to contradict himself and his cabinet. (In their senate confirmation hearings, for example, his nominees for secretary of state and defence affirmed the vital role NATO and the EU continue to play in US foreign policy.)

Europe faces an inflection point. No American president in modern history has entered office with such ambivalence over the core institutions linking the United States and its European allies. Trump's actions will unite or yet further divide Europeans. Or as Merkel said in response to his latest comments, "We Europeans have our fate in our own hands."

Andrea Peto and Weronika Grzebalska: Trump is good news for populist right-wing leaders in Europe

For right-wing populists in Central Europe, Trump's presidency is a game changer. It signifies the steady decline both of the United States as a guarantor of military security in the region and of the dominant global paradigm of the connections between the free market, liberal democratic values and human rights.

In Hungary and Poland, Obama criticised the dismantling of the rule of law and attacks on civil liberties under the radical-right parties FIDESZ and PiS. Trump, on the other hand, has begun his presidency by cordially inviting Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán to Washington.

With Trump in power, these leaders are no longer the black sheep among Western political elites but rather partners in the building of a new illiberal international order that rejects liberal democratic values and freedoms.

Among the first victims of transnational illiberalism in Central Europe will surely be progressive and human rights NGOs, already struggling with cuts to government funding. That money has been redirected to faith-based and conservative organisations supporting the right-wing populist party agenda.

President Trump opens a window of opportunity to go even further toward de-globalisation, including - we predict - restricting the presence of international organisations like Amnesty International and expelling foreign-funded human rights donors like the Open Society Foundations.

In the short run, restructuring the NGO sector will harm feminist and human rights causes in the region, and activists may face personal security risks. In the long run, though, losing their financial and institutional basis will force activists to reconceptualise their political strategy. That could be a good thing: the post-1989 NGO-isation of Central Europe's civil society has largely depoliticised resistance, turning it into a technocratic process.

By returning to older forms of political resistance, social activism might also regain grassroots support and find a new voice in the process. At least, that's what we hope.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán arrives at a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, December 15 2016. Francois Lenoir/Reuters

Jonathan Rynhold: Hope for Israel, concern over Iran and Syria

We should see a generally positive tone toward Israel from Donald Trump, but there are very large questions about what the administration's policies will be on the substantive issues affecting the country.

For example, his son-in-law Jared Kushner has been tapped to deal with the peace process. He has no background whatsoever in this area, and we have no idea what his positions might be.

Regarding the settlement issue, my sense -- in contrast to what the settlement movement believes -- is that the administration is not necessarily pro-settlement. His nominee for the UN said that settlements could "hinder peace" and when the UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement was passed, Trump's comment was that "this makes peace harder" -- not that it was wrong.

Israel may follow the line suggested by Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, which is to try to reach an agreement with the US about stopping settlement building outside the blocs, but allowing it within them. It would fit in with George W Bush letter of 2004 and follows Obama's statements on different kinds of settlements. That would be a step forward, and relatively doable. The Obama administration wasn't prepared to do that, perhaps Trump might be.

On a symbolic level, we will probably see something regarding the idea of moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, which may be that the ambassador will work from the consulate there; but I doubt we will see a shift America's position on Jerusalem.

In any case, it is accepted that at least West Jerusalem will be formally recognised as the capital of Israel in any peace deal and the consulate is in West Jerusalem. In Israel everyone is in favor of moving the embassy. But some would say it's not necessarily the most important thing to deal with now, because it could possibly lead to an upsurge of violence.

The largest concerns for Israel is how the Trump administration will deal with Iran. On one hand, Trump seems to have a stronger stance than the Obama administration, which Israel felt did not hold Iranians to account sufficiently.

But there's also concern that Trump's good relations with Russia may actually lead to a worsening of the situation in Syria from an Israeli point of view. If he gives a free hand to Russia in Syria, it could strengthen Iran there, which is the strongest force on the ground. The Russians would then give Tehran greater freedom to operate.

Miguel Angel Latouche: Latin America is seen as a problematic region

Trump is an enigma. For the first time in the contemporary history of the US, a genuine outsider has become president.

We do know a few things about Trump, though. He is a strongman who does not belong to the establishment and enjoys polemics. He is intolerant of criticism and seems perfectly willing to use force, in the style of an old political realist. But Trump's vision on Latin America is uncertain.

What priorities will guide foreign policy toward the region?

We don't know whether the Trump administration perceives Latin America as a potential partner or a threat. If it's the former, there should be opportunities to do business and strengthen open markets. If it's the latter, there is little good to come of it. Indeed, Trump is most likely to promote an isolationist stance.

Trump does appear to perceive Latin American as a problematic region. He has expressed concerns about illegal immigration and US jobs lost as a consequence of trade agreements, open markets and industrial relocation.

Would Trump build a wall along the US-Mexican border? He certainly seems capable of it, and to want to do it. Regardless of whether he can make it happen, we must consider that he is disposed to impose an ideological barrier on Latin America.

So far, all we know to expect is the reduction of concessions to Cuba, a strongman's posture towards strongman-led Venezuela and a distancing from Mexico. For other countries in the region, there is a huge question mark.

Cuban Caridad Hernandez celebrates the death of Fidel Castro in Miami. Javier Galeano/Reuters

Salvador Vazquez del Mercado: Uncertainty for Mexico

Donald Trump's campaign was geared towards pushing the buttons of voters who, as the result of shifting economic opportunities, have seen their economic prospects decline in recent years: it was Mexico that took the jobs, and Mexico that sent the bad immigrants.

In a clear example of what Robert Shiller calls the power of narratives to shift economic and social outcomes, Trump put Mexico in the centre of his attacks. He made economic and cultural insecurity the topics that would attract the attention of his voters, framed as the purported fight against fleeing employment and the assumed woes of immigration.

For Mexico, that's quite a vulnerable position to be in. The imposition of tariffs has the potential to spark a trade war that Mexico, with its smaller share of goods exported to the US, will find difficult to win. The threatened renegotiation of NAFTA will, by itself, damage the Mexican economy by aggravating investment expectations. Then there's the eventual results of the negotiation itself: imposing taxes on remittances or blocking their delivery will deprive many Mexican families of much needed resources.

In fact, Trump's campaign has already damaged the Mexican economy: the peso continues to slide as Trump keeps making announcements related to the transnational automobile industry.

It is to be expected, then, that it will fall further when he begins earnestly pursing his agenda. As a result, the International Monetary Fund has already downgraded its forecast for the growth of the Mexican economy.

It is difficult to know what Trump will do in power because of the lack of clarity in his policy proposals. This uncertainty will be aggravated as his cabinet picks continue to sort out whether to follow their policies or his.

Some of this uncertainty may benefit Mexico: while the Republican love affair with free trade seems to have ended during the campaign, the passion could be rekindled once the president is sworn in and trade negotiations start.

A weaker peso will also benefit Mexican exports, and Mexican diplomatic efforts and public relations should profit from the rifts that will open between Trump, his cabinet and the Republican-led congress.

These benefits are not minimal, if the country plays them right, which only serves to underscore the many challenges that Mexico will face starting January 20 2016.

Subarno Chattarji: a welcome change, but points of conflict in India

Donald Trump's election was welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who said that India could take some credit for Trump's victory since he used a version of Modi's election slogan to appeal to Indian American voters ("Ab ki Baar, Trump Sarkar" - "Next time, a Trump government").

The welcome message reveals the ideological and political affinities between Modi and Trump, particularly regarding attitudes toward Muslims, terrorism, political correctness, liberal elites and minorities.

Policy outlooks, however, are mixed. For instance, Trump's call with Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif whom he described as "a terrific guy" didn't go down well in India. Trump has also said he can solve the Kashmir crisis - again a touchy subject, since India's official position is that all Kashmir is an integral part of India and any dispute must be resolved bilaterally.

A member of Hindu Sena, a right wing Hindu group, holds a placard of Donald Trump during a protest in New Delhi. Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Another area of contention and anxiety is the lottery of H1-B Visas given for workers in technology and computing industries, which are largely corralled by Indians. Trump has promised to reduce these visas. In keeping with his promise to "Make America Great Again", he also plans to push back against the outsourcing of jobs - an additional potential point of conflict.

While ideologically distinct from Modi, president Obama forged a close connection with India, part of his administrations' broader pivot toward Asia. That pivot may or may not be sustained by the Trump administration. Trump's nominee for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has made no public statements on India.

Notwithstanding these misgivings, Trump will receive a warm welcome from the Indian government (and members of the Hindu Sena) should he visit the country.

Richard Maher, Research Fellow, Global Governance Programme, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute; Andrea Peto, Professor of Gender Studies, Central European University; Jonathan Rynhold, Director, Argov Center for the Study of Israel and the Jewish People, Bar-Ilan University; Miguel Angel Latouche, Associate professor, Universidad Central de Venezuela; Salvador Vázquez del Mercado, Lecturer on Public Opinion and Research Methodology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); Subarno Chattarji, Associate Professor, University of Delhi, and Weronika Grzebalska, PhD researcher, Graduate School for Social Research, Polish Academy of Sciences

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2k82AT5

[topfygad]

New Zealand’s Wild Cities: A Kiwi Kinda Adventure

Short drives from Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch lead visitors to rare penguins, sea lions play-fighting on beaches, and fur seals having a lovers’ tiff.

  Wait long enough in the discreet sheds built along the Otago Peninsula and you’ll see yellow-eyed penguins waddle out of the sea after a hard day’s swim. They’re among the rarest in the world, but Otago gives visitors ample time to observe their adorable antics. Photo By: Xavier Fores-Joana Roncero/Alamy/Indiapicture

Dunedin

Come hail or harsh sun, the Otago Farmers Market pops up outside Dunedin Railway Station every Saturday morning. Its stained glass windows perk up when the morning light hits its early-20th-century facade. In the lawns, out come pumpkins the size of doll houses, Pinot Noirs from the Central Otago Peninsula, and buskers with guitars and voices like honey. A Frenchman hands me two crêpes: one with poached pear bundled in chocolate sauce and custard, another packed with Jerusalem artichokes, pork, cheese and egg. People’s purses balloon with jars of fragrant honey made from manuka bushes. A man with crinkly eyes doles out bacon butties, pepper pâté, and a smile each. And pies, oh there are pies everywhere. I try the traditional hangi (Maori feast) pie with beef, pumpkin, kumara (sweet) potato, and carrot. I feel I’ll never be able to eat another meal again. Until I move to the next truck.

It has been a long time since a group of Scottish settlers came to this part of Maori land in the mid-19th century and named it Dunedin (‘Dùn Èideann’ is the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh). Today, the city is a peppy university town, with ringing pubs, stunningly preserved Victorian and Edwardian buildings, a castle, and even its own kilt shop.

But I am here for Otago Peninsula, a mere 30-minute ride yet a world away, where the van waiting outside the railway station will take me.

Beyond the window of this little shed is a world that was never tamed. Cliffs so high that they’d tingle toes; the sea so blue that it can see into your soul. Dusk makes the ancient bays and beaches of the Otago Peninsula seem a bit broody. The wind howls and roars, but the green and gold tussock by the harbour bears it stoically.

I peer a few feet ahead, at the sea. Anytime now.

A yellow-eyed penguin emerges; it toddles slowly with hunched shoulders, as if walking back from school after flunking a maths test. I can sympathise: it has dived into the sea 200-300 times today, swimming 65-230 feet each time in search of seafood. It comes close enough to the shed for me to see its rad yellow eyebands—which gives it its name. Its irises too are the colour of van Gogh’s “Sunflowers.”

The royal albatross (top)—one of the world’s largest birds—and cheeky Hooker’s sea lions (bottom) are some of the creatures that call the Otago Peninsula home (bottom inset). The peninsula is a mere 30-minute drive from Dunedin (top inset). Photo Courtesy: Dunedinnz (Albatross); Photos By: Michael Rucker/ImageBroker/Getty Images (sea lions); Daniel Harwardt/iStock/Getty Images (coast)

Knee-high in size, this penguin species is believed to be the world’s rarest; about 3,000-odd ones are found only here, in New Zealand, on the eastern and southern coasts of South Island. I’m incredibly lucky to see them like this in the wild, where they roam free and are at home.

In seconds, more and more cuddly creatures rise from the sea, some strutting like calendar models, oblivious to me and my guide silently whooping in the hide. Mark, the guide, has seen this hundreds of times; he taps my arm when one penguin throws back its arms à la Shah Rukh Khan, and emits a long shrill cry. “Their Maori name is hoiho, which means ‘noise shouter’,” Mark whispers as the penguin sings with rockstarish head-shaking. Hoihos aren’t very sociable; I watch one accidentally headbutt a sheep on its way up the cliff behind us, waddling on quickly without meeting its eye. At the top, one curious lone penguin stands like Christ the Redeemer. For 15 whole minutes.

All life in the 33-kilometre Otago Peninsula revolves around preserving its creatures—the yellow-eyed and little blue species of penguins, New Zealand fur seal, New Zealand sea lion, and royal albatross. Large stretches are unpaved and settlements are small; it’s heartening to see some private properties have walking tracks for the easy passage of tourists. Trench-like hides built at various beaches and corners along the peninsula ensure that some wildlife (penguins in particular) rarely comes in direct contact with visitors. Operators like Mark’s company, Elm Wildlife Tours, are visibly passionate about ecotourism.

At the northernmost tip of Otago Peninsula is Taiaroa Head. The main attraction on this windswept piece of land jutting from the coastline is The Royal Albatross Centre, the only breeding colony on a mainland for the world’s largest seabird. Their wingspans are more than 10 feet (that’s twice the size of my mother). Rob, a guide at the centre, leads me to a viewing room with a glass panel. A young chick is huddled outside on a patch of grass, looking like it were made of cotton balls. Adult albatrosses spend almost 80 per cent of their time at sea, returning only to feed their young. They divvy up parenting, like the progressive spouses they are. Rob speaks of these gentle giants as if their lives are no less gripping than his favourite soap opera. “Royal albatrosses, or toroa, have a three-year mating period, so if you get bored of your partner, it’s going to be a while before you’ll settle down again,” he says. His favourite albatross here, he adds, was the one called ‘Grandma’ because she raised her last chick at 62. “She divorced one of her partners, but got back again. Then there’s one here in his 30s, who is bereaved and hasn’t put himself out there again,” rues Rob. As the perfect ending of his story, an adult toroa comes soaring in a circle, and swoops in towards its chick. I see its grace. These “ocean wanderers” fly 1,90,000 kilometres a year; I think of how, in less than eight months, a strong gust of wind will launch the baby albatross on its maiden flight.

Exploring the Otago Peninsula largely on foot, beside empty beaches, inlets, and dreamy purple clusters of hebe blossoms, feels more intimate than a safari. It also drives home an important lesson: that it’s me who’s on the turf of these creatures. Making myself invisible—huddling in hides, standing behind glass panels—is key to understanding them.

So I feel oddly exposed when Mark walks down Papanui beach in long strides, towards two, five, nay, nine sea lions roaring and gamboling in the sand. “They are endemic, the Hooker’s sea lions; confident around humans. Maintain safe distance, and you’re fine,” he says, coaxing me to stand about eight feet away from one that weighs at least 350 kilograms. He takes photos while I look over my shoulder at the way the creature bullies and playfights smaller lions around him, throwing sand over them, barking and chasing them. Almost all sea lions at Otago, I learn, are related to ‘Mum,’ a female who had a pup here in 1993—the first to be born on the mainland in over 100 years (https://ift.tt/1bDQ61i; tours from NZD122/Rs5,760 adults, children NZD112/Rs5,300).

All you need to observe New Zealand fur seals along Tongue Point, a 20-minute drive from Wellington (inset), is curiosity and a healthy 15-foot distance. Photos By: Skyimages/iStock/Getty Images (seal); Fotoshoot/Alamy/indiapicture (boy)

From the airplane, you can see the Hollywood-style sign perched on a hillside. ‘Wellington’ it reads, the last two letters askew, floating skyward. On ground, the world’s windiest city pops with Victorian homes along its harbour.

That evening, my walk from Wellington’s waterfront to Cuba Street passes through revolving doors of the world: Japanese, Vietnamese, Moroccan, and Indonesian food aromas come drifting, transporting me to secret kitchens. Coffeemakers hiss with head-clearing Cuban coffee at Fidel’s café; a puppeteer pulls strings to make her puppet paint a portrait of a little girl standing close by, sending her into squeals of disbelief. At Cuba Street’s night market, a persistent steampunk jewellery artist, a bookshop, and a paella stall tug at my heart and purse strings.

They say you can walk from one end of the Kiwi capital to the other in 30 minutes, and I do. The morning after, I book a tour with Seal Coast Safaris to look beyond the windy city. In just 20 minutes, Kent, my guide for the three-hour tour, drives the 4WD to a wind turbine on Brooklyn Hill, through private farmlands with ostrich and red deer. Soon, I see old mountains lick the waters of the South Coast. Wellington seems far away, and this place its rustic sibling—no golden sand beaches or sunbathers, no people at all.

Just the sea pummelling grey outcrops and hills that look a giant’s hairy back. When Kent stops along one of the beaches, at Tongue Point, I get out and—with a shock—realise I am surrounded by at least 15 New Zealand fur seals. Some look out at the robin’s-egg blue water. Others yawn as I tiptoe towards them, but begin hissing and spitting when I get too close. Two fur seals seem to be having a lovers’ tiff, smacking and flapping their flippers at each other. Another one scratches its neck and looks bored with their drama (www.sealcoast.com; tours from adults NZD125/Rs5,900, children 14 and under NZD62.5/Rs2,950).

A 1.5-hour drive southeast of Christchurch takes visitors to Akaroa, whose waters host the Hector’s dolphins—the world’s rarest and smallest. Don’t miss Akaroa’s other attraction: a whimsical sculpture garden with mosaic figures, the Giant’s House (inset). Photo Courtesy: Graeme Murray (dolphin), Photo by: Dennis Macdonald/ AgeFotostock/ Dinodia Photo Library (mosaic statues)

Roses bloom outside colonial homes in Rue Balguerie, and onion soup bubbles in old-timey cafés in nearby Rues. Iridescent paua shells mark some graves in the Old French Cemetery up the hill. I haven’t woken up in France, but it’s easy to forget that in the little town of Akaroa, a 1.5-hour drive away from Christchurch, South Island’s largest city.

Hewn from a volcano, Akaroa tucks charm in the little things—a walk to its lighthouse that watches over Caribbean-blue waters of the Banks Peninsula; stories of how French settlers arrived at its shores in 1840 only to find that the British had beaten them to it; or at the Giant’s House, a sculpture garden with Gaudi-like mosaics and Dali-esque whimsy.

Akaroa is catnip for another, significant reason—it is the home of the rare Hector’s dolphins, among the world’s smallest at five feet and endemic to New Zealand. When a Black Cat Cruise ship takes me and other visitors into the bay, cathedral-like coves and mystical orange-brown volcanic formations surround us. Seals scamper as our boat inches closer to the rockface. And then, as suddenly as they rose, the grey-black bodies of three Hector’s dolphins sink into the waters ahead of us. The boat stops, and a little girl beside me giggles every time the dolphins hiss and pop up like a jack-in-the-box of the sea. Our skipper points out their black dorsal fins—rounded, instead of pointed. Some cruises offer a chance to swim with Hector’s dolphins too (blackcat.co.nz; cruise NZD85/Rs4,015, children 5-15 NZD35/Rs1,650).

Flights between Delhi or Mumbai and New Zealand’s capital, Wellington—or Christchurch in South Island—require at least one layover in a gateway cities such as Sydney or Singapore. Dunedin is connected to Christchurch by regular domestic flights and two buses a day (6 hr; www.intercity.co.nz). Self-drive is the most popular way to travel within New Zealand. Indian travellers can apply for a New Zealand visa online (www.immigration.govt.nz). A month-long visa costs NZD246/Rs11,435 and is processed within 28 working days.

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[topfygad]

New Zealand’s Wild Cities: A Kiwi Kinda Adventure

Short drives from Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch lead visitors to rare penguins, sea lions play-fighting on beaches, and fur seals having a lovers’ tiff.

  Wait long enough in the discreet sheds built along the Otago Peninsula and you’ll see yellow-eyed penguins waddle out of the sea after a hard day’s swim. They’re among the rarest in the world, but Otago gives visitors ample time to observe their adorable antics. Photo By: Xavier Fores-Joana Roncero/Alamy/Indiapicture

Dunedin

Come hail or harsh sun, the Otago Farmers Market pops up outside Dunedin Railway Station every Saturday morning. Its stained glass windows perk up when the morning light hits its early-20th-century facade. In the lawns, out come pumpkins the size of doll houses, Pinot Noirs from the Central Otago Peninsula, and buskers with guitars and voices like honey. A Frenchman hands me two crêpes: one with poached pear bundled in chocolate sauce and custard, another packed with Jerusalem artichokes, pork, cheese and egg. People’s purses balloon with jars of fragrant honey made from manuka bushes. A man with crinkly eyes doles out bacon butties, pepper pâté, and a smile each. And pies, oh there are pies everywhere. I try the traditional hangi (Maori feast) pie with beef, pumpkin, kumara (sweet) potato, and carrot. I feel I’ll never be able to eat another meal again. Until I move to the next truck.

It has been a long time since a group of Scottish settlers came to this part of Maori land in the mid-19th century and named it Dunedin (‘Dùn Èideann’ is the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh). Today, the city is a peppy university town, with ringing pubs, stunningly preserved Victorian and Edwardian buildings, a castle, and even its own kilt shop.

But I am here for Otago Peninsula, a mere 30-minute ride yet a world away, where the van waiting outside the railway station will take me.

Beyond the window of this little shed is a world that was never tamed. Cliffs so high that they’d tingle toes; the sea so blue that it can see into your soul. Dusk makes the ancient bays and beaches of the Otago Peninsula seem a bit broody. The wind howls and roars, but the green and gold tussock by the harbour bears it stoically.

I peer a few feet ahead, at the sea. Anytime now.

A yellow-eyed penguin emerges; it toddles slowly with hunched shoulders, as if walking back from school after flunking a maths test. I can sympathise: it has dived into the sea 200-300 times today, swimming 65-230 feet each time in search of seafood. It comes close enough to the shed for me to see its rad yellow eyebands—which gives it its name. Its irises too are the colour of van Gogh’s “Sunflowers.”

The royal albatross (top)—one of the world’s largest birds—and cheeky Hooker’s sea lions (bottom) are some of the creatures that call the Otago Peninsula home (bottom inset). The peninsula is a mere 30-minute drive from Dunedin (top inset). Photo Courtesy: Dunedinnz (Albatross); Photos By: Michael Rucker/ImageBroker/Getty Images (sea lions); Daniel Harwardt/iStock/Getty Images (coast)

Knee-high in size, this penguin species is believed to be the world’s rarest; about 3,000-odd ones are found only here, in New Zealand, on the eastern and southern coasts of South Island. I’m incredibly lucky to see them like this in the wild, where they roam free and are at home.

In seconds, more and more cuddly creatures rise from the sea, some strutting like calendar models, oblivious to me and my guide silently whooping in the hide. Mark, the guide, has seen this hundreds of times; he taps my arm when one penguin throws back its arms à la Shah Rukh Khan, and emits a long shrill cry. “Their Maori name is hoiho, which means ‘noise shouter’,” Mark whispers as the penguin sings with rockstarish head-shaking. Hoihos aren’t very sociable; I watch one accidentally headbutt a sheep on its way up the cliff behind us, waddling on quickly without meeting its eye. At the top, one curious lone penguin stands like Christ the Redeemer. For 15 whole minutes.

All life in the 33-kilometre Otago Peninsula revolves around preserving its creatures—the yellow-eyed and little blue species of penguins, New Zealand fur seal, New Zealand sea lion, and royal albatross. Large stretches are unpaved and settlements are small; it’s heartening to see some private properties have walking tracks for the easy passage of tourists. Trench-like hides built at various beaches and corners along the peninsula ensure that some wildlife (penguins in particular) rarely comes in direct contact with visitors. Operators like Mark’s company, Elm Wildlife Tours, are visibly passionate about ecotourism.

At the northernmost tip of Otago Peninsula is Taiaroa Head. The main attraction on this windswept piece of land jutting from the coastline is The Royal Albatross Centre, the only breeding colony on a mainland for the world’s largest seabird. Their wingspans are more than 10 feet (that’s twice the size of my mother). Rob, a guide at the centre, leads me to a viewing room with a glass panel. A young chick is huddled outside on a patch of grass, looking like it were made of cotton balls. Adult albatrosses spend almost 80 per cent of their time at sea, returning only to feed their young. They divvy up parenting, like the progressive spouses they are. Rob speaks of these gentle giants as if their lives are no less gripping than his favourite soap opera. “Royal albatrosses, or toroa, have a three-year mating period, so if you get bored of your partner, it’s going to be a while before you’ll settle down again,” he says. His favourite albatross here, he adds, was the one called ‘Grandma’ because she raised her last chick at 62. “She divorced one of her partners, but got back again. Then there’s one here in his 30s, who is bereaved and hasn’t put himself out there again,” rues Rob. As the perfect ending of his story, an adult toroa comes soaring in a circle, and swoops in towards its chick. I see its grace. These “ocean wanderers” fly 1,90,000 kilometres a year; I think of how, in less than eight months, a strong gust of wind will launch the baby albatross on its maiden flight.

Exploring the Otago Peninsula largely on foot, beside empty beaches, inlets, and dreamy purple clusters of hebe blossoms, feels more intimate than a safari. It also drives home an important lesson: that it’s me who’s on the turf of these creatures. Making myself invisible—huddling in hides, standing behind glass panels—is key to understanding them.

So I feel oddly exposed when Mark walks down Papanui beach in long strides, towards two, five, nay, nine sea lions roaring and gamboling in the sand. “They are endemic, the Hooker’s sea lions; confident around humans. Maintain safe distance, and you’re fine,” he says, coaxing me to stand about eight feet away from one that weighs at least 350 kilograms. He takes photos while I look over my shoulder at the way the creature bullies and playfights smaller lions around him, throwing sand over them, barking and chasing them. Almost all sea lions at Otago, I learn, are related to ‘Mum,’ a female who had a pup here in 1993—the first to be born on the mainland in over 100 years (https://ift.tt/1bDQ61i; tours from NZD122/Rs5,760 adults, children NZD112/Rs5,300).

All you need to observe New Zealand fur seals along Tongue Point, a 20-minute drive from Wellington (inset), is curiosity and a healthy 15-foot distance. Photos By: Skyimages/iStock/Getty Images (seal); Fotoshoot/Alamy/indiapicture (boy)

From the airplane, you can see the Hollywood-style sign perched on a hillside. ‘Wellington’ it reads, the last two letters askew, floating skyward. On ground, the world’s windiest city pops with Victorian homes along its harbour.

That evening, my walk from Wellington’s waterfront to Cuba Street passes through revolving doors of the world: Japanese, Vietnamese, Moroccan, and Indonesian food aromas come drifting, transporting me to secret kitchens. Coffeemakers hiss with head-clearing Cuban coffee at Fidel’s café; a puppeteer pulls strings to make her puppet paint a portrait of a little girl standing close by, sending her into squeals of disbelief. At Cuba Street’s night market, a persistent steampunk jewellery artist, a bookshop, and a paella stall tug at my heart and purse strings.

They say you can walk from one end of the Kiwi capital to the other in 30 minutes, and I do. The morning after, I book a tour with Seal Coast Safaris to look beyond the windy city. In just 20 minutes, Kent, my guide for the three-hour tour, drives the 4WD to a wind turbine on Brooklyn Hill, through private farmlands with ostrich and red deer. Soon, I see old mountains lick the waters of the South Coast. Wellington seems far away, and this place its rustic sibling—no golden sand beaches or sunbathers, no people at all.

Just the sea pummelling grey outcrops and hills that look a giant’s hairy back. When Kent stops along one of the beaches, at Tongue Point, I get out and—with a shock—realise I am surrounded by at least 15 New Zealand fur seals. Some look out at the robin’s-egg blue water. Others yawn as I tiptoe towards them, but begin hissing and spitting when I get too close. Two fur seals seem to be having a lovers’ tiff, smacking and flapping their flippers at each other. Another one scratches its neck and looks bored with their drama (www.sealcoast.com; tours from adults NZD125/Rs5,900, children 14 and under NZD62.5/Rs2,950).

A 1.5-hour drive southeast of Christchurch takes visitors to Akaroa, whose waters host the Hector’s dolphins—the world’s rarest and smallest. Don’t miss Akaroa’s other attraction: a whimsical sculpture garden with mosaic figures, the Giant’s House (inset). Photo Courtesy: Graeme Murray (dolphin), Photo by: Dennis Macdonald/ AgeFotostock/ Dinodia Photo Library (mosaic statues)

Roses bloom outside colonial homes in Rue Balguerie, and onion soup bubbles in old-timey cafés in nearby Rues. Iridescent paua shells mark some graves in the Old French Cemetery up the hill. I haven’t woken up in France, but it’s easy to forget that in the little town of Akaroa, a 1.5-hour drive away from Christchurch, South Island’s largest city.

Hewn from a volcano, Akaroa tucks charm in the little things—a walk to its lighthouse that watches over Caribbean-blue waters of the Banks Peninsula; stories of how French settlers arrived at its shores in 1840 only to find that the British had beaten them to it; or at the Giant’s House, a sculpture garden with Gaudi-like mosaics and Dali-esque whimsy.

Akaroa is catnip for another, significant reason—it is the home of the rare Hector’s dolphins, among the world’s smallest at five feet and endemic to New Zealand. When a Black Cat Cruise ship takes me and other visitors into the bay, cathedral-like coves and mystical orange-brown volcanic formations surround us. Seals scamper as our boat inches closer to the rockface. And then, as suddenly as they rose, the grey-black bodies of three Hector’s dolphins sink into the waters ahead of us. The boat stops, and a little girl beside me giggles every time the dolphins hiss and pop up like a jack-in-the-box of the sea. Our skipper points out their black dorsal fins—rounded, instead of pointed. Some cruises offer a chance to swim with Hector’s dolphins too (blackcat.co.nz; cruise NZD85/Rs4,015, children 5-15 NZD35/Rs1,650).

Flights between Delhi or Mumbai and New Zealand’s capital, Wellington—or Christchurch in South Island—require at least one layover in a gateway cities such as Sydney or Singapore. Dunedin is connected to Christchurch by regular domestic flights and two buses a day (6 hr; www.intercity.co.nz). Self-drive is the most popular way to travel within New Zealand. Indian travellers can apply for a New Zealand visa online (www.immigration.govt.nz). A month-long visa costs NZD246/Rs11,435 and is processed within 28 working days.

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