travel

Haldana

mandy — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 08:00:00 +0000

What does one do when far away from home? What if you never had a real home to begin with? Feelings of homesickness, uprooting one's life, and moving to a new location is considered one of the most stressful events a person can endure. Settling in another country where people speak a different language and abide by the parameters of a culture one is not accustomed to is just icing on an already challenging cake. In Haldana, Brittany Shoot shares with the reader the storm of feelings inside her during just this time of tumult.

After moving to Denmark, Shoot experienced isolation and disappointment. She witnessed racism, sexism, and downright absurdity; there are photos in the zine to prove this. The author also faced financial challenges, as well as issues with family and acquaintances. Competition for jobs is overwhelming; even a basic cleaning job received over 500 applicants. The stress of communicating with one's in-laws seems even hairier with an added language barrier, and the process of making friends with the locals seems doomed when they cannot imagine their beloved country making life stressful for an immigrant.

Reading Haldana was a learning experience for me. I had heard stories of fortunate Americans traveling through Europe, backpacking and carefree, going from one job to the next and acquiring experiences and stories to share later. However, Shoot's zine shows that this can be more of a myth than reality. Employment is not always so readily available to travelers, and attitudes can grow cold for those who do not speak a country's native language (outside of the designated tourist areas). Even though she has a master's degree and legally lives within the country, Shoot cannot find a steady job in Denmark.

I related to Shoot in many ways. We both moved from our home states to our partner's home areas (though I only moved a few states over), and weathered a rough transition. Her experience was much harder than mine. Along with the usual emotional roller coaster rides that come with replanting oneself, Shoot had to navigate language and cultural barriers. She talks about personal space, and how people often love to crowd into it, both smothering and draining the person at hand. It seems she and I both have difficulty creating and upholding boundaries from needy people.

My favorite part of Haldana was Brittany's writing style. It's rare to find an author with such a distinct voice. Usually, I find myself gritting my teeth after reading too much from a writer with a persistent style; however, Brittany's voice was skilled and I felt like dipping my feet into the pool of words, exploring and grabbing syllables, contemplating ideas and usage; this is similar to how Margaret Atwood's work makes me feel.

Written by: Jacquie Piasta, February 8th 2011

Eat Pray Love

admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:39:00 +0000

Directed by Ryan Murphy

Columbia Pictures

Pretty Woman meets Ugly American in Eat Pray Love, a gender reversal romp in which the woman, for a change, instead of the womanizing man, gets to be the one with commitment issues. And while this female free spirit fling junkie cruise around the planet for high carb self-fulfillment is clearly likewise cruising in search of the chick flick demographic, the misguided message seems to be that hedonism is the new feminism.

Julia Roberts is Liz Gilbert, a professional writer and depressed spouse who splits from her marriage on an impulse one day, leaving her husband (Billy Crudup) in a state of shock, because she's revolted by his desire to be a dad. Liz's aversion to dirty diapers, when observed at the home of her publisher, a brand new mom (Viola Davis), sends the faithless female into the arms of a younger guy stage actor (James Franco).

But following this second anxiety attack in the love department having to do with the way said boy toy neatly folds her clean undies in the laundromat, Liz is outta there too, and off on a one-year flight from reality to wherever, as long as it's exotic and boasting assorted metaphorical pleasure palaces. Though how she manages to finance the hefty price tag on such getaways these days remains a mystery, back in the real world the Elizabeth Gilbert bestseller on which this whimsical outing is based, was actually more on the premeditated side, funded by a generous advance received to write the memoir.

Eat Pray Love, with its pampered princess on constant display, is so utterly self-indulgent and in extreme disconnect with its surroundings that the movie ends up much less about exploring new worlds than getting stuck in the protagonist's old petulant, overblown ego. As this modern day Goldilocks samples, and finds lacking, assorted tempting hunks for no discernible reason at all, that Liz eventually settles on a Brazilian Australian in Bali over the alternatives back home because there's presumably more in common, makes no sense at all. Especially because the only bond the lovebirds seem to share in contrast to the other potential mates is sex, sex, sex.

The scenery is fine to look at, but seeing Julia Roberts thoughtlessly rummaging through the male population is another matter. Liz does learn a few things along the way about leading the liberated life, including mastering the art of guilt-free eating and embracing your inner fatty—not exactly a small feat in that sexist fashion police culture back home—while being defiantly anti-motherhood and proud.

But the tendency of Nip/Tuck director Ryan Murphy to depict the locals of color in foreign lands as caricatured buffoonish backdrop while invisibilizing the impoverished millions of India so they don't rain on Liz's parade, neutralizes any high-minded notions on the narrative menu—in addition to her bragging rights around landing reasonable hotel rates because of terrorism in the vicinity. Not to mention the self-centered, shallow screenplay of Jennifer Salt, a disappointing followup to dad Waldo Salt's idealism and persecution as a blacklisted writer during the McCarthy period.

Eat Pray Love: Me, Myself, and I, and a side order of serious jet lag.

Cross-posted at News Blaze

Written by: Prairie Miller, August 13th 2010

All Over the Map

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:01:00 +0000

By Laura Fraser

Harmony Books

Author Laura Fraser has just celebrated her fortieth birthday and is attending a college reunion. While observing the range of accomplishments that have been accumulated over the years by her former classmates—and mentally comparing herself with them—a friend shares with Laura the idea of a Manhattan trifecta: you can, over the course of your life, have the perfect relationship, the perfect job, and the perfect apartment. Just not all at once. Laura realizes that she has a great apartment and a great job, but there is no great man in her life and she wants to change that.

All Over the Map is a like a less self-indulgent Eat, Pray, Love. Laura Fraser is a freelance writer who travels frequently for her work. In her previous book, An Italian Affair, she wrote about the breakup of her marriage and finding solace in an Italian romance—a cleansing, hedonistic break. In All Over the Map, Laura is in her forties and trying to find balance in her life. The book chronicles several years while she tries her hand at settling down, all while traveling frequently on assignment.

For Laura, the idea of what constitutes "settling down" changes gradually over the duration of the book. Initially, she thinks that she wants a husband and children, but after a series of half-hearted romances, and as her fertility wanes, she realizes that she'd rather find a place to settle herself as an individual, while remaining close to a circle of friends. You can feel her mood lightening as she shifts from an intense focus on finding a man and starting a family, to being a happy woman with a house in Mexico in a town full of artists and divorcees.

Laura Fraser is a frequent contributor to glossy women's magazines, and knows how to craft a gripping sentence. While All Over the Map could be considered a beach read, there are darker and more complex moments in the book. Among the most engrossing chapters are when Laura describes her travel to Italy and Samoa to interview sex workers for articles. These chapters begin as typical travel pieces, singing the beauty of these locations, and end up darker and more menacing. The men and women involved in the sex trade that Laura speaks to are full of anger, fear, and desire, and dealing with women's new roles as breadwinners around the globe while living in largely paternalistic societies. These chapters have really meaty implications about the shifting role of women around the world, and come at a point in Laura's life where she's struggling to become a wife and mother. It's an interesting contrast and comparison, though one Laura doesn't choose to explore.

Ultimately, the book shifts back to Laura's story and the happiness she's able to find for herself. It's a quick read with interesting implications about female vulnerability and independence around the globe. Buy it if you'd like a light, feminist read with some intellectual heft.

Written by: Catherine Nicotera, July 21st 2010

Braking News: 1 Bus, 2 Girls, 15 Thousand Kilometers, 715 Million Votes

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:01:00 +0000

By Sunetra Choudhury

Hatchette India

Sunetra Choudhury’s Braking News takes the reader on a trip across India to find the elusive Indian voter in both cities and villages. As an anchor and TV news reporter, Choudhury was asked to cover the elections for NDTV on a bus. The election bus planned to travel fifty kilometers each day for sixty days covering 3,000 kilometers. Two teams aboard the bus were scheduled to produce a half-hour show every weekday prior to the May 2009 elections. Though the bus did not travel as planned, the stories and people that come to the surface are worth the adventure. The bus drove to places on and off the map. For locations neglected for years by politicians, just the fact that NDTV decided to bring a bright red bus to their constituency was a powerful symbol.

While the story is entertaining and the writing is clear, Braking News is less about the places and people Choudhury meets on the way, and more about her own journey. As a result, it is easy to become annoyed with the author and her desire for modern comforts, such as a clean toilet. Nonetheless, some chapters are more descriptive than others and reveal the heart of contrasts amidst the Indian subcontinent. The women of Gujjarland insist that Choudhury cut wheat before agreeing to do an interview. At one point Choudhury stops a man on a motorcycle who she believes to be a dacoit (thief) to ask him about the gun he is carrying, and in another segment she interviews people in the village of Shivgarh who have cell phones and DVD players despite having no electricity.

Choudhury touches occasionally on gender and the vast differences that exist for women between the cities and villages of India. For example, in the state of Haryana, she interviews young women who do not vote until they are married. But near the end she speaks to a woman who is living a privileged, single lifestyle. As a woman, Choudhury is allowed into private kitchen spaces where she meets village women on a level that would not be accessible to male reporters. And instead of seeing them all as exploited, she begins to see that they too have power and agency, albeit in a different manner than she experiences.

Choudhury concludes Braking News by arguing that if journalists truly want to report on what is occurring around them, they must go out and see the world. They must be willing to risk being dirty, hot, and tired, which on some level (despite the posh hotels) is exactly what the NDTV election bus did.

Written by: Lakshmi Saracino, July 19th 2010

Chai, Chai: Travels in Places Where You Stop but Never Get Off

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0000

By Bishwanath Ghosh

Tranquebar Press

Good travel writing is hard to come by because it requires a convergence of several elements: a catchy hook, entertaining prose, historical context in just the right doses, and a keen eye for what is interesting about people and places visited. The ability to impeccably execute these essential components is what separates the sacred from the profane. Regrettably, Chai, Chai succeeds in only one of these areas.

Journalist Bishwanath Ghosh dreamed up an interesting idea while making his way on the Indian Railways to his hometown of Kanpur from his chosen home in Chennai. As the train paused at Itarsi, and Ghosh stretched his legs by wandering about the station, he wondered what he might be missing by never venturing beyond the station’s walls. As a frequent rail traveler, Ghosh had been through these kinds of junctions (i.e., Itarsi, Mughal Sarai, Guntakal, Shoranur) numerous times before, yet not once did he step out of their gates and into the towns themselves. Thus, Ghosh decided to take up the task of exploring the cities whose railway crossings provide a gateway to the rest of the country.

The book starts out well enough. Ghosh arrives before dawn to Mughal Sarai and has an amusing yet blunder-filled time of finding a place to sleep. The following evening, he has a few noteworthy interactions with some sordid and assorted fellows at a local bar who tell and mis-tell the history of the town in which they live. (He never discovers whose version is the truth.) Ghosh indulges and shares indulgence in several bottles of whiskey with the bar-goers, and the newly made friendships give the reader the sense that the journey to the heart of this junction city has begun—until the following day.

Ghosh rises to find his “friends” have slipped through his grasp (no one will take his calls), and he is on his own to survey the city. Unfortunately, the exploration is largely unexciting, and full of the typical mishaps and bumbles of someone traveling in India. He is given the runaround, eats food that can be gotten in most any other city (subzi puri, alu matar), scans an issue of Cosmopolitan, and chats with a temple sadhu who refuses to divulge his secrets. These kinds of banal scenes repeat themselves again and again.

Repetition wouldn’t have been a problem had Ghosh put forth more of an effort before, during, and after his visits. Instead, his lackadaisical observations are based more on conjecture than proper research. (Wikipedia apparently counts as a suitable authority.) While in the towns, Ghosh is perpetually reticent to speak to the locals (at least until he downs a drink or three for courage), and thus, we are told more of overheard conversations than ones Ghosh actively engages in.

The final fault is in the writing itself, which fails to engage and lacks in finesse. (This is partly an editorial error as repetition and lackluster passages could have easily been cut out.) On several occasions Ghosh describes his teenage lust for some woman or other he has happened across, (but is too afraid to speak to) and bolsters his arrogant self-importance by diminishing the townspeople as “simpleminded” and unsophisticated. He even ventures from his stated goal of focusing on the junction towns and leaves them to visit more exciting places, like Banaras and Khajuraho, because he’s "seen whatever was worth seeing."

The trick to good travel writing is having the ability to recognize that _everything _is worth seeing, and it’s the duty of the writer to look closer than the average traveler in order to extract what is fascinating from the seemingly mundane. Ghosh clearly doesn’t have this ability, nor does he have the tenacity to obtain it. In the future, I’ll stick to reading books by those who do.

Written by: Mandy Van Deven, March 15th 2010

Who Do You Think You Are?

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:11:00 +0000

By NBC Entertainment, Ancestry.com

Genealogy has never been so entertaining. Making its debut this evening, Who Do You Think You Are? explores the family history of a celebrity who travels about to find missing information and reconnect with their ancestors by seeing for themselves the location of their family’s historical events. Sponsored by Ancestry.com, the celebrities, of course, use the website as a primary source of their research. (Don’t worry, the tie-in is natural and not overly advertorial.) It’s an emotional experience to discover one’s roots and feel a family connection like never before.

Having received a screener of the entire season, which will unfold weekly for NBC viewers, the first episode staring Sarah Jessica Parker was the most gripping. She discovers that she has an ancestor who was involved in the Salem witch trials. As she waits for whether her ancestor was an accuser or a victim to be revealed, it’s most incredible to watch her conviction and sense of responsibility. She’s quite nervous about the results, and unsure which way it would go, but it was admirable that she felt the need to make things right in some way should her ancestor turn out to be an accuser.

However, the flip side is that she’s horrified by the idea of having an ancestor unjustly accused of being a witch. It’s fascinating to see her instant love for the relative and her immediate connection with the historical nature of the events. It's as if these were her own life events unfolding. It goes to show that there is a bond among families that surpasses time, distance, and even death.

The journey that most surprised me was that of Emmitt Smith. All I knew about him was that he used to be a football player. It was amazing to watch this bighearted man connect with his family despite the harshness of his genealogical roots in slavery. Most inspiring was his powerful respect when he learns that his grandmother successfully used her strength, intelligence, and strong protective instincts to make the best of a tough situation. He’s enormously impressed with her accomplishments and reveres her effect on his family's posterity. To watch a man view the power of a woman with such honor is truly beautiful.

Other celebrities featured in this first season of Who Do You Think You Are? are Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Broderick, Brooke Shields, Susan Sarandon, and Spike Lee. Lisa Kudrow's Jewish ancestry leads right into the Holocaust, and this is by far the toughest episode to watch. But if you can bear with Lisa through the heartbreaking journey, the ending turns out to be a small miracle in the midst of tragedy. Matthew Broderick's family history is full of war heroes, and Matthew’s research into his lineage helps to solve a 150 year old mystery. If you watch the show for its travel aspect, be sure to tune in for Brooke Shields' episode. She has an exciting family tree that leads to beautiful locations. Having a very unique family history, Susan Sarandon has always felt a connection with the grandmother she never met yet believes she inherited her best qualities from. The search for the truth of this women, who disappeared many years ago, is a challenging treasure hunt and the family connection through strong women is wondrously insightful. Spike Lee discovers a truth about his ancestors that he wishes weren’t true. It’s a look into genuine emotion, though with a tough exterior, as he tries to accept his family history, blemishes and all.

Who Do You Think You Are? gives you a mix of history lesson, travel show, and human interest documentary with a touch of reality TV. It’s a good mix that keeps the audience entertained while educating and enlightening them as well.

Written by: Sarah Eve Nichols-Fulghum, March 5th 2010

My Estonia: Passport Forgery, Meat Jelly Eaters, and Other Stories

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:00:00 +0000

By Justin Petrone

Petrone Press

Long Island native Justin Petrone, like many young people, wanted to shake up his life after graduating from college. He wasn’t sure how, but he managed to do it in a big way. My Estonia tells his true story of a life-altering year of love and timeliness.

“Finland really was my last hope. It was calling me in my sleep from Helsinki: an open-air mental institution on the other side of the world.” Little did he know joining a foreign correspondence program wouldn’t just change his direction for a few shorts weeks. Ultimately, his compass would be facing north for a time longer than he ever imagined.

On his first day in Finland, he met the captivating Estonian named Epp. She wasn’t so much concerned with direction as long as she was moving. Justin quickly fell in love with her as she took him on a winding road to Estonia through England, France, Italy, and Ireland. Once it was decided they would marry, they settled for a while in Estonia so Epp could finish school.

As his time in Estonia progressed, Justin discovered the good, the bad, and the beautiful of this little country that many Americans are unable to locate on a world map. The small size of Estonia allowed him to explore the medieval old town of Tallinn, the hip university area of Tartu, and the bogs of the south.

He moved to Estonia in January, a time of year when the country is covered with ice and snow, and was hit by bitter cold days and a darkness that falls by mid-afternoon. Although he handled the weather well, other things didn’t come as easily: “When most people think about adjusting to life in a northern country during the winter, they think about being depressed by the dark and the cold and turning to alcohol for relief. But wasn’t the weather that starved me of joy in Estonia; it was the awful food.”

Through humor and humility I was able to connect with his experience. It also helps that I’ve been to Estonia and related to many of his observations. The one aspect of Estonia that I do disagree with, though, is his initial interpretation of the people. He never displays contempt or even very much irritation, but does paint them as not being personable. I’d agree their culture isn’t as open armed as, say, Brazilians or Italians are, but I was met with a lot of kindness and felt very welcome during my stay.

From his description of Tallinn’s Old Town to the college town of Tartu, anyone will become intrigued by this unique nation. This could be seen as a travel novel for people who have an interest in Estonia, but underneath is a much deeper story. Anyone who has moved somewhere unfamiliar, or unexpectedly fallen in love, can relate to this book. Even if you’ve only imagined finding love in an exotic place, this would be an interesting read for you.

Written by: Andrea Hance, March 3rd 2010

A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:01:00 +0000

By Paul Theroux

Harcourt

Here’s the thing about reading a book that’s set in the place you live: it obliges you to scrutinize the setting, the authenticity of the dialogue, and the accuracy of the story in a way you may not have done otherwise. This effect becomes magnified when the place in which you live is not the place you are from, and when your own situated existence in that un-rooted place resembles that of the author’s. Aside from one’s desire for realism and reflexivity in the story, the reading provides a way of sorting out or reinforcing one’s own position as possessing superior knowledge of, having become better acclimated to, or garnering more acceptance as a foreigner in that place. It is for these reasons that I urge you to take some aspect of my repugnance toward A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta with a grain of noon.

Paul Theroux’s seemingly self-aware writing of this noir-esque novel is navel gazing, thinly disguised. The narrator, Jerry Delfont, is loosely based on the author himself: a travel writer who has wound up in Calcutta with an acute case of writer’s block, or the double entrendred “dead hand.” Delfont receives a handwritten request from a wealthy American expat, the businesswoman cum philanthropist Merrill Unger, who is in need of his assistance to clear up a delicate matter involving her son’s friend (implied to be the son’s lover), Rajat, and the body of a dead boy. More mysterious than the mystery itself is the untidy explanation as to why exactly Mrs. Unger would call upon a travel writer to do a detective’s job, but this is giving too much inquiry to something so banal. There are far better things to take issue with here.

I don’t know Theroux’s history with the City of Joy, but he got several elements plainly wrong, like the timing of Durga Puja and monsoon, the turns of phrase in Banglafied English, and the ins-and-outs of Shakta philosophy, mythology, and tantric practice. Since it is pretty standard for Western authors to have a baseless preoccupation with the Oriental exotic, and so I was expecting these kinds of errors from the jump, even this wasn’t my primary source of disappointment. That came from the wretched writing (which becomes all the more wretched with Theroux’s attempts at the erotic) and the utterly predictable plot, whose saving grace could have been its setting, were it not for the obvious artifice of its description, its appearance a kitschy vehicle for an otherwise bland story.

A Dead Hand seems to be an exercise in giving mention to the things that amuse and repulse the handful of tourists who make their way to Calcutta, and from the looks of it, Theroux is quite taken with himself for producing such a book. (There is even a moment in the narrative where Delfont has a drink with the actual Theroux in what superficially comes across as self-deprecation, but is tinged with egoistic megalomania.) Unfortunately, he might be the only one so taken.

Written by: Mandy Van Deven, February 26th 2010

Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:58:00 +0000

By Elizabeth Gilbert

Viking

Since I am apparently one of the only women between the ages of twenty-five and seventy-five who hasn’t read Eat, Pray, Love, I was delightfully surprised by Elizabeth Gilbert's latest work, Committed.

Gilbert's engaging prose and witty, self-deprecating style are intriguing, thought provoking, moving, and hilarious. Committed picks up where the first book leaves off. Gilbert and Felipe have been living together happily on several continents, but their domestic bliss is brought to an end when U.S. Immigration detain Felipe at the airport in Dallas and then deport him. The couple is advised that the only way Felipe will be able to enter and live in the U.S. again is if they get married.

Gilbert describes their situation in confessional detail: they want to be together and Felipe needs to travel to America for his business to survive. On the other hand, both have gone through gut wrenching divorces and have sworn never to remarry. Gilbert leaves the country to be by Felipe’s side during the immigration process. As they travel together, she decides to do her own investigation of marriage to try to embrace it fully. Committed is the chronicle of that time.

The pleasure of Committed, for me, was Gilbert’s interweaving of her own story with research on the history of marriage, and the informal interviews she conducted with women from all over the world. In her writing, Gilbert shows the various, often contradictory effects of marriage on women, and she does it in a complex fashion. The chapter “Marriage and Women” begins with anecdotes about Gilbert’s time in Laos, but it could have been subtitled “Mixed Emotions” or “A Cost-Benefit Analysis.”

For example, Gilbert tells us about Joy and Ting. Ting is from a tiny Laotian village and is extremely proud of her daughter Joy, who has received an education and is a skilled weaver. However, Joy’s ability to support her family is a source of both happiness and frustration. The young men in the village are neither as educated as Joy nor are they able to provide an equally large income. Joy’s material betterment effectively ended her marriage prospects within the village.

Gilbert goes on to relate the story of her grandmother, who gave up a fashionable life and successful career to raise seven children in one room of a drafty old farmhouse during the Great Depression. Gilbert’s grandmother claims this was the happiest time of her life, but also hopes Gilbert will not give up writing books to raise a family. The contradictions inherent in how Gilbert’s grandmother feels about her life and her granddaughter’s life embody the experience of many modern women.

Gilbert captures the complicated emotions surrounding marriage perfectly, and her intelligent analysis, combined with her obvious heart and likability, make Committed a thoughtful and gratifying read. I’ve already ordered Eat, Pray, Love.

Written by: Jennifer Wedemeier, February 23rd 2010

Traveling With Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:00:00 +0000

By Sue Monk Kidd, Ann Kidd Taylor

Viking

Traveling With Pomegranates tells the two parallel stories of its authors, a mother and daughter. The two women learn about themselves while abroad in Greece and France, as well as in their respective homes in South Carolina.

Ann comes to terms with her disappointment in receiving a rejection letter from the only affordable school offering a Master's degree in Greek history. During the year that follows, she is plagued with depression that follows this blow to her confidence. While traveling with her mother, Ann maps out her path as a writer, even though she had long resisted following in her mothers footsteps. (She didn't want to risk a lifetime of being compared to her mother.) Ann finds out she a unique knack for travel writing, which helps her to preserve her independent spirit.

Sue’s discoveries bring forth the ideas, imagery, and symbolism that formed her hugely successful book, The Secret Life of Bees. While Traveling With Pomegranates contains some of the same Southern magic and mystique as The Secret Life of Bees, it hits a little closer to home for the average reader. These women’s lives are at once ordinary and extraordinary, but the way they tell their tale of reconnecting with the energizing spirit of Greece is inspiring.

With Greek mythology guiding their tour, Sue and Ann are each profoundly influenced Persephone, Demeter, and various portrayals of Mary they find in various places: a cave, cathedrals, a convent in the mountains, the coast of South Carolina, books, the tiny pomegranate charms they wear. This modern mom-and-daughter travel story tells of the magic of Greece, which the pair find in odd coincidences and signs they encounter. The magic for the reader is in their scintillating descriptions of the country's architecture, taxi drivers, performers, and lovers.

The connection between these two is exceptional. The cohesion of their experiences and concern for each other creates a mutual understanding and emotional response to their trip that all of us an learn from. Traveling With Pomegranates imparts wisdom in its perspectives on accepting rejection, coping with depression, managing life changes after marriage, settling into menopause, and seizing the day.

Written by: Heather Irvine, February 23rd 2010

Something to Declare: Good Lesbian Travel Writing

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Edited by Gillian Kendall

University of Wisconsin Press

Something to Declare is a wonderful collection of travel stories written to share a unique experience, traveling while lesbian. These stories bring a solid voice to the forefront for queer travel writing, showing the world that travel is indeed colored by the lens of being a lesbian. It lets readers know they no longer have to accept a straight perspective, and allows them to identify with the authors and the places in a way that has not been previously accessible through traditional travel writing anthologies.

Something to Declare has stories of travel from around the world and around the corner. They are stories of love, loss, and self discovery through adventure, mishap, and distance. My favorite story was “What happens after this day” by Hannah Tennent-Moore, which is about a young woman who sorts out her complicated love life while also leaving it behind and studying at an ashram in India. The descriptions of place and emotion and how we tie the to two together are so perfectly written; it is as if you are right alongside the author on her journey of self discovery.

Another standout story is Sandra Gail Lambert's “Looking for the V,” a short story written about a group of friends—two lesbian couples and one single woman in a wheelchair—who embark on a weekend kayaking trip. This story describes the peace that comes with being single, traveling down a wide stretch of river, and learning how to appreciate what you have. It shows how living in the moment brings much joy to the heart.

The stories in Something to Declare span the width and breadth of women’s experiences during travel. The diversity within the stories and authors makes is easily accessible, as well as a very enjoyable read for any lesbian who wants to travel, but is unable to at the moment. This book is the perfect item to squash your travel bug or awaken the adventurer within.

Written by: Jenny Greenfield, January 5th 2010

India Exposed: The Subcontinent A-Z

admin — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:00:00 +0000

By Clive Limpkin

Abbeville Press

The dust jacket of the enigmatic picture book India Exposed displays row upon row of bright blue Kali figures prepared for a festival. Nude goddesses sticking out their intense pink tongues, each statue garlanded with human heads (all male, as far as I can tell), dwarf the lone craftsman at work among them. The powerful image summons up the mystique of India: outsized, crowded, frenetic, sensual, and yet somehow austere.

Throughout the colorful pictures and text, photojournalist Limpkin stresses the paradoxes of what he calls an "anarchistic madhouse" of a country rich and poor, scholarly and illiterate, traditional and modern. He offers us fascinating glimpses of a civilization that poses more questions than answers. In photo essays of one or two pages—though occasionally more—he traverses the alphabet from Army to Zebu. This approach leads to surprising juxtapositions; we learn on one page that anger at high prices for onions spurred Indira Ghandi's rise to political power, and on the next we find out that the Central Narcotics Bureau licenses farmers to grow opium poppies.

Larger topics tend to overflow these essays and recur under different headings. Feminist readers interested in the status of women, for example, will find insights clustered under themes such as Corruption & Crime—human trafficking and prostitution; Families—a sister tenderly feeds a small sibling and a grandmother combs her grandson's hair; Sex Discrimination—"sex-selective infanticide," education, employment, and domestic treatment; and Weddings—elaborate ceremonies that contrast horribly with "the grotesque practice of bride burnings" that still occur, despite its being illegal. Despite the bitter taste of such customs, don't overlook, the photos under the rubric of Color, such as "a female work gang" carrying loads of mud on their heads—each one clad in pink, orange, green, blue, or yellow—in a "glorious, impulsive addiction to color...that lightens their lives and ours." _India Exposed_ is a gold mine of images and information, not to be missed.

Written by: Kittye Delle Robbins-Herring, December 12th 2009

Travel Queeries

admin — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:07:00 +0000

Directed by Elliat Graney-Saucke

Three Dollar Bill Cinema

I perform a comedy show with my partner at Ladyfest Berlin every year. One of the vague memories I have of our first performance was of a U.S. filmmaker named Elliat politely introducing herself at some of the shows and workshops, then asking permission to film parts of the festival for a documentary she was making. She was warm and welcoming, and people were happy to oblige. I forgot all about it, though, until I saw this blurb on a website last month:

Travel Queeries_ is a feature-length documentary film that examines the culture, art and activism of radical queers in contemporary Europe. Through personal interviews and documentation of performances, festivals, multi-media [sic] visual arts and spaces, Travel Queeries puts an exciting international lens on queer fringe culture.

I felt sure this must be the result of that film project we saw the start of several summers ago., and a little internet research proved me right. Elliat turned out to be Elliat Graney-Saucke of Three Dollar Bill Cinema. Pleased as I was to feel some vicarious satisfaction at the piece coming to fruition, as a queer artist and activist living in Europe, I also had high expectations for the finished product. I wondered if I’d automatically be biased toward the film, and whether I’d be a fair reviewer. Eventually, I decided I could potentially be one of its worst critics—easily able to spot glosses or discrepancies in the narrative or perspective, and see through any objectification of a vibrant subculture. So I watched it.

This film is excellent.

Interviewees seem at ease, positive, knowledgeable, and forthcoming. Unofficial spokespeople give articulate and emotive views on issues from those as broad as the definition of queerness to specific reasoned hypotheses about links between queer culture and squatting, immigration, and drag performance, for example. Their answers are interwoven so that, even though participants may be separated by time or distance, their answers resonate with and build upon each other, providing rich coverage of an often ignored scene.

Graney-Saucke’s voice is unique, and her style is very readable. Well-chosen stock footage (sometimes including footage taken by other independent queer artists and activists) and a variety of quirky and charming multimedia animations balance out the interviews and further illustrating both fact and emotion. My partner and I were delighted to see one or two familiar performers and interview subjects on screen.

Despite the familiarity, we kept exclaiming over the detailed coverage of events we had only third-hand knowledge of, such as fascist protests against pride marches in Eastern Europe. Travel Queeries is an important film in terms of both transmitting a snapshot to outsiders and as an archival resource for the community it explores. It is particularly successful in making the term queer more tangible for viewers who might not understand it, without excluding or admonishing those who don’t embrace the idea of queerness.

Though the majority of the interviews were conducted in English, Graney-Saucke chose to subtitle the entire film, and also offers a wide variety of foreign-language subtitles for screenings in different countries. I can’t applaud this enough, and found my experience of the film greatly enhanced by the open captioning. (The post-production team may like to take the opportunity to fix some typos and misspellings in the current set of English captions, which slightly detract from an otherwise slick execution.)

Great joy emanates from Travel Queeries and stays with the viewer: from the pride and confidence of the participants, through the clever soundtrack featuring independent and queer musicians, and finally from all of the art featured throughout. Though some discussion points provide more questions than answers, the whole picture is one of intelligent and thoughtful inclusion and exploration of many cultural possibilities. The production company does not yet have a distributor for the film, but is currently touring it around festivals this year in cities across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. See it.

Written by: Chella Quint, December 5th 2009

It Was Great, But I Was Ready To Come Home

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:01:00 +0000

Directed by Kris Swanberg

The mythical tropical vacation: surfing, tequila, half-naked beauties, sunsets, dancing, delicious food, and life-changing vistas. It Was Great, But I Was Ready To Come Home strips the glorified ideal of self-discovery down to its reality: bugs, dodgy tacos, heat, dodgy people, heat, dodgy beds, and heat.

I watched this film with a half dozen expatriate women living in Mexico City. All of us are travelers; we've backpacked and we have our own stories that could fill up the big screen. So why would this movie be worth watching? Why not just sit around and tell stories about events that actually happened? Because we're not filmmakers. We're not storytellers. And in her first feature film, Kris Swanberg proves she is.

It Was Great, But I Was Ready To Come Home is about a young city girl who goes on a proverbial Costa Rica trip with her best friend. They embark in their rental car with maps, big backpacks, rudimentary Spanish, and some farcical American mores. The dramatic scenery changes from one village to the next, but the plot stays simple: a girl has her heart broken by her boyfriend and goes to paradise with her long-time friend to conquer her demons. Unfortunately, heartbreak is not simple, and tequila does not drive away demons.

Dialogue between the girls reveals two very different perspectives on relationships. The endearing Annie (played by Swanberg herself) has a woe-is-me point of view of someone going through the first big breakup. Her friend, Cam (played by Jade Healy) is more jaded and cynical—someone who has already started closing the door on romantic emotions, and simultaneously, on the pitiful Annie.

This movie is surprisingly good, and extremely indie. It exists somewhere between truth and fiction, scripts and improv, a movie and the looking glass. It is relatable, as there are moments where you want to stand up and say, "Yes! Thank you! It is annoying when your friend is more charming and sexy and happy than you are." Swanberg and her small crew capture subtle and honest moments with characters that are far from glamorous, and as likable as they are unlikable.

Near the end of their trip, Annie walks alone through the village streets to find water for the pitiful Cam. (Ah, how the tables can turn!) There is not much to say about the scene other than that it is perfect. If you have ever been to a place where you don’t look right, speak right, or feel right, you will empathize with our doe-eyed Annie.

We expats laughed a lot, yelled at the screen, and the recently brokenhearted among us even cried. This movie is not about two bubbly friends who travel to an eco-tourist destination, but quite tritely, it's about the universal journey we all share.

Written by: Katy Pine, December 2nd 2009

The 2010 Lonely Planet Calendar

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:39:00 +0000

By Lonely Planet

There’s something about getting a new calendar that brings out my inner geek, the part of me that revels in stationery supplies and finds the smell of pencils and paper somewhat intoxicating. As a student, the beginning of fall—my favorite season—was always exciting not just for the crisp sunny days and technicolored leaves. I was equally thrilled to have fresh, new school supplies, and to this day, I get a charge when replenishing my office supplies or choosing a new journal. I also carefully select an agenda book and a wall calendar each year. Usually I wait until they go on sale in January, but the The 2010 Lonely Planet Calendar was a nice, early treat.

The wall calendar is a bit larger than average (11 3/4” by 13” when closed), and each day has a large square with plenty of space to jot down birthdays and appointments. Holidays from around the world are unobtrusively pre-printed in a subtle grey ink. Each month is a visit to countries in all corners of the globe—from The Bahamas to Sweden to Indonesia. Vibrant photographs and a brief overview of each destination give armchair travelers a taste of local culture, flora, fauna, traditions, and landscapes.

My favorite month in this calendar is February when we visit Iran. I’m partial to the country's aesthetics—the intricate mosaics, minarets, and domed architecture—all of which are featured in brilliant color. I looked to my birth month (December) with special anticipation. In December 2010 we visit Malawi; highlights of the page are breathtaking photos of Nyika National Park and a canoe that appears to be carved from a single tree.

Lonely Planet was started in the 1970s by a young couple who wanted to show others how to travel the globe on the cheap while having authentic experiences in the places visited. Today Lonely Planet has offices in Melbourne, London, and Oakland with over 500 staff members and 300 authors. Tony and Maureen, the young couple who started it all, are still actively involved in the organization and their empowering approach to travel ("All you've got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!") is still the company’s guiding motto.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, September 28th 2009