week 204

Wed: Toulouse municipal market, having been rebuilt in the ’80s, has lost its traditional charm for a functional modern look.

Thu: Absence of mammals let New Zealand south island harbor a peculiar bird evolution including the very smart keas, now endangered by man introduced mammals.

Fri: How to balance cruel customs with deep social significance for an ethnic group with government well intended assimilation policies? Hamar people of south Ethiopia, flagellating young girls into puberty, seem a case in point.

week 203

Mon: A desalinated sea water plant powered by solar energy could be the sustainable approach to Almeria’s desert role as orchard of Europe.

Tue: Palermo street market, where produce, meat and snacks are sold by ear rather than by sight, guards old traditions lost elsewhere.

Wed: Gross happiness product as a development measure for society has been pursued by the bhutanese people since times immemorial… and it shows.

Thu: New Zealand south island, with its recent volcanoes, mountain range and preserved forests, gives a picture of earth before human colonization.

Fri: Tigray cliff perched churches, where recent mothers climb to their tops to baptize their children, have a true biblical feel.

week 202

Mon: Saving energy, from proper window insulation to awareness of the carbon footprint of the food intake or wasteful appliances, is achievable.

Tue: Municipal food markets, where local seasonal produce meets regular unhurried costumers, are the pulsing heart of old city quarters like Lisbon.

Wed: Although all around the equator, walking Fordlandia, Nairobi or Singapore gives a very different sense of how geography impacts living.

Thu: The australian continent fauna, from kangaroos to koalas, presents such unique evolutionary paths that only eons of isolation can produce.

Fri: Carnivals around the world serve to expiate societal ills, nowhere so much as in Haiti.