The International Women’s Day in Burkina Faso

Spending the 8th of March in Burkina Faso has been a joyful experience. We failed to find any particular event or celebration, but merely walking in the streets of Bobo Diulasso sufficed. Men, women and children have gotten special outfits tailored for this day. There is one particular fabric designed that everyone uses for their dresses and shirts that are sown in a range of variations. The fabric has a colorful pattern and printed logos reading:

«Journee Internationale de la Femme 08 Mars 2012 BURKINAFASO – Donner la vie sans perir» International Women’s Day March 8, 2012 Burkina Faso – Giving birth without dying

The logo implying that birth mortality is this years focus

After not finding any official event going on, we spent the day trying to take sneak photos of people wearing this costume. It wasn‘t an easy task as you don’t want to be too obvious, but we finally caught this favorite

8th of March dress, high heels and hijab

Happy Women’s day to all!

Wazirpura

Snapshot from Wazirpura, Agra, where I am doing my design project this year (for three more days!) Amazing colours!

A Wee Sun Dance in the Form of Pictures

Let summer arrive!

The World in the Most Obvious Pictures

The other night, Ola & his friend Gautam were passing through New York on their way to Spring Break in Brazil (bitches). Over some over-priced hookah, we got to talking about national stereotypes, and I mentioned the photo to the right that Else had posted on Facebook that was just stereotypical Norway, in my mind. I described it and Ola said, "Yeah, that would be like the very first photo if you looked up 'Norway' on Google Images." Thus the idea for this blog-post was born (actually it was Gautam's, originally). So here are the first pictures, excluding maps and flags, that you find when you type in the names of the following countries.

Norway: The real one.

Uzbekistan: My friend Adam and I gave each other assignments over winter break to each research a country; he was supposed to learn about Switzerland and I Uzbekistan. We didn't really follow through, at least I didn't, so now I am -- visually! Now this is random.
Our Beloved Mother India: Gee, this one's a shocker.
Mali: The Mosque of Mud.
Yemen: Wow that blond woman is really a good Samaritan.
Ecuador: Now that I'm not so exhausted, I see that it really is a stunningly beautiful country.
Brazil: In honor of our intrepid friends. Oh man they are going to have an awesome time -- this comes up even before the map or flag!Samoa: There's a place in Humboldt County (Northern California) called Samoa, because so many Samoans live there, or they used to anyway. They have a cookhouse for lumberjacks, and I ate breakfast there once, even though I'm actually not a lumberjack. Not to be confused with this Samoa, the real Samoa.
Lichtenstein: Poor little guy. I actually had to search "Lichtenstein country" because when you type in Lichtenstein, all that comes up is the art of Roy Lichtenstien (which is, after all, amazing in its own right).
U.S.A.: Last but not least, the land of the free and the home of the brave. You have to wade through a number of flags to get to this one, but OMG. Thanks for representing me to the internets, lady!

**Amendment!!!**
Switzerland: Looks like Adam did his research too!

in response to brazilian militia woman

Overgrown Frat Boys

Does this freak anyone else out? The Republican candidates for America's presidency, at a debate sponsored by a Spanish-language TV channel -- essentially their only pro-immigration audience. Anyway, just look at them! Look at the camera angle! We look up at them, their reflections on the shiny floor make their frighteningly uniform be-suited figures look even taller. They look down at us like some sort of malevolent Big Brothers' club, promising to be Tough on Crime and eradicate social evils like gay marriage. Oh dear lord help us...

Republican militiawoman training on the beach outside Barcelona, August 1936

by Gerda Taro