The following are a series of portraits of peaceful protesters in Montrose, Iowa. They are demonstrating with a group called Mississippi Stand, who opposes the construction of the destructive and controversial Dakota Access Pipeline under the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. These photos were taken in early October, 2016.
Click here to see more photos of people against the pipeline. Continue reading
Mid-October 2015.
I must begin by saying that half the fun of visiting Dombai and Teberda was eating local food. However, I’m saving an exclusive post for later about Russia’s food.
This trip was arranged especially for us by my companion’s savvy mother: we rode from from Pyatigorsk with a university driver through the mountains to Teberda.
A mountain pass
We arrived at Райские яблоки, or Paradise Apples, a bed-and-breakfast tucked neatly into the valleys of Teberda. The quaint, colorful cottages and abundant apple trees are supported by sheer mountains on either side. The rooms were bright and comfortable.
During our stay, we were lucky enough to find a “Dead-head” moth… the insect seemed to be losing some mobility – we were unsure whether it was dying, or trying to hibernate because of the chill.
To people in certain English-speaking countries, this might seem to be a vision of Halloween. But we’re not in an English-speaking country, nor is this child out for a night of trick-or-treat: he’s a child of Palma de Mallorca, and this is the night of his city’s saint, Sant Sebastiá. He is in attendance at a correfoc (fire-run in Catalan) in celebration of Palma’s saint. Sebastian’s feast day is on the 20th of January, but this festival took place on the 24th.
The correfoc is a spectacular event unique to Catalonia and the Balearic islands. It’s not just for Saint Sebastian – in celebration of different saints, on different dates throughout the year, demons and devils enter the streets. Maybe it is a wild vision of Hell, but since it lasts only a few hours, it’s just fire, fun and more fire… a lot more fire.
My roommate (of sorts), Catherine, and I went out to see the correfoc together. Her friends had told her to wear synthetic materials in thick layers and not to forget her hat, but nothing more. In defiant curiosity, I went in a light jacket with no hat (partially because I didn’t have one… but heed my warning: if you’re going to visit Hell, don’t forget your hat).
Despite my ignorance about correfocs, I soon noticed that a lot of people were, in fact, wearing heavy protection. The streets were crowded and I had no idea what kind of festival this was, so I started to become a little alarmed when I saw people all around me doing this:
The crocodile was the harbinger of the night that would soon find us in Palma’s midnight streets. Continue reading
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