Thanks to its population of just 3 million and how far south of the equator it is, Uruguay is one of those small countries that tends to slip under the radar for many tourists hailing from the northern hemisphere. This may be exactly the reason to include it on your travel bucket list. … read more.
Chef and public figure Angèle Ferreux-Maeght first rose to notoriety for her ethical catering services in the fashion world. Her culinary creations and the philosophies behind them were so well-received that Angèle has since become a respected figure in France on the topic of healthy eating and positive lifestyle. After establishing herself in the fashion world, she has opened two small shops in the I and then another in the XI Arrondissements of Paris. From these spaces, she sells fresh foods made according to naturopathic and holistic traditions and prepared by an all-female team at her garden atelier. Angèle has also published two books, appeared on TV channel France 5, and continues to work on numerous other projects for spreading her bright messages with no signs of stopping. When given the chance to peer into Angèle’s inner world, it becomes clear that her success is a natural manifestation of an alignment of values, matched with equal parts humility and love. In fact, it is clear that success isn’t the central object of her focus at …
Journalist and author, Lindsey Tramuta, has been living in Paris for over a decade now. In that time, she has seamlessly integrated herself into French culture, speaking without a trace of an accent. Often vacillating between that and her native American English, she reflects on the intersections of culture that have begun to imbue the city’s long revered cosmopolitan nature from a truly unique and fascinating perspective. Born and raised in the U.S. and a French citizen since 2014, Lindsey herself is the personification of the cultural intermingling that has begun to enhance Parisian life that she writes about in her work. On a personal level, she has approached food as a key aspect of cultural assimilation in her new home, aptly recognizing its importance as a focal point in the French social landscape and French people’s philosophies towards life more broadly. “It’s funny because I wasn’t actually someone who thought or cared that much about food growing up. It wasn’t until I came to France when I was 20 that I was exposed to …
I resisted taking COVID-19 seriously in the beginning. Processing the scope and magnitude of the changes it so rapidly initiated and making big decisions based on rumors that continued to become substantiated went against the way that I try to navigate the happenings of our world. Only a month ago, I was dismissing the news as hype and hysteria, not believing in its urgency or that nations would ever really take such drastic policy measures so quickly, particularly when they went against the logic of capitalism. Yet, it has happened, in many ways quite literally overnight, and we¹ are now living a new reality. All over the world, commercial flights have been grounded until further notice; we’ve stopped going to work and assembling in large groups; and we now think more deeply about the ethical implications of how we consume. Suddenly, governments are able to gather the monetary resources for massive stimulus packages, pausing debt payments, and providing citizens with basic income. One of the struggles of political organizing and movement building has always been engaging in the …
The United States today is a nation divided. We’ve all witnessed the way that both liberals and conservatives attack one another on social media at the first indication that someone upholds the opposing political stance. Considering that we exist in an age of post-truth, data harvesting, and infowars, this rift continues to widen and calcify. It has gotten to the point that a recent survey, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, suggests that Americans have “become radically split in their basic perceptions of reality.” The resulting damage can feel massively irreparable. Yet, perhaps this so-called polarization isn’t actually the root of our nationwide psychosis, but a symptom of something deeper. Our entrenchment in an atmosphere of American exceptionalism and historical amnesia deludes us into believing the falsehood that this polarization is based on a legitimate opposition of two political ideologies. In actuality, the divide between liberal and conservative has more to do with party branding than it does with concrete reality. While the policies and political history of the United States display relatively little systemic …
This post was originally published on Left Voice. You can find it here. The Stoneman Douglas mass shooting has launched a nationwide movement against gun violence. Student activists and their supporters have rallied in the hundreds of thousands across the country in acts of protest including school walkouts and at the end of last month, the March for Our Lives. On the surface, it’s hard not to agree with these organizers. As young people, they have brought a refreshing amount of honesty into political discourse by confronting mainstream politicians for being in the pocket of the NRA. They’ve managed to take the trauma they’ve faced and use it as a rallying cry for social change. For much of the American public coming out in support of a ban on assault rifles and other gun reforms is a no-brainer, but when we examine the specific policy demands set forth on behalf of the movement, there are apt critiques to be made. In doing so, we have the opportunity to pinpoint its shortcomings in securing conditions of nonviolence for …
This post was originally published on Left Voice. You can find it here. Now that Trump’s first SOTU address has come and gone, we’ve hit a milestone for reflection on the ways that mobilization has and hasn’t happened. Trump and his cronies have already done their best to roll back any progressive reforms that have been made in recent times. They’ve pushed for legislations that will continue to draw wealth and agency from the working class and minority groups. These have included his motion to end DACA, the passage of a new tax bill that includes major cuts for billionaires, his efforts to replace Obamacare with a grotesque Republican variation on healthcare, and much more. No doubt, in his words and in his actions, in the legislation he supports and in that which he opposes, in the people he praises and the ones he degrades, Trump offers us a look at the US government in its rawest most authentic form, unmasked by rhetoric and genteel performative progressivism. As a result, we are at a unique …
I never really thought much about the complexity of translation until my junior year of college when a writing professor, a Belarusian poet, brought in several different translations of the poem Ithaca by CP Cavafy to prove exactly this. Leafing through each version, which stressed different poetic devices and emphasized different themes and imagery, it became clear just how much power the translator had to shape another person’s innermost thoughts and feelings for a new audience of readers…. Read more.
I imagine that Vilnius is akin to what Berlin was like decades ago. Here in Lithuania’s capital, youngsters have adopted their own impeccable brand of edgy cool. And unlike in Germany’s capital (its world-renowned cousin), the underground culture really is underground…. Read more.
A country defined by its lakes and volcanoes, abuzz with rich coffee harvests and influenced by the traditions of its indigenous peoples, Nicaragua is the ideal location for travelers interested in ecotourism…. Read more.