Barbancourt

Barbancourt. Haitian Rum, aged 15 years. accompanied by a traditional Haitian breakfast of fried spaghetti and sausage. Shared together, oceans crossed. One bottle, 2 glasses, pure sweetness.

Here's to a new year full of blessings, creative dreams realized, love manifested and hope running over.

it's carnival weekend in Jacmel. the first carnival since "after" (12 January earthquake). I just got an immediate headache when speaking to my Haitian friend about whether or not he's going. He said no. People are still sleeping in the streets. People are still suffering. They don't need a party. The familiar feeling of tension in my neck and head returned. This is my conversation with him.

J'aime Ayiti ... this guilty feeling is something i struggle with everyday. Where i live, what i have access to, salary, my freedom to go to the beach, etc. EVERY day I struggle with the guilt of looking around me EVERYwhere I go - and see people suffering. see people sleeping in tents. seeing people hungry. sick. unclothed. Empathy is in my BONES for the people I see struggling. and that is why i came to haiti to try to do something good. even a little bit. and i completely see your point - that why should money be spent on a 'party' when so many struggle. i don't know ... i have no experience with haiti before 12 january, but i hope, and i felt, that once we got past the 12 january 2011 ... there was a small feeling of the POSSIBILITY of hope .. seeing houses constructed near the office, less rubble, etc. maybe carnival will allow people to lift the heaviness out of the hearts, and forget, for one or two days, the pain they've been feeling .. and celebrate. that they are alive. they can dance and feel the music.

resurrection

My blog stopped, but the adventures didn't. Ottawa, to Indonesia, to Haiti ... with several adventures, countries, languages and loves in between ... enabling me to arrive, back here again. with gentle encouragement, receptive audiences, and emotive reactions to my writing, it's time. I'm about to turn 33. Still not quite 'there' wherever 'there is', in all aspects ... career, love, location. But each year, each adventure, entrenches my sense of self ... and allows me to stand strongly on my feet. I'll update now and again, but stay tuned ...

Conservative spending cuts are leaving me haggard.

Conservative spending cuts not likely to make a difference to their support Jennifer Ditchburn
The Canadian Press Tuesday, September 26, 2006

OTTAWA -- Mean-spirited! Vindictive! Ideological!The opposition hurled their best you're-so-insensitive insults at the Conservative government Tuesday in the aftermath of $1 billion in cuts to programs.But that outrage is probably confined to the usual Tory critics, say observers. Conservative supporters, meanwhile, will embrace the "fat trimming."Nearly every opposition question during question period in the House of Commons dealt with the cuts.Opposition MPs pointed to a lost youth internship program, $5 million trimmed from Status of Women Canada, and cash cut from adult literacy programs. They decried slashes to legal aid for constitutional challenges and an aboriginal anti-smoking program."The Conservatives, in their style, decided to cut the fat. Young people, aboriginals, women, that's fat to the Conservatives," said NDP Leader Jack Layton."Why doesn't the prime minister hit his friends, like the big oil companies, instead of punishing those who need help the most?"Said Liberal finance critic John McCallum: "This minority government cares only about its political base. ... When will the finance minister do what is right for Canada and not what is right for the Conservative party?"But that, say political observers, is precisely the point.Canada writ large probably isn't paying close attention to the finely targeted cuts. And those who are taking note probably would never have voted Conservative anyway.An academic study of the 2004 election, for example, underlines that fewer aboriginals are voting, and Canadians in lower income brackets and young people generally turn up less often at the ballot box.There's even a chance it will help the Tory cause, at the very least reaffirming the confidence of those in their support base.Lisa Young, a political scientist at the University of Calgary who has tracked voting patterns, says many of the targeted programs were supported only by small groups of Canadians. There were no large cuts to social programs that would be widely noticed."The notion of running a lean government, paying down the debt, has a resonance with some of their potential voters, that's seen as a win," said Young."There's lots of people out there who think there's a lot of waste in government and if you're seen to be going after that, it's a good thing. I think if there's an electoral calculation, it's neutral or positive for the Conservatives."Indeed, the Conservative message about the cuts was laced with references to helping "working families" and "taxpayers," versus "Liberal party lawyers" and "cronies""It's important that we look at the priorities of Canadian families, the priorities of health care, the priorities of ensuring that our communities are safe, the priorities of ensuring that there is really meaningful tax relief for senior citizens and working families throughout this country," said Treasury Board President John Baird. Longtime Conservative watcher Faron Ellis at Alberta's Lethbridge College said the cuts constitute a bit of a quid pro quo for Tory supporters who have been waiting for signals that the government listened to their concerns.He said some in the Conservative core, particularly in Western Canada, have begun to worry that too much time has been spent courting moderates and Quebecers."It's a return on investment for fiscal conservatives, and there's a great deal more upside in letting fiscal conservatives know they're still thought of and haven't been abandoned than there is in people being annoyed by this," Ellis said. "Those people were going to be annoyed anyway and, if anything, you're taking away their ability to publicize their annoyance because they'll have less money."But there could be a downside, argues Darrell Bricker of the polling firm Ipsos-Reid, who wonders whether the cuts will send alarm signals to voters the Tories are seeking out to build a majority."The bigger issue is whether or not this is seen by swing voters as the tip of the iceberg," Bricker said."If it is, then they'll be worried about the motivations of the government and what might be next."(c) The Canadian Press

Diary from the Desh

Diary from the Desh

anne coulter is crazy

I was picking up a few groceries in the supermarket yesterday and I paused to look at a few magazines. I was flipping through the pages and came across the dreaded woman's name - ick. Anne Coulter. The mere sight of her name and my blood pressure rises, but of course, I must read on. And she never disappoints. In this diabolical blurb, she states that it is the workings of an evil liberal empire who suggest that the world is round - she maintains that it is still a theory (like evolution, she adds for good measure). And what's holding us up?? Gravity. "Nowhere in the bible does it say that the world is round ... God made the world, if it was round, don't you think he would've told us?" Um, so she compares the liberals who support this with Mao, Stalin and other communists (you can hear the venom in her voice when she says that word). I, um, I was speechless in the supermarket, and nearly leaned on the closest person beside me to say, "read this!? she's insane!" I really don't know what to say. But I'm pretty sure the world is round.

Gypsy clicks

These are some of the photos I sold at my exhibition and am hoping to continue to promote .... for your casual viewing. If you're interested, leave a comment and I'll be in touch :)

Canada is nice.

Canada is pretty, and nice, and clean. I walked to the Prime Minister's house today, but he wasn't home. I like having work meetings in fair-trade coffee houses, and seeing leaflets for African dance and drumming classes (I start Tuesdays). I like hearing people speak French as they pass by Parliament Hill. Some of new coworkers make me laugh so hard my cheeks hurt ... my imaginary apartment is real and full of coziness. Everyone is welcome. I like the way Canadians do that subtle smile with one another when they pass by. I like it, but I still miss Dhaka.

hmm

... this setting looks like Erland Loe's book cover for Naive.Super

in the beginning

with the sounds of K'Naan ringing in my ear, I'm reminded again of a new beginning in September ... after years of travelling and working abroad, I'm stopping in Canada for a wee while to work as a Project officer at UNAC ... I can at long last put up the tinga tinga paintings from Tanzania, the wall hangings from Rajasthan and cover up my old futon with the fabrics from the Chittagong Hill Tracts ... I will make a hygellig place for myself in Ottawa, and see what delights me in our nations' capital .... it's the beginning, a new beginning, just as each September past.