Tag Archives: Poland

Street Art In The Time Of Corona

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Street Art In the Time Of Corona

“Art helps us identify with one another and expands our notion of we – from the local to the global.”Olafur Eliasson

Art is always important to bring people together during a time of crisis. By mocking political leaders, laughing at our faults, recognizing health care workers and reminding us that masks are important, Street Art offers a momentary respite from the constant news and psychological toll of the virus.

Kobra, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Teachr1, Los Angeles, USA

Lushux, Melbourne, Australia

TV boy, Barcelona, Spain

John D’Oh, Bristol, England

Nello Petrucci, Pompei, Italy

Ufa,Russia

FAKE, Amersterdam, Netherlands

Temat, Warsaw, Poland

Tyler Street Art, Mumbai, India

EME Freethinker, Berlin, Germany

Andreas Welin, Copenhagen. Denmark

 

Stay safe,

JAZ

 

Idioms Around The World

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Idioms Around The World

“When life gives you lemons, squeeze them in people’s eyes.” unknown

Idioms are sentences that sound ridiculous to everyone but the native speakers who use them. They are phrases that mean more than the sum of their words. Here are some of my favorites from different countries

Australia
“He’s got a kangaroo loose in the top paddock.”
He is a bit crazy.

Germany
Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof. “I only understand the train station.”
I don’t know what he is talking about.

Cuba
Se formó tremendo arroz con mango! “This turned into a serious bowl of rice with mango.”
This is now a big deal.

Portugal

Quem não tem cão caça com gato. 
“He who doesn’t have a dog hunts with a cat.”
You do what you need to do, with the resources you have.

Italy
Ogni morte di papa.”Every death of a pope.”
Once in a blue moon.

France

Les carottes sont cuites “The carrots are cooked!”
The situation can’t be changed.

Norway
Å snakke rett fra leveren.“To speak directly from the liver.”
To tell it like it is.

Poland
Bułka z masłem.
 “It’s a roll with butter.”
It’s really easy.

Thailand
ชาติหน้าตอนบ่าย ๆ “One afternoon in your next reincarnation.”
It’s never gonna happen.

Russia
На воре и шапка горит.
 “The thief has a burning hat.”
He has an uneasy conscience that betrays itself.

Japan
花より団子 (hana yori dango). “Dumplings instead of flowers.”
Choose something useful over something pretty.

Sweden
Det är ingen ko på isen
.  “There’s no cow on the ice.”
There’s no need to worry.

Netherlands
Lets voor een appel en een ei kopen. 
“Buying something for an apple and an egg.”
You bought it very cheaply.

Indonesia
Kuman di seberang lautan tampak, gajah di pelupuk mata tak tampak.
“A germ across the sea can be seen, an elephant on the eyelid can not.”
You can see other people’s faults more clearly than you can see your own.

Stay safe,

JAZ

Travel Memories 3

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Travel Memories 3

“Memories were a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.” unknown

Santiago, Chile

Maktesh Ramón, Israel

Easter Island

Wroclaw, Poland

Bilbao, Spain

Hendaye, France

Pingvillar, Iceland

Mafra, Portugal

Pantanal, Brazil

Punta Del Este, Uruguay

Fly safe,

JAZ

 

 

Windows Of The World

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Wndows Of The  World

Windows Of The World

“When God looks out his window, he sees beauty, love, rainbows, smiles and happiness everywhere. When I look out of mine, I wish I was looking out of God’s.” Anthony T.Hincks

I love architecture and i especially love looking at windows. I always wonder what world exists behind those windows. Will it be familiar or strange?  Windows are to look out from, not into. There is nothing more mysterious than looking from the outside into an open window.

Sintra, Portugal

Zarautz,Spain

Wroclaw, Poland

Chiloe Island,Chile

Edam, Netherlands

Jerusalem,Israel

Paraty, Brazil

Cartagena, Colombia

Capetown,South Africa

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Fly safe,

JAZ

 

 

Working On My Bucket List

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 “You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy a plane ticket.” unknown Truthfully, anywhere in the world that I have not been before is a bucket list place for me. Life is short and we have to remember to live it to the fullest. Sometimes I visit places that should have been on my list but I did not know till I got there. Most of them come from books I have read throughout my life. I want to experience a place in the way an author has. My list makes me stop and think of what I want to experience in this lifetime. Having a bucket list gives you hope. There are places on the list I may never go to but the goal of a bucket list is to never finish it. The best lists are constantly changing. So, start writing. Machu Picchu, Peru  Moia, Easter Island, Chile Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain  – soon Camino De Santiago, Basque region, France and Spain – soon Canary Islands, Spain Faroe Islands Grand Canyon, USA Angor Wat, Siem Reap,  Cambodia Ferry from Gibraltar to Morocco (which i think doesn’t go anymore)  Auschwitz, Poland Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey Pizza in Sicily and Naples, Italy The Algarve in Portugal Church of the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain Greenland Punta Del Este,Uruguay Bahia, Brazil Medellin, Colombia Ushuaia, Argentina Tigers Nest Temple, Bhutan Taj Mahal, India Terracotta Army, Xian, China Faukland Islands Boulder Beach, Capetown, South Africa Gorillas, Rwanda Viet Nam Borneo Sri Lanka, Nepal. Ethiopia Fly safe. JAZ  

The Voice Heard Round The World

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The Voice Heard Round The World

‘Where words fail, music speaks.’ Hans Christian Andersen

I love to be able to travel when I am home. I watch The Voice. Reality TV and coffee are my vices. If you happen to live under a rock, it is a singing competition with celebrity judges. I love the Blind Auditions where the judges have to pick their team by hearing them. The audition is the only reality TV that we have left. You can’t fake an audition. You are actually watching someone vulnerable who’s life can be changed. I like seeing new talent emerge.

One night I was trying to catch up on some auditions, and I came across videos of blind auditions from The Voice Around The World. I was hooked. I’m obsessed with the Italian and the French judges. The Ukrainians and the Russians love heavy metal music and they like to make comments.  The Voice originated in Holland. I have no idea who any of these judges are. I watch the British version now as well. Here are my favorite auditions in no particular order. One is a battle round.

italy, France, Germany, Australia, Ukraine, UK, China, Russia, Holland, Poland.

Music always makes me feel that we are more the same than different.

Fly safe

JAZ

Yad Vashem, Holocaust Memorial, Jerusalem

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Yad Vashem, Holocaust Memorial, Jerusalem

“A country is not just what it does – it is also what it tolerates.’
Kurt Tucholsky (quote on the wall as you enter)

Yad Vashem is Israel’s Holocaust Memorial. I had been here many years ago. I knew what to expect. I went again now because I am going to visit Auschwitz in the spring. It was a winter weekday afternoon and the museum was not as crowded as usual. No photos are allowed. I knew what to expect and yet I was once again newly affected by the inhumanity of systematic cruelty.

The Holocaust History Museum was designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, and occupies over 4,200 square meters. This museum takes you on a journey through in-depth displays telling the story of the Holocaust. There is a ten and half hour guided audio tour. You choose what you want to listen to. In many cases, the photos are enough.

Yad Vashem, means “a place and a name” in Hebrew and comes from the Book of Isaiah. It refers to the millions who were not given the dignity of a Jewish burial with a specified burial plot.

The chilling Hall of Names is a memorial to each and every Jew who perished in the Holocaust, housing an extensive collection of over two million “Pages of Testimony” – short biographies of each Holocaust victim, with room for six million in all.

Yad Vashem also recognizes and honors a number of non-Jewish people who helped save Jews during this bleak period. These heroes are called The Righteous Among The Nations.

The Children’s Memorial is located in an underground cave, enveloping you in darkness.

As your eyes adjust, you can make out flames of light representing the 1.5 million children who died during the Holocaust.

Recorded voices call out the names and ages of these innocent souls. A few days later there is another school killing spree in the United States.

I return to the hotel. On Israeli news that day, they report that Poland has passed a law making it a criminal offence to suggest that “the Polish nation” was in any way responsible for the murder of six million Jews. I spent a long time in the Polish section of the museum as I will be going to those places. There were photos of Polish people “colluding” and stories of Jews being reported by their neighbors. Three million Jews died in Poland – more than any other country.

It is impossible to visit the Holocaust Museum at Yad Vashem and not be moved, horrified and ashamed. How does this story relate to the present? It began with words, indifference and silence. Indifference and inaction never help the victims. It is our responsibility to speak for the children, the elderly, the abused women, the poor and the refugees. “Whoever saves a single life, it is as if he or she has saved an entire universe.”

Fly safe,

JAZ

Twenty-Five Things That I Want To Do In 2018

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Twenty-Five That I Want to Do In 2018

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” Ursula Le Guin

Mediate every day. Maybe if I write it first I will have more luck.

Do More Yoga. Maybe if I write it second……

Go to Auschwitz.

Go To Poland.

Do a street art tour in Kraków.

See the Schindler factory.

Go to the Galápagos..

Read at least twenty books.

Follow a healthy diet.

Spend some time in London.

Peace in the house.

Go to the Warsaw Ghetto.

Go somewhere in Scandinavia.

Go To Israel.

Pay it forward.

Cook something besides eggs.

Work on being fearless.

See the sunset on the beach every day when I am home.

Sail through Peruvian or Ecuadorian Amazon.

Go to beaches of Los Organos and Vichayito, Peru.

Walk my dog every day.

Be more politically active.

Spend time with my god-daughter in Tel Aviv.

Do the Graffiti tour of Tel Aviv.

Go to Garachico, Tenerife.

Happy New Year and Fly Safe,

JAZ

 

Countries My Friends And Family Have Emigrated From To America

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Countries My Friends And Family Have Emigrated From To America.

“No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.” Warsan Shire

Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica,  Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand,  Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Serbia, Scotland, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe.

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Growing up in New York, with immigrant grandparents, the Statue of Liberty meant something. “Tell us the story of when your parents saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time again” we asked.   My mother would say that to her parents and many like them, the statue meant freedom to live in a country where you could be whatever you wanted to be. America was the place to go to flee from oppression, racism, class-ism and poverty. We understood that it was something special to be born in a country with ideals like that.

America is not perfect. We have racism and poverty. But that doesn’t destroy the dreams it was built on. Millions of people came to America to build a better life for themselves and for their families and still do to this day.

On the Statue of Liberty, there are words I know so well: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.” That’s the spirit that made me feel like an American.  I wouldn’t be here without that philosophy.

Fly safe.

JAZ