Joe and Martha chatted about their favorite trips—China and the Galapagos for Martha, India (the birthplace of Afar) and Argentina for Joe—and of course, one of the best ways to truly get inside a culture: its food.
The other guests joining Joe and Martha were best-selling author and Afar contributor Susan Orlean, environmental advocate Alexandra Cousteau, and Flight 001 cofounder Brad John.
For each issue of Afar, our staff chooses a destination at random—by literally spinning a globe—and sends a writer on a spontaneous journey. The department, called Spin the Globe, is one of our favorites, because we never know what might happen. In the March/April issue, on newsstands February 9th, we sent writer and actor Andrew McCarthy to Ethiopia. Here’s a short dispatch we received from Andrew while he was on assignment.
On December 31, 2009, revelers in São Luis, the reggae capital of Brazil(highlighted in our current issue) were treated to the steamy beats of hometown heroes Tribo de Jah under a full moon. Flanked by towering radiola speakers on three sides, the band has been playing New Year’s Eve in São Luis on and off for nearly 25 years. Indeed, Tribo de Jah’s unlikely success captures the ‘power to the people’ spirit of roots reggae at its core.
Formed in 1985 after the fall of the military dictatorship, five of the six members met while working at the School for the Blind, where they were also busy crafting their own instruments and playing in local clubs. (Four members are completely blind and one has only partial vision.) The quintet began their career covering the highly danceable lambada tunes that were popular at the time. Concurrently, Fauzi Beydoun was making waves as the first DJ to host a reggae program on the air. While the sound was initially frowned upon as “ghetto culture,” the social, political and spiritual messages of the music took root. Beydoun soon joined forces with the band and lent vocals to their sound. Together they began crafting a Brazilian take on Jamaican rhythms. In 1995, this small band from the country’s poorest state found themselves performing at the most important venue of their genre, the Reggae Sunsplash Festival in Jamaica.
Today the band is still bringing reggae’s message of peace, love, and jah (God) to the masses. In 2008, they released two new CDs: the English language Love to the World, Peace to the People and The Babylon Inside, largely in Portuguese for their Brazilian fans. They have plans for a third companion CD featuring dub versions of the songs.
Bonnier's Mag+ protoype shows some of the possibilities of a digital magazine.
The tech and publishing media are working themselves into a frenzy about the possible launch of Apple’s much-anticipated tablet computer later this month. If that is the new product they’re revealing, then the company has once again proved its ability to tap into the zeitgeist.
So, my question to Afar readers is what would you like to see in a digital version of our magazine? Personally, I’d love to see links to translation and location-specific GPS smartphone apps or maybe RSS feeds with the most recent content from blogs written by locals. Most important to me, I want to be able to easily access the content from my home and work computers and my iPhone. I hate it when I get on the train in the morning and realize I’ve forgotten to bring something to read.
What else? What content would you like to see? What features would you want it to have? What frustrates you about reading onscreen now? What frustrates you about print now? What aspects of print would you like to keep? Let us know!
[Post updated by author at 11:20 am with Mag+ image.]
Dear Santa, I would like a subscription to Afar. And an edible hat.
In the second issue of Afar, on newsstands now, writer Christopher Hall takes readers on a delicious romp through Spain, sampling tapas wherever he goes. His dining companion in Madrid was Alicia Ríos, a woman who has a passionate, creative, wacky relationship with food. She makes hats out of meat, bakes entire cities, and constructs Flemish galleons from fruit. If you’re looking for inspiration or if you’ve just seen one too many holiday fruitcakes, check out Alicia’s Web site, alicia-rios.com. I recommend the Edible Representations page.
Thanks to all of you who have helped Afar get off to such a great start this year. Happy holidays!
In our December/January 2010 issue, Tim Moynihan reviews three iPhone phrasebook apps that can help you talk like a local in the places you visit. But what if you want to learn more than just the basics? There’s an almost intimidating quantity of books, CDs, podcasts, websites, and, yes, smartphone apps that can try to teach you a language. Here are a few resources to start with, as you look for the right method.
The Telegraph’s round-up of various French instruction CDs. Cassandra Jardine organizes her favorite instructional CDs into helpful categories like Best Quick-Fix and Most Comphrehensive, so you can choose the method that fits your interest and, let’s be honest, degree of procrastination. Many of these companies offer the same method in a variety of languages, so choose the approach that suits you best, then see if your language is available.
iTunes podcasts. In addition to the apps we reviewed, the iTunes store has a wide variety of free instructional podcasts in many different languages and for many different levels. In the iTunes store, go to Podcasts, Education, and then Language Course. Two good ones to try are Daily FrenchPod (or French for Beginners, if you don’t already speak French) or PukkaGerman. (Note: These links will take you to the iTunes store.) Read through the reviews to see if the podcast is right for your learning style and language level.
BBC Languages. The Beeb’s extensive online language section has 12-week beginning language online courses, audio and video instruction, phrases of the day, articles on cultural traditions in various countries, and other resources. If you want to put your newfound language skills to use, follow the links to foreign-language television and online video.
Trip: International Kitchen’s “Feast for the Senses in Morocco” program Overview: In the 1200-year-old Moroccan city of Fez, you’ll work with professional Moroccan chef Lahcen Beqqi to learn the essentials of the country’s cuisine. Skills you’ll learn: How to choose the freshest ingredients at the market; how to combine spices such as dried ginger, cumin, cinnamon, and turmeric to create the distinct flavors of Moroccan cuisine; how to make traditional Moroccan dishes such as lamb tagine, couscous, and cornes de gazelles—crescent-shaped pastries filled with almond paste. Other highlights: Visiting the tanneries and an auction of Fez’s famous soft leather. Sleeping in a renovated 14th-century palace in Fez’s medina. Price: from $2,800 for a six-day trip
Thinking about a career change? On WPIX-TV in New York, Afar’s co-founder Joe Diaz talks about five trips that might inspire you to work in a new field. Along the way, you’ll get to know another culture and work side by side with the local people. Programs include cooking in Morocco and teaching English and surfing in Bali. Check back on the blog every day next week for more details on all of the trips.
The music of Morocco has captivated Beats, hard rockers, and jazz improvisers for more than 40 years. For painter Brion Gysin, Rolling Stone Brian Jones, and free jazz avatar Ornette Coleman, it was the flute, reed, and drum trance music of the Master Musicians of Joujouka that mesmerized.
For trumpeter Don Cherry, pianist Randy Weston, and Led Zepellin’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, the spell was cast by the hypnotic drones of Gnawa music. Listening to the new CD, Ouled Bambara: Portraits of Gnawa, the source of their fascination is clear.
Gnawa music is simple in format: Chant-like singing is supported by the plucked guembri, a low-toned three-string lute used to set rhyhtm and simple melodies, plus hand claps, shakers, and castanets. But the intention of the music—to connect with unseen spirits and keep the fiercest at bay—is deep, and the effect of extended listening is transporting.
Ouled Bambara features four different groupings of musicians recorded live during a Gnawa ceremony in Marrakech. The CD and accompanying DVD are released by Chicago’s Drag City label, which knows something about trance music, being a prime purveyor of contemporary, psychedelic-tinged freak-folk. While not slick and punchy like you might expect from Marrakech-to-New York pop star Hassan Hakmoun, the sound quality is remarkably clear and present for a field recording.
As Todd Pitock revealed in “An Old World Finds a New Path” in the premier issue of Afar, a journey through the daunting landscape of Morocco can be both challenging and deeply rewarding. It’s the same with Ouled Bambara, in which music serves as your guide and your transportation.
Learn how locals make silk on the Meet the People Tour in northern Thailand.
In the Good Trips department of Afar’s December 2009/January 2010 issue, you’ll find seven trips that use arts and crafts to help you get inside cultures around the world. Here’s another:
U.K.-based Traidcraft is a fair-trade organization dedicated to reducing poverty in developing countries. Its “Meet the People” tour to northern Thailand takes you into the homes of fair-trade craft producers in villages inhabited by the Thai Leu, Hmong, and Mien hill tribes.
What you’ll do: Spend time with silver jewelers, bamboo-basket makers, and silk weavers, who will show you how they make their crafts; meet with fair-trade craft companies to discuss business models; talk with farmers near the border of Laos about their way of life.
Highlights: Ride atop an elephant through the jungle. Snack on som tam (spicy papaya salad) at the night market in Surin. Take an early-morning stroll through a tea plantation.
Price: 13-day trip from $2,495, includes lodging and most meals.
Recent Comments