I wrote this back when none of us had a clue about the long haul we were in for with COVID. From May 2020 originally. Last night I watched the film, “The Forgiven,” with Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain. So Morocco has been n my mind this morning. Once upon a time, I lived … More Escaping to Morocco, via the Magic Carpet of Memory: COVID-19 Isolation, Day 62 (I Think)
It was Julia Child‘s favorite outdoor market in Paris. La Mouffe. Or rue Mouffetard, in the 5th arrondisement. Ancient street, cobblestone-strewn. Romans trod there, and marched, too. In the third century, Legionnaires laid the first rock in the town they called Lutetia Parisiorum. And that thoroughfare stretched all the way to Rome via the modern … More La Mouffe
Open-air markets symbolize community to me. Time as commodity – which is how we view it in this country – disappears in the hustle and bustle of these markets. What matters is relationships between people. Community. And hospitality, in other words. Hospitality takes many forms. Learning how to recognize those forms takes much time, sometimes … More Hospitality, a Forgotten Concept in Today’s World: A Tale of Ice Cubes
Once upon a time, I lived in Rabat, one of Morocco’s four imperial cities, an ancient place with origins dating to at least the 12th century. The old city – the medina – perches on a rocky point, sided by the Wadi Bou Regreg and the Atlantic Ocean. Across a bridge sits Salé, settled first … More Escaping to Morocco, via the Magic Carpet of Memory: COVID-19 Isolation, Day 62 (I Think)
It wasn’t just the Thai language and its lacy script that rendered me illiterate. So also did the sheer variety of ingredients, the creatures – crawling, swimming, splayed, and grilled – and the vast range of vegetables and fruits on display in the Warorot market in Chiang Mai, Thailand. My adrenaline levels soared as if … More A Case of Culinary Illiteracy
Adventures in Indonesia: Copy and paste this link for a direct line to the Power Point presentation: https://cbertel.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/mike-and-cindy_s-most-excellent-adventures1.pptx This is a Power Point file that I have been working on. If you do not have Power Point, you will not be able to see the post. If you do have Power Point, be sure to … More Journeys versus Destinations: Adventures in Indonesia
The Belleville market — straddling the crossroads of Paris’s 10th, 11th, 19th, and 20th arrondissements — presents the determined photographer with a tremendous dilemma: how to take pictures without being literally swept up in the crowds and jostled like a buoy bobbing in heavy seas? Although the market runs from the Menilmontant metro stop to … More Belleville Revisited
Belleville, the site of my upcoming study in France, filled with other worlds and other tongues, other ways and other dreams, but all French, just the same.
CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN 
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