Fête de la Francophonie: Celebrating the francophone world

by Anna Brones on

French is the native tongue of over 80 million people. But many more people interact with it on a daily basis, be it through culture, as a second language or even as a subject being learned in school. The francophone world stretches from Hanoi to Abidjan, bringing together all kinds of foods and customs that aren’t always immediately associated with all things French; this isn’t about baguettes and wine, this is about creole music, saffron infused food and crazy carnivals.

If you haven’t had France on the radar, you may not know that March is the official month of La Fête de la Francophonie. The month long festival is intended to celebrate the international and linguistic community that share French — either as a native language or even a second one — that is referred to by the coined term La Francophonie.

Thursday March 20 is the big celebration, being the official International Francophone Day, and there are a whole lot of global celebrations to take part in wherever you may find yourself, from Cambodia to Mali to Canada.

If you are in the New York area you can check out the Fête de la Martinique taking place today, March 19, which will turn Le Skyroom into a tropical paradise, full of French Creole culture that the island of Martinique is so well known for. This isn’t a conservative event; prizes are being awarded for best carnival costume. Other events going on around the US include a French film festival in Burlington, Vermont and a French Cultures Festival in various cities across Texas.

For more Fête de la Francophone events go here.

Rats ravage India, says China

by Iva Skoch on

Sometimes, it is fun to read the Chinese The People’s Daily newspaper. Among other entertaining things, I have noticed how they tend to over-report anything bad that’s going on with India. Do I sense a little competition for the world’s best new superpower?

Anyway, so I read in The People’s Daily newspaper that rats ravaged India and a million people face famine as a result of it. Specifically, they write: “Hordes of rats ravaged the forests of Mizoram, India, feasting on the fruits of wild bamboo that flower every 48 years, then ate the region’s entire paddy crop leaving about a million people facing famine, officials and aid agencies said on Monday.”

It gets better. “Their harvest lost to rats, some villagers are now working as daily wage laborers on a World Bank-funded road project. Farmers complained that they found work for only one day a month and earned just a little over 2 U.S. dollars.”

Now, can you believe that? That would NEVER happen in China!

Photo of the Day (03/17/08)

by Iva Skoch on

Thanks for reminding me that I need to book my dentist appointment today, LadyExpat! Oh, and by the way, cool picture.

LadyExpat took this photo at the Elephant Conservation Park in Northern Thailand. If you do click through and visit the site of the Conservation Park, I suggest you turn down the volume on your speakers. You might go deaf. Apparently, they want you to know that elephants make NOISE.

***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, go over to the Gadling Flickr Pool and post it. Make sure it is not copyrighted, otherwise we can’t post it here.***

Are tourists safe in India?

by Abha Malpani on

The recent death of British Scarlett Keeling in Goa has had significant coverage in the international media over the last month. In fact, it has opened a new and dangerous chapter on tourism in Goa — one of India’s most visited states — is a tourist safe there?

For those who haven’t followed the story: 15-year old Keeling was drugged, raped and left to die in Goa. What’s worse is that the Indian police treated her death as an open and shut case of a tourist drowning, which has now been revealed as a conscious decision by local authorities to cover it up a) because they were involved b) to not hurt tourism in the state.

It saddens me to think that the case only reopened because of the noise made by Keeling’s mother, and its prolific reporting in international media that probably put pressure on Indian officials to come clean. Indian media criticizing the police for not being able to protect tourists efficiently was perhaps not enough. It gives grieving insight into the corruption festering in the Indian government.

According to a Reuters report: At least 126 foreign nationals have died in Goa in the past two years, 40 of them British. Of these, it is said that about 10-12 cases that were declared drowning cases are suspicious, and further to the Keeling story, they might be opened again for investigation.

All this makes me wonder: how long has the Indian police in Goa been getting away with crime? Why is a British woman (rather than an Indian) responsible for helping uncover local corruption? How many stories must be in the closet?

I regained some hope when I read this morning that the Indian police in Goa arrested 40 people in an overnight crackdown on suspected drug traffickers in Goa, and, that the Indian government would like to take action by employing ex-military personnel to protect tourists in beaches around the country.

Sigh.

Photo of the Day 3-16-2008

by Catherine Bodry on


This somewhat quintessential South Asian travel shot manages to escape cliché with the intensity of this man’s stare. He doesn’t seem too happy about having his photo taken, or perhaps he’s just weary of what appears to be a long journey. Flickr user Arunchs snapped the shot in India, and captures well some of the bright colors of the country.

Do you have any travel photos to share? Upload them to Gadling’s Flickr pool and they’ll be considered for our Photo of the Day feature.