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.

Photo of the Day (3/19/08)

by Jamie Rhein on

The colors in Rajasthan, one of the states in India are gorgeous–a real color feast. This pink is a vibrant example of a part of the world where every glimpse offers a surprise. What I like about this photo is the vague qualities about everything in the shot except the person’s outfit. The wheres are unclear. The who is this person is unknown, but how lovely. Arunch, the person who snapped this, doesn’t leave too many clues, but one tag says Jaipur. I love Jaipur.

If you have some gorgeous colors to show off, post them at Gadling’s Flickr photo pool. We’ll even take black and white.

Black American West Museum: AAA virtual trade show tidbit

by Jamie Rhein on

Along with passing on information about the Denver Botanic Garden when I was in the lounge at the virtual AAA trade show, “Europe is Closer than You Think,” I put in a plug for the Black American West Museum in Denver. When ever I land in a new town, I look for a place to learn something I didn’t know before. The Black American West Museum was exactly that kind of place.

Started by Paul W. Stewart, a man with a passion to promote the heritage of “Blacks in the West,” the museum is in the former home of Dr. Justina Ford, Colorado’s first female Black doctor. If you want to learn about the Buffalo Soldiers, miners, homesteaders, cowboys, and how African Americans founded the town of Deerfield, Colorado, it’s all here. This was a good place to go with kids since it’s small, but filled with actual artifacts that can hold their interest. My son was four-years-old and, unless I’m totally blocking out a miserable time, all I remember is being fascinated and had fun pointing out details to him. He liked the movies in the basement also. For people who want to know more, there are detailed descriptions and wonderful vintage photographs.

Considering such history rarely makes it into mainstream American history books, perhaps a sidebar at best, I was happy to have the chance to share these remarkable details about the African American West to my middle-school- aged daughter. I don’t remember eye rolls, unless I wasn’t looking.

Spain to “dance the chiki chiki” at Eurovision 2008

by Abha Malpani on

What’s a country to do when two million residents vote for a man who calls himself Rodolfo Chikilicuatre and looks like an exaggerated (not to mention distorted) version of Elvis, to represent their country in this year’s Eurovision?

Although condemned by the press, there is nothing that can be done but laugh and join in the “chiki chiki”!

Eurovision is one of the longest running television programs in the world. It’s a singing competition where each country sends a representative; the day of the contest, all participants must sing their respective songs live as the European audience votes for the best song.

Being a continent-wide singing competition, the contest is generally taken seriously, but the Spanish people seem to have a different definition of that as they chose to send the contestant they found most absurd and hilarious. The representing song “Baila Chiki Chiki” is a rap reggaton that includes reference to politicians and to grandmothers waving knickers in the air as they dance the “chiki chiki”. Go Spain!

The word is that our Spanish chiki chiki will only face competition from Ireland’s rubber turkey puppet Dustin. The contest this year in on May 24 in Belgrade.

What to do in Denver: AAA virtual travel show tidbit

by Jamie Rhein on

In the chat room lounge at the AAA virtual travel show, “Europe is Closer Than You Think,” someone asked a question about what to do in Denver in April. I had two suggestions and before the show ended I typed in my responses. The advantage of having a virtual show is that one is on-line and can verify details and can provide links to back up advice.

One of my suggestions was to go to the Denver Botanic Gardens. Granted, I was at these gardens two summers ago in July, but April is also a fine time. I know because, I checked before I sent someone astray. The gardens are huge and exquisite. Beginning April 19 there’s an exhibit called Urban Nature, an art show of street murals that represent ideas of how to bring nature into the lives of urban dwellers. The murals were created on large panels by a mix of artists. A mix of artist is always fun, I think. I love those projects where people are given parameters and you see what comes out in the various styles and techniques.

Also, even though spring has yet to come, there is always something blooming at the gardens. Here’s the page that tells you what to look for. The calendar lists events including days where there isn’t admission. Two of the inside things I enjoyed were the Tropical Conservatory and the gift shop. In the conservatory you can see the Cloud Tree Forest which is unique to here.