Anyone who has traveled in a developing country may notice how this photo by TR Ryan captures perfectly the ingredients of every day village life. See it as a check list, if you will. Chickens? check. Goat? check. Plastic cup? check. Flip flops and bare feet? check and check. A bit of old rusty corrugate serving as a partial wall? check. Bicycle? check. It almost doesn’t matter in which country the scene is set. The ingredients will be the same.
If Dutch painter Jan Vermeer were alive today, he’d turn this shot into a painting. Instead of the woman pouring milk into a bowl, as his subject does in, “The Kitchen Maid,” he would encapsulate in oil and canvas the life of this woman where she lives in Villa Esperanza, Nicaragua ensuring that her children get a meal.
If you have captured a story in a photograph, send it our way at Gadling’s Flickr photo pool. It may be chosen as a Photo of the Day.
Delta is under fire from its new partner Northwest Airlines due to what they claim is weight discrimination. Delta’s signature bright red dress, which debuted on the NY runways in 2005 and hit the airways in 2006, only comes in up to size 18.
“Red is a color that attracts attention and someone, somewhere has made a decision that they don’t want to attract attention to someone in a dress that’s larger than a size 18,” says Patricia Reller, vice chair of the Northwest flight attendants’ union’s grievance committee. “I’m very offended by it,” she adds.
The committee also filed complaints in regards to Delta’s “requirement that flight attendants who wear orthopedic shoes must wear slacks and not a skirt or dress. Those that wear the orthopedic shoes must obtain a doctor’s note,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Designer of the red dress, Richard Tyler (pictured), was reportedly envisioning the flights of yore, when everyone dressed up to fly, and well … apparently when flight attendants wore heels and were under size 18. Delta, whose flight attendants have no union, claims that there are plenty of options for fuller figured employees, including slacks, skirts, and other dresses.
Because Northwest’s flight attendants have a union, this merger may mean a lot of changes for Delta.
Check out this video of Delta giving the Northwest Airlines employees their fittings:
“We rolled out the red carpet in Minneapolis / St. Paul to celebrate the completion of our style clinics for our Northwest flight attendants. The clinics gave attendants a first hand look and feel of Delta’s uniforms: The Richard Tyler Collection. Celebrity designer, Richard Tyler, was on-hand to provide custom style consultations to the flight attendants.” — the YouTube caption, via DeltaAirLines.
Urban Sparrow is a young jewelry company favored by the likes of Jennie Garth and Gossip Girl‘s Blake Lively, and they make affordable, meaningful necklaces you can wear all over the world.
Not only do they have this classic and androgynous Journey design (at right, it’s a 3/4 inch hand stamped sterling silver disc adorned with a hand wrapped freshwater pearl, $38), but they also accept custom orders.
I asked Urban Sparrow’s owner and creative director Shawn Nelson what inspired them to create the Journey design.
“The Journey necklace was inspired by my mom who was diagnosed with breast cancer almost 6 years ago. Since then she has a clean bill of health and that is the way we live now … that every moment no matter how large or small is a journey. The way we run Urban Sparrow and our lives is through adventure and journey. I think that now we travel more, experience more and enjoy more!!! It is all a journey and the way you perceive it.“
It’s a beautiful message and a beautiful necklace, with only a minor danger of causing others to assume you’re really into classic rock. Want to choose your stones, the number and size of your discs, and your text? Get a custom necklace made — they’re extremely reasonably priced, and you can even add the date and location of your trip to make a special keepsake.
I also recommend checking out their Live Fully, Embrace Life and Lucky designs. Click here to shop!
Traveling is hard. Don’t you think you should get a special discount just for being a woman? American Airlines does!
In recognition of Women’s History Month … March (also, according to Wikipedia, American Red Cross Month and Fire Prevention Month), American Airlines is offering a special deal just for the ladies.
If you visit AA.com/women, you can: “Print out a flyer and present it to any Admirals Club lounge representative on or before May 15 to save up to $50 off a new annual membership or $25 off a membership renewal. American, a founding member of the oneworld Alliance, has more than 40 Admirals Club locations worldwide.”
Awesome. The website also includes destination deals and articles on worldwide women. Check it out!
Welcome back to Gadling’s weekly “Picks of the Week” from our friends over at travel site, BootsnAll. Every Friday we’ll be bringing you some of our favorite stories this week from the site. Take a look below and click on through if you find something that catches your interest:
Weird Philippines – the Philippines is already an “out there” destination for many travelers, so it goes without saying that those who visit are privileged with some amazing sights and strange local customs. Marseille Markham tells us about her Top 5 Weirdest Philipines sights. Remember that Filipino prison where they dance to Thriller? You can go see it LIVE. Get me a ticket to Cebu immediately…
Spanish Lessons in Central America – my first experience abroad was staying with a family in Costa Rica during High School. It was an amazing introduction to the culture and also a great way to wok on my Spanish. Rebecca Brych give us the lowdown on how to study Spanish in Central America for anyone who might be inerested. It’s very comprehensive guide of everything from finding a school to picking classes to figuring out where to stay.
High in the Sky – I always associate mountains with travel. But for many people, mountains mean they’re home. Julie Blakley takes a look at the Highest Cities in the World in her latest post. Let me tell you, I’m out of breath just looking the elevations for some of these places. Think Cusco is high? How about La Rinconada, Peru at over 16,000 feet!
Feisty Female Travelers – you might know Christine Amanpour, the Chief International Correspondent of CNN, as one woman that’s really set the bar high for solo female travelers, including trips to Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. This week Lucy Corne takes a look at six of history’s most famous and well-known female travelers, a tribute to all they’ve done to set a “traveling example” for women everywhere.
Gondola Gallery – you pretty much know if you visit Venice, one of Italy’s most famous cities, you’re going to see some gondolas. The iconic boats are pretty much the town’s unofficial symbol at this point. BootsnAll’s Italy blog features some of their favorite gondola photography in this week’s feature.
Hope you enjoyed this week’s Gadling and BootsnAll “Picks of the Week.” We’ll be back next Friday with another week’s worth of great content. Stay tuned.
