Kaffir Boy, An Autobiography

After our trip to South Africa last year, I vowed that I would learn more about this fascinating country - or rather, about the numerous countries it encompasses.

Little did I know at the time that it would be hard to find books about South Africa or written by South African authors on their country! Luckily, among many photography books depicting the indeniable beauties of the land and its people, I found Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane, "The true story of a black youth's coming of age in apartheid South Africa".  The young boy takes us through Alexandra, on of the country's vast townships, and unveils the hardships lived by its inhabitants on a daily basis under the apartheid regime and its ruthless rules. Poverty, inaccessible education, violence, police raids and humiliating administrative mazes combine to depict a daily inferno. 

As you read, the images are easily conjured up by the boy's (author's) vivid storytelling - and they are not rosy.  At the same time, it is not unusual to stumble across events or descriptions that remind us of our own Western world - the book is the perfect eye-opener showing that the names of regimes may change over the years, the political trends too, but that some twisted ideologies die hard or are easily converted into better looking ones, only to be just as devastating for the human being in more subtle ways than one can imagine.

Let us hang on to the positive side of this memoir since the final message is one of hope: with courage, helped by a brave mother, the boy's spirit - the human spirit - can lift itself and vanquish hatred and humiliation. As usual, education plays a central role and even prior to education, family ties and especially motherly love and obstination trigger change and progress. In this sense, the book relates what can easily be defined as a story with a universal scope.

Credits: here

P for...Pinterest!

It has been announced all over the press, the incredible and faster than light success of a new social network - yes, another one - Pinterest!

As usual, I come late to the party, but better late than never and, above all, curiosity knows no deadlines, or so I'd like to think. Encouraged by the press articles and the buzz around the Internet, I decided to try this new experience and add yet another dimension to the blog. The latter has slowly turned out to be a great laboratory for my spare time (I should say "spare seconds", much more appropriate to my reality...). As in all good labs, every now and then new experiments come to light. I am far from being fond of social networks, but like Instagram, what drew me to Pinterest is the fact that it is a visual network AND that it automatically sources images you harvest and would like to share. 

My amateurish interest in photos and images of all kinds has translated over the years into a wealth of files stored on my beloved computer. Sometimes, I just scroll through them for the sheer pleasure of rediscovering each and every one of them. But, truth be told, when I started saving them for the pleasure of my own eyes, I did not have a blog, did not think - stupidly enough - about sourcing them for myself... I find that Pinterest solves the issue since it traces back the sources for me. Perfectly fair time-saving feature.

So, let the drums roll and click away to see my Pinterest page if you please! Unsurprisingly, you will find me under the name The Daydreamer. And if you want to get there even faster, just click on the brand new Pinterest icon visible on the right menu. 

There are only three pins in there now and if you know me well enough, you will also not be surprised to see that they feed the Food and Drinks board (the freshly caught crabs I had for lunch definitely let me starving for more) and the Baby Babble board. I promise: there will be more to come!

The Quote

"Lì crescevano gli alberi più antichi di Mosè, maestosi olivi saraceni diversi uno dall'altro e appartenenti a tre antiche varietà: Biancolilla, Ogliare e Giarraffa."

--Simonetta Agnello Hornby, Un filo d'olio

Roméo et Juliette

Me voici dans un monde rêvé, avec des cadeaux inattendus comme s'il en pleuvait ! Des surprises et encore des surprises - pour ceux qui aiment ça, c'est une tâche jaune fluo sur un mur noir, un poisson rouge qui vole dans un bocal. Autant dire tout de suite que les mauvaises surprises peuvent s'abstenir de frapper à la porte.

Un petit sourire complice esquissé sur les lèvres de ma mère annonce la couleur : elle glisse sur la table bien dressée du restaurant qui accueille notre célébration du jour une pochette de feutre bleue, plate et lisse. La pochette je la connais et si mes souvenirs sont bons, elle a été fabriquée de ses petites mains expertes afin de receler des trésors. J'ouvre lentement cet écrin protecteur et presque au même moment l'image des petites mains potelées de ma fille vient se superposer à la scène - je les vois s'agiter en rythme lorsqu'elle applaudit. Image fugace. Image heureuse et pensée qui l'est tout autant : avec un peu de chance, elle ouvrira elle aussi ses cadeaux dans quelques temps. Peut-être même trouvera-t-elle dans une précieuse enveloppe une broche, celle-là même que mes parents me transmettent en ce moment précis. Pas n'importe quelle broche, car celle-ci porte un nom, un double prénom plutôt : Roméo et Juliette.

Toute une histoire. D'amour.

Photo : TheDaydreamer

On a cloud...

Today, I went to a funeral. No, don't go away - wait. The thing that everybody thinks and nobody says out loud is that a funeral is a harsh reminder of how despicable it can be to complain about every day details in our life. 

Today, is not a good day. But today, is also one of those reminders, a reality check about how crucial it is to be here and to be able to enjoy every single minute, to honor our life, the air that we breathe, the people around us and every step we take. 

I don't want to say "we'll see". I want to see right now.