Globe Corner Blogs

Kilimanjaro--photo by Meghan

I climbed Kilimanjaro in the fall of 2006, taking the Machame route. The Machame route is arguably the most scenic: camera crews having chosen this route for the Kilimanjaro iMax movie. It is also one of the longer routes and one of the more arduous.

The Machame route, however, is not a technical climb and requires no previous mountaineering skills. I will add, though, that some ropes may have proved comforting when faced with the 1,000-foot drop above jagged rocks and the leap requiring lots of faith to get to the other side of the path.  The summit was not as easily reached as I had suspected, based on the large number of tourists who climb it every year. It took seven days of hiking for six to eighteen hours per day. Clouds often obstructed our promised good view, but sometimes I got a rare glimpse of the spectacular scenery as though I was in an airplane taking aerial photographs.

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Where To Go When --by Joseph Rosendo

At least one customer a week asks, “Isn’t it difficult to work in a place like this? Don’t you just want to go everywhere?” The answer, invariably: “Yes.”

I think it’s fair to say that all of us have a nearly constant and always ferocious case of the travel bug. The fierce desire to be on the move, exploring new lands is a definite occupational hazard of working at the Globe Corner. The bug can strike at any time. The sudden urge to run away to Italy for a month comes on while chatting to a customer about the architecture of Venice. Gondolas, wine, a brief but passionate affair with someone who looks not unlike Furio from “The Sopranos”!

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The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie -- by Malu Halasa & Rana Salam

It is sunny and almost warm outside, and I have decided that it is time to come out of winter hibernation mode.  I am also adjusting to a new pair of glasses and here all the far-sighted readers out there will feel for me, because the world became so wobbly and curvy that I feel like Alice in Wonderland. I cannot even read anything while my brain is learning to automatically turn curves into straight lines. But even this temporary impairment cannot dim my curiosity, so here I come with a list of hidden eye candy.

These are books that are not meant to be read, they are meant to be adored and looked through many times. I am writing about alternative, strange and very curious fashion photography book gems packed between our guides and maps. Tweaking a well-known expression, I would say that nothing tells you more about a country than it’s street food and street fashion.

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Raven Map of Texas

I have recently returned from Austin, Texas.  Everyone says the greatest things about Austin, and I have no complaints.  I’m sure it was lovely.  I bet it was spectacular.  Maybe it would’ve been my future home.  I will never know. I went to Austin not to see the city and its sights…I went to dance!!

There I was on stage in front of 2000 lovely people, or so I assumed, but the lights were so bright!  Not too bad right?  There is a catch though, this was the opening night for the world’s largest drum convention called The Percussive Arts Society International Convention. PASIC asked the Berklee West African Drum and Dance Ensemble to perform the first ceremony of the convention.  So as a drummer and dancer, I was in front of 2000 other drummers and I hoped and prayed that we were all on the beat.

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Berklee West African Drum and Dance Ensemble --photo by Jess

For such a small country, Ghana sure does have a lot of distinct musical traditions, each marked by unique rhythms, instruments, and dance styles. I learned all this first hand when I saw the GCB’s favorite bike-riding, drum-playing, book-selling employee, Dan, perform with the Berklee West African Drum and Dance Ensemble in a show titled Ghana: A Musical Landscape, directed by Joe Galeota.

At the store, we often hear about Dan’s love for West Africa, drumming, and dancing – but hearing about it (no matter how enthusiastic he is) does not compare, even slightly, to going to a show and seeing his entire ensemble, including native Ghanaians, perform for nearly two hours.

The show, which was exhausting just to watch, showcased six traditional musical styles from different regions of Ghana – Kete, Bamaaya, Yilla/Guola, Bewaa, Adzogbo-Todzo-Le, and Kpanlogo. For each style, the dancers wore the traditional dress to provide a more complete portrait of Ghana. Besides just seeing Dan in his dancing element, a highlight of the show was the gyil solo by Bernard Woma, lead drummer of the National Dance Company of Ghana. The gyil is a type of xylophone constructed using wooden bars hung over various sized gourds (see photo when post continues).

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Martha and Cheetahs

Okay, so I’ll confess: before I interviewed for my job at the Harvard AIDS Initiative, I looked on a map to make sure that Botswana was where I thought it was. (And it was, right there north of South Africa.) I got the job and, four months later, landed in Africa for the first time.

If you mention Botswana to a lot of Americans, they’ll ask, “Have you read The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency?” If you haven’t; do so. I read this first book in Alexander McCall Smith’s mystery series to get a sense of the country. It’s an enjoyable read, chronicling the adventures of Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s leading and only female private detective. McCall Smith was born in what is now Zimbabwe and educated in Scotland. After working for years as a Professor of Law in Scotland, he returned to Africa to work in Botswana. His books, worldwide bestsellers, portray the people and changing culture of Botswana. If you’re a mystery junkie, there are eight more books in the series.

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Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks

In no particular order, these are some of my favorite books currently in the store:

1. Round Ireland with a Fridge, by Tony Hawks. Man gets drunk in a pub, man makes silly bet with buddy that he can hitchhike around Ireland accompanied by a mini-fridge (that’s right, a mini-fridge). Hilarity ensues, along with a bizarre and unexpected national celebrity. See the fridge surf; see the fridge blessed by nuns. Great beach read, or even anywhere else where breaking into fits of uncontrollable giggles is considered acceptable. Funnier than a drunk monkey. (Sorry PETA.)

2. Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood, by Alexandra Fuller. A beautifully written, challenging memoir of Fuller’s childhood in Africa in the last years of the white regime in Rhodesia and its transformation after independence into Zimbabwe. Unsparing in her examination of the racism that underlay her childhood as well as the tragedies and triumphs of her family, she shows the flawed humanity of all involved. One of the best personal narratives I’ve read in quite some time. Continue Reading »