A visit to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, is always rather interesting, and this time to see the life and works of Dries Van Noten, especially after his recent défilé, was great. There was an obvious progression from his first collection to his most recent, notably thanks to more advanced technology becoming available. It was great to see his own work together with his inspiration, from other garments to chandeliers to paintings, and how he used this inspiration was visible. The only negative remark I would make is that often the gallery space is a little too dark to be fully able to appreciate the garments on show.
Author: Steve Evans
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Alors, Joyeux Noel et bon reveillon en retard!!
Rentrer chez moi pour le Noel et voir toute ma famille encore était absolument incroyable! Au début quand je suis arrivé chez moi ma maman a déjà cuisiné beaucoup de mes repas favoris pour la semaine… c’est incroyable comment des chose tel qu’un ‘vrai saucis’ me manquent!! C’était sympa. Pendant les vacances nous n’avons pas prévu beaucoup alors c’était sympa de nous détendre et profiter etre chez moi pour une période courte encore. Nous avons fait quelques chose ensemble, tels que promener ma chienne, aller å la plage…. Avec ma chienne – enfin il semble que ma chienne ait passé des vancances plus actifs que nous!
Le jour de noel était aussi memorable que d’habitude… Papa boit quelques verres trop de Bucks Fizz, comme normalement, et quelqu’un abandonne toujours notre jeu de Monopoly car il perd le jeu horriblement – je pense que c’était moi cette année!
Je suis renté å Paris le 27… ce qui était un trajet incroyablement long de bus! Mais en fin je suis arrivé surement et cette nuit je suis resté chez un ami avec sa famille ce qui était vraiment sympa d’eux – chez moi et le noel me manquaient un peu a ce point déjà!
La semaine dernière était mon anniversaire, ce qui était un peu effrayant, joindre les vingtaines! Donné que c’était un jeudi cette année j’ai décidé de célèbrer le vendredi au lieu du jeudi – j’ai fini mon cour at 19h et mes amis m’ont amené vers un resto ‘surprise’ pour un repas vachement delicieux! Apres ça, ils m’ont donné un bandeau et des casques pour que je puisse ni entendre ni voir ou j’allais après… Nous avons montés la Tour Eiffel! Je disais toujours que c’est quelque chose aue j’avais toujours envie de faire, donc nous l’avons fait pour mon anniversaire ce qui était inoubliable! Puis nous avons fini la nuit en prennant un verre dans un bar juste a coté. C’était parfait.
En attendant, j’ai la rentée et je continue avec mes études!
English translation
Well, a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
To go home for Christmas and to see all of my family again was absolutely incredible! When I first arrived home my Mum had cooked a range of my favourite meals that covered the week… It’s incredible how you can miss things such as a ‘proper sausage!! It was lovely. Over the holiday we didn’t have too much planned so it was nice to relax and enjoy being home for a short while again. We did a few things as a family, such as going for a walk with my dog, going to the beach… with my dog – it seems like my dog actually had a more eventful holiday than what we did!
Christmas day was as memorable as ever… Dad usually has a few glasses of Bucks Fizz too many, and somebody always abandons our game of Monopoly as they’re loosing ‘that’ badly – I think this year it was me!I then travelled back to Paris on the 27th…. Which was an incredibly long bus journey! But I finally arrived safe and sound and that night I stayed at a friends house with his family which was very kind of them – I was missing home and Christmas a little bit by this point already!
Last week it was my birthday, which was quite a scary one, joining the 20’s! As it was a Thursday this year I decided to celebrate it on the Friday instead – I finished my lessons at 19h and my friends took me to a ‘surprise’ restaurant for a very nice meal! After that they put a blindfold on me and some headphones so I couldn’t see nor hear where I was going afterwards…. We went up the Eiffel Tower! I have always said that it was one thing that I REALLY wanted to do, so we did it for my birthday which was very memorable. We then finished the night with a drink in a nearby bar. It was perfect.
In the meantime, back to school and cracking on with studying!
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Parma, Italia – Febbraio 2014, Esther Bokuma
Dopo una lunga pausa in Inghilterra, sono finalmente arrivata a Parma la domenica scorsa nel pomeriggio, per iniziare la seconda parte del mio anno all’estero. Il mio alloggio era 12 minuti dall’aeroporto, quindi non ci volle molto per stabilirsi nella mia nuova casa. Vivo a Carlotta e Jessica. Carlotta è Italiana, lei è una studentessa di terzo anno all’Università di Parma e sua madre è anche la proprietaria dell’appartamento. Il dipartimento Erasmus della mia università, mi ha dato i contatti degli studenti di Kent che avevano recentemente studiati a Parma, e ho avuto la fortuna di essere messo in contatto con una studentessa che era amica con Carlotta durante suo anno all’estero. Lei mi ha dato che la madre di Carlotta affitta le camere ai studenti (i nativi e studenti Erasmus), dunque ho fatto una domanda e fortunatamente ho assicurato una stanza. Sono stata particolarmente contenta perché ho iniziato la mia ricerca nel Novembre dell’anno scorso e non ho trovato niente di adatto fino all’inizio di questo mese. Un altro ottimo fattore è che l’appartamento è abbordobile e ha buono trasporto all’Università e al centro della città. La mia coinquilina Jessica è una Brasiliana nativa e ha vissuto in Italia per 6 anni. Sta studiando anche all’Università di Parma e studia la letteratura italiana.
Le mie coinquiline sono state davvero utili perche mi hanno mostra intorno la zona locale e mi ha dato qualche consiglio. Ho anche una studentessa “tutor” che si chiama Federica, e lei studia nello stesso dipartimento come me (Dipartimento di Antichistica, Lingue, Educazione e Filosofia). Federica mi ha aiutato con l’iscrizione e mi ha mostrato le diverse sedi del campus. Finora, le cose sono state fantastiche qui a Parma, quindi sono entusiasta di questo semestre e tutte le sorprese e le esperienze a venire!
English translation
After a long break in England, I finally arrived in Parma on Sunday afternoon to start the second half of my year abroad. My accommodation was a 12 minute drive from the airport, so it did not take long for me to settle into my new home. I live with two other flatmates, Carlotta and Jessica. Carlotta is Italian, a third year student at the University of Parma and her mother is also the landlady of the flat. The Erasmus department of my University gave me the contact details of Kent students who had previously studied in Parma, and I was lucky enough to have gotten in touch with a student who was friends with Carlotta during her year abroad. She informed me that Carlotta’s mother rents out rooms to students (both natives and Erasmus), so I made an enquiry and fortunately secured a room. I was particularly pleased because I began my search in November of last year and didn’t find anything suitable until earlier this month. Another great factor is that the flat is affordable and has good transport links to the University and the city centre. My other flatmate Jessica is a native Brazilian and has lived in Italy for 6 years. She is also studying at the University of Parma and is reading Italian language and literature.
My flatmates have been really helpful, showing me around the local area and generally giving me some useful advice. I also have a tutor student called Federica, who studies in the same department as me (Dipartimento di Antichistica, Lingue, Educazione e Filosofia) and she has helped me with enrolment and finding my way around the different campuses. So far, things have got off to a good start here in Parma, so I am really looking forward to the rest of this semester and all of the surprises and experiences that will come with it!
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Montpellier, France – Décembre 2013
C’est ma dernière semaine à Paul Valéry et comme je commence à me préparer pour retourner en Angleterre, j’ai pensé qu’il serait bien de réfléchir un peu sur mon temps ici et aussi de parler des choses que j’ai apprises pendant mon semestre à Montpellier.
Pour moi, c’était difficile pour m’habituer à mon emploi du temps universitaire, à la française. J’ai étudié sept cours ce semestre pour 30 crédits, j’ai eu 26 heures d’enseignement par semaine et j’ai commençais à 8h15 et finissais à 20h le lundi au jeudi. Au début, cela m’a vraiment choqué, car je n’avais pas l’habitude d’avoir beaucoup de cours qui commencé tôt et fini tard. Alors je me suis rendue compte que j’avais besoin d’avoir un bon train-train quotidien et gérer mon temps afin d’équilibrer la charge de travail. Heureusement, j’ai réussi à le faire, et je crois que cette expérience va certainement m’aider dans mes études à l’Université de Parme le semestre prochain et aussi à Kent quand je reviendrai pour ma dernière année en Septembre 2014.
À Paul Valéry, j’ai trouvé que les associations étudiantes ne sont pas aussi diverses que à Kent et même d’autres universités en Angleterre. Néanmoins, je rejoins la chorale gospel de l’Université et j’avais également une partenaire d’échange linguistique (TANDEM), que j’ai rencontré chaque semaine pour avoir des conversations informelles et pour améliorer mon français tandis qu’elle améliorait son anglais. Ces activités extrascolaires m’a permis de devenir plus à l’aise en parlant le français en dehors de la classe et de faire de nouveaux amis. J’ai aussi profité de cours de français du soir, qui était disponible pour les étudiants ERASMUS (4 heures par semaine pendant 10 semaines). Cela a encore contribué à améliorer ma compétence d’écriture et de compréhension.
En général, mon semestre en France a été une expérience très positive, et il va être difficile de dire au revoir à tous les gens adorables que j’ai rencontrés ici, parmi ma famille d’accueil! J’ai appris beaucoup sur moi-même, mes compétences et ma capacité de m’habituer à la vie dans un nouveau pays. Je suis bien préparée pour le genre de choses que je peux prévoir, quand je serais à Parme l’année prochaine pour mon deuxième semestre à l’étranger.
English translation
This is my last week at Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III and as I start to prepare to return back to England, I thought that it would be a great to reflect on my time here and talk about some of the things that I have learnt during my semester.
For me, the most difficult thing that I had to adjust to was the French University timetabling system. I took seven modules this semester for 30 credits, had 26 contacts hours per week and started my lessons at 8.15am and finished at 8pm Monday- Thursday. This definitely startled me at the beginning, as I was not used to having such long contact hours that started early and finished late. I realised then that I needed to get into good routine and manage my time well in order to stay on top of my workload. Fortunately I succeeded in doing so, and believe that this experience will definitely help me in my studies at Parma University next term and also at Kent when I return for my final year, next September.
At Paul-Valery, I found that student clubs and societies are not as varied they are at Kent and even other UK universities. Nevertheless, I joined the popular University Gospel choir and also had a tandem language exchange partner, who I met on a weekly basis to have informal conversations and improve my French, whilst she improved her English. I found that getting involved in these extra-curricular activities allowed me to become more comfortable speaking French outside of the classroom and make new friends. I also took advantage of the French evening language course that was available to ERASMUS students for 4 hours per week over 10 weeks, which further helped with my written and comprehension skills.
Overall this has been a very positive experience for me, so it is going to be hard to say goodbye to all of the lovely people that I have met here in Montpellier, including my host family! I’ve learnt a lot about myself, my skills and my ability to adapt to living in a new country and it has prepared me well for the kind of things that I can expect, when I move to Parma next year for my second semester abroad.
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Février 2014- Genève
Février à Genève a été un mois de brouillards, de pluies et, au moins pour moi, d’étudier. La reprise de cours est le 17 février et j’ai dû étudier pour bien être au niveau pour le deuxième semestre. Mais, heureusement j’ai profité d’une petite pause la semaine avant la reprise de cours car ma cousine est venue me rendre visite ici à Genève. J’ai organisé une semaine assez chargée, et pour moi c’était une bonne opportunité de faire un peu de tourisme, comme je n’ai pas beaucoup de temps pour ça pendant le semestre.
Le premier jour, nous sommes parties en campagne profonde de Genève pour faire une dégustation de vins. Nous avons fait une visite du chai, et puis la dégustation après. La propriétaire nous a fait goûter des cépages qui sont spécifiques à Genève, et nous a expliqué les particularités de chaque cépage. Nous avons aussi visité ma faculté, le marché des puces et un restaurant italien que j’ai découvert le semestre dernier, mais la cerise sur le gâteau était le jeudi quand nous avons fait une visite d’un musée de fromage (avec une petite dégustation, bien sûr) et Maison Cailler, une fabrique de chocolat, autre fois avec une dégustation.
Nous avons commencé avec le voyage en train, où on suit le lac avec les montagnes derrière, couvertes de neige. Puis, nous sommes arrivées à Gruyères et nous avons fait la visite, où on a pu voir la fabrication du fromage et écouter une guide audio. A la fin nous avons fait une petite dégustation de trois fromages gruyères à des différentes étapes de maturité. Après, nous sommes allées directement à Maison Cailler, comme il pleuvait des cordes, et nous avons commencé la visite. On suit un parcours à travers plusieurs salles où on explique l’histoire du chocolat, puis on voit la fabrication du chocolat et finalement on arrive à la salle de dégustation, avec la possibilité de goûter toutes les variétés de chocolat de Cailler- et là on a bien profité !
J’ai bien aimé l’opportunité de visiter un peu Genève et la Suisse, et comme ma cousine ne parle pas français, c’était à moi de tout organiser à chaque fois, et même faire un peu d’interprétation chez moi avec ceux qui ne comprennent pas l’anglais. Après une semaine de repos et tourisme je suis bien prête à commencer le semestre avec toutes mes forces et surtout à commencer la simultanée !
English translation
February 2014- GenevaFebruary in Geneva has been a month of fog, rain and, for me at least, studying. We start lessons again on 17th February and I have had to study a lot to make sure I was ready to start the second semester. But, thankfully, I had a small break the week before lessons started back up as my cousin came to visit me here in Geneva. I organised a packed week, and for me it was a good opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing as I do not have much time for that during the semester. On the first day, we went into the deepest, darkest countryside of Geneva to do a wine tasting. We took a tour of the cellars, and then we had the tasting. The owner let us try wines made from grape varieties that are specific to Geneva, and explained to us the individual characteristics of each grape. We also visited my university, the flea market and an Italian restaurant which I discovered last semester, but the icing on the cake was the Thursday when we visited a cheese museum (with cheese-tasting of course) and Maison Cailler, a chocolate factory, once again with a chocolate tasting.
We started with the train journey, which follows the lake, with the mountains in the background, covered in snow. Then we arrived in Gruyères and we visited the museum where you could see the cheese being made and listen to an audio guide. At the end of the visit, we tasted three different gruyères cheeses at different stages of ageing. Afterwards we went directly to Maison Cailler, as it was raining cats and dogs, and did a tour there. You follow a path through various rooms where the history of chocolate is explained, then you see the chocolate being made, and finally you come to the tasting room, where you can taste all of the different types of Cailler chocolate- and we really made the most of it!
I really enjoyed the opportunity to visit Geneva and Switzerland a little, and as my cousin does not speak any French, it was always up to me to organise everything, and even interpret a little bit at home for those who do not understand English. After a week of relaxing and sightseeing, I am ready to start the semester full on, and am ready to start simultaneous interpreting!
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Rebonjour!
Alors, février est arrivé encore une fois, cependant – il fait chaud ?! C’est tellement bizarre d’être en février portant une chemise ou un tshirt, avec peu de pluie et peu de froid – l’hiver est allé où cette année ?! Bien qu’en disant ça, je me plaignes pas du tout ! Il ressemble beaucoup l’été, et comme le printemps arrive c’est sympa de voir un autre coté de Paris, et tout le monde a l’air plus content aussi !
Il y avait l’évènement de Première Vision cette dernière semaine à Paris, alors c’était génial d’y visiter encore avec mon école. Même si je ne cherche pas encore du tissu de là-bas pour acheter, c’est bien de voir ce qui est disponible est faire des connaissances aussi – j’ai fait connaissance avec une fille de Chelsea College of Art qui a lancé sa propre entreprise d’empreintes en encre et ses œuvres étaient vraiment intéressants – quelques empreintes étaient en 3D avec des couleurs fascinants aussi !
Tout va bien à l’école. Jusqu’à là j’ai réussi faire des rapports géniaux avec mes profs – c’était l’anniversaire d’un de mes profs il y a quelques semaines et quelques de mes amis et moi étaient les bienvenus – c’était encore une occasion super de faire des contacts et de rencontrer des autres gens dans l’industrie aussi !
Autre que ça, pas beaucoup de chose ne se sont passées ce dernier mois, pourtant les vacances arrivent alors j’ai quelques choses de prévues comme aller aux quelques expos et galléries, et de plus le cinéma (ça fait trop longtemps) !
English translation
Hello again!
So, February has arrived once again, however… it’s warm?! It feels so strange to be in February wearing just a shirt or a tshirt, with little rain and little cold – where has winter gone this year?! Although in saying that, I’m not at all complaining! It feels a lot like summer, and with spring on its way its nice to see another side of Paris, and everybody seems to be a lot happier too!
This last week was Premiere Vision in Paris, so it was great to visit that with my school again. Even though I’m not yet looking to purchase any fabric from there, its great to get a feel for what’s available and make some contacts too – I met a girl from Chelsea College of Art who had set up her own print business and her things were really interesting – some prints were 3D with fascinating colours too!
At school all is going well. By now I have managed to build a brilliant rapport with my teachers – it was one of my teachers birthdays the other week and a few of us were invited out with them – it was another great opportunity to make a few contacts and meet other people in the industry too!
Other than that, not much has happened this last month, however half term is coming up now so I have a few plans to go to one or two exhibitions and galleries, and also the cinema too (its been so long)!
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Madrid en enero por Hannah Phillips
The oldest University in Spain Enero fue un mes muy memorable en mi aventura española – que marcó el aniversario de un año desde que me mudé a este país y cumplí 22. O los “dos patitos”, como lo llaman en español.
Tuve la oportunidad de celebrar mi cumpleaños en Salamanca durante un fin de semana con mis amigos. Para cualquier persona que no haya oído hablar de Salamanca antes, es una ciudad que está más o menos a 2 horas en coche al noreste de Madrid y es el hogar de la universidad más antigua de España (también una de las más antiguas de Europa). Es una de las ciudades más limpias, más cuidadas en las que haya estado – ¡todo está todo tan coordinado! Desde el color de la piedra arenisca de los edificios a la arquitectura, todo encaja perfectamente. Hay muchas joyas ocultas en Salamanca, pero hay 3 cosas en especial que son particularmente famosas para los turistas. El primero trata de encontrar la talla de una rana que se oculta en la pared de la Universidad… se cree si puedes encontrarla te traerá suerte. Los dos siguientes se añadieron realmente durante una restauración de la catedral, pero siguen siendo algo un poco “diferente” – una gárgola que está comiendo un helado y un astronauta. ¡Tanto tallado en la piedra! Nos tomó un tiempo, pero nos las arreglamos para encontrar los 3, espero que nos traiga suerte…!
Una cosa distinta de mis celebraciones cumpleaños es que hemos organizado a ir a Granada para esquiar. ¡Sí….Granada y sí…esquiar! Esquí en el sur de España e ir a la playa en el mismo día…me parece perfecto. ¡Nos vemos pronto Granada!
The oldest University in Spain English translation
Madrid in January by Hannah Phillips
January was a land mark month in my Spanish adventure – it marked a year’s anniversary since I moved to this wonderful country and I turned 22! Or “dos patitos” as they call it in Spanish (2 ducks!).
I made the most of the opportunity to celebrate and went away to Salamanca for the weekend with some friends. For anyone that hasn’t heard of Salamanca before it’s a city roughly 2 hours North East of Madrid and is home to the oldest University in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe. It’s one of the cleanest cities I think I have ever been to and everything is all so coordinated! From the sandstone colour of buildings to their architecture, everything fits perfectly. There are lots hidden gems in Salamanca but there are 3 things in particular that are particular famous to tourists. The first is to the find the carving of a frog which is hidden on the wall of the University…it is believed if you find this it will bring you luck! The next two were added during a restoration of the cathedral but are still something a little “different” which you don’t expect to find in a city like Salamanca amongst the carvings of a cathedral – a gargoyle eating an ice cream and an astronaut! Both carved into the stone! It took us a while but we managed to find all 3, let’s hope they bring us luck…
On a totally separate note, something I thought I would never say I did in Spain was go skiing. But with a famous resort in Sierra Nevada near Granada just a few hours away, it’s difficult to say no! Skiing in the south of Spain and being able to go to the beach on the same day….perfect! Granada here we come!
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Décembre 2013 L’Escalade
Qu’est-ce que je peux dire du dernier mois de semestre ? Tellement de choses se sont passées que je vais me concentrer sur un évènement qui se passe chaque année à Genève : l’Escalade.
L’Escalade se fait en deux parties. La première partie est la course à l’escalade. Cette année la course s’est tenue le 7 décembre. Je suis allée la voir très brièvement comme mon colocataire fait la course semi-professionnelle.
La deuxième partie est le cortège de l’escalade. Cette partie est la partie plus culturelle. En fait il y a une histoire qui remonte jusqu’à 1602. Le 11 et 12 décembre de l’année en question, Genève s’est vu attaqué par les Savoyards qui ont essayé d’escalader les murailles de la ville.Malheureusement pour les Savoyards, ils ont essayé d’attaquer dans le mauvais lieu. Ils ont attaqué une rue très étroite, et à leur malheur il y avait une dame qui avait fait un potage pour le jour suivant dans une marmite qu’elle a donc renversé sur les soldats depuis le premier étage, ce qui les a brûlait et les a obligé de battre en retraite. Les actions de cette dame a fait pencher la balance en faveur des Genevois, qui ont finalement gagné la bataille.
Pour commémorer cette victoire phare chaque année il y a un cortège d’hommes, femmes et enfants habillés en tenue traditionnelle, quelques-uns montés au cheval, qui défile dans la vieille ville. Après il y a un feu de joie et on vend des marrons et du vin épicé. Je suis allée le voir avec deux amis, et c’était une occasion festive, malgré le froid et le brouillard givrant.
Il est traditionnel de manger ce qu’on appelle une marmite. C’est un grand chaudron en chocolat, avec des légumes en pâte d’amandes dedans, pour imiter le chaudron de la dame avec son potage. Si on mange un repas traditionnel comme j’ai fait avec mes colocataires ici, on la mange comme dessert et tout le monde met les mains en dessus de la marmite et puis on la brise tous ensemble pour pouvoir manger les légumes à l’intérieur.J’ai bien aimé les deux évènements- la course et le cortège- et c’était bien de pouvoir le fêter avec une famille genevoise qui connaît les traditions. Le cortège a vraiment marqué le début de noël pour moi, comme il faisait froid et c’était la première fête de la saison.
English translation
What can I say about the last month of the semester. So much has happened that I am going to concentrate on one event which happens each year in Geneva: l’Escalade.
L’Escalade has two different parts. The first part is the escalade race. This year the race took place on the 7th December. I briefly went to watch as my house-mate runs semi-professionally.
The second part is the cortège de l’escalade. This is the more cultural part. In fact, the story goes back to 1602. The 11th and 12th of December of that year, Geneva was attacked by the Savoyards, who tried to scale the town walls.
Unfortunately for the Savoyards, they tried to attack the wrong place. They attacked a very narrow street, and to their misfortune, there was a lady who had made a stew for the following day in a large cauldron, which she then tipped on the soldiers heads from the first floor. This burned them and forced them to beat a retreat. This woman’s actions tipped the balance in favour of the Genevans, who went on to win the battle.
To commemorate this iconic victory, each year there is a parade of men, women and children dressed in traditional costume, some on horseback, which wends its way through the old town. Afterwards there is a bonfire, and they sell roast chestnuts and mulled wine. I went to watch with two friends, and there was a very festive atmosphere despite the cold and the freezing fog.
It is traditional to eat what is known as a marmite. It is a large cauldron made of chocolate, with marzipan vegetables inside, to imitate the woman’s cauldron with the stew inside. If you have a traditional meal as I did with my house mates, it is eaten as dessert, and everyone puts their hands above it and smashes it together, so that you can eat the vegetables inside.I really liked both events- the race and the cortège- and it was great to be able to celebrate them with a Genevan family which knows the traditions. The cortège really marked the start of Christmas for me, as it was so cold, and it was the first celebration of the season.
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Two Weeks in Cordoba- January 2014
I have been staying with a friend in Cordoba for two weeks in order to improve my Spanish before starting the second semester in Geneva. I could talk about the monuments in Cordoba, Granada or Seville (as we also visited these two cities), or perhaps of the prodigious amounts of food, all delicious, which my friend’s mother serves, but I will limit myself to talking about the Mezquita, the best known monument in Cordoba, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985.
We have visited the Mezquita twice- once during the day, and another time at night with an audio guide. Today, the Mezquita is a cathedral, constructed inside a mosque, which in turn was built over a Visigothic Basilica already on the site. The construction of the Mezquita began in 785, and it was extended during the Emirate of Cordoba and the Caliphate of Cordoba, until the Reconquest of the city in 1238, when it was converted into a Catholic cathedral. Work on the Renaissance Basilica began in 1523.
Today, the Mezquita represents an architectural mix of Arabic and Christian styles, which is very typical of Andalusia. This combination of styles can also be seen in los Alcazares Reales, the royal residence in Seville, and many other religious and residential sites across the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. The external walls enclose a traditional patio which leads to the main building, complete with orange trees and the original irrigation system installed by the Moors. Later, a portico was constructed, giving protection from the fierce summer sun.
The main building is the jewel in the crown. Inside the Mihrab, or prayer room, there is arch after arch, all with different columns of stone, gypsum and marble. Beyond the arches, in the centre of the building, the Central Chapel extends up to the sky. It is taller than the rest of the space, with columns ending in gothic arches, unlike the horseshoe arches of the Mihrab. There are two enormous, intricately decorated organs, which despite having been made in the 17th century, are still used for concerts and other cultural and religious events.
In all, it is an impressive building, both inside and out. It dominates the skyline, especially viewed from the Roman Bridge when it is lit up at night. Moreover, the Mezquita is representative of the city itself, as it combines the Muslim and Christian styles, with influences from both cultures, just like the other buildings and streets in the historical centre. It is a building which I find particularly enchanting as you can read its history in its walls.
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Tribal Women, Sindh
These women in Interior Sindh (a province in the South-Eastern corner of Pakistan) are lining up to collect food parcels. The number of rings they wear on their arms denotes their status within their tribe. A number of different tribes are represented in this picture alone.
