Tag Archives: Politics, history, and culture – Mark my words, friends: I will be back to Louisiana one day. Maybe with a few girlfriends, or on a romantic adults’ only trip with Bruno. It will involve much late-night dancing in New Orleans, an alligator-filled swamp tour, and as much sampling of Cajun/Creole food (what’s the difference, anyway?) as a vegan can taste. Louisiana has been so confounding and confusing that my curiosity is officially peeked!  Despite living among – and loving – Acadians almost my entire life, I knew very little about their history and culture. All that changed this summer with an eye-opening experience at the fabulous Village Historique Acadien near Caraquet, New Brunswick. Highly recommended!  Every once in a while, without even knowing it, you turn up in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. This post, about Spain’s Holy Week and its religious processions, is the story of one of those times.  A meetup on the coast of northern Spain with our two Basque overlander friends, Josu and Ana, wasn’t just a fun reunion. It also helped to illuminate some of our early experiences in Spain, including: our visit to Pamplona, the Basque festival we accidentally crashed in Durango, our overnight in the fishing village of Lekeitio, and our jaunt to Basque Country’s biggest city, Bilbao.  Our time in Bosnia was perhaps the most educational (and emotional) visit we’ve ever had. In six days we learned about the Bosnian War, the Siege of Sarajevo, the Srebrenica Genocide, postwar life in Bosnia’s capital, and the ongoing tensions in the country and Balkan region. |
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