#365 - Waiting for a handout

#365 - The morning my big Babe didn't cope, sigh

#365 - Yellow horizon, healthy!

#365 - Plumes from the refineries, yummy!

#Egypt - Memories

From Egypt

Last one for tonight :-)
I think.
Did I mention lately that my archives are way too big & that 80% of the photos
have never been edited / posted,... sigh :-)

Hadaba harbour, Sharm el Sheikh #Egypt South Sinai 2010

#Egypt - Watching the world go by

From Egypt

#Egypt - Hello Sir

From Egypt

Just gotta post this fun moment, also from my #Egypt archives 2010.
I was trying to catch the Tern preening in the back when I saw this
guy approaching and adjusted my frame a bit ;-)

#Egypt - Greetings from Egypt

Just walking through my archives, not deleting as much as I should ;-)
Wishing you all a great weekend!

From Egypt

#Kuwait - Mosque somewhere...

From Kuwait

The photo is from 2007. I took it during a taxi ride when I first got here.
I was looking for a place (I don't remember which one and I haven't found it until today)
and we had a nice halfday trip up and down through the desert. ;-)

#Kuwait - Expat culture

From Kuwait 2013

Here I am, thinking it is a cool idea to take up Jake Johnson's weekly challenge
for a short photo assignment. He asked me to take a 'cultural street photograph
from wherever I am at the moment'.

Well, I am in Kuwait.
Getting photos of Kuwaiti culture isn't easy to come by.
You would have to go to the few heritage sites that are left in the city center.
BUT, he did say from wherever I am, right?
I am in Mangaf, that's down further in the South of Kuwait.
A place where some years ago, Kuwaitis didn't set foot in and didn't even visit
their relatives when they were fallen from Grace and had to move here for financial reasons or other.
It's the Corner where most Expats live, at least lower labor workers
(correct me, if I'm wrong, which you folks will do, I'm sure).
There for sure are more Expats here than Kuwaiti folks.
So, I figured, I take a photo of what has become the cultural scene for me.
Asian Expats at work. Two street cleaners in the front and car mechanics in the back.

Easy snapshot you say. It is. In a way.
For me though, as a woman, it is not exactly that easy to ask these guys for a photo.
I usually don't and just steal one.

So, one challenge for me was to overcome my unwillingness to ask :-)
The lighting of course sucked and the weather is still hazy, so, no matter where
I would have gone today, I would not have been overly happy.

What I do and did like though, were their smiling faces
(before, during or after, they all smiled at one point).

I know, you all would have liked to see something different.
Maybe. 
But sometimes you have to go with what you get.

Even with mosques for example, as a Non-Muslim you can
(unless you have the patience to find it out) never really tell, who goes there to pray.
The one in my approximate neighbourhood for example is visited predominantly
by Egyptian worshipers (and I don't even know if it's Sunni or Shiite - I think Shiite).

 Now, enough talking. I think I had too much sunshine, so excuse this little waterfall of words ;-)

#Kuwait - The Beauty and the Beast

Mother Nature and I wept some tears this morning.
The beach has been the worst since I got here.
Trash upon trash and heaps of algae (whatever that's supposed to mean).

The weather is hazy, but at least it was cool.
The dogs had fun :-)
King shed so much fur these past two weeks, he was clean and dry by the time we reached the house.
Now, that's nice for a change (he usually stays wet till evening).

The guy in the second last photo is the one I talked about on yesterday's post.
He was there again today.

The man in the other photo seemed to be praying. I don't know if it's Indian custom to pray at the water? One morning I let a woman pass in front of me, going down to the waters edge for some rinsing with water and praying.

I silently apologized to Mother Nature for not cleaning up the beach, collecting bottles and whatnot.
I think, she understands since I found a very unique, beautiful pottery shard right after.
I love the little signs, call me crazy, I don't care ;-)

Here's for wishing that people would just show some more respect and at least clean up after themselves. Shame on you, whoever and wherever you all are.

From 365 - 2013

From 365 - 2013

From 365 - 2013

From 365 - 2013

From 365 - 2013

From 365 - 2013

From 365 - 2013

From 365 - 2013

#Kuwait - Fahaheel beach

"No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, 
but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, 
and to build confidence in the creative spirit" 
Ansel Adams 

 Been out for an hour, it's only 30C and I feel like someone locked me into a Sauna for too long.
I need to toughen up before summer comes along!

From Kuwait 2013

#Kuwait - How to make a camel sit

By the time we got here, the dust was sitting in the air like a yellow cotton ball.
Not suffocating, but there. I figured to take photos anyway, since
I don't know if I ever get back here to see things like this.

 The camelherders were getting the camel ready for transport when it managed
to slip their grasp and do a short galloping around, one foot already hobbled.
They soon got her, bound the second foot and tried to make her sit,
so the car with the crane could come and transport her to her next destination.

 Either the slaughterhouse or a new owner.

From Kuwait 2013

From Kuwait 2013

From Kuwait 2013

From Kuwait 2013

#Kuwait - Luck

This morning I had a reminder of how lucky I am.
If I am hungry, I open up the fridge for example.

The man I saw this morning, not so lucky.
I saw him walking along the beach, stopping at a plastic bag with Trash
and Leftovers from someone's midnight picnic.
He turned if upside down and I got mad for a second for all that trash spilling on the beach.
I thought he was digging for empty soda cans. They get cash for those.
Nope.
This guy was digging for food.

We should never forget that things always could be worse.
 ___________

Photo below is an archive shot from 2012

From Kuwait 2012

#Kuwait - Fahaheel beach

From Kuwait 2013

For the second part of my assignment - spontaneous - you've seen most of my posted photos already.
The ones from Fahaheel beach last Thursday.
 Here's my text along with two you haven't seen yet.

Mission 5 Plus post - Spontaneous

Thursday morning I grabbed the opportunity of a clear looking, dust free morning.

I didn't calculate in the haze, so photos resulted in some grainy disappointment.

Oh well, I salvaged what I could. Editing was done by hand, except for shot Nr. 6, which I have thrown in for some colour, not really belonging to the set :-)

Have a good Sunday all!

From Kuwait 2013

#Kuwait - More camel market

Can I eat dat?!

From Kuwait 2013

These were the photos for my Photography assignment for the 'Advanced Mentorship program for Photographers'on G+. The assignment this week contained two parts. One for 5 Intentional photos and one for 5 spontaneous ones. These were my Intentional ones, since we had it planned to go here, me for taking photos.

Mission 5 Plus Post - Intentional

One stop on my list of Places to go & things to shoot was the camel market. Ever since my friend Linda mentioned it. Yesterday she took us there.

The morning started out rainy and cloudy. Not as bad as it sounds. Turned out, the closer we got out and into the desert, the dustier it got. Add a bright sky and the results of attempted shooting will be solala. For some mysterious reason though, they didn't turn out as grainy as expected. Maybe the harsh sun helped there (the spontaneous shots, taken early morning Thursday with no dust turned out grainy, but it was hazy and no sun in sight). One day I'll figure it out.

The photos are not as clean and uncluttered as I would have wished and I would have liked to try different angles and such. BUT, the longer you stick around there, the more flies men gather around you, try to chat you up or just watch you.

Can't blame them and they kept their distance, but it makes for some uncomfy shooting. By the time I had the first 3 shots in my bag, there were about 10 men gathered around the area. We switched locations and ran into chatter mouth from Sudan (the guy in the last photo). I sure don't want to know what he tried to offer me, besides a camel ride ;-)

Overall, given the conditions, I am fairly happy with the results. I wish I could have done things different, or take the time to use a tripod et all, but sometimes you have to go with what you can get.

That is one lesson I learned during our travels. Get what you can when you can. You never know when and if you will get the chance again.

Tender Love

From Kuwait 2013

Innocence

From Kuwait 2013

We are family....

From Kuwait 2013

The man and the camel This guy from Sudan was chitchatting with me in Arabic the moment he came around the corner. I think this might have been the only second he kept his mouth shut ;-) He offered me a camel ride and many other things, I blissfully didn't understand. I can't imagine the Life these guys live here. The temperatures are still moderate right now, but I can't even fathom 50C out here. A few seem to have trailers, but most don't. And all that for 30 or 40KD per month, most of that being sent home to their families. Still a better Life than starving at home for most.

From Kuwait 2013

Say that again

From Kuwait 2013

#Handmade - Crochet Vintage Handbag

Nothing fancy, easy to make, not my last for sure :-)
 Original pattern from a German magazine and edited a wee bit to my own liking ;-)
 (Not the Best of photos, maybe a better one one of these days)

From Handmade

From Handmade

#Kuwait - Say that again

Yeah, that's how I feel right now. Happy, but pooped and kind of 'huh?!' We had a nice 'girls' morning out. My friend Linda was kind enough to drive us around Kuwait. And I mean around. We saw the Camel market (never been there), the Flamingos, the place where they used to build the Dhows (fishing boats - never been there), the oldest mosque in Kuwait (been there, but didn't know), some of the few very old, traditional buildings left in Kuwait (need to go back!) and loads more, including a lot of information. I am grateful for this day and a very happy camper :-) Now, who's gonna edit those photos and puts up my assignment? ;-)


From Kuwait 2013

#Kuwait - Ignore the Rest

If you shut your ears and avert your eyes,
you get peace and quiet

From Kuwait 2013

#Kuwait - Paint me bright

"To create one's world in any of the arts takes courage"
Georgia O'Keeffe 

From Kuwait 2013

#Kuwait - Hazy Glory

The beach photos I am posting are from my walk yesterday morning.
I needed to get out and I needed to take photos for my assignment (for the Mentorship program).
We have a two part assignment this time. One for spontaneous photos and one for planned.
These will be the ones for my spontaneous part (I think).
They are not as crisp, tack sharp or whatever I wanted them to be.
The weather isn't playing along. I thought it was yesterday, but looking at the photos at home,
it's grain galore.
I'll make up for it.
One day ;-)

From Kuwait 2013

#Kuwait - Fahaheel

From Kuwait 2013

#Kuwait - Room with a view

Chocolates and juice,....

From Kuwait 2013

#Kuwait - Bird hunting

Yesterday I saw some hunters in my neighbourhood.
Sitting in their car and shooting at birds.

I checked later, at least they took them and maybe they went to eat them (a pigeon and a Laughing dove were the unlucky ones).

'My' friend the Parakeet was still around and so was one of the two visiting Hoopoes.

On my way back from the beach I caught this shot.

Hope he shit on his head. Big time ;-)!

From 365 - 2013

#Kuwait - Another day in paradise

It seems I cannot win, can I? It's either dust, backpain and headache or more dust. Here's to hoping it doesn't grow into a grown up dust storm and just stays hazy and icky.
_____________________________
 Ich kann nicht gewinnen, oder? Entweder Staub, oder Ruecken mit Kopf oder noch mehr Staub. Ich hoffe nur, es bleibt bei einem mittleren eklig klebrigen Ministaubgewirbel und waechst sich nicht zu so was ekligem aus, wie letzte Woche!

From Kuwait 2013

Toys

From 365 - 2013

Playing around with Cam, Tripod and Remote.
Was trying to Model some of my shawls and such.
Sun was a tad too bright though.
Lesson learned: Light is good, too much of it, not so ;-)

#Handmade - Pimpelliese

And finally finished. I dragged my feet a bit with this one.
Not perfect, as usual, but lovely to wear!

> Pimpelliese <

Und endlich fertig! Hier habe ich mal wieder etwas rumgetroedelt.
Und natuerlich mit Fehlern, wie immer. Aber saubequem :-)

From Handmade

From Handmade

From Handmade

Update:

Hier noch eine andre Methode die Pimpelliese zu tragen - gar nicht warm, die Wolle absorbiert wohl die Hitze. :-)

From Handmade

Another use for the Pimpelliese - not hot at all! I guess the material absorbs the heat? :-)

#Handmade - Bikini bottom / Hose

Not perfect yet, but comfy - Noch nicht perfekt, aber saubequem

From Handmade

From Handmade

From Handmade