Blogs of the world

Tales of a tropical land

Liz — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:37:40 +0000

Guyana is brought to you by Guyana Gyal from Georgetown, the capital of Guyana.

Guyana is one of the few non-Spanish speaking countries in South America. This post explains more about Guyanese English (Creolese)

Guyana Gyal has a great way with words, as she ponders over Michael Jackson’s ability to bridge generations and cultures, or what will happen to Guyana’s rainforest.

Have a read and let her stories take you there.

Look at Leipzig

Liz — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:13:44 +0000

Ktinka is written by Katrin from Leipzig, Germany. If you don’t know German don’t be put off by the latest post - the rest is in English.

Katrin listens to music, takes photos, sits in cafes, goes to uni and now and again visits new places. Ktinka shows cute photos of Leipzig, studying and day trips to Austria.

Recommended by Wiedehopf on Stumbleupon. Thank you!

Breakfast at Nakumatt’s

Liz — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:36:37 +0000

Ugandan Insomniac is written by Tumwijuke, a 30-something journalist from Uganda.

Her thoughtful and often funny posts reflect on everything from her favourite Ugandan towns (in case you were wondering they are Mbale, Kabale, Arua, Fort Portal and Kisoro) to health care centres without doctors.

The other kind of market in Kampala: credit Teppo Soininen

The post about breakfast from the new 24/7 supermarket in Kampala is a revealing look at the conflicting emotions of wanting to embrace globalisation whilst keeping local traditions:

I want to sip outside a café drinking ridiculously costly cups of coffee from Ecuador….. I want my coffee delivered to me in a huge tin cup covered with an old red plastic plate. I want it full of the creamiest milk with coffee plucked and roasted a few kilometers away.

It’s an interesting way to see life in a changing country.

Read More:
Wired Africa? Africa is getting online
More African blogs from Blogs of the World
High cost of transport in Africa: why does it cost more to ship a ton of wheat from Uganda to neighbouring Kenya than from the USA to Uganda?

Busy South African mum

Liz — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:04:36 +0000

Harassed Mum is written by LauraKim, a free spirit from Pretoria, South Africa.

She writes about her busy life as a single mum who is also studying. Exams finished this week so we would also like to say congratulations!

Not too busy to stop caring about others though - The South African blogosphere is currently campaigning to help out their friend who needs help for her son and LauraKim is one of the main organisers.

Thanks a lot to Louisa (previously featured in 123 South Africa on Blogs of the World) for taking the time to suggest some of her favourite South African blogs. This was one of them and we hope to feature more in future.

Now let’s hear from you. Do you think being a mother in South Africa sounds different to your country, or are there many things the same?

Read more:
African blogs from Blogs of the World
Vegan in Mauritius: an original food blog

The restless mind of an Egyptian student

Liz — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:22:13 +0000

Sara describes herself as ‘An Egyptian, extremely diversified, super procrastinator chocolate junkie with a memory span of a goldfish…’ Have a peek at life in Egypt through her Friday love list, a weekly list of things she loves.

You can find her at Ramblings of a Restless Mind, where she writes about a lot of things, including Arabic rap music, university graduation and the inescapable exams. Exams are the same for students everywhere, aren’t they?

Thinking of Austria

Liz — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:24:51 +0000

Francessa would like to give a glimpse of the European point of view with her blog Francessa’s Thinking.

She writes about Austria, which is currently celebrating success in the Cannes film festival with the film The White Ribbon, directed by Austrian Michael Haneke.

Francessa is a teacher and researcher and many posts talk about books and writers. Life in Austria is also full of surprises - you never know when you will find a deer in the garden.

Julie’s world in Argentina

Liz — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:59:51 +0000

Written by Julie in Buenos Aires, Argentina, today’s Blog of the World is a cross-cultural experience on its own - every post is written in Spanish and English.

Julie is a mum and likes to sing, write, read, sew and knit, so these are the things which feature most in El mundo de Julie en el mundo / Julie’s world in the world. It’s a friendly place and a look at the creative side of life in Argentina.

The story of a beautiful quilt from El mundo de Julie en el Mundo

Blogging Indonesia

Liz — Thu, 14 May 2009 11:32:31 +0000

Indonesia has a thriving blogosphere and many bloggers choose to write in Bahasa Indonesia, the main language of Indonesia. But Fatih Syuhud is on a mission to encourage Indonesian bloggers to write in English so that they can share Indonesian culture with the rest of the world.

He writes:

..for those who have a little bit mastery in English I keep encouraging them to use it as their blog lingua franca.

Not only will it benefit them one way or another, but also it would open the window for other cultures to know us–Indonesia as a a people, a nation as well as a country–a lot better.

On Blogger Indonesia Fatih writes about different aspects of being Indonesian, including Islam, using Facebook and giving up smoking.

Worth a look is the Blogger Indonesia of the Week series where Fatih reviews Indonesian bloggers who live all over the world. The series covers interesting points about Indonesian culture like how Indonesians only use one name and one Indonesian woman’s reasons for wearing a headscarf.

Colourful Oeiras

Liz — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:38:08 +0000

Oeiras is a small town on the Atlantic coast of Portugal, just outside Lisbon. In Oeiras and environs daily photo you can see a new photo every day of this colourful and historic town, which is already enjoying the summer.

Through this varied collection of photos you will see many different aspects of life in this pretty coastal town - old and new buildings, seaside rollerblading and even Portuguese film recommendations

Image: San Antonio urban handicrafts from Oeiras and environs daily photo

Thanks to Jose for writing to submit his blog, which is part of the City Daily Photo network. Can you recommend a blog from your part of the world? If so please write to info@pocketcultures.com

May day picnics in Serbia

Liz — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:41:16 +0000

Experience Serbia is mostly about tourist destinations - as with many countries it was very difficult to find a ‘real life’ blog from Serbia written in English (if you know one we’d love to hear from you - please get in touch!)

It’s a great way to get to know this Balkan country where people are planning to celebrate the May 1st holiday this Friday with picnics, BBQs and relaxing outside. The aim of the blog is to help travellers to Serbia, and after you have looked at a few photos you might just think about visiting.

Image: traditional Serbian house from Experience Serbia