Postcards from the World

Dear Students,

Greetings from Istanbul, Turkey

Let's simply enjoy the passage of time

Here is a peaceful place in Istanbul (Turkey) where to buy a book and sip a tea. My grands-parents used to live in this city in their youth and cherished it. They were Armenians. They were compelled to leave for France in 1923. Later, my parents and I were born in Paris where I still live.

I visited Istanbul and Armenia, both with wonder and emotion. World is wide and our heart even more.

I am a French — from an Armenian family — from Istanbul. Yes, all that ;) And Mother Earth is my home.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Brussels, Belgium

A popular food in Belgium is steak and frites. But in recent years, cheese burgers have become very popular too with some restaurants charging a premium price for "American style" hamburgers.

In Belgium, fries are known by the French word, frites, but many people in America assume french fries come from France. In fact they come from Belgium where they were believed to be prepared as far back as the 1600's!

It is believed that the reason they are called French Fries in America is because in World War I, American soldiers enjoyed this Belgian dish and assumed that since Belgian soldiers spoke French, they came from France.

In Belgium the official languages are French and Dutch (and German is also recognized in some parts of the country).

This photo also shows another Belgian delight... beer. Many people around the world enjoy Belgian beers made by Trappist monks. This one is called Duvel which means Devil in Dutch. It is rather strong, hence the name. Though it does go well with burger and frites.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Hong Kong

It is 11:00 p.m. on D'Aguilar Street

The upper section of D'Aguilar Street together with Lan Kwai Fong is one popular (expatriate) haunt for drinking, entertainments and night life. Though I'm not a fan of night life of this sort, I have always been drawn by its atmosphere.:-)

Dear Students,

Greetings from Arizona, USA

The Indian Watchtower sits out on a promontory overlooking the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. From a distance, the building's silhouette looks like the Anasazi watchtower it was meant to mimic.

As Virginia L. Grattan wrote in Mary Colter Builder Upon the Red Earth, "The Indian watchtower at Desert View was not a copy, but what Colter called a 're-creation' of an Indian watchtower." Standing at 70 feet, with a 30-foot base, the tower is unique in having a concrete foundation and steel framework well-hidden in the stones of the tower.

The ground level of the tower is a large, round observation room with a spectacular view of the Grand Canyon. Upstairs, the Hopi Room presents paintings by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie, who took the room's theme from the Hopi Snake Dance. An outdoor observation deck is directly above the observation room.

Photo captured May 8, 2013.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Paris, France

This photo is a sharp angle of the beautiful and historic Notre Dame de Paris. The religious cathedral, on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France, is quite arguably one of the most famous of cathedrals.

In 2008, it also was the meeting place for the very first "photo walk" for the Aminus3 photographers who joined us in Paris. We had a wonderful day meeting each other for the first time and many great photos were taken and shared.

Dear Students,

Hello from Tervuren, Belgium!

In Belgium, many people have miniature ponies and miniature goats as pets.

The history of the miniature pony dates back to Ancient Egypt. In the late 19th century, breeders from Belgium and other parts of Europe began exporting these little sweeties to the United States.

This miniature pony lives down the street from us. We gave her the name of "Speckle Lou" because she's a diminutive dapple grey but also because one of my favorite Belgian biscuits is called Speculoos.

Speculoos cookies or biscuits as they are referred to in Belgium, taste a little like gingerbread.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Granby Canada

... le calme d'un matin d'été,
près du Lac Boivin...

à granby, au québec,
une ville francophone à moins d'une heure de Montréal,
la terre d'accueil de plus d'une centaine d'ethnies

on y vit calmement et en beauté

Dear Students,

Greetings from Australia

Be nice' cos I gotta stick and big claws .... !

Did you know that Koalas are not bears? They are marsupials just like Kangaroos. Marsupials have babies that are like small baked beans, are blind and deaf and need to crawl into their mother's pouch to drink milk for many months before they can come out into the world. Baby koalas usually ride on their mother's back. Koalas spend most of their time in the trees eating eucalyptus leaves. They are nocturnal, which means they find a fork in the tree branches and nap during the day and are more active at night.

Koalas look cute and cuddly, but they are actually wild animals with very big, sharp claws that help them climb and hang onto trees in strong winds.

If you would like to read more interesting facts about Koalas, you can find some by clicking here.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Melbourne, Australia

There are many kangaroos living around Melbourne in the state of Victoria, Australia where I live.

Kangaroos are fairly timid and prefer to live in the countryside grazing on grasses and usually avoid populated areas. They blend into the environment very well, and are usually only spotted if they move. Kangaroos are a special kind of mammal; they are marsupials. The females carry their young (called joeys) in a pouch. The joeys are born blind, hairless and are the size of a baked bean. The baby stays in the pouch and lives on mother's milk for months. When it is bigger it begins to peek out of the mother's pouch. Then for a few months it begins to graze on grass, but continues to stay in the pouch. Mother kangaroos can carry two joeys of different ages in the pouch. One attached to the teat and another that is larger and more independent.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Hong Kong

This is Peel Street. To some, it's one of the last remaining "street markets" in Hong Kong, and to others, it's where they just come for foods whether it be traditional or trendy; to some, it's a fascinating mix of cultures but to others, it's the invasion of the old way of living by some pretentious bourgeois... To me, it's a street I have to pass by at least once a week but never seem to be able finishing photographing.:-)