Sudáfrica, DURBAN CITY.

Durban, situada en la provincia de KwaZulu-Natal, a Orillas del Oceano Indico.

Polonia.Varsovia Zydowski Cemeterio

CEMETERY¨S HISTORY.

In The late 14Th Century, Jews came to Warsaw and settled in the Old Town between Wqski Dunaj and Piekarska streets. In the year 1527 to 1795 Jews were not allowed t olive in the city. It was not until the mid -18th century that they began to settle in the suburbs in large numbers. In 1780 they founded a cementery in Praga. The Warsaw community established its own cementery in 1806 outside the city ramparts, at what was then Gesia St. And is now 49/51 Okopowa St.from its founding until 1939 about 150.000 people were buried here. The Okpowa St.cementery covers an área of 33, 4 hectares and is one of the last Jewis cementeries in Poland which is being used.

This “house of eternity” as the cemetery is often referred to in Hebrew, is a monument of gravestone art, of Jewish art, and jewish presence in Warsaw. Its value as a record of Polish Jews is incalculable, because the material heritage of the Jewish commumity was almost totally destroyed during World War II. Among the gravestones, one can find traditional vertical slabs(matzevot) decorated with a wealth of ornaments and  symbolic reliefs and covered by Hebrew inscriptions with beautifully carved letters (sections 1, 2, 8, 9 of the cemetery). Visitors can also see splendid tombs, which differ in desing from the traditional style )sectons 20,26,33 and the main lane ). The mausoleum of Ber Sonnenberg (section 1) with two bas reliefs is a masterpiece. Among the sculptors who made the tombs are : Abraham Ostrzega, Feliks Rubinlicht, Henryk Stielman, Mieczyslaw Lubelski, Mark Antokolski and Boleslaw Syrewicz.

The styles of the tombstones and the contents of the epitaphs reflect the diversity of Warsaw¨s Jewish community. Among those buried here are : rabbis and tzaddikim (Hasidic leaders); leaders of secular movements like the assimilation movement, Zionism and socialism; promotors of Hebrew; Yiddish writers, journalists and actors; people prominent in Polish life: industrialists, physicians, scientits, artists, publishers, philantropists and patrons of culture. Thousands of victims who lived in the Ghetto established in Warsaw during World war II are buried here in mass graves.

On the occasion  of the burial of a famous person, the funeral ceremonias were imposing with huge crowds in attendance. Such for example was the funeral of the Yiddish writer I.L: Peretz.

Until World War II the cemetery, which included a funeral house and a symagogue, was taken care of by the burial society (Chevra Kadisha). Now the cemetery is ownned by Jewish Community of Warsaw. In 1973 it was officially recognized as a historical monument: it is under the protection of the Warsaw conservator´s office. Since 1070 the appearance of the cemetery has improved thanks to the efforts of the Community. Conservation has also been done  by the Citizens Committee for the Protection of Jewish Cemeteries and Cultural Monuments in Poland, formed in 1981. The Committee collects infomation about the cemetery´s  history and location of graves to replace, if only in part the original archives which were destroyed during the war.

LIJIANG Yunan China.

Lijiang.

Situada al noreste de la provincia de Yunan, distrito autónomo Naxi.

Su población es de unos 350.000 según el ultimo censo.

Su cultura, historia y arquitectura la hacen diferente a todas las ciudades de China. El nombre Naxi ya lo dice, Na significa sénior y honrado y Xi significa gente.

Una ciudad milenaria íntimamente ligada a la tradición Naxi, que sigue manteniendo sus costumbres ancestrales. Es hermosa por sus calles empedradas, iluminadas por farolillos chinos, el sonido del agua de sus innumerables canales ajardinados  y bellos puentecillos  que los cruzan……

In the way. Clouds over South China Sea

Clouds over South China Sea

Namibia. Wild herds of horses in the Namib Desert.

Wild herds of horses in the Namib Desert.

During the next few years, the population growth is anticipated to be slow at 5 -10 horses per years, primanly due to the current small number of breeding mares and the high mortality of foals ( approximately 40% ). This high mortality rate is due to foals geeting  left behind or lost; if long distances are covered on a regular basis. They can get over tired and weak, in which case they become a relatively easy pray for leopard, cheetah and hyena. Increased traffic has also resulted in motor vehicle accidents involving feral horse. Other mortality factors are fatal injuries, malnutrition during  excessively dry periods, and complications at foaling.

The Garup feral horse population is divided into breeding and bachelor group. A breeding group consists of one or more stallion/s  with one or more mare/s  and their offspring.

Stallions not associated with mares are referrend to as a bachelor stallions and live on their own or in temporary groups. The groups often change as stallions get injured, old or weak and  are no longer able to defend their places in a group.

The horses do not follow a specific routine in their daily activities; They eat and sleep in bouts during the day  and night, and visit the water trough at a frequency that depends primarily on the temperatura and the availability of food.

The horses main diet consists of Eragrostis nindensis, a perennial grass that grown average height of 2-5 cm in dry periods, as well as Stipagrostis species and a few shrubs. In hot weather ( above 30 degrees celsius) they drink on average every 30 hours, but in  cold temperaturas (below 22 degree celsius) they only drink on average every 72 hours. This would explain the frequent absence of horses from the trough.

Ciudad de Panama. Panama.

Ciudad de Panama la avenida Balboa junto a la linea costera de la ciudad. 

Un músico en el casco viejo de la ciudad con unas simpáticas admiradoras

Myanmar Ayeyarwady River.

Ayeyarwady River, Myanmar.