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This post is really just for my real life friends: I have a question for you

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Before I forget my question, let me begin with it:

Do you think that it would be a good idea to create 2 different sized calendars with my photography from around the world (or only from my time in California?)? Would you think about owning such a calendar to hang in your kitchen or office or to gift to somebody  at the next celebration worthy occasion? Your feedback here would be incredibly valuable. If you are a real life friend you could maybe throw a glance at my personal Facebook page to check my recent photographs for the once that I only post there and not here.

Please take a moment to help me plan this project. I’ll give you real life hugs and cups of delicious green tea or coffee in exchange when we next meet. Much love. x

But now to my letter for you guys:

Hello, 

I am sorry I am not doing great at keeping in touch with everybody, this nomadic life can be quite consuming and sometimes not all that much newsworthy happens. But in terms of updates I can report the following:

So far we have lived in San Francisco for 2 months, rented a garden cottage (aka a hobbit home) for another 9 weeks so far with just a little over a week to go before we will move yet again. On October 15th we will move back to San Francisco into another housesitting opportunity on top of Bernal Heights.

For the many who don’t know what Bernal Heights is: It is a neighbourhood at the edge of San Francisco, but central enough to make it possible to visit downtown San Francisco by bus and bicycle.

For a woman who travels often and has now lived on 3 continents (because Morocco technically still sits on the continent of Europe and not Africa, despite it being joined to the landmass of Africa much more immediately than it appear to be a part of Europe), for a woman who has now visited so many countries that it would take a few minutes to make sure I am not missing one in the counting.. For such a woman you would think that I was incredibly adaptable to new places. And yes, I am.. well.. apparently America and I don’t bond so well.

I can’t explain why each time that I am here I seem to be like oil on water, every usually simple activity or life solution becomes so insurmountable that a problem or life-hurdle will take me many times longer than anywhere else in the world to solve. I feel like I am truly a stranger here more so than anywhere.

Naturally wherever else I went I tended to arrive with a financial buffer, while my time in America is increasingly experienced through the interface of a relatively poor existence, with the accompanying concerns for dental health, for health in general, for basic surviving things.. Not trendy to speak about but very real concerns.

All of this in itself would not be so bad if it wasn’t for also leaning towards introversion.

Also we truly have had a lifetime’s worth of curious experiences here that feel like America would like to push us out if only it could. Despite all that: we are staying for many very good reasons; well, we are staying for a while longer.

I am in the process of signing up to become a language teacher through a website that matches teachers and students and it may be time to brush up again on my native German to impress some future students with. (My method is simple: indulge in many kilograms of German literature and many hours of German multimedia material: movies, documentaries, news shows and such)

I am hoping that taking on more digital based work will help create some more stability in my life where personal life and global events have created a lot of instability. As things stand it would be an incredible change of fortunes to just have an additional regular $500 a month pour into my life.

So the plan is to return to more teaching work, in person and online, languages as well as Art and yoga; to also develop my travel related photography and begin to dip my toe into selling some, which is why I thought calendars might be a great way to get started. I am not expecting a lot of financial gain from the first year’s calendars. Production costs are always high and I imagine I may make around $5 per calendar after print costs. But wouldn’t it be great to have my work hanging on a wall in your life for not-art-price-costs?

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From now I also net to set clearer boundaries about the kind of space that I need to flourish and not allow us getting stuck in tiny spaces anymore. Our current place is adorable, but not really suitable for me typing this long letter to you at 1am, which it is now. Jason is tossing and turning and deserves his rest as he is currently the main breadwinner. But my letter writing mind doesn’t truly come alive until the ghosting hour.

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You know that we are currently living in the smallest space, right? It is barely the dimensions of one of those (now on trend) Tiny Homes. And I can report those dimensions are not workable for 2 grown adults with very different sleeping habits. For a while, I too was fascinated by this Tiny Home phenomenon, but it truly is madness. If one has a choice, then one needs a room of one’s own.

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Where does all this leave us now?

Well here you have it, an unfinished, work-in-progress letter to you.

I would love it to hear, read, watch a video from you, too. If you are less camera shy than I then maybe you can make me a youtube video! I would love that.

With love, and wish you were here (but not exactly here because we simply haven’t got the space..),

Birgit. x

 

 

 

The incredible firemen & women of San Francisco !

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It feels like it is already such a long time ago in the past that this tragic car accident happened right in the same neighbourhood where Jason and I stayed in San Francisco.
But actually I took these photographs only 3 months ago. I moved around respectfully not obstructing the paths for the firemen and this one smiled at me as he came closer and passed me. I congratulated him on his incredible work and dedication to keeping San Francisco safe from fire as best as possible.
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It seemed amazing to me just how incredibly fast these men and women arrived at the scene, how smooth the operations were carried out and how they saved the neighbourhood from the extended damage it could have sustained from a fire had it been allowed to spread.
What happened? The last I heard was that an elderly man lost control of his car. There had been many rumours spread across the web at first, with many spiteful, mean comments saying a person driving so recklessly deserved this fate. How horrible to think about the world this way.
In the end it was much more a case of it being a tragedy with little sense, the driver lost his life, the firemen said that with greatest likelihood the time of passing was at impact.
Some South American workers even tried to pull the person from their car but just couldn’t do it in time before it exploded.
It was such a sad event but it gave me an incredible trust and confidence in the fire services of San Francisco. I navigate the city feeling much safer, feeling that if anything would happen then at least I could completely count on the firemen & women to arrive at the scene so fast that it might be fast enough.
These are really important comforts for me to feel here, where I still experience the world as wild and scary.
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Photographing in San Francisco

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I’ve gone out photographing in San Francisco and especially China Town last weekend, when I was able to escape to the city! Hopefully it will now be a weekly opportunity to spend some time in this beautiful place, with the dirtiest streets and saddest stories that I have ever seen.

So much neglect, so much wealth, such a strange city. So harsh and so addictive. Opportunity is always only inches away but if one grasps and doesn’t reach it, then one could fall far, as there are no security nets. I purposely avoided photographing the people and their fates whom I am referring to. A lot of tragedy is present.

But in these photographs San Francisco shines.

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This, too is San Francisco. Photographed from atop Stockton Street Tunnel. There is more to this city than the Painted Ladies and the Golden Gate Bridge. View of the busy street before the city woke from it’s slumber last Saturday morning.

Below I enter China Town

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Early morning exploring of the neighbourhood in China Town, before the tourists got out of bed, still seeing sleepy locals out for their morning walks, hearing buddhist chanting faintly waft through the air from a nearby Temple on a second story of a building, hidden somewhat from passing strangers. It seemed that nobody else noticed the sweet sounds, as I stood with one ear perched upwards to catch just a little more of it..

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Eastern Bakery seems to be a neighbourhood institution. I will ask if their sweets are vegetarian the next time I pass by. I would love to try a snack. But I also know that Chinese baking is prone to using animal fats and I of course want to avoid that, being vegetarian.

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Chasing Dragon Murals in Chinatown, San Francisco

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Finding dragons in China Town is really not difficult..

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Out of the frame of this photograph, to the right is a phoenix. I wonder what the story is, why the lady turns away from the phoenix. Maybe something in her past, maybe something in her present that she does not want to be tangled up with. But it looks like the flames of the fire that engulf the phoenix have caught up with the lady already. There seems no escape. I shall as the resident neighbours when I next pass through. (I am hoping to visit China Town again this coming Saturday)

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Just off to the side of a building, along the main thoroughfare of China Town is this glowing mural of a Buddha. In his heart he carries San Francisco.

As I leave China Town:

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Last but not least, this view of San Francisco. Perhaps one of my favourite. It seems to glisten, like as if reflecting the light from a pool of rippled water.. Can you see what I mean?

I saw so many more things, and took many more photographs but as I am writing this and editing these images it is nearing midnight and it is time to close the computer and get ready for sleep.

Driving around the neighbourhood:

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Just sharing a couple of neighbourhood pictures with you so you can get an idea of what it looks like in this part of California. Depending on the neighbourhood the streets are really as wide as you would imagine them, and in some places a saturday afternoon traffic looks like these 2 images. But it really does depend which direction and area you visit. Only a few miles from this spot it is nearly impossible to find a parking spot.

These 2 photographs are taken in Richmond, California. A relatively industrial and often low income area. Some parts of Richmond are very high in crime, while other parts (including where we are currently staying) are pleasant, green and very liveable.

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‘Kars for Kids’ – that only began making sense once I also read the smaller caption text at the top of the billboard.

 

 

From trying out life in America: Finally found a dentist .. What a relief!

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report:
Reasonably positive experience. Good welcome by reception, the dentist is definitely friendly and gentle (! yay!) and I’d be very happy to share coffee some time. bonus points: she likes popcorn, too.
 
I’m on the fence about:
1) the office set-up – there was no spitting sink with running water: only a suction device in my mouth..
2) the follow up: I should have received an email with my x-rays.. I haven’t yet.
 
Would I go back?:
YES if I had an urgent issue, but if I could I would prefer my UK dentist, simply because of cost and 18-20 years of trust.
 
Recommended?:
I don’t know how other dentists in the area are, so if you need one then I would say YES. If you can have other options in Europe with your usual dentist or you need a lot of work done then I’d say: wait and go in Europe.
The total cost for entire procedure required (I only took the emergency portion and will complete in the UK):
US: $1800
vs
UK: $600 max (likely my cost will actually only be $50, due to low income)
vs
Germany: $0
 
What I did pay for the emergency portion: $215
What I would pay in the UK: $50 contribution for the first visit then: free treatment
 
What I got: one tooth looked at and emergency work done
What I would get in the UK for the $50: all teeth examined and all teeth needing attention worked on.
 
verdict:
US passes, UK wins, Germany wins even more.
 
p.s.
I have attended dentists in Germany, the UK and India and this was the first time I was very confused by the absence of the spitting sink with running water, or sat on a chair that didn’t fit into Star Wars. It all felt like 1970’s. Not that it is a bad thing, but it is a little unusual.. Add to this that the cost is so much higher I am simply mildly confused.

another chapter of trying to figure out how life in California works.. today I tried buying a bagel…

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“Hello. Can I have a sesame bagel with jam please”
“$4.22”
“gosh!” (but I pay anyway)
…. waits 20 minutes….
“here’s your bagel”
“hang on, there is no jam, I didn’t want butter”
“it’s not butter”
“well, I would like jam”
“it is cream cheese”
“no thanks, can I have jam please as requested when I arrived and paid?”
“we are out of jam” “there is no jam” “no, absolutely no jam”
“oh…”
other member of staff intervenes: “we have jam”
6 minutes later:
“here’s your bagel”
“thanks”
….
spreading the miraculously appeared jam on the bagel.. hmmm… it smells strange for a sesame bagel.. hang on … Oh I give up!
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“excuse me, I would like a refund, this is an onion bagel with jam, not a sesame bagel with jam…”
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get’s refund, leaves the cafe still exceptionally hungry and wondering why a bagel that can never be the actual bagel one asked for costs $4.22 when service clearly is sleepwalking with reluctance..

Exploring an idea for a photo session

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Jason Mysore

One afternoon I managed to persuade my partner in this intercontinental love affair, to cover himself with a paste made from Thanaka powder to take some yoga photographs… It was a fun session, but what absolutely didn’t work was to apply an ‘effect’ as a neat idea with nothing more than the effect in mind. I couldn’t tell you ‘why’ this seemed like a good idea. But it did yield something a little different. But is that enough? Maybe..

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What is thanaka ? It is a powder made from grinding the rind of a specific tree (than aka tree?). It is applied to protect against the sun, a natural sunscreen. This is what I understand. There may be more to it than this little soundbite of mine.

I needed some inspiration for my time here in San Francisco … sharing what I found with you

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I found this little summary of places and interviews on the New York Times Vlog

but perhaps my favourite discovery yesterday the photographer Noel Morata’s website, as it proved to be a treasure trove of ideas and inspirations. I love the understated feel of it, this is not a place for being ultra flashy and showy but there are so many pages to discover that I am having a hard time getting anything done as I leaf through and take his work in.

http://travelphotodiscovery.com/san-francisco-views-to-die-for/

 

Big Sur Roadtrip

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The effects of a wildfire most likely caused by an illegal campfire that was poorly extinguished.
These photographs are from our drive back to Carmel, near the Highway 1 which I just see now in the news is closed due to the Soberanes Fire which has been raging for about 2 weeks now. It had just started when we visited Big Sur for my birthday. Just think of the incredible loss of habitat for wildlife, the many people who lost their homes to the fires the irreplaceable damages caused.
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Have you ever seen the sun look so red (as in the last picture) ?
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Sorry that I have been so uninspired lately to write properly, to add words to my experiences here in California. Sometimes it is easier to just observe and read.. I realise that this is really poor performance.

 

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