Category Archives: Culture

Balinese dance is an integral part of life on this tiny Indonesian island. Bali has a richness of unique culture that is immediately apparent to its many tourist-visitors. The productiveness of its lush, terraced rice fields and its relatively equitable division of food and labour have allowed the people time to develop and expand their […]

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How can one talk about “the people” or “the culture” of Papua New Guinea?  Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world. Comprising the eastern half of the world’s second-largest island, it is home to hundreds of different ethnic groups and 852 known languages. And, who knows how many pockets […]

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Family. A word that entered into English in the early 1400s, meaning “servants of a household,” from the Latin familia “family servants, domestics collectively, the servants in a household.”  The original definition includes the estate, the property; the staff, and any relatives. How things change! When I was growing up, “family” generally meant a nuclear family of two […]

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It is dark inside a wattle and daub Himba wattle and daub hut. As well as being dark, the huts are likely to be noisy with chatter, packed with bodies, and smoky from the fireplace, pipe tobacco, and incense. The huts are built from mopane wood – a local termite-resistant hardwood – plastered with a mixture of clay and animal dung. […]

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Some days feel dark. Very dark. It is a truism that the best way to combat darkness is to shine a lamp or light a candle. Loi Krathong  (ลอยกระทง) is Thailand’s own festival of lights. On the evening of the twelfth full-moon of the traditional Thai lunar calendar, Thais – and lucky visitors – congregate around a body […]

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