TravelStream™ news feed for member danielgallegos on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/danielgallegos en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 25 Jul 2007 01:53:35 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1185340740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1185340740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1185340740/tpod.html Wed, 25 Jul 2007 01:53:35 -0400 Central Asia, Kazakhstan

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Almaty, Kazakhstan

Salem matsyz ba,Sorry I haven't written very much on this blog.  I suppose I've moved on to greener fields.  Those green fields are my new blog along with my partners Zhanara, Aminatou, and Gaisha.  Check us out on artpologist.net for all the latest news about my adventure in Kazakhstan.  Our new project is called The Transformation of Space in Almaty.  We're doing an art project about the massive changes as a result of a major building boom in Almaty.  It's an old fashioned Urban Renewal project at the scale Robert Moses would be proud of.  We at artpologist are engaging in a multi-media art project that fuses anthropology and art to understand the daily life of people during an interesting period of time here in Almaty. Through this project we are trying to gain a better understanding of how lives are affected by changes to a city during urban redevelopment.The Artpologist will show us life here in Almaty at a more micro level. The view of the daily life is something very difficult to achieve through normal mass-media.  We aim to gain a better understanding of the peoples daily lives and practices in an artful way. We hope that it achieves a greater understanding of the local culture and general awareness of the landscape and city. So, let me know what you guys think of the new blog.  Please, please, please send us a comment on our new site.  I don't want to feel like I'm writing and sending these blogs into outer space. Help me out, send this link to a friend or two. When clicking on artpologist.net scroll down to see the latest entries.  You will see images and writing in English, French, and Russian.  We're trying to make this project accessible to foreigners and locals. There are many multi-media features to the blog. Take the time to navigate around and find short video, sounds, photos, along with writings about our daily experiences here in Almaty. Wish us luck, after our exhibit in August here in Almaty we will go to Paris, France, and Berkeley, California  next year(2008) to exhibit our Artpologist project.Daniel
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1178819880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1178819880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1178819880/tpod.html Thu, 10 May 2007 14:31:49 -0400 Central Asia, Kazakhstan

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Almaty, Kazakhstan

Privet everyone!I'm back from France and I'm glad to be back in Almaty.  The weather is great here.  I got a bicycle!!! I will send you some photos when I have a chance. It's an old Soviet road racing bike.  It's fantastic!For those of you who don't know, I am writing for kazakhstan.neweurasia.net.  So look for me on their Kazakhstan blog. I'm writing about the arts here in Almaty and wherever I go in Kazakhstan.  I have an exhibit coming up in August. I'll let you know more about this as it develops.  This project should take up the whole summer.  Danielin
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1176131700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1176131700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1176131700/tpod.html Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:37:21 -0400 Central Asia, Kazakhstan

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Paris, France

For the last few weeks Zhanara and I have been in Paris. For the first week, we stayed with our friend Aminatou who is from Paris. It is so nice to stay with someone you know here. The opportunity to stay with someone from Paris has given us so much deep insight on this city. The second week we went to stay in an apartment we rented in the Latin Quarter. During this week my parents came to stay with us. We found a good deal in a place close to the Seine River, and Notre Dame so my parents could easily walk to these places. My parents had a great time. They saw the things we Californians have perhaps only seen too many times on the television. So, they had a great time getting a chance to see Paris. Unfortunately, I think their time was too short here. My father vowed that they would make a return to Paris at a later date remarking that he had not seen enough or drank enough good wine. My mother didn't get a chance to find any antiques to take home so I'm sure she has incentive to return as well. We've been really getting some great opportunities to see some of the less touristic stuff as well. After my parents left, we returned to Aminatou's apartment. Afterwards, we went to the suburbs of Paris and had dinner with our friends Delphine and André. They have a wonderful apartment in a beautiful garden apartment complex. We also got a chance to see Andre's photos. He is taking pictures of the neighborhood architecture on the periphery of the city. He is taking some remarkable photos of places that are not what you would typically imagine Paris to look like. Much of his work is of the newer architecture here. His work is fantastic! I will try and post some of his work online or perhaps post a link to his work. Delphine, has a puppetry/marionette work studio in their apartment that was also really interesting. She gave us a performance after dinner that was really fantastic. She showed us how the puppets were made and explained to us all about her experiences with doing this unique form of performance art.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1174155120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1174155120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1174155120/tpod.html Sat, 17 Mar 2007 14:30:19 -0400 Central Asia, Kazakhstan

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Almaty, Kazakhstan

On my playlist:"KC Blues"- byCharlie ParkerHello everyone,Sorry I haven't written any time sooner. I've been kind of busy with the every day stuff in life. Zhanara and I had some friends over the last couple weeks. Zhanara's old house mate and classmate at Stanford Tania, came from Pakistan. She is doing her fieldwork there. Nick and Tania made our apartment their midyear meeting point. He flew in from Canada via Marseille where he was attending a math conference. During this same week, my friend and old coworker from Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Christa came to Kazakhstan. She was here with a group of around 15 students from Columbia University studying the architecture of Astana and Almaty. She was in town for around 4 days. Christa ditched her group to hang out with us locals. I'm sure her classmates were pretty impressed that she had some friends in the middle of Central Asia. So, I gave her the grand tour of our lovely town. She was really amazed by the architecture! I was so glad to have her visit to see how beautiful this city is. We went on walking tours taking pictures. I think she had a great time. We went out to clubs and parties and dinners. We met with all sorts of different friends who I think really got along with her. I think we had a great couple of weeks spending time with our friends here. Perhaps it wasn't enough time for them? I think they really didn't know what to expect about this place. But, all of them vowed to return to Almaty.A little glitch happened with Tania and Nick's time here. When she arrived she got sick. She thinks it was the water she drank out of the fountain in the Dubai airport on her way to Kazakhstan. The bacteria here isn't too bad. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the water here. Although to be safe I wouldn't really recommend ever drinking out of the tap unless you boil it. We sent her to the hospital. It was the infectious diseases hospital. Well to make a long story short, she was fine after 24 hours. Hence, we believe it was merely a 24 hour stomach flu(food poisoning). The problem is, it was difficult to get her out of the hospital. The doctors around here weren't willing to release someone who came from Pakistan via Dubai. It took us 4 days to get her out of the hospital! Finally, after nagging the nurses and doctors constantly they agreed with signing a release that they weren't responsible when they let her out. Afterwards, we made up for all of this hassle, by just giving the deserved time Nick and Tania needed together. So, the lesson here is watch out for these hospitals. They are not drop in clinics. They take medicine here very seriously. If you go to the hospital by all means, make sure you're willing to spend the time it takes for a full recovery in there. This doesn't mean that you should ever endanger your life by avoiding hospitals. Just make sure that if you're sick and you go to the hospital, to remember the doctors here are very formal and they may want to make sure you're completely well before they let you out. How is everyone? I'm sure life is moving along well for all of you. Send me an e-mail. I love hearing from all of you who write back. I know everyone isn't computer savvy and big on writing long letters. It's ok. I don't judge you all on your lack of responses. I just want to hear what is going on in your lives. Send me photos of your new hair do's and latest major purchases for me to scrutinize. As for art here in Almaty. I do have some work in The Tengri Umai Gallery. They're working on reopening their space. They have 3 of my works. I posted some of the new stuff on Charles Saatchi's "Your Gallery" site. Feel free to let me know what you all think. I encourage criticism and praise. The comments help me out.Oh, Zhanara and I are on our way to Paris in a couple of weeks. First, we're going to Taraz to visit her parents and to get a tasty plate of Shashlyk. Then, we're off to Paris for 3 weeks. Our friend Aminatou will host us for two weeks in Paris, She recommends we stay in her cottage a few days in Normandy. My parents are going to meet us in Paris for a week. It will be my parents first time in Paris!! The apartment is in the 5th arrondissement. We plan on doing some home cooking with a few visits to the market to catch up with my mom and dad over dinner. We have a nice list of places that people have recommended. We have some friends who live in Paris, so we're looking forward to hanging out with them as well. Most of all, it will be important for Zhanara to spend some time away from Kazakhstan to give her a little perspective on her work. A much needed vacation from her fieldwork is due to her. Things get pretty intense here in Almaty, so we're looking forward to a little down time in the "City Of Lights".Daniel
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1173679680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1173679680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1173679680/tpod.html Mon, 12 Mar 2007 01:10:53 -0400 Central Asia, Kazakhstan

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Almaty, Kazakhstan

I'm now on Charle's Saatchi's web site if anyone is interested in checking out my work.here is the link:http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile/ /29192.html
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1172634960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1172634960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1172634960/tpod.html Tue, 27 Feb 2007 23:09:30 -0500 Central Asia, Kazakhstan

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Almaty, Kazakhstan

Here are some more pictures. I hope you all enjoy them!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1172633940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1172633940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1172633940/tpod.html Tue, 27 Feb 2007 22:54:46 -0500 Central Asia, Kazakhstan

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Almaty, Kazakhstan

It's always a real pleasure to meet smart and worldly people who love to sit and chat around the table for hours with a never ending Chainik(tea pot) of hot black tea. The family of Galim Madanov invited us to their house a few weeks ago to discuss art politics and their experiences of showing his work around the world. It was interesting to hear their opinions on contemporary art. It's always so fascinating to see how people live in their apartments. So, getting to see the art studio of one of the most well known artists here in Almaty was a great pleasure. We really got to see some nice work. At the end of our night we couldn't help but feel so inspired and impressed by the Madanovs' kindness and strong family spirit.I've posted some of Galim's work. Let me know if you'd like to see some more. I took quite a few pictures. On another note, a book was loaned to me by the director of the Almaty Soros Center For Contemporary Arts. It's a book on architecture of Central Asia. It's a German publication, so all of it is written in German and Russian. The book focuses on Soviet modern architecture in Central Asia. The photos are fantastic! The book is something I really recommend if anyone is interested in seeing what Central Asia looks like. The name of the book is "Asthetik der Leere"-Moderne Architektur in Zentralasien. The author of the book is Philipp Meuser(Hg.). For you savvy book seekers, the ISBN code is 3-935455-13-5. The print date is 2002. The book is worth it just for the lovely photos of the Tashkent Metro System! There is an interview with Kisho Kurokawa a Japanese architect that has done a lot of the newest grand scale architecture in Kazakhstan. Also included in the book, are works by the artist, Galim Madanov. He has some nice contemporary art that is inspired by Central Asian modern architecture.Daniel
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1170876240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1170876240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1170876240/tpod.html Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:43:44 -0500 Central Asia, Kazakhstan

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Almaty, Kazakhstan

Hello all,Over the next half a year many friends will be making their way out to Kazakhstan. I figured I better get busy with posting some photos that will get them excited about this place. Almaty is a city with over a million people. But, unlike most large cities in the west there is very little suburban sprawl. The photos are of a forest that is located around 15 minutes by car from my apartment.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1170651060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1170651060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1170651060/tpod.html Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:02:18 -0500 Central Asia, Kazakhstan

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Almaty, Kazakhstan

Hello everyone,Daniel here,I haven't been to Paris in 4 years, and Zhanara has never been. So, does anyone have advice?I was just wondering if anyone had any idea about places to stay in Paris, France. Zhanara and I are going to meet my parents in Paris for the month of April. We were interested in staying in a 1 or two bedroom apartment for 6 days with my parents. We would like to do some cooking and catching up with my parents, so an apartment would be best. But, if anyone has any other ideas on places to stay like a good hotel or inn we would be glad to hear about it. If anyone knows of a good restaurant to go to, a great cafe(I know they are on every corner). If there is anything that I shouldn't miss out on, send an e-mail my way.Thank you all and I'm looking forward to the great advice.Daniel
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1170517740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1170517740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danielgallegos/yurta2006/1170517740/tpod.html Sat, 03 Feb 2007 11:02:34 -0500 Central Asia, Kazakhstan

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Almaty, Kazakhstan

Here are some more photos of the day with Vadim.
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