Entries from August 2006 ↓

The Mucha window in St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague

I do not know much Italian. But it is clear from the following warning about pickpockets, which we found in a Vienna hotel, that the Italian version of the message is probably more delicate than the shorter English, German, and French versions provided. If anyone can translate it to English so we can see just how different it is, I’d be grateful.

The week before last, I was at Silver Bay of Lake George in the Adirondacks, with Quakers at New York Yearly Meeting 2006.

The American Friends Service Committee were exhibiting the New York and New Jersey sections of the travelling exhibit Eyes Wide Open, which you can read about here. A pair of combat boots represents each soldier who has died in the current war in Iraq. (They have a pair of boots for every soldier from every state — labelled with name, age, hometown — but since this was a conference of local Quakers, they brought just NY and NJ).

There were also shoes to represent a small number of Iraqi victims of the war. A small percentage indeed, since there have been many more than 100,000 Iraqis who have died.

I am trying to think of the size of field that an exhibit of well over 100,000 pairs of shoes would require.

I can’t.

You can see more of my Eyes Wide Open photos here.

Apparently, they’re serious.