I mentioned that the incoming student photo series was likely coming to a close, however we recently received another set of photos – enjoy.

My name is Lisa Deng, an incoming MIA student from China. Photography, for me, is an unique experience to capture the beauty and emotions of special moments in life.

This photo was taken in Tibet (4500 meters above sea level) during  an outdoor adventure tour in 2006. This magic land is filled with beautiful snow mountains, lakes, grasslands, temples and villages that can deeply touch the purest feelings in one’s heart.

In a Maasai village in Kenya, Maasai women wear very colorful clothes with beaded necklaces made by themselves. They showed visitors the hospitality with friendly smiles. One of Maasai women’s tasks is to build their houses for the family. The traditional Maasai house (behind them) is made from mud, grass, sticks, and cow dung, etc.

Aershan is a small city located in the north of inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China. When conducting a strategic consulting project for its local government on a quiet and cold winter morning, I  was attracted by this lovely view of snow-covered European-style buildings in this city.

At this point in time this is the last submission of photos from incoming students that we have received, and Orientation starts on Monday.  Thank you to everyone that made contributions throughout the summer.  We might post some more photos in the future . . . if new students decide to set aside class and social time to submit more.

Jesse Alejandro Cottrell  MIA 2013

Photo Descriptions:

4th of July Float (Salem, NY): This picture was taken during Salem, New York’s 2011 4th of July parade. Artists in residence at Salem Art Works (SAW), the artist colony where I serve as Associate director and Development Coordinator, sit atop and stand upon a dry sauna created by Jonas Lindberg, an artist in residence at SAW. From the sidelines, parade goers gawk and demand candy.

Taken during a show by The Big Fatt at Brooklyn’s Trash Bar. I am the singer and guitar player. The unseen audience is sated by the open bar and free tater tots, which undoubtedly make our music sound better.

Iron Pour SAW 1 and 2 (Salem, NY): Pouring iron into sculptural forms is a monthly occurrence at Salem Art Works (SAW).

The artist colony where I serve as Associate Director and Development Coordinator. Iron poured at SAW reaches temperatures above 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. Artists from across the United States and Europe travel to Salem to pour iron.

It is hard to believe Orientation for new MIA and MPA students is one week away.  Enjoy some more of the photos submitted by incoming students.

Tori Fahey, incoming MIA student.

Cairo, Egypt

This was the beginning of a journey that took me 12,000kms, through ten countries, across a continent over the course of the first four months of 2011. When I look at this photo I can relive the elation and anticipation that I felt as I embarked on a journey that would open my eyes to many new people, places and ideas.

Just outside of Livingstone, Zambia

During my trip across Africa, a few of my friends rode a bit too close to an elephant at the side of the road. Sometimes adventure can present unexpected risks and you have to be ready to react.

Antelope Wells, New Mexico

This photo was taken this summer at the end of a bike trip from Canada to the Mexican border, self-supported, off-road, along the continental divide. During the voyage, I encountered long stretches of snow, narrowly averted hypothermia, crossed flooded rivers, climbed many mountain passes, ran out of food and water during a heat wave in the desert. It was strange combination of magic and misery and, by far, my proudest achievement. There are some things that are better to have done than to do. As you can see, I’m happy to be finished.

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Alex Lee – MIA

I prefer to let photos speak for themselves, so descriptions are very brief.  All photos are from 2011.

Graffiti archaeology – Taken on Lafayette Street near Grand.  Layered graffiti from multiple artists on and around the same street-side door.

Blossoms – Taken at a festival celebrating Asian culture in Washington, DC.  Hanging decorations add to the already-bright atmosphere at the lotus gardens.

Sword dancers – Taken at the same festival in DC.  Traditional Korean dance form mimicking swordplay.

We are close to winding down the incoming student photos series.  Thank you to all of those that have helped to add life to the blog over the summer!

Christian Loubeau – MIA-Economic and Political Development.

The first photo was taken in the White Desert in Egypt during the summer of 2010.  I was in the desert for an overnight camping trip and we were checking out white rock formations that resembled people and animals.  My friend took this photo of me at dusk next to a formation known as Chicken Mountain.

This photo was taken in Caracas, Venezuela when I lived there in the fall of 2007.  President Chavez spoke at this rally a few hours after the photo was taken.  At the time President Chavez was rallying his supporters to back a referendum that would, among many items, abolish presidential term limits.  I like the dignified look of hope on the woman’s face while the man stands tall contemplating what lies ahead.  There were several points of contention regarding the referendum and I think the overcast skies speak to the stormy path that lies ahead.  Although the referendum was at one point expected to pass rather easily, it was defeated about a month after this picture was taken.

This photo was taken on the Great Wall of China during the summer of 2010.  My friend and I squeezed this quick trip in on our last night in Beijing.  I didn’t have much time to visit the wall as I had to catch a flight later that night yet we managed to find a moment to clown around.  This part of the wall was on a steep incline so I was able to lean forward without any support.

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Hello, my name is Marisol Alarcón, an incoming MDP. I’m from Ecuador/Chile and had the great opportunity to work in slums from different countries in Latin America. Apart from the overwhelming poverty, I have also seen beautiful, contrasting sights and met amazing and strong people. These pictures are just a glimpse of what I have seen these past years.

Family Canaan: This family represents the many families living in Canaan, the camp city 5 miles up north from Port-au-Prince. Their smiles and bright eyes were always surprising.

13 de Julio: This boy lives in the slum 13 de Julio, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is playing naturally surrounded by trash and houses made with waste materials.  The dirt on his skin is his regular condition, not the result of one day on the play ground like it would be for most of us. This place is only minutes away from downtown Buenos Aires, one of the largest metropolitan cities in the region.

Favela Padroiera: This girl is washing the dishes after our lunch together.  She lives in the Slum Padroeira, on the outside of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The photo shows the incredible overcrowding of the favelas and the hard living conditions the families must face.

More incoming student photos today . . .

Stephanie Chang, incoming MIA Student

La Bodeguita Del Medio, Havana, Cuba – A bartender makes our mojitos, Hemmingway’s preferred drink, at this exact bar he famously frequented while living in Cuba, La Bodeguita Del Medio.  A portrait of Hemminway is on the wall behind the bartender.  This picture was taken this past March, when I was on a Spring Break trip to Cancun and we spontaneously decided to take a detour and see what Cuba actually looks like.

Blue Mountains, Sydney, Australia – This is the view from the top of The Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains of Sydney, Australia.  The Three Sisters are a set of three large rock formations.  You can’t see the rocks in this photo, but they are just to the right of me.  The hike trail involves 900 steps, leading to a river at the bottom.  The view is definitely worth the climb!

Santa Monica Pier, California – This is my favorite destination to run to when I jog around my neighborhood.  Santa Monica Pier is usually packed with tourists, but the walk and bike paths are pretty serene in the mornings.  I’ve had the luxury of traveling a lot in the past years, and for my last summer before I move to New York, I’ve tried to spend as much time as I can relishing unique aspects I love about living in Los Angeles.

Once I move to NYC I will most sorely miss the warm ocean breezes and and the ability to run freely outside in sunny weather!

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Holly Sue Hatfield, an incoming MPA-DP student.

Lindon, UT:  I work for the Princess Festival – an event that started as a fundraiser for the charity I work for, but has since become its own private business.  This is a picture from this year’s King’s Daddy-Daughter Grand Ball that we held in Lindon, UT.  The girl up front is a new princess character we created, Princess Mila, and she’s doing a storytelling  for the girls.  Between the two Kings on the stage you’ll see His Excellency Elkanah Odembo, Ambassador of Kenya to the US.  Yes, the Ambassador comes to our princess parties, and yes, we make him sit on the stage.  <grin>  The Princess Festival only has two employees, but has over 350 volunteers that put on the annual event, including a cast of over 60 fairy-tale characters, both classic and new.

Lindon, UT:  I’m the youngest of 8 kids, and I have 44 nieces and nephews; 36 of them are under the age of ten and 38 of the grandkids are girls  (ergo the creation of the Princess Festival).  It’s utter insanity.  When family gets together, though, there’s one thing we can count on – my 63 year-old dad giving his full attention to the kids.  Here he is playing volleyball with a bunch of 5 year-old girls who have no idea what volleyball is or how it is played – so they’re all standing there cluelessly.  But if you look closely, you’ll see the best part of the picture: dad’s casually wearing a headband with cat ears.  Nobody knows why.

Somewhere around Nakuru, Kenya

I’m kind of afraid of birds.  So at this rest-stop park in Kenya, my dad dared me to try and touch one of these crazy big birds.  You can see me in the red dress trying to sneak up on them; I never even get close (ha ha).  I’m sure the Kenyans in the park were as intrigued with the muzungu girl tiptoeing around as I was with the creepy birds.

The fall semester is just a few weeks away and we still have more incoming student photos coming in.  Thank you to everyone that has sent photos in and we will make sure to get them all posted in the coming weeks.

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Tory Webster – Incoming MIA student

This first picture was taken off the coast of Tyre, Lebanon. I have spent the last two years in Tyre teaching and hanging out with some incredible teenagers. Some of my favorite summer memories in Tyre include drinking tea under the stars talking about books and the future with the teenagers that I had the privilege of teaching. Life in Tyre is an exploding bomb, and the subtle sweet joy of a sunrise.  It is the tug of the sea, the overwhelming reality of how much there is to do and the inability to do much of anything, paralyzing fear and insecurity, and the desperate desire to be known, but the incredible fear of being seen.

This picture was taken in Anjar, Lebanon in its Ummayad ruins. I lead three joint history field trips (to Anjar, Tyre, and Rome, Italy) with a colleague of mine from Beirut. Lebanon is so full of history, and most of the students have no idea what it’s all about. Lebanon has a notoriously wretched history curriculum (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7988399.stm), so as a foreign history teacher, I had the privilege of expanding my students’ horizons, introducing them to people’s stories, and showing them how they’d become who they are.

This picture was taken in Petra, Jordan of two Bedouin kids. The Bedouin, like indigenous people everywhere, are located on the fringes of Lebanese society. One (only one of hundreds!!) of my students in Tyre was a Palestinian Bedouin, and consequentially he has to fight for every second of his education and future. The relationship between the past and the future is growing increasingly complicated in Middle Eastern countries, where Facebook and tradition battle for loyalty in teenagers’ daily lives. My Bedouin student lives in a traditional camp, but will daily make the trek to school where an increasingly progressive curriculum, Model United Nations, and modern literature become his world.

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My name is Annie Zhou and I am an incoming MPA student concentrating in EPD and East-Asia Studies. I moved to the U.S. from Beijing when I was young and have been living in New York for the past five years.

This is a photo of me in Nanzheng Village in the Shanxi Province of China, where I taught science and English for three weeks through an organization called the Rural China Education Foundation that helps to fund education programs, teacher training and curriculum development in rural China. I have been their Director of Development since 2008 and hope to invite many of you to attend our future events.

This was taken at the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco in a traditional djellaba. Morocco is a beautiful country that inspires me with its rich history, colors and sites. I believe the country has potential to step up their leadership in North Africa to maintain stability in the region.

This is the Sultanahmet, or commonly known as the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, a country I am fascinated with because of its history, strategic location and cultural diversity. Turkey has significant opportunity to further establish itself as a regional power through economic development and cooperation, maintaining political and national security and combating terrorism.

It is not too late to submit photos if you are an incoming student.  See this post for details.

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Name:  Nicolas Rodriquez

SIPA – MPA 2013

Dancing at Proyecto – This picture was taken at the 2009 Women’s Conference of Proyecto Pastoral, a community-based organization in the Boyle Heights-area of Los Angeles. I have had a change to work with the organization since moving to LA and the Women’s Conference is my favorite event to volunteer at.  Pictured here, La Santa Cecilia, a local band performs during a lunch break for participants.

Looking Towards Skid Row – I took this picture of a few friends as they stood on the roof of a former low-income housing hotel which is located on the edge of the Bank District in Downtown LA, next to Skid Row.   This area, recently gentrified has put a lot of pressure on the homeless Angelenos in the area, who used to rely on the old apartments and hotels of Downtown LA for shelter.

Visiting Family – My dad and I visited a family cemetery in Progreso, TX.  This plot was in my mother’s family dating from the Mid-19th Century and is adjacent to a large sugarcane field.  This area lies on the edge of a new border fence being constructed along the border with Tamaulipas, MX.

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My name is Juan Manuel Rodilla Navarro (SPAIN) and I am an incoming MIA student.

2006 Ecuador. San Antonio del Tio Cajas. Several children attending a workshop for promoting lecture in their tiny village more than 2000m high in the Andes.

2007 Algeria. Sidi el houari, Oran. Participants in a laugh dynamic inside a project of theater teacher´s formation.

2009 India. West Bengal, Kolcata. Proud child showing his self-made latrine, inside of a project of Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS).

Two more incoming students are featured today in our New Student Photo Series.

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My name is Leena Khan.  I am an incoming MPA-DP student and would like to share the following photos.

These photographs were taken in 2008 in the village of Airayan Sadat, which is located in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.  My time in Airayan Sadat gave me some exposure to the types of development challenges faced by rural villages across India and South Asia.  This experience solidified my passion for working on poverty alleviation and other development issues.

The first photograph is of the only primary school in Airayan Sadat.  There was one female teacher for this entire school and the ages of students ranged from approximately five to ten years old.  Classes were overcrowded and basic education supplies noticeably absent.   Nonetheless, the smiles and energy exuding from these children filled me both with hope.

The second photograph is of a female agricultural worker who shows me some carrots pulled fresh out of the ground.  Women play a significant role in India’s agriculture and rural development but have remained largely unaccounted for in measuring economic performance.

The third photograph shows the evening ritual of a local sheep herder leading his flock through the village.

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Serene Ghneim, incoming MPA student.

Monastery – This photo was taken in May; that’s me sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking St. George’s Monastery in Wadi Qelt (a valley in the Judean desert) in the eastern West Bank. Its origins date back to the fourth century A.D.  Today, it is active and occupied by Greek Orthodox monks.

We Will Return – This photo was just beyond a security checkpoint in the West Bank, on the outskirts of Jericho – a symbol of Palestinian hope that persists even after more than half a century of wars and “peace talks” that have produced nothing.

Lightning – A bunch of my cousins and I set a camera on a tripod and just let this photo happen as we sat on my cousin’s balcony in Nazareth, Israel, and watched the most spectacular lightning storm the region had seen in recent memory.

Today we feature more photos from incoming students.

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My name is Venetia Aranha, an incoming student to the MPA (economic and political development). I am from India and here are a few of my favourite photographs!

Last year I travelled along with a Japanese friend of mine to the town of Haridwar in Uttar Pradesh, known for its religious significance, notably the worship of the scared river Ganges (or Ganga).  Here every year, scores of faithful Hindus throng the river to offer their prayers to the Ganges- in the picture below two aged ladies light ‘diyas’ which are lit wicks in an earthen base, to float onto the river.

If you look closely enough, there is always priceless humour to be found in a little store in a tourist town in India. This picture is of the market area in Haridwar of a shop display of music and cinema CDs. At a glance, you will see only famous old Hindi singers and actors- but on the right most corner of the 4th shelf, there you’ll find none other than the epitome of English Pop- Madonna!!

This last one is taken at a popular fete or ‘Mela’ as it is called in India, known as the ‘Suraj Kund Mela’ somewhere on the outskirts of Delhi. My father used to speak to this wondrous contraption from his childhood days- a little machine that shows you pictures in succession to form a story- and sometimes its operator would even sing along to provide a background score- the perfect substitute for a television! I was surprised to find this very device at the fair, with a little boy keenly peeking into it.

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My name is Moussa Magassouba. I am an incoming MIA Student. I am sending a few of the photos that I have taken from my 2010 trip in West Africa as well as from my work places.

Description: Guinean Minister of Presidential Security

This photo was taken in 2010 during my two-week vacation period in Guinea (West Africa) at a military camp with my camera carefully concealed. The man in the center of the picture wearing traditional African voodoos is well the Minister in charge of Security of the chief of the military junta who, after a military coup on December 24, 2008, proclaimed himself  President of Guinea, a beginning of lawlessness and military burtality until democratic elections were held at the end of 2010. The man is currently under the arraignment of the Hague International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity.

Me leading by example:  I am operating a Caterpillar Bull Dozer D8 in 2008 at a gold mine in Southern California. As a Superintendent of mine operations and the Senior Engineer, my job does not stop in the office environment. When I give complex assignments in the field and operators do not seem to understand or cannot successfully execute the assignments, then I decide to lead by example. Thankfully, I know how to run most of the heavy equipment in the mining and construction industries.

Drilling and Hauling: This photo was taken in December 2010 in Pennsylvania. Operators at one of our cement quarries are seen laying out blast holes that will be drilled each one a 50-foot depth and loaded with explosives before they are fired to break the limestone, the raw material for cement fabrication. An articulated haul truck Euclid type is seen hauling limestone on a very rough terrain heading to the crushing plant.

Today we feature more pictures submitted by incoming students.

Name: Nicole Margaretten

Degree Program: MIA

Pinar Del Río Province, Western Cuba.  Two boys were playing hide and seek next to their small, neon blue farmhouse. The stoic oxen and hand painted grave reminded me of The Grapes of Wrath while the giggling children capture the heart of Cuba.

A plaza in La Habana Vieja, Old Havana – I noticed a small boy pedaling ferociously across the plaza as I stood on the balcony of an artist’s studio. Quickly jumping behind a white column I waited for the perfect moment.

The sky was drizzling over thousands of tiny statues. I had traveled from Tokyo to Kamakura to visit the Little Statues of Jizo. The statues pictured covered a large stone wall while thousands of smaller gray figurines filled the gardens and flowed into the walkways. Many were clothed to stay warm and lovingly surrounded by vibrant flowers and pinwheels. At first appearance the shrine resembles a magical garden, until one learns that Jizo is the patron boddhisatva of travelers and lost children. Each statue was placed by a mother who lost a child to miscarriage or abortion.

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Name – Jaivardhan Singh

Degree Program – MPA-DP

Location – An election rally in Madhya Pradesh, India. Description – India…. the world’s largest democracy.

Location – Bihar, India.  Description – The floods in Bihar which affected over 2.3 million people were one of the worst in Indian history. Here you can see a family which was rendered homeless by the swelling waters of the Kosi river.

Location – Satpura National Park, Madai, Madhya Pradesh, India.  Description – A group of disciplined geese in height order……

There is still plenty of time for incoming students to submit photos for posting on the blog.  See this entry for details.

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My name is Mariana Costa and I am an incoming MDP student from Peru. I wanted to share some pictures I have taken from children in Latin America and the Caribbean. I think their expressions tell much about them.

This picture was taken in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. We were doing a training on civil registration to local community leaders, and this little girl and boy were playing around.

This is in Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world (3,811 above sea level), shared between Peru and Bolivia. A local girl from Amantani Island is wearing a typical hat that symbolizes she is already over 7 years of age.

This last picture was taken in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I took it during a registration campaign we were doing in one of the shelters established in the city after the January 2010 earthquake.

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Ziqi Wang from China is an incoming MPA student.

These first two photos were taken in Hong Kong. In the the first photo, the fortune-telling people are talking with their guests.

The statues in the second photo are the typical costumes in the Peking opera. I took this photo together with my friends.

This is a photo taken in the Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong. I like the color of the sea at dusk. The buildings along the seaside give me a peaceful feeling, totaling different from the noisy atmosphere in Hong Kong.

With seven weeks until the start of classes we still have plenty of time for incoming students to submit photos for posting on the blog.  See this entry for details.

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Eric Smyth, incoming MIA student.

Jalokhel village, Kapisa province, Afghanistan

Sunrise over the Alasay valley during a joint operation with US, French, Romanian, and Afghan military and civilians. The operation improved security in several villages at the mouth of the valley and greatly improved the ability to travel safely along the main road through the province. The operation also provided an opportunity for civil affairs teams to assess the needs of the villages for future development projects.

Maktab bazaar, Kapisa province, Afghanistan

A young Afghan “reads” a local newspaper produced and distributed with assistance from the French military. While literacy is still low in the area, the newspapers are an important means of disseminating information from the local government (third after radio and word of mouth)..

Shura with the elders of Sultakhel village. This was one of the first meetings between coalition forces and elders in this remote village in eastern Kapisa province. Water and seeds for crops were the most prominent concerns of the eldars. Arbitration services and improved road access to the markets in the lower valley were also requested.

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Savanna Honerkamp-Smith, incoming MPA-DP student.

All of these photos are from my Peace Corps service in Honduras. The majority were taken at my site, a small coffee community in the mountains called Las Crucitas.

Doña Sara at her house. (note the chicks inside)

Men loading light posts on a truck for the town’s electricity project.

Boys at the plaza on their way to do errands.

The new student photo series continues to turn out great shots.  If you have sent photos, thank you and we will work on posting.  If  you have yet to send photos see this entry for details.

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Hi, my name is Nicolas Zaharya, from Argentina. I am an incoming student for the MPA-DP.

This is me, enjoying lake Nahuel-Huapi in Bariloche, an Argentina city by the Andes. The water is so clean and transparent but its also sooo cold!

Sun rise on the atlantic ocean in the city of Mar del Plata. They were building a new quay.

Children enjoying a new water conection in Lomas, a neighborhood on the suburbs of Buenos Aires, the most populated area in the country. They have been doing some impresive work extending water pipes for almost 1 million people.

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The following three shots were submitted by Debi Spindelman, an incoming MPA-DP student.

Shot with my 35mm fisheye camera in Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai on the island of Ko Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand. Longtail boats are a tourist photo staple, but the fisheye lens and some truly wild film helped capture the frenetic color of the islands in this region.

Shot with my D-SLR at Daraja Academy outside Nanyuki, Kenya. Last fall, I taught photography and creative writing to 52 young women of promise in Kenya’s first free all-girls secondary school. Part participatory research project and part creative project, I captured this shot of Form 1 students at an early-morning flag-raising ceremony as they shared a new song they had been learning. For images and words created by Daraja students through this project, check out www.OutsideTheLensatDaraja.blogspot.com.

Shot with my 35mm fisheye and waterproof housing at Pipes surf spot, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA. It’s easy to forget the glamour available domestically, and this was shot a few hundred yards from my house. I competed in surfing regularly for years, and am slowly selling off boards in anticipation of the surf-hiatus happening over the next two years.

The new student photo series continues again today.  If you have sent photos, thank you and we will work on posting.  If  you have yet to send photos see this entry for details.

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Hi, my name is Carly Roberts and I’m an incoming MPA student.

French Music Critic: I took this photo in Nice, France last summer. This little girl was fascinated by the street musicians; she alternated between looking quizzically at them and dancing to the music.

Tokyo Blur: This photo was taken in a busy train station in Tokyo, Japan. As I stood still for the long exposure, all the locals hurrying past looked at me like I was crazy!

Capital Funk: Most people are surprised when I tell them that I’m part of an award-winning hip hop dance crew! I’ve danced with Capital Funk in Washington DC for 6 years (you can look us up on youtube, we’re pretty awesome!)… that’s me to the right of center on the floor, in the yellow jacket.

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Anne Yalkabova, an incoming MIA student interested in International Security Policy, submitted the following pictures.

The photo is taken in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the ancient Basilica Cistern.

Below is the Sophia, Greek goddess of wisdom.  The photo was taken among ruins of ancient Ephesus, Turkey.

Incoming MIA student Jesse Wolfe, who plans on studying International Security Policy, sent along the following text and photos.  Enjoy.

All three photos were taken in Arghandab District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

Photo 1 (Polling Site): This was a former school being used as a polling site for the Afghan parliamentary elections in 2010. There were 12 men who showed up to cast a vote at this center on election day and 6 of those were paid election monitors.

Photo 2 (ANCOP 1): An Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) officer assisting with election security.

Photo 3 (Arghandab Malik): This is Hajji Baridad a prominent malik in a key district of Kandahar Province. He was assassinated by the Taliban recently because he had been working closely with the Afghan district governor and US forces to bring projects to his village. He had helped generate one of the first (and controversial) Afghan Local Police (ALP) forces in Arghandab with the support of US Special Forces.

Incoming MIA student Paul Hersh sent along the following photos for posting.  Enjoy.

“Vietnam – Ha Long Bay” – A lonely fisherman in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

“Syria – Aleppo – Umayyad Mosque” – Inside the Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo, Syria.

“Cambodia – Phnom Penh – Tuol Sleng” – Building A of Tuol Sleng, with large cells in which the bodies of the last victims were discovered. The photos on the wall are how the rooms were found, with the mutilated body of a prisoner chained to the bed, killed by his fleeing captors only hours before the prison was captured.  Tuol Sleng, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, was a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21) by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979.

My name is Ana Berenguer, an incoming MPA student, and I would like to share some pictures with you:

I took these two pictures in December 2010 at one of the student contests organized by the Foundation that I manage. The student with the highest score of a multiple choice exam on History represents their school in the second phase of the Spanish Heritage History Bee, consisting of an oral examination with a panel of judges responsible for asking the oral questions until a winner is selected.  We prepared amazing awards such as an airline ticket to take a class on Spanish culture in Salamanca (Spain) during the summer of 2011….You may understand now the happiness of Miranda, the winner of Elementary, and the big nervous of Santino.

This is a great phone pic of Miami way of life: my little boy at the pool the day he turned 5 months, only a few days ago.

I would say the best thing about Miami is its great location: only 2 hours and ½ flight far from great places such as Chicago, Mexico, Colombia…and 5 hours to one of my long dreamed trips: Peru. I took this picture at Matchu Pichu on November 2009, after 5 hard days of Inca Trail. Get away from my camera you curious llama!

The new student photo series continues again today.  If you have sent photos, thank you and we will work on posting.  If  you have yet to send photos see this entry for details.

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Ramón Peña-Franco (Incoming MPA)

The first picture was taken during a trip to southern Mexico in the spring of 2009, near the border with Guatemala and Belize.   This is the symbol and a small group of supporters of  the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN), a revolutionary leftist movement based in Chiapas, the southernmost State of Mexico. Since 1994, the group has been in a declared war “against the Mexican state,” though this war has lost strength through the years. Their social base is mostly rural indigenous people, like the ones shown in this photo.

I built a company along with some American businessmen that invests in agricultural projects across US-Mexico border to develop organic production and other agroindustrial activities. This photo was taken during a business trip to a Northern State in Mexico in the summer of 2010. One of our workers is driving a tractor and putting a plastic on the land where other workers would start the planting process afterwards.

In the summer of 2009 I made a trip along the Pacific coast of Michoacán, a Western State of Mexico, and I found several wild beaches that are visited by a very small group of people. I was amazed by the  beauty of the place and felt fortunate to enjoy such a wonderful scenery before it is filled with hotels and massive tourism projects.

The new student photo series continues again today.  If you have sent photos, thank you and we will work on posting.  If  you have yet to send photos see this entry for details.

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My name is Kristina Rosales, I am an incoming MIA student at SIPA. Here are some pictures from my Fulbright experience in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Picture 1 – Escadaria do Selaron in Rio de Janeiro

Picture 2 – Complexity of housing in Complexo do Alemão

Picture 3 – Complexo do Alemão (biggest agglomeration of favelas in Brazil).

The new student photo series continues again today.  If you have sent photos, thank you and we will work on posting.  If  you have yet to send photos see this entry for details.

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My name is Helene Roy, I am an incoming MIA student.  I would like to share with you some of the numerous pictures I took during a backpacking trip I did in Chile in summer 2008.

The first two pictures where taken in the Salar de Atacama, the largest salt desert in Chile, located 50 km  south of the small town of San Pedro de Atacama (Antofagasta Region).  The last picture was taken on the road to San Pedro de Atacam, in Chuquicamata, a city known for its gigantic open-pit copper mine.

Laguna Miscanti – A brackish water lake located in the high plain of the Salar de Atacama.  One of the most beautiful scenery in the area.

Chaxa Lagoon, Salar de Atacama – The Chaxa Lagoon provides habitat for various bird species, among which are those beautiful Chilean and Andean Flamingos.

Chuquicamata open pit copper mine – In the north of Chile, this copper mine is the second deepest open-pit mine in the world (after  Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah, US)