Citizen Reporter

Gothenburg Fate

I came to Sweden with a very simple and what may seem to be a very harmless goal – to spend time with 2 of my best friends. Even though I may have other projects to spent my time worrying about, the previous project to keep on re-evaluating, and daily activities back home on which to focus my energy. Somehow it seemed only natural to put it all aside and come spend 4 days in a city I know little about and help support a friend speaking at a Swedish media event.

Here at the end of my journey I now see this journey as having had a much higher purpose. Through a series of coincidences and good conversations this became a trip that both inspired and educated me through the experiences of old and new friends. You can’t help but learn something when for several nights in a row you sit down for dinner and drinks with critical, creative, and experienced minds.

As I sat at dinner tonight polishing off some special Swedish dish, I couldn’t help but smile at the conversation going around from person to person at this table. It was better than most university classes I’ve ever experienced and just as exciting as any podcast discussion I’ve ever listened to with great interest. As we looked at the world of successes, failures, possibilities, and ideas, I realized I didn’t just come to Gothenburg to hang around. I came to this place to meet up with this group of friends and colleagues, to help organize my thoughts in order to be ready for my next challenges.

Thank you friends. And thanks Gothenburg.

Tahrir Square, The Encore

At this point you may think to yourself “Is Mark still talking about Egypt more than 2 months since returning home?” The answer is yes. Proudly.

As I have now published all the interviews I have to share with you from the journey, I realized there was still audio that I had never put together and released to the public – the audio from Tahrir Square, as Chris and I, together with inspiring friends and people who just came right up to us, speak about what was going on around us. It was, and remains, a unique moment in my life and clearly from listening to people, an unforgettable moment in their lives as well. Part of a long struggle where there are beautiful and terrible days. This one, I believe, was a beautiful one. Take a listen, one last podcast from the Arab Artists in a Revolution series, one last chance to be transported back to a time and a place that captured the imagination of the entire world. Special thanks to the dear friends who every time we came to the square, stuck with us made us feel at home.

The Difficult Part, After the Journey

Over the past 10+ years of traveling and creating media based on those journeys, I’ve discovered that the hardest part is not the journey itself, but what happens after. After all the excitement and the learning, most journeys end. And most times, it feels good to come home, examine what has been done, and reflect on that. This is especially true if you live in a community, as I do, where people love to discuss and reflect right along with you.

The trouble comes with that age old insensitive question – what next? What more will you do with what you have learned? What’s your next move? Will it be as interesting or exciting as this latest journey? Can’t you go back and build on the first journey?

Pondering the Pyramids of Giza. November 2012

Sometimes the answers fall into my lap. An invitation, inspiration or an idea that pull me like a magnet in whatever direction seems to be a good fit. Sometimes, however, the answer doesn’t come easy.

Budgets dry up. Invitations expire. Ideas get lost among other ideas. Even the belief in my own self and ability will waver at times. It may all be a natural progression when you’re following a personal mission that is so different from what we normally think of as “work” or “career”.

Thankfully whenever the question of “what’s next” has come up in the past, the answer never took long to appear. The answer sometimes comes from within, but more often comes with the help of good people in my life who understand what this is that I am dedicated to and sometimes see things that in the moment, I am not able to see.

This month will mark the end of the Arab Artists series here on my website. A five week journey that was so rich in learning and communication, it produced more than 3 months of content. Making it the longest series I have ever done for the podcast. A series I hope one day will have a part II. But for now, I’m thankful to have had a part I and that many of you have made the trip with me and enjoyed what came out of it. I honestly wish more people would give it a listen, I think there is an education in there that you can hardly get anywhere else. But hey, as my Egyptian and Lebanese friends would say (in different pronunciations): “khalas (????), you did your best.”

Now for what comes next….

Boutros Boutros-Ghali: Population Explosion and Water in Egypt

As part of the Arab Artists in a Revolution series, during our three weeks in Cairo, we had the pleasure of meeting up with the former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. He may not be an artist but at 90 years of age, he is an extremely experienced observer of Egypt and the world, who is passionate about humanity and its problems. In this interview we meet in his living room over looking the Nile, the river that is “like a god” to him and who’s present and future crisis he see’s as 100% tied to that of Egypt.

On the occasion of his 90th Birthday, Dr. Boutros and I in Cairo. November 2012.

Unlike previous interviews in this series, you may find (as we did) that this one does not go smoothly. Dr. Boutros doesn’t always like the kind of questions where you have to use your imagination, the “Academic questions” as he calls them, “that help fill pages of the newspaper”. Yet despite his frustration with the media, he lays out the state of Egypt on the global scale; what is happening, why it is happening, and the key questions that people inside and outside the country should be – but are not- asking.

Growing Up Palestinian in Lebanon

The name Tyre was one I remembered best from the days of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006 when the city was bombed and that standard war-map would appear on news reports. While in country this past December, when I was offered a chance to go down there and speak with someone who lived in a refugee camp- I immediately said yes. But what I didn’t realize until I got there, was just how many people not only live in the camps, but were born and have lived their entire lives there. In a situation that has existed since 1948, there are stories that would be hard for some people to believe and too much for others to think about.
This podcast features a conversation we had with a young artist by the name of Ashraf. After taking us to see the city and some of its amazing history, he sat down with us to answer our questions about his life, the situation for residents of the camp, and what the prospects are for people who have been referred to and treated as non-citizen “guests” for over 60 years.

Family That Doesn’t Recognize One Another

In the conclusion of our last major podcast of the Arab Artists Series on Radio Open Source, I told my podcasting partner Chris Lydon that throughout our experience in North Africa, including in Egypt, I felt like I was amongst family. That statement was no exaggeration or attempt to prove to the world that I was comfortable in a place that is now so notorious for its difficulties; that was a statement directly from my heart. It is also a statement that historically makes sense, as my heritage – Portuguese – is part of the larger story of the Mediterranean, where people, goods and culture have been circulating for over 2,000 years.

It is amazing to me, to recognize so many commonalities: in language, expressions, traditions, food, work, and attitudes that Portugal shares with Tunisia, or that Egypt shares with Portugal. Though any student of history would laugh knowing full well that the story of this region has, at different periods, tied these cultures together in one way or another.

That is until this present era. The era of intolerance, apathy, and the sadly misguided belief that people around the world, especially those originating from the Mediterranean, share nothing in common with the people in Egypt. Lets set aside the shared desire for democracy and justice that is almost universal on this planet. (though that alone should be enough) Consider that many people on the modern day Iberian peninsula, in southern France, and Italy in general, may actually look at the media and see the struggle taking place in Cairo and Tunis, and conclude that they have no connection to these people or their issues. Then consider again the amount of Americans, Canadians, decedents of immigrants now living throughout the globe, who’s ancestors came from this very region, yet today look and claim see no reason to care and no connection to that place and its people.

Somewhere, somehow, a mix of time, poor education, cowardice, and perhaps affluence, led people who surely believe themselves to be honest and good to the conclusion that whats going on over there has nothing to do with them. They replaced what are very real and incredible connections from perhaps not all that long ago, with the story that they are a different people, who don’t think the same way or want the same things.

Me, I know what I know and I know what I felt. A feeling that grew stronger everyday based on big and small conversations, gestures, and actions I will tell stories of for the rest of my life. A feeling that when I open a book and read the rich history of this region, is confirmed: I felt like I was amongst family, because when it comes to culture, history, and -yes- basic life wishes, I was among family. And if you really look at the history of this planet, there’s a good chance you’d notice that same connection.