Imagine Living In Tunisia In A Fifteenth Century Adobe Ghorfa At The Ksar Outed Soltane...

Imagine if you will, living in a fifteenth century adobe Ghorfa which was a purpose built grainary with hundreds of rooms or Shorfas for the nomadic families of the area to store their grain.
This marvelous fortified adobe structure built by the Berbers, the Ksar Outed Soltane is situated about twenty kilometers south of what is now the city of Tataourine in southern Tunisia.
It's now a tourist destination but was used as recently as the 1960's for its original purpose.
On Friday afternoons the courtyard functioned as a meeting place for the local community most of whom spent much of the year in the pastures with their goats, sheep and camels.
Like other North African Berber communities, the granaries were often built on a hilltop to help protect it from raiding parties intent on stealing the villages food supply.
But imagine living there today...

The Nomads Of Mongolia...

The lives of the Nomads of Mongolia making their homes in the harsh environment of the Gobi Desert have never been easy.
But there would be many in our so called civilized societies trying to make their way with weighty mortgages around their necks who would give it all away for the seemingly simple life of these desert dwellers.
They may not have much in the way of possessions but they possess a closeness of family that many would envy...

The Caves Of Sacromonte. One Of Spain's Historic Gypsy Cave Dwelling Areas...

It is said that Flaminco was born in the Caves of Sacromonte, the gypsy neighbourhood in Spain's city of Granada.
Some say Flaminco was born of Islamic chants, others Byznatine melodies, yet others with the Gypsies of India.
It doesn't really matter but if you find yourself in the vicinity of any of the cave dwelling areas of southern Spain, spend some time there.
The province of Granada has about twelve thousand caves on their mountains in an area UNESCO have listed as a world heritage site.
These days, many of the simple and inexpensive homes of the Roma that have been in existence for a thousand years are now homes to squatters, artists, jewellers, bohemians, musicians, who peddle their wares at the local plazas. Of course the authorities want to get rid of them and sometimes they do but they often turn a blind eye to the situation too.
The living conditions of these tiny homes are at best, basic. Some get their electricity from local power lines, some have solar and plumbing and toilets are often shared by many.
But everyone's happy. I would be too.
And then there's the views...

Signs Of The Times By Photographer Andres Serrano...

Andres Serrano is a New York born artist and photographer, well known for his provocative and often controversial works that combine beauty and vulgarity.
In October 2013, after becoming very aware of the large number of people begging on the streets of his New York, Andres conceived of a project to collect some of the signs of the homeless and rejected and use the signs to effect some changes.
He purchased around two hundred of the signs usually for around $20 each and his benevolence became a hot topic of gossip on the streets with the needy unable to believe their luck when Andres found them and offered to buy their signs.
This is another wonderful story of humanity on the streets and there's more about it here...