Anthrow Circus

Visite des balcons d’en face

(Tour of the Balconies across the Street)

PHOTOS AND TEXT BY KAMI L. RICE

After months away, our editor Kami Rice has returned to her apartment in southwestern France. She’s been busy rediscovering her town, seeing things afresh after a long absence.

Finding Interior Inspiration in Morocco

STORY BY DONNA FORD AND PHOTOS BY JOHN FORD

When traveling, Culture Keeper contributor Donna Ford discovers plenty of inspiration for her home’s interior. Here, she shares with us some of the style ideas she picked up as souvenirs in Morocco that are years later still showing up in her home design. From the decor of a luxury hotel to the energy of the medina, inspiration abounded during this North African getaway with her husband.

MicroView: Lesbos, Greece

STORY AND PHOTOS BY JAMES CHARLES

In this series, we offer you a little window onto life in one corner of the world or another. Enjoy peaking through the curtains with us!

Throwing Ink at the Devil: On Hidden, Creative Labors

STORY BY LAURA M. FABRYCKY

Whether or not you’re an adherent to the Christian faith, today’s big anniversary marks an event whose effects have been so far-reaching that they helped create the cultural milieu you were born into. Laura Fabrycky’s current abode in Germany—the country in which Martin Luther made his 95 theses public 500 years ago today, on October 31, 1517—has given her a front row view of Germany’s public commemorations of the anniversary of the Reformation. This 16th century religious movement was ultimately marked by the rejection or modification of some Roman Catholic doctrine and practice and by the establishment of the Protestant churches. Laura reflects on how Luther’s work might inspire our own.

Encounters With Generous Hospitality in Iraq

STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOEL CARILLET

Joel Carillet’s 2017 travels have included stretches of time in a country that regularly dominates the world’s news cycles. In this photo essay for Culture Keeper, he introduces us to people and stories that don’t make the headlines, but that are just as instructive in creating a true portrait of Iraq as are all the other stories we hear.

On Choosing One’s Neighbors

STORY BY HEATHER M. SURLS

Who are the characters who would give life to a story about your neighborhood? Here, Heather Surls answers that question about her own neighborhood by introducing us to those who inhabit its daily comings and goings in Amman, Jordan.

Remain Wild and Magical

STORY BY DEVON ANNE FARMER
PHOTOS BY JC JOHNSON

 This week our Culture Keeper passports take us to the famed but tiny Scottish island of Iona for a fleeting moment of reflection, as recounted by our newest Culture Keeper contributor.  

In A.D. 563 after being banished from his native Ireland, St. Columba landed on Iona in the Southern Hebrides with the intention of bringing Celtic monasticism and Christianity to Scotland as penance. The island happened to be the first spot he reached from which he could no longer see the outline of his beloved Ireland in the distance.