Downtown Minneapolis

I spent a few hours exploring the Walker Art Center. This was my first visit to the museum. The Walker has served as a huge source of inspiration over the years due to their leadership within the museum field. I’ve been especially inspired and challenged by their new media initiatives. The museum lived up to my expectations. Several great exhibits were on display, including Lifelike (“a close examination of artworks based on commonplace objects and situations”), Frank Gaard: Poison & Candy, Dance Works I: Merce Cunningham/Robert Rauschenberg, Dance Works II: Merce Cunningham / Ernesto Neto, and Absentee Landlord, an exhibit curated by John Waters. I was happy to see many museum folks there who are in town for the American Association of Museums annual conference.

Warhol at the Walker

If you find yourself in Minneapolis, a.k.a. Bike City, then you need to take advantage of Nice Ride. This bike share program is amazing. I spent a good portion of my time cruising around town on the three-speed bicycles. We need a bike share program in Ann Arbor. Now.

Nice Ride

I capped off my night at Matt’s Bar for a “jucy lucy.” Yes, this place is an institution and the burgers are legendary. Although the burger was good, it doesn’t hold a flame to many of the stops on the Detroit Burger Tour.

Matt's Bar

Check out these pix of the app:

First ride of the season.

Elevation

Workouts by month

My hat goes off to all of the students who participate in this program. The cohort was engaging and curious, and they presented myself and the other panelist with intelligent questions. I had several students approach me following the discussion to inquire about volunteer opportunities with our nonprofit organization. I hope I inspired these young people half as much as they inspired me!

A Tweet from an ASBD participant

Additionally, George Takei toured the museum and spent time talking with staff. Takei is best known for his roles as Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek. Additionally, he is a human rights activist and a huge supporter of our sister institution, the Japanese American National Museum. Takei impressed me with his intelligence, candor and humor. He’s played a significant role in the past when the AANM was consulting with the JANM during the development phase of our institution. This was his first time actually seeing our museum. The timing of Takei’s visit was perfect, giving that we are currently hosting the JANM’s exhibit, Fighting for Democracy, in a temporary gallery. It was great sharing ideas about museums and discussing the roles our institutions play within their communities. Once again I was reminded of the special relationship that exists between the Japanese American and Arab American communities.

A big thanks to staff for making these visits a success. I am so proud to work with colleagues that take their jobs seriously and show initiative. They are the reason we continue to succeed as a new museum.

George Takei visits the AANM

The purpose of the visit was to meet with Beirut-based arts organizations and to explore potential collaboration. The four organizations we meet with – Zico House, the Arab Image Foundation, Beirut Art Center, and Ashkal Alwan – are all pioneers within their areas of art production, documentation, and presentation. Each organization has inspiring and visionary leaders, which leaves me very optimistic about the possibility of working with these institutions in the future. There is much work to be done in documenting and further developing art production and appreciation within the Arab diaspora.

In addition to the meetings, we (I traveled with a colleague) spent a great amount of time exploring the city. Beirut is an amazing juxtaposition, in so many ways. One of my favorite things to do when visiting a new city is to explore it by foot. Speaking to this, we logged numerous miles each day trekking from neighborhood to neighborhood. Some highlights include walking the Corniche and viewing Pigeon Rocks from Raouche; visiting Saint George Maronite Cathedral; standing in Martyr’s Square while watching the memorial service for Rafic Hariri on the seventh anniversary of his assassination; discovering Roman ruins, which included baths, a cardo maximus and colonnade in the central business district; walking through the beautiful campus at the American University of Beirut; experiencing the amazing architecture and diversity of the numerous religious institutions downtown; spending time in the monumental Nejmeh Square; and learning about the city’s archaeological past in the crypt museum at the St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

In hindsight, walking is really the only way to experience Beirut. Cabbies will summon you with “Taxi! Taxi!” on every street corner. However, despite the lack of public transportation and the thrill of a hair-raising jaunt through the city’s congested streets in an overpriced cab, I recommend only riding in a taxi when traveling longer distances (two miles or more). Otherwise, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to truly appreciate Beirut.

I also enjoyed exploring the Lebanese culture through food. I had the pleasure of dining at local institutions, including Cafe Younes in Hamra, Le Chef in Gemmayzeh and Falafel Sahyoun in Ras El-Nabeh (the latter two were featured on Anthony Bourdain’s return trip to Beirut). A breakfast of freshly baked menaeesh from a corner vendor is a must; the zaatar spice mixture is simply amazing. Bliss Street near the AUB campus offers many cheap but delicious restaurants including Food 101 and Zaatar w Zeit. And then there are the numerous sweet shops offering delectable treats! And, last but not least, there is Tawlet at Souk el Tayeb. This restaurant is an open kitchen where each day a local producer/cook prepares typical food from his/her region. Suzanne Doueihy and her husband Sarkis served an amaging Zgharta-influenced meal that included kebbeh nayeh, kebbeh bassalieh, batata mehshieh, moujaddara bi loubieh, el’ass bi toum and maamoul mad bi loz. Tawlet is not to be missed when visiting Beirut.

I really hope I’ll have the opportunity to return to Lebanon sometime soon. In addition to a more in-depth exploration of Beirut, I want to get out of the city to visit Jbeil (Byblos), Tripoli, Tyre, and Baalbek, as well as Hasroun (my family’s village) and Al-Arz (The Cedars) in the mountains. So much to see and experience in this small country…Here are a few iPhone pix I took during my stay. Stay tuned for more pictures from the trip.

Travel references: my map and Foursquare list for Beirut

Pigeon Rocks at Raouche

Nejmeh Square

Roman Columns

Rafic Hariri Memorial

My primary goals for utilizing Google Earth are relatively simple. First, while it’s fun to get lost and explore a city, I really don’t want to waste too much unnecessary time trying to figure out where I’m heading. Second, I’m interested in sharing both the pre-planning and highlights from the trip (pictures/places of interest) with family and friends.

I’m hoping to place photos/videos I take throughout the trip on the map once I return home. However, as for now, my pre-travel planning is complete. If you’re curious, red pins indicate locations for meetings; yellow indicates place of interest; I think the other two icons are self-explanatory.

So far, I’m relatively satisfied with the free software. The pre-planning was actually pretty fun. It’s possible to export .kml files from Google Earth and then upload them to “My Places” on Google Maps. This allows for both sharing and collaboration. Not a bad feature if you’re looking for tips from people you know. Additionally, it’s fun to utilize the satellite and street views while utilizing Google Earth. The 3D buildings, photos, and roads layers are incredibly useful as well.

We’ll see how it goes while traveling abroad. More to come…

View Beirut, Lebanon in a larger map

View Jordan in a larger map