Geneva

Janet had a busy week in Paris. Her bags were found. Today's she's off to Geneva for round two of art.  However, the Paris train station Gare de Lyon was evacuated after she got on her train, due to bomb threat. Authorities have, apparently, taken apart an entire traincar, and are now letting people back into the station.

More once she gets out of France.

Cooling Heels in a Hot City

Good news is that  Janet will be going to Paris on Monday!

Here's the new flight info for her Monday flights:

Flight TK0687 departs DJI at 12:30, arrives 6:55

Flight TK1829 departs  IST 7:20 PM, arrives CDG 10:55 PM

She's staying at the Acacia Hotel - pretty nice, has a pool. Turkish Air is picking up the hotel cost due to the cancelled flight. We're messaging back and forth right now, she's roughing it at the pool.

This is the hotel - one of the best in Djibouti - note that there is a gate, barricades, and guardhouse with armed guards. Way better than Motel 6!

Maybe the Last Night in Djibouti

Looks like Janet's flight out of Djibouti to Istanbul has been cancelled.  Will update once we get more info.

Off to Lake Ebbe

I received a couple texts from Janet this morning (Wednesday afternoon, her time) She's off via Jeep to an Afar village - she said it was a bone wrenching drive across rocks, then on the the main road.

On the road they found a big trucker protest. Almost all of landlocked Ethiopia's exports go via truck to the Djibouti port. Apparently the Djibouti police had a recent altercation with a truck driver, and beat him to death, so today the other drivers are blocking the road.

She's also had some issues with the Afar guide asking for extra money, but I think we'll have to wait a few days to hear more about that.

This afternoon they're going to "dead forest" (or maybe it's the "day forest").  It's the only bit of green in the country. Then she's off to Lake Ebbe tonight via jeep.

No cell reception out there so probably no news until Thurs or Friday.

Good news is she's safe and having an interesting time!

Djibouti City

Janet has made it to Djibouti Citi. She's staying for a couple days at the glamorous Menelik Hotel.

There's (spotty) wifi at the hotel. Here's an update from Janet:

It was a long flight here (i've got the swollen ankles to prove it) but here I am. Djibouti City is not as developed as Macale in Ethiopia, but this hotel is nicer. We walked the city, around the mosque, changed money with a woman with a huge bag of cash just out on the street, went through a chaotic market, a crazier place where local buses pick up and drop passengers, had lunch in the restaurant that was bombed in 2014 and am now back at the hotel, showered and ready for a nap. I met our Afar guide. He seems like he really wants to please us so hopefully it will be a good trip. 

Tons of cats here, mostly hanging around the goat and fish stands ... way more flies than cats though. It's hot as hell and everybody is saying how cool it is ).

After a long shower and a nap, Luke and I struck out for the port. We got a bit lost, but was fun. 

We wandered through the center and then to a fancy high end neighborhood close to the Presidential Palace. We finally got to the port which was interesting. Tons of Ethiopian trucks loading, unloading, and crowding the roads. Old abandoned wooden fishing boats, next to one or two fancy yachts/sailboats and then a ton of tankers. We walked towards the Southern Somalia boarder (which is really close) and past the presidential palace. It's huge with a garden area that looks like a F1 track with tents here and there. Major armed guards everywhere. We heard that every once in a while he will open the garden to the locals for a concert or party. 

 

We found a really nice restaurant on the water that Ken had recommended. We had a big lunch so just had drinks sitting outside on the water. Made Djibouti look really pretty. Almost forgot all the raw sewage we walked by to get there. Sat for a long time watching the sun set then strolled back to the hotel (occasionally followed by some small child saying momma, momma begging for money. We walked past more places on the water, pizza shop, hookah bar, whore house/dance club,

First Stop - Istanbul

Janet has made it to Istanbul, first stop on way to Djibouti, and is now on the next flight after a 12 hour layover. Wanted to post this due to the news out of Istanbul being a little dicey today.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35850625

Now for some info on Djibouti - it's a relatively small country, a little bigger than New Jersey. The population is 800,000, of which over 600,000 live in the capital, Djibouti City.The rest of the country is basically desert - and that's where Janet is going.

Djibouti is conveniently located between Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Yemen. Only three of those countries are currently dangerous, so I guess one out of four isn't bad.

There's a massive military presence there. The US has 4,000 military, and uses it as the hub for air missions in the Gulf region and it's reported to be the base for drone missions to Yemen and Somalia.

The French also have a base there (Djibouti is a former French colony). The Saudis and the Chinese are also moving military to the country. Going to be interesting bar fights, that's all I have to say!

More once Janet gets into Djibouti and gives a report.  Here's a view of downtown.

Guangzhao

Made it across the Pacific! One hour layover then to Urumqii then Kashgar. If all goes well we arrive there in 9 hours.

Hong Kong

Survived a full day in the air. Now waiting in noodles shop at Hong Kong airport for 9 hour layover (with free WiFi! Shame on NYC airports).

If this is Friday

Back from Tampa! Thanks so much to everyone who helped and supported me!

Now packing for Indonesia, leaving tomorrow. Will be a long journey

NY to Vancouver: 5:50
Layover: 1:15
Vancouver to Hong Kong: 13:19
Layover in Hong Kong: 9:00 (hmm. enough time to go to town?)
Hong Kong to Surabaya: 4:47
Surabaya to Ijen via car: 8 to 10 hours

Total journey: 10,150 miles in air, 150 miles of rutted mountain roads, 42 hours total (assuming all connections are made, and the car doesn't get stuck).

Back ... in Charlotte

Apologies for lack of updates. I got back to NYC, decompressed a bit, then had to finalize materials and fly to Charlotte for my show at the Mint Museum.

I give a talk at the museum today, and the show opens on Friday (November 6). The show includes four videos, including Fade to White (which features footage shot in Svalbard in 2009) and DUET, a new piece built around NASCAR pit crews!

Information about the show is on the Mint Museum's website.

While I've been in the Arctic, things in the real world have stayed busy. I was happy to come back to find that my recent show at Conner Contemporary Gallery was reviewed in the November ARTnews and the October ArtForum.

I'll post more updates and photos from Svalbard here soon. Just have to catch my breath!

Jet Lag

Well, I'm finally home in NYC after some 32 hours of travel ... happy to be back with Bob and Lulu, but fighting some mean jet lag. It was an amazing expedition and experience! I've just started sorting through images and memories. I kept a diary on board, although life at sea challenged my connection with time. At one point I was reading through my diary and found that I had recorded an experience as having happened repeatedly for three consecutive days. It was an impressive experience ... the ship hit a rock which sent us all flying as the crew ran to see if we had breached the hull ... but one that only occur ed once (although we had some impressive run-ins with icebergs).

I remember how I felt the first time I saw the schooner Norderlicht. I think pure terror would be a good description. She seemed so small in the big Arctic sea and was bobbing so much I was sure I would be sick as a dog for the next couple of weeks. I couldn't imagine how we would all fit, let alone live and work on her.

I grew to think of her as a safe, beautiful home that I really miss! I'll continue to update this blog with images and descriptions of my time in the Arctic.

Coming Home

Janet hasn't had web access in Longyearbyen. She's in the air now, flying through Tromso, will be in Olso tonight. Not sure, but she planned to spend the night in the Oslo airport.

It's a long way back: Longyearbyen to Tromso, Tromso to Oslo, night in airport, Oslo to Copenhagen, then finally over the Atlantic and back to Newark.

Packing

Here's a shot of Janet as she was packing for the trip. She left with about 75 pounds of stuff, which I'd estimate at 60% video/camera equipment, 15% kayaking gear, 15% clothing, 10% toiletries. She didn't take any books, or much other than video equipment, in order to save weight.

Lulu asked to go with her, but her passport was expired. It's for the best, she wouldn't have liked the cold weather.

As I type, it's 7:22am in Svalbard. I was just checking the Longyearbyen webcam - it's still dark. The sun won't come up there today until 9:56am. And it sets at 3:27pm. By Friday, the sun will rise at 11am, and they'll only get about 3 1/2 hours of sunlight.