I went to the end of the world and back...
Reflections from Prague
The buildings look tired, worn out from the hundreds of years of history. The graffiti covers the pale paint job that has withered from the weather. The columns, grand gothic structures, peer down, letting me know that my time in this central European city is coming to an end. The ground floor is inhabited by bright lights, loud advertisements, and self absorbed humans, buying plans and products they probably do not need. I can see into the intimate lives of others as the bright bulbs burning in their living rooms illuminate their world. The tram passes by with a loud grunt and all of a sudden the people around me begin to run, exercising their legs and saving them from the cold December weather...
Finding the Family in Kolín
Daydreaming of Unknown Memories
Sometimes I daydream about what it would be like if I lived in the 1960s. I am wearing a long, flowing skirt, one that grazes my ankles and occasionally tickles my toes as I walk barefoot through the grass. It is an olive green color as I have always been drawn to the dark, tranquil hue. A loose fitting cotton white shirt, embroidered with a faint floral design, hangs loosely against my upper body. Naturally, there is a crown of dandelions that regularly falls off of my long, brown hair. It is early May and I am surrounded by friends, one who is most likely strumming away at the guitar. I am part of the peace movement, regularly advocating for the end of the war and free flowing love...
The First Journey : Retracing the Route of 1939
I imagined how she must have felt - from land to sea and from sea to land. From the comfort of home and a loving embrace to strangers and blind faith. From an urban life filled with castles and streetcars to miles of undeveloped countryside. From an education that consisted of three different languages to physical labor that included feeding chickens and milking cows. There was no one there to coddle her and nothing to look forward to...
Stepping Stones in My Life
Follow My Footprints - The Project
Follow My Footprints is a long-term project that documents the cultural landscape of my grandmother’s displacement as a result of the Holocaust. In 1939, at the age of 14, Hana Dubova left Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia for Denmark, whom in collaboration with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, had agreed to take in a group of 150 Czech Jewish teenagers between the ages of 14 and 16. She would be the only person in her family who would survive the war with the exception of some distant relatives...