Author: Jaqui Hiltermann

Heartland

Heartland

For Steve Heartland- either it’s the heart of a place, or it’s a shop that sells Live Laugh Love paraphernalia and motivational posters with dolphins… “All of the dolphins, none of the endorphins”. While the latter sounds fun to mock, in this case, I’m talking about the true origin of the term. It turns out …

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ARYZTED Development

ARYZTED Development

Graffiti is all over Europe. It’s abundant. It’s divisive and it’s reactionary. It’s a sign that younger people in particular are reclaiming space, sharing views, saying, “I’m here!”, being political, or in some cases just being rebellious assholes. Graffiti is not one thing, and to dismiss it or belittle it is to also lose sight …

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Czech Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Czech Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Service in Germany is a mixed bag. It’s lank efficient but they seem to take pleasure out of trolling tourists. We went to the Tourism Office in Hannover to try and buy a SIM card and the woman there tried to sell us a monthly train ticket. If you work in the Tourism Office, surely, …

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Cycling and Recycling

Cycling and Recycling

Assimilating into German culture means embracing hyper-efficiency, weirdness, and feeling like you’re getting trolled as a tourist. We arrived in Hannover on Friday rush hour… Being in a busy train station (Hauptbahnhof) in peak traffic, with petulant luggage, after a very very long trip stinking like pollcats straight outta Sontra (well maybe not straight) is …

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Back to Bebra

Back to Bebra

You know what gives you the edge when you travel? Being fucking smug. It’s nice to be in the airport terminal and in high volume sotto voce saying, “Thank god we went for that 6km run before we came here!” Sometimes, I really think I run just to be smug. But let’s hold up a …

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Excess Baggage

Excess Baggage

My Emotional Support Animal, Mands, tells me that, ‘You either have a good time, or a good story.’  Well, strap yourselves in for a heroic tale about air travel, the weirdest guy on the aeroplane, an early morning hunt for a clinic at Nairobi Airport, a busting suitcase of pharmaceuticals, and Chlamydia. For an extra …

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DuckTales… WOO-OO!

DuckTales… WOO-OO!

Today it’s all about duck pie… If you like duck I’m about to share one of the best ways to cook it. How do I know it’s good? Well, I have this on good authority from my family. Why should you trust them? Well, there are several PhDs among them so you can trust them …

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We Are What We Eat: Food identity, politics, and culture.

We Are What We Eat: Food identity, politics, and culture.

You cannot separate food, stories, and place. Food frames and contextualises the culture, history, social order, and of course, the politics of a place. Food is personal.  Nothing proves this more than the the latest shitshow courtesy of the Department of Land Reform, Agriculture and Rural Development’s (DALRRD) Food Safety Authority (FSA). In a naming …

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Are Ants Colourblind? A Paper Trail.

Are Ants Colourblind? A Paper Trail.

It’s holiday time for kids, and I can honestly feel the seismic shift in happiness. I still remember watching the second hand move, and then the collective breathing in, and silence… And then the shrill gleeful sound of the school bell shattering through our bodies. Today these two gorgeous young whipper snappers came into the …

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