Southbank Crates

As part of the cultural Olympics the Soutbank Centre has a series of crates on display which promote some of the events that are taking place this summer.

 The Phare Ponleu Selpak is the Cambodian circus school I have mentioned before in my blog.

The South African musician Eugene Skeef taught two Bosnian musicians how to play the Nigerian udu drum.  If you go to this crate and listen you'll hear a song called Cosmic Genie

A Uruguayan mural project from 2008 - 4000 people created 131 murals to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

 Photo by Oscar Monsalve. A music project in Colombia called Batuta - a network of educators, musicians and children.

Casa Grande - a Chilean based art collective who drop poems from aircrafts over cities that have been bombed in the past during military action.  This photo is of poems being dropped over Guernica in Spain.

Pinta: The Modern & Contemporary Latin American Art Show

I've occasionally thought that it's not as easy to find Latin American art in London as it is to find European, North American and African art.  So I was pleased to see Pinta advertised in the tube and even more pleased to find a voucher online for a free ticket. 

Paolo Campochiaro, Uruguay

 The Corpo Colectivo from Alison Jacques Gallery

 From Whisper to Shout by Germán Gómez from Spain

 Marco Mojica from Colombia

 Sandra de Berduccy from Bolivia

 Nuno Sousa Vieira from Portugal

Egg by Karen Estrada from El Salvador 

 The Simple Plan by Jean Marc Calvet from France/Nicaragua

 Evolution in Spring 1/5 by Jean Jacques Ribi from Panama/Italy

 Anatares by Omar Carreño from Venezuela

Untitled by Matilde Pérez from Chile

While she Waiting she was Thinking about the Dream by Luis González Palma from Guatemala

Circuses of the World

There is currently a small exhibition at the Roundhouse of photos taken from circus projects around the world.

There are photos from the following projects:

Phare Ponleu Selpak, Battambang, Cambodia
Zip Zap Circus School, Cape Town, South Africa
Circo Para Todos, Kali, Columbia
Sapana Circus, Kathmandu, Nepal
Roundhouse Street Circus Project, London

¡ Mucho mejor si es hecho en Ecuador !

The guy working in this South American shop in Elephant and Castle shopping centre was very patient with me practising Spanish with him.  When I told him I wanted to learn more about the kind of products they sold he went round some of the shelves explaining which countries things were from.

 Argentinian tea

Peruvian soft drink

Ecuadorian biscuits

Medellin Y Su Moda

I have to be honest, a lot of the clothes in Medellin Y Su Moda look to me like the clothes in all the other shops in Elephant and Castle shopping centre.  They also look like a lot of the clothes in the Queensmere shopping centre in Slough.

Just saying....

Zumba he zumba ha!

My first ever experience of Zumba at a free class in our local area.  We didn't stay too long but it seemed to be a good workout, combining aerobics and latin music.  If I was slightly more motivated to exercise I would definitely go to a zumba class.

And I am now a big fan of this song

La Bodeguita Restaurant

Country: Colombia
Location: Elephant and Castle
Cost: between £8 and £12 for a main course.

This started off as a trip to Mamuska, the Polish restaurant just round the corner from La Bodeguita which was temporarily closed when we arrived.  So we celebrated a Polish girl's leaving party in this Latin American restaurant instead.

I had Bandeja Paisa which was really tasty. I felt as though I was going to burst by the end of the evening, as the portion sizes are very generous.
www.labodeguita.co.uk/restaurant/index.asp

They also have a deli and a shop.