Oh dear! He's using metaphors again. Although it's a pretty obvious one. Since you've already figured out that the word 'station' is referring to us, this website. Almost a year has passed and we've seen and heard many things that we don't hear everyday. From music, to sex, to the use of the Internet and back. Time to recapitulate, to take a peek into the past.
I can still clearly remember the moment when the first footage arrived, it was shot in Kenya. It was a debate which was held outdoors and the wind ruined the sound from time to time but still the debate itself was very good and exciting. The participants debated with fire and fought hard to get the upper hand. A good start. Their contemporaries from Tanzania had a completely different style; they were very relaxed and delivered their arguments in a very calm manner. Different, but interesting nonetheless to see and hear what concerns THEM.
Another high was our journey to China because they were the host of the Olympic Games. Me, being a big music fan, was very uhm...excited to see that there's are very lively music scene in Beijing which strongly varies in style and genres. from rap, to metal, to indie.... you name it and it was there. I might have to go there myself one day to check it out for myself.
Another thing that has to be mentioned is the election of the current American president. Erik and I were in Amsterdam at an event called The President's Night and Maartje was in Miami, one of the 'swing states'. When the big moment arrived (somewhere round 5.00 am Dutch time) I was stunned and I couldn't believe that eight years of republican policy had come to an end. I was that excited that I couldn't keep my camera away from the tv screen; and that whilst the crowd behind me was going absolutely freaking nuts! Here's proof. Maartje was also 'drunk of joy' that night when she ran into this guy. It doesn't need any explanation since the rest is history anyways. Ey Steve!?
And what about all the smaller journeys that our friends/partners made? That contains some high points too. What about the time that Azeri native Gurban showed our friend Neil around town in Baku. Or the artists from Cambodia that told us about their daily life and their work (I promise, we'll finish it very soon.) The text messages from Gaza, the UN simulation in Singapore..........
The last two journey's which we made - to Iran and South Africa - were excellent countries to show that things are not always what they seem AND are really cool in their own right. (More on Iran right here!) The cool thing about South Africa was that we had a chance to talk to the first generation that's growing up without apartheid. How do they experience it and how do they cope with that? And what about the grafitti spot under that bridge (did we upload that already????) Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera..... Hope we've been able to provide some answers. :)
So what's next? The crew (us) will be away for a little while. We had an agreement that we'd do this for a year and that period has passed very, very, very fast. That means that there won't be some new video's for a while.
All cynics out there will probably say that this "station" will no longer be operational now that we've pretty much reached the end of the road. I guess you could say that but the website WILL - I repeat WILL - remain online. And Couscous Global WILL most likely continue, albeit in a different form. At this point in time we don't know what kind of form or shape this will be, time will tell. Once we know, you'll know. Or as the governor of California would put it: 'I'll be back.'
Keep on debating people! We'll stop by this place on a regular basis to see what's up or to drop an opinion or two. If our busy schedules will allow us. Busy westerners that we are..... ;)
