Michelle May

At first glance this post may appear to have nothing to do with travel, revolutions or humanitarian work — but it does. Those of you who have spent time with me know that no matter where I go and what I do, I always manage to shoot food porn.

When I put all my food pix together, I saw that it’s an uncomplicated way of revisiting all the places I called “home” this year (too many). It also documents the erosion of my diet since leaving a steady life in one place, as well as my failed attempt to eat meat after 20 years of being a vegetarian (have you ever tasted octopus or “souffle of Bambi?” I haven’t been missing anything, thanks).

If you think I eat too much of one thing or not enough of something else, feel free to let me know. So far, I’ve decided to cut back on coffee & desserts.

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An Egyptian friend in Madrid wondered out loud if I was crazy to leave Spain just as it’s on the ‘cusp of Revolution.’ He was joking about the Revolution bit, but he does think it’s an exciting time to be in Madrid (he’s right). And, it was refreshing to finally have a protest movement come to me, rather than vice versa (truth be told, this was not the 1st time something like this has happened). Still, I was set to launch the “Revolution Junkie” tour, and needed to carry on. I’m in Tunisia now… Will write much more.. Soon.

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May 23 Update: Yesterday was election day here in Spain. Along with elections is an enforced ‘day of reflection’ the day before, when all protests/demos are banned. Of course, protesters defied the ban. No one was surprised by that. The government announced in advance that they would not forcibly remove anyone; there was no violence. Still, many in the Puerta del Sol were in fact ‘reflecting’.. on high unemployment, and their dissatisfaction with the two major political parties & bank bail-outs.

As the days have gone on more & more tarps, furniture, signage & dreadlocks have appeared in the mix. Community committees in charge of clean up, child care, first aid, food, construction, reading materials, and even gardening are an integral part of the movement. These committees were inspired by the Arab Revolutions. Madrid is not Cairo — everybody knows that. Yet in cyberspace there is a definite brotherly/sisterly solidarity between the two movements. Will write much more later… in the meantime: more photos (See post below for complete photos of May 18-May 30, 2011):

May 19: I’m in Madrid right now. Here are pix from today’s protest in Puerta del Sol. As you can see, Sol is tipping its hat to Cairo’s Tahrir Square:

Tags: 15 May, DemocraciaRealYa, election, Madrid, Protest, Puerta del Sol, revolution, Spain, SpanishRevolution, YesWeCamp.