The "Silver Bean", one of the new sights of Chicago

Sunday July 12

Today I have a major problem. The transfer from my photo card to the laptop doesn't work. Thus I already thought I couldn't load photos on the blog. But thanks to the internet I've found a good photo there! Hundreds of people from Chicago and tourists rival for the best photo positions infront of the Cloud Gate, the official name of the sight. Millennium Park - sandwiched between Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue - is one of the hot spots of Chicago. There are not only gardens, but interesting architecture like fountains and the Jay Pritzker Pavillon. People who enjoy concerts there usually picknick on the lawn.

Today was a hard conference day. The air conditioning cools down the rooms to approximately 18 degrees. We Europeans freeze!!!

I joined one of the events organized by the Feminist Task Force. Three movies from the "Women Make Movies"-catalogue were shown. "Women's Kingdom" offered a rare glimpse into Mosuo culture, one of the last matriarchal societies in the world. "Guerrillas in our Midst" explores the mechanism of the commercial art world. The Guerrilla Girls managed in putting racism and sexism on the agenda of the art world in the 1980s. "To see if I'm Smiling" is a documentary on six female Israeli soldiers . The film explores the ways how gender, ethics and moral resonsibility intersect during wartime. I admit I could not stay till the end, That film was too hard for me!!!