By: Jocelyn Salala
If you could actually stop for a second and imagine yourself anywhere around the World, where do you think you would be? Would you travel to Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park or The Great Wall of China? Would you quench your curiosity and see what all the talk of Zimbabwe’s great ruins is about? Our world is surrounded by a variety of cultures that make each place one travels to, special. A woman by the name of Greta Francesca Iori has had the opportunity to stop for a second and indulge in the beauty that surrounds us. Greta was born in the Netherlands to an Italian father and an Ethiopian mother. After birth, her family moved back to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where she grew up. In Ethiopia she traveled and was able to see the beauty of her country, understand her culture and become proud of the place she calls home. Greta’s distinct love for different cultures and traveling began when she 14. From that point on she knew that her passion was something she would have to embark on soon.
At the age of 18, once enrolled in college, she studied international tourism management and consultancy in Breda, The Netherlands. Because she had a deep love for traveling, she made sure that every vacation time, long weekend and time off she traveled. “From visiting to the likes of Singapore, Australia, Monaco, France, Dubai, Greece, Spain, The US…[she could] never get enough from the absorption of cultures.” As a result of all this traveling she knew that documenting her journey would be fulfilling. “My 12 mega pixel camera was my best friend on all these journeys… it helped capture the story of what I was experiencing so vividly.” Being a writer as well, she knew that not only picture documentation, but also actually writing about her experiences would be something worth reading in the future.
Greta has created an online website that documents the various cultures and places she has been to around the world. This website is called The Chronicles of an Italiopian, a clever jumble of words that she created to classify her origins. This website showcases Greta’s passion for photography, writing and the ability to see the whole world and eliminate all stereotypes of cities, countries, people and traditions. All of this is seen on her website that has been recently launched but has grown very fast in such a short time period. Presently, Greta is Face2Face Africa’s Cultural Editor and has plans to not only show the world the different cultures within Africa, but also around the world. Greta is currently in Cancun, Mexico doing a working placement for a sustainable tourism company, which promotes tourism in the ancient Mayan Civilization. In relations to her website she hopes to update her viewer with photographic portfolios and stories of her experiences and encounters. In august she will embark on a two-week journey from Mexico City back to Cancun, before she returns to Europe to finish her last year of College. As of now there will be a website update once a month and the next one is March 31st! It will be filled with new blogs, encountered stories and lots of pictures… Follow her on her journey around the globe at www.twitter.com/TheItaliopian and her website, as she has said before, the planet is her playground.
