Monochrome Photo Challenge

I was recently tagged in a popular challenge in Facebook that began:

"Seven-day black-and-white picture challenge! Seven days, no people and no captions! Cheers to day 1/7!"

Loving photography and having plenty of photos to choose from, I took up the challenge, though instead of tagging individuals, I decided to "challenge whomever is inspired." I am not sure whether anyone was.

After posting a couple of photographs -- using an easy Macbook trick to make them monochrome -- friends asked questions about where they were taken. I decided not to caption any of them until my week was complete. I did hint that each day's challenge was met by a photo (or two) taken in a different country.

To avoid spoilers under the original posts, I have decided to post all of the captions here. And at the suggestion of a geography alumna, I am entering approximate coordinates, rather than place names.


Wednesday (1 of 7): Science! One of the world's great telescopes. (2016)
18°21' N; 66°45' W


Thursday (2 of 7): Working waterfront. (2015)
 41°38' N;  70°55' W

Friday (3 of 7):  A community in a Spanish-speaking country, where Spanish is the second language. If you eat quinoa, people in these houses may have grown it for you. Bonus: there might be a cat lounging on one of these walls! (2014)
13°25' S; 72°12' W

Saturday (4 of 7): "The periphery of the periphery of the periphery" is a phrase first uttered by my good friend Dr. Nenevê, about his own home, which was not quite as peripheral as this one, shown in 1996 (taken with an entire city to my back). When I returned in 2000, this was a bustling neighborhood. (1996)
8°48' S;  63°53 W

Sunday (5 of 7 -- 2 photos): This UNESCO World Heritage Site includes a stark reminder of a terrible history and a charming home of stone, thatch, and cactus. (2006)

14°55' N; 23°36' W

Monday (6 of 7): A lovely stone gazebo in the Shangri La of coffee estates. (2017)
 13°00' N; 85°54' W

Tuesday (7 of 7): Welcome meal at our partner church featured a very large caldron of soup! And our hosts spend their summers "making hay while the sun shines." (2004)
46°18' N;  24°25' E

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