without title

Hello everybody. I´m allready back in Barcelona ans slowly slowly i find my rythms. I had allready my depresive week in european land. Barcelona did whatever it could to animate me (5 days of live free concerts with great weather and lots lots of people) but as someone said

it doesn´t matter where you are, but how you are .

I wanted to feel nice and enjoy all this street festival but something inside me didn´t feel like this. It was still out there thinking of all these images,all these emotions but as el maestro Drexler says

si todo empieza y todo tiene un final, hay que pensar que la tristeza tambien (if everything starts and everything has an end, think that the sadness also)...

I went to some concerts but in most of them i left after 30 minutes (only once when i got drunk i managed to stay the whole night :-))...Life doesn´t stop after a very nice trip or after a very bad incident..nothing is lost only transformed and with that feeling i shall start again my barcelones life and being positive and smiling...There are new ideas, there are new chalenges, there are new people and i hope the rest of the time to be as good and as beautiful as the last 3 months...I don´t think i will write anything more to this blog cause tasuli ya no esta en Africa so i would like to thank all of you who kept me company during my trip there. I shall continue the comunication with my kenyan family and i will continue contributing as i can for the kenyan asociation that i worked for.

Muchas gracias a tod@s

countdown....

Hello everybody.....hope you are smiling and creative...I'm having my last 3 days in Kenya so no more words, only images...take care everybody and more news when i'm back to my lovely barcelona

ethiopia 2001

Hello everybody...last days in ethiopia and finally i managed to enter mi blog ... Today is new years eve. in ethiopia. They will enter in 2002...after 4 weeks and more than 3000 kilometres by buses in the motherland, is time for me to take the long way back...
...i'm not feeling sad (at least not yet)and i know that time is limited and this experience should finish at one moment...I'm very happy and satisfied and who knows..maybe i come back one day(or night) :-)... but even if i'm not, no one can take this from me...
I saw crocodiles, monkeys, hippos, waterfalls, gorges...i saw happiness, i saw poverty, i saw richness...i saw what they call the 8th miracle of the world (lalibela churches)...in few words i saw another reality and i had experiences that maybe i will never have the change to live again, and i'm very grateful about that....soon i will try to write more details about everything and about some interesting stories tha happened...for the moment i wish you a happy new year 2002 and i send you lots of love...

ithaka...

Once you set out on your way to Ithaca,
wish that it should be a long road
full of adventures, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon do not fear,
for such as them on your path you will not find,
if your thought remains superior, if a refined
sentiment your spirit and your body touches.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the ferocious Poseidon you will not encounter,
if you do not carry them inside your soul,
if your soul does not stand them up in front of you.
Wish that it should be a long road
That many the summer mornings will be,
that with such pleasure, with such joy
you will be entering ports never seen before
be stopping over at Phoenician market places,
and the fine merchandise you will come to posses
mother-of-pearl and corals, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of every kind,
as many sensual perfumes as you possibly can,
to pay a visit to many Egyptian cities,
to learn and to learn from the educated.

Always keep Ithaca on your mind.
The arrival there is your destination.
But do not rush the voyage at all.
It is better that is should last for many years.
and as an old man to throw anchor at the island
rich with everything that you have gained on the way,
not expecting riches to be given you by Ithaca.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would not have gone out on the road.
She has no more things to give you.
And if poor you find her, Ithaca has not deceived you.
As wise as you have become, with such experience,
by now you must have realized what Ithacas mean.
................................................................

Σαν βγεις στο πηγαιμό για την Ιθάκη,
να εύχεσαι να 'ναι μακρύς ο δρόμος,
γεμάτος περιπέτειες, γεμάτος γνώσεις.
Τους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας,
τον θυμωμένο Ποσειδώνα μη φοβάσαι,
τέτοια στον δρόμο σου ποτέ σου δε θα βρεις,
αν μεν η σκέψις σου υψηλή, αν εκλεκτή
συγκίνησις το πνεύμα και το σώμα σου αγγίζει.
Τους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας,
τον άγριο Ποσειδώνα δεν θα συναντήσεις,
αν δεν τους κουβαλείς μες στην ψυχή σου,
αν η ψυχή σου δεν τους στήνει εμπρός σου.
Να εύχεσαι να 'ναι μακρύς ο δρόμος.
Πολλά τα καλοκαιρινά πρωινά να είναι
που με τι ευχαρίστησι, με τι χαρά
θα μπαίνεις σε λιμένας πρωτοειδωμένους
να σταματήσεις σ' εμπορεια Φοινικικά,
και τες καλές πραγματείες ν' αποκτήσεις,
σεντέφια και κοράλλια, κεχριμπάρια κι έβενους,
και ηδονικά μυρωδικά κάθε λογής,
όσο μπορείς πιο άφθονα ηδονικά μυρωδικά,
σε πόλεις Αιγυπτιακές πολλές να πας,
να μάθεις και να μάθεις απ' τους σπουδασμένους.

Πάντα στο νου σου να 'χεις την Ιθάκη.
Το φθάσιμον εκεί ειν'ο προορισμός σου.
Αλλά μη βιάζεις το ταξείδι διόλου.
Καλλίτερα χρόνια πολλά να διαρκέσει.
και γέρος πια ν' αράξεις στο νησί,
πλούσιος με όσα κέρδισες στο δρόμο,
μη προσδοκώντας πλούτη να σε δώσει η Ιθάκη.

Η Ιθάκη σ' έδωσε τ' ωραίο ταξείδι.
χωρίς αυτήν δε θα 'βγαινες στο δρόμο.
αλλά δεν έχει να σε δώσει πια.
Κι αν πτωχική την βρεις, η Ιθάκη δε σε γέλασε.
έτσι σοφός που έγινες, με τόση πείρα,
ήδη θα το κατάλαβες οι Ιθάκες τι σημαίνουν.

bye bye Rusinga....

whatever comes up, must go down whatever goes down must go up...after 30 days on the magic island of Rusinga the time has come to take me towards new experiences...Yesterday i took the ferry and now in Kisumu (the 3rd biggest city of Kenya) waiting for the train to Nairobi (2nd class ticket bedding, dinner in Victorian china and spotless linen-according to the guide book), take the Ethiopian visa and start the long way towards motherland...I can assure you that i feel happy, emotional, grateful and thirsty for new experiences...I had a call more than five years ago that was telling me you should go to Ethiopia and i'm lucky enough to be able to fulfill this desire in a few days time...
Kenya is a big and diverse country and his people also...I have met all kinds of personalities here and from each of them i took something (i hope they took something from me also). I shall write more stuff about the Kenyan experience as a whole soon...
Thank you very much to all of you for all the support you have given me till now...and dont forget to be good to your neighborhood... :-)

so don't look back in anger....

Its nice when you remember some people and some frases that they have told you and its even nicer when you really realize the meaning and the deepness of the frases…Hace pocos dias estaba de mal humor, las cosas no funcionaban bien, la gente iba confuse, muchas situaciones me parecian negativas, me quejaba de mis companyeros pensado que no me entienden…Todo eso me hacia sentir que no es mi dia, que es un dia malo….Luego me fui a visitor un lugar de investigaciones sobre los insectos que hay en el pueblo al lado y poco a poco me deje disfrutar del momento…El sitio es super bien equipado y de verdad es un sitio muy agradable…Tome una cerveza, fume un cigarillo y empeze a escuchar los sonidos, a mirar los pajaros, los arboles, el lago…Me di cuenta que me sentia mal por mis expectativas, por mis exigencies, por no estar abierto a la vida…Mirando un arbol y todas sus ramificaciones he visto la vida y sus infinitas posibilidades y senti agradecido….Luego me recorde la frase que Elisa solia decirme a menudo….Tassos, hay dias buenos y dias que aprendes....

Un saludo a tothom

d-day

Yesterday on my way to Badilisha I saw a donkey lying on the ground and when I asked a person that was passing by why is he lying he replied ‘he is dying’ and he continued his way. I also continued my way and 4 hours later when I was going back I saw the donkey dead. When I arrived at home they told me that one dog of the house (the friendliest one) died this morning. I felt sad and i thought that today is a d day (death, donkey, dog). I started thinking about endings, deaths, beginnings…I started thinking that my time here is also finishing and another one will start. Very soon my experience on the island will finish and as we use to say with the other volunteers the first season of LOST on the magic island is finishing but soon there will be another season with new episodes…(we also have our Jacob, our Hurley, our Jack, our Ben, our Kate, our strange animals, etc. jejeje)…
All the experiences I'm having here they will stay with me and they will give me energy and good feelings whenever I recall them. Some, I realized them the moment they happened, some later on and some still haven’t realized them but in the future I hope I will…Sometimes you have to go back in order to move forward, sometimes you have to go forward in order to understand the past and sometimes you stand still and just be…everything counts!

changes

The other day a song came to my mind and it was a long time that I hadn’t heard it…The artist is Ben Harper and what he says is ‘ I can change the world with my own two hands’ and I support this to the fullness. When you change your own world you also change THE world because the world is you and you are the world. The only one who can change your world is you with the help of what we call luck…Luck is all around or Luck is in the air and what happens is that when we are open, when we are perceptive, when we smile, luck finds more place to function, more possibilities to become real and not just a concept…
Recently Michael told us a frase that a professor in the university used to tell them: Change, before changes change you and that brought in my mind another song from Mercedes Sosa that says Cambia, todo cambia and I also support it to the fullness…You are not the same as a month ago (for better or for worst), I’m not the same as a month ago (for better or for worst). During this period something I found, something I lost and I’m quite sure that some things that I found I will lose again and some things that I lost I will find them again…Its part of the everlasting movement of the universe and as we are part of this, inevitably we are moving-changing also…

the missing link

This Wednesday my alarm sound at 06:00, I had to go to Badilisha site at 07:00 to open the door for the builders to enter. I opened my eyes, I snoozed the alarm and I closed my eyes again. I didn’t manage to sleep the eight minutes that snooze gives so I just stayed with my eyes closed, hearing the wind that at that time of the day is always strong. Something was different though, but I couldn´t figure out what…The alarm sound again, I got up, went to the toilet, said good morning to Molly (Michael’s daughter) that was preparing the breakfast and I started to prepare my coffee. I ate my two slices of bread with butter and cherry jam and went out to finish my coffee and smoke a cigarette. Still something was different and still couldn’t find out what…I finished the cigarette and started getting ready. On my way out I saw that the door of the chicken house was still close and, as normally at that time the chickens are out, I opened the door for them…At the very same moment I found out what was different this morning…I hadn’t heard the cock singing during the morning...I waited till all the chicken came out, but no cock appeared. I asked Molly about that…
-Yeahhh, he got killed during the night…
-Whattttttttt? How?
-Well you see, I forgot to lock the chicken house door so probably a cat or something like this came in the night and killed him…I found him this morning dead. Propably he tried to protect his chickens and got killed by the cat...

Many times I was just watching him going around his chickens, stealing food from them, getting in fights with the neighbors cock and every morning he was the sound of waking up…The time that I started liking him it was the second day on the island. We had just had lunch and Inga took her I pod, put her earphones and laid down on the grass to have a nap, me I went down a tree to continue reading my book that by the way is a very nice book (the steppe wolf by Herman Esse). Inga hadn’t seen me but I could see her clearly. Few moments later the cock appears walking slowly slowly, he stops 5 meters from her and start his song…No reaction from her. The cock walks a bit more towards her and again sings. She moved a bit but no major reaction. Again the cock singing.. She lifted her head and gave him a look like she was saying get the fuck out of here and let me sleep, and went back to the ground. The cock did some steps more, he sang again and started running away…It was a very funny thing to see from the beginning till the end. From that moment I appreciated a lot his humor and i developed a nice relation with him and started observing him more, so now that life has finished for him, I would like to make a tribute to the cock. I don’t know if his chicken will miss him but I will….

rusinga island

Hello everybody, hope you are all well and enjoying the summer, the sun, the sea or the mountains...Since I came to rusinga I only had once access to Internet but I have more often access to a laptop (without connexion) so I write various stories and when I find Internet access I will blog them all together...I have decided to write most in English first of all for economy of time, then because I believe most of you understand English but Spanish no and also cause for the last 15 days I speak English so it comes out more naturally...

I would like to explain you what I have been doing till now and what are the projects here that with your support also, we are trying to carry out. I'm being hosted by a local family named Odula family. The head of the family is Mr. Michael (a retired since 9 years now but no tired teacher and ex principal of the secondary school of the area). Many years ago, he had the idea to bring European students to practice during their summer holidays and so Scandinavian students started to arrive on rusinga island to give classes. He was offering accommodation and a opportunity to get integrated and interact with the local community. He also owned various hectares of land so they had also some plantations to work with. He developed a very nice relationship with them year by year more people were coming. He visited them and through some people he managed to get a sponsorship from the Finnish government so they can built a water mill by the lake. This cost 3000 euros 20 years ago and in that way the hospital that is near the mill has free access to fresh water and the people also get various advantages from this mill. He also was amongst the pioneers in the area that started planting many trees and having an environmental conscience. He attended a 3 months course in Israel about perm culture development and he was several times invited to environmental conventions in various countries.
The visitors continue coming and one of them suggested a Michael to put his farm in the woofing list so more people know about this opportunity so for the last 15 years they host Europeans, Americans, Australians...

After his retirement he continued being active and he used some of his land to built a school for the young children of the area (the ones that don't go yet to the public primary school, aged 3 to 6 years. He hired to teachers and with a minimum of a fee offers them their first education. Learning to read and write before the go to the primary school. The name of the school is milimany academy that means the school up in the hill. There are 35 children going there (2 of them his grandchildren) till 12:00h and after they are free to go to their families. Many of the children are orphans and they stay with the rest of their families. Its very common here that the orphans stay with their grandparents, uncles etc...Every day after the break they have a cup of porridge offered by the Odula family and I can assure you they enjoy it a lot.
The pension of a retired teacher in Kenya is 10.000 sheilings and the wage something more than 22.000, so you can imagine that he doesn't support this project alone but he depends a lot on the donations that people who know him, gives him. For example the other day I handed to his wife 5000 sheilings from the money we have gathered and we went to the village and we bought flour and the rest necessary things for the porridge that will last at least 45 days..theirs where the visitors sleep and in general terms they try to make us feel as comfortable as it gets.




.


Since last year, milimani academy has a sister called Badilisha project and thEy have been involved many people since its beginnings. Some volunteers from Holland and Germany managed to get some grants from organizations and ministries and they help a lot in the starting of this project which aim is to help and educate the community, mostly the most vulnerable members (orphans, women, HIV patients, young mothers). For start they fenced a piece of land that some local person donate them. They built the office, they put a solar panel so they can have energy supply, the use a 5 tonnes tank to gather water during the rain season and they planted corns, beans, bananas, tomatoes and other vegetables that can be consumed. The main idea is that slowly slowly they help the local people to overcome some of the difficulties they come across daily. For example, with some of the money they pay exam fees for some of the students of the primary and secondary school, children are allowed to come and borrow books from the library that slowly slowly is being created by donations of books and have water also to drink after school. (I have to say here that the area that we are talking about is the area of the island that electricity and water companies have abandoned. Energy from the sun, water from the lake and the rains). They also offer condoms to sexual active people and various types of medicine that have managed to gather and sometimes during the year they offer workshops about ecological farming and non violent communication.

As I have told you in the e mail that I sent to the most of you they wanted to start a feeding project in order the most vulnerable children of the area to be able to have lunch during the school break from 12:30 to 14:00 hoping that every time the number of children being helped increases. To happen all this first we need a kitchen where the food will e cooked and a storage room where to put the supplies so after calculations and having on mind the amount of money available we went and buy the materials and already started on building it and we hope that very soon it will be completed. From the photos you will understand that we are talking about simple things and constructions but believe me it will be a lot appreciated and well used...



Anyway, I know that we are all in times of thin cows but 3 beers in a night out in Barcelona or in Athens, here can serve for a family to pass the week. I gave the other day 200 sheilings to a widow relative of Michael and you cannot imagine the happiness on her face and how many times she told me thanks. I know that this is not a solution but hopefully with a better approach of the situation (thing that I believe is happening slowly slowly) it's possible that more children get well educated and with their turn be participants and active members of the change that we all dream and want...


For that reason I would like to thank you again for all your participation and willingness that you showed when I asked you about donations and spreading the word and as you can understand I would appreciate a lot if you continue spreading the word and whoever wants and is able to continue contributing...

time is the master

It has been a week that I am on the island and even if my mind says that one week is 7 days and each day has 24 hours, it doesn't feel that way. Feels like I' ve been here for much more time. Talking about that with Michael (the retired but not tired teacher that hosts us), he told me that time seems faster when you are busy doing things, but then I think of all the things I have done since I came and it doesn't seem right. Maybe time seemed slow because it has been a week of adaptation and a week for elaborating all these new experiences. From one day to another I found my self as a member of an African rural family, sharing with them food, laughs, stories, sadness, happiness, visions...From one day to another I' m waking up with the cock's singing, going to bed at 22:00h and having my necessities done in the old fashioned way trying to hit the target (inside the hole).

Seeing children of 4-6 years old watching their families animals, carrying water, woods, babies. Watching the fishermen preparing their nets and then take their boats and row into the lake wishing that they are going to catch the necessary to feed the family first and then sell one part of the rest to the other people of the village for 100 sheilings per kilo and the other part to the companies for 150 per kilo. Seeing the women with the donkeys every day carrying water from the lake to the house, washing their dishes at the lake, washing their hair and their babies at the lake...Wondering about the ironic that it is to have all this immense quantity of water just some hundreds meters away and at the same time see the crops and the rest plantations dying from the lack of rains...


Spending 15 minutes watching the sun going down by the lake, admiring the colours and the sounds and in 30 seconds suddenly get attacked from millions of sea flies and mosquitos and start running back to the house...Feeling like a politician every time you are moving by car or a moto and all the children when they see the muzungu start cheering and waving their hands and you start also waving and smiling...



So many things that are the natural way here but for most of us are images from some old movies or the lucky ones from stories that granfathers were saying....Well, it looks that I was busy doing things but at the same time I am in a peace of mind and maybe thats the reason of feeling the time going by slowly....Time will tell.:-)

pole pole

When I first arrived to Rusinga island and visited the badilisha place, Evans (the responsible of the project) told me that this is the center of the world. At the beginning it seamed just a joke, just a way of saying but as the days goes by I realize pole pole (Swahili for slowly slowly) that it was not just a funny comment. It starts feeling like time has stopped some decades ago or better say it feels like going back to time but having with you some comodities of todays life such as spotlights, solar panels, ipods, cameras,mobiles and SOMETIMES internet also.
The fears and worries, that I had during the last months, for the new experience that I was going to have, as far as now they have proved just a mind game that most of us have before entering in the unknown. Fortunately, all the good feelings and sensations that mostly were present during this last months, have been reliable and I feel really lucky for being able to experience this other reality of the multiples that exist in this life.


Someone once said that happiness is not the same if you don't share it with someone and I support this to the fullness. Lately, I'm sharing it with the people here but also with all the people I care about, even if they are not physically present. Many times I have read the fairytale that I was given in Barcelona (thanks again anna ce), many times I am thinking all my friends and every time it feels very nice to realize that you are not alone or may I say that in this lonely trip that everyone of us, does from the moment that we see the daylight (or night light) till the moment we take our last breath, it's very important to come across with other fellow travelers and feel accompanied-accompanying...

I feel like giving thanks to each and all of you and hope that soon we will have the opportunity to share more experiences and we will continue learning so many things from each other.

a map in nairobi

Hello everybody...its been 4 days now that I'm on the island of Rusinga and its great. Life here is like in the farm of Jack Daniels...No electricity, no running water from a tab, lots of animals around (cats, dogs, chickens, cows, goats, bats and of course lots lots birds…time passes slow and there are many hours of just sitting on your sofa, feeling the breeze, listening to African music and having long conversations with the family that hosts us. They are very nice people and they share with us their daily life and experiences and also they are doing a lot of good work for the community of rusinga…Of course during the morning we go to the nursery school where I'm spending time with the children and soon I will write more details about everything here on Rusinga. I have to say that the internet conexion is hard to be found and when you find it you have to be vary patient...But first I would like to share a story with you...is going to be long so take a relax sit, the smokers light a cigarette and here we go.....

Ps: it’s impossible to upload the photos. Maybe next time…



The last day in Nairobi, we decided with Inga to go alone to the city and do some last things before we go to the island. I wanted to go to the immigration office to ask about a multi entry visa (I have a single entry visa and if I go to Ethiopia and come back to Kenya to take the plane I'll need another one) and she wanted to check something on her mobile and exchange some money also. So we took a matatu from the suburb that Joseph lives and there they are 2 muzungus in the center of Nairobi. I had a rough idea where the office is so we started walking, after some minutes I want to be sure that we are going the right way so I took out a map of Nairobi, 10 seconds later a black man stopped and ask us what are we looking for and if he can help us.
 We are heading towards the immigration office. I said
 Ah, its five minutes from here, you see this big building? He said.
 Yes, we said.
 That's the one, he continued.
 Ok thanks, we go there.
 But now its not a good time to go, there will be a lot of people. Better if you go around half two

I looked my watch and it was 14:25.

 Well, my friend is almost half two.
 Ohh, my watch is not going well then he said. And where are you from? He continued.

In order not to explain everything I said to him that we are both from Germany.

 Ohhh, from Germany. Big country and from what I know is a European country. By the way, my name is John and I'm a teacher of Enlish and mathematics in a secondary school.

The guy seemed something like 45 years old, with a shirt and a suit and his face and the way he was talking was very funny.
 So, why don't we take a coffee for 5 minutes and you tell me more things about Germany, i'm very interested in learning about countries outside Africa.
 No problem, we said.

After all the office is very near from here. So we went to a cafe that smoking is available and I had black coffee, Inga had a coke and John a tea with milk. We started talking about the educational system of Germany and Kenya. He told us that at the same time that he works part time teacher, he studies a career in economy and there 3 years left to finish the university. We were having a very nice time the three of us, talking, laughing, smoking. I even said him that I was from Greece and not from Germany and no problem at all. I asked his age and he told us 36. We even spoke about religions and all these in 25-30 minutes. At one point he went to the toilet and I said to Inga “ that happens when you open a map in Nairobi” and we laughed about that.
Later on he tells us that he is not Kenyan but from Zimbabwe and that has been in Nairobi for 3 weeks. He and some other students have been expelled from the regimen of Mugabe and that they had to flew from Zimbabwe to Malawi then Tanzania and then Kenya to find a student Christian organization that can help them to go to England to continue their studies. At the Kenyan borders a man that works for the railway help them to get inside and gave them host in his house in Nairobi and the whole family has been very helpful and they have managed to obtain them some documents but the organization is no more based in Kenya but in Zambia. So they need to go to Zambia. From Kenya to Zanzibar by boat and then with another boat go to Tanzania and from there by sneaking go to Zambia. In total 18 days trip. We kept asking him various questions about Zimbabwe, his family, his friends etc and he was responding to all with no problem. So after he had explained all his adventure (past and future) with many details he told us that the cost for all that is about 180 euros and they have managed to gather till now 60 euros, so he asked us politely if we can contribute by any way and if we want we can give him our e mails so he writes us when he arrives safe to Zambia. We told him that we can give him 20 euros and we gave him our e mails. Time was passing so we asked for the bill and when the waiter came we also asked him to take a photo with the 3 of us. So after a while we gave him the money.


Till that point the story looks like a human, sensitive, honest and believable story where strange people meet and they communicate well and deep from the beginning. But thats too good to be true...
:-)
Ten seconds after we gave him the money a guy appears and he shows his id card telling us that he works for the Kenyan government and that the Zimbabwe man is being watched because he is a bandit and wanted.
 In Kenya we don't want bandit people and we want our tourists to have a good time in the country. So now, this man is going to be taken to a car nearby and we will have to go to have a chat with another man, in a cafe next to where we are.
Another man came, dressed very well and he showed us also his id card where we could see Kenyan armed office or something like that. As you can understand the situation changed immediately. From relaxed time with nice chat we found ourselves into this kind of conversation. The first man took John towards a car and the other escort us to another table where he started telling us about 10 years ago the american embassy has been attacked by terrorists and since then they are very careful and bla bla bla. 3 minutes later the first guy came with the paper of our e mail in his hands and told us that he found that John was carrying with him many banknotes of euros , dollars and sheilings that are fake ones and also some grams of cocaine and tomorrow is going to be taken to the court. But as they show us giving him money they have to check our money in the office because he may tell to the court that we gave him these fake money, so we will be in trouble.
We asked them to show us again their id cards and the first guy in a tough way he told us
 This is not a movie, don't think that you can do whatever you like.
I asked him if I can call a friend of mine in Nairobi and his reply was “ Don't even think about it”. Inga started talking to me in Spanish and his reaction was “ stop talking in your language”. All these were a bit intimated and we started to worry. We said to them that we want to come with them in the office where the money will be checked but they told us that we cannot enter a government building so we said we can wait down the building but the kept on telling us to take out our money and that in 15 minutes they will be back and no problem if the money are OK. We kept on saying that we want to go with them and no way we give our money to them like this. So the tough guy again told us “ do you want me to call the police and take you to the station where you will have to spend the night there and see what will happen tomorrow to the court? This is not a movie”. And we told him “ yes, call the police”. At that point the other guy told us that we can go with him to the building and give him the money there, we said OK and we started walking on the street. During our walk he asked us about our countries, about our visit in Kenya and other stuff and he had employed a very friendly attitude. After 10 minutes walking we were in the entrance of a place like a commercial center and he asked us again to give him the money and in 5 minutes he will be back. We didn't see any government building so we refused again and then he said “ OK, lets have a coffee and I will explain you some things. So here we are again in another cafe (this time I took a Tusker) and he started telling us that we have to be careful, that Kenya could be a dangerous place and that his boss will not be happy but he will tell him that he checked the money and were good and that he forgives us for everything and that he will tell to the other guy to destroy the paper with our e mails as along as we give him some sheilings so he can spare some beers with his colleague. As you can imagine at that point we just wanted to have this story ended so we gave him 2000 sheilings and he left. I looked at Inga and I said to her “ That's happen when you open a map in Nairobi”.
The next hours we kept talking about that and every time it was more clear that we got conned and that was a very well organized plan since the beginning. They were many clues about that but at the moment the situation was different. We were having a relaxing time with a man and suddenly we were being talked about terrorism, about no movies etc, in a strange country and I forgot to tell you that 2 minutes before the opening of the map I was telling Inga that I saw on the news that Kenya is the most corrupted country in east Africa and that the police department of Nairobi the most corrupted in the region, so at that point everything seemed possible. Of course after that and with our minds clear we could see that we could have avoided all this adventure but if not how it would have been possible to say the world famous saying “ I wish I knew then, what I know now”.
Sometimes you have to pay to learn and these guys are still probably drinking beers in our health, but what can you do. Sometimes you lose ,sometimes you win. I can imagine many of you laughing of what happened and I can tell you that we also laughed a lot with our selves and our naivety but I can assure you at that moment it was nothing funny, rather frightening. They crossed my mind images of jail and movies (midnight express) and of course my mother that has been telling me lots of times not to trust easily the people I don't know and as we all now very well “Mum, there is only one” but if I was listening all the things she has told me I wouldn't have met many of you people, and for that reason I'm glad that sometimes I ignore what Mrs. Maro tells me...

Rizzla

Hello again, today friday is my last day in Nairobi and the internet cafe i;m in, is a very very slow one...Yesterday, after going to the airport at 05:30a.m to pick up the german volunteer (Inga) that we will be together on the island, we had breakfast and then went to town . After buying a sim card for inga i wanted to buy some smoking papers cause i've been running out..I asked Nancy where i can find and she asked another person who told her we have to go downtown and there ask again..so we went downtown nairobi and we starte the quest...One shop telling us we have to go further, the next one the same, the other one telling us that is illegal to sell smoking papers in kenya (whatttt?). So after asking more than 6-7 shops we found one in a small street. Outside of this some 3 guys standing.
Nancy went to ask and one of them came to us very very cautionally.
He asked how many we want,
we said whats the price,
he said 50 sheilings,
i said i want 2,
ok he said.... come with me...
so we went in front of the shop where he called inside soemone to bring him rizzla papers. While the other guy was searching for the papers he said to me that i have to give him 50 sheilings also, for taking me there...
but I came here, i said...
yeah, but if i doesnt say to give you he will not give you...its illegal to sell rizzla in Kenya.
Ok, we will see i said...and all the time of the conversation he was looking around him like if he was giving me the hardest drug ever...woawwww. I felt like i was doing something very very dangerous.
After some seconds the guy inside gave him something rolled in a newspaper, he took it, we did some steps and he unwrapped the newspaper and eureka...there were 2 packets of rizzla red.I asked if they had grey ones (what a question ?)...he said red ones are the best and if i want other color i have to go very very far so i took the red ones , i gave him 50 sheilings and we went away...While all this they rest of the persons were looking at me and the girls (not with a bad eye i shall say but their presence wasnt very comfortable) Till now the most surrealistic experience i had in kenya..It was incredible all the proccess from asking Nancy at the beginning till the last moment that the guy after taking the 50 sheilings wanted also to introduce him to the girls and that he liked a lot Nancy...woaw,
Well, as you can imagine we went to have a cofee later and i smoked 3 cigaretes one behind the other...i risked about this papers...Joseph later joked about this telling me that i would have been the first person in the world being arrested for buying smoking papers...
After all this we went to visit the national museum of Nairobi where there was a very interesting exhibition of fotos by Patrick Amory and a very nice exhibition of the evolution from 30.000 millions years ago till now..Next to the museum there is a snake park but we couldn enter cause they were in renovations and wont be opened till next week...

I forgot to tell you that smoking on the street is prohibited in kenya since the begining of the year and who wants to have a cigarete outside, has to go to a construction like a cage and smoke there..people inside the cages all together, like animals smoking..crazy. At least you can smoke in the bars that have smoking zones...Maybe its a oportunity to quit smoking. LETS SEE

unos dias tipicos en nairobi :-)

Segundo dia....Ya he comunicado con Joseph y quedamos en 1 hora en mi hotel. Viene con una mujer y me dice q ella me acompanyara a la tienda de su tia porque el tiene que trabajar unas 4 horas mas. Nos vamos los 3 hasta un punto y luego el se va por un lado y nosotros por el otro. Entramos en un edificio de 3-4 plantas donde cada planta tiene como 15-20 negocios y mucha mucha gente pasando , y uno de ellos es de la senyora Salome (la tia de Joseph). Entro y hay unas 5-6 mujeres todas sonriendo y saludandome. Me presento a todas y me siento en un silla. La tia es la jefa y las demas trabajan alli. El negocio es un salon de belleza pero no solo. Tambien arreglan ropas, hacen fotocopias, es una agencia de trabajo y mas cosas que no pude captar seguro. Y todo eso en un espacio no mas que 20 metros cuadrados. Asi que el Tasuli estaba sentado en un salon con 6 mujeres, mirando la tele, leyendo revistas de mujeres y charlando un pokito. Me dijeron que como era lunes no habia mucho trabajo asi que les propuse si quieren hacer algo con mi pelo y ellas estaban super contentas y claro que si. Me preguntaron que quiero y yo pensando que no es coincidencia que mi segundodia estoy en una peluqueria y todo eso con los senyales que ultimamente tengo en la cabeza (porque sera?) les dije que porke no hacemos dreadlocks y ellas ok. En la tele en este momento aparecio un reportaje sobre Grecia y la norma antifumadora que entra en vigor ahora. No me lo podia creer. En Africa, en Nairobi, en un salon de belleza, con 3 mujeres sobre mi cabeza y un reportaje sobre grecia...hmmmmm senyales?










Pero hubo malentendido. Ellas entendieron que yo querria hacer algo como trenzas y no rastas asi que 3 y pico horas despues de estar sentado en la silla, con una cantidad enorme de cera en mi cabeza y haber pasado de la tortura de la silla calorosa que tienen las peluquerias (lo siento pero no se como se llaman esas sillas con la maquina arriba que se ponen en las cabezas y no ves nada y te da mucho calor) el resultado no era nada de lo que yo querria. Por cortesiano les dije nada, he preguntado que debo y Joseph vino y nos fuimos a comer algo.
Luego en casa tuve que ducharme por 23 minutos con champoo y tal para sacar toda esa cera de mi cabeza.
Pero bueno, ha sido muy divertido e interesante. Interactuar y estar en un lugar tipico de mujeres (por cierto, mientras me hacian todo eso vinieron otras clientas, vendedoras de frutas, senyores solo para ver la tele un rato y en general mucha gente que querrian ver el muzungu (swahili para decir hombre blanco) ha sido una experiencia unica...AND THAT'S MONDAY....




El dia despues, la sobrina de Joseph se ofrecio de hacerme de quia por nairobi asi que despues de desayunar en un sitio super lindo (desde donde su ventana puedes ver una de las principales calles de nairobi con sus colores, sus ruidos,los ritmos a veces super rapido de la gente, los matatus...etc) fuimos a pasear por uno de los mercados de la ciudad, a ver el parlamento (corruption center lo llaman aqui) y luego encontramos una amiga de Nancy y cogimos un matatu y nos fuimos al parque nacional de nairobi unos 7 kms a las afueras. Alli, tomando una tusker en la terraza del restaurante, que segun Nancy solo van los muzungus, he visto por primera vez en mi vida bambuinos. Aparecieron de repente desde el bosque, subieron a un arbol unos 10 metros de donde estabamos nosotros y empezaron a comer frutas y semillas, suuuuper tranquilos...wooooaaaww, impresionante y super lindo. No quise sacar fotos, no se porque...tal vez para guardar esta imagen solo para mi, tal vez para no estropear el momento tan lindo preocupandome si el angulo es ta bien y si la luz y si el iso..yo que se! Unos metros mas alla aparecio una pequenya gazela comiendo un poco de hierba pero se fue rapido...
Despues esa experiencia decidimos entrar en el orfanato de animales que existe alli. Es un sitio donde el gobierno y el organismo para la vida salvaje de kenya tienen para cuidar animales que encuentran o heridos, o super pequenyos y abandonados o en general animales salvajes que estan en peligro y la intencion es rehabilitarles y devolverlos en la jungla o por lo menos en los parque naturales...Pues he visto de cerca un crocodilo, varios leones y leoneses, cheetahs, leopardales, muchos monos de diferentes categorias, bambuinos, buffalos, pavos reales, cerdos salvajes y muchos muchos pajaros...Tampoco quise fotografiarles no para que se me quede la imagen para mi si no porke me daba un poco de pena ver esas bestias encerradas en sus sitios (aunque habia mucho espacio pero un cheetah es un cheetah y necesita correr atope etc...asi que solo fotografie otra pekenia gasela que estaba dando vueltas por alli...
Despues unas horitas en el parque cogimos otro matatu para volver en el ciudad y fuimos a encontrar joseph a la peluqueria de su tia. Al entrar las senyoras vinieron muy preocupadas por mi, me pidieron perdon y que si quiero puedo volver y hacer dreadlocks..Les dije HAKUNA MATATA y que no se preocupan para nada y ya veremos que pasara..A cenar algo, unas tusker y coger matatu pa casa...And that's Tuesday..:-)

Buenas everybody! Ya estoy en Africa y hakuna matata...perdonad mis fallos ortograficos y adelante..............
Primer dia en Nairobi. Habia quedado con un amigo de amigo esperarme en el aeropuerto, llego y no hay nadie con algun cartel escrito mi nombre y tal esperandome...Aha, no pasa nada! Cigarillo, cambiar dinero y a esperar un rato a ver si aparece alquien..Me vienen 3-4 personas ofreciendome taxis etc. Les explico q estoy esperando un amigo y si no viene ya veremos. No hace mucho calor y tampoco hay mucha gente. Aunque parecia tranquilo, dentro estaba un poco tenso pero bueno...Empiezo a mirar a mis alrededores y a respirar aire africano...No aparece nadie. Ok! Encuentro un taxista y le digo q necesitare un hostel tambien, no problem dijo. Vamos a su coche, ponemos las cosas atras, entramos PERO, el coche no arranca. Ups, ek taxista habia olvidado las luces encendidas y asi la bateria murio. De repente se juntaron 5-6 personas, miraban la bateria y hablaban entre ellos. No hace falta decir que no entendia sus palabras pero si entendia el sentido.Unos minutos depues aparecio otro con 2 cables y lograron ponerlo en marcha. Mientras tanto yo iba pensando, vaya, primeros minutos en Africa y ya me aparecieron 2 marrones pero de repente uno de ellos me dice " Aqui en africa cuando ocurren cosas como este decimos que es buena suerte porque quizas el malo te estaba esperando mas alla pero ahora con el retraso ya se ha ido....me gusta esta manera de pensar y ya tenia mi primer senyal que la aventura africana esta en buen camino...En el coche hablando con el taxista me senti aun mas comodo, el es de la zona donde esta la isla y me hablo muy bien por la zona y la gente de alli..Antes de llegar al hotel cruzamos la Haile Selassie Avenue y una sonrisa grande aparecio en mi boca :-)
Llegamos al hotel y el numero de habitacion que me toco es 69...hmmm! Entro en la habitacion y desde la ventana se oyen psalmos y haleluias. Es domingo y hay misas...hmmmm! Una ducha rapida y a salir por la calle. El jaleo en si. Gente por todas partes, coches, matatus, musica, colores y por supuesto...Todos negros\as! Creo q no vi ni un blanco por mucha hora y la verdad q me sentia muy tranquilo. Continue andando por las calles, intentando no alejarme mucho de mi hostel.Compre una sim card y aparecio el primer safari adventurer intentando convecerme ir a safari. Le digo q no me interesa y continuo.4 minutos mas tarde otro safari adventurer, le pido si tiene un mapa de nairobi y me dice ir con el a la oficina y me da una asi que fuimos. Alli por 20 minutos me explico todas las excursiones q ofrece con todas las detalles. Cuando acabo le digo, y esa mapa? AA, mi companyera no esta en su despacho ahora y es ella quien guarda las mapas asi q no tengo..hmmmm!
Ya eran las 18:00 y el acababa su turno y se ofrecio a llevarme a un bar al lado a tomar una cerveza (Tusker) con musica africana en directo. Asi que en 3 horas q Tasuli estaba en nairobi ya estaba tomando cervezitas con un blackman (Richard) escuchando musica africana en directo..hmmm. Una, dos, tres, cuatro cervezitas hablando con richard sobre varias cosas y el por supuesto intentando convencerme apuntarme en algun safari...Ya habia un poco de hambre y le digo que si hay algun lugar para comer y me dice, te llevare a un bar donde hay musica reggae los domingos y alli puedes comer tambien. Pues ya esta, no querria nada mas. Entramos en un bar (monte carlo) donde habian mas q 200 blackman, otros bailando, otros comiendo pero casi todos mirando futbol (brazil-usa) en la tele (sin voz).
AFRICA- REGGAE - TUSKER - FUTBOL- POLLO CON CURRY. Tasuli contento. Ya en mi primer dia habia hecho la mayoria de mis cosas favoritas..charlar, bailar reggae, ver futbol, tomar cervezitas....hmmmmm! :-). And that is sunday...!!!!
Ya era medianoche y el cansancio empezo a entrar. Richard me acompanyo al hotel donde dormi como un pajaro hasta las 06:30 cuando al lado de hostel empezo musicasuper alto.No se q hacian pero no me molesto nada.Cambie de lado y dormi 2 horitas mas...Desperte bien, 5 minutos en la cama para darme cuenta que he despertado en africa-ducha-breakfast y a la calle. Mucho mas gente, colores, ruidos, matatus...Entro en un cybercafe y veo q tengo mail de la persona q iba a esperarme en aeropuerto..sorry pero bla bla y ese es mi numero. Le llamo, quedamos y hakuna matata....bueno, un abrazo a todos y cuando pueda seguire escribiendo.
Estoy contento y con ganas de ver que hay por venir!

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Hello everybody, i am allready in Africa and HAKUNA MATATA...Sorry for my gramatical and orthografical errors and here we go...
First day in Nairobi...I was supposed to arrive atthe airport and there would be a friend of a friend waiting for me. I went out from the door waiting to see someone with my name on a paper, but nothing. Ok, i thought, no problem! I rolled a cigarete, i exchange some money and i waited some minutes to see if someone appears..nop. Except 2-3 taxi drivers, no sign of my friends friend (Joseph). I decided to take a taxi and take me to a hostel. When we put the luggage in the car, he couldnt put the car to start. " I forgot the lights on so now no battery" he said. He went out of the car, opened the thing and imediately 5-6 persons came to see. They started looking the battery and talking to each other. I wasnt understand anything but i could imagine what they were talking about. Some minutes later there is a man coming with 2 cables and the manage to start the car and everyone happy..During this i was thinking: well, i'm only 15 minutes in africa, the person didnt come and the car broke down, but that moment one of the persons told me " here in africa when we have problems like this we say its good luck because maybe bad things were waiting for you on the road but now with this delay they gone away...Ilike this way of thinking and i took it as a first sign that my african adventure is going to the right path..
Inside the taxi, talking with the taximan i felt very comfortable. He is from the same region that i will be going (rusinga island) and he told me that the area is very nice and the people very very friendly...On the way to the hostel we crosse the Haile Selassie Avenue and i couldnt stop a big smile on my face. We arrived at the hotel and number of the room was 69. I entered the room and i could hear from next to th ebuilding psalmes and haleluyas...hmmmm its sunday! I had a quick shower and i went out to see the city trying no to get far away from my hostel..crazyness!Lots of people,sounds, colors,matatus,music...i realized that for the last 20 minutes i havent seen not even one white man..hmmm!i felt comfortable with that!
Some safari adventurers came to me telling me about the safari excursions and bla bla..i avoided some but there was one that i asked him if he has a nairobi map to give me and he told me come to the office and i'l give you there...Ok i thought, lets go. We arrived at the office, he introduced me to his boss and then he started talking with every detail about tha various excursion that the office organize. I didnt want to be unpolite so i waited till he finished and asked him about the map..aaa,my colleague that is responsible for the maps is not here right now and the desc is locked so no map...hmmmm!
He offered to have a beer with me in a bar next door with open space and live african music (i dont know if i had seen it if he didnt tell me), so in less than 3 hours in nairobi tassuli was taking beers (Tusker) with a blackman and listening to live african music. One beer brought another while with the safari man (richard) we were talking about many things and of course he was talking alot about the safaris and the excursions so he can conveice me to take one. Some beers later i told him that i was a bit hungry and he told me that he would take me to a place that on sundays they play reggae music and you can eat also..Thats it, i didnt need nothing else to be convinced. We went to a bar (Monte Carlo) where more than 200 blackmans were or dancing, or eating but everyone of them wathcing the confederation cup final on the muted tv ((brazil-usa) and the majority of them were with brazil.
AFRICA-REGGAE-TUSKER-FUTBOL-CHICKEN WITH CURRY. Tassuli was happy. On my first day i had done many of the things that i love. Talk,dance reggae, have beers and watch futbol...and thats Sunday!!!
It was allready midnight and i was a bit tired soi richard escort me till the hostel where i slept like a bird. At 06:30 loud music down from my window woke me up but i didnt mind at all. I changed side and i slept 2 hours more.
When i woke up i spent 5 minutes on the bed to realize that i woke up in africa, i had a shower, breakfast and out again..much more people,much more matatus, colors, sounds..i found a cybercafe and i saw an email from Joseph saying that he lost his mobile the other day and he couldnt comunicate with me but now he has a new one. I called him and we finally meet.......
I feel happy and with many positive energy about what is coming next....
greetings to everyone

testing

viernes 19 de junio 2009, en un mes es mi cumpleanos y cumplire 33 tacos! Pero por primera vez no los celebrare en tierras europeas...Tasuli se va a AFRICA... Bueno, esa entrada es un test para ver que saldra en el web...es mi primera vez de hacer algo parecido asi que nada..testing , testing :-)