Some of you may recall the theme tune to an 80's sitcom called 'The Wonder Years'. The Wonder Years was a great show that, as a young boy, gave me an insight into how to deal with the challenges that i would face as an adolescent – how to talk to girls for example! Anyway, the theme tune was a song that has been covered many times, most famously by Joe Cocker – '(I get by) with a little help from my friends'. True friends in life should be treasured, they get you through life's gristle and you always laugh longer and harder with someone with whom you have shared the highs and the lows of your life. And so it was that I met up with two true friends in Rio – Wandy and Scott. We began a 3 week adventure navigating from Rio to Salvador, spreading Bovology, minimilistic dancing, getting robbed, getting introduced to the 'Brotherhood', uncovering the fact that nothing makes sense in Brazil, 'meeting' the girl from Ipanema (the new one!), discovering the best bar in Brazil and generally having a bloody good time – Happy Days (incidentally another great sitcom!).
What better place to start an adventure than in Rio de Janeiro? As mentioned in my previous blog, Rio has a truly breathtaking setting, and i finally got to appreciate just how beautiful when we scampered up the famous 'Sugar Loaf' peak to get an incredible panoramic view of the city – its sky scrappers, its beaches, its favelas and its jagged mountain peaks – amazing. Unfortunately the view from the Cristo Redentor (the famous statue of Jesus Christ that looms over the city, arms outstretched) was not so good as the clouds rolled in and obscured the statue from view – still it gave it a slightly mystical edge.
Whilst in Rio I finally managed to get to a football match in South America – and what a setting – The Maracana stadium (arguably the biggest football stadium in the world...and certainly one of the most famous). We watched two of the biggest rivals in Brazilian football (Flamengo v's Vasco de Gama) go head to head in a crazy game involving 5 red cards! There is always at least one red card in every South American game – it seems to be a tradition – and no-one even batted an eyelid at 5! In the premier league most of the challenges wouldn't have even merited a yellow card, let alone a red! The quality of the football was actually surprisingly low, but the atmosphere was awesome - the stadium was over 3 quarters full (more than 75,000 people) - great night.
Ouro Preto was the next stop for the trio – a beautiful little university town set in the mountains about 7 hours North West of Rio. It was built during the 'gold rush' era of the 1800's and retains all of its character and charm – cobble streets abound and there seemed to be more churches than people! We spent 3 days walking around the city, visiting a dis-used gold mine (which involved swimming in a sub-subterranean lake) and meeting the 'Brotherhood'. Most of you will be familiar with the sorority/fraternity system that many universities have in the States. I have always viewed these organisations with a certain amount of disdain. People only party with, or date, people that belong to the same sorority/fraternity - or one of similar standing – people are judged on what sorority/fraternity they belong to and, in general, it seems, that they encourage people to only mix with those of the same social standing, racial and religious background. Now, for me, this eradicates one of the most important aspects of going to University – the opportunity to mix with people from all different backgrounds, to listen to other opinions and ideas and, ultimately, to reduce ones ignorance and develop a more rounded view of the world in which we live. The Brotherhood/Sisterhood tradition in the University of Ouro Preto, on face value, appears to mimic the sorority/fraternity system in the states (you have to 'apply' to get accepted as part of a brotherhood/sisterhood and you live in the same house as all the others in the same brotherhood/sisterhood), but once you get under the surface you realise what its all about – to humiliate the 1st years, to get 3 years free accommodation and to generally have a bloody good time! Basically the boys that want to join a Brotherhood have to endure a year of 'torture' by their older 'brothers'. The bare minimum is that for 6 months of their first year the older brothers are allowed to cut the hair of the new applicants in any way they desire (words shaved into heads, images of female genitalia, chunks of hair!), they have to wear a 'sandwich board' style piece of card around their necks (for 6 months!) and get girls to sign it...and have to get drunk, every day, for 6 months (regardless of whether they have exams or coursework!). We spent a great night with a bunch of these wannabe 'brothers' in a suitably dirty student bar, getting drunk and joining in the 'brotherhood' chants (they all have their own song), and whilst there is a strong bond between 'brothers' – all the brotherhoods mix together to ensure their university days are the best of their lives!
We left Ouro Preto happy, if a little damp (it rained every day), and so went in search of sun, sea and sand. This involved a 24 hour bus journey (not helped by a 4 hour traffic jam) – a challenge for Wandy and Scott – arriving in Arrail d'Ajuda, a highly recommended beach resort. The beaches were nice but, to be honest, we were a bit put off by the lack of people (its low season now) and the 'theme park' feel to the place (the main street has been purpose built for tourists in recent years and felt a bit 'fake').
From Arrail d'Ajuda we continued North for a further 8 hours to another recommended beach resort and this time we stumbled on an absolute gem, and my favourite place in Brazil – Itacare. An incredibly laid back town, with some of the friendliest people I have ever met, some of the most stunning beaches I have seen and the best bar in Brazil – Favela! We spent 5 days chilling on the beaches, watching Scott attempt to surf (he did stand up once – i saw it – for about 3 seconds!), meeting some great people, dancing on the beach and having 5 great nights in Favela! Just to explain – Favela is a wooden shack, with a tree as part of the decor! Due to the small size of Itacare, and the the lack of bars, everyone ends up there. Its just an incredibly down-to-earth, friendly bar with a mix of tourists and locals, all of whom are there for one thing – to have a good time! It only reinforces my belief that in order to have a good night, its all about the people you are with and the atmosphere created by those around you – it didn't matter that the bar was in worse condition than the shed in my mothers back garden – I loved it!
After 5 nights of partying we needed to cleanse ourselves, and what better way than in a stunningly beautiful park called Chapada Diamantina. We arrived in Lencois (the starting point for treks into the park, and a very pretty town in its own right) and promptly booked a 2-day guided trek in the park. The trek involved an overnight stay in a cave, plenty of huffing and puffing of steep hills, some downright dangerous rock hopping/climbing, 3 absolutely stunning waterfalls and for one, long, hour the very real fear of impending death!! Ok, so the photos can illustrate the cave, the views and the waterfalls, but the last point needs some explanation! In order to reach the largest and most spectacular of the waterfalls we had to trek along a river through a narrow canyon for the best part of a day. This involved some pretty risky leaps of faith from rock to rock along the river bed, swimming through the canyon and climbing up waterfalls! For these reasons we left most of our equipment (sleeping bags, rain macs, extra clothes etc) in a cave and continued with the bare minimum. Upon our return to the cave we discovered that our bags had been opened and money had been stolen (bear in mind we had not seen another soul for the last 2 days). Before we knew what was happening our guide, Washington, instantly took off without saying a word and we were left sitting by the cave, on our own, in the middle of a vast wilderness without so much as a compass! To start with we thought Washington had just gone to see if he could hear/see anyone in the immediate area...but as time passed we began to get increasingly concerned. The sun was starting to set and we were a good 2-3 hours trek to our pick-up point with no way of getting there (the park is riddled with different trails). A period of 15 minutes went by when no-one said anything, then all sorts of theories started to get banded around – was Washington in on it – had he arranged the theft, were the rest of our valuables we had left in the hostel owned by his mum also gone, had Washington been captured by the group of thieves, were we going to have to spend a second, sleepless night in the park...after 45 minutes we were getting really worried – it was at this point that i noticed some white 'rocks' in the dusty soil – as I poked them I realised they were not rocks, but bones – and large ones...the more i looked the more i found – the atmosphere changed – what the hell was going on – were all the horror stories that i had heard about Brazil about to come true – were we about to be killed for the sake of £30 and a few smelly clothes?! Over an hour had passed when we suddenly heard somebody approaching – running hard – we all braced ourselves to see who was going to burst through the undergrowth – this was the moment of truth – would we fight back or crumble into submission??...it was a massive relief when Washington appeared! Apparently he had an intuition of who had stolen the money (a recluse living in a cave on the other side of a nearby mountain) and ran off to see if he was there (he wasn't). After a huge collective sigh of relief that we weren't about to be butchered and eaten alive(!), we headed off to the pick-up point at a ferocious pace (the sun was about to set). All in all it was a dramatic end to an incredible 2 day trek (one i would recommend to all – minus the but-clenching ending!). [Incidentally, the bones that i found were the remains of cow – the caves had once been used by diamond miners who had enjoyed a feast from time-to-time!]
The final stop for the trio was Salvador – a city with a beautiful historic centre, let down by the amount of people trying to scam you. And so it is that I say goodbye to Wandy and Scott as they return to the drudgery of the real world! I've thoroughly enjoyed the last 3 weeks and it has again helped me to appreciate the true value of friendship. Next stop for me is Manaus (a large city in the middle of the Amazon), then Venezuela – which is apparently now more dangerous than Columbia (just to make you feel better Mum and Dad!!)
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Brrrrrraaaazzzziiilllllllllll. Part 1(!)
So then, Brazil, first stop Rio for Carnival - it´s just one of those things that has to be done in life - even thought the majority of locals say to go somewhere else for carnival (Salvador for example) - the words ´Rio´ and ´carnival´ are just synonymous, so, against local advice, i landed in Rio, ridiculously excited...but before I get onto that, a quick word is needed about my journey from the international airport after my flight from Santiago in Chile...
Being a penny watching backpacker I opted to take the bus into town rather than a taxi (a difference of about 25 pounds - thats 2 nights accomodation!), but I soon wish i hadn´t. There was a huge traffic jam as soon as we left the airport...and a 15km journey turned into a 5 hour mission, culminating in me violating every lonely planet guideline on how to stay safe in Rio due to my hotel being beyond the reach of the airport bus and, concequently, having to switch to a public bus. The lonely planet clearly states that `most robberies in Rio occur on buses´..and stresses the point ´not to travel alone on buses´..and certainly ´dont travel with a backpack on the bus´..and to ´NEVER travel at night on buses´...so there i was, first day in Rio, sat on a bus, on my own, with my all my bags, in the pitch black (it gets dark around 7pm here), having no idea where i was! Suffice to say, I survived and arrived safely at my hotel in one piece, later meeting up with my good friend - Stella -who was here for work (lucky timing or what)! Indeed for all the warnings I had read and listened to about Rio I didnt actually feel threatened once for the whole duration of carnival. Now obviously I didn´t venture into the ´favelas´ and search out ´little Ze´ (favelas are the ´council estates´of Brazil...except more ´slum´ like and with one hundred times the amount of drugs and guns!), but the worst I witnessed was some pick-pocketing and little kids ripping necklaces off girls - ´touch wood´ nothing happens on my return. I returned to Rio to meet up with two of my best mates from home - Wandy and Scott - who have flown in for 3 weeks of hedonistic pleasure in the North of Brazil. Im really looking forward to it - as much as I love meeting new people, sometimes the ´whats your name..where are you from..how long have you been travelling..and where have you been´ routine can get a bit tiresome. At the end of the day, nothing beats travelling with your real friends.
So, Carnival, Rio, 2009 - waht can I say??! Well, actually, I have got to admit something...it was different to what I expected. Now dont get me wrong here, i had a good time, a bloody good time, but i was kind of expecting more - more parties...more costumes..and, well, more craziness! Maybe I should have done a bit more research but, for example, I thought that the parades you see on TV (the giant floats and beautiful women in ´spangly´ bikinis) were in the streets of Rio...i was wrong - it all happens in a very controlled environment called the ´Sambadrome´ - basically a purpose built ´street´ with stadium style seating for which you have to pay a small fortune to sit in (or get a cheap ticket on the black market as i did!). There are 12 Samba schools (each from a different favela) that parade for exactly 1 hour and 20 minutes down the ´street´ and, to be honest, its all a bit clinical, a bit commercial and, to watch, a bit boring! In other cities such as Salvador, the parade is on the stareets and everyone gets involved, but in Rio irts all a bit proferssion fro my taste and the public are far removed (although tourists can pay a wedge to participate!). The street parties that happen throughout the carnival period (5 days) are where its at for the people - but again, maybe its my ignorance, but I thought these would be everywhere and the city would virtually shutdown during the period as everyone would be on the streets...but instead the parties were fairly localised affairs, happening over 4 or 5 blocks in different parts of the city, at different times, on different days. The parites were cool...but not crazy! People stood around drinking beer, some dancing, some were dressed in random costumes (e.g. Amy Winehouse) and there was plenty of kissing - the Brazilian men were unbelievable - they just grabbed girls as they were walking along, sometimes by the neck(!) and just kissed them, before parting ways!...it actually reminded me of the under-18 discos I used to go to when i was 16 - no talking, just kissing!!
The setting for the city of Rio itself is the most striking I have ever seen. It is lined with beautiful beaches and surrounded by jagged mountain peaks, draped in lush, green vegetation. It really is breathtaking. I have saved all the tourist spots for when Wandy and Scott arrive (hence no pics of Jesus Christ looming over the city), but I still got a sense of the magic and enchantment that the city holds from just walking the streets (and partying!).
After Rio I moved down the coast to a small town called Paraty, which was a welcome relief after the crowds of Rio. Paraty is the type of place that I love to find when travelling - its a small, pretty little town, with cobbled streets and candlelit restaurants and bars playing live music - actually a very romantic little setting. The surrounding scenery was also beautiful, but I am a bit worried that I am starting to get blase about about beautiful scenery - I´ve seen some stunning places since I started travelling 6 years ago, and it does now take something a bit special to make me stand back and say ´wow´...luckily a 40 minute bus ride to a beach called ´Trindade´ provided that breathless moment in Paraty. It was like paradise - a perfect curving beach, with soft white sand, fringed with rainforest type vegetation, hills and clear warm water with gentle lapping waves - just beautiful - best beach i have seen so far in Brazil.
After Paraty I arrived with a bump in the metropolis of Sao Paulo city - it is a huge place and, to be honest, quite overwhelming. Luckily i met up with some Brazilian friends that I had met on my Spanish course in Buenos Aires, and they showed me around the city and took me out in the evenings, including a couple of cool Samba bars/clubs. It it hadn´t have been for them I dont think I would have bothered with Sao Paulo - its just too big and not a particularly pretty city.
One of the places i was keen to get to in the South of Brazil was a vast wetland area called ´The Pantanal´. The Lonely Planet (the backpackers bible) raves about it and, being a nature lover, i was keen to go and check it out. My only doubt was the amount of time it would take me to get there...but sometimes you just have to ´bov´ it up - so I set off from Sao Paulo and, 23 hours later, arrived at my lodge in a swarm of mosquitos! I booked myself on a tour and spent the next 3 days fishing (and eating) piranahs (very little meat on a piranah considering how much they eat themselves!), horse-riding (first time i´d been on a horse since I was 6 years old, and the short trek in ´the Pantanal´ just confirmed that i am definitely not a ´horsey´ person - it just bloody hurts when they start to trot!), trekking after armidillo (hard on the outside, soft on the inside), aligators (completely harmless unless you wander too close to their nest...which i happended to do!) and giant rat like creatures...and of course floating down the river on a giant tube (standard activity around the world in any jungle type environment that has a river!). It was a nice trip, but not really worth the mamouth journey to get there (Brazil is sooo bloody big!) - it took me 36 hours to get to my next destination (Florianopolis) which was a killer!
Florianopolis is a cool surfing island, with beautiful beaches and some laid back live music venues - Im getting into the Samba now - asking the locals to teach you is a great ´ice breaker´!! ;)
The final stop before arriving back in Rio was Ilha Grande - a tropical island covered in dense jungle, with not a single motor vehicle in sight - pretty much paradise and a good place to chill before heading back to the bright lights of Rio. It was while on Ilha Grande that I had one of those magical travelling moments - I fancied a bit of ´alone time´ one day so hiked through the jungle to a near-deserted beach to chill out. Upon entering the water for the seond time that day I was suprised to see a large, reptilian type head pop out of the water right next to me! After a bit of a panic that I was about to be attacked by a monster from the murkey depths of the ocean, I realised it was, of course, a turtle! I followed it for a while as it glided effortlessley through the water, coming up for air every minute or so - magical.
.....Ok, ok, before I go, I know that all the boys reading this are thinking the same thing ´yeah, yeah, animals, cities, beaches, samba, blah blah blah - but what about the women?!´...well boys, I can confirm that the widely held belief that Brazilian women are ´above the average´ is most certainly true - this country is blessed!!..And yes, the bikinis are very small!!
Being a penny watching backpacker I opted to take the bus into town rather than a taxi (a difference of about 25 pounds - thats 2 nights accomodation!), but I soon wish i hadn´t. There was a huge traffic jam as soon as we left the airport...and a 15km journey turned into a 5 hour mission, culminating in me violating every lonely planet guideline on how to stay safe in Rio due to my hotel being beyond the reach of the airport bus and, concequently, having to switch to a public bus. The lonely planet clearly states that `most robberies in Rio occur on buses´..and stresses the point ´not to travel alone on buses´..and certainly ´dont travel with a backpack on the bus´..and to ´NEVER travel at night on buses´...so there i was, first day in Rio, sat on a bus, on my own, with my all my bags, in the pitch black (it gets dark around 7pm here), having no idea where i was! Suffice to say, I survived and arrived safely at my hotel in one piece, later meeting up with my good friend - Stella -who was here for work (lucky timing or what)! Indeed for all the warnings I had read and listened to about Rio I didnt actually feel threatened once for the whole duration of carnival. Now obviously I didn´t venture into the ´favelas´ and search out ´little Ze´ (favelas are the ´council estates´of Brazil...except more ´slum´ like and with one hundred times the amount of drugs and guns!), but the worst I witnessed was some pick-pocketing and little kids ripping necklaces off girls - ´touch wood´ nothing happens on my return. I returned to Rio to meet up with two of my best mates from home - Wandy and Scott - who have flown in for 3 weeks of hedonistic pleasure in the North of Brazil. Im really looking forward to it - as much as I love meeting new people, sometimes the ´whats your name..where are you from..how long have you been travelling..and where have you been´ routine can get a bit tiresome. At the end of the day, nothing beats travelling with your real friends.
So, Carnival, Rio, 2009 - waht can I say??! Well, actually, I have got to admit something...it was different to what I expected. Now dont get me wrong here, i had a good time, a bloody good time, but i was kind of expecting more - more parties...more costumes..and, well, more craziness! Maybe I should have done a bit more research but, for example, I thought that the parades you see on TV (the giant floats and beautiful women in ´spangly´ bikinis) were in the streets of Rio...i was wrong - it all happens in a very controlled environment called the ´Sambadrome´ - basically a purpose built ´street´ with stadium style seating for which you have to pay a small fortune to sit in (or get a cheap ticket on the black market as i did!). There are 12 Samba schools (each from a different favela) that parade for exactly 1 hour and 20 minutes down the ´street´ and, to be honest, its all a bit clinical, a bit commercial and, to watch, a bit boring! In other cities such as Salvador, the parade is on the stareets and everyone gets involved, but in Rio irts all a bit proferssion fro my taste and the public are far removed (although tourists can pay a wedge to participate!). The street parties that happen throughout the carnival period (5 days) are where its at for the people - but again, maybe its my ignorance, but I thought these would be everywhere and the city would virtually shutdown during the period as everyone would be on the streets...but instead the parties were fairly localised affairs, happening over 4 or 5 blocks in different parts of the city, at different times, on different days. The parites were cool...but not crazy! People stood around drinking beer, some dancing, some were dressed in random costumes (e.g. Amy Winehouse) and there was plenty of kissing - the Brazilian men were unbelievable - they just grabbed girls as they were walking along, sometimes by the neck(!) and just kissed them, before parting ways!...it actually reminded me of the under-18 discos I used to go to when i was 16 - no talking, just kissing!!
The setting for the city of Rio itself is the most striking I have ever seen. It is lined with beautiful beaches and surrounded by jagged mountain peaks, draped in lush, green vegetation. It really is breathtaking. I have saved all the tourist spots for when Wandy and Scott arrive (hence no pics of Jesus Christ looming over the city), but I still got a sense of the magic and enchantment that the city holds from just walking the streets (and partying!).
After Rio I moved down the coast to a small town called Paraty, which was a welcome relief after the crowds of Rio. Paraty is the type of place that I love to find when travelling - its a small, pretty little town, with cobbled streets and candlelit restaurants and bars playing live music - actually a very romantic little setting. The surrounding scenery was also beautiful, but I am a bit worried that I am starting to get blase about about beautiful scenery - I´ve seen some stunning places since I started travelling 6 years ago, and it does now take something a bit special to make me stand back and say ´wow´...luckily a 40 minute bus ride to a beach called ´Trindade´ provided that breathless moment in Paraty. It was like paradise - a perfect curving beach, with soft white sand, fringed with rainforest type vegetation, hills and clear warm water with gentle lapping waves - just beautiful - best beach i have seen so far in Brazil.
After Paraty I arrived with a bump in the metropolis of Sao Paulo city - it is a huge place and, to be honest, quite overwhelming. Luckily i met up with some Brazilian friends that I had met on my Spanish course in Buenos Aires, and they showed me around the city and took me out in the evenings, including a couple of cool Samba bars/clubs. It it hadn´t have been for them I dont think I would have bothered with Sao Paulo - its just too big and not a particularly pretty city.
One of the places i was keen to get to in the South of Brazil was a vast wetland area called ´The Pantanal´. The Lonely Planet (the backpackers bible) raves about it and, being a nature lover, i was keen to go and check it out. My only doubt was the amount of time it would take me to get there...but sometimes you just have to ´bov´ it up - so I set off from Sao Paulo and, 23 hours later, arrived at my lodge in a swarm of mosquitos! I booked myself on a tour and spent the next 3 days fishing (and eating) piranahs (very little meat on a piranah considering how much they eat themselves!), horse-riding (first time i´d been on a horse since I was 6 years old, and the short trek in ´the Pantanal´ just confirmed that i am definitely not a ´horsey´ person - it just bloody hurts when they start to trot!), trekking after armidillo (hard on the outside, soft on the inside), aligators (completely harmless unless you wander too close to their nest...which i happended to do!) and giant rat like creatures...and of course floating down the river on a giant tube (standard activity around the world in any jungle type environment that has a river!). It was a nice trip, but not really worth the mamouth journey to get there (Brazil is sooo bloody big!) - it took me 36 hours to get to my next destination (Florianopolis) which was a killer!
Florianopolis is a cool surfing island, with beautiful beaches and some laid back live music venues - Im getting into the Samba now - asking the locals to teach you is a great ´ice breaker´!! ;)
The final stop before arriving back in Rio was Ilha Grande - a tropical island covered in dense jungle, with not a single motor vehicle in sight - pretty much paradise and a good place to chill before heading back to the bright lights of Rio. It was while on Ilha Grande that I had one of those magical travelling moments - I fancied a bit of ´alone time´ one day so hiked through the jungle to a near-deserted beach to chill out. Upon entering the water for the seond time that day I was suprised to see a large, reptilian type head pop out of the water right next to me! After a bit of a panic that I was about to be attacked by a monster from the murkey depths of the ocean, I realised it was, of course, a turtle! I followed it for a while as it glided effortlessley through the water, coming up for air every minute or so - magical.
.....Ok, ok, before I go, I know that all the boys reading this are thinking the same thing ´yeah, yeah, animals, cities, beaches, samba, blah blah blah - but what about the women?!´...well boys, I can confirm that the widely held belief that Brazilian women are ´above the average´ is most certainly true - this country is blessed!!..And yes, the bikinis are very small!!
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Chilling in Chile
I left Buenos Aries with a measure of regret – I had had a great month in the city, and met some great people, but the knowledge that I would return ensured that the cheesy grin I’ve had on my face since landing in South America did not fade. I crossed into Chile via a 20 hour bus ride – which some of you may balk at the idea of – but I actually quite enjoy long bus rides in South America. The buses are bloody comfortable, you get to see some of the country (and let me tell you, the views crossing the Andes mountain range were pretty incredible) and you have plenty of time to think…actually a bit too much time to think – your mind wanders all over the place and you always exit the bus at the other end with more questions about your life than answers…but it’s all good!
I met Oscar, my Chilean amigo, when I arrive in Santiago after a swift ride on the impressive city subway system, and was treated to the same incredible hospitality I received from Agus & Fran in Buenos Aires (mucho gracias to Oscar, Marisol and Pedro!). I kicked around the city for a few days, taking in the main sites, including a park – San Cristobal - I had missed on my first visit to this city 5 years ago. San Cristobal is situated upon a series of large hills and has breathtaking views over the whole city…and the nicest outdoor public swimming pool I have ever seen – Guildford Lido “eat your heart out”! I also visited, purely out of cultural interest (!), one of the institutions in the city of Santiago: a “Café con Piernas” – literally translated “Café with Legs”. They are basically cafes, come strip joints, that are frequented by businessmen for coffee inbetween meetings (they are open during daylight hours only). There is no actual nakedness, but the waitresses wear the smallest bikinis I have ever seen, and are paid to “chat” to you! It was actually quite an uncomfortable experience – there were just two businessmen and me inside the café and the waitress was chatting away to me in Spanish – I didn’t have a clue. I downed my coke, made my excuses and left: “Café con Piernas”: tick!
Last weekend Oscar and I went for tour of a vineyard about an hour outside the city in a beautiful valley. I consumed wild boar (much the same as pork, unsurprisingly!) and drank wine! We then moved on to the coastal town of Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar for the rest for the weekend. Valparaiso is an intriguing port town, with sharp hills rising up from the waters edge, creating some interesting problems for the “town planners” – the houses are stacked on top of one another, coated in metal sheets and brightly coloured, providing lots of photo opportunities. On Saturday, after dinner in one of the smallest, cutest and nicest restaurants I have ever been to (only 6 tables!) we frequented one of the local nightclubs…and immediately felt incredibly old – I don’t think there was anyone over the age of 20 inside! Still, they had a salsa room so I showed Oscar and the rest of the Valparaiso how to dance before retiring for the night! On Sunday we pushed on to Vina Del Mar – a bit like Brighton (in terms of proximity to the capital city) – but with a nicer beach, nicer food, nicer weather and nicer girls…!
For the last week I travelled South to the “Lake District” region of Chile for some hiking and chilling. First stop was Pucon – a popular vacation destination for Chilean families and “hipster” crowds alike…and I can certainly understand why. The town is on the edge of a stunning lake, with a large black volcanic beach, surrounded by mountains and dominated by a large, classically shaped “cone” volcano! This very volcano I set off early one morning to climb…only to be forced to turn back half way up due to ferocious winds and ice…I’m sure we experienced worse conditions on Snowden when doing the 3 peaks for wannabeamazin last year – but the guide insisted we turned back – annoying, but I was still presented with some incredible views of the surrounding area.
It was while in Pucon that I did something that I’m still trying to understand myself – I’ve joined the “over-sized sunglasses” posse! I’ve always silently laughed at people that sport sunglasses that cover half their face – I just think they look ridiculous. They are also one of the cheapest forms of Plastic Surgery – you’re never quite sure if the wearer looks like Nora Jones or Nora Batty! But, on my eternal hunt for the perfect pair of (cheap) aviators, I succumbed and purchased a pair of giant ones – the kind you see in joke shops for fancy dress evenings! I don’t know what came over me – I think it was the fact that they are bloody comfortable and, as anyone with a funny (or large) shaped nose like mine will know, its bloody difficult to find good fitting sunglasses, indeed aviators are about the only style of sunglasses that look reasonable when placed upon my honk. They looked big on the stand – they look even bigger on my face…they look ridiculous…but they’re comfortable, and at $4 I’ll roll with them for a while – if nothing else they give me a laugh everytime I catch my reflection in a window whilst wearing them!
After Pucon I moved another 3 hours South to a pretty, little University town called Valdivia on the edge of a tributary of a large river. Spent a couple of days meeting some nice people, dancing to regaeton and Salsa in a random”local” club and attending a “mini-festival” to gorge myself on local delicacies and watch a display of dancing from all over South America – nice.
As I prepare to depart this land I’ll just give you a quick rundown of my observations of Chilean people & culture…like Argentina, the focus is on family & friends – people live at home until they are in their late 20’s or, more commonly, until they get married. They vacation with their families regularly and even when they move away from home they remain close, returning for family meals most weeks. The racial mix is still heavily dominated by a “European Look” but you definitely notice a stronger mix of indigenous Indians here than in Argentina. The boys all have mullets (Harris – if you weren’t ginger you would fit right in) and, when young, bad moustaches! The girls are nice…but not as nice as Argentina – indeed I’m still confused as to how the girls in Argentina look so good when the diet is so bad (steak, pizza and empanadas (pies) are the staple) – the diet seems better in Chile – more vegetables and salads…but somehow the bodies are not as good…could be something to do with the amount of plastic surgery in Buenos Aires…!
Ok, so if you are feeling down at the moment don’t read the final sentence of this entry…
…On Thursday I fly to Rio. It’s Carnival. ‘Nuff said. Waahhhhhooooooooooooooooooooo!
I met Oscar, my Chilean amigo, when I arrive in Santiago after a swift ride on the impressive city subway system, and was treated to the same incredible hospitality I received from Agus & Fran in Buenos Aires (mucho gracias to Oscar, Marisol and Pedro!). I kicked around the city for a few days, taking in the main sites, including a park – San Cristobal - I had missed on my first visit to this city 5 years ago. San Cristobal is situated upon a series of large hills and has breathtaking views over the whole city…and the nicest outdoor public swimming pool I have ever seen – Guildford Lido “eat your heart out”! I also visited, purely out of cultural interest (!), one of the institutions in the city of Santiago: a “Café con Piernas” – literally translated “Café with Legs”. They are basically cafes, come strip joints, that are frequented by businessmen for coffee inbetween meetings (they are open during daylight hours only). There is no actual nakedness, but the waitresses wear the smallest bikinis I have ever seen, and are paid to “chat” to you! It was actually quite an uncomfortable experience – there were just two businessmen and me inside the café and the waitress was chatting away to me in Spanish – I didn’t have a clue. I downed my coke, made my excuses and left: “Café con Piernas”: tick!
Last weekend Oscar and I went for tour of a vineyard about an hour outside the city in a beautiful valley. I consumed wild boar (much the same as pork, unsurprisingly!) and drank wine! We then moved on to the coastal town of Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar for the rest for the weekend. Valparaiso is an intriguing port town, with sharp hills rising up from the waters edge, creating some interesting problems for the “town planners” – the houses are stacked on top of one another, coated in metal sheets and brightly coloured, providing lots of photo opportunities. On Saturday, after dinner in one of the smallest, cutest and nicest restaurants I have ever been to (only 6 tables!) we frequented one of the local nightclubs…and immediately felt incredibly old – I don’t think there was anyone over the age of 20 inside! Still, they had a salsa room so I showed Oscar and the rest of the Valparaiso how to dance before retiring for the night! On Sunday we pushed on to Vina Del Mar – a bit like Brighton (in terms of proximity to the capital city) – but with a nicer beach, nicer food, nicer weather and nicer girls…!
For the last week I travelled South to the “Lake District” region of Chile for some hiking and chilling. First stop was Pucon – a popular vacation destination for Chilean families and “hipster” crowds alike…and I can certainly understand why. The town is on the edge of a stunning lake, with a large black volcanic beach, surrounded by mountains and dominated by a large, classically shaped “cone” volcano! This very volcano I set off early one morning to climb…only to be forced to turn back half way up due to ferocious winds and ice…I’m sure we experienced worse conditions on Snowden when doing the 3 peaks for wannabeamazin last year – but the guide insisted we turned back – annoying, but I was still presented with some incredible views of the surrounding area.
It was while in Pucon that I did something that I’m still trying to understand myself – I’ve joined the “over-sized sunglasses” posse! I’ve always silently laughed at people that sport sunglasses that cover half their face – I just think they look ridiculous. They are also one of the cheapest forms of Plastic Surgery – you’re never quite sure if the wearer looks like Nora Jones or Nora Batty! But, on my eternal hunt for the perfect pair of (cheap) aviators, I succumbed and purchased a pair of giant ones – the kind you see in joke shops for fancy dress evenings! I don’t know what came over me – I think it was the fact that they are bloody comfortable and, as anyone with a funny (or large) shaped nose like mine will know, its bloody difficult to find good fitting sunglasses, indeed aviators are about the only style of sunglasses that look reasonable when placed upon my honk. They looked big on the stand – they look even bigger on my face…they look ridiculous…but they’re comfortable, and at $4 I’ll roll with them for a while – if nothing else they give me a laugh everytime I catch my reflection in a window whilst wearing them!
After Pucon I moved another 3 hours South to a pretty, little University town called Valdivia on the edge of a tributary of a large river. Spent a couple of days meeting some nice people, dancing to regaeton and Salsa in a random”local” club and attending a “mini-festival” to gorge myself on local delicacies and watch a display of dancing from all over South America – nice.
As I prepare to depart this land I’ll just give you a quick rundown of my observations of Chilean people & culture…like Argentina, the focus is on family & friends – people live at home until they are in their late 20’s or, more commonly, until they get married. They vacation with their families regularly and even when they move away from home they remain close, returning for family meals most weeks. The racial mix is still heavily dominated by a “European Look” but you definitely notice a stronger mix of indigenous Indians here than in Argentina. The boys all have mullets (Harris – if you weren’t ginger you would fit right in) and, when young, bad moustaches! The girls are nice…but not as nice as Argentina – indeed I’m still confused as to how the girls in Argentina look so good when the diet is so bad (steak, pizza and empanadas (pies) are the staple) – the diet seems better in Chile – more vegetables and salads…but somehow the bodies are not as good…could be something to do with the amount of plastic surgery in Buenos Aires…!
Ok, so if you are feeling down at the moment don’t read the final sentence of this entry…
…On Thursday I fly to Rio. It’s Carnival. ‘Nuff said. Waahhhhhooooooooooooooooooooo!
Monday, 26 January 2009
New Home?!?
I can´t believe how quickly my time is passing here...a true sign that I´m enjoying myself! Since this is my second time in Buenos Aries (I came here 4 years ago) I have really just been living the life of a Porteña rather than rushing around ticking off all the tourist sites...and the more time I spend here the more I think that I could actually live here. For a long time now I have wanted to live in a different country, one that provides a challenge in terms of a different language and culture...but one where I can still live a life that I am accustomed. As much as I loved Uganda I dont think I could ever live there long term. 6 months without water, toilet, shower, oven, fridge etc was fine...but I couldn´t do it long term. The richer residents in the capital of Uganda do live with more luxieries, however I don´t think I could ever justify living that way in a country where the majority of people live in such severe poverty ( I would just feel guilty the whole time). Now, I know that Argentina has its fair share of people living below the poverty line, but its no where near the scale of Uganda, and when you are in Buenos Aries you really could be anywhere - it has everything that you would find in a large European city (museums, art galleries, parks, restaurants, bars, cafes) with the addition of, in my opinion, a much more favourable culture. So much more emphasis is put on the social aspects of life here - of enjoying a good meal with friends/family, of actually spending time talking to one another and basically doing the things that give you pleasure! This is in contrast, again in my opinion, to the rat race world of London where the majority of people are rushing around trying to earn as much money as possible to buy a flat, or a car or the next iPod...and to spend the weekends in a drunken stupour - the thought of going back to that just bores me. I know living here would be different to what im doing now...and i´d have to get a job...and this city isnt particularly cheap to live in (when you compare salaries)...but it´s a thought at the moment, a serious one...
So, as i said above, I dont have much to report on in terms of ´things´that I´ve been doing as I´ve just been ´living´and enjoying myself! Last weekend I went kayaking on a river about an hour outside the city and chilled on the beaches that line the river banks (its a popular weekend spot for Porteñas wanting to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city). I had a tango lesson (the basic steps are pretty easy...i think!), and of course I have been enjoying the steaks, bars and clubs...a little too much actually - i keep forgetting Im 27, and not 21 anymore!! I´ve met some cool people (as you always do when travelling) and my Spanish is coming along...slowly!
I only have one week left of school (in hindsight 4 weeks is not enough time to learn a language - who would have thought??!) so I´m starting to plan the next part of my South American jamboree. First stop is Santiago in Chile to see Oscar, a good friend of mine that I met in Chicago through work...and then it´s on to Brazil for carnival and beyond! There are quite a few Brazilians at the Spanish school and the more i hear about that country, the more excited I get. If it´s half as good as everyone says, then i´m gonna have trouble leaving the place...and all the time I have put into my Spanish will be wasted, bugger!!
So, as i said above, I dont have much to report on in terms of ´things´that I´ve been doing as I´ve just been ´living´and enjoying myself! Last weekend I went kayaking on a river about an hour outside the city and chilled on the beaches that line the river banks (its a popular weekend spot for Porteñas wanting to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city). I had a tango lesson (the basic steps are pretty easy...i think!), and of course I have been enjoying the steaks, bars and clubs...a little too much actually - i keep forgetting Im 27, and not 21 anymore!! I´ve met some cool people (as you always do when travelling) and my Spanish is coming along...slowly!
I only have one week left of school (in hindsight 4 weeks is not enough time to learn a language - who would have thought??!) so I´m starting to plan the next part of my South American jamboree. First stop is Santiago in Chile to see Oscar, a good friend of mine that I met in Chicago through work...and then it´s on to Brazil for carnival and beyond! There are quite a few Brazilians at the Spanish school and the more i hear about that country, the more excited I get. If it´s half as good as everyone says, then i´m gonna have trouble leaving the place...and all the time I have put into my Spanish will be wasted, bugger!!
Sunday, 11 January 2009
Hola!
I don't know what it is about this continent, but as soon as I land here (this is my forth time in South America) I instantly have a smile on my face. It just 'feels' right, like I belong here somehow. Maybe, as regards to Argentina, it is the amount of incredible meat that is available at ridiclous prices - steak that just melts in your mouth (it really is a meat-lovers dream, especially after 6 months barely touching the stuff in Africa). Or maybe it is the language that I love but, as yet (watch this space), cannot speak! Or maybe it is the relaxed attitude to life...the effort put into family and friend relationships...the music that just makes you wanna dance...and then again maybe it is the number of beautiful girls just walking around (even the ugly ones are pretty here!)...I think it's probably a combination of all these things that just turns my mouth into a permanent cheesy grin!
Ok, so, what have I been up to for the last couple of weeks? First up, a quick mention of my friend Agus, and her boyfriend Fran, that I am staying with. I met Agus at an Accenture training course in Chicago a few years ago and she, and her boyfriend, have just opened up their apartment and friends for me since I have been here. It's been great to stay with them and experience Buenos Aries through the eyes of a 'portena' (word for a person born and bred in Buenos Aries). I went with them to a friends house party in a rich suburb of Buenos Aries for New Years Eve (most locals either leave the city or have a house party for NYE), so while it wasnt quite the wild, crazy fiesta I had envisioned as NYE in Beunos Aries, it was a really nice evening - just relaxing in an incredible house, drinking and making home-made pizza in a proper wood burning pizza oven! The day after we soaked up the alcohol at a bar-b-q at Agus's family 'country house' (it was here sister-in-laws birthday) - this was a great experience in itself...and the amount of steaks cooked was just ridiculous (check the the pic i have uploaded!)...!
I have completed my first week of Spanish school and, although it's not easy, I am definitely improving...and am loving it! It's a small class - just 3 other students (an old American couple and a young guy from Sweden - who, incidently, isn't that impressed with the women here - which just confirms the fact that Sweden really is spoilt in that respect..!). The school itself has over 200 other students and organises lots of 'extra-curricular' activities - which is a great way to meet the other students. So far I have been to an open-air percusion concert (quality), played 5-a-side football (was great until I sprained my ankle - honestly I had 6 months of playing on un-even surfaces in Africa with guys who were indestructable, and I didnt get injured once..then, 10 minutes on an indoor, purpose-built, 5-a-side pitch and I sprain my ankle - ridiculous! ...Luckily it's not affecting my dancing, i can still wiggle my top half!), and, or course, I have also been to numerous restaurants, bars and clubs (you have to, this is Buenos Aries baby!). Next week I'm gonna to do a spot of Tango (assuming my ankle holds up)!
Just a note on the culture of going out here. Clubs and, indeed, bars don't even start to get busy until 2am in the morning - the time when most people in the UK are dragging their limp, weary, alcohol infested bodies home to bed! It's crazy - you go out to dinner around 10pm, finishing around midnight, have a few drinks in the 'warm up' bar(s) of choice, then hit the clubs around 2am (and continue until you drop..!). It's tiring, but great, as you end up having two or three nights in one - you can go to dinner with one set of friends - meet another set of friends for drinks in a bar - then go to a club with a third group of people...all of which means you have plenty of oppotunities to practice your Spanish with different chicas (purely to improve my Spanish you understand!) ;)
Today I am moving out into an apartment with other students - big Thank You to Agus and Fran for being such great hosts and letting me stay for the last couple of weeks. I need to get used to packing and unpacking my backpack again for when I set off on the gringo trail, but the thought of doing it today in 32 degree heat (did i mention that the weather has been beautiful?!) is not a nice one. Anyway, I'd better get on with it, signing off from a city where even the girls that work in McDonalds are cute...!
Ok, so, what have I been up to for the last couple of weeks? First up, a quick mention of my friend Agus, and her boyfriend Fran, that I am staying with. I met Agus at an Accenture training course in Chicago a few years ago and she, and her boyfriend, have just opened up their apartment and friends for me since I have been here. It's been great to stay with them and experience Buenos Aries through the eyes of a 'portena' (word for a person born and bred in Buenos Aries). I went with them to a friends house party in a rich suburb of Buenos Aries for New Years Eve (most locals either leave the city or have a house party for NYE), so while it wasnt quite the wild, crazy fiesta I had envisioned as NYE in Beunos Aries, it was a really nice evening - just relaxing in an incredible house, drinking and making home-made pizza in a proper wood burning pizza oven! The day after we soaked up the alcohol at a bar-b-q at Agus's family 'country house' (it was here sister-in-laws birthday) - this was a great experience in itself...and the amount of steaks cooked was just ridiculous (check the the pic i have uploaded!)...!
I have completed my first week of Spanish school and, although it's not easy, I am definitely improving...and am loving it! It's a small class - just 3 other students (an old American couple and a young guy from Sweden - who, incidently, isn't that impressed with the women here - which just confirms the fact that Sweden really is spoilt in that respect..!). The school itself has over 200 other students and organises lots of 'extra-curricular' activities - which is a great way to meet the other students. So far I have been to an open-air percusion concert (quality), played 5-a-side football (was great until I sprained my ankle - honestly I had 6 months of playing on un-even surfaces in Africa with guys who were indestructable, and I didnt get injured once..then, 10 minutes on an indoor, purpose-built, 5-a-side pitch and I sprain my ankle - ridiculous! ...Luckily it's not affecting my dancing, i can still wiggle my top half!), and, or course, I have also been to numerous restaurants, bars and clubs (you have to, this is Buenos Aries baby!). Next week I'm gonna to do a spot of Tango (assuming my ankle holds up)!
Just a note on the culture of going out here. Clubs and, indeed, bars don't even start to get busy until 2am in the morning - the time when most people in the UK are dragging their limp, weary, alcohol infested bodies home to bed! It's crazy - you go out to dinner around 10pm, finishing around midnight, have a few drinks in the 'warm up' bar(s) of choice, then hit the clubs around 2am (and continue until you drop..!). It's tiring, but great, as you end up having two or three nights in one - you can go to dinner with one set of friends - meet another set of friends for drinks in a bar - then go to a club with a third group of people...all of which means you have plenty of oppotunities to practice your Spanish with different chicas (purely to improve my Spanish you understand!) ;)
Today I am moving out into an apartment with other students - big Thank You to Agus and Fran for being such great hosts and letting me stay for the last couple of weeks. I need to get used to packing and unpacking my backpack again for when I set off on the gringo trail, but the thought of doing it today in 32 degree heat (did i mention that the weather has been beautiful?!) is not a nice one. Anyway, I'd better get on with it, signing off from a city where even the girls that work in McDonalds are cute...!
Monday, 29 December 2008
Part 2 Begins...
After a whirlwind pit-stop at home, I am off again for part 2 of my 'Big Year Out'. I'm spending the next 6 months in South America - visiting friends, travelling and soaking up the continent that I love. The aim is to come back with a reasonable grasp of Spanish...whilst having a bloody good time!
The rough plan is outlined below - although the only part that is fixed at the moment is the first month in Buenos Aries where i'll be studying hard at my Spanish school...whilst enjoying the delights of an incredible city:
The rough plan is outlined below - although the only part that is fixed at the moment is the first month in Buenos Aries where i'll be studying hard at my Spanish school...whilst enjoying the delights of an incredible city:
- Jan: Argentina (Buenos Aries)
- Feb (first two weeks): Chile (Santiago and South)
- Feb/March/April: Brazil (carnival time!)
- April: Venezuela
- May: Columbia
- June: Panama/Costa Rica
All i ask is that you occasionally drop me an email to tell me whats going on...and that you try not to mess up the economy any more than you have done in the last 6 months...If I can't get a job then I may not come back at all!
Monday, 15 December 2008
Big Year Out - Half Time
So, this is it, the last entry from Uganda, from ‘Part 1’ of my year out – how is it possible?! It only seems like a couple of months have gone by since I set off from blighty to change the world (!) – and yet I have experienced so much, seen so much, learnt so much and, I think, achieved so much!
Ok, before I get all emotional lets update you on the last 5 weeks (it’s been a while since the last entry!)
First up is the visit of my good mate Jez. Jez was over for 10days and it was just quality. It was brilliant to show him around Bajjo, to introduce him to my new friends, to watch his face as he saw small children running around with large machetes for the first time, to put him to work digging the 5-a-side football pitch and to just kick back and laugh, a lot, with a good mate. During his visit we also spent a few days up in Murchison Falls National Park, spying elephants, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles , waking up to giant warthogs sniffing the tent and trekking with Rhinos…and, or course, sampling the night life of Kampala for a bit of well earned party time!! Thanks for coming out mate, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
One thing that I hoped to get invited to while I was here was a local wedding. My wish came true when the brother of Justine (our neighbour) got married last month. We rushed around Kampala the night before buying cheap shirts, ties and trousers and turned up at a gospel church in Kawempe (a slum area just outside Kampala) the next day. Being a gospel church they had a great choir which was definitely the highlight of the day (along with the strange whooping noise that people make when they are celebrating a joyous occasion!..)…waiting 2 hours for the bride to arrive in sweltering heat dressed in thick trousers, shirt and tie was not so fun (I know its tradition for the bride to turn up late…and time has no meaning here…but 2 hours was just taking the piss!) The reception wasn’t quite the crazy, dance fest I had expected…instead it was about 4 hours of speeches from men (only) in the family saying the same thing over and over again, all translated into three languages (‘thank you God for putting these two people together, we have been blessed’….etc…). I did get some booty shaking (and of course pointing!) in at the end, but not enough for my liking! Still it was good day and I’m glad I got the chance to experience it.
On the project side of life we have had a great, if incredibly busy last few weeks (and there I was naively thinking that we would get all our work done early and kick back and enjoy the experience for the last couple of weeks!). In the last 3 weeks we have:
- Built a playground at the school which included; monkey bars, tyre swings, stepping stones, rope ladder climbing frame, parallel bars (for disabled kids) and colourful benches.
- Painted health messages on the school (a requirement in Uganda)
- Attached guttering and bought a huge water tank for the school to ensure the kids have fresh rain water (they currently drink very dirty water from a well close to the school)
- Organized the second village party (a great success with nurses from a local clinic in attendance giving a talk on HIV and providing outreach HIV testing and counseling….along with the ever popular football and netball tournaments)
- Marked out the best football pitch in the district (we have spent the last few months digging a trench to drain a large area of land, which was finally dry enough to be marked and an exhibition match was played at the end of the village party…a game in which my team lost 2-1…after I missed a penalty in front of a capacity crowd…its gonna haunt me months to come!)
- Picked up a wheelchair for a severely disabled kid in the village and took him for his first ride
- Karl completed a week of training with AMREF staff (the whizzkids HIV & lifeskills programme that Karl wrote in South Africa and that we have been running in Bombo is to be used by AMREF as part of their strategy to fight Malaria, TB and HIV in Uganda – a great partnership and one that I feel I can take some satisfaction from having made the introduction between AMREF and Whizzkids following the work I did for AMREF in London earlier this year)
- The ‘Bajjo Craft Makers’ had a day trip to Kampala to meet prospective buyers for their products and were officially formed as a business/organization when they paid their registration fee, signed the group operating rules and received a donation from wannabeamazin to help them with their capital costs (a proud moment for me – its been a struggle, especially with some of the business training I conducted – most of the women in the group hadn’t picked up a pen since they were at school 30 years ago…that’s if they even went to school!!)
- And, finally, we finished writing our wannabeamazin programme manauals for Art, Creative Studies, Junior Academy and Sports. We have printed them and put them together in folders to form a very professional looking set of programmes..and something we are all incredibly proud of.
So, in an ode to my time at Accenture, what were the lessons learnt in the last 6 months:
- Things take a looooooong time to happen in Africa
- Maybe Idi Amin wasn’t all bad
- In a dark bar I look like Michael Schofield (stop laughing)
- Tiny parasites called Jiggers hurt, a lot.
- I can’t live without a shower, toilet or oven indefinitely – 6 months is enough
- Kids in the UK are wrapped up in too much cotton wool – let them play with knives – they’ll soon learn
- Things take a long time to happen in Africa
- Human sacrifice is still performed fairly regularly in Uganda!
- Malaria, TB and HIV really do kill a lot of people every day in Africa (I’ve seen it first hand)
- We really don’t appreciate how many opportunities we have in the UK – we can do anything if we really want to – anyone moaning about their situation needs to just look around at all the possibilities and grasp them
- Kids don’t need expensive toys – a bottle top can keep them amused for hours
- Termites are bloody destructive creatures
- Things take a long time to happen in Africa
- I can happily live without a TV…but I do miss watching major sporting events (still gutted I didn’t see Bolt break the 100 and 200m records at the Olympics…and the recent Joe Calzaghe fight..)
- Experiences are enhanced when shared with a loved one…finding someone that you love, that you truly love, who is in the same place as you (mentally and physically) is a near impossible task
- Fried grasshoppers are really quite nice…fried white ants are not so nice
- I still love travelling and meeting new people – but friends and family are impossible to replace
- Things take a long time to happen in Africa
- Change in Africa has to come from Africans
- Education is key to a countries development – it really can affect the mindset, culture and development of a country
- Working in a culture that has no concept of time is at first interesting, then annoying and ultimately incredibly frustrating!
- Things take a bloody long time to happen in Africa!!
- I can kill a chicken.
I have had a great weekend to finish on - we invited around 40 people to our house on Friday night to have a big Christmas party and gave out presents to many of the people there –seeing the kids faces as Vinny (our local employee) came round the corner dressed up in a Father Christmas outfit was priceless! We followed that with a meal on Saturday at the local chairmans house, and another one yesterday with SPAU (the charity we have ‘officially’ been working under here). I left Bajjo yesterday and it was hard, really hard. I have become so close to the people there, especially our immediate neighbours...I’m not ashamed to say that a tear was shed.
And so, I fly home today. Looking back at the goals I had for my time in Uganda – to have an adventure and to do something ‘good’ – I can say, hand on my heart, that they have been achieved…and I am just so thankful that I have had this opportunity, and that I picked this option over a couple of others that I had. This has been an incredible experience, one that has helped me to develop again as a person, as a human being. And, as I leave Uganda, I know that Uganda and the people of Bajjo will never leave my heart – I’ll be back, that’s for sure.
Ok, before I get all emotional lets update you on the last 5 weeks (it’s been a while since the last entry!)
First up is the visit of my good mate Jez. Jez was over for 10days and it was just quality. It was brilliant to show him around Bajjo, to introduce him to my new friends, to watch his face as he saw small children running around with large machetes for the first time, to put him to work digging the 5-a-side football pitch and to just kick back and laugh, a lot, with a good mate. During his visit we also spent a few days up in Murchison Falls National Park, spying elephants, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles , waking up to giant warthogs sniffing the tent and trekking with Rhinos…and, or course, sampling the night life of Kampala for a bit of well earned party time!! Thanks for coming out mate, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
One thing that I hoped to get invited to while I was here was a local wedding. My wish came true when the brother of Justine (our neighbour) got married last month. We rushed around Kampala the night before buying cheap shirts, ties and trousers and turned up at a gospel church in Kawempe (a slum area just outside Kampala) the next day. Being a gospel church they had a great choir which was definitely the highlight of the day (along with the strange whooping noise that people make when they are celebrating a joyous occasion!..)…waiting 2 hours for the bride to arrive in sweltering heat dressed in thick trousers, shirt and tie was not so fun (I know its tradition for the bride to turn up late…and time has no meaning here…but 2 hours was just taking the piss!) The reception wasn’t quite the crazy, dance fest I had expected…instead it was about 4 hours of speeches from men (only) in the family saying the same thing over and over again, all translated into three languages (‘thank you God for putting these two people together, we have been blessed’….etc…). I did get some booty shaking (and of course pointing!) in at the end, but not enough for my liking! Still it was good day and I’m glad I got the chance to experience it.
On the project side of life we have had a great, if incredibly busy last few weeks (and there I was naively thinking that we would get all our work done early and kick back and enjoy the experience for the last couple of weeks!). In the last 3 weeks we have:
- Built a playground at the school which included; monkey bars, tyre swings, stepping stones, rope ladder climbing frame, parallel bars (for disabled kids) and colourful benches.
- Painted health messages on the school (a requirement in Uganda)
- Attached guttering and bought a huge water tank for the school to ensure the kids have fresh rain water (they currently drink very dirty water from a well close to the school)
- Organized the second village party (a great success with nurses from a local clinic in attendance giving a talk on HIV and providing outreach HIV testing and counseling….along with the ever popular football and netball tournaments)
- Marked out the best football pitch in the district (we have spent the last few months digging a trench to drain a large area of land, which was finally dry enough to be marked and an exhibition match was played at the end of the village party…a game in which my team lost 2-1…after I missed a penalty in front of a capacity crowd…its gonna haunt me months to come!)
- Picked up a wheelchair for a severely disabled kid in the village and took him for his first ride
- Karl completed a week of training with AMREF staff (the whizzkids HIV & lifeskills programme that Karl wrote in South Africa and that we have been running in Bombo is to be used by AMREF as part of their strategy to fight Malaria, TB and HIV in Uganda – a great partnership and one that I feel I can take some satisfaction from having made the introduction between AMREF and Whizzkids following the work I did for AMREF in London earlier this year)
- The ‘Bajjo Craft Makers’ had a day trip to Kampala to meet prospective buyers for their products and were officially formed as a business/organization when they paid their registration fee, signed the group operating rules and received a donation from wannabeamazin to help them with their capital costs (a proud moment for me – its been a struggle, especially with some of the business training I conducted – most of the women in the group hadn’t picked up a pen since they were at school 30 years ago…that’s if they even went to school!!)
- And, finally, we finished writing our wannabeamazin programme manauals for Art, Creative Studies, Junior Academy and Sports. We have printed them and put them together in folders to form a very professional looking set of programmes..and something we are all incredibly proud of.
So, in an ode to my time at Accenture, what were the lessons learnt in the last 6 months:
- Things take a looooooong time to happen in Africa
- Maybe Idi Amin wasn’t all bad
- In a dark bar I look like Michael Schofield (stop laughing)
- Tiny parasites called Jiggers hurt, a lot.
- I can’t live without a shower, toilet or oven indefinitely – 6 months is enough
- Kids in the UK are wrapped up in too much cotton wool – let them play with knives – they’ll soon learn
- Things take a long time to happen in Africa
- Human sacrifice is still performed fairly regularly in Uganda!
- Malaria, TB and HIV really do kill a lot of people every day in Africa (I’ve seen it first hand)
- We really don’t appreciate how many opportunities we have in the UK – we can do anything if we really want to – anyone moaning about their situation needs to just look around at all the possibilities and grasp them
- Kids don’t need expensive toys – a bottle top can keep them amused for hours
- Termites are bloody destructive creatures
- Things take a long time to happen in Africa
- I can happily live without a TV…but I do miss watching major sporting events (still gutted I didn’t see Bolt break the 100 and 200m records at the Olympics…and the recent Joe Calzaghe fight..)
- Experiences are enhanced when shared with a loved one…finding someone that you love, that you truly love, who is in the same place as you (mentally and physically) is a near impossible task
- Fried grasshoppers are really quite nice…fried white ants are not so nice
- I still love travelling and meeting new people – but friends and family are impossible to replace
- Things take a long time to happen in Africa
- Change in Africa has to come from Africans
- Education is key to a countries development – it really can affect the mindset, culture and development of a country
- Working in a culture that has no concept of time is at first interesting, then annoying and ultimately incredibly frustrating!
- Things take a bloody long time to happen in Africa!!
- I can kill a chicken.
I have had a great weekend to finish on - we invited around 40 people to our house on Friday night to have a big Christmas party and gave out presents to many of the people there –seeing the kids faces as Vinny (our local employee) came round the corner dressed up in a Father Christmas outfit was priceless! We followed that with a meal on Saturday at the local chairmans house, and another one yesterday with SPAU (the charity we have ‘officially’ been working under here). I left Bajjo yesterday and it was hard, really hard. I have become so close to the people there, especially our immediate neighbours...I’m not ashamed to say that a tear was shed.
And so, I fly home today. Looking back at the goals I had for my time in Uganda – to have an adventure and to do something ‘good’ – I can say, hand on my heart, that they have been achieved…and I am just so thankful that I have had this opportunity, and that I picked this option over a couple of others that I had. This has been an incredible experience, one that has helped me to develop again as a person, as a human being. And, as I leave Uganda, I know that Uganda and the people of Bajjo will never leave my heart – I’ll be back, that’s for sure.
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