And so that was it. I'm done, finished, its all over. I only have one flight left and it comes back to Heathrow. I can already feel the depression snaking its cold fingers on my skin! Why oh why did time have to speed up for me! Not much I can do about it now and to be honest, I'm looking forward to seeing all you guys and having a routine again (what a terrible thing to wish for, but its true).
So I've spent my last few days in Bangkok, doing what shopping I can (I aimed for the ladyboy shops, they have 'big big' size!) and just psyching myself up to be back in my world again. The week I spent in Koh Phangan was lovely. Highly recommended as a get away spot if anyone ever needs one. The part I was in, Haad Salad is the quietest place on earth with a lovely white sand beach that's shallow for about half a mile. All the huts in that area are lovely and reasonable, the food is really nice (though not as cheap as in Bangkok) and you're unlikely to have a giant lizard walk into your room!
My only strenous activity was going to the Full Moon party held on the other side of the island. Now that was something else. They have a full moon, half moon and black moon beach party, any excuse if you ask me, but noone actually looks at the moon anymore.
Think of it as an Ibiza resort (boys and girls out to snog and much more in public), mixed with Ayia Napa crowds ('ollie 'ollie 'ollie...), set on Miami beach (men with semi-buff bodies and tops off included), add some Birmingham Broad St alcoholism (quarter litre of vodka with red bull [the amphetamine kind] and lemonade for less than 3 quid), some Croydon on a friday night youths (jailbait with fake ID), a splash of your cheesy 'I love you long time' Thai people and ladyboys and finally sprinkle on the top all the varieties of drugs you may find at a trance rave in a Liverpool warehouse and you might start to get a picture of the debauchery I witnessed. I have only ever once spent so much time with my mouth hanging open in shock (that was with a particularly seedy student job I shan't elaborate on) and I wouldn't know where to start with the stories.
Unfortunately I didn't take my camera, I felt the security risk (as you can imagine) was rather high, but I think maybe it was a good idea not to put too much of it on record. I had already made up my mind to stay sober and make sure I could remember it all and boy oh boy if that wasn't one of the best ideas I've had this trip! Go if you will, just don't get pissed and become part of the freakshow, its really not pretty!
I've been thinking about the things I won't miss about travelling to help me look forward to going home and I realised that living out of a suitcase and flying are vying for top spot. Its only taken me 21 years of flying to confirm I hate it!! After that would come being stared at like a museum exhibit and mosquito bites, again both equally frustrating as hell. Cybercafes also deserve a mention for being annoying places but after that I start to get picky. Hostel besheets, so called 'breakfasts included' that consist of hard bread and horrid tea, bus rides that take longer than 2 hours and have ice cold air conditioning and insects/lizards. To be honest, none of it would ever stop me from doing this again, its all part of the experience and I'm glad to say I've done it and wouldn't mind if I could carry on!
Oh and finally, I thought you would all be pleased to hear that I was finally forced to put my backpack on my back. Yes, in Thailand you really have to 'backpack' especially if you're planning on island hopping by boat. For me, what I envisioned to hopefully be a short trip off a boat and on to a coach turned into a 15 minute assault course down the longest and most rickety jetty I have ever seen in my whole life. By the end of it I was bent over double and just grateful that I had managed to stop from falling after tripping on stray bits of wood a thousand times. I really was not impressed although its not like you can go around the world with a suitcase on wheels now is it?!
Friday 23 May 2008
Wednesday 14 May 2008
"Sorry lady, we no have 'big big' size"
Apparently its official now. I've heard it enough times in the last week to come to terms with the fact that I am size "big big". This applies to clothes and remarkably feet too. It is awful to be in the land where everything costs about 2 quid (Bangkok) from clothes to shoes and nothing fits....repeat NOTHING FITS!!!!! Its ok though you know, I'm coming to terms with it. I don't have any money to shop anyway and its not like its the end of the world right?! Wrong. It would have been great to go home with some nice new clothes, especially as I will be too poor to buy anything in England for a long time, plus after months of dressing and feeling like a tramp, this girl wants to look pretty dammit!
The problem here is they have a general one size fits all thing in shoe shops and clothes sizes. What makes this worse is that the average clothes size is a 6 and the average shoe size a 3 or 4. They are tiny here, I even feel tall which is saying something given that I try to claim an extra quarter on my 5'3. And unlike the Peruvian girls who also made me feel tall, these girls have no booty no titty no nothing. They are like catwalk models at less than half the height and they have great fashion to boot. I'm not giving up though, I'm spending my last 2 days in Bangkok, I will find something to buy, I may have to look in their maternity areas but so be it, somebody somewhere must have clothes in "big big" size!!!
Talking about Bangkok, lets talk about Lady boys. OH MY GOD!! I knew to expect them and I saw my fair share of he-shes in Brasil and Ecuador so it wasn't a shock so much. What I didn't expect was to see the standard of femininity and acceptance they have here. I mean as I woman I can still tell the difference, but it gets hard here, you really have to look long and hard to say no. I feel especially sorry for the drunken English boys on Kao Sarn Road (famous backpacker spot in Bangkok). I spent a hilarious few hours watching several of them going off with individuals who they believed to be female....would have loved to be a fly on many a wall that night when those guys discovered and extra 'member' and sobered up! I also worry for the safety of the lady boys themselves, but do not fear, one of Thailands most famous Muay Thai boxing champions is a lady boy too, go figure! (Nong Toom Google her)!
I'm in Koh Phangan now a tiny island in the south of Thailand next door to Koh Samui, literally chilling in my own little wooden hut about 60 seconds from the beach. I decided I didn't have the energy for party central Samui but I might pop over for a day trip or something! Even though there are other people around, its deathly quiet here, you can't hear a thing but birds. There are butterflies everywhere and even when its pissing it down like it did this morning for 2 hours, you still feel the need to be outside on the veranda swinging away in the hammock. This place is the perfect place to spend my last week, its picture perfect and peaceful, just what I need to face Larndan again!
One event I'm debating going to will be the full moon party next Tuesday 20th. Its the biggest thing that happens on this island, but I have never been to a trance rave and I'm not a pill popper so I question just how much I will be able to enjoy a 'psychedelic' rave on the beach with about 30,000 other people (no I'm not exaggerating that number!). Plus I've heard a few dodgy stories of people going missing and what not. On the other hand, given the calibre of people I've met here in Thailand, I could just head down there as the only sober person, with my camera and get some photographic ammunition against politicians and the future heads of corporations! I could probably make a mint off the sun newspaper in about 20 years time!
The problem here is they have a general one size fits all thing in shoe shops and clothes sizes. What makes this worse is that the average clothes size is a 6 and the average shoe size a 3 or 4. They are tiny here, I even feel tall which is saying something given that I try to claim an extra quarter on my 5'3. And unlike the Peruvian girls who also made me feel tall, these girls have no booty no titty no nothing. They are like catwalk models at less than half the height and they have great fashion to boot. I'm not giving up though, I'm spending my last 2 days in Bangkok, I will find something to buy, I may have to look in their maternity areas but so be it, somebody somewhere must have clothes in "big big" size!!!
Talking about Bangkok, lets talk about Lady boys. OH MY GOD!! I knew to expect them and I saw my fair share of he-shes in Brasil and Ecuador so it wasn't a shock so much. What I didn't expect was to see the standard of femininity and acceptance they have here. I mean as I woman I can still tell the difference, but it gets hard here, you really have to look long and hard to say no. I feel especially sorry for the drunken English boys on Kao Sarn Road (famous backpacker spot in Bangkok). I spent a hilarious few hours watching several of them going off with individuals who they believed to be female....would have loved to be a fly on many a wall that night when those guys discovered and extra 'member' and sobered up! I also worry for the safety of the lady boys themselves, but do not fear, one of Thailands most famous Muay Thai boxing champions is a lady boy too, go figure! (Nong Toom Google her)!
I'm in Koh Phangan now a tiny island in the south of Thailand next door to Koh Samui, literally chilling in my own little wooden hut about 60 seconds from the beach. I decided I didn't have the energy for party central Samui but I might pop over for a day trip or something! Even though there are other people around, its deathly quiet here, you can't hear a thing but birds. There are butterflies everywhere and even when its pissing it down like it did this morning for 2 hours, you still feel the need to be outside on the veranda swinging away in the hammock. This place is the perfect place to spend my last week, its picture perfect and peaceful, just what I need to face Larndan again!
One event I'm debating going to will be the full moon party next Tuesday 20th. Its the biggest thing that happens on this island, but I have never been to a trance rave and I'm not a pill popper so I question just how much I will be able to enjoy a 'psychedelic' rave on the beach with about 30,000 other people (no I'm not exaggerating that number!). Plus I've heard a few dodgy stories of people going missing and what not. On the other hand, given the calibre of people I've met here in Thailand, I could just head down there as the only sober person, with my camera and get some photographic ammunition against politicians and the future heads of corporations! I could probably make a mint off the sun newspaper in about 20 years time!
Sunday 4 May 2008
Sod homesick....I don´t want to come home!!
I´ve figured out how I can do this, Flow can open up a new office in Salvador, Brasil. The economy is booming out here and they need UX people, they may not be totally aware yet, but I can convince them. I´ll take care of doing the research for location and new business and all that....all strictly professional ofcourse. Then we can have consultant rotation every few months so everyone gets a chance to do a project out here...see? Easy. And that takes care of me having a job.
Then family, Inxs, I think the air here would do you good, you can come over and work in the office with me, or you can start doing your entrepeneur thing, there are loads of artists (musical and art) who need representation and profiling, I trust you´ll hook it up in no time! Abi, they have computers here, come and programme something and Keshia...the prisons are full and need your help! And that takes care of having my family around. My mother loves travelling so it won´t take much convincing to get her to come for a visit. Sorted.
Right so friends next; Aish and Nay, well I don´t need to work it out for you guys, just get your arses over here! In the meantime, I´ll look into opening a super cheap hostel too, so the rest of my friend entourage can take it in turns to come and visit me. Can you all see how easy it is?! This way I never have to come back to England! I can live in paradise for ever and ever and ever and ever!!
Okay so moment of madness over, coming home is creeping up on me double time. Exactly 3 weeks from today. I will admit I was homesick, but knowing that within 2 weeks of coming home I´m probably gonna have an onslaught of severe depression is kind of overtaking me! I have totally fallen in love with Brazil and I´ve probably only seen like 10%. There wasn´t enough time or money and I unfortunately haven´t been able to hook up the Brazilian uber millionaire angle...can´t imagine why?!
Salvador is the most amazing city, its cute, its huge, its full of character, it has amazing beaches, astonishingly talented people and it has business and industry...it makes it possible to work and live in paradise! Imagine! Ok so it suffers from a few issues, favelas outnumber middle class areas, security can be an issue particularly in the Pelourinho (the most fun place to be in town), but its growing and changing and like everything else in Brazil, things are improving.
Mayday in Pelourinho was fabulous, three extra outdoor music stages (adding to the usual 3) were set up for artists supporting improved working contiditions. There was Reggae, Pagode, Samba, Salsa, you name it, it was there. This was all free and nobody seemed to be bothered about the rain either. Twice this week Pelourinho has provided a fabulous night out, Tuesday night the famous Geronimo played his legendary weekly free concert on church steps in San Antonio, plus it was the international day of dance and where better to find fantastic dancers of every style than in Bahia!
Its funny, Pelourinho has a major security issue, so you normally only find Brazilians there at night, when sane tourists have gone back to the safety of areas like Barra. But the most fun is to be had at night with all the live music and entertainment on offer. I managed to strike a balance, always finding people to go with and learning how to keep notes and change in my bra!
The food here is amazing too. Mainly because it all reminds me of Nigerian food which I miss like crazy. Different types of flavoured rice, shrimp mocqueca (a stewish dish) with beans and ´farofa´which is a slightly moister version of Gari (but in powder not solid form). Then there is my favourite, Acarajé. Its beanflour, mashed into a paste and then fried into small pie like shapes (its basically what we call Acara in Nigeria but minus the tomato). Once fried, its sliced up and served with an ocra mix, fresh onion and tomato, a fish paste, small crayfish and seriously spicy pepper on the side. It is delicious and on average about R$3 which is a bargain! I could eat this all day every day.
*Sigh, I do feel I´ve found a potential home in the future. I may have to work on my Brazilian portuguese, so far I´ve managed to get away with speaking spanish with a portuguese accent; I´m a good mimic and it seems to have worked, but I don´t think that would hold out for long. But this place is seriously pulling me, I suspected it might and its definitely given me something to think about!
So, I´m off to my last destination, Thailand! I´m looking forward to having a ´holiday´now. Everything slows down and I recharge my batteries before coming home. Its gonna be a long journey getting there! I have to fly to 10 hours to Dallas, then wait 4 hours, then fly 12 hours to Japan where I gain 12 hours because of crossing the date line, so I leave and arrive at the same time but the next day. Then I spend one night in Tokyo which is only rubbing salt in the wound as I can no longer afford to spend my planned week in Tokyo, but never mind. And finally I arrive in Bangkok on Wednesday. Phrew! I´m tired just thinking about it!
Another countdown has begun though, I´ll be home soon....I´ll try and bring the sunshine with me!
Then family, Inxs, I think the air here would do you good, you can come over and work in the office with me, or you can start doing your entrepeneur thing, there are loads of artists (musical and art) who need representation and profiling, I trust you´ll hook it up in no time! Abi, they have computers here, come and programme something and Keshia...the prisons are full and need your help! And that takes care of having my family around. My mother loves travelling so it won´t take much convincing to get her to come for a visit. Sorted.
Right so friends next; Aish and Nay, well I don´t need to work it out for you guys, just get your arses over here! In the meantime, I´ll look into opening a super cheap hostel too, so the rest of my friend entourage can take it in turns to come and visit me. Can you all see how easy it is?! This way I never have to come back to England! I can live in paradise for ever and ever and ever and ever!!
Okay so moment of madness over, coming home is creeping up on me double time. Exactly 3 weeks from today. I will admit I was homesick, but knowing that within 2 weeks of coming home I´m probably gonna have an onslaught of severe depression is kind of overtaking me! I have totally fallen in love with Brazil and I´ve probably only seen like 10%. There wasn´t enough time or money and I unfortunately haven´t been able to hook up the Brazilian uber millionaire angle...can´t imagine why?!
Salvador is the most amazing city, its cute, its huge, its full of character, it has amazing beaches, astonishingly talented people and it has business and industry...it makes it possible to work and live in paradise! Imagine! Ok so it suffers from a few issues, favelas outnumber middle class areas, security can be an issue particularly in the Pelourinho (the most fun place to be in town), but its growing and changing and like everything else in Brazil, things are improving.
Mayday in Pelourinho was fabulous, three extra outdoor music stages (adding to the usual 3) were set up for artists supporting improved working contiditions. There was Reggae, Pagode, Samba, Salsa, you name it, it was there. This was all free and nobody seemed to be bothered about the rain either. Twice this week Pelourinho has provided a fabulous night out, Tuesday night the famous Geronimo played his legendary weekly free concert on church steps in San Antonio, plus it was the international day of dance and where better to find fantastic dancers of every style than in Bahia!
Its funny, Pelourinho has a major security issue, so you normally only find Brazilians there at night, when sane tourists have gone back to the safety of areas like Barra. But the most fun is to be had at night with all the live music and entertainment on offer. I managed to strike a balance, always finding people to go with and learning how to keep notes and change in my bra!
The food here is amazing too. Mainly because it all reminds me of Nigerian food which I miss like crazy. Different types of flavoured rice, shrimp mocqueca (a stewish dish) with beans and ´farofa´which is a slightly moister version of Gari (but in powder not solid form). Then there is my favourite, Acarajé. Its beanflour, mashed into a paste and then fried into small pie like shapes (its basically what we call Acara in Nigeria but minus the tomato). Once fried, its sliced up and served with an ocra mix, fresh onion and tomato, a fish paste, small crayfish and seriously spicy pepper on the side. It is delicious and on average about R$3 which is a bargain! I could eat this all day every day.
*Sigh, I do feel I´ve found a potential home in the future. I may have to work on my Brazilian portuguese, so far I´ve managed to get away with speaking spanish with a portuguese accent; I´m a good mimic and it seems to have worked, but I don´t think that would hold out for long. But this place is seriously pulling me, I suspected it might and its definitely given me something to think about!
So, I´m off to my last destination, Thailand! I´m looking forward to having a ´holiday´now. Everything slows down and I recharge my batteries before coming home. Its gonna be a long journey getting there! I have to fly to 10 hours to Dallas, then wait 4 hours, then fly 12 hours to Japan where I gain 12 hours because of crossing the date line, so I leave and arrive at the same time but the next day. Then I spend one night in Tokyo which is only rubbing salt in the wound as I can no longer afford to spend my planned week in Tokyo, but never mind. And finally I arrive in Bangkok on Wednesday. Phrew! I´m tired just thinking about it!
Another countdown has begun though, I´ll be home soon....I´ll try and bring the sunshine with me!
Saturday 26 April 2008
La Vida Afro-Brasilena
What can I say about Rio de Janeiro? Well, its exactly as you would expect it to be. The Miami of South America. Beautiful people, living in beautiful homes, wearing beautiful clothes and working hard to keep looking beautiful on the beach. Then there are all the tourists, there to peek at the beautiful people, maybe pretend to be one of them for a little bit and then go home and say they went to Rio where the beautiful people are. Its great, but its also very predictable and after a few days a little sickening.
I had a fantastic time there, thanks to my wonderful dorm mates Melissa, Sonia and Jennine and Ama and Cleo who are now safely but possibly miserably back in England! A few gems Ipanema and Copacabana have to offer include the night market, on every night till midnight and the hippie market every Sunday, loads of amazing hand made jewellery and leather items, nothing is cheap here but if you`re anything like me, you could spend hours wandering and browsing and trust me there is alot to see! Plus going out in Lapa was loads of fun, save for the harrasment of kids wanting money. The beach as ever was a wonderful experience, although I did start to feel a little like I was in a glass cage where everyone wanted to see and be seen!
I knew I couldn`t live in Rio, but I didn`t realise exactly why until I got to Salvador in Bahia, north of Brazil. This place is all soul. It combines everything I love about the Caribbean with everything I love about Brazil and is making me wish I never have to go home. For one, since I arrived, there has been no shortage of a soundtrack. In Jamaica earlier this year, Aish pointed out the fact that in the Caribbean (but especially Jamaica) there is always a soundtrack, music is always coming from somewhere and its exactly the same here, round the clock. Don`t come if you`re a light sleeper!
I`m staying in Pelourinho which is the historic centre of Salvador and it is absolutely heaving with soul and talent. On every street there is art that will take your breath away, I feel like I want to buy everything. But (rightly so), the best of it isn`t cheap and you can see why. You turn a corner and right on the street there is a band complete with drums and percussion having an impromptu concert on the street. You can`t help but love it and the people who create it.
Today I took a ride in an elevator that takes you from the Pelourinho, to the `Cidade Baixo`(bottom city), can you imagine an elevator in the middle of town?! Well, its bloody good idea, because one thing you will get sick of here is hills! The markets blow Rio and anywhere else`s out of the water. I fell in love with about a thousand things in the model market in Cidade Baixo and could afford absolutely none of them! And the view of the sea and the beach.....sorry..having a slight Homer Simpson and a donut moment just sitting here thinking about it. Its stunning.
I also took a personal wander around all the museums and galleries I could spot in this area. Absolutely fantastic, my favourite was the Museu de Afro-Braseilero where you can find wooden carvings of all the Orixàs followed in Candomblè. There are also a lot of classical works (both paintings and furniture) in the various museums where you can see European influences as well as African in a few pieces. The galleries have loads of amazing modern art (I`ve decided I`m a modern art person really) and the graffiti on the streets will sometimes blow you away!
Candomblè (Orisha worship, but they spell it Orixà) is definitely taking my interest, its as big here as it is in Cuba and I`ve already seen graffiti written in Yoruba as well been told that it won`t take long to come across someone speaking it here. I`m trying to go along to an Orixà house for a ceremony. Apparently you get to see them invoking the spirit of the Orixà and it can take anywhere between 3 and 10 hours. Its not a spectator show here and you won`t find leaflets floating around inviting you to it. Its a serious religion that people follow and its hard to attend a cermony, but it is possible. I`m told they sing old Yoruba songs and wear traditional costumes. I would never be able to see this in Nigeria, one because its believed only to be a negative custom these days and two because my mother would never allow it, but while here...sorry Mum, gotta try and have a look!
And finally, dropping all traces of refinement, lets talk about eye candy. My oh my are my eyes feasting!! I didn`t realise I had such a sweet tooth! Firstly before you all decide my moral standards are slipping, I`m looking not touching (I have no money to be anyone`s Sugar Mummy!), I`m happy to be a bit of a perv while I`m here as I don`t know when I`ll be back and there are just so many beautiful men to look at! (Giggle giggle!). Its for these kind of things that I wish my girls were here to salivate with me, it feels like it should be a group thing, but in your abscence I shall do my best to ogle at as many hunky men as I see! lol! ;-)
I`m exactly one month from coming home now....one month! I don`t wanna!! But I can`t afford to stay, Brazil has chewed up my budget in no time and its time to go back to earning money...*sigh. I guess I have to come back to the real world sometime, but for now...at least I don`t have to make believe I`m in Paradise, I`m actually here!!
I had a fantastic time there, thanks to my wonderful dorm mates Melissa, Sonia and Jennine and Ama and Cleo who are now safely but possibly miserably back in England! A few gems Ipanema and Copacabana have to offer include the night market, on every night till midnight and the hippie market every Sunday, loads of amazing hand made jewellery and leather items, nothing is cheap here but if you`re anything like me, you could spend hours wandering and browsing and trust me there is alot to see! Plus going out in Lapa was loads of fun, save for the harrasment of kids wanting money. The beach as ever was a wonderful experience, although I did start to feel a little like I was in a glass cage where everyone wanted to see and be seen!
I knew I couldn`t live in Rio, but I didn`t realise exactly why until I got to Salvador in Bahia, north of Brazil. This place is all soul. It combines everything I love about the Caribbean with everything I love about Brazil and is making me wish I never have to go home. For one, since I arrived, there has been no shortage of a soundtrack. In Jamaica earlier this year, Aish pointed out the fact that in the Caribbean (but especially Jamaica) there is always a soundtrack, music is always coming from somewhere and its exactly the same here, round the clock. Don`t come if you`re a light sleeper!
I`m staying in Pelourinho which is the historic centre of Salvador and it is absolutely heaving with soul and talent. On every street there is art that will take your breath away, I feel like I want to buy everything. But (rightly so), the best of it isn`t cheap and you can see why. You turn a corner and right on the street there is a band complete with drums and percussion having an impromptu concert on the street. You can`t help but love it and the people who create it.
Today I took a ride in an elevator that takes you from the Pelourinho, to the `Cidade Baixo`(bottom city), can you imagine an elevator in the middle of town?! Well, its bloody good idea, because one thing you will get sick of here is hills! The markets blow Rio and anywhere else`s out of the water. I fell in love with about a thousand things in the model market in Cidade Baixo and could afford absolutely none of them! And the view of the sea and the beach.....sorry..having a slight Homer Simpson and a donut moment just sitting here thinking about it. Its stunning.
I also took a personal wander around all the museums and galleries I could spot in this area. Absolutely fantastic, my favourite was the Museu de Afro-Braseilero where you can find wooden carvings of all the Orixàs followed in Candomblè. There are also a lot of classical works (both paintings and furniture) in the various museums where you can see European influences as well as African in a few pieces. The galleries have loads of amazing modern art (I`ve decided I`m a modern art person really) and the graffiti on the streets will sometimes blow you away!
Candomblè (Orisha worship, but they spell it Orixà) is definitely taking my interest, its as big here as it is in Cuba and I`ve already seen graffiti written in Yoruba as well been told that it won`t take long to come across someone speaking it here. I`m trying to go along to an Orixà house for a ceremony. Apparently you get to see them invoking the spirit of the Orixà and it can take anywhere between 3 and 10 hours. Its not a spectator show here and you won`t find leaflets floating around inviting you to it. Its a serious religion that people follow and its hard to attend a cermony, but it is possible. I`m told they sing old Yoruba songs and wear traditional costumes. I would never be able to see this in Nigeria, one because its believed only to be a negative custom these days and two because my mother would never allow it, but while here...sorry Mum, gotta try and have a look!
And finally, dropping all traces of refinement, lets talk about eye candy. My oh my are my eyes feasting!! I didn`t realise I had such a sweet tooth! Firstly before you all decide my moral standards are slipping, I`m looking not touching (I have no money to be anyone`s Sugar Mummy!), I`m happy to be a bit of a perv while I`m here as I don`t know when I`ll be back and there are just so many beautiful men to look at! (Giggle giggle!). Its for these kind of things that I wish my girls were here to salivate with me, it feels like it should be a group thing, but in your abscence I shall do my best to ogle at as many hunky men as I see! lol! ;-)
I`m exactly one month from coming home now....one month! I don`t wanna!! But I can`t afford to stay, Brazil has chewed up my budget in no time and its time to go back to earning money...*sigh. I guess I have to come back to the real world sometime, but for now...at least I don`t have to make believe I`m in Paradise, I`m actually here!!
Sunday 20 April 2008
Lola hits Copacabana!!!!
Yes ladies and gentlemen, this showgirl is now in Rio de Janeiro!! Woohoo!
Brasil has welcomed me with somewhat open arms, if you don´t count the rain, the grey skies and the absolutely boring ass city known as São Paulo. No disrespect, but there just isn´t anything to do in that town. Don´t raise your hopes if you´re going there as a cold tourist. I´ve heard that if you know someone there its different (where isn´t), but I wouldn´t pay to go back! Six hours bus down the road and we arrived in Rio in a severe downpour...severe being a somewhat understatement!
I have to say that Rio has lived up to expectation thankfully, with the only negatives being some poor weather for part of every day and the fact that Brasil is very very expensive! I´m basically living on London west end prices here in Ipanema. It was maybe naive to expect things to be cheap, but I didn´t expect to be paying the same prices as I´m paying at home. You´ll be glad to know I´m managing my budget though...dinner tonight is instant noodles!
So, once again, without meaning to, I have ticked off another wonder of the world. Friday saw me at the top of the Corcovado looking up at Christ the Reedemer and down on Rio de Janeiro. It was absolutely amazing. The statue itself is actually a mosaic, did you know that? It was worth seeing up close! Plus the views over the city are stunning, the only negative would be that there are so many tourists up there it is almost impossible to get a decent picture without 17 other people invading your shot, but wow oh wow is it still worth the visit! The Sugar loaf was also fantastic, on the beach side of the island, the cable car up also provides stunning views over the city, although once you get to the top of the sugar loaf itself, there really isn´t anything to do except spend money in very expensive shops!
I also managed to visit Maracanã stadium and stand in Pele´s shoes for a second...or his footprint in the hall of fame to be exact, and those of a few other famous Brasilian footballers who to me could be any man on any street anywhere! But there were some quite excited men on our tour so I guess it was something special!
Topping it all off, we went to the Sambadome to check out where carnival takes place and had the opportunity to try on some costumes. I picked one with yellow flowers in the headgear! lol! Just a shame I couldn´t take it with me all the way to Copacabana! (If you don´t get the reference check out Barry Manilow!)
And the important part, the beach. I´m staying on Ipanema beach which is gorgeous, when there has been sun, its been a pleasure to sit on the beach and appreciate the...ahem... Brasilian form. I can confirm ladies that all...yes all Brasilian men wear those lovely form fitting brief shorts. This can be somewhat offensive when it is accompanied by severly pregnant bellies or bear like body hair, but 90% of the time I can only describe it as an absolute pleasure! I make no apologies if I sound just ever so slightly perverted, but I know I´m in no way as bad as the gazillions of tourist men feasting their eyes on the thong bikinis of the usually quite round bottomed Brasilian women! And before you ask...no I will not be buying or wearing a thong bikini. Full stop!
Copacobana beach is a little more rough and ready, more men and therefore lots more prostitutues! It´s also home to the famous Help nightclub which is home to your sex tourist and your prostitute of every age, body shape and quite commonly here sex, including the so called 3rd sex (Trannie central). Its a shame having your camera out would probably get you robbed cos a lot of this stuff has to be seen to be believed!
I´ve managed to meet up with my mate Ama here who has spent the last 3 months in Brazil, ´learning portuguese´(code for living it up I´m sure)!! ;-). Last night, we went to Lapa, the party central of Rio and had a fantastic time. R$3 (1 pound) caipirinhas on the street accompanied by super delicious barbacued meat on a stick followed by a lot of Samba (or my version of it anyway) in a club called Lapa 40 degrees. Live music and a fantastic DJ meant I stumbled back into the hostel at about 5.30am this morning and woke up at 10 with a stinking hangover. Their caipirinhas here have quite a large amount of rum and it really doesn´t take that much to get you seriously inebriated!
Unfortunately, there has been one giant super niggle while here in Rio. I´m staying in a hostel called Girl from Ipanema, lovely place but with some issues on the security front. It´s in a mews like alley with several houses, mostly hostels but private homes too, on either side of the alley, but there is a gate at the entrance of the alley. There are a lot of people coming in and out mainly because of the many hostels here. My hostel has three houses scattered in the alley with the house I´m in having the main kitchen and dining area for all 3 houses. You get a key to the gate and the house you stay in, but the door to our house is almost always open to allow people from the other houses to use the kitchen. Sound off key? Well yes, especially when you know that the door to the only girl´s dorm that I´m staying in didn´t have a lock on it. I remember feeling a little off put and feeling the need to put a padlock on every possesion I had in the room when I checked in.
Well, fate doesn´t like to be tempted. 3am on Friday night a man managed to get in the gate, walked to our house, came in through the open door to the house and walked straight into the girls dorm where myself and two others were fast alseep. He picked up two rucksacks on the floor and walked right out again completely unheard. All this was caught on CCTV including the part where he walked right past the now sacked security guard who asked no questions. Needless to say I was pretty much almost out the door when we found out the following morning. A man walks into a girls dorm unchallenged? Seems we were a little lucky he only walked out with two rucksacks!
Thankfully, security has now been tightened, locks changed, doors closed and new security guards, but I was hellofashakenup! Its good to know the hostel had CCTV as well and was able to pass it onto the police, but I had to ask, whats the point of CCTV and no locks on bedroom doors?!?! And thanks to my paranoia, none of my things were taken, but I have a lot of sympathy for two other girls who despite not loosing money or passports did loose their diaries and other personal books, one of them had all the contacts and stories from her 5 month trip and is only 2 weeks from going home! Depressing.
But, despite it all I´m safe and thankful and loving the Rio vibe! The fact is that kind of thing could happen anywhere and you just have to be prudent as much as possible. I decided not to move becuase given the situation I´m probably safer in that hostel now than anywhere else, plus it has a fantastic atmosphere and a reasonable nightly rate. Don´t get me wrong, my safety comes first, but it looks like they´ve bucked up their act!
Tomorrow I hit the beach again, and on Wednesday I fly to Salvador, the ultimate beach and party town in the north. Can´t wait!
Brasil has welcomed me with somewhat open arms, if you don´t count the rain, the grey skies and the absolutely boring ass city known as São Paulo. No disrespect, but there just isn´t anything to do in that town. Don´t raise your hopes if you´re going there as a cold tourist. I´ve heard that if you know someone there its different (where isn´t), but I wouldn´t pay to go back! Six hours bus down the road and we arrived in Rio in a severe downpour...severe being a somewhat understatement!
I have to say that Rio has lived up to expectation thankfully, with the only negatives being some poor weather for part of every day and the fact that Brasil is very very expensive! I´m basically living on London west end prices here in Ipanema. It was maybe naive to expect things to be cheap, but I didn´t expect to be paying the same prices as I´m paying at home. You´ll be glad to know I´m managing my budget though...dinner tonight is instant noodles!
So, once again, without meaning to, I have ticked off another wonder of the world. Friday saw me at the top of the Corcovado looking up at Christ the Reedemer and down on Rio de Janeiro. It was absolutely amazing. The statue itself is actually a mosaic, did you know that? It was worth seeing up close! Plus the views over the city are stunning, the only negative would be that there are so many tourists up there it is almost impossible to get a decent picture without 17 other people invading your shot, but wow oh wow is it still worth the visit! The Sugar loaf was also fantastic, on the beach side of the island, the cable car up also provides stunning views over the city, although once you get to the top of the sugar loaf itself, there really isn´t anything to do except spend money in very expensive shops!
I also managed to visit Maracanã stadium and stand in Pele´s shoes for a second...or his footprint in the hall of fame to be exact, and those of a few other famous Brasilian footballers who to me could be any man on any street anywhere! But there were some quite excited men on our tour so I guess it was something special!
Topping it all off, we went to the Sambadome to check out where carnival takes place and had the opportunity to try on some costumes. I picked one with yellow flowers in the headgear! lol! Just a shame I couldn´t take it with me all the way to Copacabana! (If you don´t get the reference check out Barry Manilow!)
And the important part, the beach. I´m staying on Ipanema beach which is gorgeous, when there has been sun, its been a pleasure to sit on the beach and appreciate the...ahem... Brasilian form. I can confirm ladies that all...yes all Brasilian men wear those lovely form fitting brief shorts. This can be somewhat offensive when it is accompanied by severly pregnant bellies or bear like body hair, but 90% of the time I can only describe it as an absolute pleasure! I make no apologies if I sound just ever so slightly perverted, but I know I´m in no way as bad as the gazillions of tourist men feasting their eyes on the thong bikinis of the usually quite round bottomed Brasilian women! And before you ask...no I will not be buying or wearing a thong bikini. Full stop!
Copacobana beach is a little more rough and ready, more men and therefore lots more prostitutues! It´s also home to the famous Help nightclub which is home to your sex tourist and your prostitute of every age, body shape and quite commonly here sex, including the so called 3rd sex (Trannie central). Its a shame having your camera out would probably get you robbed cos a lot of this stuff has to be seen to be believed!
I´ve managed to meet up with my mate Ama here who has spent the last 3 months in Brazil, ´learning portuguese´(code for living it up I´m sure)!! ;-). Last night, we went to Lapa, the party central of Rio and had a fantastic time. R$3 (1 pound) caipirinhas on the street accompanied by super delicious barbacued meat on a stick followed by a lot of Samba (or my version of it anyway) in a club called Lapa 40 degrees. Live music and a fantastic DJ meant I stumbled back into the hostel at about 5.30am this morning and woke up at 10 with a stinking hangover. Their caipirinhas here have quite a large amount of rum and it really doesn´t take that much to get you seriously inebriated!
Unfortunately, there has been one giant super niggle while here in Rio. I´m staying in a hostel called Girl from Ipanema, lovely place but with some issues on the security front. It´s in a mews like alley with several houses, mostly hostels but private homes too, on either side of the alley, but there is a gate at the entrance of the alley. There are a lot of people coming in and out mainly because of the many hostels here. My hostel has three houses scattered in the alley with the house I´m in having the main kitchen and dining area for all 3 houses. You get a key to the gate and the house you stay in, but the door to our house is almost always open to allow people from the other houses to use the kitchen. Sound off key? Well yes, especially when you know that the door to the only girl´s dorm that I´m staying in didn´t have a lock on it. I remember feeling a little off put and feeling the need to put a padlock on every possesion I had in the room when I checked in.
Well, fate doesn´t like to be tempted. 3am on Friday night a man managed to get in the gate, walked to our house, came in through the open door to the house and walked straight into the girls dorm where myself and two others were fast alseep. He picked up two rucksacks on the floor and walked right out again completely unheard. All this was caught on CCTV including the part where he walked right past the now sacked security guard who asked no questions. Needless to say I was pretty much almost out the door when we found out the following morning. A man walks into a girls dorm unchallenged? Seems we were a little lucky he only walked out with two rucksacks!
Thankfully, security has now been tightened, locks changed, doors closed and new security guards, but I was hellofashakenup! Its good to know the hostel had CCTV as well and was able to pass it onto the police, but I had to ask, whats the point of CCTV and no locks on bedroom doors?!?! And thanks to my paranoia, none of my things were taken, but I have a lot of sympathy for two other girls who despite not loosing money or passports did loose their diaries and other personal books, one of them had all the contacts and stories from her 5 month trip and is only 2 weeks from going home! Depressing.
But, despite it all I´m safe and thankful and loving the Rio vibe! The fact is that kind of thing could happen anywhere and you just have to be prudent as much as possible. I decided not to move becuase given the situation I´m probably safer in that hostel now than anywhere else, plus it has a fantastic atmosphere and a reasonable nightly rate. Don´t get me wrong, my safety comes first, but it looks like they´ve bucked up their act!
Tomorrow I hit the beach again, and on Wednesday I fly to Salvador, the ultimate beach and party town in the north. Can´t wait!
Sunday 13 April 2008
To Do list No.109. Visit 8th Wonder of the World......tick!
Okay, I haven´t actually been to any of the original 7 wonders of the world and can not claim to have had any pressing desire to do so. However, when you´re in Peru, you would be stupid not to make the trip to go and visit Macchu Picchu!
As I said in my last post I had a very quiet and relaxing couple of weeks staying with my adoptive family in San Miguel, Lima. I literally did nothing and it was bliss!!! Then I spent a few days staying down town in an area called Barranco which is right next to the super posh and very hyped (but worth seeing) Miraflores area as well as being 2 seconds from the beach. I´m sure you guys are pretty aware about me and the beach by now, so nuff said on how much time I spent there!!
When the decision had to be made as to how to get to Cusco, the town in the south of Peru from which you can get to Macchu Picchu I clearly lost my senses. I´d heard it wasn´t close to Lima, but based on word of mouth from other travellers along the way I was willing to take the 16 hour bus journey offered by Cruz del Sur; top operator in the country. The one concession I did make was to travel 1st class; it was only 6 quid more and definitely worth the money. 20 hours, motion sickness, 4 badly dubbed films with english subtitles (when the originals were in English anyway!!) and some dodgy looking hot water later we made it to Cusco. Never again in my life so long as I am in a position to choose will I do anything so foolhardy as to get a bus for that long or listen to other people when they tell me 16hours is not so bad!!!! Duurrh!
Firstly, I will say that travelling 1st class is the only way, massive leather reclining seats with footrests and only 9 people in the cabin (everyone else is upstairs on the double decker) so its nice and quiet. Other than that, it makes no difference what class you are in when you´re travelling Peru by coach. Roads that are built into mountains resulting in ridiculous meandering curves means the toilet is pretty much a nasty disgusting mess after the 1st two hours. The so called meals you get served leave a lot of taste to the imagination and only give even more reasons for you to have to visit the toilet! And the wonderful drivers, who are advertised as changing every four hours for passenger safety, clearly get bored with the whole thing and decide to test out the new traction wheels by speeding up on bends and seeing who can get the most passengers to throw up on their shift. The only person who fared worse than I was Darrell** who is not travelling on my backpacker budget and was quite openly resenting my insistance we get the bus cos it was cheaper and all part of the experience after the first 10 hours!!! Sorry!!
I am despite it all eternally grateful to have made it in one piece with no incidents! Needless to say, the budget for the return journey was added to in order to catch the simple one hour flight back to Lima! It only cost $89 compared to the bus´$65....so much for trying to be a cheap arse eh!!
Cusco has about 100% on Lima in terms of character and atmosphere. The town is cute and easy to get around, the roads, the churches and the people just seem that so much less hung up, which is in sharp contrast to Lima which is a cross between Miami and Shepherds Bush....go figure. Don´t get me wrong, I did like Lima, but when you get to Cusco, you feel the change in atmosphere, and the rivalry between the two cities (Cusco used to be the Peruvian capital hundreds of years ago) certainly maintains that!
So from Cusco one morning at 6am we caught the four hour train up to Macchu Picchu, this was followed by a 30 minute bus journey up the rest of the way and then.........paradise, the most tangible sense of history I´ve ever felt and God. I know that everyone who has seen it has the same sense of wonderment whether they took the train or bravely (I wanna say foolish but I know its cos I´m a sissy) followed the Inca Trail.
The place is truly amazing, survived for hundreds of years almost completely intact despite landslides and earthquakes that took out modern power plants and towns around it. Surrounded by astonishing drops and views of moutains on every side and roaming with llamas! I can´t express it in words and only some of my pictures actually show how fantastic it was, but I tell ya, if you can......you will never regret seeing this place.
So I did Peru, I loved it and its on my hit list of places to come back to. Many thanks to Mr and Mrs Katy and Katy´s whole family who I fell in love with and who looked after me literally like I was one of their own. I have pictures from Paulito and Isabella´s birthday which if I don´t get a chance to email to you (Paul and Katy) before I get home, will be with you asap! Mama Greta and Tia Gisela tengo amor por ustedes para siempre! Nunca puedo olvídar lo que ustedes hacían para mi. Besos, abrazos y mucho más!
So, guess where I am now? Brasil!!!!!!!! Yey!!! Landed in São Paulo on Saturday morning. Already I know my 12 week Brazilian Portugese course last year did bugger all and I haven´t got a clue what anyone is saying. This is not going to be an easy leg! I´m all for it though, I´m in Brasil after all...woohoa!!! I´ll be headed to Rio on Tuesday trying to procure me a showgirl outfit to wear on Copacabana...;-)
**Darrell bless his cottons is the only person who took me up on my offer of all company welcome to join me on any part of my trip!! He´s with me for three weeks in all, his only concession being living on my super cheapie budget! Bless...as for the rest of you...you´re missing out!!!
As I said in my last post I had a very quiet and relaxing couple of weeks staying with my adoptive family in San Miguel, Lima. I literally did nothing and it was bliss!!! Then I spent a few days staying down town in an area called Barranco which is right next to the super posh and very hyped (but worth seeing) Miraflores area as well as being 2 seconds from the beach. I´m sure you guys are pretty aware about me and the beach by now, so nuff said on how much time I spent there!!
When the decision had to be made as to how to get to Cusco, the town in the south of Peru from which you can get to Macchu Picchu I clearly lost my senses. I´d heard it wasn´t close to Lima, but based on word of mouth from other travellers along the way I was willing to take the 16 hour bus journey offered by Cruz del Sur; top operator in the country. The one concession I did make was to travel 1st class; it was only 6 quid more and definitely worth the money. 20 hours, motion sickness, 4 badly dubbed films with english subtitles (when the originals were in English anyway!!) and some dodgy looking hot water later we made it to Cusco. Never again in my life so long as I am in a position to choose will I do anything so foolhardy as to get a bus for that long or listen to other people when they tell me 16hours is not so bad!!!! Duurrh!
Firstly, I will say that travelling 1st class is the only way, massive leather reclining seats with footrests and only 9 people in the cabin (everyone else is upstairs on the double decker) so its nice and quiet. Other than that, it makes no difference what class you are in when you´re travelling Peru by coach. Roads that are built into mountains resulting in ridiculous meandering curves means the toilet is pretty much a nasty disgusting mess after the 1st two hours. The so called meals you get served leave a lot of taste to the imagination and only give even more reasons for you to have to visit the toilet! And the wonderful drivers, who are advertised as changing every four hours for passenger safety, clearly get bored with the whole thing and decide to test out the new traction wheels by speeding up on bends and seeing who can get the most passengers to throw up on their shift. The only person who fared worse than I was Darrell** who is not travelling on my backpacker budget and was quite openly resenting my insistance we get the bus cos it was cheaper and all part of the experience after the first 10 hours!!! Sorry!!
I am despite it all eternally grateful to have made it in one piece with no incidents! Needless to say, the budget for the return journey was added to in order to catch the simple one hour flight back to Lima! It only cost $89 compared to the bus´$65....so much for trying to be a cheap arse eh!!
Cusco has about 100% on Lima in terms of character and atmosphere. The town is cute and easy to get around, the roads, the churches and the people just seem that so much less hung up, which is in sharp contrast to Lima which is a cross between Miami and Shepherds Bush....go figure. Don´t get me wrong, I did like Lima, but when you get to Cusco, you feel the change in atmosphere, and the rivalry between the two cities (Cusco used to be the Peruvian capital hundreds of years ago) certainly maintains that!
So from Cusco one morning at 6am we caught the four hour train up to Macchu Picchu, this was followed by a 30 minute bus journey up the rest of the way and then.........paradise, the most tangible sense of history I´ve ever felt and God. I know that everyone who has seen it has the same sense of wonderment whether they took the train or bravely (I wanna say foolish but I know its cos I´m a sissy) followed the Inca Trail.
The place is truly amazing, survived for hundreds of years almost completely intact despite landslides and earthquakes that took out modern power plants and towns around it. Surrounded by astonishing drops and views of moutains on every side and roaming with llamas! I can´t express it in words and only some of my pictures actually show how fantastic it was, but I tell ya, if you can......you will never regret seeing this place.
So I did Peru, I loved it and its on my hit list of places to come back to. Many thanks to Mr and Mrs Katy and Katy´s whole family who I fell in love with and who looked after me literally like I was one of their own. I have pictures from Paulito and Isabella´s birthday which if I don´t get a chance to email to you (Paul and Katy) before I get home, will be with you asap! Mama Greta and Tia Gisela tengo amor por ustedes para siempre! Nunca puedo olvídar lo que ustedes hacían para mi. Besos, abrazos y mucho más!
So, guess where I am now? Brasil!!!!!!!! Yey!!! Landed in São Paulo on Saturday morning. Already I know my 12 week Brazilian Portugese course last year did bugger all and I haven´t got a clue what anyone is saying. This is not going to be an easy leg! I´m all for it though, I´m in Brasil after all...woohoa!!! I´ll be headed to Rio on Tuesday trying to procure me a showgirl outfit to wear on Copacabana...;-)
**Darrell bless his cottons is the only person who took me up on my offer of all company welcome to join me on any part of my trip!! He´s with me for three weeks in all, his only concession being living on my super cheapie budget! Bless...as for the rest of you...you´re missing out!!!
Saturday 29 March 2008
Why do natural disasters occur when you`re sleeping?
I`ve always wondered why natural disasters happen when people are sleeping, or at least at the worst possible time they could happen. Obviously there is never a convinient time for a natural disaster to occur but some times of day are definitely more inconvinient than others!
Let`s take this morning for example. For the last 3 days my hostess (shout out to Greta and all the Cruzalegui`s!!!) here in Lima has been talking of feeling tremors during the day and the middle of the night. Two nights ago, I watched her nightly routine of clearing chairs away from the dining table and clearing the route to the front door. Last night we were watching Scent of a Woman on TV (its so nice watching TV in the evenings again...*sigh) and she asked if I felt a tremor, I didn`t feel a thing. I started to think that she was maybe being just slightly too cautious, that is until this morning.
7.50am this morning, I jumped out of bed (literally in one movement) right into an earthquake. The whole house was shaking, Greta had just run into the bedroom to wake me up (I`m still not sure if it was her or the earthquake that woke me actually). It was extremely loud and the whole building sounded like a huge jackhammer was giving it a good beating. Having just woken out of deep sleep, I really cannot remember what I was thinking, I was just completely panicked thinking what on earth was going on! 10 seconds later with me holding 1 year old Isabella on the stairs halfway out the building it stopped. And that was it. Everyone had a look around, made sure everyone was ok and went back to their homes.
Isabella bless her, had no idea what was going on and was looking at me like she usually does and laughing her head off. I was only one sanity point ahead of Gigi the dog who was uncontrollably shaking and had managed to piss on the living room floor. I still don`t know how I felt at the time, on the news we heard it had been between 5.3 and 5.8 on the scale with 5.5 being the most quoted figure, but as the epicentre had been out at sea we had feared better than otherwise. I do know that I am utterly useless at disaster management! Everybody here had been through it before, knew what to do, how to act where to go, I was just a straight up liability!
I am surprised that 10 seconds managed to feel like an age and that I woke up, panicked, ran and had the prescence of mind to help with the baby before heading almost completely out of the building. Its like time slows down and some kind of instinct automatically kicks in.
I`d like to say I never want to go through that again, I`d hope that if it happened at a more convinient time of day, I would act like a sane human being or have some sort of logical thought pattern, but to be honest, I can`t be sure and I`m not willing to put my reactions to the test thank you very much! I really hope they don`t have any more tremors or quakes while I`m here....I hope its not too much to ask!
Other than this morning my first week here in Peru has been bliss, I haven`t done much, like seriously, this has been the slowest week I`ve had this whole trip, but I think it was due! I`ve eaten a lot, slept a lot, managed to watch CSI (love cable TV) and I`ve spent time walking around this superb area of San Miguel where Ì`m staying. As I said its a couple hundred metres away from the sea, the buildings and houses are gorgeous and the local marina and shopping complexes have amazing shops and casinos to boot! Beats the hell out of a lot of classy areas I`ve seen in other countries.
I`m off to visit Lima town centre this evening, have a look at their old town, maybe try out some more delicacies, I tell ya if at any time I lost weight on this trip, I`ve managed to gain it all back this week thats for sure, but thankfully I didn`t have space in my suitcase for weighing scales! ;-)
Let`s take this morning for example. For the last 3 days my hostess (shout out to Greta and all the Cruzalegui`s!!!) here in Lima has been talking of feeling tremors during the day and the middle of the night. Two nights ago, I watched her nightly routine of clearing chairs away from the dining table and clearing the route to the front door. Last night we were watching Scent of a Woman on TV (its so nice watching TV in the evenings again...*sigh) and she asked if I felt a tremor, I didn`t feel a thing. I started to think that she was maybe being just slightly too cautious, that is until this morning.
7.50am this morning, I jumped out of bed (literally in one movement) right into an earthquake. The whole house was shaking, Greta had just run into the bedroom to wake me up (I`m still not sure if it was her or the earthquake that woke me actually). It was extremely loud and the whole building sounded like a huge jackhammer was giving it a good beating. Having just woken out of deep sleep, I really cannot remember what I was thinking, I was just completely panicked thinking what on earth was going on! 10 seconds later with me holding 1 year old Isabella on the stairs halfway out the building it stopped. And that was it. Everyone had a look around, made sure everyone was ok and went back to their homes.
Isabella bless her, had no idea what was going on and was looking at me like she usually does and laughing her head off. I was only one sanity point ahead of Gigi the dog who was uncontrollably shaking and had managed to piss on the living room floor. I still don`t know how I felt at the time, on the news we heard it had been between 5.3 and 5.8 on the scale with 5.5 being the most quoted figure, but as the epicentre had been out at sea we had feared better than otherwise. I do know that I am utterly useless at disaster management! Everybody here had been through it before, knew what to do, how to act where to go, I was just a straight up liability!
I am surprised that 10 seconds managed to feel like an age and that I woke up, panicked, ran and had the prescence of mind to help with the baby before heading almost completely out of the building. Its like time slows down and some kind of instinct automatically kicks in.
I`d like to say I never want to go through that again, I`d hope that if it happened at a more convinient time of day, I would act like a sane human being or have some sort of logical thought pattern, but to be honest, I can`t be sure and I`m not willing to put my reactions to the test thank you very much! I really hope they don`t have any more tremors or quakes while I`m here....I hope its not too much to ask!
Other than this morning my first week here in Peru has been bliss, I haven`t done much, like seriously, this has been the slowest week I`ve had this whole trip, but I think it was due! I`ve eaten a lot, slept a lot, managed to watch CSI (love cable TV) and I`ve spent time walking around this superb area of San Miguel where Ì`m staying. As I said its a couple hundred metres away from the sea, the buildings and houses are gorgeous and the local marina and shopping complexes have amazing shops and casinos to boot! Beats the hell out of a lot of classy areas I`ve seen in other countries.
I`m off to visit Lima town centre this evening, have a look at their old town, maybe try out some more delicacies, I tell ya if at any time I lost weight on this trip, I`ve managed to gain it all back this week thats for sure, but thankfully I didn`t have space in my suitcase for weighing scales! ;-)
Sunday 23 March 2008
Fancy a game of sh*thead?
Yes folks the universal game of sh*thead that I never knew existed has filled every quiet gap I´ve had and successfully managed to breach language barriers with practically every person I´ve met. I now know that in Denmark they call it Arsehole and in Spanish its called Burro (Donkey...so basically arsehole too!). Its funny how a card game can be so universally known, although I´m pretty sure that since I didn´t know it before I came travelling, none of my closest friends do either, but anyway, once you´re out, don´t be offended if someone asks you the above!
So, how am I? I am fanbloodytastic and once again aching from crazy activites! Although this time, I have no complaints and nothing but praises! Yesterday I went to a place called Mindo which is a small town in the Amazon side of Ecuador known for its funventure type activities. We had a 35 minute trek through the jungle, albeit through a well trodden and safety roped path down to the most fantastic waterfall. I´m not a great swimmer but even if I was, I still wouldn´t understand why people would jump 20ft down into a waterfall, but they did! It was quite fun to watch. Because of the humidity its almost always raining in some shape or form in that area and that means mud and lots of it which is all part of the fun. The amount of times I and friends almost fell into mud is countless and needless to say at the end of it, we ended up looking like we´d purposely tried to get as muddy as possible....nice!
So after almost 2 hours of doing that, what did we do? We rented quad bikes ofcourse! Now that was fun! Firstly because it was my first time, but secondly because when I was allowed to drive, I faced my own death a couple of times (that´s an exxageration mother dear don´t worry!). First time was breaking too hard down a very muddy and stony hill, second time was trying to overtake on a thin part of the track with a never ending drop on one side! One of the most fun things I´ve ever done, and I came back from that with a second coating of mud to add to the first!
I must say major thanks to my newest sweetheart Dany (and therefore thanks to Deji and Jamesito too for putting me in touch with her!). The first place Dany took me to was to watch the Easter procession of the Virgin Mary and Jesus in the old town. It was amazing, there were tons of people there, not unlike the Notting Hill Carnival. And I also found out something new! When I finally get to catch up with uploading my pix, you´ll get to see and awful lot of people wearing purple Ku Klux Klan outfits!!! Now obviously that´s not what they actually were, and I´m pretty sure the Klan took the idea from them, but it was hell of a scary to watch hundreds of hooded men in a procession! I kid you not! The idea is that they are repented sinners, many of them were also carrying crosses and wore chains on their feet, a few were self-flagelating and I have it on good authority that they do it for real!
Dany then took me for a nice lunch with the family, which was lovely, she was also the one who took me to Mindo as well as taking me to an amazing Cafe in Quito from which there were the most amazing views of the whole city! I´ve had a fantastic time with her and to think we only met two days ago!
I must say that Ecuador has been a proper activity location for me, on Thurday I walked 700m up the Cotopaxi volcano. Doesn´t sound like much until you factor in the fact that we started at 4100m above sea level and ended on 4800m! I never knew it could be so hard to breathe and that was with me walking like an old lady! Plus it was absolutely freezing for which to be honest I was ill equipped (I had envisioned spending months in sunshine, shows how good my research was huh!). However, at the end of the hour it took me to get up there, bringing up the rear behind everybody else!! I was chuffed as hell! The views from up there when the clouds cleared were amazing and when you think that its still a live volcano which they think will errupt again soon....well, I´m glad it didn´t happen the day we went up!
I also went to see the Mitad del Mundo, or the monument at the Equator. Wanna hear the funny part? When GPS came in, they found out they had built their monument 240m out from the real line! lol! Now isn´t that a bummer when you´ve built a whole mini-city with shops, restaurants and museums in the wrong place! The upshot is that they won´t publicise that fact at least not once you´re inside the city. Just outside it however, you´ll find men in yellow shirts who will point you to a project called Quitsato.
Quitsato was explained to us by a Fox Moulder wannabe (complete with melodrama) as an attempt to recognise a pre-Inca monument that was built on the exact correct line of the equator over 1000 years ago, but obviously without GPS! Currently its at risk because the moutain is being used as a quarry and the government already have their equator monument...but anyhoo, I shant go into it too much, google it. Its actually very interesting and worth having a read about!
So Ecuador is over, if I have any niggle its about the cold which I didn´t expect, they are having the worst wet season ever in a long time and it goes from hot to cold and wet very quickly. But it hasn´t taken away from my amazing experience!
I´m off to Peru tomorrow to be welcomed by the loving arms of the Cruzalegui family! Can´t wait!
So, how am I? I am fanbloodytastic and once again aching from crazy activites! Although this time, I have no complaints and nothing but praises! Yesterday I went to a place called Mindo which is a small town in the Amazon side of Ecuador known for its funventure type activities. We had a 35 minute trek through the jungle, albeit through a well trodden and safety roped path down to the most fantastic waterfall. I´m not a great swimmer but even if I was, I still wouldn´t understand why people would jump 20ft down into a waterfall, but they did! It was quite fun to watch. Because of the humidity its almost always raining in some shape or form in that area and that means mud and lots of it which is all part of the fun. The amount of times I and friends almost fell into mud is countless and needless to say at the end of it, we ended up looking like we´d purposely tried to get as muddy as possible....nice!
So after almost 2 hours of doing that, what did we do? We rented quad bikes ofcourse! Now that was fun! Firstly because it was my first time, but secondly because when I was allowed to drive, I faced my own death a couple of times (that´s an exxageration mother dear don´t worry!). First time was breaking too hard down a very muddy and stony hill, second time was trying to overtake on a thin part of the track with a never ending drop on one side! One of the most fun things I´ve ever done, and I came back from that with a second coating of mud to add to the first!
I must say major thanks to my newest sweetheart Dany (and therefore thanks to Deji and Jamesito too for putting me in touch with her!). The first place Dany took me to was to watch the Easter procession of the Virgin Mary and Jesus in the old town. It was amazing, there were tons of people there, not unlike the Notting Hill Carnival. And I also found out something new! When I finally get to catch up with uploading my pix, you´ll get to see and awful lot of people wearing purple Ku Klux Klan outfits!!! Now obviously that´s not what they actually were, and I´m pretty sure the Klan took the idea from them, but it was hell of a scary to watch hundreds of hooded men in a procession! I kid you not! The idea is that they are repented sinners, many of them were also carrying crosses and wore chains on their feet, a few were self-flagelating and I have it on good authority that they do it for real!
Dany then took me for a nice lunch with the family, which was lovely, she was also the one who took me to Mindo as well as taking me to an amazing Cafe in Quito from which there were the most amazing views of the whole city! I´ve had a fantastic time with her and to think we only met two days ago!
I must say that Ecuador has been a proper activity location for me, on Thurday I walked 700m up the Cotopaxi volcano. Doesn´t sound like much until you factor in the fact that we started at 4100m above sea level and ended on 4800m! I never knew it could be so hard to breathe and that was with me walking like an old lady! Plus it was absolutely freezing for which to be honest I was ill equipped (I had envisioned spending months in sunshine, shows how good my research was huh!). However, at the end of the hour it took me to get up there, bringing up the rear behind everybody else!! I was chuffed as hell! The views from up there when the clouds cleared were amazing and when you think that its still a live volcano which they think will errupt again soon....well, I´m glad it didn´t happen the day we went up!
I also went to see the Mitad del Mundo, or the monument at the Equator. Wanna hear the funny part? When GPS came in, they found out they had built their monument 240m out from the real line! lol! Now isn´t that a bummer when you´ve built a whole mini-city with shops, restaurants and museums in the wrong place! The upshot is that they won´t publicise that fact at least not once you´re inside the city. Just outside it however, you´ll find men in yellow shirts who will point you to a project called Quitsato.
Quitsato was explained to us by a Fox Moulder wannabe (complete with melodrama) as an attempt to recognise a pre-Inca monument that was built on the exact correct line of the equator over 1000 years ago, but obviously without GPS! Currently its at risk because the moutain is being used as a quarry and the government already have their equator monument...but anyhoo, I shant go into it too much, google it. Its actually very interesting and worth having a read about!
So Ecuador is over, if I have any niggle its about the cold which I didn´t expect, they are having the worst wet season ever in a long time and it goes from hot to cold and wet very quickly. But it hasn´t taken away from my amazing experience!
I´m off to Peru tomorrow to be welcomed by the loving arms of the Cruzalegui family! Can´t wait!
Wednesday 19 March 2008
Morenita leaves Mexico Town!
As you can probably guess, Morenita became my nickname in Mexico. Everywhere I went that´s what people started calling me! Its factually inaccurate given that morena means dark skinned but definitely not black, but who cares, a cute nickname is a cute nickname!
I am currently in Quito, Ecuador (moving fast now aren´t I?) but I shall summarise my last week in Mexico before I get onto that!
So Oaxaca (/wahaka/ Mexico has some of the most unpronouncable names I´ve ever come across!), one of the nicest places I have ever been to. It is absolutely stunning, a lovely little city surrounded on all sides by amazing hills and mountains. I managed to do another tour while staying in the city which took me to see the fattest tree in the world, its only 2000 years old but it takes about 40 people holding hands to go all the way around it. Then we went to see a weaving community project where they use centuries old traditions of making natural dyes and making blankets, carpets and mats. That was quite interesting, but maybe that´s the geek in me again! The high point of the trip was the trip to go and eat in a traditional Oaxacan restaurant. Top of the menu were ant eggs, worms and grasshoppers.
So quess what Lola did? Yes, I tried all of them! You can´t come to these places and not try out local delicacies now can you! So, I´d recommend worms, they don´t taste of much but its a nice texture when they´re fried. Ant eggs taste like corn with a twist, the first taste isn´t so bad, but consecutive helpings may make you feel a lil sick! Grasshoppers well, I´m still not sure to be honest. The only thing I could taste was the chilli and salt seasoning (which Mexicans put on everything!) and a bit of a crunch. These were very small grasshoppers and I had it on good information the bigger ones taste much nicer but I figured I´d leave that till Thailand.
I have to say Mexicans put salt and chilli or chilli sauce on everything. When buying fruit on the street, they´ll peel and cut it for you, but if you don´t catch them on time, you´ll have salt and chilli all over your fresh orange or melon or apple or mango....you name it, they put salt and chilli on it! Trust me, salt and chilli does not go with everything....!
Final stop on the trip was a visit to a mezcal factory. Mezcal is a strong spirit made from a cactus; Tequila is a type of mezcal made in a place called Tequila in Mexico (go figure!). Some of these come at 80% alcohol which is nuts! There are some smoother ones which come as liquieurs with passion fruit (Maracuya) top of my list, but the fact is, going on a trip where you taste 10-13 different types of mezcal in about 5 minutes (their shot glasses are a lil bigger than ours as well!) really isn´t good for you!
I have to say at this point of my trip, kinda halfway through, I´m feeling a little homesick and quite tired from the long list of things that you "absolutely have to do" everytime you get somewhere, so I decided to give myself a holiday. I booked a couple nights in a small hostel up in the hills outside Oaxaca city called La Villada Inn. Talk about 5* experience on a no star budget. I paid $13 a night to be treated like a member of a family (I needed some mummy love), amazing views of the city from up the hill, a swimming pool (a proper one!) and amazing food. I couldn´t have asked for a better place to spend lazy days! It was perfect! I even got to spend some time with their new born grandson who was only a day old! It kinda made me miss my family a little bit more (don´t let that get to your heads folks....you´re just alright! ;-) but it was very nice to be in a family atmosphere for a bit and from the reviews I saw on Hostelworld.com they´re like that all the time!
So, I arrived in Ecuador on Monday and talk about depressing. I landed in 12 degrees and rain rain rain, I felt like I´d gone back to England. They´ve had loads of rain and floods here recently, but yesterday the sun came out! Lets hope it stays around for my week here! I´m staying in another family hostel which is great. Yesterday they threw a party for their first year anniversary of being open and the 23rd birthday of their son and it was fabulous. Great way to meet all the other people staying here and the free pizza and dancing was well received by all! lol!
I have no real niggles this week (hoorah) but I do have some praise to give to ......Miami Airport Immigration. I never thought it possible! Basically although it´s quite silly, I had to fly from Mexico to Miami then catch another flight to Ecuador as there are no direct flights from Mexico City. I expected the worst, only a 2 hour stopover and my last experience 3 years ago of 3 hours of queues to pass immigration in Miami was still fresh in my mind!
So I prepared to have my bags lost (flying American Airlines), I wore very comfortable shoes and was prepared to miss my connection. But to my surprise, flights were on time and after managing to clear immigration AND customs in just 20 minutes I had a whole hour and a half to myself. Plus, on arrival in Quito, my bag was just there waiting for me! Well credit where credit is due folks, I have one more transfer through the US (Dallas), I won´t get complacent, but I won´t expect the worst either!
So I´m off to visit the equator today, a volcano tomorrow and I´m gonna be here for the Easter processions which are a big deal round here, should be good!
I am currently in Quito, Ecuador (moving fast now aren´t I?) but I shall summarise my last week in Mexico before I get onto that!
So Oaxaca (/wahaka/ Mexico has some of the most unpronouncable names I´ve ever come across!), one of the nicest places I have ever been to. It is absolutely stunning, a lovely little city surrounded on all sides by amazing hills and mountains. I managed to do another tour while staying in the city which took me to see the fattest tree in the world, its only 2000 years old but it takes about 40 people holding hands to go all the way around it. Then we went to see a weaving community project where they use centuries old traditions of making natural dyes and making blankets, carpets and mats. That was quite interesting, but maybe that´s the geek in me again! The high point of the trip was the trip to go and eat in a traditional Oaxacan restaurant. Top of the menu were ant eggs, worms and grasshoppers.
So quess what Lola did? Yes, I tried all of them! You can´t come to these places and not try out local delicacies now can you! So, I´d recommend worms, they don´t taste of much but its a nice texture when they´re fried. Ant eggs taste like corn with a twist, the first taste isn´t so bad, but consecutive helpings may make you feel a lil sick! Grasshoppers well, I´m still not sure to be honest. The only thing I could taste was the chilli and salt seasoning (which Mexicans put on everything!) and a bit of a crunch. These were very small grasshoppers and I had it on good information the bigger ones taste much nicer but I figured I´d leave that till Thailand.
I have to say Mexicans put salt and chilli or chilli sauce on everything. When buying fruit on the street, they´ll peel and cut it for you, but if you don´t catch them on time, you´ll have salt and chilli all over your fresh orange or melon or apple or mango....you name it, they put salt and chilli on it! Trust me, salt and chilli does not go with everything....!
Final stop on the trip was a visit to a mezcal factory. Mezcal is a strong spirit made from a cactus; Tequila is a type of mezcal made in a place called Tequila in Mexico (go figure!). Some of these come at 80% alcohol which is nuts! There are some smoother ones which come as liquieurs with passion fruit (Maracuya) top of my list, but the fact is, going on a trip where you taste 10-13 different types of mezcal in about 5 minutes (their shot glasses are a lil bigger than ours as well!) really isn´t good for you!
I have to say at this point of my trip, kinda halfway through, I´m feeling a little homesick and quite tired from the long list of things that you "absolutely have to do" everytime you get somewhere, so I decided to give myself a holiday. I booked a couple nights in a small hostel up in the hills outside Oaxaca city called La Villada Inn. Talk about 5* experience on a no star budget. I paid $13 a night to be treated like a member of a family (I needed some mummy love), amazing views of the city from up the hill, a swimming pool (a proper one!) and amazing food. I couldn´t have asked for a better place to spend lazy days! It was perfect! I even got to spend some time with their new born grandson who was only a day old! It kinda made me miss my family a little bit more (don´t let that get to your heads folks....you´re just alright! ;-) but it was very nice to be in a family atmosphere for a bit and from the reviews I saw on Hostelworld.com they´re like that all the time!
So, I arrived in Ecuador on Monday and talk about depressing. I landed in 12 degrees and rain rain rain, I felt like I´d gone back to England. They´ve had loads of rain and floods here recently, but yesterday the sun came out! Lets hope it stays around for my week here! I´m staying in another family hostel which is great. Yesterday they threw a party for their first year anniversary of being open and the 23rd birthday of their son and it was fabulous. Great way to meet all the other people staying here and the free pizza and dancing was well received by all! lol!
I have no real niggles this week (hoorah) but I do have some praise to give to ......Miami Airport Immigration. I never thought it possible! Basically although it´s quite silly, I had to fly from Mexico to Miami then catch another flight to Ecuador as there are no direct flights from Mexico City. I expected the worst, only a 2 hour stopover and my last experience 3 years ago of 3 hours of queues to pass immigration in Miami was still fresh in my mind!
So I prepared to have my bags lost (flying American Airlines), I wore very comfortable shoes and was prepared to miss my connection. But to my surprise, flights were on time and after managing to clear immigration AND customs in just 20 minutes I had a whole hour and a half to myself. Plus, on arrival in Quito, my bag was just there waiting for me! Well credit where credit is due folks, I have one more transfer through the US (Dallas), I won´t get complacent, but I won´t expect the worst either!
So I´m off to visit the equator today, a volcano tomorrow and I´m gonna be here for the Easter processions which are a big deal round here, should be good!
Tuesday 11 March 2008
Girl hits Mexico Town!
Yes folks I´m in Mexico and what a place! The very first thing I realised is that two weeks is absolutely nothing in this place, and I mean nothing. It´s huge, people spend months and months here, this is a totally different experience from a lil ole Caribbean island! Mexico city on its own is like a gazillion times the size of London with about 26 million people......last time I complain about London being too big! As it is, I only have two weeks and I´m doing my best to keep the balance between taking in sights, but taking it easy...I´m supposed to be on holiday here!
So, I´ve spent a week in Mexico city which was amazing. I stayed in the Centro Historico, right next to the biggest and one of the oldest Cathedrals in Mexico, built right on top of the site of the Aztec Templo Mayor which has been partly excavated round the back of the cathedral. From the terrace bar in my hostel (Hostel Catedral is not bad as far as hostels go!) you can see way up into the mountains and get a good sense of just how ridiculously big the whole city is! The metro is extremely easy to use to get around, easier than the London Underground, and at $2 pesos a go, really quite cheap (21-22 pesos to the pound), but there is no way to see and do it all in a few days. I managed to go to Chapultapec park and the Anthropology museum in the park (geek I know) which are both amazing! I also did a lot of walking around the historical zone or Zocalo and managed to find a Zara!!!! Eeek!!! I also had a couple of excellent nights out, one going to see Mexican Wrestling, you can´t help but catch the bug, they get right into it, so so do you! The other was in an area called Condesa which is like a Clapham Junction with loads of bars, restaurants and clubs.
There are quite a few ancient ruins around Mexico City as well, I took a tour which took me to Tlatelolco which as well as being an excavated site was also the site of the 1982 masacre of students by the Mexican government. A really interesting but disgustingly tragic story. The tour also went to the shrine of Guadaloupe, patron saint of Mexicans. Amazing shrine and history but really quite shameless exploitation by the Catholic Church. I was amazed to see a billboard offering direct debit contibutions to the church in return for prayers and blessings....anyway.
The final stop on our tour was Teitohuacán, now that was something worth doing! Not only for the free Polque (spirit made from a cactus ;-) and Tequila but for the temple of the sun, which I managed to climb all the way to the top! Definitely worth doing if you´re coming this way!
There was some strange activity though, I´d already noticed that everyone here stares at me; in Mexico City its rare to see many dark skinned and certainly black people. So pretty much from arrival I´ve been open mouthed, stop dead in tracks, slow down traffic stared at. I never thought in this day and age a black person would draw so much attention, but I have. At Teitohuacán, myself and a fellow female tourist from France who was tall, slim and almost platinum blonde (probably the whitest white person many people here have seen!) got asked to take more photos with various school children than I think they took of the pyramids! I guess now I have a sense of what its like to have the paparrazzi on your back......not great I tell ya!
So now I´m in Oaxaca city 6 hours south west of Mexico City. Its a lot quieter which is nice, plus its got just as much character and stuff to do as anywhere else in Mexico. Its shame I won´t get to do more here, but yet again, now I know I have to come back! The food is great, although I can´t imagine that Tacos every day is ever good for your health and there are oodles of interesting places to look around, although I´ve spent today sleeping and reading...bliss!
So, last but not least niggles. Primary niggle here has to be being stared at, its just not something I´m used to and you can´t help but wonder if you´ve got your skirt in your pants, a massive bogie on your nose or bird shit on your head. But this chick is taking some well given advice (;-) and rocking it like she´s super hot and taking it in her stride!
Second but thankfully very temporary niggle was the Air Mexicana flight from Cuba. Apparently landing in a valley as Mexico City is in, is always gonna be a bit turbulent, but that cannot explain why my pilot decided to aim for the landing strip nose first. I´ve never in my life been more terrified on a plane, and it really doesn´t do much for my relationship with unfamiliar airlines!
Final niggle is the cold! Nobody told me it was cold here! Okay so its not UK cold and I don´t need a scarf and gloves, but in the evenings you do need a cardigan AND a jacket...poo... its annoying, I imagined months of summer dresses and flip flops day and night, instead I´m getting far too much use of my jeans and trainers!! Oh and I had to buy another jacket to replace the one that went missing in Jamaica :-(
Big thumbs up for Mexico overall, this place really is worth coming to, shame I only have a week left!
Before I go, I have a book and CD recommendation; Paulo Coelho's The Witch of Portobello, I´ve been reading it in spanish which isn´t easy, but hasn´t made it any less inspiring. I honestly think I´m just gonna go right ahead and join Paulo´s fan club. Sod it. Also, one of the popular sound tracks of my trip so far is Fire on the Mountain by Asa. The whole album actually (also called Asa) is fantastic although she sometimes sings in Yoruba which you´ll love even if you don´t understand! I promise neither will dissapoint!
So, I´ve spent a week in Mexico city which was amazing. I stayed in the Centro Historico, right next to the biggest and one of the oldest Cathedrals in Mexico, built right on top of the site of the Aztec Templo Mayor which has been partly excavated round the back of the cathedral. From the terrace bar in my hostel (Hostel Catedral is not bad as far as hostels go!) you can see way up into the mountains and get a good sense of just how ridiculously big the whole city is! The metro is extremely easy to use to get around, easier than the London Underground, and at $2 pesos a go, really quite cheap (21-22 pesos to the pound), but there is no way to see and do it all in a few days. I managed to go to Chapultapec park and the Anthropology museum in the park (geek I know) which are both amazing! I also did a lot of walking around the historical zone or Zocalo and managed to find a Zara!!!! Eeek!!! I also had a couple of excellent nights out, one going to see Mexican Wrestling, you can´t help but catch the bug, they get right into it, so so do you! The other was in an area called Condesa which is like a Clapham Junction with loads of bars, restaurants and clubs.
There are quite a few ancient ruins around Mexico City as well, I took a tour which took me to Tlatelolco which as well as being an excavated site was also the site of the 1982 masacre of students by the Mexican government. A really interesting but disgustingly tragic story. The tour also went to the shrine of Guadaloupe, patron saint of Mexicans. Amazing shrine and history but really quite shameless exploitation by the Catholic Church. I was amazed to see a billboard offering direct debit contibutions to the church in return for prayers and blessings....anyway.
The final stop on our tour was Teitohuacán, now that was something worth doing! Not only for the free Polque (spirit made from a cactus ;-) and Tequila but for the temple of the sun, which I managed to climb all the way to the top! Definitely worth doing if you´re coming this way!
There was some strange activity though, I´d already noticed that everyone here stares at me; in Mexico City its rare to see many dark skinned and certainly black people. So pretty much from arrival I´ve been open mouthed, stop dead in tracks, slow down traffic stared at. I never thought in this day and age a black person would draw so much attention, but I have. At Teitohuacán, myself and a fellow female tourist from France who was tall, slim and almost platinum blonde (probably the whitest white person many people here have seen!) got asked to take more photos with various school children than I think they took of the pyramids! I guess now I have a sense of what its like to have the paparrazzi on your back......not great I tell ya!
So now I´m in Oaxaca city 6 hours south west of Mexico City. Its a lot quieter which is nice, plus its got just as much character and stuff to do as anywhere else in Mexico. Its shame I won´t get to do more here, but yet again, now I know I have to come back! The food is great, although I can´t imagine that Tacos every day is ever good for your health and there are oodles of interesting places to look around, although I´ve spent today sleeping and reading...bliss!
So, last but not least niggles. Primary niggle here has to be being stared at, its just not something I´m used to and you can´t help but wonder if you´ve got your skirt in your pants, a massive bogie on your nose or bird shit on your head. But this chick is taking some well given advice (;-) and rocking it like she´s super hot and taking it in her stride!
Second but thankfully very temporary niggle was the Air Mexicana flight from Cuba. Apparently landing in a valley as Mexico City is in, is always gonna be a bit turbulent, but that cannot explain why my pilot decided to aim for the landing strip nose first. I´ve never in my life been more terrified on a plane, and it really doesn´t do much for my relationship with unfamiliar airlines!
Final niggle is the cold! Nobody told me it was cold here! Okay so its not UK cold and I don´t need a scarf and gloves, but in the evenings you do need a cardigan AND a jacket...poo... its annoying, I imagined months of summer dresses and flip flops day and night, instead I´m getting far too much use of my jeans and trainers!! Oh and I had to buy another jacket to replace the one that went missing in Jamaica :-(
Big thumbs up for Mexico overall, this place really is worth coming to, shame I only have a week left!
Before I go, I have a book and CD recommendation; Paulo Coelho's The Witch of Portobello, I´ve been reading it in spanish which isn´t easy, but hasn´t made it any less inspiring. I honestly think I´m just gonna go right ahead and join Paulo´s fan club. Sod it. Also, one of the popular sound tracks of my trip so far is Fire on the Mountain by Asa. The whole album actually (also called Asa) is fantastic although she sometimes sings in Yoruba which you´ll love even if you don´t understand! I promise neither will dissapoint!
Tuesday 4 March 2008
Def*Cuban Horseriding....Very Sore Fanny!!
Yes folks, as predicted, I have yet another sore fanny situation, together with a sore back, sore arms and sore calves. I'm not a rider, haven't ever been (some of you may remember my 5 year old trauma story) and I am NOT ever going to be either. A 2 hour horse ride where the horse is cantering (apparently the most uncomfortable thing a horse can do) for the most part is not my idea of fun. Plus (I found this out after) Cubans have a reputation for having the most uncomfortable saddles.
The view across the Valley of Ingenes was amazing and the mini waterfall, Cascada Ancon (its a cheek to call it a waterfall really) with its stunning pool and natural caves were nice, but to be honest, I would rather have taken a car or even riden a bicycle to get there, but unfortunately you can only access it on horseback. If you go to Trinidad and get talked into giving it a go as I did, be aware, wear jeans and thick socks, and fellas...you might wanna get some padding, the guys on the trip with me didn't fare very well!
I had an excellent few days in Trinidad, I made a few friends from Larndan at Casa de la Musica (yey Kevin, Paul and Bee...see I told you I'd give you a mention) and in true form managed to also break the key to Kevin and Paul's bedroom in the lock (a long story involving alcohol, me needing the toilet and Paul putting the wrong key in the lock, clearly all his fault). I also stayed in a Casa Particular for the first time, the best and cheapest way to stay in Cuba. You can pretty much turn up at a major station or bus terminal and find a casa within a few minutes. You'll get 5* treatment which you will get charged for, but over all its a much better experience than a hotel! Plus you pay for a room but you could probably end up with two double beds, your own dining area (as I had in Trinidad) and in my current casa back in Havana, I have a one bedroom apartment complete with two massive luxury bathrooms with a double bath and shower (but only one bedroom?!?!) all for the equivalent of about 15 quid a night!
So I'm off to Mexico tomorrow, to be honest glad to see the back of Havana, I've had enough of people kindly but persistently asking for money or clothing; there aren't any dirty looking beggars in Cuba, anyone can strike up a conversation with you which normally ends up with them asking you for something. It gets annoying and it means you can't trust anyone's motives. You gotta be firm but it gets very boring very quickly.
Plus, super niggle of all time, I've just left the beach in a huff because I was being followed by a major pervert, and I mean major! This normal looking man of about 40 came up to me on a bike, asked me for the time and wandered off to sit about 10 feet away. I was quite glad he only wanted the time and carried on reading my book only to look up about 10 minutes later and see him facing me and...wait for it.....wanking! Yes folks, this man was having a very good time on my part. I cursed at him, kicked a massive bunch of sand in his direction got all my stuff and moved extremely quickly in the opposite direction. I thought I'd got rid of him, but half an hour later, I had a funny feeling, looked around and there he was again, going at it with twice as much vigour as before and only slightly further away. This time I went looking for a policeman but by the time I found one, he'd dissapeared. I am slightly traumatised, but there are mad people everywhere I guess!
Roll on Mexico!
The view across the Valley of Ingenes was amazing and the mini waterfall, Cascada Ancon (its a cheek to call it a waterfall really) with its stunning pool and natural caves were nice, but to be honest, I would rather have taken a car or even riden a bicycle to get there, but unfortunately you can only access it on horseback. If you go to Trinidad and get talked into giving it a go as I did, be aware, wear jeans and thick socks, and fellas...you might wanna get some padding, the guys on the trip with me didn't fare very well!
I had an excellent few days in Trinidad, I made a few friends from Larndan at Casa de la Musica (yey Kevin, Paul and Bee...see I told you I'd give you a mention) and in true form managed to also break the key to Kevin and Paul's bedroom in the lock (a long story involving alcohol, me needing the toilet and Paul putting the wrong key in the lock, clearly all his fault). I also stayed in a Casa Particular for the first time, the best and cheapest way to stay in Cuba. You can pretty much turn up at a major station or bus terminal and find a casa within a few minutes. You'll get 5* treatment which you will get charged for, but over all its a much better experience than a hotel! Plus you pay for a room but you could probably end up with two double beds, your own dining area (as I had in Trinidad) and in my current casa back in Havana, I have a one bedroom apartment complete with two massive luxury bathrooms with a double bath and shower (but only one bedroom?!?!) all for the equivalent of about 15 quid a night!
So I'm off to Mexico tomorrow, to be honest glad to see the back of Havana, I've had enough of people kindly but persistently asking for money or clothing; there aren't any dirty looking beggars in Cuba, anyone can strike up a conversation with you which normally ends up with them asking you for something. It gets annoying and it means you can't trust anyone's motives. You gotta be firm but it gets very boring very quickly.
Plus, super niggle of all time, I've just left the beach in a huff because I was being followed by a major pervert, and I mean major! This normal looking man of about 40 came up to me on a bike, asked me for the time and wandered off to sit about 10 feet away. I was quite glad he only wanted the time and carried on reading my book only to look up about 10 minutes later and see him facing me and...wait for it.....wanking! Yes folks, this man was having a very good time on my part. I cursed at him, kicked a massive bunch of sand in his direction got all my stuff and moved extremely quickly in the opposite direction. I thought I'd got rid of him, but half an hour later, I had a funny feeling, looked around and there he was again, going at it with twice as much vigour as before and only slightly further away. This time I went looking for a policeman but by the time I found one, he'd dissapeared. I am slightly traumatised, but there are mad people everywhere I guess!
Roll on Mexico!
Saturday 1 March 2008
¡Viva la Revolucion!
I´ve got revolution fever, it´s everywhere here. Even over 50 years since it actually happened there is still propaganda everywhere, adverts, billboards, booklets, t-shirts and whatever else you want to see propaganda on. There are even billboards with George Bush´s face being equated to that of Hitler! It´s not that surprising, Cubans are living in a bubble and their faith, belief and patriotism towards that bubble must be maintained at all costs even if that bubble has a few holes in it to allow foreign money to come in!
I spent about 3 days in Havana, staying in Old Havana, what a place, the buildings are absolutely amazing even though some of them are almost falling down because they haven´t been restored yet, although there is a lot of talk and activity (in Cuban time) to get the restoration work underway. You also get to see all the classic signs of Cuba, American cars from the 1950s and before, Russian cars from the 60s and 70s; someone needs to say something about the brilliance of these Cuban mechanics!
One of the most interesting places I visited in Havana was the Yoruba Cultural Centre. Now, it was a little strange for me to see how strong traditional Yoruba belief in Orishas (Ancestral Gods) is in Cuba, but it was one of the things I was looking forward to experiencing, being of Yoruba descent myself. It´s bigger than Christianity here (which went out of the window after the revolution anyway) and it´s no longer limited to the descendants of slaves.
The centre has a statue of every Orisha, plus an explanation of its beginnings and how it is recognised. Given that belief in these Gods in Nigeria is almost completely extinct and they are limited to simply being a representation of our history, it is a shock to see people actively practicing it here, wearing all white every day, having huge temples in their homes and giving food and money sacrifices on holy days. Definitely worth a visit if you come here, its a small centre, but it helps to make sense of what you see on the streets and when you pass people´s houses. Santiago is supposed to have a much larger population of people who believe in Orishas hence why I wanted to go there, but the 15hour bus journey and scheduling complications has put that plan to rest.....means I gotta come back!
So, now I´m in Trinidad which is about a 5 hour bus ride from Havana (comfortable bus with reclining seats and a couple of Steven Seagal films!). Tiny town with only one beach, but it is absolutely stunning here. Its almost completely colonial, you´ll struggle to find a modern building and most of the streets are cobbled and oozing with character. The highlight for me has been Casa de la Musica which is in the town centre, free music every night of the week, you can listen, dance or try and dance salsa and stay merry until the wee hours of the morning! Last night, I even ventured into a club inside a natural cave...one word...wow! If you come to Cuba you gotta try it out!
So, onto my now regular niggles. As I mentioned in my last blog, using cards in this country is a bit difficult, any card which may be slightly associated with any American interest, just won´t work. Do not make the mistake I did and think that ¨Transaction Denied¨means a problem with your bank and spend 50CUC calling the UK only to listen to a recorded message which is of no help whatsover.
The next niggle is Cuban money. For about 2 years they´ve been operating two currencies here, Moneda Nacional(MN), which Cubans earn and spend, and Cuban Convertible Pesos(CUC), which all foreigners must use (even if they live and work in Cuba). I say must because even if you get hold of MN some places just won´t accept it from you, as you can imagine I´ve already had a couple of debates with folks on this, trust me.
Now the thing is, you get like 25MN for 1CUC, but when you buy something, the price is the same, so for example; an ice cream has a price on it of $1 (everything has the dollar sign on it?!?!), Cubans pay 1MN, foreigners pay 1CUC. Can you see the problem?! Plus just to make it worse, the CUC is stronger than the US dollar, and if you don´t have cash to change and want to buy CUC using a card, they change it into US dollars first and then into CUC, whilst adding about 5-10% commision which means you loose the advantage of having the pound which should give you just under 2CUC per pound. Sound complicated? Well it is, and its making sure Cuba is working out a lil expensive for me but what can you do?!
Tomorrow I´m taking a horse ride up to a waterfall just outside Trinidad, something tells me there is gonna be another sore fanny blog coming up!
I spent about 3 days in Havana, staying in Old Havana, what a place, the buildings are absolutely amazing even though some of them are almost falling down because they haven´t been restored yet, although there is a lot of talk and activity (in Cuban time) to get the restoration work underway. You also get to see all the classic signs of Cuba, American cars from the 1950s and before, Russian cars from the 60s and 70s; someone needs to say something about the brilliance of these Cuban mechanics!
One of the most interesting places I visited in Havana was the Yoruba Cultural Centre. Now, it was a little strange for me to see how strong traditional Yoruba belief in Orishas (Ancestral Gods) is in Cuba, but it was one of the things I was looking forward to experiencing, being of Yoruba descent myself. It´s bigger than Christianity here (which went out of the window after the revolution anyway) and it´s no longer limited to the descendants of slaves.
The centre has a statue of every Orisha, plus an explanation of its beginnings and how it is recognised. Given that belief in these Gods in Nigeria is almost completely extinct and they are limited to simply being a representation of our history, it is a shock to see people actively practicing it here, wearing all white every day, having huge temples in their homes and giving food and money sacrifices on holy days. Definitely worth a visit if you come here, its a small centre, but it helps to make sense of what you see on the streets and when you pass people´s houses. Santiago is supposed to have a much larger population of people who believe in Orishas hence why I wanted to go there, but the 15hour bus journey and scheduling complications has put that plan to rest.....means I gotta come back!
So, now I´m in Trinidad which is about a 5 hour bus ride from Havana (comfortable bus with reclining seats and a couple of Steven Seagal films!). Tiny town with only one beach, but it is absolutely stunning here. Its almost completely colonial, you´ll struggle to find a modern building and most of the streets are cobbled and oozing with character. The highlight for me has been Casa de la Musica which is in the town centre, free music every night of the week, you can listen, dance or try and dance salsa and stay merry until the wee hours of the morning! Last night, I even ventured into a club inside a natural cave...one word...wow! If you come to Cuba you gotta try it out!
So, onto my now regular niggles. As I mentioned in my last blog, using cards in this country is a bit difficult, any card which may be slightly associated with any American interest, just won´t work. Do not make the mistake I did and think that ¨Transaction Denied¨means a problem with your bank and spend 50CUC calling the UK only to listen to a recorded message which is of no help whatsover.
The next niggle is Cuban money. For about 2 years they´ve been operating two currencies here, Moneda Nacional(MN), which Cubans earn and spend, and Cuban Convertible Pesos(CUC), which all foreigners must use (even if they live and work in Cuba). I say must because even if you get hold of MN some places just won´t accept it from you, as you can imagine I´ve already had a couple of debates with folks on this, trust me.
Now the thing is, you get like 25MN for 1CUC, but when you buy something, the price is the same, so for example; an ice cream has a price on it of $1 (everything has the dollar sign on it?!?!), Cubans pay 1MN, foreigners pay 1CUC. Can you see the problem?! Plus just to make it worse, the CUC is stronger than the US dollar, and if you don´t have cash to change and want to buy CUC using a card, they change it into US dollars first and then into CUC, whilst adding about 5-10% commision which means you loose the advantage of having the pound which should give you just under 2CUC per pound. Sound complicated? Well it is, and its making sure Cuba is working out a lil expensive for me but what can you do?!
Tomorrow I´m taking a horse ride up to a waterfall just outside Trinidad, something tells me there is gonna be another sore fanny blog coming up!
Tuesday 26 February 2008
Def*Jet Skiing....Sore Fanny!!
Yes folks, I mean exatly what that says, I went Jet Skiing and I can personally verify it gives you a very sore fanny! Now don´t start getting all hissy thinking I´m giving away too much information, its the truth. All that bouncing around on waves is not good for you and you will feel it for days and days and days! I could have stood up, yes, maybe I should have, but I was sh*t scared of the damn thing to start with and standing was just not an option!
On the flip side it was a hell of a lot of fun! I´ve had a good time on water this trip which is saying a lot seeing as I´m not exactly the world´s most confident swimmer! I did have one bummy experience though....night fishing! Now I´m not a fisher, I can´t say I´ve ever looked at it and thought "ooh, I wouldn´t mind". Most of the time it looks boring, but when you´re staying with fishermen, you gotta try fishing, and night fishing kinda sounded more fun.
So there we were, with our radio, fishing lines and some snacks. I, being true to form, felt sea sick as soon as the boat engine started. There were about 8 of us in the boat and there was no way in hell I was going to open my mouth and say I felt sick so I tried some deep breathing, tried looking in the boat, out of the boat (none of which worked) and was about 3 minutes away from emptying my stomach contents when someone else did it first! Funny enough I didn´t feel sick after that! I did almost catch two crabs, but I don´t think fishing is for me!
So I´ve said goodbye to the comfort of my Jamaican family and I am now truly on my own in Havana baby yeah!! Funnily enough, despite being just 45 mins away from Jamaica, Cuba couldn´t feel more different. In fact it reminds me a lot of Nigeria! Old buildings with all manner of businesses, shops and homes but you just can´t tell from the outside! You walk past a doorway and get a shock everytime.
I´m in Spanish mode now as well, not gonna be using English much for the next 2 months which is a challenge I´m def looking forward to! I´m in Havana for the next 2 days and then I´m going to try and brave the 15 hour coach journey to Santiago. It´s a hell of a long way, but at least I´ll get to see the a large chunk of the island! (I think I´ll get a flight back though!).
Before I go, a couple more niggles to add to my hall of shame, first is the Maestro card. They say its accepted all over the world, except it really isn´t, at all, anywhere! In fact, if you have a Cirrus sign on your card but not Maestro, that works!!! I´ve been driven to panic a couple of times thinking something was wrong, I´ve wasted money calling Natwest who tell me nothing is wrong, but yet my card still doesn´t work and they won´t accept that Maestro is crap. So, thanks to that I know have to re-organise my funding. Poo. Air Jamaica are worth another mention, true to form on my way to Cuba they showed that they are a truly useless airline!
So, I shall hopefully update later in the week. I´ve got a whole bunch of photos from Barbados and Jamaica to load up and I shall try to do that as soon as I get a stable internet connection.
¡Hasta luego amigos!
On the flip side it was a hell of a lot of fun! I´ve had a good time on water this trip which is saying a lot seeing as I´m not exactly the world´s most confident swimmer! I did have one bummy experience though....night fishing! Now I´m not a fisher, I can´t say I´ve ever looked at it and thought "ooh, I wouldn´t mind". Most of the time it looks boring, but when you´re staying with fishermen, you gotta try fishing, and night fishing kinda sounded more fun.
So there we were, with our radio, fishing lines and some snacks. I, being true to form, felt sea sick as soon as the boat engine started. There were about 8 of us in the boat and there was no way in hell I was going to open my mouth and say I felt sick so I tried some deep breathing, tried looking in the boat, out of the boat (none of which worked) and was about 3 minutes away from emptying my stomach contents when someone else did it first! Funny enough I didn´t feel sick after that! I did almost catch two crabs, but I don´t think fishing is for me!
So I´ve said goodbye to the comfort of my Jamaican family and I am now truly on my own in Havana baby yeah!! Funnily enough, despite being just 45 mins away from Jamaica, Cuba couldn´t feel more different. In fact it reminds me a lot of Nigeria! Old buildings with all manner of businesses, shops and homes but you just can´t tell from the outside! You walk past a doorway and get a shock everytime.
I´m in Spanish mode now as well, not gonna be using English much for the next 2 months which is a challenge I´m def looking forward to! I´m in Havana for the next 2 days and then I´m going to try and brave the 15 hour coach journey to Santiago. It´s a hell of a long way, but at least I´ll get to see the a large chunk of the island! (I think I´ll get a flight back though!).
Before I go, a couple more niggles to add to my hall of shame, first is the Maestro card. They say its accepted all over the world, except it really isn´t, at all, anywhere! In fact, if you have a Cirrus sign on your card but not Maestro, that works!!! I´ve been driven to panic a couple of times thinking something was wrong, I´ve wasted money calling Natwest who tell me nothing is wrong, but yet my card still doesn´t work and they won´t accept that Maestro is crap. So, thanks to that I know have to re-organise my funding. Poo. Air Jamaica are worth another mention, true to form on my way to Cuba they showed that they are a truly useless airline!
So, I shall hopefully update later in the week. I´ve got a whole bunch of photos from Barbados and Jamaica to load up and I shall try to do that as soon as I get a stable internet connection.
¡Hasta luego amigos!
Thursday 14 February 2008
Wha' gine on? I'm in Barbados
I'm in Barbados!! Ok, so I've been here twice already and yes there are many islands in the Caribbean but dammit I like this one and its my holiday! (Just thought I'd get that off my chest ;-)
I spent some time on my own in Negril last week trying to psyche myself up for this whole lone adventurer malarkey and it was hard! Nobody told me that travelling on your own as a woman would be so stressful! Trying to actually be on your own anywhere outside your room is damn near impossible. Walking down the street, sitting in a cafe, going on the beach (no surprises there) you name the place, a man is gonna come and try his luck. The funny thing is that they actually don't care if they've just seen one man leave, they'll still try their luck, its everyone for themselves! Maybe its the Caribbean, clearly a woman cannot possibly be travelling alone in this area, what madness!!
One interesting phenomenon I've noted is how I'm being treated before people hear my accent and after. Clearly, before they hear my accent I'm a Jamaican or Barbadian no sweat. As soon as they hear my accent, I'm a tourist and either the price of anything goes up, or I get bracketed as the latest super drug trafficker in the Caribbean and have my bags searched no less than 3 times by Jamaican, Grenadian and Barbadian immigration for one 3 hour flight! Kinda sucks huh?! Fair enough, I can imagine Jamaica to Barbados is a bit of a dodgy route for certain things, but I note (and it is important to note) that of the 10 or so white tourists that I struck up conversation with and that were on my flight from Jamaica to Barbados I was the only one who got stopped and searched.
I might start up a niggle hall of shame, Morgan's Harbour Hotel still have prime place (oh, I've since realised that I'm also missing my little leather jacket that I had worn from the UK, seeing as I didn't need it, I clearly didn't realise I left it at the hotel....funny how they didn't find that either!), but Jamaican Immigration and ALL the staff of Air Jamaica are coming close second!
So, Barbados, I'm catching up with old acquantances, making new ones and checking out the bus routes around the island while I'm here. I'll try to see as much of the island as I can but don't hate me if I spend all my time at the beach! lol!
I spent some time on my own in Negril last week trying to psyche myself up for this whole lone adventurer malarkey and it was hard! Nobody told me that travelling on your own as a woman would be so stressful! Trying to actually be on your own anywhere outside your room is damn near impossible. Walking down the street, sitting in a cafe, going on the beach (no surprises there) you name the place, a man is gonna come and try his luck. The funny thing is that they actually don't care if they've just seen one man leave, they'll still try their luck, its everyone for themselves! Maybe its the Caribbean, clearly a woman cannot possibly be travelling alone in this area, what madness!!
One interesting phenomenon I've noted is how I'm being treated before people hear my accent and after. Clearly, before they hear my accent I'm a Jamaican or Barbadian no sweat. As soon as they hear my accent, I'm a tourist and either the price of anything goes up, or I get bracketed as the latest super drug trafficker in the Caribbean and have my bags searched no less than 3 times by Jamaican, Grenadian and Barbadian immigration for one 3 hour flight! Kinda sucks huh?! Fair enough, I can imagine Jamaica to Barbados is a bit of a dodgy route for certain things, but I note (and it is important to note) that of the 10 or so white tourists that I struck up conversation with and that were on my flight from Jamaica to Barbados I was the only one who got stopped and searched.
I might start up a niggle hall of shame, Morgan's Harbour Hotel still have prime place (oh, I've since realised that I'm also missing my little leather jacket that I had worn from the UK, seeing as I didn't need it, I clearly didn't realise I left it at the hotel....funny how they didn't find that either!), but Jamaican Immigration and ALL the staff of Air Jamaica are coming close second!
So, Barbados, I'm catching up with old acquantances, making new ones and checking out the bus routes around the island while I'm here. I'll try to see as much of the island as I can but don't hate me if I spend all my time at the beach! lol!
Thursday 7 February 2008
Mosquitos are a menace
I have another niggle....mosquitos. Now I'm no stranger to them and as ever I came prepared with all kinds of insect repellant and the likes, but these bloody things are serious about munching on my blood. As we speak I am the owner of what feels like a gazzillion bites but is probably about 20-30 bites on the back of each thigh and leg....sounds awful?...well it is.
Not only had I never seen anything like it, neither had anyone around me. I'm wondering if a couple of them managed to sneak up my pyjama bottoms one evening and decide to just stay for a few meals. One mosquito bite itches....what I had is the stuff that drives people crazy! Enter my superhero Mr Bliss. A friend of the family I'm staying with and a descendant of a line of herbalists. Thanks to him, a combination of two types of herb and twice daily applications with vaseline (you know I packed loads of vaseline), they no longer itch and will probably not leave scars. Just goes to show, Boots doesn't always have the answer! (part of me actually suspects that my mosquito repellant kit may be attracting rather than repelling them).
So, on the upside, I've had a few more amazing trips. One in particular I forgot to mention last blog was a trip to Sweet River. Sweet River is a natural spring and the water there is the clearest and coolest I've ever seen. It's kind of set on a flat plain and until you get to the water you don't actually know its there. We spent a couple of hours there messing with the water, chilling and talking to a few people who came by to have a dip as people just do around there.
The only down side is that it is 'owned' by one man who occassionally likes to run people off his land with a shotgun. Go figure. I'm hoping I can get as many trips there as possible without running into him, it should be a free and public resource, especially given the fact that it has a kind of mystical pull that keeps people coming there, but this is the world we live in.
I also went out ona fishing boat and saw a dolphin!! Never thought I'd see one of those myself! It wasn't all that close but what a sight!
Not only had I never seen anything like it, neither had anyone around me. I'm wondering if a couple of them managed to sneak up my pyjama bottoms one evening and decide to just stay for a few meals. One mosquito bite itches....what I had is the stuff that drives people crazy! Enter my superhero Mr Bliss. A friend of the family I'm staying with and a descendant of a line of herbalists. Thanks to him, a combination of two types of herb and twice daily applications with vaseline (you know I packed loads of vaseline), they no longer itch and will probably not leave scars. Just goes to show, Boots doesn't always have the answer! (part of me actually suspects that my mosquito repellant kit may be attracting rather than repelling them).
So, on the upside, I've had a few more amazing trips. One in particular I forgot to mention last blog was a trip to Sweet River. Sweet River is a natural spring and the water there is the clearest and coolest I've ever seen. It's kind of set on a flat plain and until you get to the water you don't actually know its there. We spent a couple of hours there messing with the water, chilling and talking to a few people who came by to have a dip as people just do around there.
The only down side is that it is 'owned' by one man who occassionally likes to run people off his land with a shotgun. Go figure. I'm hoping I can get as many trips there as possible without running into him, it should be a free and public resource, especially given the fact that it has a kind of mystical pull that keeps people coming there, but this is the world we live in.
I also went out ona fishing boat and saw a dolphin!! Never thought I'd see one of those myself! It wasn't all that close but what a sight!
Friday 1 February 2008
Blessed Love
I'm in Jamaica!!!! 4 days in and I'm loving it! Ofcourse, as is par for the course, there have been some 'niggles' as we can call them, but I'm on the holiday of a lifetime I can deal with it!
Niggle number one; I left a lovely pair of shoes (my one pair of 'nice' shoes) at Morgan's Harbour Hotel, Kingston on Monday night. Clearly, housekeeping is run by a 'moral' bunch of people who are certain that there were no items left in the room. If this had happened in England, I would be outraged, consider sending a letter (or three), call them up about 1million times and go on and on and on. But this is Jamaica and "..a-so it go".
Niggle number two; I'm kindly being put up by my best friend (Aishie as some of you know) and her boyfriend's family, which I am extremely grateful for. However there is some building work going on and there is no inside toilet for the short term....cue....the Long Drop. I shall say no more, suffice to say, I haven't had any re-occurence of the funny tummy issues I suffered in Nigeria (thank God!).
So Niggles over, Jamaica is amazing!!!!! My hotel experience wasn't great, but I am staying with a fantastic family of fishermen in Savana-La-Mar about 40km from Negril. So far, I haven't had to lift a finger and I've tasted more varieties of fish in three days than I've had my whole life. And as it's all cooked over coals outside, it's the men who do the cooking. Thankfully, fish can't make you fat (please don't send me any fact sheets contradicting this).
There is also a lot to be said for staying with a normal family in a normal town when you come to somewhere as touristy as the Caribbean. I have an instant community including babies, grandparents, aunts and uncles. It's the old skool way of being a community, open doors, communal meals and somebody somewhere is always ready to stop and have a chat. Lots of young people around to talk to and hang out with and a surefire way to make sure you don't pay rip of tourist prices for anything.
Last night I had two fabulous experiences, one was watching the sun set at Negril point. All I can say is Wow! We were kindly taken to a private spot away from the very noisy Rick's Cafe and had an uninterrupted view of the sea and the sunset. It was dead easy to take amazing pictures, the scene was out of the best postcards you've ever seen. Later in the evening, we popped round the corner to a local 'Sound'. Free, outdoor party, right under the stars (which are so visible from here) and fab music going on till the early hours, two experiences that are already confirming why I decided to take this trip!
So, I'm planning my lil trips here and there now, looking into Barbados, Cuba and maybe Trinidad too...watch this space!
Niggle number one; I left a lovely pair of shoes (my one pair of 'nice' shoes) at Morgan's Harbour Hotel, Kingston on Monday night. Clearly, housekeeping is run by a 'moral' bunch of people who are certain that there were no items left in the room. If this had happened in England, I would be outraged, consider sending a letter (or three), call them up about 1million times and go on and on and on. But this is Jamaica and "..a-so it go".
Niggle number two; I'm kindly being put up by my best friend (Aishie as some of you know) and her boyfriend's family, which I am extremely grateful for. However there is some building work going on and there is no inside toilet for the short term....cue....the Long Drop. I shall say no more, suffice to say, I haven't had any re-occurence of the funny tummy issues I suffered in Nigeria (thank God!).
So Niggles over, Jamaica is amazing!!!!! My hotel experience wasn't great, but I am staying with a fantastic family of fishermen in Savana-La-Mar about 40km from Negril. So far, I haven't had to lift a finger and I've tasted more varieties of fish in three days than I've had my whole life. And as it's all cooked over coals outside, it's the men who do the cooking. Thankfully, fish can't make you fat (please don't send me any fact sheets contradicting this).
There is also a lot to be said for staying with a normal family in a normal town when you come to somewhere as touristy as the Caribbean. I have an instant community including babies, grandparents, aunts and uncles. It's the old skool way of being a community, open doors, communal meals and somebody somewhere is always ready to stop and have a chat. Lots of young people around to talk to and hang out with and a surefire way to make sure you don't pay rip of tourist prices for anything.
Last night I had two fabulous experiences, one was watching the sun set at Negril point. All I can say is Wow! We were kindly taken to a private spot away from the very noisy Rick's Cafe and had an uninterrupted view of the sea and the sunset. It was dead easy to take amazing pictures, the scene was out of the best postcards you've ever seen. Later in the evening, we popped round the corner to a local 'Sound'. Free, outdoor party, right under the stars (which are so visible from here) and fab music going on till the early hours, two experiences that are already confirming why I decided to take this trip!
So, I'm planning my lil trips here and there now, looking into Barbados, Cuba and maybe Trinidad too...watch this space!
Sunday 27 January 2008
A bottle of rum and some 'wa gwan' please
D-Day number two is upon us. Trust me to have more than one D-Day but at least this time you know I will not be back in the UK for a while! Good riddance I hear you say? Pah.
Its been a long hard week, lots of running around and 'arranging' but mainly just doing anything so I don't get a chance to sit down, think too much and decide that my father is right and I need to call that investment banker called Olu!
'Fear is a motivator, not a paralytic' Anon (it is possible I made it up, but it feels like something I read somewhere...)
One thing in particular that has occupied my time is packing. Now, I have a backpack (courtesy of the people at Snow'n'Rock after they relieved me of far too much money). I decided that since I wouldn't always know where I was going or the terrain or I could change my mind at any moment, minimising my load and having something I could put on my back was perfect. WHATEVER!!! I am 5'3 and currently a little lighter than normal, my backpack is coming in at about two thirds my size and I'm supposed to put it on my back?!
Now don't all rush telling me I need to take less stuff and be economical, I am a young metro-black female with a large taste for Primarni and H&M, it is very hard to know what not to take! I'm already down to just one pair of jeans (I hope people realise how hard that is!), two pairs of shorts and a whole host of t-shirts and dresses (yuk, but they're light) that I hope I won't get tired of too quickly. I suppose the real problem is my toiletries supply. I remember prophesising at work a while back that this would be my problem and here it is. The thing is, I'm not taking double of anything (which I had actually planned to do) and I haven't bought any bumper sizes of anything....but I still have the equivalent of a trial 'Superdrug Express' store in my bag. It's sad I know, but you cannot play with moisturiser(s) (different one for face and body you see), cleanser, make-up remover etc etc etc etc.
Luckily for me, I am pretty sure that I only need to carry that bag on my back one time and I will happily dump half of its contents. For now, while there is a comfortable journey to Gatwick I shall live in the delusion that none of my preparations will have been in vain.
So, Jamaica here I come. Not particularly looking forward to the near 10-hour plane journey, but I have it on good authority (my darling Aishling) that I have a superb welcome party and evening awaiting me in Kingston. Can't wait!
Its been a long hard week, lots of running around and 'arranging' but mainly just doing anything so I don't get a chance to sit down, think too much and decide that my father is right and I need to call that investment banker called Olu!
'Fear is a motivator, not a paralytic' Anon (it is possible I made it up, but it feels like something I read somewhere...)
One thing in particular that has occupied my time is packing. Now, I have a backpack (courtesy of the people at Snow'n'Rock after they relieved me of far too much money). I decided that since I wouldn't always know where I was going or the terrain or I could change my mind at any moment, minimising my load and having something I could put on my back was perfect. WHATEVER!!! I am 5'3 and currently a little lighter than normal, my backpack is coming in at about two thirds my size and I'm supposed to put it on my back?!
Now don't all rush telling me I need to take less stuff and be economical, I am a young metro-black female with a large taste for Primarni and H&M, it is very hard to know what not to take! I'm already down to just one pair of jeans (I hope people realise how hard that is!), two pairs of shorts and a whole host of t-shirts and dresses (yuk, but they're light) that I hope I won't get tired of too quickly. I suppose the real problem is my toiletries supply. I remember prophesising at work a while back that this would be my problem and here it is. The thing is, I'm not taking double of anything (which I had actually planned to do) and I haven't bought any bumper sizes of anything....but I still have the equivalent of a trial 'Superdrug Express' store in my bag. It's sad I know, but you cannot play with moisturiser(s) (different one for face and body you see), cleanser, make-up remover etc etc etc etc.
Luckily for me, I am pretty sure that I only need to carry that bag on my back one time and I will happily dump half of its contents. For now, while there is a comfortable journey to Gatwick I shall live in the delusion that none of my preparations will have been in vain.
So, Jamaica here I come. Not particularly looking forward to the near 10-hour plane journey, but I have it on good authority (my darling Aishling) that I have a superb welcome party and evening awaiting me in Kingston. Can't wait!
Wednesday 23 January 2008
This grey place I call home
So I'm back in England....whoopee. You can probably tell I'm not exactly feeling too enthusiastic about the whole thing. It took about 5 minutes (between the plane landing and getting to the terminal building) for me to get over the 'looking forward to coming home' feeling and getting a severe case of get me the hell out of here! Ok, so I may be being a lil melodramatic, I have after all only been away for just under a month and it's not like I've been climbing mountains or anything (;-), but I do feel like I have been on a whole other planet and I kinda prefer it to my normal life!
Nigeria is somewhere I can see myself living; once I get over reliance on the following: regular electricity supply, always present mobile phone network, tarmacced (spelling?!) roads, pavements on every road, orderly queues, peace and quiet, privacy, UK driving standards oh and CSI (unless DSTV or Hi manage to secure rights to broadcast it in Nigeria). Not much really!! On a serious note, it just wasn't that bad. You will hear scary story after scary story about Africa, Nigeria and yes Nigerians, but to be there, to live there you come to realise why so many of our parents are going back.
Nigeria is a perfect example of the devil you know. Nothing is 100% so people are always ready to adapt, change, manage and survive. You cannot be disappointed if you expected something to go wrong anyway right? Might sound totally out of it to us who are used to a system of rules, regulations and don't do's, but actually its exactly what makes Nigeria so amazing. Despite so blatantly ignoring everything that we are led to believe constitutes an orderly and civilised society, it maintains a level of civilisation that is to be admired. And lets face it, we live in a constant mood of disappointment here, between delayed trains, weather depression and gas price hikes (wouldn't it be great if everyone could just buy their own keg of gas?!) everyone always wants to be somewhere else...well...not so in Nigeria!
So, I am armed with a new perspective already, I had a quiet giggle to myself on the train to Birmingham this week (yes I've already been there and back!). I was stuck in the quiet coach as the train was packed and sat two rows behind a Nigerian lady. No surprises when her phone rang (loudly), she answered it and had an very lively Ibo conversation for about 10 minutes. You just gotta love us!
Ok, so on to the next leg, I have a few busy days sorting out some final arrangements and getting some girlie and family time in and then I'm off again. I'm still sh*tting bricks about the whole thing, but onwards I go!
P.S. Pics are up! Check out my Flickr page
Nigeria is somewhere I can see myself living; once I get over reliance on the following: regular electricity supply, always present mobile phone network, tarmacced (spelling?!) roads, pavements on every road, orderly queues, peace and quiet, privacy, UK driving standards oh and CSI (unless DSTV or Hi manage to secure rights to broadcast it in Nigeria). Not much really!! On a serious note, it just wasn't that bad. You will hear scary story after scary story about Africa, Nigeria and yes Nigerians, but to be there, to live there you come to realise why so many of our parents are going back.
Nigeria is a perfect example of the devil you know. Nothing is 100% so people are always ready to adapt, change, manage and survive. You cannot be disappointed if you expected something to go wrong anyway right? Might sound totally out of it to us who are used to a system of rules, regulations and don't do's, but actually its exactly what makes Nigeria so amazing. Despite so blatantly ignoring everything that we are led to believe constitutes an orderly and civilised society, it maintains a level of civilisation that is to be admired. And lets face it, we live in a constant mood of disappointment here, between delayed trains, weather depression and gas price hikes (wouldn't it be great if everyone could just buy their own keg of gas?!) everyone always wants to be somewhere else...well...not so in Nigeria!
So, I am armed with a new perspective already, I had a quiet giggle to myself on the train to Birmingham this week (yes I've already been there and back!). I was stuck in the quiet coach as the train was packed and sat two rows behind a Nigerian lady. No surprises when her phone rang (loudly), she answered it and had an very lively Ibo conversation for about 10 minutes. You just gotta love us!
Ok, so on to the next leg, I have a few busy days sorting out some final arrangements and getting some girlie and family time in and then I'm off again. I'm still sh*tting bricks about the whole thing, but onwards I go!
P.S. Pics are up! Check out my Flickr page
Wednesday 16 January 2008
Sick Girl in Africa
So, my technological cold turkey continues. I've had withdrawal symptoms from not being able to access the internet on a daily basis, and to top it all, the last two occasions where I have been able to access this blog, the connection has miraculously disappeared when I'm 5 minutes from the end and all my well written (ahem) prose has disappeared. I'm hoping its third time lucky!
Its been two weeks since I last posted (with success) and in that time I have been to Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River State; an absolutely amazing place. Okay, so the ever faithful super bumpy 7 hour drive to get there wasn't much to write home about, but it was absolutely worth every minute when we got there. Obudu is a holiday resort at the top of a mountain (we westerners will call it a hill, its only 6000ft above sea level). Originally founded by an Englishman (could be Welsh or Scottish, but to Nigerians they're all Englishmen!), its been maintained and updated by subsequent state governors to turn it into a world class holiday resort and conference centre and it now boasts having the longest cable car in the world!
I had an amazing time, from views across mountains all the way into Cameroon, stunning waterfalls and a dairy farm with the largest bulls I've ever seen in my life! The only disappointment was that low clouds mean that the photos I took do not in any way show the wonder of the view, but having been there live and in colour, I can’t complain. The place was breathtaking.
There were some scary moments, like the 11km ride up the mountain on very curvy road bends and crazy inclines. There is even one bend known as Devil’s Elbow where one unfortunate family lost their lives last year; no such thing as mountain rescue in Nigeria! There is a cable car ride from the top of the mountain to the bottom takes 15 minutes and is totally worth every minute. Even if you are someone like my mother who will cling on to the seat for fear that any movement will cause the car to go hurtling towards the ground!
I’ve been back in Abuja for a week now and I’m realizing that not having anything to do is very tiring! I get up in the morning, have a bit of a potter round the house, eat breakfast, go out to the market or just around town, come home around 6-ish and feel knackered! I tell ya, taking time off is not easy! (No hate mail please!)
I’m getting ready to leave Nigeria. Its not a moment too soon health wise, since I’ve been here, I’ve lost about 5 pounds; diarrhoea (no surprises there), vomiting (ditto), a cold (yes even in Nigeria), a cough that doesn’t want to leave and a nice helping of mosquito bites have all left me longing for my own climate…..although I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m looking forward to the cold!
Still trying to get my photos uploaded on to Flickr for your viewing pleasure, but that might have to wait till I’m back in the UK. Watch this space! I'll be back in London for 1 week (plus a bit of darting about here and there) to repack my suitcase and gather myself before I to leave for Jamaica on the 28th! Yey!! Negril is calling out my name!
So, Nigeria is winding down…Jamaica is winding up!
Its been two weeks since I last posted (with success) and in that time I have been to Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River State; an absolutely amazing place. Okay, so the ever faithful super bumpy 7 hour drive to get there wasn't much to write home about, but it was absolutely worth every minute when we got there. Obudu is a holiday resort at the top of a mountain (we westerners will call it a hill, its only 6000ft above sea level). Originally founded by an Englishman (could be Welsh or Scottish, but to Nigerians they're all Englishmen!), its been maintained and updated by subsequent state governors to turn it into a world class holiday resort and conference centre and it now boasts having the longest cable car in the world!
I had an amazing time, from views across mountains all the way into Cameroon, stunning waterfalls and a dairy farm with the largest bulls I've ever seen in my life! The only disappointment was that low clouds mean that the photos I took do not in any way show the wonder of the view, but having been there live and in colour, I can’t complain. The place was breathtaking.
There were some scary moments, like the 11km ride up the mountain on very curvy road bends and crazy inclines. There is even one bend known as Devil’s Elbow where one unfortunate family lost their lives last year; no such thing as mountain rescue in Nigeria! There is a cable car ride from the top of the mountain to the bottom takes 15 minutes and is totally worth every minute. Even if you are someone like my mother who will cling on to the seat for fear that any movement will cause the car to go hurtling towards the ground!
I’ve been back in Abuja for a week now and I’m realizing that not having anything to do is very tiring! I get up in the morning, have a bit of a potter round the house, eat breakfast, go out to the market or just around town, come home around 6-ish and feel knackered! I tell ya, taking time off is not easy! (No hate mail please!)
I’m getting ready to leave Nigeria. Its not a moment too soon health wise, since I’ve been here, I’ve lost about 5 pounds; diarrhoea (no surprises there), vomiting (ditto), a cold (yes even in Nigeria), a cough that doesn’t want to leave and a nice helping of mosquito bites have all left me longing for my own climate…..although I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m looking forward to the cold!
Still trying to get my photos uploaded on to Flickr for your viewing pleasure, but that might have to wait till I’m back in the UK. Watch this space! I'll be back in London for 1 week (plus a bit of darting about here and there) to repack my suitcase and gather myself before I to leave for Jamaica on the 28th! Yey!! Negril is calling out my name!
So, Nigeria is winding down…Jamaica is winding up!
Thursday 3 January 2008
Chronicle of a Lagosian Adventure
Okay, so predictably some may say, I'm having slight difficulty adjusting in the land of my birth. It is an experience unrivaled by anything I've done before. Anyone who has been to West Africa and experienced the African way might read this and have a little giggle to themselves. Trust me, you won't know till you get here just how bad it is! Don't get me wrong, I'm having a good time and all, my eyes are wide open and the things I'm seeing could not be experienced anywhere else.
The problem has been my western attitude to it. It doesn't wash in Nigeria. On-time doesn't exist, guaranteed is a myth and agression a way of life!
So where do I start, firstly, this place is not a holiday. I repeat, do not EVER come to Nigeria and expect a holiday. Everyone gets up at the crack of dawn, literally; its still dark outside and the chickens haven't even started crowing! This is actually the standard of life in this country, they don't sleep and they work hard, so there is no way you're gonna come and sleep all day?! Abomination!
I also had a knuckle ride experience going from Abuja to Lagos, a road trip unlike any other. It took 10 hours each way, all because of the road quality...Alton Towers should come to Nigeria for inspiration for their next themed ride! The journey back was even worse as we ended up having a broken down bus, a five hour delay and spent the last 5 hours of the journey traveling in the dark on bumpy roads with no street lighting averaging 110Km/h. Imagine it if you can, you won't come close to the reality of it!
Nigerians are also extremely Christian Christians. During the multi-state journey to Lagos, I came across churches called everything from 'Patronise the Lord Jesus Fellowship Ministries' to 'Holy Endeavours Spiritual Development Ministry'. I shan't make too much fun but I had a hell of a time reading some Church names!
Lagos itself is a whole other place. The traffic is horrific, the people are mad and the term 'Lagos Driving' needs to be certified as one of the wonders of the world. The only parts of the vehicle that should work in Lagos are (in this order); horn, fog-lights(your headlights don't really matter), breaks and if you're in a luxury vehicle (I use this term lightly!) maybe the a/c. I've never seen anything like it, 2 lane dual carriageways turned into 7 lane car derbys with bumps, crashes, rides, swearing, fighting and not a single safety helmet in sight! 15 seater minibuses turned into road haulage companies carrying anything from 25 people to cattle and oranges. My brother and I are still trying to figure out how they fill a bus from the front to the back with oranges, leaving space only for the driver...and how do they get it out? Answers on a postcard please!
One thing I will give Lagosians is that they don't mess with their seatbelts. Accident rates are unsuprisingly high and if they can sqeeze their way into one they will! even if it means 2 people per seatbelt!
So many Nigerians avoid Lagos and I understand why, so many things happened there that I don't have time to write here, but now I've experienced it, can't say I'm in a rush to go back!
The major downside is, of all the weird and wonderful pictures I took there...I have almost none. On my last day while messing with the camera and trying to make some changes to the settings, I managed to format the memory card, so every picture I'd taken including pictures of family members I haven't seem for 15 years and wont see again anytime soon....all gone. Shit happens. My UX consultant hat is screaming for someone at Canon to have a look at their error prevention...a lil message saying 'Delete all images? Y/N' would have done the trick nicely!
I will say though, I do feel very at home, I getting to practice my pidgin English and Yoruba and I've started screaming and fighting with the best of them. You can't beat Nigerians, so you have no choice but to join them!
I beg-o, ger'rout my frien'!
The problem has been my western attitude to it. It doesn't wash in Nigeria. On-time doesn't exist, guaranteed is a myth and agression a way of life!
So where do I start, firstly, this place is not a holiday. I repeat, do not EVER come to Nigeria and expect a holiday. Everyone gets up at the crack of dawn, literally; its still dark outside and the chickens haven't even started crowing! This is actually the standard of life in this country, they don't sleep and they work hard, so there is no way you're gonna come and sleep all day?! Abomination!
I also had a knuckle ride experience going from Abuja to Lagos, a road trip unlike any other. It took 10 hours each way, all because of the road quality...Alton Towers should come to Nigeria for inspiration for their next themed ride! The journey back was even worse as we ended up having a broken down bus, a five hour delay and spent the last 5 hours of the journey traveling in the dark on bumpy roads with no street lighting averaging 110Km/h. Imagine it if you can, you won't come close to the reality of it!
Nigerians are also extremely Christian Christians. During the multi-state journey to Lagos, I came across churches called everything from 'Patronise the Lord Jesus Fellowship Ministries' to 'Holy Endeavours Spiritual Development Ministry'. I shan't make too much fun but I had a hell of a time reading some Church names!
Lagos itself is a whole other place. The traffic is horrific, the people are mad and the term 'Lagos Driving' needs to be certified as one of the wonders of the world. The only parts of the vehicle that should work in Lagos are (in this order); horn, fog-lights(your headlights don't really matter), breaks and if you're in a luxury vehicle (I use this term lightly!) maybe the a/c. I've never seen anything like it, 2 lane dual carriageways turned into 7 lane car derbys with bumps, crashes, rides, swearing, fighting and not a single safety helmet in sight! 15 seater minibuses turned into road haulage companies carrying anything from 25 people to cattle and oranges. My brother and I are still trying to figure out how they fill a bus from the front to the back with oranges, leaving space only for the driver...and how do they get it out? Answers on a postcard please!
One thing I will give Lagosians is that they don't mess with their seatbelts. Accident rates are unsuprisingly high and if they can sqeeze their way into one they will! even if it means 2 people per seatbelt!
So many Nigerians avoid Lagos and I understand why, so many things happened there that I don't have time to write here, but now I've experienced it, can't say I'm in a rush to go back!
The major downside is, of all the weird and wonderful pictures I took there...I have almost none. On my last day while messing with the camera and trying to make some changes to the settings, I managed to format the memory card, so every picture I'd taken including pictures of family members I haven't seem for 15 years and wont see again anytime soon....all gone. Shit happens. My UX consultant hat is screaming for someone at Canon to have a look at their error prevention...a lil message saying 'Delete all images? Y/N' would have done the trick nicely!
I will say though, I do feel very at home, I getting to practice my pidgin English and Yoruba and I've started screaming and fighting with the best of them. You can't beat Nigerians, so you have no choice but to join them!
I beg-o, ger'rout my frien'!
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