15.05.11.
Got a new charger for my phone. I'm now reachable again on my french mobile phone number.? hone will be on constantly.
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In order to contact me:
- it can be as simple as leaving a message on this blog. You don't need to have your own blog to do this. You could just type your name in so that i know whos writing. Or you could just write anonymoyusly.
- you can send me an email> ally7567t_ACSJC@hotmail.com
- I use both a colombian and a french sim card here. I can receive text messages sent onto my french telephone> it will cost you no more than sending a text message to any other mobile phone in Europe. I can also receive messages sent to me from websites such as www.textograto.com. Using this will cost you nothing except for a bot of time. don't forget to sign your message after typing it in, so that i know who it is actually giving a damn about where i am!!!!
I hope to hear from you all very soon!
samedi 14 mai 2011
Back in Colombia: Cucuta
Got back to Colombia. Suddenly feels like home. Im more acustomed to the way people behave, I know what to expect from people in the streets. Feels much safer for one thing. And I have a bit more money to spend here.
I'm in cicita. Its a city on the border with Venezuela. Not sure there's anything interesting here. People are nice that0s for sure. I'm thinking about catching a bus to a small mountain village called Pamplona, then move on to Silos: only 1300 ihabs. Should be able to camp there. But above all, there're some anciant pre colombian graves there I d like to see!
Will let you know. Loads of fotos on their way, Just that people don t seem to have computers at home for me to use....
mardi 10 mai 2011
Merida
10.05.11.
I arrived in this city yesterday. Its a small city of 400 000 inhabitants. most of which are students. Did really inmteresting stuff here too. To start with, I live up in the hills, in the country side. View is fantastic.
Cool things I did here in less than 24 hours, most of it is experiencing student life in an extra socialist country:
- went to a union cinema that cost 1BsF for a ticket, You never know which film its going to be, but apparently, its always interesting. This time, it was a french film. Josiane Balasko was speaking spanish. "Le Herison." Strongly recommended. There were two electricity cuts in the city during the film. The organisors went out to find an electric generator to finish playing the film
- Introduced to an old lady of 90 years old, who livesin a century old house in the country. We had a good chat about her fascinating life as a religious missionary in the venezuelian jungle.
- assisted a university seminar of a very fameous philosopher called José Manuel Briceño Guerrero, from Universidad Los Andes de Merida. HE masters something like 20 different languages, including amndarin, hebrew, latin, persian etc... During the seminar, he spoke to me in absolutely all the languages I can speak, and he speaks them all really well. Topic of the 4 hour course was a poem by Goethe. Erlkonig, which will certainly remind William and Christopher of the years spent with Madame Couloumie.
- Ate lunch at the student union. HEre in Venezuela, not only is education COMPLETELY free for everyone, but food at the uni restaurant is free as well. And since everybody here is so good at making the most of the system, they all eat two or three servings!
I arrived in this city yesterday. Its a small city of 400 000 inhabitants. most of which are students. Did really inmteresting stuff here too. To start with, I live up in the hills, in the country side. View is fantastic.
Cool things I did here in less than 24 hours, most of it is experiencing student life in an extra socialist country:
- went to a union cinema that cost 1BsF for a ticket, You never know which film its going to be, but apparently, its always interesting. This time, it was a french film. Josiane Balasko was speaking spanish. "Le Herison." Strongly recommended. There were two electricity cuts in the city during the film. The organisors went out to find an electric generator to finish playing the film
- Introduced to an old lady of 90 years old, who livesin a century old house in the country. We had a good chat about her fascinating life as a religious missionary in the venezuelian jungle.
- assisted a university seminar of a very fameous philosopher called José Manuel Briceño Guerrero, from Universidad Los Andes de Merida. HE masters something like 20 different languages, including amndarin, hebrew, latin, persian etc... During the seminar, he spoke to me in absolutely all the languages I can speak, and he speaks them all really well. Topic of the 4 hour course was a poem by Goethe. Erlkonig, which will certainly remind William and Christopher of the years spent with Madame Couloumie.
- Ate lunch at the student union. HEre in Venezuela, not only is education COMPLETELY free for everyone, but food at the uni restaurant is free as well. And since everybody here is so good at making the most of the system, they all eat two or three servings!
dimanche 8 mai 2011
Caracas
08.05.11
I left caracas. So many things to say that here is just a list of what happened. Will give more details upon request, or you ll have to wait for the pictures.
- visited a Bario (thats the venezuelian word to say "shantytown") called "23 enero". 350 000 inhabitants live there. Even had luch there in someone's house!
- celebrated my birthday party with more than 30 people singing some sort of Venezuelian birthday song.
I ended up staying there much longer than i d originally planned.
In the Bario
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04.05.11
I've been in Venezuela for the past week, and my opinion about this country has changed radically. Here's something strange that I've only ever experienced in this country: people that at work are despicable. But the same people in the streets, outside all working conditions, are the nicest in the world. While working, people will never ever give you clear directions, when they're off work, they could litteraly drive you to the place you want to go to.
After the plane landed from Cuba, I was able to check my email at the airport. No internet in Cuba... people don't have it coz it still costs what it used to cost in europe 15years ago. 10 dollars a minute or so. And well, reeived this eail saying i had this urgent piece of work to hand in. and ince i don't have quite the right conditions to write, I stayed four days and three nights at the airport, just coz it seemed like the better place to stay for it. Free access to th internet, food outside sold by epeople from the bario, and toilets were clean! i niw know what tom hanks felt like stuck in the USA...
Since I've figured out that people were atually nice here, I've decided to stay a few days. I didn't have many american dollars when i got here. pitty coz the rate of change is really interesting. 8 BsF for a dollar instead of 4.50bls if you got o an official exchange office. After the death of Bin Laden, value of the dollar even went up to 12bsF, and the euro went up to 15!!!! Anyway, another new experience: I was robbed for the very forst time of my life. Guess what?! It was the police who robbed me! I only had the equivalence of 30dollars US to have ripped off me - a rather good and interesting eperience for what I payed for it., but that would have enabled me to live another 2 weeks here! Now I have to use my credit card, and the place is suddenly much more expensive...
However, I'd like to stay till saturday before I head down to Merida. There's a party on friday I want to attend. I've made friends here and they're inviting me to it. Meanwhile, I've been visiting museums. Since this is an extra socialist country (that uses Cuba as a model of society), well everything is free of charge. Paradise for a bakpacker! I really don't get why there are't more visitors here. But better off that way, I'd rather people were afraid and didn't come, rather than having foreign people walking around with ice cream cones and sun glasses, speaking loud voice in the metro.
It's raining today. I was meant to go out with an urbanist to take some pictures of the "barios". (Venezuelian equivalent of the Favellas inn Brazil). i real pitty it was cancelled coz of the rain. would have been a unique opportunity to see wht life is like for the major part of venezuelian population.
Picture of some buildings in the center of Caaracas. Made me think i was in the Fith Element (Luc Besson)
Metro de Caracas
Center of Caraccas, old city - Capitollo
I left caracas. So many things to say that here is just a list of what happened. Will give more details upon request, or you ll have to wait for the pictures.
- visited a Bario (thats the venezuelian word to say "shantytown") called "23 enero". 350 000 inhabitants live there. Even had luch there in someone's house!
- celebrated my birthday party with more than 30 people singing some sort of Venezuelian birthday song.
I ended up staying there much longer than i d originally planned.
In the Bario
------------------------
04.05.11
I've been in Venezuela for the past week, and my opinion about this country has changed radically. Here's something strange that I've only ever experienced in this country: people that at work are despicable. But the same people in the streets, outside all working conditions, are the nicest in the world. While working, people will never ever give you clear directions, when they're off work, they could litteraly drive you to the place you want to go to.
After the plane landed from Cuba, I was able to check my email at the airport. No internet in Cuba... people don't have it coz it still costs what it used to cost in europe 15years ago. 10 dollars a minute or so. And well, reeived this eail saying i had this urgent piece of work to hand in. and ince i don't have quite the right conditions to write, I stayed four days and three nights at the airport, just coz it seemed like the better place to stay for it. Free access to th internet, food outside sold by epeople from the bario, and toilets were clean! i niw know what tom hanks felt like stuck in the USA...
Since I've figured out that people were atually nice here, I've decided to stay a few days. I didn't have many american dollars when i got here. pitty coz the rate of change is really interesting. 8 BsF for a dollar instead of 4.50bls if you got o an official exchange office. After the death of Bin Laden, value of the dollar even went up to 12bsF, and the euro went up to 15!!!! Anyway, another new experience: I was robbed for the very forst time of my life. Guess what?! It was the police who robbed me! I only had the equivalence of 30dollars US to have ripped off me - a rather good and interesting eperience for what I payed for it., but that would have enabled me to live another 2 weeks here! Now I have to use my credit card, and the place is suddenly much more expensive...
However, I'd like to stay till saturday before I head down to Merida. There's a party on friday I want to attend. I've made friends here and they're inviting me to it. Meanwhile, I've been visiting museums. Since this is an extra socialist country (that uses Cuba as a model of society), well everything is free of charge. Paradise for a bakpacker! I really don't get why there are't more visitors here. But better off that way, I'd rather people were afraid and didn't come, rather than having foreign people walking around with ice cream cones and sun glasses, speaking loud voice in the metro.
It's raining today. I was meant to go out with an urbanist to take some pictures of the "barios". (Venezuelian equivalent of the Favellas inn Brazil). i real pitty it was cancelled coz of the rain. would have been a unique opportunity to see wht life is like for the major part of venezuelian population.
Picture of some buildings in the center of Caaracas. Made me think i was in the Fith Element (Luc Besson)
Metro de Caracas
Center of Caraccas, old city - Capitollo
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