(mis)understandings

i'm not sure where it comes from but i'd love to know, for it is a common thing in the horn of africa as much as in central africa
you're walking down the road and you trip, or you're in a shop and you bump against something... nobody else involved, and inevitably, the reply you get from any witness is sorry
it always makes me chuckle, for it's such a polite and caring reaction with the nuance of the expression lost in translation

misunderstandings however go well beyond cultural and linguistic translations
the readings we may make of someone's attitude, reactions and expressions could be diametrically opposed to their intentions, even while having a common culture and language, let alone when we add to the cocktail, differences in gender, religion or set of believes, sexual orientation, standard of living, education....
you wonder how easy is to cross the fine line between misunderstanding and conflict, how easy it would be, if for any combination of factors above we added empathy and talking time
it may be a totally naive statement but the more i work on conflict, the more i'm convinced that world reality would be less depressive and conflictual if only we practiced those more
all of us, each individual person

(un)plan(ned)

life is a rollercoaster and learning to enjoy the ride, up AND down, is, i reckon, the base for happiness
in the beginning of my life, as a result of a cultural and family inheritance, it was about planning and achieving goals, set by me, others and society alike
i did ok; i achieved the basic ones but it came a point where "the plan" simply didn't appeal to me, or maybe i didn't fit in that plan, so i flew, away
in that new life, i got mentors that helped me get out of the plan-mentality-box and taught me to live happily without so many details, plans and expectations
as it happens, the student overpassed the mentors and i threw myself into the pan of the unknown
i will admit that i didn't enjoy the downs of the rollercoaster as much as the ups but i did learn, albeit the hard way, to go with the flow
the natural next step, a wish as opposed to a plan, to not only go but enjoy it!
now, the world found me a place where practising that will be my everyday, for the continent, countries, organisation and colleagues i have, will not allow otherwise: plan a two week mission to a foreign country, you have 24 hours
yey!

undecisive ranting monday

i was trying to decide what to write about and i couldn't

on the one hand and continuing with my late fascination with falcons and eagles, i was going to describe how, on saturday, in one of the posh hotels of kigali, where people with money, white and black alike, spend time enjoying the sporting facilities, and in particular, the swimming pool, i assisted intently to the pirouettes a hungry falcon delighted us with; in mid fly, s.he turned 275 degrees, went down like a shot and caught a piece of bread lying on the grass; a few of them continued to fly above and ventured several times into human land, successfully getting more than one bite to eat
witnessing this from less than 2 metres must definitely be one of my weekend highlights

on the other hand and continuing with my love-hate fascination with human beings, i was going to rant on moody and inexplicably changing people; one day they are all smiles and phonecalls, another they respond who are you? when you call; one day they are your best friend and the next they make you feel like an intruder
a period of natural confusion follows these kind of reactions, when one wonders what did they do for such a reaction; one may ponder for a while, but it comes a point where you simply cannot be asked or don't have the will or the energy to go through the intricate logic (?) in someone's head and so you resolve to keep a safe distance, it could be contagious!

in fact, it must definitely be one of those ranting mondays, that follow from semi insomniac sunday nights where the collusion of several factors make of you an effervescent brain in a knackered body to no avail for a good night sleep and rest
the aftermaths continue during the day, with simple tasks repeated over and over again cos none of the times you were awaken enough to fully realise what were you doing; with keeping to yourself as much as possible to avoid barking; with doing one step at a time, multitasking an unachievable goal on a day like this; with not knowing what to write and ending up writing about everything

news and bravery

i read the papers on a daily basis, trying to read from different sources to get the most accurate picture possible of events (regardless of journalistic objectivity, none of us can be objective, really)
i have come to accept that it is one of the most depressing activities to undertake, for in this day and time, one would think that apart from sports (now it's the olympics and fair enough, but the rest of the year is the same), entertainment (whose that blond girl who's done nothing in her life apart from being born in a ridiculously rich family, yet daily in the so called news?) or conflict (a bomb here kills 50 people, a so called terrorist attach kills 23 in this other place) and like that pretty much everyday
then, there are news that touch you closer, like for spaniards the very recent madrid plane crash

the one that did lately to me, was hearing three women working for the IRC got killed in an ambush in Afghanistan, for one of the people i met in somaliland met precisely that profile. She is alive and dealing with the assasination of her colleagues, and so, in her and her colleagues honour, this entry is for them
my positive energy to you

Akagera National Park

as this is the dry season, once the main road is behind, cars circulate leaving behind a red cloud of dust that covers absolutely everything, making those walking at the sides of the road cover their faces

the variety of landscapes inside the park is stricking from the hills of red earth to the savanah plains or the papyrus sorrounded lakes

the animals there, not as many as in other country parks, are pretty much tired of these white and black monkeys in noisy elephant size vehicles who make a click click click noise all the time, i guess the concept of photo must really scape them


we were relatively lucky and although no predators encounter we had a giraffe, some scary hippos (see photo), impalas, okapis, babuns, many birds and the most majestic of all, a couple of eagles






the other highlight was to contemplate a moon eclipse reflecting over a lake














while dancing around an open fire with great music

Nyamirambo (a hill in Kigali)

let's prepare a weekend away

-let's go away for the weekend
-yeah, why don't we go to a national park, see the wildlife, beautiful landscapes
-excellent, what shall we bring?
-well, let's start with the important things: sleeping bag, food, water, a bottle of whisky...
-yeah, some lighting, a mosquito net, coffee for the morning
-anything else we might need?
- i just spoke to a friend of mine, he said that we need a machete
-a machete?!
-yes, he says to defend ourselves from the animals, apparently there are lions
-holy shit!
- or in case we get stuck in the bush to cut it
-i'm beginning to feel like indiana jones....; where can we buy one?
-in the chinese shop

local falcons

each morning on my way to work a falcon flies over my head
always on the same spot
his wings extended and magnificent
his closeness surprising and flattering

there are many of them
they gather in certain trees
giving the impression they are chatting among them
indifferent to those humans on the ground

it is a luxury
to have them around

dressed in pink

despite the presence of memorials and commemorations everywhere, daily life in rwanda does not remind you of the terrible past this country had to endure, the beautiful landscape of lush green and red earth, the perfectly paved roads and pavements, the capital's cafes and restaurants..
yet it is ever present, the backbone of the internal and international politics that stemmed right from those terrible months nearly 15 years ago now
the starkest reminder however, the one that puts you face to face with that very particularly horrendous past, is when you see workers by the road, all dressed in pink outfits
for these are the ones with stained hands, trialed (some of them) and condemned by local tribunals for actively participating in a genocide by the machete, paying for the destruction caused by rebuilding the country roads, buildings or else
if pink was never my colour, in this country of distinctly coloured prisoners it's even less so

villar palasi

he de reconocer que a mi esto del famoso facebook no me gusta mucho
me uni despues de recibir en un plazo de dos semanas 40 invitaciones de amig@s
la curiosidad me pudo y me hice un perfil con la mitad de los datos falsos...no se que me da a mi que gente que no conozco de nada sepa demasiado de mi, debe ser herencia paterna
lo que hay que reconocerle al asunto es que ahora puedo ver que tal anda gente a la que ni a ell@s ni a mi, nos da para escribirnos emails a menudo contandonos nuestras vidas
nada mas y nada menos que 129 personas! asi que de vez en cuando miro que tal andan y les dejo un mensajito, o no...
pero hete aqui, que la gran sorpresa me la lleve ayer
alguien de un pasado lejanisimo, lease al menos 15 anhos! me escribio
un nombre que me sonaba muy familiar y a la vez sin conexion a mi vida actual, un nombre de colegio, que sigue ahi pero hace mucho mucho tiempo que no se llama asi.... un companhero de escuela!
vi su foto, y la verdad, no se si le hubiese reconocido por la calle

thanks god the spaniards are in town!

Kigali life for expats is pretty easy going, once you accept that you will pay more for everything, regardless of what it is
the different nationalities present show their country characteristics in a rather amusing way
so depending on who organises a 'soiree', this will be civilised, around a table with a bottle of wine and conversations ranging from 'what you do' to the traditional politics of this country or any other....nothing against it....just not the weekend!
this saturday, we are invited to some pre-party drinks; four of us arrive, ready for the techno party afterwards but find ourselves with chill music, a beautiful lay out table with very good food on offer and some very young people around a table discussing serious issues......gosh!!
true to culture and upbringing we change the music, get dancing and somehow animate the gathering...eventually moving everybody to the real party and proceeding to do exactly the same (except for the music, which was already excellent)
so more and more often i hear, 'thanks god the spaniards are in town'!