Together with my friend Caroline I went on a long weekend trip to Menorca. As the spring season had just started, we were nearly alone in the hotel, the beaches, the car parks… Instant relaxation! We enjoyed the history, amazing food and landscape.
Colour code = blue, green and white!
These terrible commutes.
Twenty six minutes in an underground train flying through tunnels but the only entertainment is pregnacare and mortgage ads.
The only?
Don’t think I can’t feel that there’s something wrong.
Opposite the black guy with his hair in lines and shoulder long braids. Tired face and eyes jumping around the floor. Returns my gaze first briefly then more steadily.
You’ve been the sweatest part of my life for so long. I look in your eyes, there’s a distant light.
Over there a mid-aged English guy with round glasses and a golden ring on the pinkie finger. Black long trench coat and somehow uneasy in his seat.
You and I know there’ll be a storm tonight.
And this Robbie Williams type of guy with headphones is sitting right next to the door. He’s very upright in his seat and ready to jump up and out.
Baby, this is getting serious. Are you thinking about you or us?
Holding the rolled up free newspaper with his one hand and controls two suitcases with the other. A traveler, randomly shaking his head and staring towards the dark window.
Don’t say what you’re about to say. Look back before you leave my life.
Now getting on is a black old professor type with a checked blazer and a briefcase. Two litres of juice in a shopping bag, pictures of mango and pineapple shining through the white plastic. Silver curly hair above the ears, closed eyes.
Be sure before you close that door. Baby think twice. For the sake of our love, for the memory.
Religion, family, Ireland, family drama, Judi Dench as always amazing!
Nigeria, love, friendship, a life full of drama, nollywood, predicatable but really cute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaiGf6snCDs
My mum visited for Easter and with another friend we visited England’s south coast. Three German ladies out in the wild.
A lovely day on the cliffs imagining life on the south downs with lots of sheep before electricity and piped water.
Norway, nature, winter, male friendship, seaside, only 45 minutes!
Isn’t it strange what happens when you go back to a place you visited in your childhood?
Everything seems bigger in memory than to your mature eye today.
It’s much less of a movie scenery but much more of a processed reality.
Walking on a pebble beach was more fun, now it feels more of a muscle workout.
Reminder to self: Memories are just where you laid them. Don’t stop creating new ones!
Together with two colleagues I spend a few days in Yucatan, Mexico. One Mexican, a Brazilian and a German girl driving around to experience the beautiful landscape, learn about pre-Colombian culture Maya and relax with sun and good food.
It was a great short holiday, and I got the opportunity to practice my Spanish 😉
On the first day we drove to Celestun at the coast and took a boat trip around a bioreserve. We saw flamingoes, many other birds and a crocodile. We were even able to swim in beautiful clear water and do some team building on ropes where usually snakes and crocodiles rest (as we were told after the swim). The day ended with delicious seafood on the beach.
On the second day we visited the historic Maya site Chichen Itza. It was a wonderful experience walking between the different buildings built on ample space often stopping at market stalls. It’s easy to see how proud and advanced culture the Maya culture was during their high time 1000 to 500 years ago. At night we went to the ecotouristic lodge in Ek Balam village where my colleague had volunteered years ago. Far from big city lights we saw millions of stars above us. (Un-)fortunately the cabins were full, but the hospitable community members (literally) hooked us up with hammocks in the laundry room. Quite comfortable!
On the last day we visited a “Conote” (sink hole) which is like a cave under the surface usually filled with water. I was able to swim in the clear water with sun rays falling through the whole in the cave ceiling. We had arrived with a few Maya friends of my colleague who had dressed up in warrior wear to take pictures in and near the conote. It was a lot of fun especially as buses of tourists from Cancun arrived and wanted to take pictures with the Mayas. In the afternoon we drove up to Rio Logartos on the Golf Coast. Local families were spending the Sunday at the beach and after a swim and a delicious dinner we witnessed a mind blowing sunset. A miraculous ending to our short holiday.
My Whatsapp chats range from “Stuck in traffic, give me 5” through funny pics to pillow talk. I just found out they’re worth around 100 USD to someone.
You could call it a massive exit for a young entrepreneur or FB trying to eliminate the competition.
Yes, we are aware that Whatsapp was never a safe bet to use (after all I give them permission to read my SMS, my pictures and full network access to send data out).
Do I feel better about the NSA reading my data or about facebook doing so? Is there a difference anyways?
One of my favorite Ted talks still is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv7Y0W0xmYQ
After all I’m wondering where the madness of Dollars for Data is going.
I live in the South West of London and due to frequent travel I get to spend an hour or so a month with a minicab driver on the way to the airport. Minicabs are pre-booked rides in someone’s personal car. They’re cheaper and somewhat more comfortable.
My last four drivers were Indian, Pakistani, Afghani and Somali.
The Indian gentleman had moved to Tooting in the 70s and told me about the days when they played football on the main road on Sunday, because there was little traffic and Sundays the shops were closed. An Indian granddad sharing stories about social change in London.
With the Pakistani driver I had a conversation about the political conflict. Pakistani and Indians are just the same people he says. Inside India there are more Muslims than in Pakistan. For him visiting his family which is spread around both countries is easy because he uses the Pakistani passport for Pakistan and the British one for India travel. He will soon retire from driving a minicab, so he needs to start investing in Pakistan for his retirement. He’ll definitely go back, the weather is better and the food. He says my company should expand to Pakistan and he’ll do free market research for us there!
I learnt about a prayer app from the Afghani guy. As in London the mosques aren’t allowed to project the prayers over loudspeakers, many Muslims use an app singing the prayer for them. As we were relatively stuck in traffic jam, he watched a 20-minute live news show from Kabul via Youtube. “See, Kabul: No problem all fine. I go every 4 months.” I was also shocked by an incredible level of racism. “Why you go Africa? Nothing there but animals and black women!”
My favourite guy was today’s Somali family father: His three brothers live in Norway, Sweden and Mogadishu. His mother lives in Mogadishu but he flew her to Nairobi for medical treatment two months ago and stayed with her for two months. He loves Mombasa and Eastleigh. His wife speaks better English than him and she studied at an Italian university in Mogadishu. Most Somali women in London don’t care about learning English and he thinks it’s a problem. He also hopes that Somalia will be safe one day and his son who now studies medicine but moved to London at the age of 1 will be able to go back and work in the new hospital built by Turkish Aid. His son asks him why Somalis of the same look, religion and language kill each other and he doesn’t have words to explain it to him. All Somalis hate the Al-Shabaab, he says. We want peace. His views on the dictator who ruled Somalia before ‘91 were insightful and he explained me the five spikes of the star on the Somali flag. He recommended me a Somali restaurant in our area. “Problem in Africa is always that military is corrupt and look for their advantage. Right now we need African troops in Somalia but soon they should leave and we build our country.”
Asia and Africa’s brains and hands driving cabs in London. Wounded souls from conflict-torn countries telling stories of multiple passports, hard work and new beginnings. Polished Mercedes and airline miles. Racism and hopes. The dream to live healthily with family and friends. It shows in many different ways, but mainly a big smile.