ines....

... has created a new blog on Fiji (pêople, culture, development policies & ... my life there)
... ai commence un nouvel blog sur Fidji (tout et n'importe quoi)
... hat ein Neue Blog über Fischi begonnen (alles ist da!)

mi vida al reves: www.notsofarawayfromyouanyway.blogspot.com

mi vida "al reves"

La primera vez que vi un globo terraqueo me quede fascinada.

Empece a observarlo, moverlo, leerlo. Me parecia increible que todos esos nombres de sitios lejanos estuviesen ahi!.

Despues de varios minutos de fascinacion, apuntando a algun lugar del sur de Africa le pregunte a mi padre si vivia gente ahi. "Pues claro"- respondio mi padre. Y, doblandome hacia un lado, retorciendome todo lo que pude, le pregunte "Y como pueden vivir asi todo el rato? No estan hartos de vivir al reves?". Mi padre se rio y se fue.

O bien se creyo que estaba bromeando, o bien no tenia ganas de explicar la teoria de la gravedad a una nina de 3-4 anos.

Asi que yo me quede mirando el globo terraqueo e imaginandome como seria la "vida al reves".

Unos 25 anos despues de ese dia, sentada el la cama rodeada de Lonely Planet's sobre el Pacifico y surfeando por Google-Earth, vuelvo a quedarme mirando la version moderna de un globo terraqueo e imaginandome como sera la "vida al reves".

Me mudo a Suva (Fiji) en un mes y tengo tanto por descubrir!

Antipodes

In a couple of months I will be heading to Fiji.
This sentence, read isolated, sounds normal - even banal-. Who didn't dream to go to a Pacific island each time you pass by a travel agency with a big poster of a palm tree and a wild beach on it?
Well, let's be honest, the idea of spending your holidays in Fiji is not exceptional nowadays so, if I would say to my friends "In a couple of months I will be heading to Fiji", the most common reply will be "Ah, yes? and with whom? Club-Med? Nouvelles frontieres? Are you renting a bungalow in the beach?"
But, indeed, the idea behind the "Fiji trip" can't be more far away from that.
After almost three years working in the development field, my boyfriend finally got the post we were dreaming about: he'll work on infrastructure programmes in Fiji (ie. building roads, bridges, etc in most sustainable way)
Working on development policies "in the field" has been our dream for too long time. And going to Fiji has been a fantasy since I was a child. I still remember the long hours in my room watching pictures about far-away countries and dreaming to live there one day. My "traveller-spirit" is part of my personality since I dare to remember. And now, finally, we got the opportunity to travel to the "antipodes". What else can I traveller ask for?.
I still remember myself at the geography class discovering that the Spain's antipodes are sited in New Zealand. My God! The other side of the planet! It would be a dream to see this place!
And, voila... 20 years later, I'll manage. I'll live near the antipodes! (I will have to write this sentence hundreds times before I start to believe it!)

This morning, I discovered this site: www.antipodemap.com and, to continue feeding my travel spirit, I discovered that the antipodes from Suva are on the north of "Tumbuctu", a legendary traveller's goal.

Is it a signal? Is destiny telling me that it's time to travel, to fullfil dreams? Is it time to move on?

feeling

Aquél que está acostumbrado a viajar,
sabe que siempre es necesario partir algún dia

Southeast Asian surprises

Most Thai men enter the monastery for a period of two weeks to three months
Thailand was the only southeast Asian country not colonised
Thais only use chopsticks to eat noodle soups or other noodle dishes

More booms were dropped in Cambodia during the secret US bombimg campaign of 1969-73 than were dropped by all sides during the whole World War II
Within Vietnam, 102 living languages are spoken

Few Thais speak Lao, but most Laos speak Thai because the only TV worth watching is imported from Thailand
Laos is the most bombed country in the history of bombs
Malaysia has 9 sultans who take turns every five years to be the nation's king

In staid old Singapore, pubs can open all night and the goverment has legalised prostitution
Chewing gum is allowed in Singapore - as long as you get a prescription
Singapore used to be a full 120 square kilometres smaller. Hills have been lopped and monumental amounts of material imported to expand the island. It's still growing
Singapore is one of the lightning capitals of the world -struck, on average, 180 days a year
Singapore is the most expensive country in the world in which to buy a car

Brunei is one of the most effective welfare states in the world, with no income tax, free health care and a whole range of benefits for its citizens
Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world
The most popular sports in Philippines are basketball and cockfighting
The Philippines is the world's biggest producer of coconuts

Art from Ecuador

More on Guayasamin at: www.guayasamin.com

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More pictures on our trip to Ecuador at: http://picasaweb.google.es/inescudero

U want to know why Africa is so special?

Destino?

A lo largo de los cruces de tu camino te encuentras con otras vidas: conocerlas o no conocerlas, vivirlas a fondo o dejarlas correr es asunto que sólo depende de la elección que efectuas en un instante.
Aunque no lo sepas, en pasar de largo o desviarte a menudo está en juego tu existencia y la de quien está a tu lado.

Susanna Tamaro

Viaggiare

Si possono fare diecimilla miglia senza per questo aver viaggiato, si può fare una passeggiata e la passeggiata può essere un viaggio

el cristal con que se mira

Immagino che ovunque si vada, si veda in gran parte ciò che ci si aspetta di vedere

the others

There are not strangers,
just friends you haven't met yet

It´s all about learning

Probably the most valuable thing you can take back from your time in Belgium (or elsewhere) is something that no one needs to remind you to take along: a huge cache of memories, rich experiences, wonderful times, insights into different ways of seeing and doing things and, maybe, even the resolution to introduce some of the new ways you've learned here into your life elsewhere.

Viajar

Viajar es descubrir que todo el mundo se equivoca

Heimat

Heimat ist nicht dort, wo man herkommt, sondern wo man sterben möchte

El futuro depende del presente

Si haces lo que siempre has hecho, nunca llegarás más allá de donde has llegado