Holy cow!

I've mentioned Sarah Macdonald's book on my previous post, but I don't think I actually raved about it. So please let me indulge...

Sarah Macdonald went to India because she had to. She didnt like it - she hated it would be more accurate - when she first visited it and now her life circumstances forced her to go back, her fiancé was stationed there, it was either joining him or being apart for a year or two. Written in (what i'm starting to think is the Australian way) in a very witty, in-your-face, almost rude English, this sometimes politically incorrect way yet finds space for a context even at the most horrid situations. I personally have a problem with this politically correct age, when people are worried about ridiculous things and are more hypocritical than ever so Macdonald's writing was a welcomed relief.

For an Indian I imagine that the first chapters are an account of a rich Western woman, perhaps it would be interesting to read an account of an Indian adjusting to Western society with its luxaries, sex, drinking and atheism.

However for another Western woman who despite being more or less warned that India was a shock, still struggled with it, this book hit all the right keys. I, like the author, surprised myself when I noticed how much I was resisting the chaos, the idiosincrasies that make India, how much I was attached to Western society. After all, it is a different culture and mine was not perfect either. I then started to try to enjoy the little things: not getting sick, nice food, one nice man that didnt stare, I didnt get lost while walking alone, I tried to go with the flow, Macdonald however had a different fate. When you are stuck in a country for a year or two you must at least try and understand it, Sarah Macdonald couldnt. She couldnt enjoy it or smell it either. After a couple of weeks she got a near fatal pneumonia, came back to her polluted flat a sack of bones and three months later she was bald. She decided to stop cringing and hating India and to try, at least try and fit in, understand, study, accept. "I must find peace in the only place possible in India. Within."P.81 Sarah M. then went to a Vipassana meditation center and did not speak or in anyway communicate for 10 days. She realized her nostrils breathed differently. She understood she was the problem by directing her anger at India. She gained some control.

After the Vipassana center she went to a Sikh temple, she was now a almost bald white woman among followers of a religion that does believe in cutting one's God given hair. She hears the beauty that is the live music in any Sikh temple: "I can't understand it, but the communal singing, or kirtan, they lead is divine. I have to stop myself from crying out 'Alleluia!' (...) Influenced by the Sufi hymns, the music is designed to prompt a particular devotional mood or emotion. I feel sweet joy, a sense of shared serenity within the human spirit.'P.103

Still India hits back, there is an earthquake that kill thousands, a massive drought and the traffic is still scary."India is beyond statement, for anything you say, the opposite is also true. It's rich and poor, spiritual and material, cruel and kind, angry but peaceful, ugly and beautiful, and smart but stupid." P.123

Indians must suffer a culture shock in Western societies as well:
" 'We Indian people, we look at the people more poor, more low, more hard than us and we are thanking God we are not them. So we are happy. But you white peoples, you are looking at peoples above you all of the times and you are thinking, why aren't I them? Why am I not having that moneys and things? And so you are unhappy all of the time.’ "P.127

Sarah and her now husband go to Kahsmir during yet another cease fire, mosques are boarded up, there are sand bags in front of temples, people have not worked or seen tourists in months. Muslims Indians are welcoming and nice, she is stuffed with food - twenty one types of lamb - and hears "I love you" a lot. She attents a Hindu festival, a mass rave where ecstacy is religion.

For the course of several months she experiences, breathes in and listen to Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Sufism, Hinduism, Judaism (and the Kabalah), Parsi and even the teachings of an alien called Kryon. Sarah also visits different parts of the country, goes to several Indian marriages, watches the drama of an India "saving face".

The reader feels compelled to join her in her religious quests and interaction with Indian families but not on the rest of her Indian experiences, I mean, she almost died of pneumonia... This book is an excelent way of reliving a culture shock or of learning how you could react to it, also through her life changing experiences we learn a lot about India, its religions and beliefs. It's also a bit like reading "history of religion" or a "world religions" funny essay. It still could use some pictures...

India

If only I had read Sarah MacDonnald's Holy Cow: An Indian adventure before my trip. If only I had kept in mind that I was supposed to talk to a man only after he talked to me. If only I had learned to bargain before I left. My trip to India seems to be full of "if only".

Our first day was so bad, so tiring and stressful that we called the airline to see if we could return earlier, we couldn't possibly take two weeks of that. And then we did. And then we liked it a bit. But maybe we won't return any time soon. India is famous for its scams, thieves, for its noise and smells and it seems we got all of it on the very first few hours. Looking back I now know that it was because we said in the crocodile area (as a local guide called it) the bad area that doesn't get many tourists. That would, we thought, explain the staring and the attempted gropings. When we first visited the Main Bazar people wanted to sell things but they didn't stop to stare as if we were Columbus fresh from the beach.

I'll always have India stories to share, there was a 60 year old that wanted to marry me, there was a rickshaw with fresh paint (I still have that jacket), the absolute patience with traffic, life, poverty, injustice, bombs, death.. "what do do, madam?". Amazing lesson there. There was also the impossibility of finding an India that said "no", "can you take us there?", "can you tell me where this is?" "am I close? I've been walking for hours"... not a single one will tell you they dont know. There were our nightly hugs celebrating another day alive and well in India, another day without diarrhoea, there were my walks in town alone and arguing with drivers, dodging "tourist guides"...There is an absolute lack of privacy and space, and it scares me to think more babies are being born in India everyday, I have no idea how they are going to cope.

My all time favorite part of India were the temples. Yes, going to a Bollywood film in a filthy, broken down cinema (my chair broke when I leaned back) with men whistling, yelling and clapping was quite interesting but the temples are just amazing. Especially Hindu, Buddist, Sikh and Sufi shrines (though women are not allowed in). I wished our religions were that peaceful, open and relaxed. Then I remembered India is not always peaceful. Besides some temples are just stunning. The so called Muslim aerea was another nice surprise, from tipical appartments and condos we arrived to alleys covered with carpets, so full of people you think you're going into a concert arena, the tiny streets were described in my guide as going back to medieval days, and that only made sense once I was there. No matter how many drivers and guides told us not to go, and refused to go it was so worth the visit. In the Sikh temple in Delhi we sat barefeet among the rest of the Indians, our heads covered (a pirate do is enough), and enjoyed the nice Sufi music. I glanced around trying to hide the huge smile I had on my face, finally calm in India, finally music that doesnt make me cringe... I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. If I ever return to India it will be for moments like these only. By the way, if you are ever in India and are feeling peckish, or just lost all your life savings go to a Sikh temple, they serve 3 meals a day for anyone that shows up, any religion, any caste, any nationality is welcome. Just queue with the rest of the people.

I regret not having more time to do just a "religious road-trip" and that I wasnt a man so I could go anywhere, even Sufi shrines and mosques. My main regret was missing the "qawwali" concert in the Sufi shrine. If you go to India dont miss out. Ask for Nusrat, they'll know what you mean.

I leave you with a quote from Holy cow: "India is beyond statement, for anything you say, the opposite is also true. It's rich and poor, spiritual and material, cruel and kind, angry but peaceful, ugly and beautiful, and smart but stupid." P.123

Belgium

I once read something about the Belgians, I don't remember the exact words so I'll paraphrase: The Belgians were invaded and disputed so many times they they are now hiding as best they could, not really advertsing their tourism areas, trying to lay low. Let people go to France or The Netherlands...

That might explain why most people think there is nothing to see in Belgium, why even the Belgians sort of shrug when I compliment their country. The only thing Belgians rave about besides food and alchool are comics. I found I could live with that. So much that I collect restaurant cards, spent a fortune on comics and was ordered to stop drinking by my doctor.

I had visited Belgium twice before deciding to move there, the fact that was a sunny, hot summer during the last visit may have helped - God knows there were no sunny summers here after I moved.

The Belgians are so used to foreigners that they sort of ignore you, I supposed it's hard to be impressed when you host thousands for the EU alone. Once they figured out you want to talk or perhaps drink it's a whole different story.

After two years I can say for sure that Belgium is not as boring and gray as some people claim, there are tons of cultural and sport/outdoor activities - I did rock climbing, cycling, kung fu, running, swimming... You can meet people from all over the world and chat away in one of Brussels' thousand Irish pubs. And Belgian politics are a real source of entertainment! The whole Flanders / Wallonia thing is just soap opera of politics, just as the wonder couple is getting back together something sets them apart, there is the evil extremists, the peacemakers, the benevolent but rather naive king... If you speak/understand French check out the Belgian Side Story.

There are plenty of green areas around, Brussels alone has more than 10 big parks. I really enjoyed my time there however I did miss the Portuguese weather.

The close border to The Netherlands, Germany and France may not have helped Belgium in the past but it's perfect for travellers. I recomend that you make the most of it while here as I did.

Russia

I had always wanted to visit Saint Petersburg, especially after studying the construction of the city so when I found myself so close (I was in Latvia) I decided it was time to go, also it would a whole lot cheaper. I was doing volunteer work and only had pocket money, the visa alone was half my budget. The visa only allowed us to visit Moscow and Saint Petersburg and the travel agent warned us we could get arrested if we were caught womewhere else. Great.

After a horrible 13 hour bus ride we arrived at a highly guarded checkpoint where I was - of course - the last one in the line and the only one of the WHOLE bus to be questioned. Repeatedly. By two insane officers who considering their age should know better.

I enjoyed Moscow, with all the news reports I had never realized just how beautiful the Red Square is, the metro is a live museum as the Russians believe in preserving the past, good or bad, and left all the marks of the Soviet times. I waited for my train under a massive statue of Lenine...On the other hand an old lady tried to steal my passport, another one tried to trick us into getting into a strange car, even tough we were all volunteers they still made us pay extra to pretend we stayed in a hotel - I had no money left when we crossed the border again.

A 14hour, disgusting, smelly and sticky train trip till St Petersburg should've taught me a lesson, yet I had a whole week to suffer in that town. The heat was massive as well as the humidity - it was always around 32º, super humid while in Moscow it was even cold; the white nights were starting and messed with our systems, all the Russians we met walked super fast and insisted it was "just around the corner" even in 5h walking tours.I wanted to enjoy and breather the city, instead I was running up and down like a peddy paper with check points and everything.

I didnt like paying to get in a country in the first place but after that ridiculous price we were given prices for foreigners all the times, even restaurants(well, can we call pizza hut and kebab places restaurants? I got sick twice with their meatball soup...). As a result I only went to the Hermitage museum because I gave freen entrance to students and had apples and water for dinner for several days.

I slept for 24h straight when I returned.

Lithuania

I went twice to Lithuania but sadly I havent managed yet to go to the Hill of Crosses. I spent four days in Vilnius and three in Kaunas, they're both nice towns but not really comparable.

Vilmius has something like forty (40!) churches and they're all diferent and nice, there are also little chapels, or idols all over. I was a bit worried all this religion would make this town serious but the night life, despite all the snow, was very active.

What Vilnius has in churches Kaunas has in statues. The town was also full of artists paiting in the streets, tons of shops and student activities. It also home to one of my favorite museums: the Devil museum, a must see.

An hour or so out of Vilnius is the Gruttaspark, the park a millionaire created with all the old Soviet statues, it's an incredible trip to the past and it is very eye opening and you see that in that huge park, full of statues, busts and paintings there is only a small percentage of what used to be in the country during the Soviet occupation. Should you decide to go and I highly recomend it, tripple check the buses, I almost spent the night in the middle of nowhere...

Estonia

While living in Latvia I visited Estonia 3 times, all magnificent trips.

First I did a road trip on the south, it included totens, animal heads above doors, a bat cave (a cave where bats live not, you know...), driving in a frozen lake which makes me smile even now, me sinking my car in a ditch - in my defence it was covered in snow and I didn't see where the road ended or started and I had never driven on snow before and a delicious stew served in bowl that fitted in my hand.

my second trip included a guided tour to a bog, it's sort of lake a swamp without the smell, it's beautiful and all our road was basically saw dust on top of water - very strange feeling. The trip also included a 14km kayak adventure down the river, to this day I have never been on a kayak again, I am still exausted. (hey, I have a recovering tendinitis on my shoulder!)

The last trip was Tallinn. There are hardly words for the old town, embedded in a great castle and full of great places to eat. It's (or was) more touristy than Riga's old town. Due to its small size I could walk around a lot and enjoy my long weekend there. I found people to be very friendly and most spoke very good English.

Living in Latvia

I arrived in Valmiera in December and in the empty streets all I saw were crows (creepy crows) and lots of snow. After seven months working as a volunteer in a youth center I couldn't stand snow anymore; I was in love with apple pancakes, trekking by the river Gauja; I had litres of vodka in my system (I recomend cramberries'vodka and honey vodka) and I was left with a renewed sense of belief in myself and in that strange universal language of gestures and sounds that got me out of trouble one too many times.

Riga is not you expect, especially the old town. After seven months I was still not tired of its tiny, labirintic streets, of seing women with mini-skirts when it was minus 29 degrees, of its wonderful food... I also enjoyed having a whole hostel for me on more than one occasion and less having a fat snoring Brit on the bed next to me.

For the night life you have to search a bit more than in Western cities but you do find it. I somehow ended up in a undergroung heavy metal club after asking for a beer so keep yourself ready to go in a moment's notice.

Summer was actually very warm (28-30 degrees) and there were so many flowers everywhere, storks, birds singing, I could hardly believe it was the same country that gave me minus 35 degrees. And it's true what they say about the people's reactions to sun, every is much nicer during the summer.

Latvia has so many hidden charms that can dazzle the visitor as well as a few insanities I have only - at least so far - encountered in Eastern Europe. Make sure your luggage is covered by your insurance or wrap it in duck tape is my main advice...

Travelling bug: INTRO

For the last couple of years I kept a blog in Portuguese so my friends and family (and then some nice strangers) could keep track of my travels, adventures, cute remarks etc As I travelled more and lived longer abroad I met incredible people, made friends, started relationships and the like, and all my new connections complained my blog was in Portuguese.

So this time, as I am leaving for Thailand for a year and plan to visit the area, and considering that Thailand seems to get everyone's curiosity, the blog is in English. Should you want to see some pictures or see what Portuguese looks like visit: Babsy no fim do mundo (babsy at the end of the world).

That Portuguese blog is also the reason why there are sort of summaries of my previous travels. I wrote way too much to translate or transfer to the "travelling bug", but at the same time I wanted to give you an inkling of where I've been or what I've done.

This blog will hopefully give a fun and realistic view of my preparation to leave Belgium and leaving for Thailand, my YEAR there and of my trips to neighbouring countries.

From Portugal to the world

Even before I first traveled I was already dazzled by the mere idea of it. I grew up on a small island -Madeira- (see red circle on the map) and seing ships come in and go every day, waking up between the sea and the mountains I felt free and very lucky. Then one day, I went to another country, and another, and another... Yep, I had the traveling bug.