CUBA...!!! a weird experience...!!

Cuba was a weird experience. A country full or contradictions, where so many things are forbidden and yet the country seems beautiful.

I already knew the ugly reality that that country has ‘cause I had had the opportunity to talk to some Cubans overseas and hear stories from them, and because since the moment Chavez started to use Cuba as an example to follow I definitively sat and read as much as I could to understand Chavez’s psycho socialist-communist principles. But anyway, it is different to hear something than to experience it..

I went last year with some European friends. On our first night there, they –my friends- realised why an Italian friend back home wanted us to bring back a Cuban woman for him, the guys and girls are tall and good looking, although some are a little skinny, this is probably due to the ration tickets system still in place and the very very very low salary they are on.

We were shocked to find out that tourists are treated differently, the country relies on tourism as a major income and yet forbid us to talk with Cubains, that is except for those who have a job related to tourism. Internet access is illegal so there are very few cyber cafes and they cost way too much; phone calls abroad cost 8€/min so contact with the outside world is nearly impossible. Contacting my brother while I was there for his birthday was an expensive challenge!.. Everything is controlled by the state and the huge amount of propaganda all over the country makes it difficult for them to see how "unfree" they are. Most of the people we talked to told us they had a socialist system and not a communist one and that they were very free. However they are not allowed to sell or buy a house so are stuck in the same town for their entire life and have such a small salary (on average 15€ per month) that they are unable to travel outside of the country. The people were nice but seemed to lie a lot or at least tell stories, maybe to make their life sound more interesting. I know what is like anyway, it is easier to see the problems from an outside point of view, but when you are there in the middle of the struggle it is easy to become blind and pretend that nothing is going on, it is something that people tend to do unconsciously.

Cuba was an expensive country to visit as life for tourists costs the same as in Europe, but worthwhile as a mind opening experience.

PERU...!!!... another world!!

Like 3 years ago I went to Cusco, a town situated at an altitude of 3200m. We experienced Cusco's night life where we were nearly attacked by people trying to convince us to go to their bar for free drinks. The guys had fun going round the bars drinking for free.
At the market, people were offering us San Pedro, a cactus extract. It turns out the it's a sort of medecin that purifies the body but also has hallucinating and/or vision effects. After lowering the price, we arranged an appointment with the Chaman for a San Pedro ritual the next morning. He was late as we had expected but made up for it during the day. The taste was pretty awful but we got used to it after having made our "healing request" to Pachamama. The walk in the mountain was really interesting and beautiful. We spent a really nice day all together with weird hallucinations and visions. The only problem is that I wasn't tired and couldn't sleep until 6h30 to then wake up at 8h, but the day was well worth it.
The next day was slow and in the evening we started our long trip to the Machupichu archeological site. Rather than taking the really expensive train to the Machupichu village, we took several buses and walked for 10km, a real adventure! Visiting the site started with a 1h30 walk up steps and with the altitude, it wasn't easy at all. At the top, after a few problems, we managed to get in on the student price even though we didn't have our student cards (I strongly advise K to get a student card to get into all the sites half price!) and luckily as the price is amazingly high! It was an amazing view, a really interesting and enormous site. I understood why the site had such a reputation, we walked through it all day and took loads of pictures. The walk down was easier that walking up but we could still feel the lack of oxygen.
Getting back to Cusco was just as long with the 10km walk, the buses and then the long hours in the back of a lorry completely loaded with merchandise and people. Some of the guys were really complaining but I thought it was really funny…
It took us 2 days rest to get over it and regain energy while visiting the town and it's suroundings, including several really yummy meals in an amazing vegetarian restaurant and drinks in the Km 0 bar with live music and an atmosphere like the ones I love.
It was a really nice and interesting experience….

VENEZUELA....!! just a reality..!!

My oldest sister in Belgium went to Venezuela quite a few months ago... I was already here in Sydney, so I didn't have the opportunity to meet her. However my family did, she went to Caracas (which is the city where I come from) with two friends. They were staying @ my house over there, pretty cool!!...

One of those days while she was there I called her to talk to her and see how her trip was going. After a few minutes talking about beaches, parties and food she decided to give me her opinion about Venezuela, about my country... I remember it so clear, 'cause it was sooooo realistic and hard to hear, even though I know she was right with everything she was saying...

I didn’t want to take this blog into politics, ‘cause I know that it is a really complicated thing to talk about in public.. but I just feel that I HAVE TO!!...

We’ve been having classes this semester about Marxism and socialism.. and I have heard many different opinions about it..
I’m just gonna say the reason I’ve been getting so angry & I have been complaining so much about the things that we’ve been tought. I’m doing this NOT because I have to excuse myself for my behaviour, but because I want maybe some of the ppl in my class to understand part of the reality that now we are having back in my country with Chavez’s government, which principles are socialists- communist→ TOTALITARIUM.

Chavez is definitively crazy.

- So that the children don’t get up before sunrise to go to school, he wants to change the entire country’s time by 1/2h. Changing the time school starts at is apparently not an option. His decision is causing problems for airline companies etc, but he’s playing the deaf card and won’t listen (he probably wants to show everyone he’s got the power!).

- To have a stronger currency, he’s decided to change all the bills and to “delete” 3 zeros from everything, an empanada will therefore cost BF.2.00 instead of Bs.2000.

- It is impossible to get dollars from the banks. This has created a black market as the people who want to travel outside the country need them because the Bolivares (Venezuelan currency) aren’t really exchangeable abroad.

- He’s offered Great Britain money so that all old people can travel for free in London. It’s all very nice but all the people dying of hunger in his country and the places where violence is getting worse everyday, what’s he doing about that??

- He rewrote the constitution, therefore granting himself more power and assuring his position in power possibly until 2020.

- Of course he’s a big friend of Fidel Castro and very anti-USA.

Anyway, she understood why many Venezuelans don’t want to live in this country even if they adore it. This being said, other that the political stupidities, the country has a lot to offer, way more than just petrol.

s'th to say...!!

Something philosophical that just came to my mind & I wanna say..
I have always believed that our behavior and reactions in front of different situations are always linked to the environment where we were raise and where we live.
Paradigms and stereotypes can be linked to different cultures...but that doesn't mean that they are part of it..!!

FACEBOOK, the way to keep in touch with ALMOST everybody

It is amazing how technology can shortener distances.
10years ago we were just accepting Internet and its chats room as a possibility to communicate with friends and family, nowadays it is simply UNACCEPTEBLE not to have it at all.
My mum used to cry when my sister was away on her exchange student year (1999) because it wasn’t enough just to hear her on the phone, she wanted more, and now my mum cries when she sees our posted videos in Facebook. She keeps repeating “Facebook is amazing… this new technology is unbelievable”, while we laugh and record more videos for her!!..
I opened facebook under social pressure from a friend from Norway. We met in Belgium; we were both doing an exchange student year over there, we have kept in touch since. She told me that Facebook was “the future” , I have to admitted that I didn’t believe her, I didn’t use to be the type of girl that prefers to spend more time in front of a computer than hanging around, but anyway, if that was gonna make her happy I was not gonna think it twice.. I ended up opening Facebook, and not only that, finding friends “CLOSE FRIENDS” from all around the world on it.. GREAT!!.. so, since the day I opened Facebook I can't spend more than 1day without checking it.
I guess the reason is because I’m so far away from home, I mean, from my hometown, Facebook makes me feel closer to my friends and family over there, sharing pictures, videos and “drinks”, to at least celebrate that even though we are thousand miles away we talk and chat almost as frequently as we used to, and even to feel a little bit closer home.