Finding Swedes and dreads in Colombia

I am back. Giving you all a new post again. This time, more tanned after having spent a week in the lovely country of Colombia :) Didn't know that this warm and interesting country west of Venezuela would invite me and my lovely Lina to so many new encounters. We did our first two-some trip ever and we were doing well. Once again, Lina was doing the talk and I, the walk. That is what our teamwork is all about these days.

For those of you who don't know, Colombia offers some lovely coast lines along the Carribean sea and me and Lina decided to see what it was all about. Ever since I got here , people (travellers) keep giving us such nice reports about it. After a hard 20-hours bus ride, with two funny looking Swedes (that's us), standing waiting (staring/wondering/getting irritated..) for 6 hours at the Colombian/Venezuelan border without any good explanation from the buscompany, we tried the Colombian coffee and had some pique-nique in the street. this was all done in Santa Marta. Very nice.
Santa Marta was not bad at all (the wine did taste vinegare thought) but it all happened in Taranga; the little fishing village a stone's throw away from where we had started out. It was in Taranga we saw the five Swedes the first time. From where I sat in the restaurant, I saw these particular men strolling along the beach promenade. I never needed to look more than very quickly one time at all these very blond guys. All of them wearing the same kind of bag, with a text saying "Colombia". After this quick glance, I knew they were Swedish. And for some reason, when you have travelled quite far away from you own country, you don't really feel like socializing with fellow countrymen do you? And for some other reason, when fellow countrymen are doing embarrassing stuff, you feel embarrassed too? Anyhow, after a closer look at one of these five guys, I kind of understand why Swedish characters like the one found in the movie "Beach" are done they way they are. In Beach, there is this blond Swedish bloke (named Sven?) who looks like a random guy, only made to be dumber than Jim Carrey himself in the movie with a similair name, but at the same time Sven is quite timid and does what he is told to. In the end, everyone leaves the deserted beach but Sven doesn't. Instead he dies. A bit tragic some might say, but that is more or less the story plot. Another character that reminds me about this Swedish bloke is Stig-Helmer in the Swedish popular family movie of "Sällskapsresan" (quickly translated as Companyjourney). Here, Stig-Helmer's character is not only dumb, but also geeky and seems to follow fashion and rules from a decade his mother grew up in. Should I say that Stig-Helmer seem a bit lost? If you combine these two movie characters (Sven+Stig-Helmer), you can picture how this particular guy of the Swedish group was. In round figures. Yet he kind of gave a certain flavour to the whole group anyway. The rest of these guys (80%) were having some same kind of tattoo on their left arm (not the tribal one, thank god), wearing white tanktops and were slightly tanned.

After sunset, me and Lina went to a bar that had some kind of happy hour and we finally got to try these well known caprinas. Didn't know that they could be so strong and that they had such an effect on you, but hey, everyone is a beginner sometime, right? I have never liked rhome either. Bugger. Next move was the reggae bar and this is where we saw the Swedes for the second time. Besides of the Swedes, there were at least 50 dreaded people in this tiny little bar holding around 70 people that night. No one seemed to think that Colombians can have blond dreads. As a consequence, everyone kept asking me;
"De donde eres?" (Where are you from?)
Despite of some other familiar Spanish words that night, I could understand every shout coming from the Swedes. They were happily enjoying the show of this great reggae band called Via Rustica. At the end of the second half of the concert, me and Lina had tagged the band members. Therefore, the subsequent day, they brought us to a deserted beach on the very northern coast line in their own private 4 WD car. Life was not too bad in Colombia after all. And the Swedes wasn't even close to catch up with us this time, one needed a 4 WD to get to this beach. (It wasn't even mentioned in the well known Lonely Planet!!) The chilling on the beach was really nice, primitive and tranquille. There was a river meeting the sea too, which made this beach quite spectacular. And of course, no tourists. Instead, five political and polite reggae musicians... and the two of us of course.. Yes. Colombia I like.

After the reggae chilling on Palomino beach (that was it's actual name), we headed to the touristic alternative in the national park of Tayrona and on our way over there, these two boys were standing along the road side (see above), helping their parents to load the bus with three gigantic sacs filled with coffee beans. The national park of Tayrona was nice too and this is where we saw the Swedes again (third time now). In addition, dreaded people on the beach kept saying;
"Hola" or
"Como estas" to us. It was as if the reggae concert the other night had brought the whole audience to the beach and we felt like we were knowing everyone! For some reason, it seemed quite easy to get to know people in Colombia. Tayrona was crowded of course. We never got a hammock to sleep in but things sorted out themselves. Another friend from the bar had som other friends who had an enormous tent and we were invited to sleep in there.

Lina is at the time of writing on an excursion and I spend my last two days abroad in Caracas, meeting her international fellow students, catching the last beams from the sun and drinking loads of coffee. Last night I was attending a farewell party for some people I have hardly met before. I found a guitarr and was happy. Some other people too, apparently :)

It will be nice to come back to Nobel Square and Sweden again, eventhough I will cry floods by the thought of not seeing Lina in another 5 months! Maybe I will come back before... Some Colombian friends woulf probably be happy to lodge us for a couple of days? Time will tell.

Hasta Rasta Siempre!

Abrazoz
/Lin the dready

Trekking rocks in south east

We are keeping up the trekking spirit after a light start in the south west and decided to head down to the south eastern corner in Venezuela, bordering to Brazil of all places. On the day of New years eve, we went to Brazil to try the reputive nice, strong, black coffee. We also had the chance to see Brazilian yellow football t-shirts hanging everywhere in the busy little town of La Linea.

And despite of frequent inquiery, no capriña was found on the site, which did upset me a little bit. Apparently, la Linea is too little to be on the travelmap on Facebook. So now you might understand how little it was.?

We met this British/Canadian/Aussi tour group in Santa Elena which is the town bordering to Brazil and also the town from where you trekk up to Roraima which is said to be the best trekk in South America along with the Inka trail and Patagonia in Argentine. This group was quite funny since it consisted of 8 travellers, ranging from 18 (!!) to 65 years old and the 26 year old Canadian chap and tour leader was having a little bit of problems with getting them all to enjoy the same activities. Well, I wouldn´t like to change job with him, yet he kept smiling and was unsuccessfully hitting on less intressted Swedes while showing off with his trained and slightly sun tanned arms. (wonder why he wasn't successful?)

New Years Eve can be summarized in a few crazy sentences. After midnight, me and Lina (Cinthia was sleeping) went to a salsa bar with some parts of this chaps's group (the older section of the group were sleeping at this time). The chap was busy keeping track of everyone; for instance, the very pissed 18-year old (means being drunk for those not understanding the British slang) had lost her purse but seemed to be too busy with her newly found Venezualian boy to look for it any further. (I later found out that her grandfather was her main sponsor for this trip and there were indefinite sources...) The British 30-year old blond girl was making out in the bar with the dready Southafrican, besides Dengue Fever contagious bloke. The Aussi had gone to bed after desperate and unsuccessful tries to hit on every girl he met. He stepped wrong when telling the feminists that they were wonderful people, hating men the way they do. Some people will just not understand feminism.. The Swedes, (Lina and Linda) were trying to keep up the moves of Salsa. Linda was in other words learning by watching and Lina got warm on the dance floor. I liked this watching but was afraid that someone would tap on my shoulder. I just don´t understand how you are supposed to look sexy and sensual and at the same time enjoy dancing when having a man on your side, drooling just by the look at you..? I will have to understand this culture better before I get into salsa. That is one for sure. Maybe some spanish knowledge would help?

The first day of the year means tiredness and a heavy head for everyone I assume? At least it did for me and all food shops were closed til 4 pm so I never got the chance to recover before then. The second day of the year meant Roraima. Roraima is a rocky mountain that has a tripple point on the top, a point which gather three country borders in one point; Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela. Our Indian guide was impressed by our group (3 Swedes, 1 Brit and 1 Austrian long legged guy) since we managed to climb Roraima in 2h and 15 minutes on our second day!

Apparently we were the best group of this year. Well, if one doesn´t get proud of oneself after such a judgement, one should stop trekking I guess... (Note that the trekking was done on Janury the 2nd and that January the 1st is a holiday)

From sunny and humid weather on the foot of Roraima, we encountered rains and cold breeze on the top. I was lucky to bring my gore tech jacket. I had nice days in Roraima and after 5 days without a decent shower or clean clothes, it felt good to be back in the little city of Santa Elena again. I tried my Skanian accent with the girls in one restaurant before leaving the city for Caracas and it sure gave them a good laugh. I might just be the excellent traveller companion when it comes to accents? Don´t know if my mates agree with me here.
Now back in Caracas again. Lina is at the time of writing, waving Cinthia off at the airport and I am tryig my best to cruize around on my own in the city, speaking bits and bits in Spanish... An older bloke in the cafe just asked me if I was French. Don´t understand what he got that from? As if I sound French when I speak Spanish? Hmpf..

Guess I should be leaving, catching up with Lina in a little while. Tomorrow we hit for Colombia. Should I look forward for Sweden? Well not just yet..-

Hasta Luego!
/Lin the blondy

Free riding in south west

Four weeks after my arrival from India, I am on the road again. Jack Kerouac is still not here, the itenary is different and I am using my body language more than ever due to my Spanish being really rusty.

The journey to Venezuela was touching though; after nearly two hours of sleep at Noble Square, I found myself drinking champagne in the airplane, watching a tear-jerking French movie and smiling to the steward from Air France, who served up vegan delights throughout my 8 hours long journey (well not for the entire trip). Arriving in Caracas was even more touching if you don´t mind that your luggage is lost in Paris or that people don´t speak French to you. The best part was with no doubt the two good looking Suecas (female Swedes) that greeted me in the arrival hall with a nice sign saying “Välkommen Linda (=Welcome Linda)”. I was so happy, even cried a few tears when giving my dear Lina a warm and long lasting hug after three months without her.

Caracas is not an excellent hang out for vegans looking for adventures, so we decided to head down to Mérida where the mountains are said to be beautiful and where the newly found friend Jésus was.

He was sure a useful and caring friend, showing us the town, giving us a bed for free for the night and driving us to nice places. He even forced me to climb in trees and Lina and Cinthia had to convince. they did well. I did climb the tree! Scared as a rat (are they scared?)

Jésus even knew a mountain guide who took us along in his tourist group for a 3 days trekk in the Andes for free. And before leaving for these beautiful mountains, he showed us a nice restaurant (you can see us walking in the streets here) and after eating, he drove us all the way to the start of the trekk!

We had a great time in the mountains with wild horses, altitude sickness (from 4700 meters height), lack of ground gear (the others, not me, but if one has, one has to share... I was told) and shivering nights (of course, when sharing ground gear!). I was probably the one with the best gear for the event out of all of us, but I was never allowed to sleep in the middle!! This meant that my face was all wet when waking up in the morning. hmmpf. Not from sweat but from the tent cloth that was stuck to my cheeks, all soaked in morning dew.

The views and the nature was just stunning. The girls too, I know... Our guide called himself a "Naturista" which apparently means that you try to live from the nature as much as possible. He is the guy in the yellow gear on the picture here below. Did you know that a Naturista even takes baths naked? (which I unfortunately don´t have any pictures from...) Sorry to make you dissapointed. You will have to imagine by yourself.

Back in the city of Mérida, we enjoyed Christmas with some Swedish food traditions such as mustard herring from eggplants, rice porridge with cinnamon, meatballs of minced soya or glögg (the Swedish spice wine) I have burnt my nose a little bit but don´t mind too much since it will guarantee a suntan once back in Malmö again. Harder and stronger than the one from India.

I also want to tell you something about Venezuela that you might not know if you havent been visiting Lina s blog or it you dont happen to have a great GK (General Knowledge):
a. 10 litres of petrol costs 3.50 Swedish crowns over here
b. The car queues are enormous; count on 2 hours for entering a city. Minimum!
c. Buenas Dias is godday in Spanish...
d. Apparently, one of the most common birthday gift for your 18-year anniversary is to enlarge your breasts. Plastic surgerey is also very cheap here. It is therefore not unusual that the whole family (the female side of the family) decides to enlarge the breast in one shot. The give you discount!

Before ending this session I will have to tell you that we have two new quotations for this trip:

1) The Italian woman at the airoport in France outbursting "Éstà locco, complemente locco" when the security check let you queue for more than 2 hours despite of the fact that your flight departure for Caracas has taken place 30 minutes before. And yes, me and the Italian woman got on the plane. The other travellers, not arriving from Copenhagen, had to wait in the plane... Éstà locco..

2) Linda speaking with different Swedish dialects in the taxi from Mérida town to the bus terminal. You should have been there. It was a blast as an Indian friend of mine would have described it and this is not my own words but my travel companions.

Well, I should probably hit the road again. for new adventures. Talk to you later

Bésos y abrazoz
/Lin the non Spanish speaking Swede in Chavez land

ps We just got back from a visit to the beach. Now, a book and 24 hours later, I feel a bit burned..ds

Back in one piece..?

Coming back to Kanpur from Nepal meant a great deal. I never had the chance to tell you that the Indian Railway Service seems to have something against me, or atleast that is what I think after spending more than 6 hours at Gorakhpur Trainstation, waiting for my train to arrive. Apparently, my train never arrived that night, or maybe it did, just that I gave up after 7 hours and got myself on another train... Once back in Kanpur and at IIT, the whole place was deserted. Well, more or less. I realized that the present Indian holiday "Diwali", which corresponds to European Christmas in many ways, had brought many students back to their family homes. Soo, instead of eating Indian sweets the whole weekend with grandmother, upa, aunti, cousins and sisters (this is a just a few examples of the great Indian family), I had some interessting moments in the lab, analysing my fungus and some of my bacterias.

I am actually now writing to you from the common living room at Noble square. It is strange to tell you that I got back yesterday, thinking that today would be the proper day, but in the middle of conforming my flight from Dehli Friday night, I realized with the help of my mother, that my flight was due on Sunday morning 2 am and not Monday morning 2 am, which I had believed the last 4 months... and don't you dare to call me careless!
In Kanpur, I was busy catching up with everyone and also busy preparing for my leave, my presentation for the whole department and the arrangements for the party to Lab 15. And all of a sudden, my supervisor, along with all students from lab 15, took me to a fancy restaurant for a "farewell party". I was soo surprised and.... well you can all tell I guess? I got this nice tea/coffee cup saying "Indian Institute of Technolgy, Kanpur, I have been there". And that is true as well! soo cool! I was a lucky star to meet the people in lab 15 and I know I will miss all of them a lot!

The subsequent day, I gave my presentation and threw a party for all the students in smart lab (lab 15 that is). We went to a south Indian restaurant, just outside IIT Gate (this is an actual location for those of you who don't know) and thereafter we got back to the lab for a Swedish quiz (for the Swedes, I am of course talking about the well known Tipsrunda). The questions all concerned me :) Just wanted to make sure that my student friends won't forget me. In other words, they now know my shoe size, number of dread locks on my head (I don't know if I really know myself...), places I visited in India and Nepal, the name of my Swedish supervisor, the name of the city where I live etc. The price was some pictures taken just some days before... I have realized that you haven't been introduced to any of my lab mates, well, here you go:

From the left: Ruchi, Shivali, Linda, Shipra and Sumrita.

These guys are probably one of the nicest you can meet and work with. Anuj to the right got his plates (stem cells) contaminated with fungus and yet he likes me! (yes, I was the one giving hime my fungal kids to his plates..). Hedar to the left is soo cool and relaxed so sitting next to his desk gave me joyful moments throughtout the day!

My first encounter with Adibti was the day I arrived. We (all the girls in the lab) were going for tea not far from the department where we work. I asked her where she came from, she told me it was a town I probably hadn't heard of before, but I insisted to know the name, she told me it was Bhopal. So, I told her I had heard about Bhopal. She was surprised when I told her about the chemical accident taking place there a couple of years ago. She replied;

"Wow, you have great G.K"
"G.K?" I asked..
"General Knowledge"
"Aha, I see" I said and smiled, thinking about the Indians' habits of using abbrevations for almost everything... From there on, I started to like these habits.

One can't write about lab 15 without mentioning Akshay who is the humble person in charge. He knows everything and is there for you when ever you need him. Here together with Roohitesh (right) who is the expert when it comes to cameras and photoshop. He gave me a lesson one afternoon, thanks!

Jera is also someone you get impressed of, always very much focused on her work which she performs with passion and great ambition. She is probably coming to Sweden sometime in the future, so some of you might meet her.

Left: Me and Jera

Right: Shipra waiting for the bus on the day she took me to her home and a great Indian party with almost 200 guests...!!!

I haven't attached Shika since I dont have any picture of her. She is great. I will tell you more when we meet!

Before I left Kanpur, I got to meet Radhika again whom I have spent most of my free time with in Kanpur. We had a really bad timing since she lft for Portugal some days before I got back from Nepal and this didn't really give us a good chance to say good bye to each other with her coming back to Kanpur 4 hours before I was meant to leave for Dehli. That means that we had our last reunion at the train station in Kanpur which in many ways was a chaotic morning, with me not finding the right train coach, all loaded with stuff from my crazy shopping time in Nepal and Kanpur (I know, it is a bit weird but also true). Radhika is a great soul, always ready to discuss and listen to you. She will most probably come back to Portugal in January for a position at the university as an associate something. She works with computer science but not with the scientifical part as you might expect from a technological institute, more the socio-economic perspectives! Radhika is a real beauty, don't you think?
In Dehli I got company too, surprisingly my friend and workmate Florent from France (we worked together in Copenhagen, Denmark) was in Dehli during my stay there and we decided to hook up. I don't know if there could be a saying when it comes to me and French but somehow, I kind of find a mean to speak French whereever I go... This time in India, I have been given the chance at least 4 times during my 2.5 months stay! Florent did some shooting with his compact camera that I wish to be able to attach to this blog, but at the time of writing, I haven't received it, I will attach it as soon as I get it. Me and Florent had a great time in Dehli, I was shopping and Florent helped me to bargain... It was full on!

I guess I should be going now, there are some things one has to do when just coming back from a long stay somewhere outside of Sweden. I have baked the bread, unpacked a little bit but there are still some things left. Will eat a falafel (people in Malmoe understand my cravings?) this afternoon with a good friend and tomorrow I am back at the department again and in one month I leave for Venezuela!?! Life is rocking, India is still in my heart and being in Sweden is about to crystallize...

See you in the daily life soon!?

love, hugs, peace and peas

/LindiZ