Rá around the World

TOSCANY... my love

2011-12-21T12:06:00.000-08:00

I didn't foresee this one. The plan was to attend Vito's wedding in Salerno, and then head North Italy to my Number 1 in Travel Wishes List: FLORENCE. The rest would go as it would come. And so it went, in June 2011.

What I didn't expect was to be striked by Italy's beauty in natural and cultural heritage in every city... Yes, I should have known better from History classes and common sense.

Rome had already surprised me in 2007 and hey! - we all have heard of the wonders of Venice or Florence or even Pisa... But little did I know when I thought that apart from Milan's fashion and some other historical cities like Genova... there weren't that many other ex-libris in The Boot.

Well I was really wrong. I got that impression already when I was asking around about what cities I should visit around Florence...

When I left Lisbon the plan was to do Salerno - some town close to it with Marcela and Riquita - Florence, Siena, San Gimignano and Cinque Terre.

The weather made me change plans and I ended up doing the following path:

- SALERNO, or to be more precise: Battiplaglia for the wedding. It was great to see Vito happy. He's an example to me. Salerno, in the end, was left without a proper visit.

- The plan to go to Pompei with the girls was ruined by the train schedules (and the unfriendly ticket-sellers :) ) and became a half-a-day trip to NAPOLI, in my eyes unworthy of a tourist visit, at least if payed on purpose.

- That train trip led to us to meet Arthur though. And that made me meet the beautiful CAPRI. The romantic Island definitely has its enchantments: a lot of quality of living is hidden amongst the houses that proudly scroll down the mountains while the luxury of the shops exhibits how expensive and posh it is to stay there... The trip around the island is worth it because of the "Blue Cave", where the under-cave ocean meets the most intensive cristal blue as the sunlight enters the massive hanging rocks from underneath... Unforgettable!

- From the Island, Napoli train brought me to the most expected FLORENCE. I had been wanting to go there since I missed it in 2007 due to fever... I expected a lot, I knew I would meet the origins of humanistic thought and arts. I knew I would stand in front of the major paintings that I studied for 6 months in Madrid... but I couldn't believe when I actually found myself in front of those masterpieces: Boticcelli's "The Birth of Venus" and "Spring"; the ancient realism of Masaccio's, Lippi's and Masolino's frescos depicting St. Peter's life at Capella Brancacci; the Duomo is a-ma-zing especially on the outside... But I was surprised with the concentration of architectural beauty, massive buildings that leave you out of breath... at every corner.

STOP...

This was all I managed to write close after return. I also remember Luana with whom I shared a 6 people-room in Firenze - a Brazilian medical intern that I want to go back in touch with, who knows to share "El Camino de Santiago"... For now I shall add to my own Italian Impressionism that:

- LUCA left a mark on me for the welcoming of the owner of the guest house that I took 1 "lost" hour to find; the gentleness of the restaurant girls who had me eat gnocchi and a glass of wine toped with a typical warm drink and cookies... in a perfectly romantic yet alone outside evening dinner. The wall that surrounds the city leaves a unique space for walking and gave me the guts to ride a bike on my own: indeed so simple, I just need to let go! Finally the view from the tree-decorated top of one of the towers also touched my senses as so-like grown-up and kids carried on with their lives in the midst of the brown city right below my feet.

- The TOSCANY natural landscape, its green mountains bottomed by shy-flowing rivers, the calmness of the wooden houses... all of it and more would have been strange to me if only I hadn't taken the wrong train from Luca to Pizza. When 1h30 later I finally realized it (as all my travelling was a bit improvised and went as it came), I had the luck to be allowed into a return train while it moved in departure already... where I traveled alone with the humble driver and the windy opened windows with its flowing curtains making a spectacle inside the cabine! I FELT SO FREE as I put my head out to the Toscany sun! I felt so happy for getting lost and being blessed with such sights and sense of adventure!! (happy for feeling lost just as last week I was happy for falling down when playing basketball... I think I'm missing the adventure I didn't live as a child :) ).

A lot more of marvellous Toscany is left to see: for example, its lemon fields I was told in the meantime. It's for sure a place to come back to. Who knows San Gimignano?

- From PISA I only expected a picture. You do get half-marvelled half déjà-vu feeling from being in front of the only monumental area, but I still thought it was worth it for the delight of my touristic journey. But what made Pizza a definitely good bet was "my no such thing as a" coincidence... meeting Sonja in the Jazz Concert by the river. It all started because I wanted some art: I was craving for music or some sort of collective happening even as I saw political demonstrations for the national voting that was about to happen in June. 10 minutes after installing myself in a 6 people bedroom, I left to speak to tourism office and learned what I would do after. I decided to attend that supposedly political.party supporting concert. And as Sonja subtly joined me in the table while we ate the food that Italians often offer with your drink - and repeated!!, the next 7 hours went by flying and the harmonic voice of the old jazz-lady, the lights in the canal and the passing youth in that cosy Pizza night... became a breakfast to say goodbye the next morning. Sonja is an easy-going philosopher from Frankfurt, with whom I found so fast so many things in common! I miss her, I'll soon go back to being in touch.

- SIENA, oh Siena! Siena was the most surprising place, and although Firenze as explained overwhelms you insistingly, Siena unexpected as it is... strikes you even more. It ended up being my favourite site in Toscany. Its central leaning Piaza del Campo that is showered by sun until late and is rulled by the municipal building... relaxes me; its up and down medieval rocky roads, all leading to this central oracle where horses run in July (a pitty I didn't witness it this time)... inspire me; the city overseeing arch that you reach through one of dozens of "hiden" wonders of architecture dazzles me (and also gives me vertigo); the circular giant vitral, which if I remember well lies among statues in the caves of the central church... makes all my aesthetical senses ring; and the diversity of the City Cathedral made me meditate at the INFINITE ARTS AND CRAFTS OF THOSE WALLS AND CEILING, the wonders of the constant music, the surprising "frescos" of the Ancient Library Room, and the details of the "starled sky", overlooking popes, and handy-crafted wood embelishing the walls... Oh my God, all of that made me dream, sit there for around 2 hours and even sleep over a SUBLIME "perfectness" feeling... that no historical memory of oppression or massive dogma would ever make me overlook.

- ROME was a nice one-day return where I allowed myself just to walk and feel the city. It's grandious, that's for sure, and the cheap accommodation next to central train-station resulted quite handy. So has the roaming on my mobile as I could give my granny a phone-call just next to an image a St. John Paul the II right at the Vatican, as the celebration of his sanctification was displayed in all of St. Peter's Piazza walls. I knew that as in 2007 ('06?) it would make her happy, and I'm far from having given back all she has done for me since I was born. Eating the "Posioned Apple-like ice-cream", buying Limoncelo (great discovery by the way), watching street artists and watching a Russian Culture fantastic show in plain Piazza Navona, being walked "home" by the charming 19 year-old argentinian with whom I ended up throwing the "hope coins" into the touristic Fontana di Trevi... these are some of the memories I won't leave from short 2011 Rome.

Again traveling alone did its tricks: I do live well by myself, I do meet people, I do finally feel healthy "Saudades", I do get to know the spots, I do get adventurous, I do try new stuff like sleeping in shared rooms (from whom I end up meeting no-one as I enter such late night all the time), holding my all-purposes bag between my limbs, I do stutter at the beautiful of nature and man construction... not lacking the possibility to share it with a co-traveller.
Don't I have friends and family to travel with? "Porsupuesto!" But indeed my availability to renew myself, stand for hours in front of paintings if I want, change plans, be touched by unexpected details but not notice or just pass by major ex-libris, my openess to get to know the places as I feel like... is incomparable.
And then there's the shared travelling. I love it too. There's space for all.

My Maia, my fate

2011-12-21T07:36:00.000-08:00

WITH MAIA AROUND THE WORLD

I'm writing from Reykjavik, in Iceland, right as my dear Maia packs her bag to leave this cold graceful island with me.

With Maia it's forever like this, ever natural, ever sister-like.

It had been 4 years since we had met and I know you know what I mean when I say that really no time has passed: just stories, knowledge, maturing, relationships, trips, discoveries, experiences... all of that adding up to our closeness and mutual admiration... And which we easily share around subsequent home-cooked meals prepared by her with the most important ingredient: tenderness, love (tal y como con Tita - "Como agua para chocolate").

MAIA is hence not part of this blog's memory, but she for sure deserves a significant paragraph of this bible of trip registers. This "Mexican-looking" ;) small girl from the Basc Country is the best result of all my so said "lonely" trips I've been doing since I was 15 years old.

Maia and I happened something like my last night in long-gone Paris, back when "la grand canicule" (? - as she just put it) happened: the warmest summer, 2003.

Hours of night talk resulted in a timeless spaceless friendship, that has joined us in Lisbon, Donosti/San Sebastian, Ondarroa, Helsinki and now Reikjavik.

Maia is the example for me of an accomplished thinker, still living to the fullest ¡t her life, femininity and artistry, always going beyond the surface of peoples and their "arts", always finding the smallest reason to laugh, always strong-willed and defending justice; traveling, studying and singing her way through life in spite of all the learnings that she simply wouldn't let bitter her, not ever!

Maia, here's one of our hugs!

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Can't believe it's been more than one year since I last shared thoughts here. No doubt about it: it reflects the speed in which I've been living. Well the new year's resolution, I've been anticipating it for 2 months now - it's quite hard on me as it counters my forever pattern: running from "home" by over-scheduling, being a workaholic, resting on what I'm successful at and not leaving space for resting or simply "being"...

I share it here as this year I decided I need to make it public: something needs to change and I'm not sure I'll be able to inforce it on my own. Year after year I reach the "too tired", the "too far from living, from my health, from sleep, from boyfriend, from friends".... And being in love, loving tremendously what I do at Jason... can't be and excuse. It's in me.

That having been said, 2012, even with rising responsibility, must be the WORK-LIFE BALANCE finding year.

REYKJAVIK AND THE CHRISTMAS FEELING

Reykjavik was short in time and full in sharing. It is little and, all covered in white, what astonished me the most is the short time of light in Winter, the rain-dear soup in round opened bread at "Svarta... Caffee", the hot hot tubs, the Blue Lagoon, the dried lava that changed the landscape, how easy you are in -3 degrees if only you wear the proper clothes; the permanent whiteness of everything snow touches, and the home-like cafeterias where Iceland proudly exhibits the happiness and good life-quality of its people.

Even more: the Christmas feeling expressed in lights and decoration which miss no window, no building, no bridge, no airplane.

I now understand when Johan says he gets no Christmas feeling in Lisbon: truthfully the female chorus singing in the street while the smoke from street-cooked sweets embraces you and red christmas lights create the scenario, only further completed by lightly falling snow while you're in your cosy clothes... that's indeed a Christmas setting.

The most ZEN moment(s)?... For sure bathing in 40 degrees celsius waters in external spa pools while it snows and winds in your shy uncovered head, definitely the mysterious look of the hot smoking water while you indulge in the pleasure and relaxation of feeling no body weight and no cold against the open sky in plain ICEland.

Curious findings about this place?... So much natality!; in an Island bigger than Great Britain live 300.000 people; the surnames here are substituted by the father's name to which they add "son" or "daughter"; they're totally not environmentally-conscious: they waste energy, they waste water, they have no consciousness of the limitedness of the resources: privileges (and blindness) of who has the blessing of having enough to waste.

Taking it easy... Next to see upon return: well geysers, volcanos, auroras borealis... All that I had managed not to expect too much but still had the illusion of being in the presence of. It definitelly suited us better as it was: calm for me, Maia and Gunnar.

Let go. Let God.

2010-12-06T14:40:00.000-08:00

A while has gone since my visit to India (Sept. 18th to Oct. 2nd + 3 days in London).
With a clear conscience in my head that I haven't exactly met the goals I dared to publicize here beforehand, I prefer to report my travel for itself and not by comparison to expectations.
It's a good thing to let go of frameworks when they no longer fit your reality or your purposes; on the contrary, 'pre-concepts' may make you linger in a sense of frustration if you hang on to them for too long.

Well, that's probably one of the biggest learnings from my second visit to The Incredible:
Accept what comes.
Living the most out of an experience doesn't necessarily have to mean over-scheduling, running from one place to the other, meeting the most people or visiting the most places, finding a deep significance in everything, or even feeling that your deeper purpose is met and put into practice at every minute of the trip you planned with so much love and money.
Let go. Let God.
As long as you are open to the signs and available to act upon them, what comes is exactly what you need the most at that moment.

Well, there were many plans for my trip.
But my biggest mission was to be with my mentor. As my mentor needed me by her bed, reading to her or just giving medication, as I wanted to visit her in the hospital, as her needs and my need just for her presence were what mattered the most ; as she was operated while I was there ; my stay happened around her operation and recovery.

I did have the chance to travel, to do my yoga retreat, but I knew my priorities. I did have the chance to travel around town at least...
But two attempts were enough to realize that I am no longer the brave all-resisting Raquel from 1,5 year ago. I didn't bear the feeling of chaos, pollution, noise, complication, negotiation, cheating, being lost in slums, being stuck in traffic...
I didn't bear them psychologically or physically. I didn't bear nor did I want to bear. I literally rejected all the urban surroundings that I lived with for almost a year before.
Some aspects may have contributed for it: I was in an emotional state which was not as stable + My mind knew I was there temporarily, as a tourist, so it didn't find the need to actually adapt, to find excuses or bright sides to crude realities + I didn't have companions there, friends as before + I got there with a cold caught at the airplane that evolved into some sort of growing respiratory allergy.

What was my "Indian experience" this time then?
I read quite a lot, I rested more then ever, I slept whenever my body asked me, I was inspired by my Mentor even as She slept, I went deeper into Indian culture (as in a 2nd time I could ask questions after having stoped to think from afar), I lived life with them again, ever closer to my Indian family...
As my soul made me relax rather than go out, stay in rather then adventure, delay rather then try it out... As it insisted on having me just "be" and chill... After struggling, feeling like I was wasting such an expensive trip and thinking of the ridiculous of not visiting new places, living new experiences... After struggling, I finally let go: if that's what I was wanting, that's what was meant then.
And then I realized for how long I hadn't allowed myself that: that rest, that naturality, that spontaneous happening, that feeling of home...
And living that was more precious than having added more landscapes, meditations our colourful pictures to my portfolio.

That probably says it all: I TOOK NO PICTURES but of the home, to remember it. That's the house that I have ever felt more at home in.

Mr. U is no longer (here) and I missed him there. Sivnandan is a light in the house, the new-born.
I did find me a new family, and the feeling of blessing that both me and Mrs. U feel for having met and having each other overcomes any connection.

I feel like in a movie or a book when I say it, but it's a fact: I found my mentor, my inspiration in life. She inspires me even as she sleeps. Her simple presence fills me with joy and sense of priviledge and learning.

Having said that, of course I'll return. And again, "every now and then" won't do it. Hopefully in less than 2 years. What's money or 2 weeks of vacation to feel at home?*

* A post-scriptum is imperative though: after this "reality-check", I understood that while that corner of Palace Road is an island of "home-feeling", Bangalore and India are not. This time I reinforced my certainty that I wouldn't chose to live there again. That I prefer to visit, go to help, go to travel, go to fill my heart up, go to be challenged, disturbed, marvelled, what-so-EVER - NOT to live.
* P.S. 2 - In the end I went to London to be with my Mariana. Fast and lazy again, but great to reconnect to my sister, more and more sister.

Count-down for yet another Indian experience

2010-09-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided to do a short post here because again I'm in count-down to visit India.

I am actually visiting my mentor.

This trip makes sense to me in so many ways in this moment of my life, and the only reason I am doing the half-public exercise of writing down my expectations is so I can cross-check them with the outcomes, which I believe will as usual overcome those.

Also because the expectations are realistic, and that's probably why I dare to state them... Or aren't they: am I being optimistic even in my realism?

Be with my mentor, really be with her, listen to her wisdom, be there for what she needs, share our thoughts on philosophy, spirituality, sociology and "emotionality";
Be with myself and rediscover the inner peace that that place once instigated in me;
Find strength, self-preservation strategies and compromises with myself in order to keep the balance in this moment of my life;
Work on an exciting idea that I had in August 4th, 2010;
Try again some yoga hoping that the habit sticks to me;
Do Isha's Bhava Spandana retreat, another if this one is not possible and/or hopefully some travelling;
Rediscovering Bangalore with the Indian friends that stayed back;
Meet the new member in Ubhayaker Bijur family;
Have the time to actually get to know Archisman;
Do some reading and some diary writing, and hopefuly some reporting here in the blog too.

Cute Girl Has a Catchy Dance

2010-09-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

Guess who that one reminds me of? If only my parents read my blog... :P Do you?

The "cute girl": A true happy free soul influencer!

Apparently the story goes that they taught the little girl that dance, then she went to dance it having no idea that the others would join her... but that changed nothing: she kept happily doing her thing... and the clip came out.

Guys, let's all go for it!!!

I met Sweden in Sevilla

2010-08-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

SWEDEN

Well I started Summer in Sweden and for the first 2 days I actually thought that, not only Could I live there, as I Wanted to.

So much perfectness!... - naturally speaking and civilization-wise...

Everything is thought for you which makes it easier to enjoy life.

Even if you do it with your own hands - be it painting the house or fixing the fence (which is their custom), the system, the tools, the common knowledge... is ready for that too.

Life-quality is incomparable to any I have witnessed before: I mentioned here before the freshness of the water and the air... But then there's the fact that you ride a bike to and from work, that you arrive at 4 or 5 pm from your job, do no unpaid extra-hours, still manage to have a full life outside work; that the simplest and cheapest supermarket is to the level of a gourmet here in Portugal, that they have the habit of eating early dinner and still go for [what we call here] "hygienic walk" along never ending beautiful -tree-paths and lakes... Furthermore, every car trip seems like a succession of paintings as the roads are paths which were stolen from forests.

... But then the weekend went by and the so common rain came to bless the Summer... and then for a moment it stopped feeling like vacation. Can you believe in some places in Sweden they get something like 3 weeks of sun per year?

I enjoyed getting to know Johan's family better, trying to understand Chess better... Taking it easy and resting...

And I can't forget the yet again amazing Sauna and Lake experience in Tolg with John's family... And this time my first experience of taking a bath in a peer, and taking the soap out of me in pure night, in cold lake water, to the light of stars and a set 1 am sun. UAU!

I loved watching a Speedway contest in Vetlanda. Apparently that small city where Anna, Olle, Karin and Mikael live has one of the World top teams in this sport.

It was fun Bowling with the family, other family get-togethers, going to that Island with Johan (what was the name again?), watching them cook candy, watching Granpa dance in National Day celebrations, trying to fish with Kent...

But we did want some better weather for more barbequeing, more fishing, more lake-bathing, more biking, more walking-around, more country-side activities...

So in the end, yes, I'd like to try living in Sweden because it is becoming such a big reference for me in what regards life-quality, in anything that doesn't depend from "Saint Peter".

Although I have to confess I know I would struggle with the little Sun and the certain rain... But I would especially miss the sun - I feel more and more my connection to it, my dependence of it.

THE SUN IS WHAT I HAVE CLOSEST TO THE FIGURE OF A GOD

SEVILLA

Then in July, the chance came to go back to Sevillha, where me and Johan met exactly 5 years ago (we disagree on whether it was the 31st of July night or the 1st of August 2005 morning that we met - the last is my version). There the Sun is definitely not missing.

The door in this picture used to be the entrance to Don Quijote, the Spanish school that is ultimately responsible for us being together. Yes, 'coz it was them who put us in the same apartment... Well and the rest is just details... :P

Anyway, Marta and Bruno were spending their sabbatical moth there doing Flamenco training, and it was a great opportunity to re-visit that city full of salero...

We loved it, Johan could almost picture himself living there... But with so much heat (we think it reached 50 dregrees during the day!!)... and no beach... Ufff! And how do you even have the energy to move around in such a warm environment? Plus there's no horizon as I'm getting used to again... : the Atlantic Ocean... And it's VERY touristic.

In the end, it's a nice town to visit every couple of years - exactly - as a tourist. It has a great spirit, it breathes Flamenco which I like more and more - the guitar, the singing, the dancing... there's something really transeunic about it... I realized this time (watching a breathtaking performance in Casa de la Memoria) that it probably is because it is so intense and that the music so often resembles the ORIGINAL SOUND, the tantric, the budhist, the hinduist "AUM" - or "OM", as trend tends to call it.

Of course it carries me to a level of vibration that is unexplainable...

But again: nothing to repeat too much so that it doesn't lose the uniqueness I still feel when I experience Flamenco.

Ready for more travelling? Yes! Preparing the next one. :)

Alentejo_Travelling my own Country

2010-02-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

Ir para fora cá dentro.
That's how the Portuguese expression goes for when you travel inside your own country. And if my memory recalls well that became an idiomatic expression after a national tourism TV add some 10 years ago (or so I think - - how long does it statistically take to integrate a slogan in a language?).

PORTUGAL. My country. And exactly the one I learned to appreciate the lesser. I am ashamed of that, of not taking interest for it, of always looking at the less brighter side when it comes to Portugal:
- Melancholic; - Nostalgic; - Pessimistic ... and many inevitably negative "-ic-ending" words.
Ashamed of always looking at it exactly in the way I criticize "the Portuguese" for.

Well I feel I'm for the first time really willing to know the country I've always felt like mine only in one third - along with CAPE VERDE and BRAZIL.
This is after having come from India (in which I found so many worse - not even comparable - conditions)... And after that Johan came. And now I have a Swede to introduce my large home to, great loving company for tourism!

So this time we went to High Alentejo, interior Portugal.
Our base was Portel, a small village in the district of Évora, which is litteraly the centre of a star when it comes to road access.
This is a quiet place where people stare at you (and still keep looking when you've given in and taken your eyes away... :) ) 'coz everyone knows each other and you're not from there. And they're curious: that's simply it. A simple place.
It is amazingly silent all day long, hardly any cars, small white-painted houses ('coz the sun heat is so strong in the summer), real darkness at night; cows, sheeps, goats... just near by; breakfast with home-made cookies . . . And here cold is cold, homes have an inheritance of hunting prizes hanging form the walls, bread is "alentejano" and comes in special colourful coton bags, and you greet everyone in the street. A van passes by in the morning issuing the sound of folk music and offering home delivery of bathrobs, pijamas and other housewear. Somewhere in the village pigs scream, chickens run, horses grass (so silent it is that you can feel Portel's heart-beat if you simply keep quiet). Plus the view from the castle is amazing, a mixture of plain greens, and you almost feel the smell of olives and grapes.

We ate well and fat, and in the meantime we visited the biggest artificial lake in Europe - Alqueva Dam, ate at Amieira Marina, drove to Reguengos de Monsaraz hoping to buy wine only to find a beautiful modern-shaped church, and enjoyed a great wintery sunny day where the sun insisted on touching the waters beautifully.
On Sunday, Valentine's Day, time for the ditrict capital: Évora. The place for lunch was tough to find but in the end "Almedina" surprised us with a cosy family environment. We had time for a stop at Arraiolos as the car this weekend seemed to drive itself while I didn't dare or felt like harming the calmness with any speed higher than 80Km/h.
We liked the pace in Évora and the fact that the centre of the city is inside ancient walls: it makes finding your ways a bit of an adventure, and being inside the walls have something of mysterious and tale-like. We finally bought the so-expected Alentejano wine, and after long walks, some sight-seing and visiting Roman Temple at dawn, we drove back to Lisbon with a feeling of calm, rest and peaceful-mindedness.

Johan ended the day pleasantly surprising me with great spontaneous generosity when we met our building's night guard (a man from Cape Verde who has switched nights for days for 10 years now) and offered him one of the bottles we had brought from Alentejo. A nice man of few words, Mr. Zé Manel.

LONDON - Biggest Party on Earth

2010-01-15T15:06:00.000-08:00

D LONDON EXPERIENCE

Life keeps treating me well.

I travelled earlier than I thought I would again, and to a place that hadn't seen me since adolescence.

Last time I was in London I was around 16 years old. 10 years later I remembered King's Cross Station, next to which I lived for 2 weeks, Millennium Bridge next to which I studied English, the view of Trafalgar Square from the National Gallery, the flowers in Notting Hill's Portobello Market, Mind the Gap and not much else.

From 1995 I remembered even lesser: there was the driving on the right hand-side, Hard-Rock Cafe and its expensive branded black sweat-shirt that I wore for a whole year after that, my long showers my trip companions complained of, Harrod's and my aunt saying to Jimmy: "(No, don't come in) - I'm not apropriated". :D

The turn of a decade was something else. I saw it with Raquel eyes and taken by the sweetest hand, and the warmest hug.

MARIANA. My forever trip companion, my forever big sis'.

Mariana is a Brazilian Londoner whom another one of those big non-coincidences brought to me in India.

We lived heaven and hell in that sub-continent of which I miss only some few people, some natural beauties, some exotic tastes and some laid-back experiences... and cherish the overall experience of.

In LONDON it was all about enjoying.

I left from a week stay there with the clear feeling that that's THE PLACE WHERE YOU CAN BE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE.

The closest I experienced of that (but for sure far away and in a fully different perspective) was Thailand: Bangkok... and the marvelous Islands - place of wonders, place to get lost if that's what you're looking for...

'Nyway...

Mariana took me in a journey through not only some ex-libris of that gigantic glamorous organized city... but also through some untold secrets only true Londoners can share.

What I loved the most was for sure the diversity of people, the true melting pot London is, the extremes in looks and way of living that people can allow themselves to express there with no awkwardness feeling. That city has a place for all sorts and looks down on no one - but that's because you almost have it hard to find locals, British people - so much is the colourfulness!

In this context I have to mention Camden Town and its weekend fair, experience with which Mariana gifted the beggining of our journey together in Her Majesty's kingdom capital.

That place sells anything you may imagine and gets together punks, fifty's, rastas, posh people, brazilian "cochinhas", S&M material, motor-bike seats, piercings, lights, statues and drums..........all about fashion ... what results is an amazing experience to your senses in an authentic journey through times and options that takes place inside ancient horse stables.

Then there was "the Pub Culture" as Mariana would put it after an Indian comment.

I'm not much of a "go out for a drink" sort of girl, hence pubs apparently shouldn't be the place for me. Nevertheless, under Mariana's arm, I was guided through cozy, historical, fish & chips serving, old-school, out of the rain, beer producing, British only, dancing crazy, standing in circle, no non-alcohol beverages, checking out, with fireplace, nice . . . English PUBS which I really ended up enjoying.

Walking downtown through luxuriant streets, pin-pointing the tourist spots, was only bettered as an England experience by one full day of rain when we not anymore cared about how soaked we were and simply walked around with our feet and shoes flooded. So much fun!

Seeing a musical from 30 meters up far from the scene and adoring it. Finding a jazz concert hidden behind a mysterious door. Eating barbequed burgers in -1 degrees Celsius to come in to a bar where almost all had their Mac Book Pro, where DJ's came an hour later to play Chill-House and a door opened at 8pm to give way to another secret: an early night electronic disco. There I danced my brains out with hardly anyone on the dance floor just because I felt like it and no-one really cared. At 12h30 me and Mariana had finished my last night with a deserved Indian meal - one of the countable cultural features that we are really fond of in the country that was our home for almost a year.

But the perfect experience was that of seeing one of the greatest fireworks on earth from just across the river, right in front of London Eye. "The biggest House party on Earth" (as in House music) was well worth the 4 and a half hour wait freezing in happiness, dance, friendship and expectation.

I just loved it. Check this out.

Mariana, luv u!!!!

You shall not say "it ain't possible"

2009-08-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

About the purposefulness of Life

2009-07-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

This means to be as much of a thesis as a declaration of my feeling of me.

I FEEL THAT LIFE IS PURPOSEFUL, THAT IN NO WAY COULD IT BE BETTER EVER, THAT IT IS ALWAYS AS IT HAS TO BE IN THAT PRECISE MOMENT OF YOUR TIME AND SPACE.

By purposeful I mean not that there's an end waiting and calling from a far away lost future, that finding that out and the means to reach it is what we should pursue; but other that we should be faithful in the Now, in the relevance of this moment for our Path - even if we're not sure where It is leading us or even where we would like It to take us.

I feel and know that Life is purposeful now, that there's no such thing as a coincidence, and I say this not only because of my readings which do help me to keep the spirit and most of all find the right words for it (e.g.: Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield and The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle here mentioned before), but mostly because I´VE BEEN HAVING THIS UNEXPLAINABLE BUT HIGHLY MOTIVATING FEELING OF SINCHRONICITY FOR MANY YEARS NOW.

Life has been proving to me time after time that things don't happen by some random reason, your life and mine and the world aren't rulled by change but by a superior collective and inter (actually: "inner")-connected matrix and conscience that makes every minute meaningful and every decision determinant.

In my long arguments about this over the years, the most common OBJECTION I hear is that what I am saying is that I believe in destiny, "right"? So what space does that leave for free-will, I am asked.

The other one was how could I then explain so much disgrace in the world if there is actually this wheel of major purpose underlying all that is done of this place we share with all nature.

Well, I must say the first point was a problem to me for a while when I thought that non-coincidence might not be reconcilable with the denial of a full predestination, a master-plan designated for you irrespective of your power of will or conscience, basically a decision prior to your own acts and mental dispositions covering your whole existence - I don't believe in that.

... then the word "believe" comes in. This word seems to allow doubt in too as it leaves space for factual proving of the opposite... if only research could ever collect spiritual data! (BELIEF IS WHAT KEEPS MANY GOING SO IT MAY BE A BLISS AS IT MAY BE AN IGNORANCE-VEIL.) Dogmas and book-based religions often tried to turn faith matters into sets of rules for followers: the only thing they managed was to empty the creeds of its meaningful power of making people reach and think beyond their own ego's. Now they promote ego's, leading to catastrophic fanatic disconnected ways of being in the world, to people living in fear and spreading monstruous feelings.

It was difficult to keep my thesis also when I still labelled happenings as good and bad seen from a micro perspective and thus found no possible bigger reason for so many records of human suffer in history. I am not saying I have it all sorted out, say the least that massive massacres and other unforgivable human-planned events or natural catastrophes were justified or are now justifiable but YES that I believe there is a macro-structure, a macro-world evolution that somehow could use those "tortuous lines" to write its story, teach its lessons, lead its way.

But there are 2 certainties I have now:

- 1 is that SINCHRONICITY (OR NON-COINCIDENCE) IS A MATTER BEYOND OUR CONCEPTUAL MIND-FRAMES OF TIME AND SPACE (Katherine helped me solve this cross-road I was at, thanks so much for dissolving the conceptual knot, Kat), this "conspiracy" works way beyond the limited variables we use to measure and catalogue our rational experience, it's another sort of matrix (the unexplicable connectedness that makes you find your soul-mate, "randomly" meet just the person you needed or get a phone-call from the person that had just crossed your mind). This matrix links all existence into one big purposeful evolution & connection-oriented world, and it influences small scale events as the ones described as it determines the meaningful ways in which each person's life evolves and the way they link to one another in highly relevant "productive" ways. WE'RE ALL A CONTRIBUTING PART OF THIS COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE THAT HAS BEEN EVOLVING WITH THE WORLD, that's just for a start how relevant each one of us is.

- THE OTHER CERTAINTY I HAVE IS OF THE TRUTH OF THIS, IT'S AN INNER POSITIVENESS, AN INSIGHT I FEEL OF THE TRUTH, so you can say it's a mere belief but I have just about all the proofs in my daily life of this that I used to call "my star"... And for the sake of this testemony and my happy life, I need to go no further.

You may be asking: but what do you gain from that? what does that add to your life? why are you even mentioning that? "i don't feel that. i have no idea. actually, i don't even care."

What all this makes to me is to believe profoundly in THE POWER OF NOW, OF THIS NARROW YET FULL OF POTENTIAL PLACE WHERE THE COUNTABLE AND THE UNCONTABLE VARIABLES REUNITE IN YOUR HANDS. It makes me be aware of signs, of non-coincidences, of messages hiden in that much more subtle realm that lies between the lines of the happenings in my days.

It makes me feel joyful and trustfull and CONFIDENT THAT I AM WHERE I HAVE TO BE - and not because I aim there, hereby living with an anxious heart on the future, on that expectation, suffering with antecipation; or otherwise hanging to the past, re-living situations that are impossible to change and grieving in non-action and self-pity or self-punishment or acusation.

It makes me active, alert and trustful in me and all humans, all of us who have potential to go beyond our conditioning, our labelling and our collectively repeated behaviours - to reach out to a higher consciousness of ourselves and all that of living and non-living that surrounds us.

And it makes me feel no longer in fight inside. I feel peacened, I feel no fear as to what may come as I am sure of its relevance in my way. Most of the times I do actually manage to live my words and not worry, just be happy. And I do actually get glimpses of sublime moments as I purposedly stop or at least manage to slow down the pace of my mind (our mind often just produces rubish that leads to no positive attitude or disposition but to time-bound hanging to something other then your present reality). THESE MOMENTS OF CONNECTEDNESS (medidative states some currents would call it) ARE SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL YOU CAN GET IN LIFE: THAT'S WHEN YOU'RE MOST CONSCIOUS AND YOU CAN DETECT AND PRODUCE TRUE BEAUTY.

Am I talking about enlightenment? An approach to it maybe at this level that is realizable by any human being. I speak of nothing extraordinary, but only of withdrawing yourself from the viscious cycles of thought, prejudice and unconscious behaviours and live your presence, live and indulge in your SELF.

You'll never be any more fuller in your true self than you are right now, so leave it not for later - when maybe on an outer level you'll be richer or may have accumulated some more of someTHING: wealth, body fitness, belongings, clothes, job position, social status, you name it - but you'll be no more full inside. You're just about everything you may wish for on a spiritual level already: just access that inside you and clean yourself from outerly-build worries, demands, pressures, release yourself from the dependency on pain and the "stories" upon which you insist on creating your identity. LIVE FULLY. It's really your choice.

What does this conscience make me? I FEEL GRATEFUL EVERY SINGLE DAY OF MY LIFE.

Swedish colours of my Happiness

2009-07-03T13:27:00.001-07:00

SWEDEN. New destination: new feelings, new thoughts, new perspectives on life too.

Second time I step foot in this "God's own country". The reason: my dear Johan. And what a great reason! ... and the country doesn't stay back.

To contrast (probably the most extremely possible) with my most recent international experience [India], in Sweden:

- the air and tap water are the freshest;

- the forests (mostly with pines) and lakes are at every corner; all the urbanism and infra-structure that covers no more than 30% of the territory were themselves stolen from forest;

- recycling is institutionalized and their general behaviour as to anything that matters environment is in a generalized manner very responsible;

- everyone seems to speak English;

- everything, in every corner that you may take a peak at trying to find the fault that proves the rule... everywhere all things seem to be exactly in their place, neaty and organized as only in a very planned, efficient and thought for society as this one;

- people have individual space, vital space for themselves in the interior and exterior spaces;

- swedes do actually go out for walks and runs and ride their bicycles on a regular basis;

- the houses are the best I´ve seen when it comes to combining aesthetics and practical sense - I can say MY DREAM HOUSE IS DEFINITELLY A MIX OF THE MANY I´VE BEEN SEING IN SWEDEN.

- they have a very practical and efficient sense in all their activities.

... For some reason Scandinavia is considered the peak of Civility (the opposite of what I felt in India). I had the luck to visit Finland 3 years ago too. The life quality and the life style here are definitelly above average.

By both life quality and style I mean literal quality, not quantity, not unpurposeful wealth, not unestimated acumulation of belongings, not excess of consumerism, not only - in one word - money.

I see more CONSCIOUSNESS in people as individuals belonging to colectivities.

If this is good for the environment, peace on the streets, silence on the alleys, conviviality in public spaces, even for people's health habits... it's not so much so for their sense of tightedness, of control by the macro-structure, and their passiveness and resigned contentment as they are rocked by a soft and all-mighty condescendent paternal government.

Can't be perfect if the highest rate of suicidal attempts and successes is registered here, 50% of married couples end up divorcing and it's raining and grey, close or bellow 0 degrees celsius and there are below 6 hours of light... something like: 9,5 months per year (no wonder the depression).

IT´S BEEN LOOKING PRETTY PERFECT TO ME THOUGH (lucky I came in Summer ;) ). And these details... these features... are not what I wanted to focus on anyway.

I wanna paint the colors of my happiness here. Check out what I've been up to in the past 3 weeks:

- Early dinner barbeques outdoors, walks after dinner through neighbour small forests - always beautiful lakes and sunsets in our path

the best one? Friday, when me, Johan and Pontus took a boat and navigated and fished through a lake that brought us to a lost castle in a far away foresty island. Johan had fished a fish, the meat was in the bag, salad's ready and bathing suits on. We had put on a fire just on the steps of the lake as the rain came: we persisted, took clothes off to feel the rain and blew the fire hoping to keep it burning. As the sun came down and the 2 full rainbows had gone it was past 21h30 in a beautiful rose-purple sky just behind the mountains we faced. We ate, my feet on the water and a feeling of wildness in the soul. Later I even got to sing out loud - free and sound as I like, still in my bikinis, wandering around the castle amidst the vegetation and the echoing on its walls - this was when Johan found small strawberries: the tastiest concentrated flavour! The night ended with a lot of playing with the fire (no, I heard of no one wetting their beds later :P ) and an engine that didn't want to work as Johan rowed back home in an almost pitch dark lake (me, no worries, I was roled in a towel and trusted that it would go fine - so it did).

- visits to family in the most varied villages: always beautiful though: mamma Anna, cousin Linda, pappa Kent, granny & granpa, Adam, Sara, etc.

one to remember? sunbathing in a fluctuating peer outside Kent's future house in Ulricehamn, eating salad and watermelon with Johan and sis' Sara and meditating standing on a warm lake rock.

- always great food: really tasty to my senses. Not to forget the variety of groceries in the supermarkets... and their proud summer delicacies: fresh potatoes and strawberries. Not so rare to me but still an infinite pleasure among Johan's family, especially accompanied with gravy and ice-cream (respectively :P ).

unforgettable? FIKA with Johan, Karin, Mikael, Mina, granny, granpa, 2 uncles, 1 aunt and 3 cousins around grandparents' table, with tea, coffee, kakor (cookies) and kaka (cakes) prepared by granny.

- sports activities: from basketball in Växjö to fishing in Skirö to jogging in Vetlanda, from riding horse to jumping in elastic mattress to power yoga with Sarah and muscle personal coaching with Johan.

one of the nicest? walking in forest paths with Anna, Johan's mother, in a sunny early evening, here in there reaching the shining lake, here and there catching tasty mushrooms, here and there identifying birds and trees.

- I´m learning Svenska :D yay! apparently a fast learner. not an easy language at all though.

- I took part in traditional Midsommar festival, dancing with children around the traditional flower pole and eating traditional dishes among family.

- And the most suprising probaly: the first 2 weeks welcomed me with a shining warm sun that gave me a brown envy-worth tan. So sun-bathing in courtyard, lake peers, lake-sides, varandas, gardens, and still sometimes adding cold swims in far-sighted lakes... that has been something! There's even a beach served by the second biggest lake in Sweden, in Jönköping, with young people hanging around in the back gardens - great!

In the meantime, I've been being very warmly integrated among Johan's family, especially Anna, Karin, Sara, Kent and Johan of course - TAK FÖR ALLT guys!!!! :) I am taking care of my love... and looking for my next job opportunity. Pray for me!

Travellers' perspectives on India

2009-06-07T16:03:00.000-07:00

I've been hearing all sorts of things about India:

- from people who visited the country as tourists for 15 days (or from someone who knows someone who did)

- from those who did actually manage to make it through a longer and/or less conventional stay

- and finally from those who have been watching the Brazilian soap-opera on India that is now being broadcasted on a main-stream channel in Portugal (but these don't deserve that many more words in the context of this comment).

And as about no "vacation spot", I hear the most contrasting feelings and contradicting opinions about the INCREDIBLE INDIA. But not necessarily categorized as above: people vary, so do the reports.

The truth is that mentioning that you lived there, and the country itself, usually leaves no one indifferent.

The ones who haven't visited India, they usually have it either as:

- their dream destiny

- or think they could never take it, that they wouldn't be able to bear the crude reality of the country.

But many many among the ones that did get to do such an exotic trip: many of these western travellers (some friends among them), they simply didn't like it.

Some even gave up out of shock in the middle of the journey if they had longer stays previewed; the others say they will never go back or if so only in 50 or 60 years. This is mostly because they saw so much garbage lying all over or just about thousands of skinny living people or wrapped up dead bodies being burned in Varanasi, or simply because they were subject to the worse smells, bugs and tummy problems ever!

What I don't always get to tell them is that I think no profound shift can be foreseen for India if a dramatic change of mentalities doesn't take place among Indians.

The ones in between were shocked with some things and delighted with others and in the end "rather liked it". Most of these will confirm to if you ask: they did the same old journey between 5 star hotels in Rajasthan, Delhi and of course: Agra, and got cheated some dozens of times in what later they just laugh about and label as a cute cultural feature.

Others are fans, fanatics, true appreciators of India.

They love what the country has to offer in vast and diversified experiences, namely the cultural, spiritual and the aesthetical/ artistic.

They are also looking for a sense of "seing the world", of finally getting a glimpse of true exoticism (these were definitely some of my drives).

But there is also some sadistic idea that you will broaden your views and value life more by contacting with human misery (by pure coincidence in a far distant country where you have the comfort to think that you don't have the power to do much about it).

Anyway... the ones who love(d) the Indian experience, they talk of its colors, of its smells, of its tastes, of its peculiar habits and rituals, of its wonderfully diverse environments and ancestral heritage: natural, architectural, artistic, religious, spiritual, etcaetera.

Afterall I haven't heard of a country with more revisiting, or with longer stays of travellers. For many India is the experience of a lifetime (it was for me). That's because it is such a distinct and challenging country for western globalized views, plus it offers and relatively harmoniously embraces and welcomes such DIVERSITY inside!

But India is not for anyone, that's for sure.

Not everyone can let go of their comfort zone but most of all their mind frame and human principles to cope with what you face in that country - especially if you get deeper into the HOW's and WHY's.

After 10 months, I didn't want to anymore.

For a "firangee" (* foreigner in Hindi) who was a resident in India for some time, the feelings are mixed as this blog testifies.

But I know none that would want to actually live there again, as I hardly know any Indian who wouldn't like to leave his country.

Going Within: Spirituality Vs. The Spirit in India

2009-04-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

I spoke a lot here about what I felt of the spirit of India; I never got to mention its spirituality.

This is a place that breathes spirituality, although, as everywhere, you can find genuine as well as pseudo/ simply social-ritualistic or even commercialized practices and faiths.

'Guru' is a word that has fallen in disuse in the West as we tend to associate it with this fake trend in the matters of the spirit, but in India it is a very strong concept and a denomination attributed to all the living or past masters.

Indeed, the guru-pampara tradition is still a reality in India as it was in the West since the Greek. This is the master-disciple approach to education, where the knowledge is passed directly between two individuals, rather than without customization from one distant speaker to a mass of individuals.

This applies to any art form, as it applies to the Brahman Priests who are believed to have attained enlightenment, to be closer to God / the Truth as they became knowledgeable of the intricacies of texts as the Upanishads, the Baghvad Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabaratha..., that tell the story of Hindu Philosophy. These are people who are holders of a greater power than most of us commons, and their simple presence or blessing in a given moment, place or function is believed to be auspicious to the people involved.

Actually all classical art forms, especially performing arts but even plastic arts, are inevitably connected in a deep inescapable way with Indian philosophy, so for example when watching a classical dance recital, you won't miss the depiction of a legendary Hindu scene, as you won't be able to escape a transe state if you totally give in to the sound produced by voices, instruments and bodies that the performers learned to command in a sublime way after years and years of disciplined training in Hindustani or Carnatic music that has always a meditative side to it.

And why are there more enlightened people in India? After all, didn't Budha get enlightened in Bodh Gaya? Aren't there so many others? Once someone explained me why: the only and simple reason is, first, that India is a millennary civilization where the spiritual path is assumed as an essencial part of every individual's life since the Vedas; and than that, unlike in the West, people who chose the yogic path have always and are still today seen with high regard and invited to explore it in any way found conducive - unlike in the West, where anyone going within or showing signs of connection to any dimension other than the materialistic pragmatic side of life was seen as herectic, prossecuted as witch, excomungated and burned in fires.

Well India, irrespective of its profound challeges when it comes to the stage of development of many human rights , is as you hear people say: a spiritual place, a place where anyone who wants to explore the potential of the human spirit will definitely find their ways (be it truely autentic ways or new-age pseudo-yoga programmes: there's something for every taste).

I had the privilege to meet some very special people who opened my windows of oportunity to practices, philosophies and currents as promising and inspiring as Hinduism, Budhism, Reiki, Aura/ Bioplasmic energies, Astrology, Palm reading, Cristals, Self-hipnosis / Subconscious Programming, Creative Visualization / Attraction Law, Guasha, Movement Meditation, Chakras, Power Yoga, NOW, among other much harder to to put into words forms of accessing or manipulating our Higher Power and the Ultimate Energy.

But for sure what touched me and transformed me the most was the SCIENCE OF YOGA.

I haven't found until today a more developed science for general well-being. Everything that I have seen since or had run accross before seems to have its roots in this apparently ever-existing way of living.

Yoga sees human evolution in well-being from three angles:

- The BODY - for which they created the Asanas, the "exercise"-alike (only apparent) practice that is genereally associated with the word Yoga in the West; and also Ayurvedic Medicine for help and facilitation of treatment in malfunction.

- The MIND - for whose peacening they developed an important set of breathing-techniques, that make you re-learn such a vital but usual overlooked process of life and finally feel more balanced on a daily basis.

- And the SPIRIT - for which access they found a very powerful tool called Meditation.

But even in Yoga, there are many currents, but they are usually associated or combine sorts like: Hata Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Vipasana, Prana Yama, among others.

I relate very much to the holistic approach of Yogic Science to life, leaving no dimesion of people's existence out. And I afirm with no hesitation that a regular properly learnt and coached practice definitely takes you higher, frees you from mundane strains and helps you live happier, healthier and more aligned.

Just be sure not to follow fake gurus or associations who do business with religion (test your identification with your guts), and please don't take just any temple rituals as profound manifestations.

Don't take me wrong, there are many true believers among Indian people of course, people who live the philosophy and practice the principles. But unfortunately many many others play the spiritual role just as they are expected to (the same engine keeps them stuck to a more general out-of-date ancestral meaningless apathic pattern of living, where they relate only superficially to one's life, to others and to God). Many religious individuals perform their daily rituals mostly by obligation and habit, without really living the concepts or investing the moments with genuine connection with their God; or even having a faith bigger than fear of idols, society or difference.

... Not to speak of the religious intolerance that mines the country from within although they have lived for centuries in an apparently harmonious conviviality, in a diversity melting-pot with the frame of democracy... but which goes against what is (not always preached but) for sure profoundly imbebed in the true essence of any religion practiced with fervour in that country where 80% are Hindus, 12% Muslims, and around 2-4% Budhists, Christians and Jains, plus smaller shares of any cult you may think of.

And this is out of a mass of 1 billion Indians... imagine how representative and influencial it would be to any creed comunities in the world if these faith-practicioners would give a cohesive example of peaceful co-existence, true dialogue and a mutual understanding that in the end... we're all talking about the same, we're all aiming the same, which luckily is infinite and accessible to all.

GOD IS TOO BIG TO FIT INTO ONE RELIGION.

(writing already from Portugal)

Memories from my final Big Trip in India

2009-03-30T07:44:00.000-07:00

I shared with Mariana my last long trip in India.
This one brought me first to the South, for the 3rd time to a state that definitelly feels like you're out of India: Goa - in a stay that from 2 nights ended up in 8 (just what we needed!). Then back again to the so different North: Delhi and Agra. In the North-East, two new very worth visiting spots: Varanasi, the berth of the India's spirituality, and Bodhgaya, the berth of Siddhartha as the Budha. Finally the central Mumbai, which I now saw with different eyes.

This was a phase when my tireness of being treated as lesser than anyone deserves and undergoing undignifying situations was getting to the maximum. My delusion total at points.

The boy with a Hotel Management Degree working in one of the poor Indian Railway Cafeterias, alleging a communication weakness (I think he was gay and thus he didn't stay long in hotel chains run by Indian 'business-MEN'). I wrote him a recommendation comment in the suggestion book and me and Mariana will definitelly write him a recommendation letter for a proper hotel job whenever he asks us to. He was polite and effective as almost no one we found in this country: that's what clientelle is looking for though hardly any enterprise seems to have realized it here.
The burning ghats in Varanasi, where over 150 dead bodies arrive per day.

What everyone called 'misconduct': when part of the railway was bombed in what was said to be common 'local terrorism', very close to Gaya where I expected a train to go back to Varanasi. This led to a series of misinformation, 3 hour waiting, and a train trip that should have taken 5 relatively comfortable hours and ended up in 12 quite disputed hours. Result: the whole day was destroyed, but of course we arrived safely.

Walking the steps of Lord Budha in Varanasi and Bodhgaya, namely around the Bodhi tree where he got enlightened.

Realising the theatre that adults and children do to beg, transfigurating themselves, doing special dreadful agony-like voices. often lying.

The best Lassi in India, sweet, thick, eatable with spoon, dry fruits inside: in an Agra roof-top restaurant having the Taj Mahal silhouette as a neighbour.

The undescribable Spiritual Disneyland of India in a main metropole, which name I won't mention for the sake of respect and discretion. Included: motion toys and giant screens depicting the life of the Swamiji.

The fact that, in the mundane India, even the people that seem to go out of the ordinary and give you a sense of relieve and hope as they stand out from a generally lame majority... in the end all of them deceive the expectations you had thought them to surpass.

The Budhist temples in North-Varanasi and in Bodh Gaya. Simple truthful philosophy, beautiful practices, powerful mantras, inspiring places, colourful temples. ---- Feeling everyday more spiritual, although I'm a mere beginner even as a seeker.

Almost being hit on the ear by one of thousands of red liquids being spit from an Indian's mouth out of a train. Being forced to hear noices from the inside of men's bodies all the time (burping, gobing, spiting, etc - !!!!!).

The riders of cycle-rickshaws in Northern India whose feet don't reach the pedals.

VARANASI AIRPORT, flying to MUMBAI (!): NO ONE AT ANY POINT ASKED US FOR OUR PASSPORT!!!!! NO COMMENTS. I had to go and identify our luggage in the hangar on its way to the airplane after checking it in.

Lies everywhere! Being cheated. But still naïf sometimes. Feeling irreversibly fed up with the country and the way it works.

Silent Noice party in Neptune Point, end of Palolem Beach, South Goa. Great party with head-phones, three frequencies playing different DJ's and a great setting watching the beach from the rocks.

The Good Life in Palolem, Goa, and the things I tried there.

The full-moon night in Palolem beach, when its light made the sand white and reflected in waters that rose to my feet, sitting on a beach swing.

Learning with Mariana that treating them bad, that's the only way it works for foreigners. No more minding being rude, even laughing unrespectfully in the face of no-minded people.

Feelings like compassion and respect just vanish from you after a while of living and travelling this country because you've been deceived so many times. In the streets they don't have the minimum principles.

Indians in its gross mattering majority are sadly totally resigned.

Incredible levels of challenge: risk and lack of higiene one after the other.

Nauseating and despicable behaviour of common men. Submissive and apathic behaviour of women.

They don't touch food and drink containers with their mouth, including water bottles and glasses.

They paint their children's eyes in black from when they are months-old.

Babies don't cry. Children don't complain. They have suffered too much before.
The ceremonial side of Varanasi, the belief and the mystical side of the Ganga. Seing them meditating, bathing and drinking out of those bacterial waters that apparently get no one sick. Seing it by 5.30 am... and still the foggy amazing sunrise!

Indian Hotel number: 30 or so? Have seen a lot, believe me!

Seing Mumbai with different eyes as you get a view to the bay from Renato's apartment.

A Bollywood-like wedding on a private beach at Intercontinental Hotel in South Goa, in which we ended up by chance. Dozens of cooks, dozens of masks, stage, lighting and a sky filming-camera: a lot of dancing in a Carnival-like atmosphere. And that must have been only one night among the ceremonies that usually last for days.

There are definitelly 2 INDIAS.

The reinforcement of an eternal friendship with Mariana Aflalo Lopes, original from Santos, SP, Brazil, but one of my girls, a woman from the world, and a woman from the heart.

The Other Side

2009-02-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

To everything of marvelous I've been saying about India, my experiences and travels, some reality is naturally missing.
And probably because now I'm in countdown to return, the contradictions start jumping even more to my eyes and things that I took as inevitable start adding up and bugging me.
And of course I have to mention them to you at some point. So now is the time.
Here is the possible summary, of only the things that occurred to me now.

Of course you find exceptions, but for sure the rule in this country is as I witnessed:

They have no ‘collective thinking’.

They naturally try to take advantage of every situation.

They are very rude. To an outrageous point.

There´s no such thing as client service and satisfaction except in 5 stars.

To be a foreigner means to be seen as 'a walking dollar bill' (quoting Mariana).

The misery is really miserable here and many social roles and rules just reinforce it and make it inescapable for many right from birth.

To be a tourist here is challenging, to be an expatriate is a daily fight that in the end wears your energy and patience down.

I’ve never seen more lack of efficiency, logistics management, organization, information. E.g., it took me 5 hours in the main post office of Bangalore to finalize the process of giving in my parcels to send to Portugal. I had to accompany all the phases of the process to make sure the boxes didn’t get wrongly tagged, weighed (which at first they still were), placed, etc.

Their mind-set is very rigid and oriented towards survival, advantage and rituals. I’ve hardly seen or met anyone who seemed to be happy.

CHILDREN are spoiled if they are boys, put up with or mistreated if they are girls (mostly because parents will have to pay loads to the groom's family for them to get married). They're put to work or crippled to beg for money.

Animals, namely street-dogs, are often mistreated.

The corruption is very high and works at all levels of society.

You see irresponsible action all the time:
- for public safety (maniac driving; street lighting/energy having exposed cables and high tension circuits at hand level; unstable sidewalks and construction structures; the Police maintaining metallic structures in the middle of the road with no notice or illumination, etc etc etc),
- for public health (burning garbage in the street; throwing any sort of garbage anywhere, even rivers, even office floors!; even supermarket items are full of dust)...

The level of Civilization of Indian society is very low.

This is a country of contrasts where you keep bumping into opposites.

Socially they are stuck to ancient cast system, prejudice and pre-conceptions that limit the life potential of the Self.

There’s little space for love in this culture. It’s more about rituals, obligations, convenience, logics and one's or one's family's goals.

They forbade dancing in Bangalore and any place closes strictly until 11.30 pm. Justice definitely doesn't target the actual problems.

They lack assertiveness. Even their head movement for 'yes' looks like 'more or less' or 'maybe' or even 'no'. And they don't know how to say 'no' or 'i don't know'.

Their notion of hygiene is VERY poor, so you definitely have to learn how to share your space with cockroaches, lizards, spiders and many sorts of biting mosquitos.

Shops, pharmacies, all sorts of businesses look exactly the same from the outside and you can rarely find what you want at first.

Women hold a very poor condition irrespective of their social status. The poorest and oldest work in construction (!). The younger and richest can only wait for the day they'll be given to a man chosen by someone else. The average cannot expect to be spoken to by a man. In many cases women are the ones working while the man stays sitting and drinking at home, and plus they suffer abuse.

People have hardly any social life, they live their family's or their husband's family's life, very often not their own.

Dignity doesn't exist here as I have known it until today. Not only do many people not act respectfully and don't act as to be respected, as also the cast and social differences really make people treat others as if they were not the same race or kind (either too tyrannically or too submissively). Plus there's the whole condition in which people appear to you to beg etc ETC ET CETERA.

People simply accept and repeat what their ancestors have done, evolution is very relative in this country and mostly stimulated by foreign investment.

ULTIMATELY AND SURPRISINGLY THIS COUNTRY WORKS IN CHAOS.

Memories from South-India

2009-02-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

I had visited all those places: Goa, Hampi, Pondicherry, Chennai, Bangalore, Allepey, Fort Kochin (only Mumbai - the point of origin - I hadn't, but still I didn't this time, after some typical but personally rare digestive problem that kept me in bed)...

... but to re-live these sites with you, my darling, made a whole lot of difference. I love you forever.

Again this is not the story of my trip with my sister-like friend Ana Gil (a.k.a. Ana Sanchez de Sousa, Ana Gil de Sousa Pinto, Aninha or Docas), but the story of some first striking memories from South-India in the 1st fortnight of Feb'09 with her.

The attempt of a pseudo-guru to ask for money for some lucky-charm objects and a forehead paint tikka alleging a religious festival while we still carried our backpacks together for the first time.

Putting pain-killer mint gel in my mouth in an attempt to brush my teeth in a (quite common) pitch-dark guest house room in Allepey, Kerala.

Sleeping in never-washed brown dirty berths and hearing the vomits of someone 4 am in train Hampi-Chennai: immediately rated 2nd grossest experience in India (classified under a revolving stomach).

Having our heads full of flowers and eating fruits from the trees while walking the canal villages, homes and rice plantations of Allepey with a local villager.

The contrast in cities like Mumbai and Pondi between touristic and urban/local areas.

The moving fact that Ricky came to Mumbai just to say goodbye to me. Really appreciated it, dear. Sorry for having had to stay in bed.

Great sunset on top of Hannuman/ Monkey Temple, Hampi.

Good guides: good people: T. - village tour in Allepey; call rickshaw driver Vikram if you go to Hampi for any pick-up or drop or day tour: he is honest like there are few, very helpful and a nice person: his number: 00919480568903.

My carry-around small back-pack always having everything that was needed.

Meeting young, middle-aged and aged women travelling India alone and finding it easy. Like our newly made friend Ute, from Germany, in Hampi - the 65 y.o. youngster, our pal.

'Ladies Only' marked zones: bus seats, train wagons, queues.

Being stolen an ice-cream by a crow while walking Fort Cochin ocean promenade, reminding me of having been stolen 6 bananas by a monkey on the way to Taj Mahal.

A Cape-Verdean Coladera music playing at 'Upstairs Italian Restaurant' in Fort Cochin, after Kathakali (again an amazing artistic experience).

Ayurvedic massage in a wooden table with oil: the 2 girls by 2 girls.

The elephant bath, feeding and ride in Perimbavoor, Kerala.

Having my very travelled sandals sowed for the 3rd time.

Eating egg biriyani (an Indian rice specialty) with hand in my final train.

Staying in a family-house in Kochi.

Palolem Beach, Goa, and the will to stay longer.

Ana's determination and success in overcoming just about enough of all India's personal challenges: hygiene, mosquito bites, garbage and dirtiness, danger and relative risk, fear of malaria and others, men's looks, usage of public low budget crowded transportation and accommodation, luggage carrying and pains, heat, confrontation with poverty and misery, disturbing noise and loud horning, constantly having someone trying to sell to you = cheat you, etc.

The way everything simply worked in spite of chaos.

The way I started really missing home and people for the first time in my life after the taste of familiarity through Ana. The re-awakening of romantism.

Feeling like a good traveller and back-packer.

The orange(st) sunset in Kerala.

Sitting on the open-door steps of train Madgaon-Cancona, Goa.

The trip in suburban bus to Auroville: overcrowded, literally glued to 3 indian women, their babies, bags and buckets.

Our late night talks in beds covered by mosquito-nets or upper-berths of trains, recovering all the lost time after not having met each other for long.

Taking every day (almost! - whenever there could be one) 2 or 3 showers in one go after having put on a thick layer of dust.

The colonial outlook of Old Goa and Pondicherry and the Portuguese and French heritage and cultural/ linguistic remains.

How good it is to revisit places and see them with less anxious eyes, especially when you have such a great company! :)

Memories from North-India

2009-02-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

This is not the the story of Maria (Slovakia), Raquel (Portugal), Anna (Russia), Ahmed (Egipt), Michelle (Brazil) and Eduardo (Brazil) in an unforgettable 2 week trip in the North of India during the last fortnight of Jan'09.

Rajasthan and Punjab have thousands of years of stories to tell themselves, so this is the story of my memories of North/ North-Western India:

Thousands of colourful sikh turbants.

'Hello! 5 rupees._ ... _ ... Ok. 10 rupees' - said the begging children.

My Yoga practice in the Rajasthan desert sunset.

The profuse jewels of arabesque architecture.

The old man snoring in one of several sleeping trains.

'Excuse me, 'mam. Don't miss my shop.'

The generosity of some and the greediness of others.

The sun 'heating' the lake in Udaipur.

The sunrise watching the Maharaja Palace from a distance in Jodhpur, the blue city... and being awake to see it.

Climbing to the Tiger Fort in Jaipur, city of the pink city.

Squeezing in my initial Reiki practice in every possible circumstance, in every rickshaw, jeep, waiting room, coffee table.

The richness of the maharajas and their palaces.

The sad or surprising adultness in many children.

Managing loads of people and luggage in auto-rickshaws (three-wheelers).

No hot shower or no shower at all.

The con-men in Delhi - outrageous and extremely tiring!

The Taj Mahal in Agra.

How handy my blanket in rooms and trains.

Surprisingly always managing to relax in each of the 8 cities we visited in 10 days.

Sitting in the sun in front of Lotus Temple, Delhi (Baha'i House of Worship).

The monk in Jain Temple 'seasoning' all the images of Budha #8, Jaisalmer.

Feeling cold again - never thought I could miss it!

The Golden Temple (the 'Meca' of he Sikh Religion), sun-lighted and reflecting in the lake, and its chantings at night in Amritsar, Punjab.

Young and old Indians wanting to take pictures with/of us - and inevitably getting to our nerves.

Thousands of stars near the bonfire in the desert, while eating fire-made food prepared by our camel-guides.

Easier and easier to get into 'alfa' state.

The 7h bus-trip Jodhpur-Udaipur, almost freezing and with no space for my legs.

The covered heads of women.

Being so well taken care for by Rhea and Rhea's family in her house in Delhi.

Yoga on the floor of Bangalore airport 3 am first day and in a Delhi Airport chair 9 am last day.

A glimpse of Paradise

2009-01-14T12:02:00.001-08:00

Thailand was a glimpse of Paradise.

At least if anyone had told me that in one country you could:

- Have frequent very cheap massage on the beach or any urban corner, but not any massage: Thai Massage, the best I've ever tried. In group, in couble, anyway! Full body, feet, reflexology, oil, etc!

- Eat the best and freshest fruit and 'fruit encounters' ever in every corner of the country, even in the boat, even in the water!

- Have any wish, the weirdest? Be sure of it: Bangkok has it.

- See monkeys, elephants, sharks and snakes.

- Experience an amazingly metropolitan capital, with sky-scratchers and beautiful urban views.

- Eat very cheap and good street food, including the unforgettable banana pancakes.

- Travel easily because - the tourism being the base of their economy - everything is thought of before you wish for it.

- Meet a clean neaty organized environment everywhere.

- Eat very good Thai food in almost every restaurant.

- Have three-wheelers (rickshaws, that they call tuk-tuks there), motor-bikes, side-cars, tri-cycles and cars working as taxis (5 options: not bad, uh?).

- Have sexuality being accepted to such a point that transvestis are not only very well accepted as also very respected in the society, and profuse.

- See sunrises and sunsets from the best locations.

- Walk dark beaches after midnight.

- Visit islands in the north and in the south.

- Party on the beach.

- Buy cheap cool clothes in cool roads.

- Meet all sorts of sandy rocky wavy still-water cristaline dark-watered beaches.

- Do or experience anything out of the ordinary you may ever have wanted to: if you thought of it, it is there, you can do it in Thailand.

- Travel comfortably in an already welcoming colourful smooth Thai flight.

- Walk the roads bear-feet.

- See the most paradisiac things ever:

- from pirate treasure beach discovered after swimming under a pitch dark cave... to snorkelling just to swim together with an amazingly diverse underwater world.

- from the thinest smoothiest whitest sand... to the clearest most cristaline most turquois or transparent ocean waters... to the sweetest coconuts under their trees.

- from watching gigantic ocean stones... to having your boat touch dreamlands of palm-trees and beach.

- from the amazing waterfall site... to having its litters of salty water dropping heavily on your shoulders.

- From feeling like you're sailing the fancy boat with your singing in the front... to having the strong ocean splashes on your face when travelling in a fisherman boat that caught a big current.

- From dancing the maddest ever with hardly any clothes on, on the beach, feet on the sand and the sea, temperature: high, in 2 very important nights: christmas, new years eve... to having some of the most special people in your life by your side all the time.

- From watching golden Reclining Budha... to attending the simple rituals of the budhist spiritual commons.

- From the smiles of all the people... to the life in the floating market, where you watch and buy everything from canoes...

: ... if they told me this and the more I'm not able to tell you all, I'd definitelly say this is what salvation dreams should be all about. :)

Working as a Volunteer

2008-12-18T13:57:00.000-08:00

As this part of the amazing journey comes to an end [today], I want to explain to you all briefly what I have been doing as a Volunteer Project Manager for Lalita Shivaram Ubhayaker Foundation for the Arts, where I was very happy:

Ashvasan Foundation (senior citizen welfare) - http://www.ashvasan.org/

• Conception and management of innovative projects; • Fund-raising; • Reporting, optimization and participation in current projects; • Update and management of website and newsletter.

Smriti-Nandan Cultural Centre (art & culture centre and auditorium) - http://www.smritinandan.org/

• Event conception and management; • Communication design and management; • Technical assistance for programming.

22nd Devnandan Ubhayaker Young Music Festival - http://www.smritinandan.org/dusu.html

• Communication design and management; • Merchandising and media management; • Backstage assistance.

Check some pictures below. :)

I am leaving to Thailand today.
I am wishing all of you a lot of peace, faith, tolerance, health, love, ineer and outer discovery, realization, happiness, positive thinking and worthy investment in 2009.

Latest news from the heart

2008-12-09T22:03:00.000-08:00

MY CHOICE!

My Choice! has been a life-time experience. Actually building something from scratch especially a social responsible initiative is a great feeling, sharing it with people you love and admire even greater. But then seing the happiness in the children, the actual impact you had on their awareness, the ammount of lives that you touched, the social momentum that you created together with friends just because you'll believed, faught and dedicated... is something out of this world.

Right now we're preparing winning children's trips and the passing of the contents for a company who wants to take our project all over India to as many schools as possible. How incredible is that?

CONCLUSION from 6 months of VOLUNTEER work with Seniors, Art & Culture and Children: IT IS VERY SIMPLE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. IF YOU GENUINELY WANT. It's not a matter of time, but of commitment and belief.

DANCE

Getting back to dancing and teaching was great. I rediscovered my passion for teaching, while the passion for dance was never forgotten. I had decided to leave that part of my professional life aside during this experience, but I guess when you really love something and when that thing and those partaking in it love You in It, it just chases you wherever you go. And that is good. Because WHEN DANCING THAT'S WHEN I FEEL MORE MYSELF.

* By the way: should there be something like I and MYSELF? I am working on this sense of oneness with myself and with all that is.

COUNT-DOWN

The feeling of count-down is in me as my internship is about to finish, my dance classes, my immersion in My Choice!, my basing in Bangalore and with my best friends and myself leaving.

With my Thailand trip coming, meeting Johan in 10 days, Christmas away from family, packing having started, spiritual and natural experiences ahead of me, antecipation of separation from the daily sharing with my new Indian family, strong decisions to be made in face of India's unstable situation, more and more trips being planned and an increasing feeling of SENSE IN LIFE, I am nostalgic about what's about to end but also excited about the new stage about to start.

I am sure to be in the right path and happy to have my parents' support, as always, in whatever I decide. I love you, mãe and pai, for that and for all.

After Mumbai Attacks

2008-12-04T01:00:00.000-08:00

AFTER MUMBAI ATTACKS

... shock, sadness, revolt agains those responsible and those in charge...

AND THE LIFE OF THE COUNTRY, AND MINE... CHANGING.

I was going to teach for the biggest Festival here - Bangalore Habba (check the last line of the poster above). It just got cancelled.

THIS WAS THEIR LETTER to the artists:

At the outset, on behalf of the Artistes' Foundation for the Arts (AFFA), we would like to thank you for your support towards Bengaluru Habba.

The Government of Karnataka – the prime stakeholder of the property - has taken a decision in the cabinet to postpone the event due to security reasons. As the Bengaluru Habba is spread over numerous venues and public spaces over a span of 18 days, with a potential audience of over 7 lakh people, we felt that our prime responsibility was to ensure the safety of our audiences.

AFFA, Airtel and the Government of Karnataka have thus decided to unanimously postpone the Bengaluru Habba. We will let you know the probable dates and schedule of events soon.

We hope that you would understand the situation and that we look forward to associating with you in the years to come. Please accept our humblest apologies for any inconvenience caused to you.

Thank you.

Is it really like that there? - Pedro asks

2008-11-17T02:41:00.001-08:00

Is it really like that there? - Pedro asks
Yes. Everyday. Everywhere.
Driving and Traffic in India:

Findings

2008-11-17T01:00:00.000-08:00

In such little time, I feel an unexplainable bond with the Ubhayakers. I feel as part of the family and I feel a deep respect and privilege, happiness and security but most of all a tremendous blessing for being embraced among them, share their life stories, learn from their wisdom and be inspired daily by such honourable, accomplished, socially active, warm-hearted, forward-thinking human beings whom I will forever take as role-models in so many senses of my life. I am greatful forever to Life and Mrs. Lalita for this opportunity that made me grow so much especially on a personal level, and I reinforce my sense that nothing comes coincidentally, and certainly not this experience, and also that some bonds are cosmic and independent from age, race, religion, upbringing, information... I shall honour my new revered God-Mother and the moments we lived and will live together.

......

I went to Goa last month.

More than a Portuguese heritage hunt, it was a beach life trip where friendships were reinforced and the wonders and baths of Nature striked all of us.

Together: Raquel, Maria, António and Afonso from Portugal, Mariana, André, Ricardo and Evandro from Brazil, Pauline and Anne-Sophie from France, Ahmed from Egipt and Nataly from Colombia.

The best-kept memories are: that of a sunset at Vagatore beach, where the forest meets the beach, the rain met the farewell of the sun and gifted us with two simultaneous rainbows, rocks were climbed with the help of Andre to see the dawn from "the middle of the ocean" while all the friends watched it from the water (I did it the following day); and still that of ridding a scooter for the first time; dancing my spirit out at Mambo's; savouring fish and portuguese influenced savouries still with sandy feet; and shopping for clothes at the locals' tents. These and still some more of love, sharing and new experiences with every day more brother-alike friends.

Also last month: travelled back to Pondicherry as Auroville needed to be revisited.

Out of that trip with André, Mariana, Evandro, Ricardo, Pauline, Neeraj from India and Svetla from Bulgary... I took the great luxurious relaxed beach life at Mahabalipuram, the comfort of travelling in private or rented vehicle with a driver, the apparent easy-living at Pondi - that coastal city colonized by the french, sharing care and love with my best friends here, meeting Kurt in Sri Aurobindo's Ashram in a totally sinchronized non-coincidental happening, but mostly the certainty that I'll go back to Auroville to live the concept and the truth - check http://www.auroville.org/. This time I had the privilege of going inside the Matrimandir and meditate for 15 minutes in the most profound silence in 25 years of existence in a white room enlighted by a cristal. Some truths reveal, the atmosphere and intents, I totally identify with them >> have to get back. Will in the beggining of 2009.

Still Blessed… Just check this week’s news

2008-11-11T21:06:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, 4.Nov.08
Ø Started working with the biggest Salsa Company in Bangalore – Lourd Vijay Dance Studio (http://www.lvds.in/)- with African workshop for the dancers 8 a.m to 9.30 – even though the sound system didn’t work, it was a success to be continued the following 3 mornings. This day: general Hip and Arm Work with Tribal sound, Batuko, Kolá San Jon and Mazurca.
Ø Attended Satsang – Hour of Good, the Spiritual session I frequent at my centre on a weekly basis. We are reading “The Power of Now”, by Eckhart Tolle. Probably the book that will provoke the second spiritual turning point in my life (the first was “Celestine Prophecy”, by James Redfield, many years ago). Kurt and André, my friends from My Choice! project were there too.
Ø Mrs. Lalita’s niece was helding a private classical indian music concert in her hall/ living-room. We were invited to join and sat on the carpet watching this transe-inspiring voice singing a classical recital. I felt that I got out of this world and came back: the emotion and vibration of the singing, tabla, harmonium and tampura together made that one of the most emotioned musical moments of my life. In the end Mrs. Lalita cried looking at me, as she hugged me saying: “the way you were feeling the music, my God!!” – I really was, somehow, even without understanding any technicality of it.
Ø Had nice dinner with Kurt, speaking of trips, My Choice!, healing technics, plans and unplans.

Wednesday, 5.Nov.08
Ø Dance Company applied last days’ learning in music: Hip Work, Batuko, Kolá San Jon, and we added Ragga and Soucusse.
Ø Had my Odissi Dance Class – Odissi is a classical Indian form of dance that has its origin in Orissa, in northern India. I feel drastic improvement in exactly the three things I specially needed to work on my fitness: flexibility, balance and discipline/ persistence.
Ø My Choice! – it’s more then time to tell you all about this project me and 3 other expatriates lauched in Bangalore – we are bringing sustainability issues to Bangalore school children. This happens in 3 stages: 1 – inspirational and interactive classroom sessions conducted mostly by expatriates; 2 – live simulation where some of the kids from the classrooms come together to learn more about sustainability through experience and games; 3 – teams of students build projects trying to reach Zero Waste in there school, be it on the level of energy, food, water consumption, waste, etc. And 4 – we will do a final Fair and Awards night where media, principals from other schools who may take the programme up, parents, etc, will see the projects, a jury will evaluate them and the documentary we will have filmed during this pilot of My Choice! will be showcased as a best-practice case. PLEASE DO CHECK www.mychoicebangalore.org AND http://mychoice08.ning.com FOR MORE DETAILS on this initiative. So this day we gave our second training to the expatriates who will be mentors in class-room sessions and for the sustainable projects realization by the students’ teams.

Thursday, 6.Nov.08 – DEFINITELY ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE
Ø "Como se dice? Como se llama? Obama! Obama!"
Ø Couple work started with Lourd Vijay Company: back to Mazurca, introducing Kizomba individual and in couple and finishing with Kuduro.
Ø Was invited to give workshops and dance for the biggest festival in Bangalore – the Bangalore Habba.
Ø Was invited to be interviewed by one of the upstream newspapers in the city, The Hindu
Ø Received a Yes from a personal contact (through Mrs. U) in a wild-life sanctuary to sponsoring an Award for one of the winning teams in My Choice! Project Awards, the prize being a 3-day retreat in this sanctuary in Coorg – www.saisanctuary.com
Ø Confirmed the presence of My Choice! Team in Chinnara Habba on the 20th of November, in Palace Grounds, SPEAKING ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY TO 100.000 CHILDREN through a quiz my team is developing.
Ø AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: MY MENTOR, MRS. LALITA UBHAYAKER, NAMED ME HER GOD-DAUGHTER. I couldn’t feel more blessed and fortunate.
Ø Called my mother and André and SMS’ed Johan and Pedro: had to tell them how happy I was.
Ø Came home to a great sharing moment with Katherine, good friend, great non-coincidence in my life who is just about to leave back to San Francisco, USA.

Friday, 7.Nov.08
Ø Finished the workshop with Lourd Vijay Dance Company having taught the basics of 10 african-originated rhythms (ending with Semba, Funaná, Kuduro and a revision of the other rhythms), with great response and invitations to give private lessons to the choreographer and the main dancer.
Ø Was invited to dance at a Media Seminar and a Flee-Market in Bangalore.
Ø Was very tired and again saw how I found myself one more family, two more parents, in the Ubhayakers, as they worry for me and take care of me.
Ø Held a movie screening of “11th Hour” film-documentary, produced by Leonardo Di Caprio, followed by a discussion on environmental issues. This initiative was promoted by Smriti-Nandan and me and conducted by an already good friend and fundamental piece in My Choice! creation: Kurt Archer, Canadian Eco-traveller and environmentalist, currently travelling Asia raising awareness around sustainability issues (http://www.globaldamu.org/asia/). It was a success, the movie – I knew it already – is much more impacting and positive then An Inconvenient Truth even: you should see it. The discussion that followed and the commitment of some of the audience led Mrs. Lalita to start a series of initiatives around Environment and a discussion circle that will gather some of the people present that day: “What can we do about it?”.
Ø My Choice! Team had had the privilege of being invited to stay for dinner at the Ubhayakers after the movie. And whom else stayed and inspired us all dinner-long but two of the greatest environmentalists of Karnataka? Lovely Awe-like evening, ending with Mr. Hiblekar accepting to be Chief Guest at My Choice! Award Ceremony.

Saturday, 8.Nov.08
Ø Started teaching private Sevillanas lessons at her place, to a Bharatanatyam dancer and singer, Mrs. Susheela, the niece of the Ubhayakers who had hosted the classical concert on Tuesday. Great experience working with dancers again, as they catch everything so fast that we don’t have to worry but with the perfection details (I mean as much as I can correct them, of course, not being a professional in Spanish Dances)
Ø In the afternoon, the second of my World Dances Workshop sessions was even better then the first. Both kids and adults had a blast – I could tell by the clapping, laughing and rising energy: Salsa, Mambo, Bachata, Cha Cha Cha and Merengue lifted their soul for 1h30 hours (x 2).
Ø Had many friends surprising me at the centre and joining the last fun dance moments of the class. Our photographer and My Choice! documentary-film-maker Arvind also came to cover my workshop.
Ø Was contacted by a photo-journalist coming from the States who wants to do a photo-essay on me.
Ø Was contacted by the same Salsa Company to held a workshop for their students the following Sunday - check the page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=39749890094
Ø Had dinner at my favourite place, Empire, with friends.

Sunday, 9.Nov.08
Ø After sleeping 15 hours as never in India as I needed to recover from such an energetic week, went to Opus (where the Salsa Company has their studio) and attended an advanced salsa class as an invitee. In the end, I did an energetic 5 minute Demo of what the African Dance workshop will be the coming Sunday to attract students into attending it.
Ø Got invited by the owner of the company to give a Kizomba workshop at Chennai Salsa Festival on the 23rd of June.
Ø Went to have tea at Mrs. Deepti’s house, an Indian dancer, journalist, architect, painter and spiritual guru/ yogi who lived in the States for 14 years and had attended my Spanish Dances Workshop the prior weekend.
Ø After coming home to change, went with Katherine, Alexandra, Andre, Kurt and other 3 new international friends to Casa del Sol for my first Salsa party in Bangalore where I found again everyone from the Dance Company and other schools and danced in a couple as I didn’t for almost half a year. Great!
Ø Was offered regular work as a dance teacher across India, in Thailand, Singapour, etc, by this Dance Company - in case I want to stay longer I definitely will have means of sustaining myself.

Monday, 10.Nov.08
Ø Back to my Odissi Class, am noticing technical improvements. The coordination of movements and the persistence necessary for the fitness work is great challenge and non-comparable to any other dance class I ever went to.
Ø Came home to an experience with Galvanic Spa provided by Katherine, that refreshed my face and face-lines in an incredibly drastic way in just 20 minutes – following came a great Indian dinner with Kat, Thripthi and Roshin.
Ø And then the so-expected photo-shooting: great session with Katherine on the camera and me on the modelling, Rodrigo Leão on the laptop, candles and a scarf over the light in the room. For a long time I wanted to try to have my pictures taken: again India is going beyond my expectations even in things that I didn’t establish as goals.

Tuesday, 11.Nov.08
Ø Richard Seshie, the Coordinator of My Choice!, gave us the news that someone from AIESEC is contributing with 100 euros for My Choice! Our first financial aid: a lot of happiness, very welcome: again a renewal on the good-will of many people in this world.
Ø Meeting with Ashvasan member who will intervene on the kick-off session of my Youth Programme at Mount Carmel College on the 13th: “Ashvasan Cares: Bridging Old and Young Hearts!”. I’m trying to get my senior citizen foundation some young blood, some young volunteers to work with the elderly. We are also wanting to raise awareness among youngsters on the situation of the senior citizens in India.
Ø One hour later, meeting with Mrs. Lalita, Kurt and Mrs. Sughatta, an organic farming promoter – subject: what our next steps should be on initiatives promoted by Smiri-Nandan on Environmental issues.
Ø One hour later, Satsang and again the tremendous words of Tolle in “The Power of Now”.
Ø One hour later, interview at The Hindu newspaper for a column on foreigners in Bangalore. Great interview: outcome to be published on Saturday.
Ø One hour and a half later, dinner at Coconut Groove with expatriates from 6 countries.
Ø Two hours alter, hearing from Roshin and Thripthi, in the house, about the cast system in India and the Malu weddings.
Ø Half an hour later, starting to write this as such a great week had to be shared with my precious family and friends.

Dancing Passion in Words OR Bio Dancing Data

2008-10-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

I was asked to write my bio-data because of the Workshop I'll be conducting. And this is how they do it here...

Raquel Lemos is a Portuguese Dance Lover, Teacher and Performer who is now in India working as a volunteer for Lalita Ubhayaker Foundation for the Arts.
Raquel was born in a family that shares the passion for Dance. Since early age, being the daughter of a Cape-verdean (African) father and a Brazilian mother, Raquel started dancing as a pass-time, a hobbie and a way of expression, as dance was an essential part of her family’s life.

While as a child she attended Ballet classes, from the age of 12 she started dancing Hip Hop. At 15, she was very active in the world of Fitness and started receiving training in Dance Monitoring. By the age of 16 she was conducting Hip Hop & Cardio-Funk classes both to Children and Adults on a regular basis. It was the beginning of her proficiency in dance.

During High-School Raquel got involved in a Theatre Group, which gave her a different insight into performing arts and stage creations. Her studies led her to do a college degree in Communication & Culture, but her life-time passion kept calling for her dedication.

Having contacted with the Latin Dance World, the community quickly and enthusiastically embraced her as a fast learner and a dancer from the heart. Few months later she was invited to become a dancer for Sabor Tropical Dance Company, which gave her personal training on the rhythms, moves and techniques of dances like Salsa, Cha Cha Cha, Merengue among others. She also received private lessons from the best Dance Masters in Portugal and overseas in the areas of Salsa, Zouk and other Latin and African dances.

With her dance company, for 3 years Raquel Lemos travelled Portugal giving classes, workshops and animations in many sorts of events and venues, having performed in the most notorious Latin dance congresses in the country including some TV shows. During this period she created, together with a dance couple, an original unprecedented methodology for the teaching of Zouk (couple dance style original from former Portuguese colonies in Africa and the French Antilles), which is now being used by many masters a little bit all over the country.

For the following years, she took training and traineeship in Show Production and contacted with some of the best practices in Hall and Cultural Management. In 2006, as she started her professional career as a Communication and Events Manager at the biggest private bank in Portugal, her time to teach and perform became limited. But as she took executive post-graduations in Events Management and Business Management, she still managed to use her spare evenings to perfection and diversify her dance skills, having attended several courses and regular classes in Sevillanas, Flamenco and Tango.

Raquel is nowadays an accomplished and multi-style dancer who does occasional performances and workshops under request. During her stay in India where she came to do volunteer work, she performed four times already, mostly for clubs and associations like Ashvasan, and she’s taking classes in Odissi classical Dance. Raquel Lemos loves plastic and performing arts, and she has long decided to take up Art and Culture as a producer and a managing facilitator rather then as an artist. It is in this scope that she joined Mrs. Lalita Ubhayaker in her endeavours in Smriti-Nandan Cultural Centre, Yuva Sangeet Utsav and Ashvasan Foundation. She is now invited to do a recollection of all Dances she learned throughout her life and present a World Dances Workshop for Children and Adults at Smriti-Nandan.

World Dances Workshop

2008-10-16T02:28:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

During the month of November, I am conducting a WORLD DANCES WORKSHOP at my workplace, Smriti-Nandan Cultural Centre.

World Dances Workshop will be basically a practical overview of the rythms, dance styles, moves and some choreographies from a little bit all over the world: from Flamenco to Samba, from Hip Hop to Rumba, from Salsa to African Tribal, passing through many others... it will be a fun, healthy, learning and interactive cultural experience!

The level of difficulty is adaptable to each student, and in the end everyone who wants will participate of an open performance. The workshop will take place on saturdays, and the programme will be as follows:

WORLD DANCES WORKSHOP

A Journey through the Rythms and Dances of 3 Continents

By: Raquel Lemos, Portuguese Dance Lover, Teacher and Performer

Saturday, Nov. 1st '08: SPANISH

Saturday, Nov. 8th '08: LATIN-AMERICAN

Saturday, Nov. 15th '08: BRAZILIAN & AFRICAN

Saturday, Nov. 22nd '08: NORTH-AMERICAN

* Children: 2pm - 3.15 pm * Adults: 3.15 pm to 4.45 pm

* No special shoes or attire are demanded for the classes, you should just feel comfortable and in the mood for DANCE :).

Venue: Smriti-Nandan Cultural Centre www.smritinandan.org

Map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=109499249516994058062.0004475e089e952955d63&z=15

'Not Bad' and the Temple City

2008-10-16T02:00:00.000-07:00

“Not bad” – many say to my travelling.
“En fait” (comme diraient les français), I’ve been travelling quite a lot within South India and I feel happy and realized because of that.
Staying in Bangalore for the weekends is almost depressing – this city is too busy and too stressful.

I hadn’t travelled since August 24th. Too long I know... But that’s when I went to Hampi... :
Hampi (in the same state as the recently renamed Bengaluru – Karnataka) was an amazing experience.
The momentum is gone though... A month and a half has gone now without me telling you anything about it, so I won’t come on to many details.
... So much has been happening that I haven't been managing to 'stop' living to actually tell my friends and family about life :) Apologize me for that.
So 'here comes the sun... txu ru ru ru... here comes the sun... I say: It's alright txu ru ru ru ru ru ru........."

Hampi is the place in India that I visited where SCALE is more obvious and striking.
You’re driven past dozens of temples through majestic piles of round rocks that only an Olympic God could have disposed in such a wonderful way over each other.
You reach peeks where the view invites you to meditate as your eyes get lost in a horizon measuring 360º. The air thickens but feels purer and the hot rocks burn your feet while you jump your way to the promise of an even greater landscape.
At the temples, they put red ink marks on your forehead as you visit and honor the God to which it is dedicated – the mark on your forehead signifies that you’ve been blessed for paying visit to this holly place. You’re invited to leave donations if you want, and also in some places you can buy sweets inside - especially when the God represented is known to like sweets in Hindu Philosophy (like Ganesha, the elephant faced young man).

Hampi is there where on one side of the river, you can find guest-houses, eat meat, drink alcohol… and on the other one, you can’t.
There where you find the smiling same children wanting to take pictures with you anywhere you go.
There where you have to take your shoes off, roll up your trousers, and walk through stopped waters and 'unidentified' mud until you reach the boat that will bring you to the other shore (only until 6 pm!).
There where shopping and sleeping is cheap.
There where you go up hundreds of stairs up a mountain to reach Monkey Temple and find it more than worth it, and then spend hours just amazing at the rocky greeny orangy never-ending landscape... and probably find hardly any monkeys. Others say that they’ve seen dozens of monkeys there, some that they were even followed by them: don’t lose hope! ;)
There where you see how society worked in the East much before any Romans civilized our global village or our Western Jesus started preaching.
(By the way, did you know that Jesus Christ spent more than a decade of his existence in India? – “e esta, hein?”).
There where temples are made out of rock – sometimes you can hardly disguise them in the horizon as they melt into the natural rock mountains.
There where you take sun baths in a deserted lake surronded by the huge round and polished rocks Hampi is made of.
There where you bargain until the end and have five drivers (at a time! :P) making you promise not to forget them - as in any touristic place in South India, actually.

Hadn’t seen old temples as yet. Here you have one at each corner, differently shaped, beautifully carved both on the inside and on the outside.
So so hot! If you go do book a full-day rickshaw to drive you around.
Gonçalo, Me, Jacky, Maria and Ahmed left out of Hampi wanting to come back.
We didn’t know what was expecting us though.

On the train back I lived my biggest challenge in India: but I’ll spare you the details and tell you only that we had literally no seats on a 1000 people train and occupied the worse 2 square meters in Sleeper class.
Having overcome that and its ‘nuances’ in a 10 hour train trip in India (and still avoiding any specifications as they tend to disgust listeners), I feel ready to sleep almost anywhere, with almost any discomfort, smell, ‘company’ or hygiene level.

'Tenho dito.'

Sonnet and Acrostics - Gal Raquel Lemos

2008-09-25T00:15:00.000-07:00

When a couple of weeks ago you heard from your mentor: "We're so glad to have you as part of this family"...

... And after lunchtime yesterday you've heard from her husband: "You know you're like a child to us"...

... When in the afternoon one of the senior committee members of the senior citizen welfare organization you work for ('Ashvasan') comes to you with such a 'gift' to be published on the foundation's newsletter...

... Then you are just thankfull, emotioned and feeling gratified, and any little trouble is automatically erased (again life is answering the slightest of my feelings of doubt with no delay)...

... And you just know you have to share it with your loved ones.

I had no words. I just cried and cried while she read it out loud.....................

SONNET & ACROSTICS

GAL RAQUEL LEMOS

Glamour and youth entered Ashvasan with your arrival
Amidst all of us veterans
Lofty, loving thoughts of the young will be incorporated with your presence
Robust and radiant your looks and your dancing ability immaculate
Always a smile on your face
Quietly you accomplish your work to perfection
Under the protective canopy of Ashvasan
Energizing your activities and experiences
Lasting love and affection, we shower on you
Loving tales of Portugal and its life there you’ve told us
Eager we are to learn more about your country
Marvel, we do at your ability to learn and absorb
Older people like us welcome you in our midst
Sweet and simple person like you can definitely teach us a thing or two

By Indu Subramaniam
24.09.08

* 'GAL' stands for 'Girl' (american slang/ accent)

What is it about Art that...?

2008-09-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

What is about ART that moves so many? Artists, aspiring artists, art promoters, art lovers (so called 'rasikas' in India), creatives, donors, investors, even occasional appreciators...

My mentor has been telling me about it... And I've been thinking... And it makes sense. I guess enough to finally have some understanding on why I myself wanna nurture Art throughout my life and - at least middle term most surely - devote myself professionally to it.

In this scope, allow me to refer you to the words I wrote for my mentor's speech yesterday, after another of many inspiring/ profoundly orienting talks. Contains also some insight into the concept of the space that I work in - www.smritinandan.org (please bear in mind that it's a non-profit organization, an essencially family funded hall); also beware of the spirit of this 'un-aged 83 springs' person of reference for whom I work...

Friends, Rasikas,

Be very welcome to this journey through the evolution of Kathak Dance, by Dr. Vaibhavi Joshipura.

I am very happy to see such a gathering of artists and art lovers to see Vaibhavi’s programme. I am sure I speak in the name of both of us if I say we’re very honoured to have you all here this evening.
Because --- you see --- rasikas can’t be without artists and art itself would lack its purpose if there were no rasikas. But for an artist it is something even more appreciated to have fellow artists as expectators; to have the chance to perform also for actual artists, as will happen here today, is something very rare and valuable. We think this should happen more often, I mean --- having artists supporting each other, so we are very thankful for your presence today.

This space where we’re sitting, Smriti Nandan Cultural Centre, has been created with that exact purpose: we see it as a small intimate place that artists should regard as their own, a space for artists and rasikas to meet, and a space for experimentation like the programme happening here this evening. I will be circulating the Membership form where you can see the kind of programmes we have been presenting bearing this concept in mind.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate all these people who are here today – NAME, NAME, NAME, NAME, NAME… -, who have created institutions and nurtured them throughout the years, disregarding any hurdles.
I know what it takes to keep an institution going, how much effort and perseverance it demands - because I’m doing it myself -, so I would like to express my most sincere and fratern word of appreciation.

Also, allow me: as artists should support one another, also institutions like ours should help each other’s efforts.
It is on everyone’s best interest, and above all our public’s, that we cooperate, that we share an understanding, don’t you think?
I am thinking of matters such as clash of major events on the same day, punctuality, sound levels in halls --- There are many ways in which we could benefit from joining together.
Let us hope we can seat together, all of us, one of these days --- or, I dare to say, even periodically --- and work out ways in which things could be modified in order to make our halls more cohesive.

I invite you all to participate in the programmes that happen in Smriti-Nandan; I invite you to treat this as your own space (a space for creativity to soar, as I like to call it) and give us a helping hand. I will naturally be very happy myself if I can be of any help in your projects and endeavours.
After all, we all aim to the same, we are all working to facilitate art lovers’ access to art.

And --- have you ever stopped to think why is that? Why is it that we sticked to Art irrespective of all the challenges artists and art promoters face?
What is it about ART that moves us?
---------
I believe that it is the fact that Art allows us to transcend ourselves. Art gives us a unique insight into what there is to life beyond the pragmatism of our daily living. It provides us with a taste of the extase the spirit can achieve, and what could be more valuable than that?

The truth is art gives us a lot, but it also demands a lot of effort.
That is why I would like to take the occasion to pay tribute to all artists who take up this activity that demands them to give so much of themselves.
I especially would like to pay tribute to Women such as Vaibhavi who, apart from being a qualified dentist, a home maker and a mother that spends quality time with her children, at the same time she finds the strength and the spirit to nurture art and creativity, achieving excellence in the Dance field.
As a dancer, Vaibhavi has --- (BIO-DATA)---
--- and I am marvelled at her ability to do so many things with such devotion.
I believe Women have this special quality of multi-task, but the fact that they manage to do all these things in our country, and still dedicate to art, is something truly remarkable, so to finalize my already so long introduction, I pay tribute to all women artists.

Thank you.

By the way... Kathak Dance performance/ lecture was amazing and a true success! 100 people attended, aplauded and complimented. Our efforts compensated.

Small little details

2008-09-10T07:40:00.000-07:00

Again I must first of all refer to the fact that I don't mean to convey any sort of prejudice in these facts, but simply to make a note of my observations in a totally random order and with completely arbitrary choice of words.

I am FOR Cultural Diversity. That's one of my biggest passions in life. That's what I'm here for. So... :

Did you know that here in India they...

have uneven stones (moving ones, sometimes) building most of the sidewalks?
have all sorts of litter all over many sidewalks, roads and water flows?
have a tremendous amount of traffic polution, that makes me wear a scarf in my mouth and nose while travelling (even policemen wear it sometimes!)?
(those who are Hindus) have many gods they pray to (each person or family having their favourite) but consider them all as being different manifestations of the same God (God as in supreme Being, father to all existence)?
put flowers in women and children hairs and tikas (little variously shaped dots) in their forehead on a daily basis?
(being men) many times won't even speak to women ('cause they're women)?
have lower water tap, a bucket and a little cup in every bathroom (often instead of toilet paper)?
have a film production industry [Bollywood] that is bigger than Hollywood?
tend to have 5, 10, even 15 times more staff for any task than western countries do as there is overpopulation and salaries are very low?
have someone outside stores and supermarkets keeping your bags and back-packs as you're going in, someone as cashier, someone putting your groceries in bags, then sometimes another counter to pay and then you have to have your bill stamped by a guard on your way out - how practicall is this (remember in the two last parts you're already having heavy bags all over your hands)? and this is when you, having ordered a juice or anything else two meters far, don't have to bring yourself the ticket showing your order to the hands of another employee, who will then give it to the one who's actually making the juice for you. Ah, and don't forget it!, specially if you're a woman, you'll most likely have to come back yourself and meet your drink in the counter where it was being prepared instead of having it being brought to you
call "hands" to the whole arms?
may ask you for more than 4 times the value of something just trying their best change to cheat you and make profit?
have the best technological intelligence, the best Management and Computer Science universities in the world, the best software and 3rd generation technology being developed, the best adaptation to different language accents - this being also why so many crucial international company services are being outsourced in India?
prefer having boy childs than girls (namely because girls imply that you'll have to get them maried, and as parents you'll be obliged to giving a big financial sum to the broom added many times to offering house, car, etc) - "prefer" being a very light word in many cases?
usually have even the strongest of women, the most accomplished ones, 'bending' to the word, presence and authority of their husbands?
have to be maried by 25 y.o. (being a girl), or otherwise you'll most likely be considered to be disgracing yourself and your life?
from upper-middle class up, specially educated people: even among themselves tend to mix their local language or hindi with many occurences of english expressions? and some simply speak english 90% of the time, and always in official ocasions, like events and meeetings?
seem to have the most varied cuisine in the world and find the most incredible and delicious ways of presenting and working over vegetables?
are in their biggest majority vegetarians?
are not supposed to eat cow as this animal is thought of as being god? (have you ever heard the expression "holy cow!"? currently it stands for the same as "holy mother of jesus" - even for american adopters already :) )
have a significant cristian community, who for the past week has been wearing a bright pinkish orangy colour in all of their clothing (men to women, children to seniors) as last week it was Saint Mary's day?
don't use that much of "please", "thank you" or "sorry" and even find it weird when we make too much use of it?
in many cases have to be insisted with many times in order to get things done?
have a hard time saying they "don't know" so you have a problem with knowing if they really understood you, or if they are in the same wave length as you; or if in fact they're just saying something for the sake of answering your question, even if they're indicating you the exact opposite direction to the one you needed?
(specially when they are service providers) are usually too optimism (or should I say deceiving?) when it comes to TIME(ings), which makes them say "in 2 minutes" or "in 5 minutes" too often? - Me and friends immediately say or think: "yeah, 5 INDIAN minutes!". While they do this, they often perform this particular circling movement with a closed wrist and fingers in a pinacle - that corresponds to the " 'more-or-less'-also-non-assertive-same-type-of-feeling" as in their NODDING of the head... Read about it below:
have an assertivity problem in many cases which may be highly related to this nodding of the head that is supposed to mean "yes" but is too similar to "maybe" or even "no"? - I ACTUALLY CAUGHT THIS FEATURE and I'm being mocked by friends all the time for this :D
(the auto-drivers) often don't even answer to you when you say where you wanna go - they just drive away (if they even stopped the vehicle to talk to you, that's for a start) if they're not interested in taking you there? they also often have their meters truncated so that they go faster than the actual distance you're covering? they charge (officially) one and a half meter after 9.30 pm? often don't have their license updated and still they're driving on the roads?
know they can bribe their way out of a traffic police fine?
have various items of food being cooked and sold on the street, among traffic smokes and all sorts of city smells and passer-bys? and that this food is many times very good and even deserves an american tv show totally dedicated to Indian Street Cuisine? and that the the same (street exhibition) goes for vegetables, whose sale is announced in characterisitically nosy-sounding moving screams as they are transported in bikes supporting a platform?

To be continued as I experience it. ***

Kerala - 'God's Own Country'

2008-09-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

Days go by full of experience, joy and fulfillment...

... and I tell you nothing about them! Ups!

NOW IS THE TIME.

August 14th brought me to a wonderful experience: Kochin, in the State of Kerala - a.k.a. "God's own country". I could tell why. From the cosy low built streets to the profound greenery, everything invites you to stay in Fort Kochin.

I reached my first touristy destiny in India in a boat departing from Ernakulam Town. We ate well, did some shopping, had some mango milkshakes, walked around town and made sure we experienced fish as we were in a costal city.

Going through the longest of my trips here (5 nights including two in the train), I could tell you all about my naked Ayurvedic massage made by two women in a shadowy room with never-ending oil; about a sinagogue that had the store next-door renting pieces of clothing to cover your elbows, legs, chest... for Rs.10, so that we would go in the holly place; about the dirty rooms where I was lucky to have Mariana's sheet to put over the hotel's stained ones; about the portuguese historical heritage a little bit all over Kochin's monuments; about the train trips where I easily decide to sleep 12 hours in a row so I sleep the journeys through (not without some amusement on my trip mates' part - jealousy, I'd call it! :P) (also, not without having Andre waking me up gently every once in a while to eat, shift beds, give my passport to the controler, etc :) *** ); about the fish we bought in the market and brought to be cooked in a restaurant...

But I'll tell you about what amazed me the most: Backwaters in Alleppey and Kathakalli Dance. Not that many words to describe it though.

Kathakali was simply the most colourful dance I've ever seen and most definitelly the most expressive facials I think I'll ever experience. A mixture of theatre and movement, telling a story with no spoken lines, loads of clothes and accessories and facial make up that takes 1h30 to be done... Kathakali surprises you from the beginning. Almost everything happens in their faces, so for that you're first given a thorough demonstration of the lexic that will be used in the play. I could never imagine face could combine so many movements and convey so many different emotions having support of no words! The drums, tabla and classical vocal only help the environment. Amazing actors, amazing expressive technic - very demanding, very precise, very communicative.

Now backwaters was a dream come true! Travelling in a boat through a river: great conditions, great food, great music, great environment, great staff, great shrimp (king size!) bought in an island on the way, stopping only to have lunch and dinner, and to sleep... it seemed really like God had decided to gift us the bestest of moments. Me, Mariana, André, Ahmed, Eduardo and Michelle... we just staggered at such never ending beauty as Palm Trees, bushes, rice plantations, women washing their hair in the river, children running and asking you for pens, and many many other backwaters... pass by you though as if they were a painting: I mean, one perfect painting after the other. Great neaty rooms and leaving room, and a maitress with sheets and cusheons just at the edge of the boat - where we relaxed, gave ourselves to sun, sleep and talks, enjoyed music, games, snacks... and that moving beauty life gifted us with. Undescribable.

Hampi - the ultimate landscape experience, and everything that followed... I shall leave to another post. LOVE YOU!! ***

Some things never change... Others...

2008-08-21T02:39:00.000-07:00

Some things never change...

(although I believe I can change the ones I really decide I should - not without some effort though: try to guess which ones I'm refering to...)

I listen to Kizombas practically everyday
When I talk to my closest of friends (just like yesterday ;) ), it seems like no time has passed and no distance is there - some things are simply eternal and overcome any judgement, wording or traceable limits
I still have trouble going up in the morning and tend to stay in bed a little bit too long
I still don't know how but always find myself entertained until too late in the night (I wonder: could this have anything to do with the waking up part of it? :P Trust me, I tuck in a little bit longer even if I've slept for 12 hours - owl style? What can I do? That's just me ever since I remember: at night, that's when I'm creative, energetic, with time for myself :) ...
Lately, lacking dancing - DANCING HAS BEEN FORBIDEN IN BANGALORE CLUBS FOR THE PAST 3 WEEKS!!: can you imagine me living in such a city if this wasn't about to change in a matter of weeks?... - at night (among other things, namely domestic tasks), I dance and sing to both my years and sometimes the girls sleeping upstairs' - ups! have been trying to control, I swear! :P
Have my yoghurt with cereal almost every day
Have been being asked to write texts and to revise scripts

... On others I am fortunate to get confirmation checks...

Love colour! Love travelling! Love nature! Love smiles! Love international friends! Love speaking other laguages! Love dancing! Love people! Love cucumber! Love scarfs! :)
Ages flatten down when souls - the true Beings - and not bodies connect

... The rest changes in you for good and is simply destined to make you grow within!

Started liking to eat with my hands (the most unconceivable thing in my culture of origin: the first times, you feel like you're doing something wrong as this is what would be told if you did the same while you were being brought up)
No bugs or ants or dirt or smell around me disgust me to any level of real disturbance at this point
Love indian food with all its exquisitness, SPICES (!), never-ending colous, textures and tastes
I am now carefull with night time, don't take transportation alone at those hours either, walk with my eyes down as I don't want to cross the eyes of men, and whenever posible hold my brother-friends' arms or simply stand behind them as some kind of psichological shield (specially when travelling) - Gabiru, Deepak, you guys are the best protectors ever - luv'u!
I cherish now what before I had never thought of because I took it for granted: the possibility of allowing yourself to feel (most of the girls and boys here will see their spouses only once to thrice before the day of their marriage...)

Also to be continued...

Olive oil: gods' nectar

2008-08-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

To tell you the 'lightest' of my examples, but maybe the most obvious at least for tendencially pragmatic minds:

Olive oil is a very rare and hence very expensive thing in India (being imported namely from Spain). To give you a comparison, a 1 liter bottle may cost me an amount corresponding to 13 travels home-work.

Another fact that most of you know: olive oil is essencial in european cooking, namely portuguese, and me personally I use it for practically everything.

So of course I bought a bottle, but obviously kept it saved for a controled use.

Last week, while bringing the bottle back to my room after cooking, it was slippery so it fell off my hands to become an oil lake and dozens of glass pieces in my room floor.

For a minute, I was pissed off and thought only that 300 ruppees (3/4 of the content) were there lying on the floor - not to speak of the inconvenience and the mess. I commented this with my friends, the fact that what had gotten broken was exactly the ingredient that I cherished the most and had spent money on because "I couldn't live without olive oil".

But then, as lately with everything, I decided to accept what had happened and believe, also as always, that it had happened for a reason (one of them being clearly that I should have been more carefull and next time, I will). The hidden reason, there'll always be some, was yet to be discovered.

Well, what I am wanting to tell you is that, as always, life got back to me with the greatest of answers to such a simple thing. Acquaintances have been calling me "lucky". :)

The following day, I was in the supermarket and had almost forgotten that I had already decided that, irrespective of money, of course I'd buy a new bottle. But Rumzie was taking longer with her shopping and I ran into the olive oil shelf.

The truth is that, not only they were selling olive oil in a plastic bottle.... :), as a 1 liter cooking olive oil bottle (worth 400 rupees) was in offer if you bought an extra-virgin one. I loved the again non-coincidence and put both in my basket regardless of price. Still in the supermarket I commented with Rumela that answer life was giving to me. And it was happening unintentionally and in the day right after an event that I had considered a sad waste.

This was enough to again leave me with a feeling of thankfulness. But when I got home for some reason I noticed the price on the extra-virgin oil bottle. Then I noticed that there was no 720 Rs. registered in my receipt. For mistake, the cashiers at 'Spencer's' had registered 400 Rs., the price of the bottle that was in offer, and not the correct one. They made me pay the cheapest one and ended up offering the most expensive, saving me 320 Rs., precisely the money that I had let slip out of my hands the day before.

......

'Course my good-will made me feel like I should go back and tell them, but who would? And anyway, we're always being overcharged for everything here. So - ethical or not - here I had my little excuse.

.......

Coincidence? Most surely not. It's just life communicating clearly with me, as every day here in the most unexplainable of details.

Plus, my friends are starting to know me so well here that Deepak actually intended to offer me a bottle of olive oil yesterday, as he had seen me sad over that waste the week before (thank you dear!*). So life had already such a nice alternative reserved for me if Rumz hadn't taken longer that day at our grocery shop... :))

Magic days

2008-08-08T02:30:00.000-07:00

- picture at 9.40 pm - local time = 5.10 pm in Portugal, my birth time.

One special day happened 2 weeks ago: I was 25 on the 25th.

It's once in a life time, as well as today's day: 08.08.08.

The day was filled with joy from 23.55 pm on the 24th.

My already big indian family spoiled me so much I felt like a little girl! My heart felt big, and pampered, and privileged, as so many remembered me, and such good surprises happened.

My portuguese FAMILY... the whole day enlightening me too. I feel [healthy] SAUDADES of you all...!

The night came and - 'lucky me'! - I went to do what I like the best, and among my companions - guess who? - my nuclear family in Bangalore: Andre, Camilla, Deepak and Rumela. Have I told you I love you? It's Youll and TRAVELLING... :)

So there we went to a 2 days extension of my birthday celebration in Tusker Valley, in Kalhatti Park, on the Nilgiri Mountains.

We went for relatively challenging trekking journeys twice, reached waterfalls and moutain peaks, saw plantations, and stood in the middle of some bear cages and the all-mighty white clouds. Almost tripped once or twice, climbed many many rocks and listened to the sound of silence and to the wisper of echo. My mates spoted foot-prints of bears, bisonts and other sorts of wild life that didn't dare to come near us.

The nights were coronated with music, bath with hot water served in buckets, eating around bonfire, playing Uno, teeling mind-cracking riddles, finding mouse poop all over your bed sheets and... Night Safari!!, where the most thrilling experiences were the raining outside the open jeep, the bang of the head on the ceiling, and the expectation to see more then one rabbit, one bisont and a couple of dears that in the end were the only ones who let themselves be spoted. (explanation: the rain makes elephants have easy access to water which makes them not need to come close to the road as they were expected to in the TUSKER valley).

Sunday brought us to a hillarious happy jeep journey, dancing our brains off towards a pleasurable chinese dinner in Ooti.

On our way to Bangalore, 1h30 hours after departure, a land-slide: sand and a tree blocking the road. Only six hours later - morning already - did a caterpiller come to remove it. Close to Bangalore, again a truck riot to delay us... Summary: 16 hour bus trip!! (was suppose to be 8 tops) HEHE! With my friends just laughing at me afterwards as I just woke up to check on the overall situation maybe 3 times during all that time. :)) God bless the sleep in these circumstances! (jealous, uh?) :P

Everyone has been telling me about me having experienced the weirdest most uncommon things in Bangalore since I got here. Uncomfortable as they may have been sometimes, again I look at them as life experience.

THANK YOU ALL FOR (close and from afar) MAKING ME FEEL HOME.

An insight of Life and the Potential of Humankind

2008-07-31T03:32:00.000-07:00

I have been visiting the Slums where the foundation I work for offers a daily meal, to supervise on the justice of the distribution of the food and ensure that it reaches our target.

I come out of there with the ultimate confirmation of the blessing in my life, and again more grateful for it.

I feel bigger as I feel smaller. I feel more conscient: of what I am/ have, about what there is that is effectively essencial to life...

My bear-feet on their floor, the contrasts hit me, I suffer in comparison, but I manage to come out of there peaceful as I see at least there there's something being done. And wherever else it is feazable.

Somehow I feel serene also (is that posible? serene as in confident of human potential! = capacity for adaptation, reaction, relation, kind giving, humble acceptance, survival, community strength - does it make any sense?)...

... Confident as in the middle of the greatest lack of everything, SMILES and HUMANITY aren't missing in any of their faces. Also for this I feel deep respect for these people that I greet back with Nasmaskar and wholehearted smiles.

CHILDREN IN THE SLUMS ARE HAPPY, they're more alive in their eyes and smiles than any I have ever seen in my mostly european/ touristic aproach to travels... They play with me and they compliment the beauty of my name.

People respond to smiles, greetings and eye connection.

Humanity works. No need to speak the same language. We already speak the same language.

You see, if we take the right look the world couldn't be simpler.

Again, I don't know how to put into words how thankfull I am for the fact that LIFE is giving me never-ending oportunities of appreciating its ESSENCE and simplicity.

A Fresh-View: Ashvasan welcomes a new trainee

2008-07-30T04:36:00.000-07:00

At the moment I am preparing a Newsletter to be issued by one of the Associations that I work for (first one mentioned below). Today I'm sharing the article I was requested to write as an introduction of myself, to be included in that publication.

For those of you who are wondering where I am working, I send the links below, promising to give some details on the work I am developing soon:

Ashvasan - Reaching out to the aged and the lonely - www.ashvasan.org (hasn't been updated for 3 years now - that'll be one of my tasks)
Smriti-Nandan Cultural Centre - www.smritinandan.org
22nd Devnandan Ubhayaker Yuva Sangeet Utsav - http://utsav.smritinandan.org

"Greetings to all Ashvasan members and friends!
My name is Raquel Lemos, I am 25 years-old and I come from Lisbon in Portugal.
I arrived in India in June 17th 2008 and joined Lalita Ubhayaker Foundation for the Arts on the 1st of July, for a 6 months internship from which I expect great results.
Back in Portugal, I finished my 1st university degree in Communication & Culture in 2006 and since then I’ve been working as an Event and Communication Manager at the biggest private bank in the country.
Having initiated my career path, I still didn’t want to give up studying, so for one year I was studying Image, Protocol and Event Management, and just before coming to Bangalore I finished an Executive Masters in Business Administration.
Parallel to this, my lifetime passions remain being Arts, Cultural Diversity and Traveling. Actually, since the age of 16, the scope of my work has been Dance and Fitness as a teacher, performer and producer, with my most favorite hobby being summer traveling and making Friends a little bit all over the world.
Also, for many years now, I’ve been wanting to volunteer and for the first time in my life really understand the meaning of learning by giving (and not solely by absorbing).
Thus, based also in my past experience, but wanting to learn every day more, it is with all my heart, will and commitment that I hope to be able to give a contribution worthy of the wholehearted commendable work developed by Ashvasan, Smriti Nandan Cultural Centre and Devnandan Ubhayaker Yuva Sangeet Utsav.
It was with great pleasure that I met and just started working with part of the Ashvasan Family. I feel part of It myself already and I am thankful for that.
I am looking forward to meeting you all."

How my life has changed

2008-07-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

My life has changed in many ways, but there are some few logistical details that I'd like to share with you:

I eat with my hands (right hand!) every day;

I have had cold showers for 2 weeks;

I sleep with ear tampons and the fan on;

I am constantly being bitten by mosquitos, irrespective of prevention;

The washing machine (for clothes) works with cold water only;

My room (as I wanted a single one) was stolen out of the living-room space - having pre-fabricated plastic walls, the insonorization from house, front-door and street sounds is none; the front-door of the house doesn't open or close unless I have my room's door closed;

Although this house is much much better than the previous one, you'll find them anywhere, it's unavoidable... in the past two days I've had 1 lizzard and 2 cochroaches in my room and bathroom;

I've been being transported in motorbikes in India for the first time, sitting normally or with my legs to the side, holding hardly anything and carrying no helmet - but hey! that's how everyone does it! 4 times I've done it by now;

I carry my backpack with my laptop everyday to and from office. I like the ritual, but maybe this'll be changing soon as a new computer just arrived;

I usually don't walk alone in the streets after 7 pm, and most definitelly don't after 9 pm. Two girls together walking in the street at 11 pm proved to be challenging enough;

I have to bargain for prices practically everyday;

I got back to my old times: am eating mostly vegetarian;

I tried driving an indian car, with the wheel on the right, the gears on the left, and driving on the left side of the road - but, don't get scared!, it was just for a few yards in a quiet alley. Liked it though!;

I am working at my Mentor's house (only one other person works for the Foundation: the secretary, on the lower floor, Manjula is her name) and I am invited to have lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Ubhayaker every day;

I am given tea with milk (!!) and sugar every day at 11.30 am and 4.30 pm - now I like it;

I live with 7 other girls and I never know who's been in my house, and who'll be coming by as the Paying Guesthouse (PG) male managers are always running around for some reason, some fixing, something - summary: privacy: reduced;

I've been having what everyone told me I shouldn't: when you're in some place for a long time, and specially when you share habits, meals and rituals with locals... you can't avoid it, and of course your system adapts to it, which also makes your daily life much more mingled and easier. So, I'm having: filtered water (not only bottled), fresh vegetables, fruit with skin, yoghurt, and I'm brushing my teeth with tap water - only once did I feel sick, and after that everything is fine. Actually, I feel like my body likes the habits I have here, it has been happy :) ;

Going out here means starting at 8.30 pm (if you can, but you never...) and finishing dancing precisely at 11.30 pm - everything closes at this hour, there's no way!;

I work alone, bear-feet, in a peaceful environment and in almost total silence (picture: the entrance to the Ubhayaker's residence, my workplace - how amazing is that?);
It's Monsoon season, so everyday it rains cats and dogs for about one hour, and then it stops. Meaning: you should always be carrying an umbrella.

Recording Difference

2008-07-17T04:39:00.000-07:00

FACTS that my eyes capture everyday:

* Although my frame is unavoidably that of a European, with these statements I mean nothing but to record differences (after all that’s what I came here for). I hereby honestly declare no intention of conveying criticism or prejudice in none of the following (anyway, the order in which the facts are placed is by the way totally arbitrary):

· Children are carried in motorbikes holding to the wheel or squeezed between 2 or 3 other bodies – and this is while other vehicles pass speeding 2cm from them, each vehicle issuing tons of gazes right at their nose level
· You can see single shoes spread all over in roads – and not all are in bad shape. I wonder…? : )
· Horses carry goods on their own in the roads
· Many policemen cover their mouth and nose because of pollution, and they whistle (as others horn) all the time, for no reason
· The traffic lights are rare and not always respected
· 16.07.08, 18h35 – Saw a man grab a mobile out of another man’s car as this had the window open in the middle of a traffic jam
· Many children and adults walk in the streets bear-feet
· There are no bins for the litter in the streets. And still people don’t think twice before throwing garbage away…. It is hard to find bins in the houses too
· The malls and movie theatres are the more luxurious I’ve ever been to. E.g., they sell a variety of food and beverages inside, and the seats are always “convertible”
· You see cows all over: in the traffic – standing or moving with it (being just avoided, but sent away or pushed by no one!), lying down, eating out of trash in bus station, just about anywhere!
· Have seen camels being rid in the road once in a while. And of course, many many bikes
· Vehicles are more important than pedestrians – absolute priority, they don’t even break if they see that you want to cross the road, not even if you’re already in the middle of a thousand of moving vehicles and animals, right in the middle of the road, spinning and dancing in the hurdle of trying not to get hit by a car’s side-miror or any bike
· The rules for driving: honk, squeeze and occupy any free space you may find
· Men urinate anywhere in the street, without even caring to hide, although they do give their back to the crowd
· Men spit on the floor and out of moving vehicles quite often
· In some movie theatres, the Indian Himn plays before the show starts. Everyone stands, sellers stop selling, incoming people stop their march, some place their hand in their heart, some get emotional, but no one dares to talk or look anyway other than the screen – although no one seems to sing along with the Gurus that interpret the song
· This is the most colourful country I’ve ever been to: religion is colourful, dressing is colourful, state announcements are colourful, buildings are colourful, cars and trucks are colourful, food is colourful….
· It rains almost everyday by dust (when it’s serious the streets look like authentic river flows), and power goes off one or several times for anything ranging from 10 minutes to 4 hours. From today on I’m expected not to have water in the house for 4 days
· Bangalore seems to be all and always under contruction

LESSONS that I’ve learned mostly from my Mentor and her Husband, Mr. and Mrs. Ubhayaker*:

* everyday at least one new teaching by the table, during a blessed lunch (this is just one of the few reasons I feel blessed around here)

* actually today I spoke of starting to bring my beloved notebook to the table as I forget such important notions I learn just because hindi, kannada or sanscrit don’t sound like anything familiar – I have to write down in order to memorize, as I do with anything already anyway even in Portugal!)

* all of the below mentioned lessons are Their responsibility - except for one: the most materialistic maybe, the last one - you have to learn how to deal with auto-rickshaws by yourself!):

· Give things to others with your right hand
· Eat with your right hand only
· Don’t wet your hand beyond 2/3 of your fingers when you’re eating
· Go straight home and don’t leave if a religious ofense took place in town
· Always bargain (insistently) if the price isn’t fixed

Promise to keep on with this exercise.
**********

BLISS

2008-07-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

If before I felt already that I am blessed, that I am lucky (meaning necessarily faithful also), that there's a little star insistently standind over my head...

Here in India this feeling of non-coincidence, of bliss, of sinchronicity... has built up to be the biggest ever.

No day passes by without Someone making a difference in my life... Every day amazing happenings occur, in each corner there's amazement, teachings, and life ready to be absorbed. I guess it's just a matter of being open to signs.

One 'just' has to say YES to life and live up to it.

I know this sounds like those self-help books we criticize, those pseudo-spiritual guru teachings that seem to be nothing but romantic ready-to-sell theory.

But you know what? Positiveness has proved right in many lifes, and I dare to say mine is one of them.

Dare to try and SMILE at all things, embrace life, make sure you take something positive out of everything that occurs to you (instead of sticking to the worse of everything as us portuguese so much like to do!), think of the actual reasons why you do or endeavour in a task or relationship, fight your fears, work on your flaws if you want (with no prejudice or self-pity though) or just live in peace with them...

Smile, thank, open your eyes, project good energies!!! SMILE and Life will smile back at you in little details, grand things, anything, just name it and believe it!

You guys know me and you know I have my feet on earth, I am reasonable, I have common-sense, but still: I believe.

I aim to be no preecher here, I just felt like sharing my happiness and my faith in Life.

If you take anything out of these words, or even if you don't, care to comment, care to share with me? 'Cause in the end one knows nothing, one's always learning, each case is a case, each feeling is a feeling.

Mine is just a feeling of BLISS.

I THANK.

NAMASTE. ;)

Coorg - feeling blessed

2008-07-07T06:04:00.000-07:00

There were few times in life when I felt that no words or pictures (not even carefully elaborate ones) could in any way describe my feelings. As you know I cultivate and profoundly believe in the power of COMMUNICATION.
But this time there is this wonder, this amazement in me... this apparently undescribable feeling of BLESSING that makes me wanna tell you: 'there is much much more to it than what I'll be able to convey in words'.

This weekend, COORG welcomed me, Camilla, Rumela, Deepak, Gabiru and Mariana with its spontaneous luxurious grenery, its roads always leading to Paradise - by the hands and drives of Bopanna. In two days my heart was touched too many times to be true, and every time it grew in happiness and experience, it kept growing in FAITH and PEACE.

Just to begin with: the friends, the group! Guys, love you! So sinchronized we were, such good energies coming from 3 continents, such warmth gathering in that place Life blessed, atracting only good events and sinchronicities!!

FRIDAY
Bus at 21h! Brasil managed to join Portugal, Sweden and India in the same bus! Yiupppii!! Got to Coorg at 3 am and slept in a houseware humid floor, sharing blankets, laughs and dreams until the sun came and the rain calmed. This is already paradise: all around you is green, and wood, and hospitality! Smelled like Aveiro, smelled like my grand-parents, smelled like childhood! Yummi!!! :)

SATURDAY
Bopanna's Jeep welcomes us again and brings us to a little bit of heaven. Walking in a muddy path, all in a row and singing songs as taught in school, step by step progressing (still wondered with the beauty) in the midst of coffee and rice plantations... we reach a dream-house: glass windows all around, matresses and pillows on the floor, amazing view all around (palm-trees, hills, bush, plantations), undescribable silence, some coffee and tea served by Gani & Co. Welcome to Benny's House - we had this just for us for 48 hours!!!!
But of course: time to move! We went... you know what? Oh yeah!!!: White Water RAFTING!!! Helmets on, life-jackets worn, paddles ready....... 'Forward team! Over-right team! Hold on team!' - these were just some of the commands. Our nepalese monitor knew what he was doing - my team bit Camilla's, Deepak's and Mariana's ass out!! HEHE :P And we loved 'Wicked Bitch' (?), the third rapid, the most!! Thrilling! Adrenaline enough to want to try it again!
In between, we were shown around the reserve: tigers could come any minute (nah! any month :P ), rain would come and go and... whom would it worry?!, food was served in modest places, always tasting like love, spice and - of course! - our fingers. Saw tea-plant, jack-fruit, coffee plant, buganvilles, etc, etc. While wainting, there was still time for coffee (for those 'in habit' :) ) and Maria cookies by a smoking comfy fire, sitting in wood tronks, accompanied by the game that kept us company at all moments - Miming: which movie am I trying to explain {what's the right name again, Rumz? :P }.
Only after: WATER! - paddling, swimming, thrilling in group amongst water rapids, laughter, a few screams and lots lots of joy. Have pics! Of course I'll upload them a.s.a.p.
Dawn brought us back home to a yummi (patented by: Rumz - again!! :P :*) dinner prepared in the house 1km far. Got there it was night already, through dark paths, holding hands to protect each other, listening to thousands of frogs, having sang all the way to the sound of Pink Floyd.
Night and the moon brought drinks (there was variety to every taste ;) ), talks and DANCE! Oh yeah! My friends loved Salsa, and most specially Kizomba/ Zouk! Two couples danced, another watched and documented, and that made me so happy! For an hour we danced... and already during this week... 2nd class for everybody! I'm thrilled to teach them - so quick they catch it, so much they like it!! KISSES for you guys!

SUNDAY
Sunday woke me up promising the ultimate experience, but I could never imagine to what point!
We went to KUSHALNAGAR / Barlkupe, and Loden, a tibetan so so nice guy, and his beautiful daughter Bela, drove us through the amazingly inspiring ways of 3 TIBETAN MONASTERIES.
Golden Temple and Sera Mei were phantastic enough, with all the color, all the golden, all the idols, all the majesty, all the drums, hons and mumblings of the monks...
But SERA CHE - that was no tourist place and still they allowed us to walk amongst lines of around 3000 sitting monks wearing read and praying for DALAI LAMA as yesterday was His aniversary.
It was my father's birthday too, by the way. I am sure their prayers and mine went on to enlighten his life a little bit too. :) Hugs PAI!
We saw monks distributing things to others, we walked aongst them - as always - bear-feet, saw budha and god figures, Dalai Lama's seat, heard this amazing vibrating mumbling, saw butter constructions, altars, simbolic drawings and manifestations that Loden was always kind enough to explain. We played with Mela, sat on the stairway to temples, amazed at view, at the practice of the monks... and got inspired.
I was told to mingle with them easily :) as here I am always in 'orangy' clothes which pretty much describe my state f mind.

Then the JEEP JORNEYS demand some description too, as they were filled with sleepy hugs, legs enlacing, singing to the sound of nothing, telling stories, bumping our heads on the cealing as the car bumped into holes, vibrating to the sound of Dire Straits and other memory-calling pieces of audio art... and enjoying each other's company everytime more! Thank you so much Deepak!!!!!!
The last sight-seing car trip brought us to a water fall that we could sit on, amazing at an immense valley through an aqueduct arch - an authentic window to COORG Paradise, deserving a paiting, deserving meditation, deserving COMING BACK!
By then we just wanted to stay all together, not to have to come back to Bangalore, work, traffic and pollution... at leat a few more days!! :))

Waited 3 hours for a late bus but even in waiting we're the best travel group ever!! Our laghter and funny theatrical movements while playing games were entertainment to all attending passengers!
Already in Bangalore, an auto-rickshaw transporting my friends dropped me directly at work, just to find the second YOGA teacher inviting me to join his class. But this is something to tell in a forthcoming post.

Elephant riding is promised for next visit...
and meanwhile I leave all you guys with a NATURE and BUDHIST inspired ENERGY-passing hug (one of those). LOTS AND LOTS of Love, all me is a SMILE!!!!

AIESEC & the centre of Gravity

2008-06-30T05:24:00.000-07:00

The AIESEC Experience. That's what I've been living for the past week.
The experience of attending Indian June National Conference 2008: being among indians from 14 cities, plus dozens of trainees having dozens of nationalities, of sharing beliefs, entrepreneur feelings, leadership vibes, jives and roll-calls!!
As I wrote already, AIESEC is the association, the international platform for young leaders that I belong to, which intermediated this experience I'm having.
Its goal it to develop young people's potencial enabling them to have a positive IMPACT in society.
It's good being an AIESEC'er. Check it out in www.aiesec.org

Pondicherry, a tax-free east-coast city around the State of Tamil Nadu, is a warm fishy smelling 'beachy' looking city, nice for tourism, nice for night walks, nice for beach and tan as long as you cover to your neck ;P - but still you'll have 30 indians trying to take your picture just because you're different. Well, result: got a huge awful sun mark in my shoulders as I was wearing a t-shirt in an apparently non-burning atmosphere - Uhuh! Gotta recover now. :)
Auroville, most specially MATRIMANDIR, is a site to be visited. It helds an imense tree that supposedly marks the centre of Earth's gravity, and bears a phantastic golden big ball-structure inside which people medidate around a cristal in a dark atmosphere. Inspiring - to say the least! Didn't go in as you have to schedule 2 days prior to arrival, but would like to one day. Many people from all over the world live around AUROVILLE nowadays: it is designed independently from any religion and welcomes anyone who wants to live a well-being spiritual peaceful life. Great environment! Truly recommend. http://www.auroville.org/

Well, have many international friends and acquaintances already. Won't be alone, don't you worry!
Lots and lots of love, feeling good, starting work tomorrow.

TIME is a blessing

2008-06-20T03:48:00.000-07:00

Again I have to start by stressing what's been best in this since I got here: having TIME!!! Those who know me know what I mean. Really, time can really be a blessing. :)

Only after can our journey continue. 4th day here, so I'm in the situation of doing some some-ups already.

Still a stop to report you to the chosen image - not that personalized, is it? It's just that, to be here with you, I still have to walk for 1,5km (few, I know - lucky me!) and be in a tiny cabine full of heat (good enough that there seem to be no bugs! :P). Meaning: still couldn't dowload and upload the real pics you've been craving for! I choose to situate me in the map: BANGALORE, South of India, State of Karnataka, 6 million inhabitants, Indian 'Sillicon Valley', spoken languages: kannada, hindi and english.

Back to the 'having time' issue, some of you may be wondering: but didn't she come out of Portugal in a rush as she was starting to WORK the next day in the other side of the planet? Yeah right!, Indians have their own ways, and I discovered even this (that I'm starting only the 1st of July) almost by chance and not before insisting some! So this is one indian feature I could disguise already: in general they won't do it unless you insist, give reminders, get around the issue and pressure in some manner.

Getting to the point: Bangalore is full of challenges for me! Some hard facts:

Some call it 'organized chaos' (which I'm starting to consider a good metaphor for Bangalore/ India), but I must refer to a specific characteristic again: the TRAFFIC is crazy! Even me :), I wouldn't dare to drive here. There are no rules, no lines, no one-ways, no directions, no lights, no zebra-crosses, no person on foot, no car or truck coming against you, no cow or queue or whatever... that will make them break. They just honk, stop just in time and one millimeter too close :), speed, squeeze each other and find their way whatever out-of-rule the path may be. And all this added to driving on the left hand-side of the road, with the wheel on the right side of the car. And oh my God the honking! - you get used to it, it's the city's own characteristic soundtrack! :)

Well the BUGS and some Indian's sense of HIGENE has been turning out to be my biggest challenge so far. Just to sum up a never ending series of scares, being half awake all night, not taking one step in the house without taking a carefull screaning-type look at the floor area you're about to step in... My house is full of cochroaches, lizzards, ants, spiders and many flying mosquitos. They mostly hide during the day, but at night the horror movie starts... Not to disgust you with the details, I'll resume it to: the lady has been cleaning the house with water only; yesterday woke up with both eyes swallen (hardly opening as I had been beaten on both - looked SCARING!) - creamed and iced them for 6 hours, and then they were ok; last night, brushed my teeth in a non-lighted service zone of the house, as always, looking 'in the eyes' of a huge cochroach and rushing as much as posible; but it was ok until they got in - today woke up with one of them in my room, by the door. Enough to say that now I have a blanket covering the door step, and pillows covering every window. And an air mosquito repellent which worked for mosquito bites tonight! UFF!! GOOD NEWS: am checking another house (brand new actually) today.

Am sleeping almost in the street as it comes to NOISE: wear ear tampons (and have the fan on all night, just for the record). From 6.30/ 7 am on, can't sleep anymore, as sellers come out on their bikes with portable tables full of fruits and vegetables (which I promise I'll never buy to eat :D ), screaming the name of their produce in kannada. And then there's the inevitable light: light courtains and no 'estores' (?) on the widows make it imposible to keep sleeping. REMINDER: buy eye mask (forgot the free one at the deluxe airplane ;) ). Summary: have been sleeping few.

TEMPERATURE: It's not that hot. Bangalore is quite a temperate city as it's mostly cloudy all the time: but today I felt the sun for the first time and, yes!, it will burn if it fights the clouds! We'll see the tan in some weeks :).

Bangalore is as COLOURFUL as I imagined India, or even more, and much more fashionable then I could think. No woman, whatever age or social condition, brings their hair uncombed or their sari badly placed. It's shining reds and pinks and blues and all sorts of beautiful fabrics in every corner!!

It's plus 4.30 hours here than in Lisbon and Greenwhich meridian.

Some nice facts:

ALREADY TRAVELLING: Will be in Pondicherry (french ex-colony, said to seem like we're out of India), east-coast beach city for whole next week!! Already starting good - travelling before work starts!! :))) Will be starting off in the weekend with an 8 hour bus trip with house-mates followed by beach and sea-water baths wearing shorts and t-shirt! :)... and prolongue the stay until following sunday with an AIESEC South India Conference I'm lucky to be part-taking (by the way, AIESEC is the student international platform/ association through which I ended up here :) ).

Will meet you again here shall all the experiencing and travelling allow me in the next week.

LOVE, Ra

Bangalore, here I am

2008-06-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

So here I am. :)
And I think you deserve a detailed report! So many things to tell though!
Status: CALM. Finally I have TIME. Don't remember the last time, and it feels great.
So, step by step:
1 - DEPARTURE FROM LISBON
Departure was a difficult beginning. First, as I had been packing during dawn, didn't exactly get there early. Early enough, though, had the things gonne smoothly as usually.
They didn't. First, I couldn't even pay for the 3,5 extra kg I had carried in my big bag - had to take coats and books out of it and carry them with me, mostly stuck to my backpack, as an authentic traveller - but that was obviously ok! But then the code locker in my brand new cabine roller bag didn't open, and they almost made me stay at x-ray control, as they wanted me to open it! But then they let me pass. Summary: caught the flight in the last minute! :) But did.
2 - LONDON
All fine. Tried numbers 0 to 200 (included the code I know I had chosen for the bag) and none worked :P.
3 - FLIGHT TO BANGALORE
The 9 hour flight to London went by fast, and started with a one hour delay in London as President Bush had just landed. But then it almost seemed like a 5 star hotel. From the imense choice of channels, movies, contents, music, in the individual touch-screen to the gourmet meal and the nice comfort for sleeping... Nevertheless, I slept few as I met a nice Lady from Bangalore with whom I spoke for many hours. Meanwhile, I watched a movie that I totally recommend and which decribes fine my mood and spirit at the moment: seize the day! take your opportunities! Find it, it's called: *The Bucket List*, it was recently at the movie theatres.
4 - BANGALORE, HERE I AM
Arriving at Bangalore 1 day after, all ok too. Took a bus to city centre that took an hour. Seemed no time as I was amazed at everything around me, turning my head to one side and the other though as if it was a tenis game! I wanted to absorve it all. Have pics! Will upload them ASAP. And the driving! Oh my God! Dangerous! The bus honked and went in S's, and literally pressed other vehicles apart.
Yash went to pick me up at Leela Palace, a luxurious hotel where I waited, packed and tired of not sleeping for 2 nights, but comfortable in my chair with a view.
Then the indian experience started...
But about all the challenges that I lived in the next 35 hours... I'll have to tell you later as duty calls. I'm planning a trip to Pondicherry with my house-mates! :)
Kisses and saudades of You all!
***************************

Packing

2008-06-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

6 hours before, I'm packing all your love in my beating bag - the so called heart.
I bring you all, hiden in that special corner of the soul. :)
Thank You for You.

Feeling Alive

2008-06-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

It's great to feel like you've done the right choice, specially when it hits you even before you actually head for it. 2 & a half days left!

I feel blessed, for all that comes will add value to my feeling of the World. It's lucky enough to have had the chance to choose! And still, such great challenge is ahead of me!

To that fortune I add everyone's support, everyone's bet on my success, everyone's energizing words, all of your encouraging hugs!!

I am undescribably grateful! It reinforces my strength and my belief.
THANK YOU.

Never ending Music

2008-06-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today: Preparation takes control, in the midst of the never ending studies.

Music time! - had to update my lap top.
Music [being, together with Dance, a tremendous part of my life] will, as always, keep me the best company in the few moments alone. Wouldn't feel whole without it.
And today, with the excuse of making Pedro the so promised selection, I made my own.
Thank you dear for that. :)

Hei hei hei hou hou ;) , kisses & hugs

Going for other "dances"

2008-06-10T09:38:00.000-07:00

Children's day went by, and already Portugal's day came. Thus the days are passing by.

But still... I'm in peace. And I control that crolling. I feel like I'm leaving my self sorted out in here, with all the possible calmness and certainty. I'm good.

Yesterday, I had my official dancing goodbye day.

I don't stop that often, but yesterday coming and going allowed me a 10 minute pause for observing: nostalgy found me.

Already a nostalgy of dancing with You, of holding You all in my arms. But, as always, You were there. Thank you.

Still that hug.

Greatfulness? Eternal: to my parents!

Where I've been - where I'll be

2008-06-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

The journey of the heart starts today.
The body departs the 16th.
Meanwhile it went around, got prepared in other corners of the world.
I'll be telling you about all this. I'll be showing.
The experience takes place in here too.
For all of those who want to keep me company: closer or in distance.

India, here I go.
Catch you soon.