Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noel!

"No, no, I said off to the Schmidt's house!!"

Afrikaans - Geseende Kerfees en 'n gelukkige nuw jaar!Albanian - Gëzuar Krishlindjet Vitin e Ri!Arabic - I'D Miilad Said ous Sana Saida!Basque - Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!Belorussian - Winshuyu sa Svyatkami i z Novym godam!Bengali - Shuvo Baro Din - Shuvo Nabo Barsho!Bulgarian - Chestita Koleda i Shtastliva Nova Godina!Catalan - Bon Nadal i felic any nou!Cantonese - Seng Dan Fai Lok, Sang Nian Fai Lok!Czech - Prejemne Vam Vesele Vanoce a Stastny novy rok!Croatian - Sretan bozic!Danish - Glædelig jul og Godt nytår!Dutch - Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!Egyptian - Colo sana wintom tiebeen!English- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!Esperanto - Gajan Kristnaskon & Bonan Novjaron!Estonian - Rõõmsaid Jöulupühi ja Head uut aastat!Faroese - Gledhili jól og eydnurikt nýggjár!Farsi - Sal-e no mubarak!Finnish - Hyvää Joulua & Onnellista uutta voutta1Flemish - Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar!French - Joeux noël et Bonne Année!Georgian - Gilotsavt Krist'es Shobas & Gilosavt akhal ts'els!German - Fröhliche Wihnachten und ein glückliches neues Jahr!Greek - Kala Christougenna Ki'eftihismenos O Kenourios Chronos!Greenlandic - Juullimi Ukiortaassamilu Pilluarit!Hawaiian - Mele Kalikimaka & Hauoli Makahiki Hou!Hebrew - Mo'adim Lesimkha, Shanah Tova!Hindi - Shubh Naya Baras!Hungarian - Kellemes karácsonyi únnepeket és Boldog újévet!Icelandic - Gledlig Jól og Farsaels Komandi ár!Indonesian - Selamat Hari Natal & Selamat Tahun Baru!Iraqi - Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah!Irish - Nollaig Shona Dhuit!Italian - Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo!Japanese - Shinnen Omedeto, Kurisumasu Omedeto!Korean - Sung Tan Chuk Ha!Kurdish - Seva piroz sahibe u sersala te piroz be!Latin - Pax hominibus bonae voluntatis!Latvian - Priec´gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu!Lebanese - Milad Saeed wa Sanaa Mubarakah!Lithauanian - Linksmu Kaledu ir laimingu Nauju metu!Luxembourgeois - Schéi Krëschtdeeg an e Schéint Neí Joer!Macedonian - Srekan Bozik I nova Godina!Malyan - Selamat Hari Natal!Maltese - Nixtieqlek Milied Tajjeb u Sena Tajba!Mandarin - Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu shen Tan!Maya/Yucateco - Utzul mank'inal!Mongolian - Zul saryn bolon shine ony mend devshuulye!Nepali - krist Yesu Ko Shuva Janma Utsav Ko Upalaxhma Hardik Shuva & Naya Barsa Ko harkik Shuvakamana!Norwegian - God jul og Godt Nyttår!Papiamento - Bon Pasco i Feliz Aña Nobo!Polish - Wesolych Swiat i Szczesliwego Nowego Roku!Portuguese - Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo!Punjabi - Nave sal di mubaraka!Quechua - Sumaj kausay kachun Navidad ch'sisipi & Mosoi Watapi sumaj kausay kachun!Romania - Craciun fericit si un An Nou fericit!Russian - Pozdrevlyayu s praxdnikom Rozhdestva i s Novim Godom!Sámi - Buorit jouvllat ja Buorre Oddajahki!Samoan - Ia manuia le Kilisimasi ma le tausaga fou!Sardinian - Bonu Nadale e Prosperu Annou nou!Scots Gaelic - Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ur!Serbian - Sretan Bozic, Vesela Nova godine!Sicilian - Bon Natali e Prosperu Annu Novu!Somali - Ciid wanaagsan iyo sanad cusub oo fiican!Slovakian - Vesele Vianoce a stastny novy rok!Slovene - Vesele bozicne praznike in srecno novo leto!Spanish - Feliz Navidad y Próserpo Año Nuevo!Swahili - Krismas njema Na Heri Za Mwaka Mpya!Swedish - God jul og Gott Nytt år!Tahitian - Ia ora i te Noere e ia ora na i te Matahiti 'api!Thai - Suksan Wan Christmas lae Sawadee Pee Mai!Turkish - Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun!Ukrainian - Veseloho Vam Rizdva i Shchastlyvoho Novoho Roku!Urdu - Naya Saal Mubarak Ho!Vietnamese - Chuc Mung Giang Sinh, Chuc Mung Tan Nien!Welsh - Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!Yiddish - Gute Vaynakthn un a Gut Nay Yor!Zulu - Sinifesela Ukhisimusi Omuhle Nonyaka Omusha Onempumelelo!

Sida : Le Chat qui parle...

Texte:

Le Sida se tranmet par le sperme et le sang
La prévention se transmet par la bouche, les oreilles et les yeux
Et la solidarité se transmet par le coeur...

Indépendance de la Flandre

Vlaanderen Onafhankelijk RTBF Terzake

La RTBF, la chaine officielle en Wallonie, avait comme blague fait ce reportage bidon pour faire croire que la Flandre avait proclamé son indépendance. Bien marrant, mais les réactions furent immédiates et impressionantes: du monde, politique, pleines de déclarations et de réunions d'urgence, avec des réformes qui vont s'anoncer plus difficiles, des représentants diplomatiques qui envoyaient des fax pour demander ce qui se passait, l'indépendance de la presse mis en question (même s'il y a pas de têtes coupés...), bref, le petit Belgique a encore connu un grand moment. Autant le partager avec vous...

Change of plans and of destinations (destinies?)

• Went to my job interview and training of the British NGO International Service that had a post as Capacity builder for an NGO in Recife, Brasil (see blog posted below) and after two days of intensif (but fun) talks, analysis, games and discussions, turns out that that particular post is more about monitoring projects, evaluation etc. Translation: writing reports and looking for funds. At least for the majority of the time... Which isn't my strong suit, nor do I want to fall in that trap of getting stuck behind a desk, inventing nice phrases to say little and get as much as possible...
• So, think I'll turn back to my strength: advocacy and networking. International Service is going to keep my CV on file for that kind of posts for one year, and I won't have to go through these two days again, but I can hardly hold my breath waiting for that, as you can well understand...
• Entao, until mid January '07, am going to continue looking and applying. If unsuccesfull, then I'll have to make the hard choice between using my ticket back to Brasil without something waiting for me there, or spend the rest of the Belgian winter here... Hum, though one that ;-)

Two fathers

Kinderen voor Kinderen song - Two Fathers

When Terence was one year old, he was adopted by a gay couple Diederick and Bas. This video is from the Netherlands, the first country to allow gay marriage.

Here's 11-year-old Terence singing about his two fathers. (Lyrics with English subtitles)

Volkswagen : manifestation du 2 décembre 06 à Bruxelles pour 4000 emplois coupés

Mon petit frere, bientot responsable syndical pour le Métal à Bruxelles, dont fait partie Volkswagen, m'avait demandé de jouer un sale capitalist actionnaire de Volkswagen pendant la manif... Ainsi, j'étais assis derriere sur la carrosserie d'une Volkswagen, entrain de négocier sur mon GSM, trop occuppé pour parler de gens car on parlait d'€...

Mijn slogan: "Wij halen de 'V' uit VolksWagen!"
VW Vorst : interview in het nederlands over het begin, net na de aankondiging...

Camels from above

If you look at this picture very carefully, you can notice that the black camelsare actually the shadows of the camels, the white specks are the actual camels. Breathtaking shot!

Mal de Terre

· Bonjour, je m'appelle la terre
· Entrez, vous êtes ici chez vous
· Pour ma santé, faut pas s'en faire
· J'suis en observation c'est tout
· Et je tourne autour du sommeil
· Couchée sur les toiles de mon lit
· Un médecin sans frontières surveille
· Ma température jour et nuit
·
· Je souffre de l'Afrique gastrique
· A chaque repas entroesophages
· Les luttes intestines me ravagent
· Le gros colon fait du trafic
· Au coeur d'l'Amérique anémique
· Les rouges haïssent les globules blancs
· De chaque côté du pacifique
· Et moi j'me fais du mauvais sang
·
· Une douleur me transperce les pôles
· Plus au sud en Polynévrite
· On m'a fait péter un atoll
· Je sens plus rien, docteur, faites vite
· J'respire pas bien près des côtes
· Malaise ou de l'asthme de Panama
· Je transpire, j'étouffe, je suffoque
· J'crois qu'c'est l'régime qui m'convient pas
·
· J'voudrais r'tomber en enfance
· Au pays des petits bobos
· Des maladies sans conséquence
· Et qui portent des noms d'oiseaux
· Écouter chanter les rougeoles
· R'garder passer les oreillons
· Voir les varicelles qui s'envolent
· Et reviennent selon la saison
·
· Je suis dev'nu incontinent
· J'urine mon troisième océan
· J'y peux rien si j'vous inonde
· J'ai quitté les îles de la sonde
· Plutôt qu'le tropique du cancer
· J'trouve plus joli la Pleurésie
· Dans l'crachin du bord de la mer
· J'attendrai sagement l'embellie
· C'est grave docteur, j'ai mal à la terre
· Bizarre cette odeur d'éther
· Ça tourne pas rond
· J'crois qu'j'fais d'la tension
· interprété par Zoé

HAVE MY DREAM JOB IN BRASIL (well, 80% sur)

Yes yes, this morning received an email from International Service to invite me to a sollicitation for a job working with AIDS sensitisation for youngsters and sex workers in Recife, Brasil! It was the job I most wanted to have and International Service is an NGO (based in York, Brittain) pretty similar in functioning to Volens, my Belgian NGo that sent me to Haiti, so that is great as well. I know, it is only the application meeting, but with them that is a very good sign… And I am confident it’ll go great!
My Brazilian partner organisation for the next two years would be an NGO called GTP+ – Group for Posithive Prevention Activities. It was formed in December 2000 in Recife, Pernambuco, based on the need for the formation of an entity coordinated by people living with the HIV virus and people suffering from Aids to develop preventative work to contribute to the fight to control the HIV/Aids epidemic. GTP+ seeks to encourage activism and education aimed at prevention of STI/HIV/Aids contamination; diffusion of knowledge about Human Rights and Citizenship of HIV positive people in general and integration into society in general, independent of colour, race, creed and sexual orientation; apart from encouraging solidarity within community institutions with HIV positive people and people ill with Aids. IS will be working with GTP+ to strengthen their internal organizational capacity. (Photos from their street theater and offices)

So, planning for the next two months has changed a bit:

1. to Lisbon again with dear mom 18th till 23rd of November.
2. 3 till 15th of December Britain : 4 days in Brighton and 7th till of 15th of December will be in York, training of my NGO.
3. 16th of December is Social Forum in Belgium, for which I could now do some more volunteering, as well as the marriage of two of my friends, colleagues from Haiti.
4. 17th till 23rd of December I would love to go skiing, has been ages, with my brother.
5. The holidays (Christmas and New Years still ) back in Belgium, and then off to Brazil 14th of January…

So cool!

Have decided to start a new feature on this blog, a “happiness indicator”, just a percentage showing how happy I am, and today seems like a very fine day to start: 95%!

les projets dans l'avenir proche (pour autant que c'est possible)

Et oui, je sollicite a gauche a droite, des postes qui m'interessent (de preference pas trop trop pour des trucs de juriste, histoire de ne pas avoir une étiquette pour le reste de ma vie). Je regarde d'abord pour le Brésil, puis le reste de l'Amérique latine, et si c'est vraiment interessant, aussi ailleurs dans les pays en voie de développement. Reste que j'ai commencé vraiment qu'il y a deux semaines, donc le délai de réponse pour eux était assez court.
Car mon départ prévu s'approche, normalement je pars le 13 novembre pour d'abord cinq jours espagne (13 au 18) et puis cinq jours lisbonne (du 18 au 23 novembre), pour visiter des amis anciens et plus nouveaux...
Si entretemps pas de nouvelles, le 23 novembre je m'envole à Rio, le Bresil, (avec le retour du ticket acheté en juillet pour revenir en belgique) mais sans rien de concret sur place. J'ai sollicité a gauche et a droite, et si jamais on m'offre un truc je risque de postposer mon depart. Moi, ca me dirait bien de rester encore le mois de decembre en Belgique, car qlq marriages d'amis, passage de gens a travers la Belgique ou Paris, aussi l'envie d'aller skier (ca date!), le forum social le 16 decembre pour lequel je fais un peu de volontariat, puis alors autant rester pour noel et reveillon. Et l'hiver belge ne me fera pas de mal depuis le temps que je ne l'ai plus vécu....
Mais si je n'ai rien d'intéressant qui se profile à l'horizon (signe que les vrais génies sont toujours méconnu), la question demeure ce que je vais faire au Brésil.
- Cherchez un truc en tant que bénévole complet, en améliorant mon portugais et établissant des contacts?
- voyager un ou deux mois, peut etre plus que simplement le Brésil, un petit tour de l'Amérique latine?Bref, pas encore trop de certitude de l'avenir proche, et de temps en temps ca commence a m'agacer de devoir expliquer tout cela en long et en large tous les jours, a tous les amis bien intentionnés qui me demandent "Et kwé? Tu vas faire quoi maintenant?".
C'est jamais tres marrant de chercher du boulot ou d'admettre qu'on en a pas encore trouvé, mais en plus d'avoir la pression continue des gens qui essaient de te "soutenir", bref, j'ai pris la bonne résolution de ne plus jamais embeter un/e chomeur/se avec ces questions. Crois moi, du moment qu'on a trouvé, on est tellement content qu'on va offrir l'information soi-meme je crois! Bref, a travers ce blog alors un petit rappel pour tous ces gens qui ont du boulot et qui ont un peu oublié comment ils ont détesté la période de recherche, et qui de bon coeur n'arretent pas d'harceler: vous le demandez qu'une fois par semaine ou quoi, mais nous on entend ca tous les jours, un peu lourd quoi...

Biz

Forum Social de la Belgique

Pendant mon séjour en Belgique, je fais du volontariat pour l'organisation du Forum Social de la Belgique, rencontre entre organisations et militants "progressifs", un peu le Porto Allegre à la belge, avec entre 300 et 600 participants attendus. Ca va se passer à Bruxelles le samedi 16 décembre (donc je risque de n'etre plus là, mais je trouve que c'est sympa...).
Alors, je fais un petit appel pour mes amis et amies pour savoir s'il y en a qui veulent donner un coup de main également, à l'avance, en faisant la promotion, ou bien seulement le jour même.

Appel à bénévoles
Bonjour,

Après 2002 et 2003, le Forum Social de Belgique organise une grande rencontre entre associatif, syndicat, ONG pour croiser nos regards et proposer nos alternatives pour une autre mondialisation. Pour mettre cet événement sur pied, nous avons encore besoin d’aide ! Alors nous faisons appel à vous tous pour les différentes tâches que voici :
Logistique, interprétation, entrée, coordination des stands, accueil enfants, envoi courrier, contact organisations, matériel de traduction(connaissances techniques nécessaire)...

Pouvez-vous nous aider ? Faites-le savoir en envoyant un mail à info@wsf.be en précisant en quelle mesure vous êtes prêts à vous investir. (toute aide, aussi brève soit elle, sera d’un grand soutien !)

• [ ] Je suis disposé à vous aider le 16 décembre uniquement
  
• [ ] Je suis disposé à vous aider quelques jours avant le 16 décembre
  
• [ ] Je suis disposé à prendre en charge une responsabilité et Coordonner une équipe.
  

N’oubliez-pas de préciser vos

1. Nom:
2. Prénom:
3. TEL/GSM:
4. EMAIL:

LA REUNION DE COORDINATION LOGISTIQUE SUIVANTE aura lieu le lundi 6 novembre à 16h00. Si vous n’êtes pas libre ce jour-là mais intéressé à nous aider, n’hésitez pas à nous prévenir. Nous nous arrangerons. Tous les détails se trouvent sur www.wsf.be
9 Quai du Commerce 1000 Bruxelles
Tel : 02/250 12 68 - fax : 02/250 12 63

• Vrijwilligers gezocht

16 december organiseert het Belgisch Sociaal Forum een grote alter-mondialistische dag. Mensen, groepen en organisaties uit alle sociale bewegingen ontmoeten elkaar in hartje Brussel. Samen gaan we op zoek naar alternatieven voor een andere globalisering.
Om deze ontmoetingsdag te organiseren, zijn we op zoek naar vrijwilligers! Een oproep aan allen om de handen uit de mouwen te steken. Verschillende taken wachten op jullie: Logistieke ondersteuning, vertalingen, ingang, coördinatie infostands, kinderanimatie, organisaties contacteren, correspondentie verzorgen, materiaal voor vertalingen beheren,... Kunt u ons helpen? Geef ons een seintje op volgend emailadres info@wsf.be en laat weten in welke mate u zich kan investeren in deze ontmoetingsdag:

• [ ] Ik kan helpen, maar enkel op 16 december
• [ ] Ik kan helpen zowel op de dag zelf als tijdens de voorbereidingen ervan
• [ ] Ik wil hierin graag een verantwoordelijkheid opnemen en een groep coördineren
  
• Naam:
• Voornaam:
• TEL/GSM:
• EMAIL:

De volgende ONTMOETING VAN DE WERKGROEP LOGISTIEK gaat door op maandag 6 november om 16.00 u (Handelskaai 9 – 1000 Brussel). Indien u niet kan komen, maar toch geïnteresseerd bent in de vrijwilligerswerking rond de ontmoetingsdag, graag een seintje dan houden wij u op de hoogte. Gelieve deze informatie te doen circuleren via uw contacten !
Fabrice Collignon – Famke Vekeman

• Office of the Belgium Social Forum Secrétariat du Forum Social de Belgique Secretariaat van het Sociaal Forum van België
• www.wsf.be
• 9 Quai du Commerce 1000 Bruxelles
  9 Handelskaai 1000 Brussel
• Tél: +32.(0)2.250.12.68Fax: +32.(0)2.250.12.63

Liens vers des infos sur la migration haitienne en rep dom

Le 9 novembre 2006, Volens m'a demandé de faire une petite conférence pour les étudiants d'un DES en gestion de développement à l'Université de Liège. Ca fait partie du travail de sensibilisation et est supposé les donner des pistes pour une activité dans le cadre de Campus Sud concernant la migration. Autant partagé qlq liens intéressantes avec vous...

Documentation en ce qui concerne les migrants haïtiens, spécifiquement vers la République Dominicaine
A l’attention des étudiants de l’ULg, novembre 2006
Groupe d’Appui aux Rapatriés et Réfugiés (GARR): www.garr-haiti.org
Volens : www.volens.be et www.volensamerica.org

Migration haïtienne :
http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/oda/pdf/chroniquevoyneau_2005_33.pdf
www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Haiti-MIGRATION.html
http://www.haitipressnetwork.com/showsubject.cfm?subjectid=56
http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/cache/offonce/pid/462
Dossier très intéressant de Minority Rights :
www.minorityrights.org/admin/Download/pdf/MRGCaribbeanReport.pdf
Livre écrit par Bridget Wooding :
http://www.ciir.org/shared_asp_files/uploadedfiles/5DFF5ABC-320D-4062-AB02-78030B906D4C_Neededbutunwanted_French.pdf
Berkeley :
La Clinique Internationale des Droits Humains a complété un rapport intitulé Invités Indésirables: Une étude sur les expulsions d'Haïtiens et Haïtiens d'origine dominicaine de la République Dominicaine vers Haïti. Il s'agit d'un travail interdisciplinaire basé sur une série de données démographiques et d'entrevues. Cette méthodologie est utilisée pour identifier les tendances générales de cette migration forcée et pour comprendre les expériences des Haïtiens et Dominicains d'origine haïtienne qui ont quitté la République Dominicaine pour arriver à Haïti entre les mois d'Août 1999 et de Juillet 2000.
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/clinics/ihrlc/social_rights.html#expulsions

About migration and correcting numbers

Biggest Misconception on Migration

Ma position sur l'aide alimentaire...

An inconvenient truth

Went to see the documentary of Al Gore about global heating and threaths it brings upon us. Okay, a lot to be said contra (but why I was glad to have gone):

• very american in message and presentation (but hey, who are they're talking to primarly?).
• sometimes a bit melodramatic : did I really need the tranentrekker about his son having a near fatal accident (but must admit it is also nice to know a bit more about Al Gore and how he presents himself).
• Al Gore tries to be funny... Hum... For instance, in his introduction he calls himself "I used to be the next president of the US. (laughter)Well, I don't think that's funny (more laughter)." Maybe I just feel he is as much of a comedian as he is president of the US, almost.
• don't know if I learnt much about it, or needed to be sensitized concerning this matter, but suppose it is to be applauded that publics nowadays go to see documentaries like Bowling for Colombine or nature documentary like Microkosmos at cinemas and not just the crappy Hollywood stuff...

Maybe there is hope after all...

• http://www.read-the-truth.com/home/
• http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2078944470709189270&pr=goog-sl&hl=nl

For the sceptics, need anymore proof?

And, as a last thought, just wanted to share with you how Al Gore ilustrates the fact that environment is a political issue, and that policies make all the difference, using... my dear old Haiti and Dominican Republic border! To the left is Haiti, to the right Dominican Republic...

Pour l'amour entre un flamand et les wallons...

j'aime j'aime Durbuy

Pour voir un flamand déclarer son amour pour les wallons...

smoking and london

why I started smoking...

And why I visited London...

belge... et fier de l'etre

humour belge

21-22 octobre : salon Tourisme Autrement

Bonjour les amis,

Ce petit post pour vous inviter a un salon auquel je crois aller le dimanche 22 octobre...

http://www.tourisme-autrement.be/

Le salon se tient sur le site de Tour & Taxis, avenue du Port 86c à 1000 Bruxelles- Belgique
Le vendredi de 18 à 21h (uniquement sur invitation)
Le samedi et le dimanche de 10h à 18h
Prix d'entrée
8€, 5€ pour les étudiants, les seniors et les groupes de plus de 10 personnes

Il y a des orateurs sur différents themes, des stands d'assoc qui organise du tourisme équitable ou des stages d'immersion etc... Allez-y voir!

Programme du dimanche:

DIMANCHE 22 octobre

FORUM 1
11 h
Ethiopie, le royaume mythique
Reportage audiovisuel
Olivier Bourguet (Voir le Monde)
12 h
Tourisme et Justice :
exemples de la Birmanie et de la Palestine
Action Birmanie
ATG
13 h 45
Echange de maisons, témoignages
Intervac
15 h
Mauritanie, du désert à la mer
Film présenté par Claude Pavard
(Exploration du Monde)
16 h
Présentation des randonnées dans les Ardennes avec ânes bâtés
Gallemans Joe (le Pré aux ânes)
17 h
Deux exemples de tourisme équitable en Amérique Latine:
Centre de promotion et de développement rural amazonien (Pérou)
Asociacion intercomunal de productores de concepción (Bolivie)

FORUM 2
11 h
Présentation de la démarche de Chouette Nature (France)
Par son directeur Jean-Michel Coeffe
12 h
Développement du tourisme et conséquences climatiques
La Ministre chargée du tourisme en région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Evelyne Huytebroeck
Olja Romanic (Ecotourisme Italie)
André Heughebaert (ULB)
13 h 45
Tourisme de proximité et monde animal : p. ex des parcs nationaux et de l’Antarctique (Centre Ethique)
Alexandre de Lichtervelde
15 h
Présentation de deux initiatives de tourisme équitable en Afrique
Les Compagnons ruraux (Togo)
Itinéraire au pays Dogon (Mali)
16 h
Formation au tourisme responsable
ADI

Free Hugs Campaign

With hugs from me!

le saint bruno... ou le mateur bruno?

Eh oui, le 5 octobre, c'est ma fete... et juste la première année ou j'ai voulu feté le saint bruno, a cause du fait que j'étais a Lisbonne, et que je voulais faire une petite fete d'adieux avant de partir le 7, et bien sur parce que les Portugais ont eu la délicatesse de faire du 5 octobre un jour férié, tout excuse était présent pour faire la fete, en invitant qlq amis à un repas a l'appart. Malheureusement, ca a presque mal tourné, car pendant l'apres midi on avait deja bien piccolé, - un peu paniqué aussi par la perspective d'avoir 13 invités à la place de 8 à la base...
Numéro d'invités malchance prémonitoire, je me suis un peu emmellé les pinceaux avec les épices pour le lapin à la bière que je faisais (eh oui, je voulais faire du belge). Ainsi, a la place du sel, j'ai ajouté (juré, la pure vérité) un sorte de parfum pour les tapis, un déodorant synthétique quoi... Ainsi, notre soirée a failli terminé à l'hopital, mais heureusement je suis le seul a avoir assumé apparamment toute la dose car j'ai vomis toute la nuit... A victima a mas grande foi "o pobre brasileiro que vive na mais completa exclusão social".




C'est vrai non, qu'il a l'air completement malade, non? Pourtant, en réalité, c'est sa tete habituelle...







Bref, jusqu'a là mes aventures à Lisbonne, maintenant je suis de retour en Belgique, en connaissant encore une langue supplémentaire (et une recette à éviter). Alors, la recherche d'emploi va m'employer la majeure partie de mon temps, à coté de qlq témoignages de mes expériences en Haiti dans des écoles etc. J'ai un billet de retour pour le Brésil, pour pouvoir aller vers qlq chose d'intéressant si rien d'intéressant vient vers moi (qui parle de montagnes?) pour le 13 novembre.

Focus on Haiti

http://perso.infonie.be/easy/regards%20sur%20haiti.htm

Até logo Lisboa...

Olá meus e minhas querid@s colegas,

Hoje é a estréia neste blogue da minha primeira mensagem em brasileiro (ou melhor no português brasileiro). Então, fazemos uma pequena avaliação da minha estadia aqui em Lisboa, cidade porta para a sul do mundo, e primeira parada em direção ao Brasil.
Cheguei no dia 18 de setembro, para seguir três semanas de curso de português na escola de línguas, CIAL, com uma bolsa do governo belga (obrigado o FOREM). Morei no apartamento do meu amigo Paulo, que fica no centro histórico da cidade, ao lado do miradouro de Santa Catarina. Ele ainda está na Republica Dominicana e gentilmente me ofereceu seu apartamento. Fica num edifício com varias amig@s, Carla e António, e depois minha querida Cristina, que me acolheu no seu ninho.

Tive cinco horas de aulas por dia, três de manhã no grupo, e duas à tarde individual, focalizando o português brasileiro. Foi bastante intenso, também com TPC (Trabalho Para Casa). O meu professor de brasileiro, Carlos, está envolvido no trabalho de uma organização, SOS Racismo, e trocamos bastante experiências sobre os aspectos de direitos humanos no campo da migração. Ele também esteve sem papéis durante quatro anos dos seus sete anos em Portugal.
Foi muito bom também reviver o ambiente erasmus, com tod@s @s alun@s da escola. Somente tinha que me acostumar ao fato de ter cinco ou bem sete anos mais que os demais. Acho que no mês de novembro, quando for para Brasil, pararei novamente alguns dias aqui, se possível. Pelo menos, pensar assim, torna o adeus mais fácil.

going back home

Yes, sniff, another stay over, another goodbye, another city to turn my back on. Wish goodbyes got easier as we went along, that we would get used to it, but the opposite seems true. Seem to grow attached to people more each time...
I´ll miss the people I have met here, and some of the good things we did (and also some of the good things I unfortunately didn´t get to do)... As Stephen King wrote, ot´s the goodbyes that we hear and say that make us know we are still alive... And that from Stephen King of all people.

Changed my ticket to go back to Brasil. So, plans for now:
- from 8th Oct. till 13 November 06: staying in Belgium, applying for jobs in Latin America (since there doesn't seem to be much in the market for the moment, don't think I can restrict myself to only Brasil). Am also going to do some testimonies in classes about my life in Haiti, in French or religion classes. And of course see the friends and family again... Which were a bit pissed off that I left so often during the past three months that I was supposed to spent in Belgium.
- 13th till 18th Nov. : Spain, Granada and Malaga. Way too long that I have been to that special spot in my heart.
- 18th till 22nd Nov. : Lisboa (well, saying goodby knowing that I'd be back made it easier...).
And than back off to Rio, Brasil, either to work, volunteer or travel...

Just one to close off with, from Dan Simmons: "Life is but a spiral that starts out at an infite potential and winds down to zero."

A vida em Lisboa

Jaja, hier zit ik nu al twee weken, in schoon Lisboa, Luzboa momenteel, portugese lessen te volgen.
De tijd gaat weer eens snel - misschien een teken van intensiteit... Deze week begint mijn laatste taallessen. redelijk intensief toch, 5 uur per dag, wat vrij uitputtend is, vooral gecombineerd met het portugese nachtleven (dat pas om 12u-1u ´s nachts echt begint): Dit alles laat weinig vrije tijd over voor culturele uitstapjes en bezoekjes...
Tijdens het weekend gaan we meestal uit, en daarna slaap ik meestal een gat in de dag, dus kan niet echt zeggen dat ik al veel heb gezien van de stad zelf of de musea, maar ja... Gisteren mijn test gehad van portugees om mijn vooruitgang te bepalen en zien op welk niveau ik deze week kan beginnen, lekker 96% gehaald, wat me (misschien een tikkeltje belachelijk) toch wel gelukkig maakte - en minder schuldig over het in zombie-staat naar de lessen te gaan. Ben ook beginnen te roken en heb voor het eerst in mijn leven een pakje gekocht, slecht teken....
Heb een braziliaanse leraar, Carlos (zie foto) die ook actief is hier bij een NGO, SOS Racisme, die het heeft over mensenrechten en migratie, en we hebbenhet dus redelijk regelmatig gehad over Haiti en de Dominikaanse Republiek. Heb al een uiteenzetting mogen doen voor zijn NGO over het verschil tussen mensenhandel en mensensmokkel, waar jammer genoeg geen twee aparte woorden voor bestaan in Portugees...

Verdeel mijn tijd dus tussen mijn mede studenten (op z´n erasmus), de kotgenoten van Paulo(schitterend gelegen appart en fijne mensen), de NGO waarin mijn leraar actief is, en een paar belgen die hier op erasmus zitten...
Voor de rest, jammer genoeg weinig tijd en weinig internet om verder te sollicteren en zien welke posten nog beschikbaar zijn, dus zie een beetje op tegen de terugkeer in Belgie om mij daar aan te zetten... De enkele keren dat ik rondsurfte vond ik niks echt dat me aanstaan, niet eens zo voor 65%... Misschien een verkeerd beeld maar dacht toch niet dat ik die indruk had twee jaar geleden, voor ik met Volens vertrok... Toen vond ik echt dat ik moest kiezen tussen een weid aanbod van superinteressante dingen.. Nu ja, we zullen er wel door moeten en er intussen het beste van maken, kwestie ook nog eens de belgische vriendjes en vriendinnetjes wat uitgebreider te kunnen zien...
Groetjes,
bruno

Bush blow (up)

If this is Sunday, it must be time to go back to Belgium

After having spent the last two days in London with Jasmine and her friends, trying to do and see all London has to offer in a day, we return home exhausted.
But, you shall ask me, what did we do to be so exhausted?
- Tate Modern
- London Bridge
- St Paul's
- discovering Starbucks
- sitting by the Thames, watching the London Eye
- Natural History Museum
- Science Museum
- Victoria and Albert Hall with an Islamic art expo
- Eating at Thai buffet, all you can eat (now THAT is exhausting)
- Musical: "the producers"

and of course, we also had to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders that entire time.... ;-)

Verdere plannen

Mijn werkzoeken met International Service heeft jammer genoeg (nog) geen vruchten afgeworpen, noch in Brazilie (plaats al ingenomen), noch in Palestina (voorkennis noodzakelijk) waardat ik anders jasmine zou hebben vervoegd in Rammallah. Tja, si bon dye vle komsa...

Dus ik kom terug naar Belgie, met ons llief jasmineke in hetzelfde vliegtuig, aan in Zaventem zondag 10 sept.

En we zullen wel zien wat we daarna uitspoken. Weekje in Belgie, Volens werkje afmaken, CV's opsturen enzo... Dan, normaal gezien heb ik mijn Portugese lessen geboekt van de maandag 18de sept tot de 29ste sept. in Lisbonne met misschien een bijkomende week qls het ons echt goed bevalt en d'er nog geld overschiet. The future is bright,the future is obscure.

Oxford: pretty faces and less pretty

Even in Oxford, they have the belgian chocolate... And (d)effects are instantly noticeable.

http://www.pbase.com/ekchua/oxford_city_gargoyles





















I think because it is such a city of academics, artists felt inspired...
And so did we....














But the greatest time I had was punting. No, not some obscure, dirty deed, but an enjoyable way of river traveling... Although we did needed to get the hang of it first.

Max Havelaar

Pas mal, surtout le premier des petits films....












http://www.maxhavelaar.com/fr/movie_1.php

Future news:Brazil is out,let's try Palestine

International Service has selected Jasminefor the post in Ramallah,and while she is doing the course, she checked to see whether the post for Brasil is still available. Unfortunately it isn't anymore, so fate has decided for me, and I won't have to make the difficult choice between Palestine and Brasil anymore, both having (loads of) advantages. Now I'm applying for the job of legal researcher and advocacy campaigner at Al Haq in Ramallah, which has a very impressive but also very similar profile as the one of GARR in Haiti, I feel:
http://asp.alhaq.org/zalhaq/site/home.aspx?ln=en

Keep you posted!

Dear London

After having spend three days in Dublin, now in England during ten days.
Started in London with Dannie - So nice to see her again. I am spending the weekend with her and family. Sunday is going to be Spanish festival in Regent street, so we'll have another retrouvailes in our old surroundings, like when we lived in Granada:
http://www.regentstreetonline.com/RegentStreet/EventsChannel/Regent+Street+Festival+-+A+Walk+through+Spain.htm

Then, for five days to Oxford, meeting Lionel and Ingrid who seem to have made an entire program for, including Risk and Almodover latest film.

On the 11th, hopefully the interview with International Service in York, to apply for the job either in Brazil or in Palestine (for which Jasmine has been selected, by the way)...

More to follow!

Lawyers...

A man was on trial for a murder in a small town. There was strong evidence indicating guilt; however, there was no corpse. In the defense's closing statement, the lawyer, knowing that his client will most likely be convicted, resorted to a clever trick."Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have a surprise for you all.", the lawyer said as he looked at his watch. "Within one minute, the person presumed dead in this case will walk into this courtroom." He looked toward the courtroom door. The jury, somewhat stunned, all looked on eagerly.
A minute passed. Nothing happened.
The lawyer finally continued:"Actually, ladies and gentlemen, I made up the statement. But as I noticed you all looking toward the door with anticipation, I therefor put it to you that there is doubt in your minds. And doubt means that there is reasonable doubt as to wether anyone was really killed in this case. Therefor, I must insist that you return a verdict of not guilty."
The jury, clearly confused, retired to deliberate. A few minutes later, they returned and the foreman pronounced a verdict of guilty.
"But how?" inquired the incredulous lawyer.You must have had some doubt. I saw all of you looking at the door."
"Oh, yes," said the foreman, "we all looked. But your client did not!"
_______________
Changing lawyers is like moving to a different deck chair on the Titanic.
_______________
Arguing with a lawyer is like mud wrestling with a pig. After a while, you realize that the pig is at home in the mud.

Why to learn how to speak other languages

"Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth:
and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right.
Then they took him, and slew him."

;-)

– Judges 12:6

http://www.sonia-portuguese.com/

http://www.learningportuguese.co.uk/pronunciation/

In Brazil:

• Pulling at one's earlobe is a sign of appreciation.
• Flicking the fingertips underneath the chin indicates that you don't know or understand the answer to a question.
• To beckon someone, extend your palm face down and wave your fingers toward your body.
• The "O.K." sign [using your first finger and thumb to form a circle] is considered vulgar.
• Machismo in Brazil takes a milder, more subtle form than in other Latin American countries. Moreover, it's important for men to appear self-assured and "in control" at all times.

Quelques petites reflexions sur les choix

Ca me fait fort plaisir que mes mails servent (aussi peu soit il) a aider des gens a reflechir, ou rever (mais peut etre la, c'est moi qui reve ;-). Juste comme pour moi, certains emails de mes amis dans le monde me font rever, ou me poussent vers l'avant, m'indiquent d'autres routes meme si je ne veux pas (encore) les prendre. A mon avis, c'est un peu notre but au monde non, d'etre guidé, inspiré, et pouvoir inspirer des autres, participer à des changements. C'est la seule facon de contribuer à une évolution, non, et en partie, n'est-ce pas notre but dans le monde? J'ai toujours cherché à etre "utile" à mes amis, plutot que "gentil" ou "marrant". Ce que je vois dans "utile" est le fait de contribuer à leur faire realiser leurs reves, bien sur que dans la mesure de mes compétences et de ma personalité. Parfois je me demandais si c'était prétentieux ou arrogant que de vouloir influencer ou meme inspirer des autres, mais en réalité, pourquoi pas? Je suis quand meme fort insipiré par certaines personnes également, non?

Il y a au contraire des gens qui trouvent l'indépendance l'objectif principal, le fait de pouvoir tenir tout seul, to do it my way, comme on dit. Ils ne souhaitent pas se confier à des autres, qu'en cas de réelle nécessité. Dans ce cas alors, ils se tournent vers les quelques rares personnes dans lesquels ils ont confiance, leurs "vrais amis".

Je crois que je vois les choses différemment. Je préfère justement connaitre plusieurs manieres de voir, de m'appuyer sur tellement d'influences, de personnes et d'examples, qu'on en devient, ben, plus grand. N'est pas l'autonomie supreme que d'avoir une telle variété d'influences qu'on en ressort saturé, et dans un sens de se retrouver chez des autres, plus soi meme? Car claire, il ne s'agit pas d'etre ouvert à n'importe qui ou quoi, on choisit selon son caractere, ses ambitions etc. Mais il faut admettre que de nos jours, on vit précisemment à une époque où on peut trouver n'importe quel modèle, on peut entrer en contact avec tellement de manières de vivre différentes. Par les voyages, comme première génération ou, d'accords, nous occidentaux, on peut presque tous avoir accès à des prix abordables. Par internet, qui permet de trouver des autres amateurs pour n'importe quel hobby ou intéret spécifique. Par tous ces média qui nous sont offerts.

Et c'est la qu'en partie je crois vient une malaise chez tellement de personnes, c'est qu'ils se sentent angoissé. Avec la liberté vient la responsabilité. On est obligé de choisir, mais souvent, des gens ne veulent pas. De crainte de devoir échouer, sans s'assumer, ou de paresse, que sais-je. On a un choix tellement grand, qu'il en devient pesant. On devrait quand meme pouvoir etre heureux avec tous ces possibilités, mais je crains que pour beaucoup, c'est stressant, c'est inquiétant. Comme à l'image d'un supermarché, tellement de produits et de publicité qu'on s'y retrouve plus. Il y a parfaitement moyen de s'y perdre pendant des heures, de comparer des prix et des produits sans savoir lequel choisir. Et d'en ressortir en se demandant si on a vraiment acheté ce qu'on voulait, ou si on voulait vraiment ce qu'on acheté... D'ou l'importance d'etre bien organisé (j'en connais qui vont sourire s'ils lisent ca, je sais, je suis M Organisé ;-) .Mais c'est vrai, plus on est habitué, plus on vient avec des listes de courses, ou même des coupons de publicité etc, moins c'est stressant, on se sent guidé, avec un plan, des objectifs...

Avant, on naissait dans un petit village où on allait mourir aussi, on allait probablement reprendre le boulot ou l'affaire de papa et voir tous les mêmes gens tout le temps. Les voisins pouvaient donner les ragots et avis sur tout le monde, et le curé donnait la réponse à toutes les autres questions existentielles qu'on se posait.

De nos jours, il y a toujours moyen de vivre ainsi, mais on a d'autres choix possibles, on voit tout autour de nous des autres examples aussi, A la télé, les stars. Dans les média, des autres autres pays. Même chez les voisins, de plus en plus souvent des autres cultures, des autres modes de vie. Je ne sais pas si on est devenu plus heureux, plus complet à cause de cela, ou si justement plus angoissé. Ce sont souvent des choses inconnues, l'incertain qui fait peur aux gens, qui leur stressent. On parlait hier dans un cour que notre Zeitgeist est de crainte, de peur. Des terroristes, des maladies, de la guerre, mais de pression dans le travail, de nos entourage. Quoi qu'on fasse, on a toujours des gens devant nous qui le font mieux, qui sont plus beaux, plus intélligent, plus cultivé, plus marrant. Pour pouvoir exceller maintenant, la compétetion est tellement grande que je comprends l'angoisse pour beaucoup. Personnellement, je le trouve libératoire, je trouve notre génération priviligié et je crois qu'à long terme, ou peut etre devrais-je dire que j'espère qu'à long terme, cela va nous amener à etre plus apte a faire des choix et de les assumer, et donc d'etre plus épanouie. Mais quand on voit qu'on commence à s'habiller tous pareils, que tous les gosses jouent aux nintendos et regardent les mêmes séries. "57 channels and nothing's on". Tous les marques de soft drink qu'on veut mais ils sont tous pareils. Est-ce que le capitalisme ne poussera pas toujours vers le conformisme, ne va pas toujours jouer sur l'instinct de troupeaux, de vouloir etre considére conforme à la norme?

les jours a venir

Okay, what are my plans for the coming weeks?

• 21 till 28th August: école doctorale de la migration a l'université de Liège. Je dois admettre que c'est fort intéressant d'apprendre beaucoup plus de théories sur les migration, ensemble avec des gens venus un peu de partout en Europe, faisant des doctorats sur le thème... Parfois, ca donne envie d'en commencer une aussi ;-)
• 29th till 1st of September: off to Dublin with dear mom, visiting the city for 0,01€ - thanks to Ryan Air.
• 1st till 4th of September: London: seeing good old daniela again
• 4th till 8th of Sept. : Oxford, going to see habibi Lio et Ingrid
• 8th till 10th of Sept. : back to London, also to try and see International Service, a UN organisation to send out volunteers http://www.internationalservice.org.uk/ . Here I wish to apply for a job in Natal, Rio Grande, Brazil, that has to do with an NGO that does sexual health prevention in a Human Rights approach.

From mid September till end of September, I'll probably be in the Azores, to follow a two or three week class of Portuguese. If I will use my return ticket to Brazil beginning of October will depend... si bondye le vle...

Recipe for a successful overseas project worker

Ingredients:
1 bowl of an individual containing the following doses:
- a big chunk of commitment, brand “genuine”, preferably already tried before
- add the minimum dose of respect for other cultures and ways of living
- a whiff of desire for discipline and systemising, but creative and social
- please verify that it is still flexible and can be adapted to a reasonable degree
1 pre-existing local team with:
- backbones of goals and objectives
- sufficient amount of flesh of motivated colegues
- aged by its own ways of working
And behind, an organisation with a commitment and a real desire to support the South to attack structural problems

Cooking instructions:
One begins by preparing this individual properly: after information, we recommend language classes and a time permitting integration and adaptation, before the proper cooking can begin. Experience learns us though that this happens rather quickly. Next, we combine the individual with the local team, making sure through prudence and respect no flakes form incidentally. Mix this, in the beginning slowly, but accelerating and adjusting the rythm if necessary. It must not be forgotten that adding the individual shouldn’t dominate the taste but simply add its flavour, and that the individual is supposed to be impregnated by the other ingredients as well! The dry flavour of law and human rights can be counterbalanced by the sharper analysis and political awareness. Since in this particular case, the meal is to be served to young people, one can take advantage of the included play factor, with games that have aged through years of boy scouts and working as monitor for children with handicaps to behavioural problems, or accompanying children victim of trafficking in Haiti. Best results are achieved by working systematically, and having a certain discipline combined with patience.

Easy and outgoing, it is a meal that in general pleases everyone without being tasteless. One great advantage of this recipe is that it adapts easily to different tastes and can be seasoned as required.

To accompany this meal, add the means to survive, but not to live like a king! In our experience, it is best that this mixture boils at the same temperature as the other components around it. For setting, we offer a supporting company of friends & family which also allows to bridge a bit of the gap that divides the seats in the North from the cheap seats in the South.

Important note: while cooking it is important to keep in mind that same ingredients might not be available all the time, and thus search for alternatives!

Six degrees of seperation

Six degrees of separation is the hypothesis that anyone on Earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances with no more than five intermediaries.
The hypothesis was first proposed in 1929 by the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy in a short story called Chains. The concept is based on the idea that the number of acquaintances grows exponentially with the number of links in the chain, and so only a small number of links is required for the set of acquaintances to become the whole human population.
By extension, the same term is often used to describe any other setting in which some form of link exists between individual entities in a large set. For example, "see also" links in a dictionary entry may point the reader to other entries in the same dictionary; after following only six such links, the reader could potentially get to any word in the dictionary that has a link to it. In this special case of a dictionary, it is sometimes called the six links rule.

In the 1950s, Ithiel de Sola Pool (MIT) and Manfred Kochen (IBM) set out to prove the theory mathematically. Although they were able to phrase the question (given a set N of people, what is the probability that each member of N is connected to another member via k1, k2, k3...kn links?), after twenty years they were still unable to solve the problem to their own satisfaction.
In 1967, American social psychologist Stanley Milgram (see Small world phenomenon) devised a new way to test the hypothesis, which he called "the small-world problem". He randomly selected people from various places in the United States to send postcards to one of two targets: one in Massachusetts and one in the American Midwest. The senders knew the recipient's name, occupation, and general location. They were instructed to send the card to a person they knew on a first-name basis who they thought was most likely, out of all their friends, to know the target personally. That person would do the same, and so on, until it was delivered to the target himself/herself.
Although the participants expected the chain to include at least a hundred intermediaries, 80% of the successfully delivered packages were delivered after four or fewer steps. Almost all the chains were less than six steps. Milgram's findings were published in Psychology Today, and his findings inspired the phrase six degrees of separation. Playwright John Guare popularized the phrase when he chose it as the title for his 1990 play. Milgram's findings were criticized, however, because they were based on the number of packages that reached the intended recipient, which was less than five percent of the total packages sent out. Further, many claim that Milgram biased the experiment in favor of the successful delivery of the packages by selecting his participants from a list of people likely to have above-average incomes, and thus not representative of the average person. It has been theorised that six is less representative of the true distance between people than of the maximum length a chain can be sustained without breaking down.
In 2001, Duncan Watts, a professor at Columbia University, continued his own earlier research into the phenomenon and recreated Milgram's experiment on the Internet. Watts used an e-mail message as the "package" that needed to be delivered, and after reviewing the data collected by 48,000 senders and 19 targets (in 157 countries), Watts found that the average number of intermediaries was indeed, six. Watts' research, and the advent of the computer age, has opened up new areas of inquiry related to six degrees of separation in diverse areas of network theory such as power grid analysis, disease transmission, graph theory, corporate communication, and computer circuitry.
A movie was made based on this concept in 1993: In New York, the art dealers John Flanders ('Flan') Kittredge (Donald Sutherland) and Louisa ('Ouisa') Kittredge (Stockard Channing) are ready to have a business dinner with their South African friend and client Geoffrey Miller (Ian McKellen), when a wounded young black man comes to their fancy apartment telling that he had been just robbed in Central Park and asking for help. He introduces himself as Paul (Will Smith), a friend of their son and daughter in Harvard and son of Sidney Poitier, and the couple invites him to stay with them. During the night (or especially in the morning), they find that Paul is not who he claims to be. When they investigate the life of Paul, they find the hidden truth.

Fiesta Latina a Bruxelles

El Festival Fiesta Latina es tropical y gratuito… info: www.fiestalatina.be

Visited Countries

My 43 countries visited in the world...

Still a lot left huh?

Quick calculating: there's about 190 states recognised by the UN. Some quick math: if I am currently at 43 countries visited, at the current rate I am going:
at 28 I've visited 43
at 84 I would have visited 126!

Hum, who said anything about the need for speed?

If you want to make the same map: www.world66.com

De plek

Je moet niet alleen om de plek te bereiken
Thuis opstappen, maar ook uit manieren van kijken.
Er is niets te zien, en dat moet je zien
Om alles bij het zeer oude te laten.

Er is hier. Er is tijd.
Om overmorgen iets te hebben achtergelaten.
Daar moet je vandaag voor zorgen.
Voor sterfelijkheid.

Herman De Coninck

- 29/7 retour en Belgique,
- 31/7 visite de la famille car anniversaire de mon grand pere. Il a toujours revé de voir le foret amazonien, mais c'est un peu loin... Si Mohamed ne vient pas à la montagne, faudra que le foret amazonien vienne a lui, donc j'ai amené quelques sémences pour son jardin...
- 1/8 a Charleroi, fete d'au revoir de Pedro Ruquoy, un pretre belge qui travaillait avec les haitiens en République Dominicaine, et qui va se rendre en Zambie maintenant.
- 2 et au 6 aout : Paris, retrouvailles avec des amis
- 7 au 9 aout: retour en Belgique a nouveau...
- 10 et 11 aout: vers les Pays Bas... Ca bouge, d'etre a l'interieur de l'europe!
- 12 et 13 aout : a Liege
- 14/8 tout le monde invité pour feter le fameux 14-15 aout a Liege, avec plein de peket (jenever local, a tous les parfums possibles)
- 21 au 31 aout: suivre conference sur migration a Université de Liegé ?
- debut septembre (du 1er au 10 probablement?): petit passage en Angleterre, a Londres, Brighton et Oxford

de santiago de compostella

Du 22 au 29 juillet, je suis avec mon frangin, sa copine et un autre couple dans le nord d'espagne, a Galicia. On a fait le saint Jacques a Santiago, avec le meilleur feu d'artifice que j'ai jamais vu, surplombé par la vieille cathedrale, sublime, meme de trop.

July 25 Feast of St James the Great

This Apostle was a son of Zebedee, a fisherman of Galilee, and Salome (cf. Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40; 16:1), and brother of John the Evangelist. He is sometimes called 'James the Greater', and sometimes 'Jacob'.

James was apparently a disciple of St John the Baptist and left everything when Jesus called him to be a fisher of men. James was among the circle of people closest to Jesus, was present with Peter and John at the Transfiguration, and again at the Agony in the Garden, sleeping while Christ prayed. He was tried and executed in Jerusalem in the year 44 CE by Agrippa I, son of Aristobulus and grandson of Herod the Great. There is a tradition that James founded an Apostolic in Spain; this tradition was current as early as 700, but no certain mention of such tradition is to be found earlier.

Once, he resurrected a boy who had been wrongly executed, and had been dead for five weeks. The boy's father, notified of the miracle while he sat at his dinner table, pronounced the story nonsense, saying his son was no more alive than the roasted fowl on the table. The cooked bird promptly sat up, sprouted feathers, and flew away. Or, so it is said.

St James the Great is the patron saint of, among other things, apothecaries, arthritis sufferers, blacksmiths, Chile, druggists, equestrians, furriers, Guatemala, horsemen, knights, labourers, pharmacists, pilgrims, soldiers, Spanish conquistadors, tanners, and veterinarians .

He is also the patron of Spain, where he is said to have preached, and it was in Spain that a remarkable transformation came over the legend of this fisherman. At the Battle of Clavijo, 841, between Ramiro, King of Leon, and the Moors, when the Christians were losing, St James appeared in the field, on a charger decorated with scallop shells, and armed, he slew 60,000 of the Moors. In his honour, the Spaniards founded the Order of St James of the Sword (Santiago de Espada).

For centuries, the Spanish army rode to battle with the cry "Santiago!" ("Saint James!"). An example of this was at the Battle of Cajamarca, Peru on November 16, 1532, when only 168 conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro (1471 - 1541) defeated 80,000 Incan warriors led by their emperor, Atahualpa. Tradition has it that over the centuries, James has appeared, and been seen fighting at Flanders, Italy, India and America. Charles V (1500 - 1558) conquered Tunis on St James's Day.

The Pilgrimage of Compostela, Spain is Europe's greatest pilgrimage.
The city of Santiago de Compostela became the seat of the saint, from the legend of his body having been miraculously translated there.
When his relics were being conveyed from Jerusalem, where he died, to Spain, in a ship of marble, the horse of a Portuguese knight plunged into the sea with its rider. When rescued, the knight's clothes were found to be covered with scallop shells.
It might be that the use of the scallop device derives from the pilgrims' using shells as primitive cups and spoons, or it might derive from the earlier Roman festival of the sea god and goddess, Neptune and Salacia (July 23, qv). Pilgrims to the shrine wore, and often still wear, a scallop shell on cloak or hat.
Medieval Galicians (from Galicia, Spain 'the land of the Gaelic, or Celtic/Gallic people' – first cousins to the Irish, Welsh, Scots, Cornish and Bretons; living in northwest Spain around Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain) who were willing to accept passing pilgrims into their homes also hung scallop shells over their doors. In French, 'une coquille Saint-Jacques' – literally, a 'St James shell' – is the term for 'scallop'.

The remains of the Apostle lay forgotten until the year 813, when a hermit named Pelayo was led to their hidden site by a shining star (campus stellae), thus giving the name to the city, or from the latin word for cemetary compostela). The local bishop had the cathedral erected at this location where the bones of the saint lie in a chapel located in the basement of the church.

The pilgrimage to Compostela became almost as popular and important in medieval Europe as that to Jerusalem. Because of this, seventeen English peers and eight baronets have scallop shells in their arms as heraldic charges.

The pilgrimage, known as the Camino, is as popular today as it was in the Middle Ages. Tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world, not all of them Roman Catholic, make the journey on foot. The pilgrimage, probably the most famous on the planet, goes for about 900 kilometres, from France to Spain, and takes about a month.


More folklore
Apples were blessed on this day by the priests, and at Cliff in Kent, England the rector traditionally distributed a mutton pie and a loaf to as many as ask for it.
At the Fiesta de Santiago in Loiz Aldea, Puerto Rico, villagers still act out the characters from the battle of St James against the Moors. Some wear their faces painted white, dressed as Spanish conquistadors, while others impersonate the Moors, who are represented (of course) as grotesques, with carved, horned masks. Some villagers become clowns, and others “crazy women” (men dressed in women’s clothes).
There is an old English saying that “Who eats oysters on St James's Day will never want”. In Britain, St James's Day falls during what also became known as the close season for oysters, meaning that by act of parliament they are prohibited to be harvested until today. We may assume that oysters obtainable so early in the season would be a luxury only eaten by the rich.

Quotes
Omnis homo velox est.[Let every man be swift (to hear).] In art, the motto of St James the Greater
Until St James Day be come and gone
You may have hops or you may have none.Traditional English proverb
If it be fair three Sundays before St James’s day, corn will be good; but wet corn will wither.English traditional proverb
Whoever eats oysters on St James's Day will never want money. English traditional proverb
I think oysters are more beautiful than any religion. Saki: The Chronicles of Clovis

how I felt coming back - sand in my shoes (Dido)

"Sand In My Shoes"

Dido

Two years away

it feels like the whole world should've changed

But I'm home now

And things still look the same

I think I'll leave it till tomorrow to unpack

Try to forget for one more night

That I'm back in my flat on the road

Where the cars never stop going through the night

To a life where I can't watch sunset

I don't have time

I don't have time

I've still got sand in my shoes

And I can't shake the thought of you

I should get on, forget you

But why would I want to

I know we said goodbye

Anything else would've been confused but I wanna see you again

Tomorrow's back to work and down to sanity

should run a bath and then clear up the mess I made before I left here

Try to remind myself that I was happy here

Before I knew that I could get on the plane and fly away

From the road where the cars never stop going through the night

To a life where I can't watch sunset

And take my time

Take up our time.

Two years away,

all it takes to change and turn me around,

I've fallen

I walked away and never said that I wanted to see you again...

I've still got sand in my shoes
And I can't shake the thought of you
I should get on, forget you
But why would I want to
I know we said goodbye
Anything else would've been confused but I wanna see you again

la belgique en fete...

En ja, morgen, grote dag, mijn broertje verjaart, dertig jaar! Voor een keer zal hij in Belgie zitten... Gaan het vieren in Gent, net tijdens de gentse feesten.

En de dag erna, la fete nationale belge. Deux copains d'Haiti viennent, faire la fete. Chouette de les retrouver...

Tips for the lonely traveller

Just some things I thought handy while traveling by myself:
- remember, you meet a lot more people while travelling alone, and traveling makes you establish much stronger bonds in a short time, so don't worry about getting lonely (in my opinion, people should worry more about being able to stand the person they would be traveling with for 24/24-7)...
- take along an iPod, jukebox, whatever brand you want to. It's so nice to have a big selection of music, to fill the gaps while sitting in buses or at stations. And, as anti-social as it might seem, it's sometimes actually nice to shut down and not invite any random person to start chatting with you... If you do, try putting some audio books on them. Good to listen to while driving, or when it's dark... A good website to get some from is www.audiobooksforfree.com
- take a hammac: so nifty, and they can be really compact (especially in South America, they can make them out of parachute material). Safer and more hygienical since you don't sleep on the ground. Only problem is each time finding two things to attach it to.
- for hitchhiking: great for meeting people and getting to know local ways of thinking, especially during long distance trips: all you can to do is just chat and ask questions.... A lot of people still stress, about kidnappings, rape, whatever. Keep in mind thoug that statistically, more people die at home than outside, but does that make more people stay outdooors? Just come safety tips:

1. Study the map before lifting your thumb so you know which villages are on the way, which route exactly you want to follow.
2. Watch the cars that drive by, also in opposite directions. If a car drove by and then comes back for you, he/she could have other strong motivations than just helping you out, he/she could be a Really Bad Person.
3. Always ask where the person is going, don't let them ask where you are going, cause then a Really Bad Person can just say: "Oh, what a coincidence, that's where I am heading, jump in"...
4. Wave goodbye to somebody when getting into the car, so the Really Bad Person thinks some witness will be able to identify his car.
5. Never hesitate to turn down a car, if you don't feel comfortable or have a bad feeling about it. Especially girls, who always worry about hitch hiking by themselves: there will be tons and tons of cars stopping for you (unlike for us boys, who have to stand there fopr hours sometimes), so be picky : don't get into cars with men, or mixed couples, just take the women by themselves or, mothers...
6. Take minute when getting into the car of really studying the make of it, its interior (see any weapons or bottles lying around?) and the driver, so if necessary you could identify them.
7. Always have as a hobby karate and judo, or some other lethal sports. It might prevent a RBP from trying it out for truth.
8. They usually recommend to say that somebody is waiting for you at your destination, though I have never understood that tip: how does it protect you??
9. Try being "in charge" of the conversation... If you dominate the situation (or appear to be so) you seem less vulnerable.
10. If you have doubts, just pull out a mobile/cell phone when getting into the car, and send (or pretend to send) an text message with the car's licence plate to someone ("Yeah, my mom made me promises to do this, cause she worries sick about me if not"). The RBP thus knows that he can better stay clear...
11. Always have a boy/girl friend-husband/wife - with children, it is less inviting, especially in some cultures.
12. Should the RBP pull over and start getting annoying or threatening, try pulling the keys out and throwing them away (don't take them with you!!). Run in the opposite direction. He'll go after the keys before being able to chase you on foot or by car....
13. Girls, heaven forbid, but should it get really really bad, try throwing up on yourself, some say it has been clinically proven that men can't get it up with the smell and everything. Other liquid preventing them from "performing" would be blood, especially his own, easiest obtainable by hitting his nose.
14. Some say: "Don't, cause I have AIDS", though that always makes me worry that he's gonna answer : "Me too"...

Allright, gotta run, hope this is usefull...and that you won't ever have to use some of these tips.