Love is in my bed...

I reached home to find that my parents had decorated my bed with a quilt printed with huge red roses all over and two big red pillows.

I so wish I could say they have a terrific sense of humor...

As is my trait, I sent love packing once again!

Pigs may fly in Amsterdam, but we’re not so sure about planes…

3 days in white wonderland with a few cups of hot chocolate and in the company of friends and some good news! Staying at the Flying Pigs hostel, but keeping away from the smoking room where you have a cannabis menu. Listening to a 3 hour monologue in my dorm by a stranger… strangers can be interesting when they’re stoned.
Train delays, slippery walkways, miscommunications and lack of network and oh so fucking cold! But along with a gratefully borrowed ski jacket, it is sometimes worth having to bear the chilliness to be able to see a beautiful smile I so love to see!

El último camino

Rojo, amarillo, azul, blanco… Hice uno de los últimos caminos en La Antigua y como siempre, admiraba la belleza de los colores, de las casas, de las calles de guijarros, de las ruinas de iglesias... 3 meses. Parece que llegué ayer. No puedo creer como voló el tiempo.

Aunque yo sé que lo extrañaré, lo extrañaré más cuando esté en La India. Las colores, la gente, la amabilidad de los guatemaltecos. Me emocioné…

Ayer, cuando estaba despidiéndome de Ángel, él, haló una silla para que me sentara, tomó mi mano y la mantuvo sin decir nada. Solo hizo un sonido y sonrío.

Tenía… tengo sólo una palabra… Gracias.

Fotos de Guatemala: http://picasaweb.google.com/lakhwani.manoj/ChipiChipiEnGuatemala

Lazy in Nicaragua

I had to do it. Managua is famous for its shopping malls and multiplexes. There was one just 5 minutes walk away from the hostel I was staying in. I had to. I went to see Harry Potter :)

After the cinema and a McDonald breakfast (I’m ashamed to admit it, but I do like McDonald breakfasts!), I had to run away from the capital. On the day I reached Granada, they were celebrating the Virgin and so almost every house had its doors opened with people sitting in their rocking chairs surrounded by their Christmas decorations in their patios, waiting for the procession to pass by their house.

The rocking chair defined Granada.

An American woman, who’s been living in Central America for 10 years, confirmed it – she said it took her 2 years to adjust her mind into just doing nothing, sitting in a rocking chair and rock away. Metaphorically speaking, it didn’t take me that long to adjust.

I just spent time reading, strolling in the streets, sitting in cafes or on steps, riding a boat to see a few of the 365 islands in the Lake of Nicaragua, swimming in a crater lake, and more importantly, enjoying the sun.

Pics of Nicaragua - http://picasaweb.google.com/lakhwani.manoj/Nicaragua

Hammocks, waves and sunsets in El Salvador

2 days of complete respite in la playa de Tunco in El Salvador watching people surfing, watching sunsets, lying on hammocks and catching a big wave now and then before making my way to Nicaragua.

Links to pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/lakhwani.manoj/WatchingTheSurfInElSalvadorPlayaElTunco#

¿¡Viva Cuba!?

One would need a lot of adjectives to describe Cuba.

Fascinating, beautiful, soulful, incomprehensible, interesting (the one I heard most often), sad, happy…

I asked myself one question repeatedly… how?

A Cuban doctor earns close to 25 Euros per month. An auto mechanic (the one who gave me this information either to share the truths of his country or to appease my touristy questions) earns around 15 Euros per month. The government gives each Cuban individual 2.5 kgs of rice per month, one chicken per family of 4, one bar of soap per family of 4, half a liter of cooking oil per family of 4, 7 eggs per person per month. A Cuban, with all his principles, rejecting the materialistic and capitalistic ideology of the “American way of life”, is supposed to manage his/her life with these contributions.

And then comes the tourist.

The tourist is given a different currency manufactured specifically for him, with a ratio of 25:1 compared to the currency used by the locals; the tourist stays in 3 to 5 star hotels or with a family authorized by the government, avails of a car, internet and a mobile phone (with internet, i learnt on my last day!), a variety of food and gets to look at how the people in this principle-driven country live. Welcome to Disneyland, I felt like I was being told by the government.

For the first time in my life, I was asked on the streets if I had a spare bar of soap to give away.

I asked myself one question repeatedly… how?

Experts say it’s illogical how this country has survived economically. The motto of the Cuban is “we’ll manage”. The Cuban will do what he can to help his fellow Cuban earn a peso.

The country survives on tourism and its relationship with Hugo Chavez. Cuba offers its medical expertise to Venezuela for free in return of “oro negro” (black gold), as the oil brand is called there.

The country survives on music to feed its soul.

Ry Cooder wrote “In Cuba, music takes care of you and rebuilds you from the inside out.”

As I walked by the sea-front Malecon stretch or old habana, I could hear trumpets and guitars being played. I could move to Havana, just to be able to go to "La Zorra y El Cuervo", the jazz club in Vedado, everyday.

As I walked in the streets of La Habana and Trinidad, I felt like I was reliving the India of the 1980s.

And then the water is turquoise…

Pics of Cuba: http://picasaweb.google.com/lakhwani.manoj/VivaCuba

Buena Vista Social Club

6 years ago, I was handed over a documentary.
In my small 12 m square room, i discovered a musical group and a country that i wanted to see.
Dreams do come true.
Buena Vista Social Club in an old mansion at La Habana, Cuba.