A Visitor's Journey

Leaving Europe

2007-12-19T02:42:00.000+02:00

The cycle is completed. I'm back in Madrid, this time to catch my flight back home.

It really feels like the end of a cycle. Six months have passed, but now I'm already in the mood I was when I left.

My laptop battery is running out and don't have where to recharge, so I will hopefully write more about this when I get back home. But before my laptop dies, I just want to point out something. I was received at the hostel, where I'm staying for this last night in Europe, by a Paraguayan; and my room has a typical Venezuelan souvenir/decoration on the wall (which you can see on my flickr gallery). If signs could talk, they would be redundant.

Six Months and Time to Come Back

2007-12-08T15:27:00.000+02:00

It's been six months since I started this journey, and it's time to come back. A few days ago I decided it's enough for now. Moving so much, for so long, can be very tiring; but the worst is that the trip looses it whole purpose if the motivation is lost.

It was not an easy decision at all. A few people I wasn't able to visit yet, and an incredible opportunity I'm missing: going to Aakash's wedding and travel with good friends in India. It kept me going for a while, but it got to a point when I couldn't deny myself anymore that I have to stop.

My thoughts are already back in Venezuela since a few weeks ago. Time to come back.

Back

2007-11-27T21:54:00.000+02:00

It's been almost 4 months since the last time I posted anything in this blog. At the beginning I didn't post simply because I didn't have the time and access to internet. Then, after some time, I started to realize that it was just not possible for me to write what I wanted, or as I wanted. I did try and wrote several posts that I never finished. Once I revised them a few days later to publish, I had a completely different perspective on what I wanted to tell and had to start again. This is what happens when you find yourself each few days in a different city, with different people, living different lives. The only constant is change.

I realized I need some stability to write. Some time to think about what the hell is going on. I just can't sit in an internet cafe and vomit what's in my mind. If I can't understand it, other people surely won't either. This would be so much easier if I just liked to write straight-forward chronicles.

The burden of telling my accumulated experiences and thoughts grown over time, along with my accumulated experiences and thoughts, and became a monster. A huge monster that feeds on untold stories and undocumented experiences.

The only way I can find to stop this cycle, to stop feeding the animal, is to just write something, anything, as I'm doing right now; and later I'll find the way to fill the huge gap. Or not.

I already divided the different stages of my trip and uploaded some photos to illustrate what's yet to be written. At least it's a start.

Living in Berlin?

2007-11-27T03:27:00.000+02:00

(Picture soon?)

A Visitor in Oslo

2007-11-21T05:21:00.000+02:00

My Family in Münster

2007-11-07T03:17:00.000+02:00

Forced Detour: Berlin

2007-11-01T03:09:00.000+02:00

Lost in Prague

2007-10-19T02:49:00.000+03:00

Polish Hospitality

2007-10-14T02:46:00.000+03:00

Back in Budapest

2007-10-07T02:28:00.000+03:00

My Croatian Holidays

2007-09-27T02:25:00.000+03:00

Down and Up in Budapest

2007-09-16T02:21:00.000+03:00

The Hungarian Wedding

2007-09-01T02:16:00.000+03:00

The Andalucian Charm

2007-08-26T02:00:00.000+03:00

The Portuguese Undertow: Back to Portugal

2007-08-19T02:06:00.000+03:00

Portuguese Road Trip in Spain

2007-08-12T01:49:00.000+03:00

Transit in Madrid

2007-08-05T03:41:00.000+03:00

Drifting in Barcelona

2007-08-01T20:19:00.000+03:00

Just after arriving in Barcelona I realized I came at the wrong time. It was a mix of lack of planning and pure and simple bad luck. Nothing too bad actually, but the main result was that I found myself drifting in Barcelona. Jumping from place to place and bed to bed for two weeks, once again, but this time in the same city. It's incredible how the feeling of not knowing for sure were are you going to sleep the next day, or that night, affects everything else, brings chaos and forces you to live day by day even more. The complete uncertainty of the future. It's the feeling of being really homeless, because, even when you are miles away from home traveling, you make many homes on the journey. Little spaces and things that you can feel sure about and come back to them. That certainty is an important part of what makes a home.

It seems easy to get lost in this city and drift away. It's incredible how many people I saw sleeping on the streets (there are even people who sleep on the street in other countries and come here, like any other tourist, to sleep on these streets). There was a guy sleeping at the front door of the building at one of the places where I was staying in the Barrio Gotico. What caught my attention, apart from the fact that there was a guy sleeping every day at the front entry of the place I was staying, is that this guy had a mattress, blankets, and everything. Didn't seem like a homeless man and was even reading during the day. It was almost like he went out of his flat one day to buy a mattress and on the way back he got tired of carrying it and decided to stay just there, on the street.

The City

Barcelona is a young ultra-trendy city. There seems to be one huge alternative scene that is so big that has become mainstream, where everybody struggles to differentiate itself. Maybe it has to do with the individualistic and proud character that has been attributed to Catalan people, although I'm not who to say since I didn't really get to know Catalans that much.

Barcelona is ridiculously full of tourists, more so now that is summer of course. It would be interesting to see some numbers of how many people come in summer and the rest of the year in general. I'm sure the population of the city doubles itself. Most of them are european looking for the sun, the beach and the hedonistic life in which seems to be like an escape city for Europe.

Barcelona is full of immigrants. From Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa. This city is like a magnet for foreigners. Even many of the spaniards that live in Barcelona are not originally from Barcelona. They are from other places in Catalunya and around Spain that come here to study or work. Seems like barcelonians are hard to find in Barcelona.

Barcelona is full of life. The mixture of all the different kinds of people and cultures brings an eclectic and dynamic character to the city, which is already an urbanistically eclectic city. That was another thing that caught my attention. Barcelona 'looks' different from all the other european cities I've been. From Gaudi to the gothic to the beach and everything in between, there is a coexistence of opposites that fits perfectly in this city.

Barcelona looks like a city I could call home, but I guess not this time.

Thanks to Rober, Guille and specially Tomas for giving me a place to stay and helping me when I needed it the most

Chilling in Pardilho

2007-07-15T05:13:00.000+03:00

PreScript: I want to apologize for the evident delays in my posts, which are always at least 1 week behind. I'm trying my best to write about all the different stages in my travel, but either my trip goes faster than my writing, or my resources are very limited, or both... but I'm trying to catch up. What I'm writing now is a small fraction of what I would like to say, but at least is something.
Here is a fraction of what I wanted to say 2 weeks ago.

As said in my last post, this was the perfect break after a few fast-paced weeks.

Going by bike for 40 mins to the nearest internet connection center, because it's not only far, but there is also no public transportation to speak of; smelling the aroma left by the farm animals; watching the cornfields between houses; hearing the overwhelming silence and slowing down the time until it's no more. A new and interesting experience for my city-self. Pardilho is definitely a little town; and rural in a small, self-sufficient, scale.

I broke my break a couple of days during the week to visit Aveiro and Coimbra, which are very different from each other but have their own unique character.

Aveiro is a very nice and relaxed city which has all the feeling of summer city, with the beach next to it and all. It's apparently the city with the best quality of life in Portugal, and it shows.

Coimbra is a city defined by its University, which literally takes a major part of the urban area and merges with it in a very natural way. It's almost like the University is the city. I went in the middle of the summer holidays so I'm sure I missed a lot of the life that the academical year brings.

In the weekend we went camping to Torreira, which has a very nice beach, at least for European standards, but with a completely different experience from a Venezuelan beach. People here go just to relax, not in the Caribbean sense of the word, but in a more calm way. It's interesting to see so many people on the beach, and still be very quiet and peaceful. I think the beach is the place where the difference between our cultures is more evident.

Specially memorable was the saturday night when Cristiano and friends came to Torreira to have dinner with Natercia and me. We ate and drink in obscene quantities in a great sea-food restaurant with delicious food and payed a miserable amount of money. After that we went to party to one of the places on the coast and it was perfect. One of those moments when you confirm that is not about the place where you are but about the people you are with.

Anyway, I had a great week staying with Natercia. I want to thank her and her family for everything they did to make me feel at home. Muito obrigado!

Back in Portugal

2007-07-10T23:18:00.001+03:00

Since I left Porto 3 weeks ago everything has been very intense. That's why I didn't write here until now. For the last 2 weeks I've been sleeping almost every single night in a different bed, and every couple days in a different city, not to mention different countries. Before that I was staying in a hostel with more than 15 people, many of which are good friends of mine, from Istanbul times.

Right now I'm staying with another of my good friends from Istanbul, Natercia, in a little town near Aveiro and 45 minutes from Porto (everything seems to be very close here as this is not a big country; more so after been traveling Turkey where 12 hours bus rides is just something common). Natercia told me it was a village but for me it's more like a suburban country club with beautiful houses. I'll post photos of the town in the next few days

What's clear is that this is a very quiet and peaceful place, just perfect for me right now after one hectic month. I need now to rest, think, plan and write. I have to plan when, how and where I'm going in the next couple of months before Geza's wedding in Hungary. I have to write more in this blog also.

I'll write about the last 3 weeks and post it with its related dates for archive purposes. This might start to look more like my 'memoirs' than a diary, but I also was never sure what and how I would write this, and still don't. Work in perpetual progress.

Istanbul once again

2007-07-04T04:23:00.000+03:00

I just wanted to write a little about my last days in Istanbul, after the trip to the east.

Coming back to Istanbul after all the others had left was a very strange and interesting situation. For the first time I was the only foreigner in the city - not in a literal sense of course. I stayed with my turkish friends and it was great to have a different taste of the city, sharing life only with locals. It's not that it's better or worse, but it's a completely different experience. A new city opened up to be explored, but it also has a lot to do with the fact that I was free for the first time with no work responsabilities as I had 2 years ago, which I always knew that it was taking a major part of the experience of living in Istanbul and Turkey.

I want to thank all of my friends in Istanbul for their incredible hospitality. It never ceases to amaze me. Umut, Firat, Aziz, Ogul, and specially Bekir and Orhan for everything they did for me. çok teşekkürler arkaşlar!

Journey to the East

2007-06-29T23:06:00.000+03:00

There are so many things I could write about the solo trip I did to east Turkey, but I'll try to focus just in a few, at least for now.

As seen on the map, I went from Istanbul to Ankara, where I only stayed for a few hours before taking the bus to Trabzon. Stayed in Trabzon for a couple of days and then went to Doğubayazit. One day and a half there and then to Van, where I stayed two nights before coming back to Istanbul by plane.

It was a very short time to travel east, but ever since I left Turkey 2 years ago, time in which I didn't have the chance to go east, I promised myself to come back one day and go there, so I had to take this opportunity. Actually now I was left with a similar feeling because for me this was just like a taste of what could be. I definitely want to come back some day and travel with more time, and having practiced my turkish also.

Restaurant Turkish

One of the things I quickly realized while I was traveling is that I had lost most of the little turkish I had 2 years ago. Sadly, I was just left with my 'restaurant turkish'. As soon as I entered a restaurant I became a fluent turkish speaker, understanding and communicating without an effort, and receiving compliments every time; but one second after I left the restaurant I turned again into a complete idiot. Of course, an important part of the 'restaurant turkish' is just plain and simple names of foods and drinks, which makes it even more embarrassing.

Language and Traveling Alone

The shame to have lost the little turkish I had is nothing in comparison with the helplessness when trying to communicate with people during my trip. Before going to the east of Turkey I thought about the possible difficulties of traveling alone without really knowing the language, but soon I realized I was worried about the wrong thing. Traveling east Turkey alone it's very easy, at least for a man, even without knowing anything, and this is just because people are so helpful that they will do anything to understand what you need to help you. Even if this wasn't the case, there is always a way to find the place you are looking for or ask for what you want, and if you don't for whatever reason, there are always another options. I mean, there are much more difficult things than going somewhere alone, unless of course if it's really dangerous

The real problem is that I left knowing that I couldn't experience an important part of the travel which is just communicating with people. At least for me, just being there and seeing things is not enough. To learn how locals are there, and see things, it's for me a major part of traveling.

In the picture is Volkan. He runs a small shop in Doğubayazit. When he realized I was a foreigner he invited me to have tea with him. We could communicate a little, on a very basic level, but trying to talk more with him and not being able to, was very frustrating. Was then when I realized for the first time how important was to know the language.

Luckily in Dogubayazit I met a local who spoke english and was also a very interesting character.

Mehmet

There must be hundreds of thousands of Mehmets in Turkey, and I'm sure there are quite a few in Doğubayazit, but if you ask for Mehmet there, almost everybody would know who are you looking for. That's what happened when I arrived in Doğubayazit with 'Park', a south-korean guy that is traveling alone around Turkey for 45 days. His brother did the same thing 2 years before and gave him the name of this guy in Doğubayazit. When we arrived and ask for Mehmet, which could have been the most ridiculous thing to ask anywhere else in Turkey, they quickly call him on a mobile a pass it to Park. Of course we were very suspicious that this was the right Mehmet

When we finally met him we went to his office and there he offered us 'raki', the national alcoholic drink. Surely I didn't expect that kind of hospitality here, taking into account that this region, and particularly this town, is very conservative and alcohol is not something that many people appreciate. Even more surprised to see that he was also a heavy drinker.

It turns that this man is a tourist guide in Doğubayazit for the past 25 years. He was one of the first ones to start tourism here, but even after such a long time he still does it in a very personal level. He has hundreds of pictures in the walls of his office with people from all around the world, and I'm sure all of them remember him very fondly.

I had just a few hours to speak with him but he is undoubtedly a very interesting person, with thousands of stories to tell, and a very wise approach to life in my opinion. If you ever go to Doğubayazit, be sure to ask for Mehmet.

The importance of an open mind when traveling

It was hard not to be overwhelmed when arriving to the Doğubayazit bus station. As soon as I got off the bus, 5 kids came running and asking for things. Once inside the bus station the men came to us, in a way I perceived as aggressive, more so not knowing what they were saying. Then I asked them to wait for one minute, we sited down, they offered us tea, and then everything calmed down. From that moment on I began to understand what this town was about.

If I had left with my first impression, then I would have always think that Doğubayazit was an inhospitable place for foreigners. Luckily I stayed long enough to realize a little of the dynamics of the place. It is so incredibly easy to misunderstand things when you arrive in a culture which is very different from yours. This is when the culture shock comes. When you judge things, you do it with your own experiences and background, and to do it is inevitable. The problem comes when you face a culture with a complete different background from yours. Then you are doomed to perceive things in a very different way as the locals do. As I said, this is inevitable, what's important is to be aware of it and try not to become isolated by your own prejudices so you are open to understand the place and the people.

The Istanbul Reunion

2007-06-24T20:02:00.000+03:00

And it happened. Around 15 people came to Istanbul for the reunion. I'm sure it's definitely not something that happens very often. 15 people from 5 different continents got together in the same place and time after 2 years.

For me it was just perfect. I confirmed 2 things after this reunion: 1) I still love Istanbul so much. I'll come back, maybe very soon; and 2) The friends I've made there 2 years ago are the kind I know will continue for the rest of my life, and the kind I'm sure I'll meet many more times in the future. I'm sure all this might sound very corny, but the experiences I had in Istanbul taught me to forget my cynicism and realize that this kinds of things are also very real.

I almost don't have pictures from the reunion in my flickr account because I decided not to worry about taking my camera and just be there with my friends. Many other people took photos so I didn't need to anyway. I'll ask them to see if I can upload some of theirs in flickr.

Next Reunion: India 2008

In Istanbul I learned that Aakash, my indian friend, is getting married in January next year, so I'm sure my trip will end with a golden seal in India. Another incredible opportunity that surely I'm not going to let go. Not only will be a proper indian wedding with 2000 guests, the groom ridding a white horse, the costumes, dances and all of that; but apparently will be 2 weddings, one catholic in one city, and another hindi in another city, on 2 consecutive weekends. I mean, how perfect can it be. A whole week event traveling in India.

First week: Porto

2007-06-15T18:13:00.000+03:00

It's the end of my first week in Europe and couldn't be more happy how this journey it's starting. I'm staying at Cristiano's house, my very good friend from Istanbul times, and with his family. It's hard to explain in English, but they are all very friendly, easy-going and have a very close family relationship. There seems to be a great mix of Portuguese and Brazilian culture in the family, since his mother and grandmother are Brazilians.

I love Porto. It's such a beautiful and interesting city. It caught me completely by surprise since I didn't expect so much. Cris tells me that this is very common for foreigners who come here because Porto is not an specially touristic city, although it could perfectly be. Definitely it's great as it is. It adds to the spirit of the city.

Portugal it's so much more close to the romantic idea I had from Europe when I was younger. People like to enjoy the good life. Delicious food, fine wine, great company. In Porto this shows also through their 'cafe culture'. Lots of cafes everywhere, all full with people who meet there regularly. Many students meet in cafes to study and it's part of the daily life. I was impressed that even in the Museum of Modern Art, students met there to study at the cafe downstairs.

Portuguese people seem to be very relaxed, calm and easy-going. Very 'latin', maybe too much for the rest Europe. From what I've talked with Cris, it looks like Portugal might be the closest country in Europe to Latin America, although still far in many ways.

As I said, I couldn't be more pleased on how this is starting, and I have to specially thank Cristiano and his family for that. Tomorrow I'll be in Istanbul for the long-awaited reunion. Two years have passed since we all left. Still seems unreal it's actually happening.

Leaving Venezuela

2007-06-08T17:29:00.000+03:00

This is surely not the way I expected this diary to start

I wanted to write this post before I left Caracas but it was impossible. I didn't have the time. Now I'm in Madrid, but I can't ignore the need I feel to write this, at least while it lasts

I believe Venezuela is going through a very important and critical moment in our political history, although the main actors are not exactly politicians.

The student movement that rose the day after the 'end of the concession' of RCTV (one of the most important, if not the most, private tv network in Venezuela) was like a time-bomb waiting to explode, although nobody heard the ticking, not even the people involved.

Something very profound was awaken, and many people realized that day that they were not the only ones, and I know that because it also happened to me. I feel part of that movement since the first day and I also feel the necessity to contribute in any way I can.

It's amazing how I found many people that like me, were fed up with venezuelan politics, and feel that they now have an active part in finding a solution to a problem that was always there, but everybody was to occupied being part of the problem to bother solve it. We're a very divided society and it's getting worse as the process radicalizes this year after the elections.

I believe that this was the perfect time for Chavez to start the reconciliation, given that it became clear for (almost) everybody that he has the majority, but that didn't happened. His political project is far more important than the well being of ALL Venezuelans, including the significant minority that doesn't support his political project. Venezuelans are not only the ones that support you, and that is something nobody seems to really understand here.

Freedom is a fundamental human value that doesn't distinguish social class, political tendencies or individual believes. It's the catalyst and the glue for this movement, but as I expected is also turning fast into a new voice which speaks loud through action, and calls for reconciliation. Something that our politicians are very good at not doing.

The student movement is like a glimpse of reason among a sea of insanity. It's time for recognition and acceptance of one another. Something that I know it's absolutely necessary for our future, at least if we want to leave in peace

So, to say the least, I have mix feelings about this travel I'm starting right in this moment. I feel now, for the first time, that I have a role in Venezuelan politics. On the other hand, this trip was something for which I worked very hard and wanted to do since a long time.

As I said in my last post, and it couldn't be more convenient at this moment, I realized the world it's not following my plan. I just have to deal with it now

The plan trap

2007-05-20T06:55:00.000+03:00

After visiting 5 embassies, googling the whole web and literally pleading for help to people, I was going to write a long post complaining about how it's impossible to find accurate or at least non contradicting information about visas, permissions and conditions of stay for the Schengen countries, and then I realized I was getting caught a little too much in this whole planning thing.

Maybe I went through a pre-travel paranoid syndrome, or maybe after preparing this trip for so long I'm getting the need for everything to come up 'right'. The more you plan something, the more it has to work 'perfectly', right? ... And this is how you get caught in the plan trap, which mercilessly crushes your soul with disappointment when you realize the world is not following your perfectly planned schedule, which is one of the reasons why I don't like to plan too much.

Welcome to my journey

2007-04-01T06:48:00.000+03:00

Finally, after over a year of some pseudo-planning, lots of work and seriously saving money, today I bought my plane ticket! The time has come for the pseudo-plan to start coming to life

I leave on the 7th of June at 7:55 pm from Caracas and arrive in Madrid the 8th at 10:50 am. At the travel agency they told me that the schedule for this particular flight to Madrid varies a lot, so you could give or take 3 hours (southern time error margin)

Hopefully I'll document my journey on this blog with some words, images and maybe even videos. I'm also using some of my web programming (geek) skills to create some experiments for this site, like the Itinerary you see at the top of the right panel, which you can also click to see the posts related to those times and places. I don't know if that will be useful at all, but at least it's fun to experiment. I'll try to keep my itinerary up to date so whoever is interested can keep track of my journey

Some other stuff coming soon as this is a work in progress