Put Your Hands Up (For Detroit)!

Last weekend I went home to Michigan for a surprise birthday party..my older brother turned 30 so Dana thought it would be a good idea to get everyone to fly/drive in from their respective homes and meet up at a local restuarant (one I frequented often on Friday afternoons when I used to live in Royal Oak..shooting the breeze with local car engineers who were playing hookey:)



It was great to see everyone back in RO. Friends, family, Labatt Blue;)..now that's what life is all about! Little did I know that I was in for a surprise as well (as was my Grandmother: see below)..I'm going to be an uncle!! Congratulations, bro!



Short trip, but def. worth it. Going back home and seeing family is such a great way to "refuel"..I've been so full of energy this week! No Sleep! "Be The Man"!!

I'm Sailing! Sailing!

Some late night ramblings..

I haven't had the chance to really watch a lot of the news lately, and that's a damn shame...because as I did a little scan tonight it appears things are really heating up. From the "Daily Show" to "Fox News" to "CNN"..the debates are getting more and more intense concerning Iraq...each side becoming more hardened and polarized. Rar! It's a strange feeling watching the news outlets. Sometimes you don't know what you're watching, let alone what they're discussing. These short-fused talking heads reducing agruments to sound-bites, mics being cut, shouting, insulting, interrupting..it's absolute mayhem on the television!! Sometimes the heads will talk nonstop for minutes..you can't tell what either one of them is saying! They just continue to talk, as if in a vaccuum..the comingled soundwaves floating off into space..I wish I knew it all, too;)

I'm rambling but this Iraq war really seems to be getting some attention over here. Imagine! So basically these people are bringing up all the agruments that have been hashed out over the years with the added twist and spin of propaganda, the playing on fears, the make-up, the graphics, a story about a ham sandwhich killing Mama Cass, and my personal favorite: the accusations of hating America and "the troops"...for me, being an American doesn't get much better than that...sometimes its good to remind people that they are going to hell if they don't believe 100% in their nation-state..where's my flag?

But back to the news: just this week, the US House vote about setting a timeline for withdrawl (which will be vetoed), Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid Friday said "we lost" the war, the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is being told to resign, motions to impeach Dick Cheney started yesterday, and there is dog show in Iowa this weekend. Wow!

Let's just say I remember (vaguely) back on St. Paddy's Day 2003 drinking in a bar in Royal Oak when Dubya came on with his timetables for Saddam..how much of a threat GWB said he was..and I remember not believing ole Dubya. And I remember sitting eating lunch in Ann Arbor and watching Powell show his WMD "evidence" to the UN..I remember not believing that either. And I remember Rummy smiling at the "Shock and Awe" over Baghdad and telling us how this would be a cheap and quick war. I remember not believing that, too. And I remember flying to Poland a month after 9-11 and seeing how the world very much hadn't changed because of that fateful day in NYC. In fact, I felt quite safe there. Politics is a dirty game and everyone politican has their motives. Governments are governments and I don't take it personally that perhaps we weren't given the truth. You find that in every country to a certain degree or another. Hell, you should expect it! Now, whether or not the systems are in place in the US to correct these "shortcomings" in the current administration remains to be seen. In the meantime, I'm sitting back, having a beer, and watching the fireworks fly;) Also, if things do unfortunately take a turn for the worse, and let's say god-forbid somebody up there in the White-House does start WWWIII (ahem, Cheney), I'm getting a boat and heading to the Mediterranean, off the coast of Hammamet, Tunisia. I've already spoken to Gaigi about this, we'll have enough "supplies" (think: lots of wine and shisha) to last a group of 30 for a few years. Perhaps we can find some deserted island and do a noah's ark thing..grab some people from every country...we can chill out and party while the nukes fly overhead:)

Athens, GA

Sunday afternoon I found myself in the college town of Athens, amongst a German and a Turk, sitting in the sun, drinking Terrapin, singing "Don't Bring me Down" with a bunch of townies. Sunday Funday reigns again.

JNB

I also wanted to state for the record that JoBurg airport is the worst airport in the history of bad airports--yes it even beats LAX and the old part of DTW:)..first off, the 20kg limit on all bags, expect to pay more at the check-in. Secondly, I've been warned by multiple people not to put anything of value in your checked luggage, as pilfering is a major problem at that hub. I really didn't have anything of value, but a lot of people were wrapping their luggage in plastic in preparation for JNB..okay, no biggie, "me still no care one rass", but what really set me off was when I purchased 2 litres of Amarula at their Duty-Free shop only to get to the gate and have it confiscated! "No liquids on board" (I found out that it doesn't apply to flight attendants). Oh, I wanted to fight, for my right..but after about 15 minutes of arguing I realized it wasn't their fault, but probably some new regulation put into place by my own Gov't...Still, why would they sell it to me then?

I was so upset I decided to extract the exact amount of money I lost at JNB and have Delta incur those charges via copious amounts of free vino..



Anyway, consider yourself warned if you fly through JoBurg! Cheers!

Delta Flight 34/35..

As some of my colleagues retrace the flight I made a few weeks ago (Delta flight 34/35, which flies between Atlanta-Dakar-Johnannesburg), I couldn't help but google it because I found it to be such an odd journey...Sure there were the little differences like the fact that by doing the round-trip flight to Africa you earn enough miles for a free domestic ticket or that the alcohol was again free of charge (Delta waived it's "free alcohol on international flights" policy years ago), but what was really strange was the fact that we were flying transatlantically sans Europe in the equation. Never have I ever done that. Also, the flying is a particulary grueling process as you are not allowed off the plane during the refueling in Dakar. That's about 18-19 hours on a single plane--and not the type of plane you would expect for such a long haul flight, it's actually pretty basic. I found a Salon article chronicling the rise and fall of US airlines' flights to Africa, and it turns out that this was the first direct-flight from the US to sub-saharan Africa by a major US airline in 15 years..starting in Dec '06. 15 years! I guess that kind of rings home to what really struck me about my trip to Africa, just how "forgotten" the place seemed to be. It truly is a place we keep "out of sight, out of mind", but a place that is bustling with activity--unless you're in Maputo..then people are just chilling out (Time is not money in Maputo)..Thank you, Portuguese:)

At any rate, the author concludes..

"I imagine the sunrise touchdown in Senegal -- the smell of tropical humidity stewed with kerosene as the doors are thrown open to a set of drive-up stairs. Then, the second leg, south to JoBurg. The precise routing will vary, but imagine the possibilities: over the dry Sahel of Mali and the great Niger River; across the continent's great central bight; over saw-toothed mountains and some of the planet's last stands of untouched jungle; over the scarred battlegrounds of Angola, the skeleton coast, the primordial emptiness of the Kalahari. All in daylight, no less! How many people will be looking out the window with the contemplative awe such sights deserve? How many will have their shades drawn?"

--Well, I'll just say I had my window open the whole way on the way back, but it was dark for entire 19 hour journey:)

Poo-tee-weet

RIP Kurt Vonnegut

New Turk in Town..

Allah Hallah ya!

Happy Belated Easter

Um, yeah, we had some time to play this weekend..the cold snap was actually perfect timing as I caught up on some much needed rest!

Maputo Madness..

As great as it was to see old friends, meeting new ones is just as much fun. It doesn't surprise me that Digs introduced me to a guy like Luis, not at all. The city of Maputo itself is quite nice (wasn't damaged during the civil war): right on the sea, very well organized, little traffic, and EXCELLENT food..



I could go on and on about all the stories from Mozambique, but I think this video from Luis' going away party in Lisbon pretty much sums my leisure time spent in Maputo.



Luis, we must have met in a previous lifetime, and we will no doubt meet up again! Thanks for everything.

Kirolar in Schipol..

Another reunion I had on this trip was none other than Ms. Tugba "Ve So" Sert. Due to the high risk of explosive peanut butter on airplanes she unfortunately had to settle for some Trader Joe's peanut butter granola bars instead of the regular Jif Crunchy brand (I don't think she was too happy about it). At any rate, 3-4 drinks later and she didn't care! Cnm it was too brief of a meeting and I'll plan on spending some time in Europe if I come through again! Thanks so much for meeting up w me!

Kenya Countryside..

While we didn't get a chance to head to Mombasa, we did manage to get out of Nairobi and see some of the Great Rift Valley, including Lake Naivasha and Crater Lake. Soooo relaxing (except for some "minor" road construction):)

5 Years On...

Well, it took me 5 years but I made good on my promise! I finally made it to Kenya.

From the global village afterparty during EXPRO 2002 in Slovakia (e.g. "There's a party in room 924! We've got Kenyans jumping on the beds!") all way to streets of Nairobi in 2007, the power of @ lives on..



So good to see you Phyllis, it better not be 2012 before I see you again!

Kibera

One of the highlights of my trip to Kenya was doing a tour through Kibera--one of Africa's largest slums, located in Nairobi. While on tour, I was able to meet some people who worked for Carolina for Kibera (partly funded by the CDC)--an NGO which is busy setting up clinics for people to receive medical attention. While I've seen slums before and no doubt will see them again, this time was different in that I actually got to meet people out in the field who were trying to help alleviate the dire living conditions. Sometimes you can't help but feel so ashamed that either out of negligence and/or greed and/or apathy that Western governments (and local governments) have allowed this sort injustice to continue..and as the world becomes smaller it becomes more and more difficult to ignore the plight of billions of the world's poorest people..we have a long way to go and much work to do.