The Wall

The following is a true story and could easily be circulated as a joke.
The Background: on the 9th of November 2009 Germany – and the entire old continent- was celebrating the 20 years from the historical fall of the Berlin Wall. A German and a Chinese guy sit in a living room in China watching CNN and the celebration. Suddenly the Chinese screams in surprise and disappointment:
“What…you had a Wall too?”

Basterds

Finally, it has reached me. I’ve been waiting for this movie since February…yeah it was February when I found out that Tarantino’s got a new one. And now after seeing it I’d say it’s the best that he has ever done. It’s brutal. I had to stop it a few times and rewind. While watching it ... I knew something will go wrong with the Operation Kino, cause you know, it didn’t happen like that…and surprisingly as the events unfolded I was simply stunned. Stunned indeed! Apparently it’s only through the unlimited scope of art that one could transform the past, change history, adress human tragedies and make them ….. entertaining. I had the same thought while reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close . Of course, not even a decade has passed since 9/11 and the issue is still hot. But that was the only piece of art about those events that was not political and propaganda-driven, no peace and war, nothing like it. It happened, its part of human history and must be reflected in art. Read that book. You won’t regret a single line.
It’s the mastermind behind this movie that will not let me sleep tonight. I’ll probably watch some parts again… thinking what on Earth is this guy’s brain made of so he simply cannot create anything mundane or peaceful? Damn I wish I knew.

If I ever feel better

(damn Embedding disabled by request) How did I manage to miss this band? From France. Time to leave the European Cafe.

Не по-по-по-помня

Намирам се в малко квартално кафене. Уютно е. Европейско. Да често се случва ние чужденците да се бягаме от местната обстановката. Да се крием из потулените кътчета- в малки европеийски кафенета в Азия. Седя си, отворила лап топа, пия второ кафе (Азиатиците не пият кафе междудругото и не обичат сирене) и изведнъж Winamp-a превключва на Стефан Вълдобрев “Как”. Стана ми тъжно. Носталгично. Искам да се прибера, дори за малко само да е, а няма, дерзай! (от съседната маса ме заглеждат странно, мсй трябва да намаля звука). До тук с shuffle-a. Завърта се зелия “Към”.
Хубаво е да пътуваш.
Да си далеч, да си свободен, да се сблъскваш с чужди култури, да им разкажеш да твоята. (Мъж)
Още по-хубаво е да се върнеш обратно. В къщи. Не мога да бъда чужденец постоянно. Не искам. Не мога постоянно да намирам нови приятели. Нови домове. Нови къщи в които да живея. Нови езици – колко станаха вече – започнах 2 нови езика през последните 3 месеца, общо 7 чужди езика в главата ми. (Не) И докога? Колко още? Да ясно- живота не е дестинация, а пътуване. В моя случай буквално. Прибирам се в къщи за по седмица/две в годината, имам време да кажа “Здравей, хайде на кафе” – един, два, три пъти- и хайде пак във филма.
(Вълк) Добре че 90% от времето ми е окупирано и нямам време да мисля, колко много ми се прибира. Няма и на кого да споделя без да чуя куп глупости от сорта “Да не си луда да се връщаш тука? Срамота” (??!?!??!). (Да). “Кво ще правиш тука в България, за по 200лв. на месец”. Само глупости. Колко много имам за правене в България – нямате си идея. Много повече имам за правене там октолкото тук. Но нямам време да мисля за всичко това сега. Ще дойде денят.
Знам само че през последните 4 години всичко се случи по default (Едно). Че няма значение колко езика говориш. Няма значение, че си най-забавната в компанията, защото няма кой да ти отвърне на шегите – никой не ги е учил тия хора - запад и изток - на хумор. (Как...пак). Както и да е. Винаги съм си повтаряла че каквото си го направиш такова – така че дали ще бъде Холандия, България или Азербайджан  не мисля, че с този хроничен позитивизъм ще ми бъде кофти в което и да е кътче на планетата- особено пък в моето собствено.
(Към).
(Шшш мноу як пич влезe в кафето и ме разсея)

Constipated soul

"I think you are constipated ….. in your fucking soul. ..I think you might have a really big load of grumpy petrified poop up your soul’s ass"
(The Brothers Bloom- watch that movie it's very inspiring)

300 days of summer!

(On the picture: hard core Asian emotions)
Summer 2009 commenced on the 21st of January when after 10 hours of freezing at Brussels International Airport and 15 hours of a sleeping-mode intercontinental flight, we found ourselves in the hottest month of Mexico’s summer.
Summer continued throughout February, March and April round the beaches while friends from around the globe were complaining about rain, snow and more rain.
It was summer in the summer time when a got back to Europe in August- there is nothing more charming than Dutch summer. In the forest, parks, new suburb flats and with good old friends.
Summer continued stubbornly through September upon arrival in Asia where the all-embracing 80% humidity and 30 degrees C continued until two weeks ago.
Its summer now, at the end of November when my body and soul know that it’s winter. My bones and skin remember coldness and wind. But its 28 degrees today and I am wearing a short dress.
It will be summer in the winter holiday that will be spent only and solely and mainly on and around the beaches of Thailand and the Philippines.
It’s been summer since last winter. Sometimes I need to kick the fallen leaves but they are all green, firmly connected to their branches and twigs.
So much summer that I wonder how I am going to handle next year’s Scotland plans. So much summer. The longest summer ever. And its end is not near..

Sunday beat

Classics for fighting Macau Grand Prix hangover and that terrible terrible music abound me. Somebody must stop Lady Gaga! Urgently! Riot!!!!

Тайм фор булшит

(следва дългата, леко-объркана мисъл на едно Европейско дете в Азия)
И така смятам да направя един бърз синтаксис на местната мода и тендензии а именно тези в Макау и Хонгконг. в момента около мен се вихри модно шоу, Независимо дали чакам на спирката, седя в час или с мотая безцелно из центъра . И така, дами и господа, присъдата е: местната мода е ужасно вдъхновяваща. Искам да отбележа, че няма нищо общо с модата в Европа, което леко ме озадачава понякога (нали уж всичко е made in china днес, защо тия хави ги няма из Европейския пазар???!??) Tака така сега за модата. Първо, всички по улиците изглеждат извадени едно-към-едно от life-style списание. Второ, всеки е различен, уникален, моден, шокиращ. Комбинациите са невъзможно-забвни понякога, но това, което прави модената младеж наоколо толкова уникална са самите дрехи. Случвало ми се е да стоя , пулеща очи пред някое девойче, мъчейки се да разгадая дали то носи потник или панталон, или може би и двете заедно, но някак си наобратно. Уникалност. Панталоните варират в цветова гама и форма на крачола: тесни, широки, чувалести, клош, шутовски, рицарски, турски, шарени ( с десен на калинки например), карирани – имам предвид всичко което съм смятала за уникално преди тук се носи масово , s други думи не е достатъчно да си с панаталон– нещо трябва да не му е наред. Ако панталоните са тесни, се носят с дълги и широки тениски (които нa крехките хранени с ориз телца са понякога гротескни) с невъобразимо як дизайн, шаблон, бродерия, рисунка, симка. Но истинското богатство на модните архиви се крие в разнообразието от рокли: тесниски-рокли, пуловери-рокли, якета-рокли, жилетки-рокли, потници-рокли, ризи-рокли и рокли-рокли разбира се. Pокло-образните модели са доминиращи наоколо и вдъхновяват с кройки, копчета, колани, ципове, деколтета, качулки, материи, цветове, стилове – изобщо лудница! Особено любим сред малдите девоичета е стилът на Блонди – масово – тесни, къси рокли, с виснали деколтета, блестящи допълнения и лек пънкарски полъх. В смисъл и в Европа е така, но не толкова масово и явно. Друг много любим местен елемент е клинът. Клинът се носи с всичко – рокли, блузи, потници, якета,паналони даже и с други клинове. Особено моден е черният, кожен клин или с тигров десен. Също: с десен на дървесна кора (?), на цветя, искрящ, с брокат (но някакси не изглежда кофти-евтин). Псевдо-пънкари на всеки ъгъл. Мда – тук дори и и алтернативното е масово (damn)

Личен фаворит: ръкавчетата, ръкавите, ръкавищата и мега-ръкавищата, които ти стигат до коленете. Или понякога направо си липсват и имаш само парче плат с дупка за главата, а останалото можеш да си го зашиеш сам.

Най-интересното е, че тук доминират малките бутици, в които една дреха не се повтаря – вервайте всеки стил би бил задоволен. А стиловете наоколо са многобройни. Имам една колежка, която всеки ден ме изумява с модните си решения. Любимото ми- ефирна, дантелена розова коля, с леко ретро ръкав и деколте, която просто се слива с порцелановата кожа и … мощни, пънкарски (поне в други региони на света) кубинки! Мда .... кубинките тук са навсякъде. (damn again) Във всякакви модели и цветове. Как да не са fashion тия китайци с този огромен избор наоколо и с необятните възможности на страната да произвежда. За качеството не искам да говоря защото и Polo и Gap и Luis Vuitton и Burberry и H&M и Addidas и Converse ако щете имат фабрики ей там зад границата на Макау, в небезизвестния Big Mother. И да може би сред милиардното население младите имат нужда да се изтъкнат, особено след като от 5 до 20 годишна възраст са в ужасни униформи 24/7. Как да не се поизкривиш малко? Както казах преди все едно са извадени от life-style списание... но само life-style-а нещо липсва (кубинки .. пък Риана в
слушалките). Незнам, не съм от тук и нищо не разбирам още. Сигурно няма и да разбера. Интересен ми е просто мащабът на консумизма тук. В Европа си super cool с Converse и интересно яке, а тук и бабите и хлапетата сa ултра модни. Да де .. само тези развитите региони на Китай... за западните незнам още ( но ще узная скоро, защото мега яка виза краси паспорта ми от миналата сряда). Както и да е: обощение: а) пазарът е залят с кретивни идеи, които не съм виждала никъде преди (leave the punk style alone, god damn it!!!) б) грехота е да не си купиш нещо в) ако някой се вдъхнови и иска блузо-панталон и ризо-рокля да се свързва докато съм тук. 7-те Евро ще ми ги върнете догодина за по една-две бири.

(Простете грозните ми правописни и пунктоационни грешки, писането на български на компютър ме изнервя до краен предел. )

On the Friday night, when you reject an invitation to a skyscraper’s rooftop party, make a warm cup of tea instead and sit in front of the lap top reviewing statistical data and environmental indicators, you’ve got a clear sign that something in your life has begun to change.

Pnau

Let me introduce another band that has been recently wining leading positions in my MP3 player (MP3 player ... classic). The target of today’s review that’s made me sung on the bus at 7:30 a.m. among 45 standing Chinese while the carrying capacity of the bus is only 30 passengers, is PNAU. I was just sitting in the office this summer listening to Lastfm radio of recommended artists (recommended!!!) and suddenly it started: “lover, give me what you’ve got, I am a passenger and you’re holding my heart”. I got hooked up immediately and stopping me from having all what the duo has done during the past 10 years was simply impossible. PNAU ladies and lads come from Sydney and consist of Peter Mayers and Nick Littlemore (hotness) who is currently roaming the stages together with Luke Steele as the Empire of the Sun. 10 years as one of the leading electro-pop Aussie formations and still active. The new beat collection is coming soon (according to trusted sources down south in Oz ). Until then, “baby” .... "with you forever"
p.s. I dont know who's the chick on the video but the vocals belong to Pip Brown aka Ladyhawke. Finito.

Rainforest Alliance

I worked in this company for 7 months (January-August 2009) and this is the first time I see the promotional video. It makes me feel proud and happy that I did not waste my time in some sales department. I miss the Rainforest(s).

Bones.. it's only natural

Last week the shower drain got blocked and I had to buy some acid or detergent to unblock it. This, however, proved to be a challenge since the whole chemical section in the supermarket was in Chinese. Finally, I found one: called: Drain-opener (creative Chinese) and the sticker says that it disintegrates:
a) grease
b) hair
c) paper
d) fabric
e) and BONES.
I mean, may be it’s a cultural thing... but how do you get bones in your drain pipe often enough so that there is a product to disintegrate them? Or if it’s a multi-purpose detergent in what kind of circumstances would you need a product that disintegrates bones? Interesting right? Or may be the company decided to expand its operations and target that lucrative murderer/serial killer’s market. Well, somebody must cater to their needs as well, right? They need efficiency too! Being one step ahead from competitors – smart marketing strategy! That's why China's economy is expanding that fast.
P.S Somebody should tell Dexter about it .. that whole chopping and dumping into the ocean business is just outdated

Shooting stars

Threesome

(:-D)

I've got hugs for you

Finnaly found an embed-able version! The video is horrible, I know, it causes a fierce descussion on youtube.
Edinburgh wait for me!

Gotta get me some kiwi

(Uhm... yeah just for the record: I have just seen a football game between New Zealand and Bahrain: never knew those countries play football. 1-0 for the Kiwis. In the meantime I got a whole story told bout The Northern and the Southern Island and how you can sky-jump from an airplane from the one to the other, and all other bunch of intriguing stuff about the Kiwis, the glaciers and sheep-wool weaveing. Came home and had a glass of NZ milk while the Flight of the Conchords was the first band that my Winamp shuffled ... so I thought its a New Zealand night. One more greate thing about it: The black seeds!. Enough, business hours are over)

In the land of Buddha

Facebook

Isn't it annoying and creepy that you can't really delete your Facebook account? You can only deactivate it but as soon as you log in with your old password and username.. you're back in the game with the same profile and the same info. Nothing changes. I guess I should delete all pics and friends in order to disappear from the Facebook archives forever ... if this is possible at all. I mean .... where is the customer's right to stop using Facebook? Or may be they assumed that we'll all hook up to the greatness of social-networking and we'll never be able to get enough of it? Sure just watch me waving goodbye!!!!

Eclipse

By saying the EOTS is coming up with weird-ass videos I meant this stuff. It took me while to decide if I like it or not... but now it's certain: voting positively with both legs and arms. I mean... look at this! Don’t know what's going on with modern music anymore but I like it (:-D). Bedank en tot straks. Lang leef het Rijk!!! Btw, if you are not fervent EOTS fan like myself, I you may not know that this video was dedicated to the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century so far - the one of 22nd July 2009 - that lasted exactly 6 minutes and 39 seconds (check the duration of the video).


Lady Gaga is probably getting a hard-core frustration when watching this video.

The Environment: The lost love

Song of the day! It has been one complete week since I’ve embarked on the long and “forbidden journey” of thesis writing. Around 10 hours per day. Subject: The Environmental Consequences of Tourism Development In Macau, China. And while my heart is breaking at the results from only the desk research and while I read examples both local and global of how much harm have we done only in our leisure time I need a rhythm like this one. In January when I’ll have to finally go and see with my eyes how huge resorts are dumping waste around Macau ... I don’t know what I will need then. The environment ... It is like the love we’ve lost, indeed. And even though, you save water, you recycle, you plant trees, you don’t waste electricity ... in the end of the day some big-ass corporation like the god-damn Venetian here in Macau comes, consolidates the land and bam....20 shuttle buses around town just to promote it, tons of waste dumped guess where, luxury accommodation and casinos operate 24/7. Do you know how much electricity this is? All those flashing signs and stuff? Well, I will tell you all about it in March probably. Of course there is constant sun for at least 6-7 month, there is water everywhere, there's wind all over the place as there are no mountains stopping it, there will be rain for 5-6 months ... but who cares about those god-damn-sources-of-renewable-energy!

I really like what somebody somewhere once said . .. the environment is like the love we’ve lost.. It is and it is the only meaningful thing left to worship. And when you see how beautiful it is across the continents, when you remember the mountains of your home country .... You fall in love immediately and your heart is really breaking while writing a thesis like that one.
(найлонови торбичкииии!!!!!)

P.s. if you've liked the song check The Ghost as well. And basically everyting that James Yuill has done.

The Holy Mountain

One of the trippiest movies I have seen in my life.

Gerald

Ok time to get away from the Oz and NZ music stream from the past weekend and get back to some Europe-based vibes. Ladies and gents.. A guy called Gerald. Manchester. Belleza!

Food Shock

If there is one food that can make me vomit continuously, this is the durian. The durian is a fruit that grows all over South East Aisa and is distinctive for its impressive size, torn-covered surface, unique taste and smell. It is reffered to as the King of Fruits but it is banned from public transport, hotels and administrative buildings. Imagine....
My first encounter with durian was two months ago when touring Macau with some classmates, a friend of mine came to me with an icecream box, grinning mysteriously. He offered me a spoonfull of a yellow normal-looking ice cream. I grew suspicious but curiosity drove me towards what I now remember as the most disturbing taste in my life. As soon as it touched my mouth, I stopped breathing; I stopped moving for a few seconds. My nervous system was shacken up. By this tiny little piece of ice cream which taste resembled rotten garlic, onions and baby vomit. But worse, much worse than that. I looked around for a place to spit it out but there was none and did the impossible. Now I could tell if somebody has eaten durian from half a kilometer. Its stink is all-embracing and never-ending. And everybody loves it here in Asia – they use it in cakes, ice creams, juices or just fresh. The king of fruit. W.T.F. Just a few descriptions of durian that I have found.

“Its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away” (Winokur, Jon, 2003)

"Its taste can only be described as...indescribable, something you will either love or despise. ...Your breath will smell as if you'd been French-kissing your dead grandmother." (Burdain, A., 2006)

More music

Continuing the good vibe this weekend. This time from New Zealand and while eating a massive Sunday portion of warm pancakes with cream cheese and aboslutely nobody to share them and my positive vibration with. My new friends : bunch of books on my bed and 50 pages to write. Help me music!

"if every solder in this world put down his weapon and picked up a woman .. oh what a peaceful world this world would be!!!"

"Oh you sexy hermaphrodite lady-man-ladies
With your sexy lady bits
And your sexy man bits too
Even you must be in to you "

"it's got to be Sweet 16's not M-16's
When will the governments realize it's got to be funky sexy ladies?"

haaaaaaaaaaaaaahaha .. I mean how can you not love this stuff!

The Empire

Jeezzzz! Absolutely one of my favourite albums of 2009! Empire of The Sun and the debut Walking on a Dream! Its in my ears every morning on the bus and I guess it will stick around for a while. In the meantime the Aussies keep on releasing new weird-ass videos (this is actually the first one from the album) and I keep on waiting for them to take a flight up north and give a concert/ show / zoo / shaman pereformance /madhouse gig or whatever comes around! And yeah.. waiting for the Tiger by my Side ..c'mnon!

Bangkok

If there is a city among all Asian capitals that you should not miss visiting- this is Bangkok! Yes, Bangkok, that huge, buzy, smelly and noisy and crowded type of anarchy that happens to be the capital of one of the most beautiful countries I have seen. It is not particularly attractive but its special as it makes you really feel the spirit of Asia. For me it was the first absolutely Asian experience so far. Hugeness. 10 million people. Scorching heat in the beginning of November. Real Buddhism. Extreme poverty. Extreme wealth.. Bangkok has got it all. The ultimate never-ending negotiating of taxi prices is the thing to get you started. For somebody who has been only to Hong Kong and Macau, it’s an adventure. In Macau taxis use the meter. In Bangkok they use the art of barter. Tuk Tuk’s are the best way to get around (wait for the visuals - comming soon)- its like half a car, half a motor, it’s small, compact, fast and fun as you are basically siting outside while being driven around town. From one temple to the other, from China Town to the Siam square. There is so much to see and do and everything is scattered around the map. The temples are magical – even though when I enter and see all those people praying to the golden Buddha I don’t know what to do with myself and I just stand still and try to formulate a wish (but somehow at this very moment in the temple I feel absolutely content withmy life and everything around me). Buddhist temples are unique. The Temple of the Sun - my favourite (again –soon I will get the pics), The Reclining Buddha- spectacular. The grandeur of the Grand Palace and the rest – so much light, quietness, simpleness and experience at once. (Of course if you exclude the millions of tourists who feel the same way around you.)

Night life in Bangkok is like night life in Amsterdam. The resemblance is sticking. When you come to Amsterdam you need to fill up your head with jelly, get involved in a weird type of entertainment mostly involving sexual themes and you are supposed to end up at some weird place. In Bangkok – same same but different (I will dedicate a post to this phrase as it is becoming part of my Asian life by the minute). Shit-facing options –all over the place, prostitution- abundnant, good music- everywhere, annoying touristsl to be found in each of the venues offering all of the above. There is rave and rock and punk and jazz and whatever you want and the Thai are so kind to invite to to a local gig. And this is how I ended up on a touist-free sidestreet, chatting with a local band and just hanging out with a beer in my hand. Just like those high-scool years.

I don’t want to talk about the food because it will never be enough. Sweet, sour, steamed, fresh, with peanuts, extra spice, rice, rice rice, no meet (Buddha!!!), spring rolls, papaya salad, loads of noodles everywhere. May be one of the healthiest cuisines I have had. Slurping hot spicy soup in the 35 degrees in Weekend Market (officially the biggest market in word visited by hundreds of thousands of people each weekend) is what can really make you feel local. Sweating and slurping, slurping and sweating I managed to discover finally the secret of eating soup with chopsticks. Yeah. That’s right with chopsticks. Walking around the market in the heat, bargaining for flipflops, checking out scarfs, meeting random locals and enjoying a freshly squeezed pine apple juice with a Buddha smiling on every corner – glourious days in Asia!

You just want to stand still, open your sences as wide as possible and absorb as there is so much of it all – music, scent, sights you haven’t seen, tastes you may never try again. I wanted to take them all with me. Too bad you can’t take pictures of scents; you can’t record the feshness of the healthy Thai meal. They stay with you though, carefully placed in the emotional album collecting everything worth collecting. Just like the one-hour Thai massage I will may be remember forever. Exquisite!

topics omitted from the discussion: trasnformers, trasformer flight attendants, Khao San Road, prices, ultra cool T-shirts, the floathing market, Thai punk music

Thesis writing while listening to..

Mat & Kim - Daylight

Shaquez a.k.a. ShaqBrit | MySpace Video

This is the e-mail that I have just received! It is from a person I met a few months ago in CR.


"Hey, how are you? I am sending you this message because I have something to share, something that has been going on in my life for a while and I believe you have been a part of it. Recently, I have begun to feel that I am slowly and very insecurely realising ….. lets call them “things”. Things about myself, who I am, where I am and what kind of reality I am thought to believe I am livign in. I know that a transformation is taking place inside me. One of the first things that is happening to me is that I am shifting my decision-making process from purely logical (as it was before) to more intuitional. Last couple of months spent in Costa Rica were a constant journey that has been taking me to places, people, conversations, data and experiences without me having to do anything but follow my intuition. It’s like information is coming to me on its own account. I have met so many people during my travels who were just talking to me about enegry levels and dimentions and all that stuff and its amazing how many people are out there that have made this “transformation” a global, mutual experience that I know will be our destiny.
I know that you have been talking about spirituality and consciousness and most of the time I was “shutting down”.However, we communicate with each other on many levels and not just with the five sences and I think on some vibrational subconscious level you sent me a lot of information that I was unable or unwilling to process at the time. Thank you and I hope we stay connected! "

I hope so too.

Lifestylism

I was just searching for something in my huge archives and I found the following text. May be it was a response to a post that somebody published in the summer about the things he/she loves (???). Dont know and I don't know why I havent published it so far, but I will do it now. It was written in the begining of August in Costa Rica. No word was altered since then.

"So everybody loves stuff. I love stuff too; probably I won’t publish this but is always healthy to think about the things you love. Especially next to the pool on a sunny midday in San Jose. There we go.

I love tossing pebbles in the river (or any other kind of water body). This is like the number one thing to do on an autumn afternoon when a motley crew of leaves is dancing in the air, in the water, on your scarf and on the benches in the park. Tossing pebbles in the river is a special activity – you have to get to the water and you are required to have pebbles. Therefore, Holland is so far considered “tossing pebbles in the water”-hot-spot numero uno! Needles to say, water is everywhere, you can park your fiets close to the singel, sit on the ground if its not wet, grab the first little stone you see and toss it. Mannn.. I can do this for ages. Of course if you have a company and a butte of cheap Albert Hijn wine…well…life becomes really a beautiful thing.

I love waking up in the sun. Those mornings when I crawl out of my sleeping bag, half-frozen half-sweaty, dirty-faced and grass-smelly, and I see the sunshine light stroking gently our campsite are the best morning of the year. I never forget to sleep outside at least once every four seasons. On the beach, in the mountains, random fields and meadows, in the park (Barcelona crew knows!) ...wherever…. Of course sometimes you wake up with the rain instead of the sun especially in Lowland but the feeling is still there.

I love when boys and girls look all sex-similar or I don’t know if there is a word (androgynous???) What I mean is boys with tight, tight clothes, slightly feminine. I think you call them metro sexual or something like that. Well yeah….I loves that. Moreover, I love when girls have manly hairdos, clothes and attitude. .. When men look like women and women like man. Lovely. I wonder if one day we would completely swap sex roles. Or like Renton says in Trainspotting .. May be there will be only sex left. I would not mind at all.

I love languages. No so much studying tenses ad conjugating verbs but when you start understanding. When you understand that little world of thoughts that you are accessing. When the language starts understanding you and becomes your tool of communication, your best friend and sometimes most dangerous weapon. Yeah ….when you can start expressing your feelings, making jokes and discussing politics and be completely understood. When you start understanding songs… wow... when I heard Manu Chao in Spain last year... those were totally different songs, because I knew what he was singing about. I understood. When you start reading in the language, watching movies, working and loving somebody in that language…you enter a totally new universe of words, expressions, modes of thinking, behavioral patterns, attitudes. In about a month I will start learning three new languages – Portuguese (easy-busy), Mandarin (hard-core) and Cantonese or Japanese (double hard-core but sounding nicer). I am afraid I will become a total 100% nerd trying to read and write yeroglyphs all day and night. If I manage to start understanding one tenth of those languages … That will be like a double mental orgasm. I love when I don’t understand when people speak French, or when your boy whispers in your years something in Italian. I love wondering what kind of language are these people next to me speaking – normally when I don’t understand anything from what people say but they are obviously Europeans – well most of the time its Irish slang  Languages, that’s it. Slangs, accents, local words, dying languages … new languages, computer language, body language, sign language (have to learn that one).

I don’t think I need to say how much I love music, arts (all kinds of), literature and cinema. That will be useless. The day the music, arts, literature and cinema die, the world may juts as well stop turning. That’s about it.

I love traveling. I love love love traveling. Arriving somewhere is such a special feeling for me. I am different when I travel. I drink and smoke more, eat less, sleep less and do stupid things most of the time. Don’t care about the main square although there is always somebody with you who wants to climb up the Eifel Tower (Тодоре!!). I always get into weird anti-tourism situations (if you work at a pizza shop probably you don’t eat pizza at home if you know where I am getting at). Like talking about the Sandinista Popular Revolution with a local 60 year old guy in a small non-commercial salsa bar in Granada, Nicaragua, don’t ask how I ended up there. Or listening to a semi-private concert on a God-knows-where-located beach of the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Or lighting fireworks from the roof top of a 7-story building downtown Marsillia, South of France… and all those other special moments shared with people you will never meet again even though you have exchanged e-mails and phone numbers. All that hitchhiking, volcano- climbing, camping, backpacking, cave-snorkeling, bar-hopping and even sight-seeing ... I love that so much and it’s an addiction. Once you start you can never stop. I have to cite Oscar Widle “The only way to resist temptation is to yield to it”. Ende.

I love wine, beer, whiskey, rum, vodka, gin, vermouth, menta, guaro, grappa, rakia, mastica, sake, martini, scotch, brandy, cognac, sweet liquors, sidder, arrack and toddy and tari (haven’t tried them yet but I will love them for sure next year), tequila, sparkling wine, pure, with soda, in a cocktail, in candies, before eating, during eating, after eating, day and night, summer and winter. You got it? I mean I don’t love the after-effect that much as the drinking, the rituals, the taste and the occasion (sometimes the lack of occasion). Yeah…This love will finish me.

I love Zachary Condon! Find him, tie him up and send it to me for my birthday. I want him singing naked in the backyard.

I love people. (Be prepared: here comes a huge hippie though). I love seeing them after a long long separation, I love thinking about them as friends. I love meeting them in parks, squares, in-front-of-the-cinema-Svilengrad-even-thoug-there-is-no-cinema-anymore, bars, at home and at their home, during travels and adventures. I love talking to them for the first time and for the last time before saying goodbye. I love taking showers with them, swimming naked in lakes with them, cutting their hair, traveling with them, sharing a tent with them, listening to them when they have nothing worth saying, drinking with them, I love thinking that they’re so great, I love feeling attracted by them and trying to imitate them. I love when they are being silly or smart-asses, sad, happy, inspired, angry, and energetic. I love the human touch, the smile, the hug, the handshake, the tap on the shoulder, the kiss, and the sudden pull when somebody decides to kiss you unexpectedly. People all over the world – black, white, brown, yellow, red, green on yellow stripes. I love to know how they live and show them how I live, I wanna know what they eat and cook for them what I eat, I wanna know what their favorite songs are and play them my favorite ones. I want to know their language and teach them mine (almost impossible but still true – Joey you are my hope!!!!). Without them nothing in this life will be worth living... no matter if they are friends, family members or complete strangers.

I love sleeping on the floor, hammocks, concerts, landscapes – natural and urban, racial mixtures, peanuts, coffein and matein, huge electronic parties, cities, boats and ships, after parties, coffee beans, every single fruit and vegetable on the planet. I love thinking about the future (I am not a living-in-the-moment person) making plans, imagining places, thinking about my future children, planning trips, studies, careers… and knowing all of this has the freedom not to happen. And that’s the best part of it. I love life itself, I am not curious (not even a little bit) about the afterlife, death and the next level if those things exist whatsoever. I don’t need any extreme sports to feel alive. I am alive every day and I want to be alive until there is not space for wrinkles on my skin anymore. I don’t need to see aliens and other planets and to be in space. I love the earthlings, this planet and its wonders. And I want to see them all. I love slow life. "
The end

Yerba Mate

Mate is commonly known as the traditional ritual beverage of various South American Indian tribes, famous as the ancient drink of health and friendship. What are not so widely-known about mate are its amazing qualities. Apart from being a tea-like beverage, which consumption is a cult, Mate can keep your energy up – in extreme heat, cold, physical activity and stress. The dried herb contains meteine which is almost the same as caffeine with the main advantage of being absolutely unprocessed. Among all natural stimulants Mate holds the aces for being devoid of toxicity and side effects, providing nutrition and stimulation for both the mind and body.

Drinking Mate is not simply the pleasure of having a cup of tea, it is a ritual. But what comes first, before the warm liquid could spread its fortifying effects, is a set of actions that Mate-lovers must keep in mind in order to prepare and serve the herb properly. From pouring the dry leaves in the small hollow calabash cup, to drinking the first Mate and passing it on – the process is ritualistic, directed towards providing the maximum mineral quality of the herb.

How did I find out about Mate? Years ago, in the beautiful (then) beach of Irakli, Eastern Bulgaria somebody passed me on a curious little bulb with a metal straw sticking out of it. The taste – bitter. The effect- missing. Only after the third drink I started feeling slightly energized and then bam!!! My hearth started racing, my breathing changed and I had the feeling I could swim up to Varna.

Earlier this year, in Costa Rica on my fist day at the Rainforest Alliance, my boss – from Argentina where drinking Mate is practiced daily by young and old- shared a cup with me. And then it all started – I fell in love with the drink. I researched it and apparently no scientists and doctors could relate Mate to any negative side effects or illnesses. On the contrary, Mate is proved to strengthen the immune system, cleanse the body from toxins, calm allergies and serve as a gentle diuretic. But what really made me a fervent Mate-drinker was its ability to keep me alert, awake, energized. No coffee has ever made that happen. No other stimulant could keep me up until 3a.m. when I have some work to do and immediately freshen up my mind and body at 6 a.m. before departing to whatever destination. Mate stimulates mental activity and concentration even when its 35 degrees outside. How can you not love it!

For everybody interested in optimum health Mate would be a good choice. It is also excellent for diets as it suppresses the appetite – you are still hungry and you eat normally, but once you start drinking mate, there will be no desire to munch on some useless chips and cookies while studying. And finally, my friends, Mate is a good aphrodisiac. All this explains why among the shoes and clothes, my suitcase to Asia was stuffed with two large packages of Mate Yierba, the bulb and bombilla that have kicked coffee out of my mornings.
I suppose it could be found in specialized coffee, tea and South American stores, probably online as well. Strongly recommended!

Get up Carmen, the sun ain't shining no more!