Orango Island

I always love to find out about the customs of other cultures, and a very interesting one I came across today was from Orango Island which is part of an archipelago off the coast of West Africa, where women, not men, choose their partner. I really liked the explanation of a 65 year old man who had been proposed to half a century ago.

"Love comes first into the heart of the woman," he explained. "Once it's in the woman, only then can it jump into the man."

What is really interesting is that the adage "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach" is actually practiced here. When he was 14, the girl entered his grass-covered hut and placed a plate of steaming fish in front of him. "I had no feelings for her," said Nananghe, now 65. "Then when I ate this meal, it was like lightning. I wanted only her."

Back again

I'm finally in the mood for blogging again. I don't know how regular I will be, but if you find anything in particular that is interesting, please let me know. This encourages me and will quite likely make it impossible for me to keep quiet. "Don't get me started" :)

Our Man in Tirana

There are many interesting blogs and websites that help you to see the world through the eyes of others. For anyone interested in seeing some nice pictures and reading some interesting stories about Tirana, please take some time to visit Alwyn Thomson's blog. I have also include him under my links for easy reference.

Number One World Traveller

Since in Albania there are a number of sites that have been named UNESCO World Heritage sites, I was surfing the net and stumbled across an amazing site. This is sure to relegate most of our travelling to insignificance! He has visited many countries and places, but of the 812 sites inscribed by the World Heritage Committee, Galen R. Frysinger of Sheboygan, Wisconsin has visited 279 of them in 95 different countries. This was as of July 1st of 2005. In total he has travelled to 169 independent countries and 91 dependencies (perhaps even more by now). In addition to this, he has seen fit to share his memories and photos with the rest of us.

He has compiled an amazing collection of his photos in his website, giving you hours of enjoyment! If you enjoy armchair travelling, or are looking for a unique place to visit on your next vacation, please join me in touring Galen's site. His homepage gives you access to many other wonderful places. An amazing journey. Enjoy!!

Coal Mining in China

My heart goes out to the families of the coal miners trapped and possibly, but every hour less likely, still alive in West Virginia. In the west we have come a long way towards providing for mine safety and improved working conditions in coal mining. Anyone having read of any of the historical coal mining conditions in the British Isles a few centuries ago, will appreciate this. Still no comfort for the families and loved ones of those in peril at the moment.

Being an admirer of the economic development of China during the past decade, I am also aware of the conditions under which they are labouring. Coal mine accidents in China during 2003 took the lives of over 6,000 people. The first 10 months of 2004 took the lives of over 4,000 workers.

Still, in my mind I remembered that numbers were much higher than that. Doing some more research I found out that I had remembered the numbers better than the facts. In fact, coal mining is the most deadly job in China. China, which produces about 35% of the world's coal, reports 80% of the total deaths in coal mining accidents. The death rate for every 100 tons of coal produced in China is 100 times that of the U.S.A.

In addition to this, there are 600,000 miners suffering from pneumoconiosis, a disease of the lungs caused by long-continued inhalation of dust. And the figure increases by 70,000 miners every year.

I am sure that most of us will remember the dramatic rescue of the trapped miners in Pennsylvania in July of 2002. I hope for that the present rescue attempts in West Virginia will have the same success.

Sangria??

When you are in another country, you have to make do with what you have. With the nice weather today, I felt like a tropical fruit drink.

I used my wife's Cranberry juice as a base. Some wine from Slovakia, a gift from Eva (a colleague in Bratislava) for Christmas, which just wasn't to my taste by itself. Some local moonshine (Raki... which I have a year's supply of by now) and a dash of local orange liqueur, which sells for about $3.00 a bottle. Not a bad sangria on a sunshiny day, overlooking the palmtrees at the Piazza down below.

Eating Albanian style

Being in new countries it is always interesting to discover local cuisine. In Albania there is a lot of good Italian cooking. This has been brought back by the emigrants, who work there and come back here, having been taught well.

This last week, looking for something new, I asked the waiter to suggest something that he really liked. Somewhat embarrassed, he offered me to 'prova' a baked dish of heart, kidney and liver pieces mixed with ricotta, tomatoes, some onion and garlic, and who knows what else. He was surprised when I really liked it.

Today was a beautiful sunshiny day in Tirana, with everyone sitting outside basking in the 15 degree weather. I had my usual, and with it I ordered a side dish of tomato, onion, some paprika and hot peppers cooked in..... ricotta of course. Delicious and a great way to start the new year. All of this, with a beer, for less than $10.00 - Canadian even!!!

This rivals the Qofte Korce (Korce style meatballs - nicely spiced) that I like as well. I still miss the Romanian 'Ciorba de burta' - Sour tripe soup, but with a few of the local Albanian delicacies, I am very happy.

P.S. I know that my wife just can't wait to come back here to enjoy the weather, and try these dishes... or to prepare some of her own.

Is the U.S.A. under Martial Law?

In school we learned that the US Government had a number of checks and balances which makes keeps a balance of power. I found a nice website which explains it very simply. The three branches of US Government that deal with different aspects of governing are the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The Legislative branch (U.S. Congress) passes new laws. The Executive branch, headed by the U.S. president, enforces them. The Judicial branch, headed by the U.S. Supreme Court, interprets them.

If you understand this, you understand the concerns that are being raised about the Spy program (wire-tapping or eavesdropping) that President Bush has ordered in 2002. The Executive branch took a decision. It seems that they consulted some members of the Legislative branch, but completely disregarded the Judicial branch. Normally they would need a court order, with sufficient evidence to warrant the execution of this order. Of course, having declared War on Terror, it was considered expedient to short cut this process. Is the U.S.A. officially under martial law? Do the people know this? In one of his statements the president states that this permission to eavesdrop will continue until the war has been won. This can be a very long time. Considering the nature of terrorism, and the 'guerilla' warfare that is being fought, my guess is that it will never be over.

It will be interesting to see how this develops. Of course, the argument used is that this is all in the interests of National Security. Then why don't all countries do this? Usually it is only the countries that are classified as a dictatorship that use this argument. They also spy in the interest of National Security. Lord Acton, considered by many to be one of the great thinkers and historians of the 19th century, became famous to succeeding generations for his observation that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Anyone in the shoes of the president may have made the same decision. As a Canadian I still remember that Pierre Trudeau declared martial law under terrorist circumstances. I also know that we survived it and that life continues with little thought about the FLQ and its impact on us over 30 years ago.

History will tell the story of this age. Will the balance of power be maintained? Is this the first step of many leading to disaster? Or, as a friend of mine often says, "This too shall pass"?

A tribute to Sri Lanka

With so many images of the devastating Tsunami in South East Asia last year, I cannot help reminiscing about the Sri Lanka that we and our friends came to know.

Sri Lanka used to be known by the name of Ceylon, and before that as Serendip. The word serendipity is derived from this word, and is defined as "the ability to make pleasant and unexpected discoveries entirely by chance". We were fortunate that some of our friends moved here and invited us to visit with them on this beautiful island. Understandably, my wife and some of her girlfriends visited them many times! An island of over 20 million people, we fell in love with it and have many happy memories of it.

Having lived in Eastern European countries for many years, we were immediately struck by the happy faces of children and adults alike. Our impression was that they were content in their spirit, though poor of economic means.

The Sinhala alphabet is derived from the Brahmi script, and when we first saw it both my wife and I described it as an alphabet of happy faces. This was our impression of this lovely island and its people.

We visited the old fort of Galle on the very southern tip of Sri Lanka. This was a Portuguese port in the 16th century, and then captured by the Dutch. Being of Dutch descent, this of course interested me very much. We were excited to find a Dutch Reformed church. There were memorials to some of the old sea captains that had sailed the high seas transporting spices from Bavaria and Galle for the Dutch East India Company.

The road from Colombo to Galle is lined with huts and small shops, where the local people eke out a living. Behind these huts you can see the beach with its many small fishing boats.

We also saw some of the young boys fishing on a rock, not deterred by the splashing waves. They were probably enjoying the cooling effect these had on their sun drenched bodies.

We went inland to Kandy, an ancient city near the centre of the island, and well protected by the mountains surrounding it.

The wonderful pictures are the courtesy of my talented wife. As you can see, the evenings in the mountains had a mystical quality to them. This former capital is considered the cultural centre of Sri Lanka. We stayed at a former tea plantation and enjoyed the mixture of spicy aromas on the way. Here we stayed in an 'apartment' which included servant quarters and our own butler, who gracefully offered to draw a bath for my wife. We were somewhat overwhelmed by the size of the apartment which easily was over 100 square meters. Amazingly, the cost per night was not even half of what we would pay for a simple room at most 5-star hotels.

A magical country, with a long and interesting history. We certainly hope to visit it again in the future. If you ever have the opportunity, I strongly recommend that you do the same.

America a "hypocrisy"

Listening to George Bush defend his decision to give permission to the 'Secret Police' to spy on fellow citizens, I was surprised to hear a Democrat actually admit that after all, America is a "hypocrisy".

This made me think about the freedom that they had always stood for, and now this freedom has become their own prison. I remember that during the sixties the Eastern Bloc nations were accused of spying on their own people, and that this was thought of as the 'big brother' that George Orwell wrote about in his book '1984'. Indeed, now it is being openly admitted by a Democrat that America is a hypocrisy.

If I remember correctly, it was John F. Kennedy who differentiated America from the Soviet Union, as America would never go to war to conquer another nation in order to impose its ideology on another nation. That was a long time ago. Too long ago.

I am sad for the many good people that live in the U.S. The freedom that they have fought for has been taken away from them. First by the terrorists; now by their president.

"Sorry dear... did you say something? Democracy? He didn't say hypocrisy, but democracy?"

"Never mind."

"Jungle Child" by Sabine Kuegler

Some of the best travelling can be done at home with a good book. Sabine Kuegler has written about her journey in life in this delightful excursion to her childhood in Irian Jaya. Growing up she experiences the culture shock of western life, and searches for those elusive moments of inner peace. A must read for all fellow travellers!

Exiled to Albania

In my last post I made reference to Sabbatai Zevi, a self-proclaimed Messiah who was intent on capturing Istanbul in 1666. At the insistence of the Sultan he became a Muslim, and adopted the name of Aziz Mehmed Effendi.

A friend suggested that I read "Rescue in Albania" which reports the heroism of the Albanians in protecting Jews from the holocaust during WWII. In recounting the history of the Jews in Albania, I again read about our friend Sabbatai Zevi. In 1673 he was exiled to Albania. Three years later he died in Berat, the town of a thousand eyes, a beautiful treasure worth visiting!

What I didn't know was that Sabbatai Zevi's assumed tomb has become a shrine for the Bektashi, who are a Sufi order of Dervishes in Albania.