Denmark

It seems that every time I sit down at the computer to write a blog the same thing happens - I think back on what I did and the places I went, and I find myself at a complete loss as to how I can best condense everything I'd like to write into a short, readable blog entry. If I had the desire I could sit here and roll out a long, detailed, rambling narrative about what I did each day, and the things that I liked, and the things that I didn't quite understand, but I honestly think that would be as boring as batshit. I have about as much interest in delivering such a narrative as any person who may be logged onto this page would likely have in reading it, so instead I'm just going to write a few brief recollections of my time in Denmark and leave it at that.

Denmark was nice; Joel and myself were generously hosted by our friend Nis in Aarhus and by Joel's friend Ditte in Copenhagen. I was again lucky to have friendly locals looking after me and showing me around, because it meant that instead of spending my nights in backpacker places full of drunken tourists I was able to meet some local people and experience how warm Danes can be (despite - or perhaps in spite of - their freezing cold summer weather).

From Copenhagen Joel flew off to London en route to South East Asia, and I got a plane east to Finland, where I've been for just over a week... I'm currently in Turku, where my friend Shayne (the one whose wedding was the excuse for this trip) lives; I'm quite enjoying the place, so I think I'll stay here until Friday when I have to fly back to Sydney via Hong Kong...

Belgium

I've been sitting here for the last 20 minutes trying to write an entry about Belgium, but I can't seem to get past a few sentences... It was only a little over a week that I was there, but it seems like it was months ago, and even though Belgium's only a couple of hours flight from Finland, where I now am, it feels like it could just as easily be on the other side of the world. The rapid cultural shift between places in Europe that are geographically very close is something that I'm not used to. In the past when I've travelled I've been able to spend extended periods of time in countries and get to know the people and the culture a little bit, but the nature of the trip that I'm on at the moment means that every few days I'm heading somewhere else, so it's very hard to establish much of an insight into people and culture. I really liked Belgium; a lot of the reason for me liking it so much was probably the result of the warm hospitality of Julie, the most generous host you could ever wish for, but there was also something inexplicably charming about the place. Belgium isn't a place that springs to mind when you think of European travel itineraries: it seems to get overlooked alongside its larger, more well known, more powerful neighbours, and it would be quite easy just to pass straight through on the way north from France or on the way south from the Netherlands. We were able to visit towns in the French speaking south and the Flemish speaking north, and it was interesting to see how two quite different cultures share one country. I really don't feel like writing out a full account of all the places I went and the things I did, because those sorts of accounts always end up sounding similar, and can get quite boring, so instead I'll just say that there is plenty to do and see in Belgium, and I could happily go back there and travel around more - its size makes it easy to navigate, and there's friendly people, great food, and the world's best beer.

Paris

I'm not really sure what to write about Paris that will be interesting or different from what millions of other people would write about it... Like Prague, Paris in the middle of summer is full of tourists, and the more touristy parts of the city (particularly the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral and Versailles) were swarming with large, pushy tour groups that were determined to make sure that you spent more time looking at the backs of people's heads than at anything of historical significance.

Despite the tourist crowds, I actually quite enjoyed Paris, it has manged to retain a sense of intimacy that is often sadly lacking in large cities. I was met at the station by Laura, a friend of mine who lives there, and she showed me around some of of the Paris neighbourhoods that tend to get left off the tourist trail, which was nice. She lives in an old Parisienne house in a nice part of town, and although she says that she hates it because of all the old furniture, the place felt full of history, and had a nice 19th century charm to it...

I also met up with Joel and Jonesy, two friends from the Coast, and it was good to see them again. We were able to get to the last day of the Tour de France, which was really exciting, and something that I've wanted to do for quite a while. The anticipation of the crowd on the Champs-Elysee as the peleton gradually approached Paris was almost better than the thrill of watching the yellow jersey fly past. I'm glad I was able to be there, and hopefully one year I'll be able to go and see some of the mountain stages and be in some of the smaller towns as the tour comes through.

After a few days of looking around Paris I met up with another friend of mine: Lea, a French girl I worked with in Sydney. It was great to see her again, and we spent the last night in Paris sitting on the hill in front of the Sacre Coeur at Montmarte, looking out over Paris and drinking wine...

On the Thursday night I said goodbye to Laura (thanks for showing us around), and then to Lea (thank you for everything, too). I get sick of saying goodbye to people, it's the part of travelling that I like the least. I know that saying goodbye is inevitable, but I always feel a bit crappy when I have to be farewelled by good friends, because you never know exactly when you'll see people again - hopefully sooner rather than later.

Bratislava-Vienna-Zurich

I can't remember the last blog I wrote, but I think it was just after I got to Bratislava... The next morning Sam took me on a bit of a tour of Bratislava, which I actually found far more pleasant than Prague: Prague is a beautiful city, but its nice old parts are just way too full of tourists - Bratislava, on the other hand, is a bit smaller than Prague, and had less tourists and more charm.

Vienna's only an hour west of Bratislava, so after lunch we headed over there on the train and spent the afternoon looking around town. Sam's spent quite a lot of time in Vienna, so he was able to show me the sights which was good. Vienna came across as a very clean and well preserved city; it was the heart of the Hapsburg Empire, and the excesses of the ruling elites of the time are everywhere to be seen in the city's enormous palaces and intricately detailed building facades. Sam took me a typical Viennese beer garden where we had a beer and a schnitzel, then Zuzka met us so we could get the overnight train to Zurich.

The train got to Zurich early on Saturday morning, and since I had few hours to wait until my next train I had a bit of time to check out the city. The whole place seemed very organised and clean (although according to Zuzka the Swiss aren't really any cleaner than other people, they're just better at cleaning up after themselves), and because it was very early on a Saturday morning there was no one else on the streets, so it was like walking around a ghost town. Nevertheless, Zurich struck me as a nice city; the early morning sun on the big lake was a nice sight, but I couldn't see myself living in a place like that, it just looked a little bit too nice and well looked after to be real.

It was great catching up with Sam: it was nice to be able to talk to someone about my time in Colombia who had actually been a part of the experience. Even though it's now over a year since I was working with Alcance, it felt like it could have been yesterday, and when we went and had a few drinks in Bratislava's one Latin-themed bar I could almost imagine that I was back in Bogota...

Bratislava

Just a quick update... I got to Bratislava (capital of Slovakia) last night, where I was met at the bus station by Sam, a good friend of mine who I worked with in Colombia who now lives here with his wife (she's Slovak, he's Swiss) ... Bratislava doesn't look like much when you drive through the outskirts, but the centre of town is really nice, it has some beautiful old buildings and a nice peaceful feel, which is refreshing after the amount of tourists that have flooded Prague... After I arrived last night my hosts took me out for a traditional Slovak meal, which was really good, and I tried the local specialty, a softdrink called Kofola, which is best described as fizzy liquid gingerbread, and was surpisingly good (but like I said to Sam and his wife Zuzka, that probably isn't much of compliment coming from a person who can eat Vegimite straight from the jar) ... This morning Sam's gonna be my tour guide around Bratislava (kinda strange, an Australian being shown around a Slovak city by a Swiss guy he met in Colombia), then after lunch we'll head to Vienna (Austria), which is just an hour up the Danube; from Vienna we'll get the overnight train to Zurich (Switzerland), then there'll be a bit of time to check out the city before I say goodbye to Sam and Zuzka and get a connecting train to Paris, where I'll met some friends and hopefully be able to see the last day of the Tour de France...

Prague

I've been in Prague for a few days now, but it's a good thing that I head to Slovakia tomorrow, cause I don't think my body could handle much more time here. The food is really good but very fatty and heavy, and Czech's seem to drink more beer than water (actually, I've been told that Czechs down 137 litres of beer per person per year, which is the most in the world). They have a good reason to drink so much though, cause Czech beer really is excellent, and it's also quite cheap compared to most things here. In terms of looks, Prague's a beautiful city, it kinda feels like you're walking around in the middle of a postcard or a storybook or something: there's heaps of old buildings and squares and courtyards, and a nice castle and some old bridges and a cathedral. The general feel of the city is quite relaxed compared to other places that I've been, and everthing's very clean, but there are some parts of town that are almost unbearable cause of the amount of tourists. Yesterday I went walking through the Old Town, and across a famous old bridge that leads up to the castle, but a couple of hours of crowds was enough for me, so I went and found a piece of forest that ran across one side of the river, where I then spent a couple of relaxing, tourist-free hours walking randomly along little forest paths. It's been nice to see one of the world's famous cities, and I've really enjoyed catching up with friends that live here (special thanks to Alenka for hosting me); my next stop is Bratislava, where I'm heading tomorrow afternoon, and from there I'll head west to France...

Wellington, NSW

The last couple of weeks have been pretty hectic, so even though I've been overseas for a few days now I still haven't had time to write an entry on what I was up to before I left. My last week in Australia was spent in Wellington, a small town in the Central West of NSW, where I was working on a project called Walama Muru. The idea of the project was to break down barriers between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and it involved students from UNSW working alongside staff from Nura Gili (the Indigenous programs centre at UNSW where I've been completing my final placement for my social work degree). A group of about 30 of us spent the week working at Nanima, which is an Aboriginal community 8km out of Wellington. We did some basic stuff around town like clearing a new fire break, planting some trees, preparing a foundation for a water tank, painting a fence, and fixing up a bus shelter. It all seems like pretty simple stuff, and it is, but the local council doesn't go out to the community to do it, and the CDEP (Community Development Employment Program) that used to do that sort of stuff got closed down a few years ago. It was a good week, and an important reminder that you don't have to travel to far-off parts of the world to observe high levels of poverty, disadvantage, oppression and exclusion.

Wellington then Europe

It's been a while since I've written anything on here, but that's because it's been a while since I've been anywhere apart from Sydney or the Central Coast... I've had a really interesting year and a half since I left Colombia: I've been finishing off my social work degree, which has included two really worthwhile 4 month placements, the first at a mental health unit in Campbelltown, and the second with Nura Gili, the Indigenous programs centre at the University of New South Wales. I also spent about 4 months doing refugee casework with Amnesty International, which was really challenging and taught me a lot, so things certainly haven't been boring, even though I've been in the same city for over a year. Tomorrow I'm going to travel again, and it's a good feeling. I'm going to Wellington (in New South Wales, not New Zealand), where I'll spend a week working on a community project as part of my final placement for my social work degree, then the very next day I'm heading to Europe for a bit of a break and to go to a wedding (a friend's, not my own) ... Anyway, instead of writing emails I'm just gonna make the odd blog posting, so anything interesting that I do that I think's family friendly enough to be put online will be recorded here...

more moralising and sociological bullshit

To close off on my time in Colombia, here´s an extract from the final report that I submitted as part of my work:

To close, I would like to impart a few thoughts about this conflict, the people it affects, and my hopes for the future. I’ve seen a lot of tears shed by and for the victims of this war (and I’ve cried a few myself); sometimes you need to cry, and it’s important that you do, but I can’t help but think that if I cried a tear for every person whose life has been destroyed by this war then I too would in effect lose my life to the war, and become yet another victim of what is a disgusting, brutal tragedy. Those of us who have been lucky enough to be spared a life that’s ruled by bullets have a chance that many people never get – the chance to act without fear of violent retribution. The good people who stand by and do nothing are in some ways as accountable for this situation as those who carry out the massacres and the crop eradications, and the key to winning the fight against social injustice is the mobilisation of those who don’t like what’s happening, but have never taken the time to do anything about it. These are good people, with good hearts, and together they can make a difference. The harsh reality is that going to the occasional protest or signing the occasional petition is not going to lead to long-term, meaningful change - what is required is a sustained, well-resourced, well-directed effort on the part of the entire community. As the steps must be small, every small victory must be celebrated, and people must accept that there are no easy answers. The question being asked needs to change from ‘What can we do?’ to ‘What are we doing?’, and Colombia – indeed, the world – needs less talk and more action. Such an effort requires a united people, one that is prepared to put politics, race, religion and class aside, and one that refuses to stop until it has achieved the ultimate: a Colombia in which the goal of ‘not one more victim’ is not a dream, but a reality.

in Brazil

Right, now that I´m finally in Brazil - and officially unemployed - I´ve got a bit of time to bring you all up to date on what I´ve been up to...

My last month or so in Colombia was pretty hectic, and mostly consisted of finalising things with my work and saying a series of goodbyes to people, and then finished up with a conference in Bogotá that brought together all the project´s participants from the 10 different cities of Colombia where we were working, which was good...

After that I went back to Bucaramanga for a few days, where I pretty much just bummed around, but I had a few days left before my flight to Brazil, and Bucaramanga´s a better place to be a bum than Bogotá - it´s smaller, warmer, and the beer is cheaper...

Now I´m in Brazil (where the beer is better, but more expensive), and I´ll be here till the first few days of March, so it should be a good break...