Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas i Bon Nadal


Merry Christmas and Happy 2008
Bon Nadal i Felic Any Nou
Felices Fiestas y Prospero 2008
Diana, Manel, Ella i Blanche XXX

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Tana


Amb les motxiles buides i la roba a l'armari pensavem que estariem com a casa i la veritat es que els dies que portem a Tana ens sentim gairebe com a casa. O sigui que l'Ella i la Blanche tenen ocasio de barallar-se de tant en tant i nosaltres de fer de pares ignorant les seves disputes. Barallar-se de fet es una exageracio, alguna petita discussio sobre qui deixa que a qui i es clar, com que el que voldrien portar esta brut... Em penso que als 4 ens agradaria poder portar alguna cosa que no tenim aqui ja que malgrat haver fet alguna compra tant a l'Argentina com a Xile, Australia i a la Mumbai, la roba que portem comenca a estar aburrida i gastada. A mes des que varem deixar America del Sud, fa molta calor i no cal posar-se gaire coses... la mateixa samarreta o l'altra i uns shorts o uns altres (qui en te dos parells) es repeteixen. Aqui la terra es molt vermella i hi ha bastanta pols, per tant ja ens hem acostumat a anar un xic empolsegats, encara que mantenim l'habit de fer tantes dutxes com podem -encara que gastant tant poca aigua com ens es possible. Seguint amb la primavera constant, la meva al.lergia es dispara de tant en tant i empipo als altres amb grans dosis d'esternuts, i encara que ens queden algunes anthistaminiques, no sempre sembla que funcionin, i es clar la contaminacio de la ciutat no hi ajuda gens.
Seguim patint de les males conexions a internet i a vegades es un suplici fins enviar un correu i tot, ens ha arribat a caldre fins una hora, per tant de moment no estem penjant fotos i les nostres session es limiten al que podem aconseguir. Des que tenim telefon les noies han rebut alguna trucada, que sempre les alegra i nosaltres un missatge -gracies Carlos!

We thought that emptying our backpacks into the cupboard would help us feel at home and indded it had some effect. The girls immediately had the occasional argument about who wears what and whose is it, as often what they want to wear is either dirty or being washed... As good parents we try to ignore such discussions. In fact I think at times we could all do with different clothes, some that aren't with us, as despite some shopping we did both in Argentina, Chile, Australia and Mumbai, the clothes we have with us have started to get old and we are bored with them. Not to mention that the last few weeks it has been hot and one ends up having to wear the same t-shirt or shorts all too often. The soil here is red and dusty and it doesn't help staying clean, however we still try to have daily showers, even if using as little water as possible. As it seems to be always spring, my allergy is often bothering me and although I still have some pills left, they do not always have much of an effect, so the girls are constantly enduring my sneezing sessions; of course the city pollution contributes a lot to it.
We continue to struggle with internet as access is far from ideal and we have been unable to post pictures for a while, some times a simple email can take an hour! Since we've got the mobile the girls have received some calls which they really enjoyed receiving and we had one text -thanks Carlos!

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Mumbai, Mauritius, Madagascar, a 3 day journey


When we left Darwin little did we know how long it would take us to reach our destination in Madagascar. It all seemed to go well until we were ready to board the flight from Mumbai to Mauritius late at night when after some inquiries we realized our flight had been cancelled. Fortunately Air Mauritius had organized an hotel for us and after stopping a local cab outside the terminal, we were on our way to a 5 star hotel. The next day we took off early afternoon hoping to still make a connection in Maurice, however once we reached our first stop there were no more flights to Madagascar until the next day in the afternoon. Again AM had organised a hotel for us and this time even a proper transfer. As Mauritius is a "luxury" holiday place, we ended up in a Hilton on the beach resort where they greet guests with drinks and all the modern comforts one can imagine were at our disposal... no complaints there. Finally we got to Antananarivo on the 3rd day and were welcomed by Yamuna's Manolo at the airport. We have only been here a couple of days and it already feels we have been here a long time thanks to the extraordinary welcome we have received from everyone here.
By the way, as it will soon be Christmas and we will be here for a while we've got ourselves a local mobile number (+261325195728) in case anyone has the urge to call any of us...

Al marxar de Darwin sabiem que el viatge seria llarg pero mai varem inaginar que tant. Tot havia anat be fins a Mumbai, pero al anar a agafar el vol cap a les Maurici ja tard a la nit varem descobrir que l'havien anul.lat. Afortunadament Air Mauritus ens havia reservat un bon hotel i despres de trobar un taxi varem poder dormir comodament. L'endema el vol va sortir finalment a primera hora de la tarda pero al arribibar a les Maurici ja no hi havia vols cap a Madagascar. De nou AM s'havia ocuptat de buscar-nos hotel, aquest cop ens portaren a un Hilton a la platja on reben els hostes amb begudes i fent sonar el gong i posen totes les comoditats possibles al teu servei. Despres de disfrutar de l'estada i els serveis l'endema a mitja tarda varem marxar cap a Antananarivo, on ens esperava el Manolo de Yamuna a l'aeroport. Encara que nomes portem dos dies aqui, gracies a la benvinguda que ens estan donant sembla que ja faci molt mes que hi som.
Per cert, com que s'acosta Nadal i serem aqui un temps hem adauirit un mobil local (+261325195728) per si algu vol contactar amb nosaltres.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Salam Mumbai


Pels que seguiu la nostra ruta, ahir a migdia varem marxar de Darwin cami de Madagascar. El primer vol en va portar a l'India, a Mumbai, on varem arribar ja tard al vespre. El viatge en taxi cap a l'hostal va ser al.lucinant, un paseig per barris molt diversos veient com vibrava la ciutat, focs d'articifi, claxons de cotxes i motos, olors ben variades i tantes altres sensacions ens varen rebre agradablement. Aquest mati hem descobert una mica d'aquesta metropolis superpoblada, i fins hem trobat un bon restaurant local on degustar les especialitats a l'hora del migdia a la vegada que ho feien els treballadors del barri. Aquest vespre seguim el nostra cami cap a Antananarivo, on esperem arribar a mig mati de dimecres. D'entrada ens costara marxar tan rapidament despres del primer contacte amb l'India, pero ens consola saber que a finals de Gener tornarem per passar-hi unes quantes setmanes...

For those of you who are following our route, yesterday we left Darwin en route for Madagascar. The first leg took us as far as Mumbai where we arrived last night. The journey to the hostel by taxi was incredible; a journey through various, different districts where we saw the city alive at night, fireworks, horns, motorbikes, many smells and other sensations .... This morning we've been discovering this metropolis a little more and we even found a great local restaurant to eat where the local workers were enjoying their lunch. Tonight we continue on to Madagascar where we arrive tomorrow mid-morning. It's a shame to be leaving here so quickly but we'll be back at the end of January and we'll be able to spend a few weeks here ....