Thursday 28 June 2012

Going around

When your cultural shock starts to pass (or you think it is), then you want to make choices more consciously.   You know people tell you to act this or that way, but something back in your mind insists you should try something else.

I love walking. But my liking contradicts all the advices I get. Since I can't drive, public transportation has to be used. For ex-pats that means going taxing everywhere - or until you can get to next metro station. Well, they aren't wrong in their choice: if you, like me, can't speak enough Arabic, don't know the place yet, when obviously have no idea where the buses and trams are heading to (because there is no signs written anywhere - not in the stops, not even in the buses' front), then what you have to do is go taxing.

Locals, on the other hand, go by bus or tram. Although taxis' charge here is cheaper than in any other world capital, it's not affordable to people go to work or school everyday by taxi. And then, they know how to use the other kinds of public transportations, which also includes tuk-tuks and open-in-the-back trucks.

Where is walking? Virtually nowhere. No one seems to be able to walk 10 minutes or 1 km. And certainly not my 40 minutes walking to Arabic school (to go and come back, 80'). That may cause problems - or give you a funny story.

I was leaving work at 18:00, when I realized I didn't have enough money for the taxi. After considering the options, I looked at the sky... sun isn't so strong anymore and I like walking. So I decided to walk back home and calculated I would take about one hour. I had never done it before, but I had a map, right? Yep, until I get to one roundabout with many streets crossing and I get confused which street I should follow (no, it was not just going straight ahead). And them people started to tell me to follow the trams' rail.

That's what I thought they were telling me. Each time I stopped to ask, the advice was always the same. Until the trail ended and I ended up somewhere totally wrong - and I was completely lost.

Luciana goes all the way back. And then decided to ask once more (after all,I was walking already for 1 hour and a half!). A family is sitting on the pavement and when I ask for directions, I cause a comotion. "Habibiti, that's too far! You can't go walking!" - said the mom. She stops a woman in the street, who could speak English and this one is also mortified. No walking - take the tram, she advises. Okay, now I understand. All the time, I shouldn't have followed the tram's trail but should have taken the tram. 




Well, I'll have to take the tram, then. It was getting dark... and it was a new experience, anyway. Then, I learned two things: how to get the tram and why ex-pats probably don't take the tram. You only get it by chance. I waited for half an hour and it took about 5 minutes to my stop. So, if it comes, take the tram. If it doesn't, go taxing. Or walking - I still haven't given up. =P

Saturday 23 June 2012

Outdoors


I wanted to post something of outdoors. Work is going fine and learning Arabic is much difficult than I have ever thought it would be, but still trying to find my own way and there are already some things that I love doing here.

One of them is watching the sunset - although I don't do this very often. Folks, it's the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in my life. I thought all the photos I had seen before had manipulated colours by software, but it is inexplicably true: the colours are magnificent, creating shades I never dreamed of existing. Just take the light... it's so powerful any time of the day, but during the sunset it seems to create some transparency. And the sun majestically setting in the horizon line always makes me speechless. Wonder. Astonishment. Never know what wish is stronger: whether I want to contemplate or to follow into the sun.

My photo is nothing. But I went to the desert yesterday for the first time I thought I wanted to share this with you. Had a nice time there, but hope to have lots of more beautiful sunsets for you. :)