måndag 30 november 2009

Thanks Allah that november is over!

The month of november is finally over. I actually do not like talking about the weather but it is a subject which could not be ignored if you are living in this part of the world where the winter is long, dark and cold!

I am not a x-mas fan either. Traditions and cultures are supposed to be in flux but the never-ending consumtion in Babylon does not change. Chrismas is for kids and families.

People are shopping as never before to no avail because material wealth does not bring about happiness. We need a spiritual uplifting to a different level. Something is missing in my life too but shopping would not make me happier than I am.

Life is a journey of ups and downs with an unknown destination. Death is the only thing that we are certain of and the limted time until that should be exploited in the best way possible.


The world cup in south Africa is around the corner and hope to become part of this great event which is gonna take place in the African soil for the first time. The Indomitable lions of Cameroon and the elephants of Ivory coast are my favorites to hold the cup. The two teams shall meet in the final and Cameroon shall trimph.

tisdag 20 oktober 2009

Coaching?

I work as a jobcoach in Malmö since the 3rd of september. I like most of my colleagues and the duty that I have but it is not an easy task to deal with people in general and vulnerable groups in particular.

If a person has been unemployed for a long time and has lost all the confidence in the society and its system, it takes more than time and energy to motivate him/her to be engaged in a constructive dialogue.

The current economic crisis across the world is having a tremedous impact in the lives of millions of people and Sweden is not an exception. The challenge for me is to find a mutual forum for building a trustworthy and cooperative relationship with my participants so that we could end up getting a common solution for all individuals.

Human realtions are delicate and deserve genuine dedication. Coaching can be compared to a long journey where the driver and the passenger complement each other. Everyone of us are responsible for our actions but at times the odds could be against us and we might need to change our ways of coping with some issues because some problems need to handled differently than before.

onsdag 9 september 2009

Walls of shame!

Kefah Omwanzi, alias, bushman Kimani wrote the following poem some time ago. The poem has touched me so much that it deserves to be spread to humanity.

"It matters little what they are called-
whether walls,
Barriers or fences -
The intention is the same :
To redefine human relations into "us" and "them"

It is about division,
The barriers that men erect,
In calculation or desperation,
To separate themselves from others,
or others from them

There are many types of walls:
Barriers between countries,
Walls around cities
And fences that zig-zag through
neighbourhoods-
Built Bridges;not walls of Shame!!"

Tear down the walls of babylon once for all!

fredag 28 augusti 2009

Swiss/Swedish......???

I am in Switzerland and visiting my friends. I have spent almost a week in here and I like it so far after having been in Zurich, Lucern and Basel where I am right now. This small country with a population of roughly 7 million belongs to one of the richest countries in the world. Their system of direct democracy with many referendums in the 26 cantons(federal states) is one of the things that I have found to be very exciting.

20 % of the people are said to be having a migrant background in one way or the other, yet the issue of migration is a delicate one even in here as elsewhere in Babylon or Zion. My friend who has moved to Switzrland after having lived in Sweden for many years, tells me that he feels more at home in Switzerland than Sweden.

80 % of his friends are Swiss people while in Sweden he had no friend of ethnic Swedish background except for Peder who as a matter of fact is more Eritrean than the Eritrean president himself :-) This hard fact actually explains the attitude of people towards foreigners.

Integration is a mutual project where both the host and the guest give and take with the will to build a better society. Switzerland is not of course a success story and Sweden is not a failure either in this respect. The question is more complicated than that but I have got some understanding why my friend feels better in this part of Europe than the north.

lördag 15 augusti 2009

Why me! Never kneel down!

Fire on fire

clumsy people

lousy days

speechless

cloudy

foggy

swedish summer

Eritrean dishes

poems and poetry

chicken bones

surialism

sufism

perfectionism

existentialism

presidential

statesman

A Humanbeing

måndag 27 juli 2009

Mi viaje parece no terminar!

La vida es como un tren que va de estación en estación y cada uno de nosotros espera que llegue nuestra hora de bajar, pues el tren no es cómodo como la vida no lo es, a nadie se le ocurre quedarse a vivir en el, pues un tren es solo un instrumento, una experiencia pasajera, un medio para alcanzar un fin, no hay en el atractivos permanentes, solo se lo considera útil para alcanzar la meta, que nadie sabe cuando llegará, pero es tan seductora la idea de llegar a ella, que estamos dispuestos a vivir cualquier circunstancia en el viaje, todo vale como precio para llegar allí, algunos hasta piensan que si tuvieran que morir en el intento, lo harían, pues vale la pena el sacrificio, en Pro de intentar llegar a la parada tan ansiada, pero es curioso, pues nadie sabe a donde va, ni cual es la característica real del lugar en donde se tiene que bajar, es como una especie de lotería, que en el momento menos esperado nos toca, mencionan nuestro nombre y se supone que nos debemos bajar sin mas, es tan raro, pues pareciera que esas ansias incontenibles de llegar a ese lugar, nos hacen amoldarnos y luchar en el recorrido del viaje, miramos por las ventanillas observando todo tipo de panorama, miramos los paisajes y ciudades que pasan a diario, vemos llover y solear, campos buenos y terribles desiertos, pero solo eso hacemos, mirar, y en cada instante nos preguntamos si será esta la tierra, la ciudad, la montaña en la que nos tocará bajar.

Cada vez que el tren se para tratamos de ver los rostros de los nombrados y queremos encontrar en esos rostros una expresión, ya sea de felicidad o de decepción, al encontrarse de frente a la puerta y el paisaje que detrás de ella les espera, y lo extraño es que no hay manifestaciones de ese tipo, mas bien hay una especie de sensación de sorpresa de haber sido llamados a bajar, y de querer enfrentar aquello que tanto esperaron con mucho valor y que no supieron que sería, aunque no se parezca en nada a lo que ellos habían soñado en tan extensa travesía, y una y otra vez me pongo en el lugar de ellos y trato de ensayar cual será mi actitud en tan importante hora, solo que quedo perdido en mi confusión interior, pues ni siquiera yo se en que lugar me tocará descender, y día tras día la maquina sin descansar nos lleva por una ruta sin final, y es por eso que esta tarde al mirar por los cristales, veo como están mojados por la lluvia y veo la vida de los demás pasar frente a mi, van y vienen, cada uno en su preocupación, cada uno con su vida, que es mucho para pensar y me pregunto seriamente en lo mas profundo del corazón ¿ha donde va tu vida caminante? ¿Cual será tu lugar? ¿A dónde te tendrás que bajar? ¿Estas preparado ya?

El caminante

fredag 24 juli 2009

My life is a never-ending journey without children!

This summer of 2009 in Sweden has been rainy as usual....The spring was promising but to no avail. I believe that it has to do with the credit crunch once again :-)

God is angry! He has got to pee all day and night long.He is stressed by the muslims, christians,jewish, buddhists,sikhs, satanists,tourialists.e.t.c. Let him urinate to hell!

I am still undecided about the future concerning where to live and what to do. The only thing that I currenty feel certain about is that I do not want to live in Babylon and die as a bitter man in here.

I tried to work with homeless people in Malmö a couple of times this summer but never enjoyed it. It is good to know what you want to get out of life but a work that I do not like is not worth investing on. I have some other options now and hope that one of them shall work out. I should be doing something somewhere in Africa or Latin America this fall. Europe is actually the third choice.

Life is too short to be spent in Sweden for good. The never-ending journey continues and I have been to Berlin, Prag, Bratislava and Vienna since I came back from south America in april.

I will turn 38 in september but am not yearning for a bright future with kids in a big house somewhere as yet. It may sound strange but it seems that I have made up my mind not to have children (unconsciously or consciously for some reasons).

I may change my mind in the near future but this is the way I feel right now. Some say that Life is empty and meaningless without kids, I say:not inevitably!This is it!

torsdag 2 juli 2009

5 Tips för ett lyckligare liv

Praktiskfilosofen Bengt Brülde menar att "Det går att leva sitt liv så att man ligger på en ganska hög lyckonivå.Men då gäller det i meningen att känna livstillfredställelse och välbefinnande. Det går däremot aldrig att känna eufori under en längre period. Många verkar satsa mer på att vara lyckade än att vara lyckliga."

Jag vill vara lyckligare än lyckad. Vad en lyckad eller misslyckad person är låter jag osagt eftersom det bara finns människor som strävar efter att berättiga sin blotta existens. Jag finns alltid i relation till andra människor.

Ur intet och tomheten, ur vilsenheten och rotlösheten uppstår insikten om ens sårbarhet och maktlöshet. Försök alltid att göra något som du mår bra av men livet består av berg och dalbanor också.

Lev medans du lever för annars tar det slut innan du ens har förstått varför du överhuvudtaget har kommit till denna värld. Följ de följande råden. Hör av dig om eventuella förbättringar äger rum. Sunt och förnuft funkar för det mesta.

1. Skriv tacksamhetsdagbok

*skriv regelbundet ner fem saker du känner dig tacksam över. Idén är att bli mer optimistisk och se det positiva i tillvaron.

2. Sätt upp långsiktiga mål

* Formulera hur du vill att ditt liv ska se ut om tio år. Då fokuserar du på bästa tänkbara framtid och vaskar fram dina innersta önskningar.Om inte annat kan det få dig att fundera på dem.

3. Gör extra snälla saker

* Bjud på middag, hjälp en kollega, engagera dig i en förening eller ge blod. Gör något en gång i veckan som är särskilt snällt. Kan ge tillfredställelse, men även positiv respons. Prova gärna saker du inte gjort tidigare.

4. Ta reda på vad som gör dig glad

* Notera varje kväll i en vecka vilka aktiviteter du gjort under dagen och hur lycklig varje aktivitet gjort dig. Kanske blir du överraskad över resultat och kan ägna dig mer åt det som faktiskt gör dig gladare.

5. Förbättra dina sociala relationer

*Vet dina nära och kära hur mycket du uppskattar dem?Fundera på hur du kan förbättra dina relationer till partnern, vännerna och kollegorna. Goda vänner och relationer gör dig glad.

fredag 26 juni 2009

The legendary king of pop-Michael Jackson!

He was unlike anyone of us,

He revolutionized music

He was the embodiment of talent.

I dedicate Billie Holiday´s song strange fruit to honour him because he was also the victim of racism as the majority of blacks in the United States.

This is the song that shall be played on my funeral on the 21st of september 2049.........or ......hopefully later. You never know with life. Take a day at a time and enjoy it with your loved ones.


"Southern trees bear strange fruit,

Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,

Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,

Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,

The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,

Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,

Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,

For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,

For the sun to rot,

for the trees to drop,

Here is a strange and bitter crop."

måndag 1 juni 2009

Black like the depths of my Africa.....

The collected poems of Langstone Hughes are still of great significance.....



Negro


I am a Negro:
Black as the night is black,
Black like the depths of my Africa.



I've been a slave:
Caesar told me to keep his door-steps clean.
I brushed the boots of Washington.



I've been a worker:
Under my hand the pyramids arose.
I made mortar for the Woolworth Building.



I've been a singer:
All the way from Africa to Georgia
I carried my sorrow songs.
I made ragtime.

I've been a victim:
The Belgians cut off my hands in the Congo.
They lynch me still in Mississippi.



I am a Negro:
Black as the night is black,
Black like the depths of Africa.

lördag 9 maj 2009

Eduardo Galeano and Noam Chomsky!

Hugo Chavez seems to have a good taste of reading. He made an advertisment for Noam Chomsky´s book: Hegemony or survival: America´s Quest for Global Dominance at a UN summit A few years ago.

At the recent Latin America summit, he gave Barack Hussien, Eduardo Galeano´s book - Las venas abiertas de America Latina-open veins of Latin America:Five centuries of the pillage of a continent.

I am reading both books right now and feel that Hugo has contributed to the avalanche increase of new readers across the globe.

Leaders could make a difference and I hope that Hussien would be able to learn something from his reading of Eduardo. Barack Hussien himself likes the novel Netherland by Joseph O,Neills at the moment.

For my part, I am still in a state of bewilderment and have not been able to put myself together after the South American Journey. I feel a bit lost and take a day at a time.

fredag 17 april 2009

WHY just WHY single out ERITREA ???

"Eritrea has become a nighmare and all our hopes of a democratic nation have been shuttered", according to western media. The reality in the country tells a different story.

Eritrea was liberated from Ethiopia on may 24, 1991 after 30 years of brutal war and gained formal independence in 1993 with more than 98.5 % of the pouplation voting for it.

The last 18 years with Issayas Afeworki have not been catastrophic and the future with him looks bright. Read the article from the BBC:


"Eritrea becoming 'a giant prison'

The Eritrean government is turning its country into a giant prison, according to Human Rights Watch.

The Horn of Africa nation is widely using military conscription without end, as well as arbitrary detention of its citizens, says HRW.

Hundreds of Eritrean refugees forcibly repatriated from countries like Libya, Egypt and Malta face arrest and torture upon their return, says the group.

Religious persecution and forced labour are also rife in Eritrea, says HRW.

The report urges countries not to send back Eritrean asylum-seekers and calls on the international community and donors to exert pressure on the government in Asmara over its rights record.

HRW says every year thousands of Eritreans flee their country, where statutory national service, which used to last 18 months, has been made indefinite.

The advocacy group says most of Eritrea's adult population is currently conscripted.

Sixteen years after it won independence from Ethiopia following a three-decade war, Eritrea is one of the most closed and repressive states in the world, says the report.

It accuses President Isayas Afewerki of using an unresolved border dispute with Ethiopia to keep Eritrea on a permanent war-footing.

HRW says there is no independent civil society and all independent media outlets have been shut down.

People under the age of 50 are rarely granted visas to leave the country and those who try to do so without documentation face imprisonment and torture or being shot at the border, says the group.

Prisoners are often held in underground cells or in shipping containers with dangerously high temperatures, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Christians are being rounded up and tortured on a regular basis, says the group.

The BBC's Pascale Harter spoke to Salamay, a 16-year-old Eritrean refugee in Italy.

She said she fled when police began rounding up youths in her village for national service.

In Sudan, she said a family took her hostage and forced her to work without pay.

In Libya, she was taken to a prison where inmates faced rape every night by the guards. " Western people judging Africans is not trustworthy. The west has no a moral supremacy to tell Africans what is best for themselves.Enough bullshiting from Babylone.

söndag 5 april 2009

Back in Sweden!

I am back in Sweden after having been in South America over 6 months during which time I visited Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil.

I had an enriching experience. I do not know as yet what the future holds for me here in Sweden but it feels good that I am done with the great journey in South America for the time being.

I have now been in all continents and visited almost 40 countries. It might be about time to calm down for a while.

I am currently reading Ngugi Wa Thiongo´s book ..."Wizard of the Crow" about the free republic of Aburiria....which reminds me of Eritrea quite a lot.

tisdag 24 mars 2009

Africa has never been a Tabula rosa and terra nullius!

The pre-colonial Africa, slavery, colonialism, the Ethio-Eritrean conflict, pan-Africanism and the western media coverage of black people were some of the subjects that I took up during my lecture in the faculty of social science at the university of Bahia on saturday.

We had about 60 wouldbe journalists who were curious about the African continent. I held the lecture in English and a friend of mine translated into portugese which of course is not the easiest thing to do.

Some words and messages were lost in transition and translation........ it is not the same momentum as communicating directly to the audience.

I tried to emphasize that Africa has never been a Tabula rosa (clean slate or utopian blank) and terra nullius (no one´s land) before the arrival of the Europeans. I wanted the students to be critical and see things in historical and holistic perspective.

The word Africa is said to have its origin in northern or eastern Africa.Afri meaning cave and ca meaning birthplace. In greece, Africa means a land - free of cold and horror. Africa has almost a billion people with 2000-3000 languages and 8000 dialects. The diversity in this continent is enormous.

The suppresive structures and institutions of the colonial state have not made governance more effective and democratic in the aftermath of colonialism. It is not that Africa has failed after "independence". Genuine democracy and development has actually never been on the agenda, as the Nigerian scholar Claude ake claimed.

Nation-state was an European invention and its power concentration in the center made it pretty difficult to many African societies to participate in the nation-building process as it does not encapsulate multiculturalism in its oppresive form.

The cold war, structural adjustment programme and many other international interferences have worsened the situation for poor people across the continent. Bad leadership is also one of the reasons for the "failure".

It was a great experience for me and the students appreciated the things that I had to say. I am now in my final days of my south American journey. I shall be in Sweden on the 4 th of april.

lördag 14 mars 2009

Nyabinghi, candomble' and capoeira..

I am really having a great time here in Salvador da Bahia. The people that I have met recently are full of energy and commitmment to fight for equal rights and opportunities to all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eva.

The zion train is moving and no body can stop it. I visited a Brazilian family yesterday evening, who are friends to a friend of mine. It was an amazing family of 6 who make their living through Reggae music that they produce and sale.

One of their sons is called Mekonnen Tafari in a direct reference to their idol , the late Ethiopian emperror Ras Tafari Mekonnen, i.e , Haile selassie the first. They had the Ethiopian alphabets well-preserved in a dose as well and the father told me of his dream to master Amharic.

I felt that I had come to the right place and should open an Eritrean restaurant and Amharic school here in the future. I have met some people who would like to strengthen their African roots. Learning Amharic and African history might be one way of getting there.

I believe that Afro-centrism is necessary in order to have a holistic perspective on things and to later be able to transcende your own boundaries. This task is almost impossible without first knowing yourself.

I am gonna hold a lecture about Africa for Bahian students at the university in a week time. A lot of doors are being opened for me in here and I would be more than happy to settle in Bahia once I have sorted out my life in Sweden.


I currently live in a big house on my own in an old part of Salvador as the owner is in Sao Paulo. It is this kind of gesture and generosity of Bahians that make feel humble and want to stay here for a longer time.

Nothing is impossible in an environment of fraternity and solidarity. The Nyabinghi, Candomble' and capoeira movements are very strong in Bahia and it is these working institutions that are going to be our inspirations for our demands for equality and justice across Brazil.

måndag 9 mars 2009

Mulheres em foco! Onde as mulheres vao parar?

Women in focus! Where are the women going to stop? These were the slogans that were written on placards when women's day was celebrated here in Salvador da Bahia this weekend.

The best 8th of march I ever had in my life. Strong women with a will that could move mountains. Samba music from a stage surrounded by a lake created an atmosphere of solidarity that could be felt everywhere. The empowerment of women is a must if this planet is going to have any chance of survival. The fire is burning and the message is being spread like a wild fire. No one can stop the women!

I really enjoyed the moment and met a lot of wonderful people. We later went to the house of Helena who had her 92nd birthdate and had a great time.

I have started to like the portuegese language and Brazil more now. I am having a second thought about my plan to go back to Sweden on the 3 rd of april because I have got a cheaper place to stay and have been offered a couple of volunteer works where my experience and education could be used better.

I have not made up my mind as yet but having met amazing people lately has not made my hesitation to diminish.

lördag 7 mars 2009

Langstone Hughes (1902 - 1967)

Born in Joplin, Missouri, James Langston Hughes was a member of an abolitionist family. He was the great-great-grandson of Charles Henry Langston, brother of John Mercer Langston, who was the first Black American to be elected to public office, in 1855.

Hughes attended Central High School in Cleveland, Ohio, but began writing poetry in the eighth grade, and was selected as Class Poet. His father didn't think he would be able to make a living at writing, and encouraged him to pursue a more practical career.

He paid his son's tuition to Columbia University on the grounds he study engineering. After a short time, Langston dropped out of the program with a B+ average; all the while he continued writing poetry.

His first published poem was also one of his most famous, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", and it appeared in Brownie's Book. Later, his poems, short plays, essays and short stories appeared in the NAACP publication Crisis Magazine and in Opportunity Magazine and other publications.

One of Hughes' finest essays appeared in the Nation in 1926, entitled "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain".

It spoke of Black writers and poets, "who would surrender racial pride in the name of a false integration," where a talented Black writer would prefer to be considered a poet, not a Black poet, which to Hughes meant he subconsciously wanted to write like a white poet.

Hughes argued, "no great poet has ever been afraid of being himself." He wrote in this essay, "We younger Negro artists now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame.

If white people are pleased we are glad. If they aren't, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too... If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn't matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, as strong as we know how and we stand on the top of the mountain, free within ourselves."

In 1923, Hughes traveled abroad on a freighter to the Senegal, Nigeria, the Cameroons, Belgium Congo, Angola, and Guinea in Africa, and later to Italy and France, Russia and Spain. One of his favorite pastimes whether abroad or in Washington, D.C. or Harlem, New York was sitting in the clubs listening to blues, jazz and writing poetry.

Through these experiences a new rhythm emerged in his writing, and a series of poems such as "The Weary Blues" were penned. He returned to Harlem, in 1924, the period known as the Harlem Renaissance.

During this period, his work was frequently published and his writing flourished. In 1925 he moved to Washington, D.C., still spending more time in blues and jazz clubs. He said,

"I tried to write poems like the songs they sang on Seventh Street...(these songs) had the pulse beat of the people who keep on going." At this same time, Hughes accepted a job with Dr. Carter G. Woodson, editor of the Journal of Negro Life and History and founder of Black History Week in 1926. He returned to his beloved Harlem later that year.

Langston Hughes received a scholarship to Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania, where he received his B.A. degree in 1929. In 1943, he was awarded an honorary Lit.D by his alma mater; a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1935 and a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1940.

Based on a conversation with a man he knew in a Harlem bar, he created a character know as My Simple Minded Friend in a series of essays in the form of a dialogue. In 1950, he named this lovable character Jess B. Simple, and authored a series of books on him.

Langston Hughes was a prolific writer. In the forty-odd years between his first book in 1926 and his death in 1967, he devoted his life to writing and lecturing. He wrote sixteen books of poems, two novels, three collections of short stories, four volumes of "editorial" and "documentary" fiction, twenty plays, children's poetry, musicals and operas, three autobiographies, a dozen radio and television scripts and dozens of magazine articles.

In addition, he edited seven anthologies. The long and distinguished list of Hughes' works includes: Not Without Laughter (1930); The Big Sea (1940); I Wonder As I Wander" (1956), his autobiographies.

His collections of poetry include: The Weary Blues (1926); The Negro Mother and other Dramatic Recitations (1931); The Dream Keeper (1932); Shakespeare In Harlem (1942); Fields of Wonder (1947); One Way Ticket (1947); The First Book of Jazz (1955); Tambourines To Glory (1958); and Selected Poems (1959); The Best of Simple (1961).

He edited several anthologies in an attempt to popularize black authors and their works. Some of these are: An African Treasury (1960); Poems from Black Africa (1963); New Negro Poets: USA (1964) and The Best Short Stories by Negro Writers (1967).

Published posthumously were: Five Plays By Langston Hughes (1968); The Panther and The Lash: Poems of Our Times (1969) and Good Morning Revolution: Uncollected Writings of Social Protest (1973); The Sweet Flypaper of Life with Roy DeCarava (1984).

Langston Hughes died of cancer on May 22, 1967. His residence at 20 East 127th Street in Harlem, New York has been given landmark status by the New York City Preservation Commission. His block of East 127th Street was renamed "Langston Hughes Place".

As long as you are a blackman, you are an African...?

I feel that it is about time that I started doing something else than just travelling around. I have therefore made up my mind to return to Sweden in the very beginning of april and enjoy the Swedish spring and write a book about my bewilderment!

6 months in South America is enough time and it feels good that I do not want to prolong this journey anymore. The original plan was to stay until the middle of june and even visit some more countries across the caribbean sea but I have run out of steam and there is no reason to stick to that when the excitement and pleasure does not exist.

Brazil has of course disappointed me but I do think that I have got what I have been looking for in this journey. The mission is accomplished for this time. I have met wonderful people and have had an enriching experience.

Many black Brazilians identify themselves as "Brazilians" in the first place and they have no strong connection with Africa. I have not found any pride and dignity in them as being the descendents of former slaves who originated from Africa.

The absence of African awareness has historical explanations. It was not allowed to discuss any racial issues in Brazil until 1985.


"There were no blacks in Brazil until then." There were noly Brazilians. It is as recently as 2003 that Brazil introduced history lessons about slavery and Africa.

There has been a delibrate attempt to deemphasize "the African" and "the black" among the coloured in this country. We have a lot of people who still are suffering from that and have accepted their destiny of poverty.

Things are changing a little bit now and I have met some people who work hard to bring about some form of justice, equal rights and opportunity to all. The issue of being an African as long as a blackman is though more complicated and delicate than ever before.

tisdag 3 mars 2009

Call me, please! If/when you see a Japanese tourist walking on his/her own!

It is seldom that I see a Japanese tourist alone!

Japanese society is basically a communist/collectivelly oriented even if they have been living under a capitalist system/government for years.

Chinese society, on the other hand, is an individuallyl/a capitalist oriented even if they have been living under a communist system/government for years.

These two countries have been "successful economically" in their own ways despite the different pre-conditions that they have is mesmerizing.

The bottom line is that capitalism may be good in production and socialism is better in distribution.

The mixture of the two systems like the so called third way or Swedish model with a strong state has its own advantages and disadvantages.

söndag 1 mars 2009

Salvador da Bahia!

Some facts about salvador da bahia where I am in right now:

"Salvador (historic name, São Salvador da Baía de Todos os Santos, in English:

"Holy Savior of All Saints' Bay") is a city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival.

The first colonial capital of Brazil, the city is one of the oldest in the country and in the New World; for a long time, it was also known as Bahia, and appears under that name (or as Salvador da Bahia, Salvador of Bahia so as to differentiate it from other Brazilian cities of the same name) on many maps and books from before the mid-20th century.

Salvador is the third most populous Brazilian city, after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and it is the ninth most populous city in Latin America, after Mexico City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago of Chile and Caracas.

The city of Salvador is notable in Brazil for its cuisine, music and architecture, and its metropolitan area is the wealthiest in the northeastern region of the country. Over 80% of the population of metropolitan region of Salvador has some Black African ancestry.

The African influence in many cultural aspects of the city makes it the center of Afro-Brazilian culture. The historical center of Salvador, frequently called the Pelourinho, is rich in historical monuments dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries and has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985.

Salvador is located on a small, roughly triangular peninsula that separates Todos os Santos Bay from the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay, which gets its name from having been discovered on All Saints' Day forms a natural harbor. Salvador is a major export port, lying at the heart of the Recôncavo Baiano, a rich agricultural and industrial region encompassing the northern portion of coastal Bahia. The local terrain is diverse ranging from flat to rolling to hills and low mountains.

A particularly notable feature is the escarpment that divides Salvador into the Cidade Alta ("Upper Town" - rest of the city) and the Cidade Baixa ("Lower Town" - northwest region of the city), the former some 85 m (275 ft) above the latter,[1] with the city's cathedral and most administrative buildings standing on the higher ground. An elevator (the first installed in Brazil), known as Elevador Lacerda, has connected the two sections since 1873, having since undergone several upgrades."

torsdag 26 februari 2009

The right to change your mind and hesitate should be a universal human right!

I have lost momentum on this journey once again after having been robbed of my camera. Your camera is essentially the most important stuff that you own when you are a traveller. You record all aspects of your life on the road from many perspectives. Pictures speak more than words..........

I am not the same person after the loss. I try to come over it but I need some time to come to terms with the loss of 750 pictures. Time shall heal all the wounds. I have my pictures in my memory anyway.

I do not want to buy a new one, as it feels right now, I wonder, if I ever would buy any in the future either. I sat on a bus from Rio to Salvador Bahia for 28 hours yesterday! It was an exhausting journey which was full of negative thoughts about the lost pictures and my relationship with first lady.

I am in Salvador Bahia and having a lot of thoughts about where to head from here. Brazil is too big and I am sick and tired of travelling by bus and the whole life of being a backbacker at 37 years old.

I have been on the road for almost 5 months now and I do not know if I really want to continue traveling until the middle of june or go to Sweden earlier than that, may be april or so. I have to pay around 263 dollars to make any changes on the date and destination on my current ticket.

The money is alright and affordable but it is just that I do not feel that you often get an opportunity to travel for a long time as this in the near future at my age ....may be sooner than I think.... There is no reason to impose any will that does not exist.

If I have run out of steam, I shall accept that and recharge/reload the batteries in the Swedish spring or continue traveling without a camera until the middle of June. It is a hard choice but I should do that soon.I have some practical things to sort out in Sweden as well. I will not be 100 % sure whatever decision I make but that is life. There is more time and money even in the future.

By the way, I saw two football matches at Maracana in Rio the other day Macao-Americano and Flamengo-Sender. They were not the best matches that I ever seen and the Brazilian league and crowd was not impressive at all. Flamengo which is one of the biggest teams in the world with more than 50 million fans across the globe lost 1-3 to the crowds dismay and frustration.

söndag 22 februari 2009

No body really cares about Africa......

No body knows my country......

No body knows my name.......

It does not matter where I am from....

What matters is where I am heading to....

I am what I am not.....

I am what I should have been......

and could have been....

This is my usual reply to people when they ask me ,the only question that they think is right to raise to a stranger, :where are you from? People are really suffering from like of fantasy and curiosity. I sometimes wonder how much I have in common with many people......

The Rio carneval is a bit weird and bizzare even if it is a bigger version of Malmofestivalen and Lundakarnevallen.....

I have never seen so many homosexuals and transsexuals at the same place as in here. I am not a fan of batty boys.It is disgusting to see so many men dressed like women and behaving like "photo modells".

Rio and Buenos Aires are having an internal competion about which city is being "the most homo-friendly"in South America.Hallelujah! God is angry, America!

The scene of blackmen together with white western women is sickning as well because I know for sure that it is not based on genuine love. The ladies are here for the carneval and are just trying "to have fun" with the guys from the samba land.

I have become so critical to all this so called "multiculturalism" and "universal love" as it is seldom manifested on the bases of pure love and equality.

I have also given up on a transatlantic solidarity between Africa and LatiAmerica. The knowledge about Africa is shameful in this continent that many people have the same romantic picture of Africa as the white man.They talk about "Tarzan" and "Akuna Matata" when they refer to Africa. The bottom line is that they really do not care that much about Africa.

Detachment from any material thing is a must and the loss of my camera of course still bothers me but I have to accept the things that I can not change and I should strive for less dependency on electronics.

Dematerialization and ephermeralization should be our melody.

Less is better, small is beautiful.

lördag 21 februari 2009

They have robbed my camera!

The most priceless thing that you can lose on the road is your camera and that happened to me yesterday night. I was walking with some friends along the pre-carneval parade when I asked one of the friends to take a picture.

All of a sudden, some boys took the camera from the guy while he was taking pictures of me with the other friends. I held one of the boys but could not find the camera.

It was one of the worst incidents so far because around 750 photos from this journey in six countries are gone for ever. I went to the police and reported it but to no avail.

I have lost the camera but I have my memory and no body can take that from me as long as I am alive. Life as a victim of robbery in Brazil is not fun but I have to find a way to live with it.

fredag 20 februari 2009

Manu Chao in Rio

I like Rio so far and I am having a great time. Brazilian people know how to have a good time. I have visited the hunchback(Jesus statue), sugar loaf and maracana. I lived in Copacaban for a couple of days and I now live in Lapa with its famous stairs.

I was at manu Chao concert here in Rio yesterday and it was such a big disappointment. It was outsold but I managed to get a ticket via some friends. He did not play my sort of music and I found his music to be "a coordinated noise" with one dimensional sound.

But Rio has the carneval, the people, the weather, the food, the beer...................what else do you demand...?

onsdag 18 februari 2009

20 years on the road and still bewildered!

I am in Copacabana, Rio Di Janiero right now, the beach is just 5 minutes walk from my hostel.I went there last night at around 1 p.m. on my own and it was a magnificient feeling to stand there and see the waves and listen to that poweful/natural mystic.

I feel that the negative period that I have had just halfway on my journey has started to diminish and I am gonna have a new and fresh beginning from today.


I have exactly 4 months left before I return to Sweden to make up my mind about the future and sum up my life after almost 20 years on the road across the planet. I may come there earlier or later but as it feels now, I shall be sticking to the original plan unless something unexpected happens...... Things have though been going well or ¨according to my intentions¨ so far, despite the many debacles on the road.


I take a day at time and I do not know how this journey is going to end up or where it is going to take me from here.

It is not a good idea to eat a big pizza late in the evning and try to sleep. I have had a sleepless night. Living in a hostel has its own advantages in terms of getting new friends quite quickly and having a better social life than staying in a hotel on your own but most of the time,it is also noisy and full of young people who party all the night.

I shall be doing the Rio city tour in one of these days and try to watch a football match in the Brazilian league between Flamengo and Vasco at Maracana stadium in Rio on saturday. The Rio Carneval begins officially this weekend and it is very expensive depending on which part you wanna take part in. I hope that I shall be able to see a glimpse of it on one of the neighbourhoods anyway.

So I am back on track again as never before...

måndag 16 februari 2009

I shall be released!

I have run out of steam and lost momentum on this journey right now

but the song by Nina Simone "I shall be realeased" is uplifting me....

"They say everything can be replaced

They say every distance is not near

So I remember every face

Of every man who put me here

I see my light come shining

From the west down to the east

Any day now any day now

I shall be released

They say every man needs protection

They say every man must fall

So I swear I see my reflection

Somewhere inside these walls

I see my light come shining

From the west unto the east

Any day now any day now

I shall be released

yonder stands a man in this lonely crowdman

who swears he's not to blame

All day long I hear him hollering so loud

just crying out that he's not to blame

I see my light come shining

From the west down to the eastAny day now any day now

I shall be released."

torsdag 12 februari 2009

What is the missing link???

I should be more than happy with my life and my whole situation right now but I am other than that.... I do not know what the missing link is..... I spend so much time pondering over the very meaning of life and my journey instead of living life as I should.

I feel that my sense of bewilderment over my staus quo has increased during this adventure in south America. Nothing really impresses me anymore and the excitement I once had........I do not know where it is now......

It is normal to have ups and downs in life but it should not be on a longer term. I may just be exausted or age is taking its toll on me.

Sao Paulo is a rainy city and people who survive by selling umbrellas are doing pretty fine.

I am planning to go to Rio ,for the karneval, next week. I have two options thereafter........1.continue along the Brazilian coast by bus all the way up to the northern city of Belem and from there take a boat to Manaus (takes 4 days in the amazon) and continue to Venezuela by bus....from where I can fly to Cuba or 2. fly to Cuba directly from Rio and even try to visit Jamaica from there.

Option no.1 is very exciting but it takes a lot of energy and time. I do not know if I am ready for another long ....long trip. Option no.2 is probably more expensive but less exausting. I may end up with one of these options or come up with another plan. Time will tell.

måndag 9 februari 2009

I am in Sao Paulo, Brazil now....

I have made it to Sao Paulo without any significant incident this time. It is a rainy day in here and this city is so big......the karneval is around the corner..........

söndag 8 februari 2009

I have been deported from Medianera (Brazil) to Iguazu (Brazil)!!!

I was on my way to Sao Paulo yesterday evening and travelled around 65 kilometers inside Brazil to a place called Medianeira when the federal police asked for my passport and sent me back to Iguazu as I did not have the entrance visa stamp to Brazil.

I thought that they had welcomed me with open arms when they did not ask me anything during my entrance on thursday. They told me that I should have known better and sought the migration authorities myself and asked for a stamp.

I had to get back to paraguay today and get the exit visa from there and an entrance visa to Brazil. My celebration about being welcomed was a bit premature but still feel that they treated me well despite the circumstances.

I met a Swedish couple yesterday in downtown Iguazu and they let me download their music into my MP4. Johnny Cash. MC hammer and pretenders are not my favourites but a nice gesture from them to share their music with me.

I am going to go to Sao Paulo soon and hope that I will not have any problems this time.

lördag 7 februari 2009

It was a big mistake to take my laptop with me on this tour...

My laptop seems to be out of function right now. The screen is broken and the computer mouse has locked itself. I had to have it in my backpacker to avoid being at a risk of robbery which of course caused the damage on the screen.

I can not even listen to my own music from my laptop which makes me feel even more frustrated over the loss of the mp3. My new mp4 is therefore to no use so far. It hurts. Material losses with so much personality in the content are hard to overcome.

I went to the Iguazu falls on the Brazilian side yesterday and was not impressed as much as I was when I was on the Argentinian side. It was a cloudy and rainy day which even made me less motivated to move around and appreciate the beauty of nature. So I left after some hours and started figuring out once again what the purpose or mission of my south America adventure is.....all about.............

The weird and bizzare thing is that I could have bought a plastic raincoat for roughly 4 dollars and protected myself and the important documents like a passport which I had in my little bag but I refused to do that out of a silly principle reason and allowed the rain to rain on me and all the stuff I had with me. I hate feeling indifference and hesitation in many aspects of life.

I do not understand my way of thinking in many situations and travelling exposes one´s own shortcomings and irrationality in different contexts much more clearly than any other situation.

Spending money on unnecessary things at times or spending so much money on this trip, puts me on a moral dilemma to question my own solidarity with other fellow human-beings who have to struggle so much to make ends meet.

Begging children, women with babies and old people or child street vendors...e.t.c... who are having so much difficulity in life, make me wonder if I am doing the right priority in many ways. I question quite often what the hell I am trying to achieve by travelling so much as I do and have done. I am searching for the ¨TRUTH¨.......which one....?

Existential issues of course appear everywhere but when you are on the road, you may confront them on a daily bases as you have neither structure nor routine.........

Argentina and Brazil are pretty expensive and I am now entertaining the idea of using a free ride and CouchSurfing as some people do. I am going to Sao Paulo tonight. 16 hours by bus from Iguazu. Long distance bus journey at night is not fun but it is part and parcel of the whole package and I have accepted it. I still belong to the few privilaged who can travel......unlike most on this planet. Unfortunately!

torsdag 5 februari 2009

A ghost village in Paraguay!!!

I am in Foz de Iguazu on the Brazilian side now and I feel good to have left Argentina for this time. I never got in love with that country and most of its people who I met. I felt as if that country was the land of arrogance and ignorance but the beauty of the country can not be denied.

I took a boat from Argentina to Paraguay this morning and had a fantastic view over the rivers Iguazu and parana. The migration officer at the Paraguayan border was welcoming and some people commented my hair and asked for something which I did not understand.

I went up to the hill then on the other side and waited for the local bus to arrive but to no avail. It was an abondoned area with unfinished houses and a sense of a ghost village. It was an amazing feeling to be in Paraguay at the frontier on my own.

I finally got myself out of the area and met an old woman who told me about the local bus which eventually came and took me to downtown. I went to the shop where I bought my MP4 player yesterday and got the driver for it as it was not in the package yesterday.

My computer is not unfortunately reacting to my MP4 player so far and it is frustrating not be able to download the music I love so much from my own computer. It would be unfortunate and sad if this situation continued like this. I just hope that it will work out itself sooner or later.

I took another local bus to the Brazilian side then and the Brazilians have welcomed me with open arms so far. They neither asked for my passport nor searched for my luggages which they did with all the other passengers. A very good start in deed by all standards!

tisdag 3 februari 2009

MP4 player from Paraguay!

"It sucks to lose things and losing your MP3 player on the road is even worse. My only consolation is that I could have lost my camera with all the pictures."

I felt so yesterday...I went to Paraguay today and bought MP4 player with 4GB for 29 dollars...I feel much better now. I do not know why it is so cheap in Paraguay of all places in this region.....I passed through porto de Iguazu(Argentina),Foz de Iguazu(Brazil) and arrived in Ciudad del este(Paraguay) after roughly 45 minutes by bus.

It is a wonderful feeling to cross three countries in such a short time. I bought a couple of sandals in Paraguay as well and had a good lunch before I returned back to the Argentinian side. I felt the same way in Paraguay as I did when I was in Mauritania, West Africa some years ago.

I got the impression that the people in Mauritania and Paraguay have some things in common: they are not used to foreigners and have an interseting reaction when they see people of my sort.

Brazil is my next destination and it is gonna be very exciting to discover this huge country with its amazing cultural diversity.

Che Guevara, who the f--- is?

I was in Rosario in central Argentina last weekend and visited the hometown of Che Guevara. To my surprise, he does not seem to be that big in his own territory. There was no any enthusiasm among the people when I asked them if they knew where ,the house where he was born, was located.

Many did not know the exact area or have not seen it yet. I eventually got there and took some pictures on behalf of the first lady. I am not a great fan of him for some reasons. There is a square named after him but there is no hype as we normally have in Lund or Uppsala. I like that. He is afterall a revolutionary with some bloody hands which I can not subscribe to even if I am a fannonist.

I am now in Iguazu. This is the place to be. It is a border town where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet. The best border view with a fine river separting the countries.The waterfalls in Iguazu are amazing. I have seen the Blue Nile in Ethiopia and the Niagara falls in Canada but this one is in its own class. Words can not express the beauty of it in here. You should come and see it by yourself.

I lost though my MP3 there and nothing comforts me right now.It sucks to lose things and losing your MP3 player on the road is even worse. My only consolation is that I could have lost my camera with all the pictures but yet my MP3 is a special one with all my favourite Reggae songs(756) which I fortunately still have on my laptop.

So if I buy a new one which I shall do in Paraguay soon...I will abe able to recover from my loss pretty soon but for the time being ,I am devastated....

måndag 26 januari 2009

The Zionist state is a fascist and terrorist state!

It does not take a genius to understand the magnitude of the destruction in Gaza, over 1300 Palestiniens have been killed and 5000 injured in three weeks of acts of genocide by Israel. Gaza has returned to the medieval age. The state of Israel could act with impunity at its will as the indifference of "the international community"is tantamount as giving it a green light to the massacre. The war criminals in Israel, including the prime minister Ehud Omert, are now trying to run away from justice but they shall be caught and face trial sooner or later.

The state of Israel is the greatest threat to peace in the middle-east. The very nature of its formation as a state in 1948 ,after the second world war during which 6 millions Jews were exterminated in the Nazi gas chamber concentration camps, is questinable in terms of legitimacy. The western world still has some sort of guilt for what happened to the Jews and is not prepared to denounce the terrorist state of Israel in the way it deserves.

"The holy or promised land" does not belong to Israel. You can not make a historical and biblical claim to a land and force millions of Arabs to lifetime exile. Why in the hell should they have to be settled in the middle-east when there is ample of land in Arizona or Alaska?

I do not believe in a two-state solution either. Israel and its people should either accept to live in a multicultural Palistine as a minority or resettle elsewhere if they are not ready to adopt this option. I have nothing against Jewish people and I am myself the lion of Judah and the direct descendent of king solomon and queen sheba. I can not help though if people take me for being an anti-semite.

Shame on you, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and the whole arab world who could not speak in one voice against the zionist state. At this difficult time, my prayers go to Hamas in Palastine, The Tamil tigers in Sirilanka and FARC in Colombia. These three organizations are having big challenges and have lately lost a lot of members and territories but be sure that they will bounce back once again and justice and peace shall reign! Inshiallah!

fredag 23 januari 2009

Add it up, white man!

A black family in the white house makes me feel good!Allah wakber! It is about time black people walked with their heads up after 500 years of persecution and oppression. Hussein will surely make some mistakes and let us get down and disappointed on some issues like the Talibans but as a black school boy in the USA during the campaign said it on Swedish TV..." I want to have a black president....!" with all it means in terms of shortcomings and failures.

This is more than a tangible reason....we are all sick and tired of white supremacy and hypocracy.The total domination of international politics and economy by white folks who have no any natural resources of great importance and with an unsignificant number of population leaves you wondering what it takes to have made it as they do. Genocide and extermination have been their effective weapons.We shall never forget the scenes of black bodies swinging in the trees and strange fruits of Alabama, Mississippi or Birmingham amidst these festivities over Husseins inaugration.

There is always a black woman behind a successful black man.....Michelle Obama is not an exception. What a woman! Black folks are knocking on the door everywhere. I see many Senegalese street vendors here in Argentina!That is why the white world is a bit shaky right now.......from the whitest of all white sports like golf and tennis to the swimming pool. The William sisters and Tiger woods are inspiring many across the world, as Hussien does now.

He had to convert to christianity and denounce Islam to get where he is now. His muslim background would even have inspired more people if he had remained faithful to it. But I am sure that he would not have become a president for that reason as most Americans are generally ignorant and Islamophobic people.

The civil rights veteran and our heroe Joseph Lower¡'s benediction at the inaugration ceremony was the best for me:

"Help us then, now, lord, to work for the day when nation shall not lift sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her vine and fig tree,and none shall be afraid;when justice shall roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream."

"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day:

When black will not be asked to get back,

when brown can stick around -- (laughter) --

when yellow will be mellow -- (laughter) --

when the red man can get ahead, man -- (laughter) --

and when white will embrace what is right.


Let all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.
AUDIENCE: Amen!
REV. LOWERY: Say amen --
AUDIENCE: Amen!
REV. LOWERY: -- and amen.
AUDIENCE: Amen! (Cheers, applause)."

måndag 19 januari 2009

Buenos Aires is a garbage city!!!

I have been here in Argentina exactly a month on the day today and I do not like it that much. I do not understand why there is so much hype surrounding Argentina and Buenos Aires in the outside world. My experience of this country and its people has been depressive and melancholic so far. This is afterall a tangoland.......

It is seldom you see smiling faces in downtown Buenos Aires....socio-economic upheavals can not explain the sad mood engulfing the whole of this nation as the international economic crisis have hit every corner of the planet. Garbage plastics everywhere on the streets and stone faces of indifference were not my anticipation of this city.

You can still have a great time if you are looking for it as this is a city of millions of people. But I am not in that sense of humour right now and thereby my negative impression and reflection of this country. This is part and parcel of being a homosapien.


I was in a small town called Tigre during the weekend and I liked it better than Buenos Aires. The Tigringa and Tigre speaking people of Eritrea have nothing in common with this place except for the names:-)

The weather is sunny almost allways.........on saturday we had 37 degree celsius of heat and yesterday only 16 and today 25...a lot of fluctuations at times but for most of the time ,it has been around 30.

onsdag 7 januari 2009

The debacle in Montevideo...looks is decieving .man...

We (me and first lady) were in the Urugayan capital, Montevideo yesterday and enjoying the view around the sea when a man came and started talking with me. He said that his family was from Italy but been living in Montevideo for a long time.

He talked about a football match between Urugay and Bolivia, a world cup qualification match, which was going to be played later in the afternoon. We felt that it was a lifetime experience which should not be missed despite the fact that we had a bus and a boat to take back to Buenos Aires the same day.

He wanted to help us if we wanted to change our departure time. He pciked up his mobilephone and "talked" with somebody who confirmed to him that the time could be changed. Something felt a bit fishy though but he gave me a very good impression and felt that he was an honest man who was not looking for something special.

I only thought about the whole thing for a short while as I was taken by the exicitment and exultation of the fact that we were going to be able to see a football match in Urugay. We could not suspect the man for being a cheater/thief who makes whose living by creating this kind of fictions.

He asked for 500 Urugayan pesos which is roughly around 30 dollars for the match tickets and it did not feel like too much money for this sort of a game. We gave him the money and he asked us to wait for him outside the "house of his friend" who had the tickets. We waited there for 20 minutes or so as he had said that he was going to return with the tickets but he never came back.

There was of course too much of naivity from my side. I can not though understand that I trusted him entirely well-knowing that there is not going to be any qualification match until march. I can not forgive myself for this passive blunder of all time. I am not more than a humanbeing even as a president.....I shall continue counting on humanity even if more cautious measures are to be applied.

I have met a lot of good people in all my trips and it is seldom that this kind of things happen to me. We are in Buenos Aires now and the first lady is flying back to Sweden tomorrow after just a week in here. We have had a great time.The debacle in Montevideo is a lesson and looks is decieving , man!Gladiators......

måndag 5 januari 2009

Colonia, Urugay

We (me and first lady Stina) took a boat from Buenos Aires; Argentina around 10 A.m. and after three hours, we came to Colonia, Urugay.

This is a lovely small town with beautiful houses and streets. We have enjoyed the whole afternoon walking around, eating and drinking .......

I like this place so much as it is so inspiring environment......... tomorrow, we are heading to Montevideo, the capital.........