Thanks...

Cause you have been visiting this blog...

Cause you followed this adventure...

Thank you so much!!

It meant a lot for me... thanks to you all I did not feel alone around the world!!

From Pamplona, at home, I wish you the best for the end of 2010 and the beginning of the new year!!

Thank you again and again!!

Remember that the life wihtout risk would be bland!!

Let´s plan some amazing adventures together!!

Last stop: Jordan

Last week of this "round the world" in Jordan, exploring the muslim culture. Arabic people are very friendly and welcome travelers with their best smile and english. I have been very busy visiting many places and meeting a lot of people. Jordan let me enjoy a good backpacker last experience. Some of the most remarkable places that I have visited are:

Petra, one of the seven wonders of this world:

Wadi Rum, a desert also known by the name of "The valley of the moon":

Dead Sea, the lowest place in the world. The salt concentration is so high that floating there is a fantastic experience!

Ve hasta el final

Roberto, tomo prestado este texto de tu blog. Este pequegno tesoro me esta acompagnando en los ultimos dias de mi viaje.

Si vas a intentarlo, ve hasta el final,
de lo contrario no empieces siquiera.
Tal vez suponga perder novias, esposas, familia, trabajo y quizás la cabeza.
Tal vez suponga no comer en 3 o 4 días.
Tal vez suponga helarte en el banco de un parque,
tal vez suponga la cárcel, tal vez suponga humillación,
tal vez suponga desdén, aislamiento ...
el aislamiento es el premio.
Todo lo demás es para poner a prueba tu resistencia,
tus auténticas ganas de hacerlo,
y lo haras,
a pesar del rechazo y de las mínimas probabilidades.
Y será mejor que cualquier cosa que pudieras imaginar.
Si vas a intentarlo ve hasta el final, no existe una sensación igual,
estarás solo con los dioses y las noches arderan en llamas.

Llevarás las riendas de la vida, hasta la risa perfecta,
es por lo único que vale la pena luchar.

''Factotum'' Fragmento, Charles Bukowski

Hasta pronto Alpesh!!

These weeks in India have been very special... thanks to you!!

See you soon my friend...

One part of my heart stays still there... and you all are coming with me, back to Pamplona, in my heart.

Hasta pronto!!

Goa

Goa, Portuguese colony until few years ago, is the smallest state in India. Two things attract a lot of people to this beautiful place: fantastic beaches all along its coast and Old Goa.

The hippie world in the sixties and seventies found in Goa a great place to stay: calm, nice and not yet exploited. The rock evolved into a special electronic music known by the name of Goa Music. Nowadays, more tourists than hippies, the music is a mix between pop and electro. By the way... Russian people have invaded this area!! In the photos, Anjuna beach:

I understand those hippies... I understand these tourists... don't you??
Goa beaches... waow!!!

In Old Goa we can find the relics of the body of St. Francis Xavier. This revolutionary and adventurous man, who was born in my land, did his own Round the World trip in the 16th century. Not for 5 or 6 months like me, but for 11 years, until his death. Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Indians, European, American... a lot of people visit his relics everyday.

On the way back to Ahmedabad, changing transport in Bombay, some children made me do my best playing cricket for my first time!! jajaja!!

Mandal

Mandal, in the district of Tapi, is the name of both a small village and the mission where I stayed the last week. Same context, Adivasi people. But with a different language called Gamit. Look at some tribal art:

Two special particularities make this mission different:
- The milk cooperative: idea conceived in order to provide the villagers with one extra income. A lot of buffaloes were distributed many years ago and the families care of them and collect the milk together. Mandal milk is going everywhere around south Gujarat everyday... big success!!
- The women organization: working for the woman's rights and helping the families with micro-financing formation and support (it works like a small bank for them). Nowadays, this organization counts with 2700 members, and increasing.

In one village, women wanted to run a cooperative by themselves...

... but men did not allow them.

So, a meeting with the people was indispensable...

... and almost 6 hours later, men accepted the idea and understood the greatness of such a project!!


There was also time for deep conversations about mind and life and for trying some experiences... in the photo I'm trying to ask questions to my subconscious about myself and about my future., jajajaja!! It is as funny as interesting. There are so many things that we do not know about our mind...

Believer or not in the power of your own mind, I would recommend you to take a look to the first 20 minutes of the movie The Secret, talking about The Secret of Attraction. Ah! Forget the part in which it talks about money, I don't like it. You can find the movie in every language. Here you can find the link to those first 20 minutes in English. It is worth watching it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1GKGWJbE8

Reading one biography...

"When I began my studies of medicine I did not entertain the views I acquired later as a revolutionary. Like everyone else I wanted success, I dreamed of becoming a famous researcher and working without respite to achieve something of benefit to mankind. But all this was a dream about personal success. I was, like all of us, a product of my environment.

... I saw how parents could not have their children cured for the lack of money. I saw human degradation made so bestial by constant hunger and suffering that the father accepted the death of a child almost indifferently. And I realized that there was a mission no less important than becoming a famous researcher or making a major contribution to medical science - that of coming to the aid of these people."

Ernesto Che Guevara

Samgahan

This small village is located in the district of Dang. There are different interpretations of the meaning of Dang such as Hills or Bambus. Dangi people are mostly Adivasis (literally "originals inhabitants"). They have their own language and tribal culture... their hills and forest are their refuge... uneducated people working hard to eat today, in communion with nature but fighting against monsoons and droughts.
As any other Adivasis, Dangi children spend their childhood in hills and fields, helping their parents in the best of the cases.

Jesuits and sisters run the mission of Samgahan, where 350 boys and girls live and study with joy and enthusiasm. The mission counts with one hostel for the girls, another one for the boys and a common school with a recently leveled playground. These children receive a complete formation both academically and personally. They are the future generation among Dangi people... in their hands remain the power of the change.

And this mission is their hope of a better life!!

The mission and the children...




Children taking bath...



Time for lunch...


Visiting villages...

For my brother...

Today is your birthday and I'm not there to celebrate it with you...

But I have a special present for you!!! I hope you will like it!!!
From the mission of Samgahan (south Gujarat)...

MUCHAS FELICIDADES!!!

Work Camp in Poshina

Poshina, one village in the north of Gujarat. As in any other Indian village, many religions and cultures must coexist with each other. It makes India be very rich, but conflicts may appear easily. One of these cultures is based on tribal ideologies. These people are known by the name of "Adivasis". They work in the field and they live in houses that they construct by themselves far from any facility. Without education, these people cannot afford dreaming about a better life.

Father Peter had a dream... and he opened his heart to these villagers. Many difficulties were found at the beginning, but he is managing very well: winning their trust, creating guest houses for children and preparing the way to the construction of a school.

In that context, the purpose of our work camp was to prepare the fields of the mission. Just a small grain of sand in such a big beautiful project... but I really felt myself like part of it. It was a very enriching experience to visit some families, see where they live, how they live and take tea with them. I did not speak "Gujerati", but I could learn so many things just by being there...
As usual, let me show you some pictures... they may transmit my feelings better than my words.

The team and the work...

Villagers...

Visits...

"The monk who sold his Ferrari"

That is the title of one of the last books that I've read... I just wanted to share with you those extracts that I liked the most. If you liked them as much as me... it might mean that you should read the whole book!!

“Real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to what is present”

“The best time to plant a tree was forty years ago. The second best time is today. Don’t waste even one minute of your day”

“Never put off happiness for the sake of achievement. Never put off the things that are important for your well-being and satisfaction to a later time. Today is the day to live fully, not when you win the lottery or when you retire. Never put off living”

“Failure is not having the courage to try, nothing more and nothing less. The only thing standing between most people and their dreams is the fear of failure. Yet failure is essential to success in any endeavor. Failure tests us and allows us to grow. It offers us lesson and guides us along the path of enlightenment. Never fear failure.”

“The boundaries of your life are merely creations of the self”

“Courage allows you to run your own race. Courage allows you to do whatever you want to do because you know that it is right. Courage gives you the self-control to persist where others have failed. Ultimately, the degree of courage you live with determines the amount of fulfillment you receive. It allows you to truly realize all the exquisite wonders of the epic that is your life. And those who master themselves have an abundance of courage”

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be”