BOOK 1
1960 - 1981
The Story in Chapters
ONE
1. My childhood - 1960s
Anita's shop...
This amazing picture brought back some wonderful memories of my childhood...
I'm standing here next to my older brother, who is 10 years older than I am and my Mum... a young well-dressed mother of 6 (I'm the youngest of my family).
Dad must've taken this pic with his Pentax camera; he was so proud of it...
That car was his new, though second hand, Valiant 1965, in dark burgundy with nice white-face-lined tyres. He was always very proud of his cars, maybe I got my love for cars from my dad since I was little...
I remember when he arrived home with this Valiant... I was blown away at first sight...
I must've been about 8 or 10 years old... He had traded in the beautiful but ageing Ford station wagon...
This newer car was beautiful, with burgundy carpet and burgundy steering wheel and matching vinyl seats, in my eyes...a real beauty!
Anyway, I digress, this post is about the wee little shop right across the street from my house...
It was called "La Guadalupana"... it was part of a house, as many shops are in Mexico, they had created a room with a separate iron rolling curtain facing the street, to open the shop to the public...
It was a tiny little shop with some basics for sale, like soft drinks, lollies, snacks, and some other bits and pieces...
The lady running the shop lived in this house, her name was Anita, or known to us as "Mrs. Anita"...
She used to have a temper and would sometimes get annoyed at us if we were mocking around in front of her shop.
This was the shop where I had my first commercial interaction, it was the shop where I took my first few cents or pesos saved from my weekly allowance, what we called in Mexico "Domingos", and bought something. My allowance was $5 pesos each Sunday.
The first time I might've bought proudly my favorite soft drink at that time, a so-called "Chaparrita" and my favourite junk food corn chips, which I still love..."Fritos"...
I must've said..."How much is it?" probably proudly and a bit scared for being my very first time, and handed over my coins to Mrs. Anita... she may have looked at me with that look like saying, you're a big boy now...
I was just beginning to learn the monetary value of things and what I could do with money...
I did it all by myself, probably with Mum watching from across the street...
Mrs. Anita's shop was more than a shop, it was a meeting place for many...
I remember that there used to be a big rock, just outside the rolling iron curtain, which served as a mini bench for anyone wanting to sit there and enjoy their drink or snack... many of us sat there many a times, contemplating the day, and of course right across the street, looking at the house where I grew up...
Anita's shop was like 'The base' of our small tribe, a small group of friends I grew up with...
Primarily my next-door neighbours, Chucho, from across the street, and my friends Hector and Rodolfo, they lived to the left and right of our small and humble house on Pétalo street...
After school, we used to spend most of our childhood days playing on that peaceful street all kinds of games we had learned from older kids living on the same street or some other games that we made up...
It was our world, and nothing could stop us...except for our mums' cry when it started getting dark...they'd shout out from wherever they were in their respective houses..."Get back in boys, it is getting dark!"...
We'd normally let them do that 2 or 3 times, before we finally got back into our homes and said our goodbyes..."see you tomorrow"...
The following day we'd do it all over again...and nothing else mattered...
It was, in reality, a magical childhood...
This amazing picture brought back some wonderful memories of my childhood...
I'm standing here next to my older brother, who is 10 years older than I am and my Mum... a young well-dressed mother of 6 (I'm the youngest of my family).
Dad must've taken this pic with his Pentax camera; he was so proud of it...
That car was his new, though second hand, Valiant 1965, in dark burgundy with nice white-face-lined tyres. He was always very proud of his cars, maybe I got my love for cars from my dad since I was little...
I remember when he arrived home with this Valiant... I was blown away at first sight...
I must've been about 8 or 10 years old... He had traded in the beautiful but ageing Ford station wagon...
This newer car was beautiful, with burgundy carpet and burgundy steering wheel and matching vinyl seats, in my eyes...a real beauty!
Anyway, I digress, this post is about the wee little shop right across the street from my house...
It was called "La Guadalupana"... it was part of a house, as many shops are in Mexico, they had created a room with a separate iron rolling curtain facing the street, to open the shop to the public...
It was a tiny little shop with some basics for sale, like soft drinks, lollies, snacks, and some other bits and pieces...
The lady running the shop lived in this house, her name was Anita, or known to us as "Mrs. Anita"...
She used to have a temper and would sometimes get annoyed at us if we were mocking around in front of her shop.
This was the shop where I had my first commercial interaction, it was the shop where I took my first few cents or pesos saved from my weekly allowance, what we called in Mexico "Domingos", and bought something. My allowance was $5 pesos each Sunday.
The first time I might've bought proudly my favorite soft drink at that time, a so-called "Chaparrita" and my favourite junk food corn chips, which I still love..."Fritos"...
I must've said..."How much is it?" probably proudly and a bit scared for being my very first time, and handed over my coins to Mrs. Anita... she may have looked at me with that look like saying, you're a big boy now...
I was just beginning to learn the monetary value of things and what I could do with money...
I did it all by myself, probably with Mum watching from across the street...
Mrs. Anita's shop was more than a shop, it was a meeting place for many...
I remember that there used to be a big rock, just outside the rolling iron curtain, which served as a mini bench for anyone wanting to sit there and enjoy their drink or snack... many of us sat there many a times, contemplating the day, and of course right across the street, looking at the house where I grew up...
Anita's shop was like 'The base' of our small tribe, a small group of friends I grew up with...
Primarily my next-door neighbours, Chucho, from across the street, and my friends Hector and Rodolfo, they lived to the left and right of our small and humble house on Pétalo street...
After school, we used to spend most of our childhood days playing on that peaceful street all kinds of games we had learned from older kids living on the same street or some other games that we made up...
It was our world, and nothing could stop us...except for our mums' cry when it started getting dark...they'd shout out from wherever they were in their respective houses..."Get back in boys, it is getting dark!"...
We'd normally let them do that 2 or 3 times, before we finally got back into our homes and said our goodbyes..."see you tomorrow"...
The following day we'd do it all over again...and nothing else mattered...
It was, in reality, a magical childhood...
TWO
2. Cuautla, Mexico - Easter Holidays
Our Mini Olympic Games...
When I was in my early teens, we used to have our very own Mini Olympic Games...
Every Easter our whole family would go on holiday to some Bungalows in a small town near Mexico City, called Cuautla, and it was my most treasured holiday of the year.
The weather was always perfect, and we always spent 2 weeks at this place that could only compare with Fantasy Island (The TV show) where everything and anything could happen within the confinements of this mini village-like place.
This place was formed by some 25 Bungalows or cottages which were built right around some magical grounds...Green grass, beautiful trees, a great swimming pool and a volleyball court.
Many families would go there every Easter, usually the same ones, so it was like a yearly family get together.
I remember I was always rather excited to get there and catch up with my friends, which I only met there once a year.
Most families had kids of several age groups, so we all had mates to hang around with and play with.
We played most of the time, sunbathed and swam in the usually freezing cold pool, and at night, we would sit in a circle and sing along to someone playing his guitar right under the moonlight, they were called "Lunadas", mostly organised by the older guys.
All that was incredible, however, one thing that some of the parents used to organise was our "Mini Olympic Games", which got all of us involved in several competitions, running, walking, swimming, jumping, and all kinds of other sports that might be appropriate at that time.
I remember I used to take this quite seriously, as one does when you're a kid. Winning a place in the finals of anything didn't only mean winning at these games, it was like winning at the real Olympic games!
At the end of the games, we even had a Medal Ceremony, where the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place were named and stepped up to their chair or rock or whatever spot to get their medals. The medals were made of bottle tops, flattened, and painted in Gold, Silver and Bronze...and they had a string so that we could wear them around our necks...
It was, in our innocent eyes and minds, moments of glory and we stood tall and proud when we won before our peers, and we'd smile, and some would cry when people around us would clap and cheer.
What a Kodak moment that always was...
When I was in my early teens, we used to have our very own Mini Olympic Games...
Every Easter our whole family would go on holiday to some Bungalows in a small town near Mexico City, called Cuautla, and it was my most treasured holiday of the year.
The weather was always perfect, and we always spent 2 weeks at this place that could only compare with Fantasy Island (The TV show) where everything and anything could happen within the confinements of this mini village-like place.
This place was formed by some 25 Bungalows or cottages which were built right around some magical grounds...Green grass, beautiful trees, a great swimming pool and a volleyball court.
Many families would go there every Easter, usually the same ones, so it was like a yearly family get together.
I remember I was always rather excited to get there and catch up with my friends, which I only met there once a year.
Most families had kids of several age groups, so we all had mates to hang around with and play with.
We played most of the time, sunbathed and swam in the usually freezing cold pool, and at night, we would sit in a circle and sing along to someone playing his guitar right under the moonlight, they were called "Lunadas", mostly organised by the older guys.
All that was incredible, however, one thing that some of the parents used to organise was our "Mini Olympic Games", which got all of us involved in several competitions, running, walking, swimming, jumping, and all kinds of other sports that might be appropriate at that time.
I remember I used to take this quite seriously, as one does when you're a kid. Winning a place in the finals of anything didn't only mean winning at these games, it was like winning at the real Olympic games!
At the end of the games, we even had a Medal Ceremony, where the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place were named and stepped up to their chair or rock or whatever spot to get their medals. The medals were made of bottle tops, flattened, and painted in Gold, Silver and Bronze...and they had a string so that we could wear them around our necks...
It was, in our innocent eyes and minds, moments of glory and we stood tall and proud when we won before our peers, and we'd smile, and some would cry when people around us would clap and cheer.
What a Kodak moment that always was...
THREE
3. Los Angeles, USA - First Trip Abroad
L.A. USA
I couldn't believe I was actually going to go to the USA!!
When I was 18 years old, I used to "play" basketball in a team at the sports club where our family had a membership... (El Asturiano).
This sports club was just a few blocks away from my home where I grew up and, though it was quite close, it always seemed too far to walk to. (I'd sometimes hitch a ride there!)
I practised several sports while I was there, football (soccer), swimming, tennis, squash and finally basketball and volleyball...
I was never great at any, but I was always sure I had fun and did my best.
In my early teens, I was quite short and tiny and in my basketball team (Covadonga) they used to call me "the flea" as I was the tiniest.
My team coach would normally keep me in the bench up until the last few minutes of the game and then he would allow me to jump in and play a bit... all those few minutes were always exhilarating and made me feel part of the team.
I never missed training and was always on time, I guess I learned about punctuality there, as my coach was fairly strict.
Then, when I was eighteen, I started growing, things started to change and my interest in the sport started to grow.
I was an absolute L.A. LAKERS fan, and so was my coach, we even copied their uniforms and used their trade colours!
One day my coach said... "We're organising a trip to the USA and a preliminary game at the L.A. Lakers Forum in L.A.... who would like to come?
WHAT!?
Me! I said...together with other teammates.
Then he said... "Cool, the trip will also include a visit to Disneyland and Magic Mountain"!
We were ecstatic!! and then he said... "You'll need to pay your own way and you need a visa to the USA"...
Now, that represented a challenge and some sweet-talking to Mum and Dad (my selling skills started developing fast).
After all kinds of tricks, begging and coercing I convinced them it was possible and that I would love them even more!!
The U.S. visa had to be approved, first, and you had to pay for the visa application, whether they approved it or not … my father had to serve as a financial guarantor and demonstrate with Bank documents that he was financially sound, and I almost had to swear that I would return to Mexico and that I would not stay in the United States illegally … it was a great dilemma to get that visa … however, they gave it to me.!
I was on cloud 9 from the moment we boarded the plane, my FIRST TIME going abroad!!
I was so nervous and excited, my teammates as well, but we got there and stayed at the Holiday Inn Airport. The next day we went to the Forum to "Play" against some team, truthfully, we could care less, we were THERE at the LA. Laker's turf!!
We played the preliminary game, and I don't even remember who won, we probably lost, but at the end, we went to the locker room to change and... there walks in THE L.A. LAKERS entire team!!
WHAT?!
They were bearing gifts for all of us, we got T-shirts, basketball boots and most importantly we got to meet them!
I was blown away, especially standing up close and personal next to Kareem Abdul Jabar who was towering above me like a skyscraper!!
OMG!!
What an unbelievable moment in life, that in itself was worth the entire trip, even though Disneyland was great and the terrifying rides at Magic Mountain were unreal, meeting our basketball idols up close and personal was a totally unique experience....and the seed for "more of that" was planted in my heart and in my mind...
It was a great adventure, and I even drove a Van for the first time in Los Angeles to take the team to Magic Mountain, since I was the only one with a driver's license on the team… (I had just turned 18)
My hunger or desire for more travel and adventure was starting to grow and I'm sure I must have said when we left, very appropriately for Los Angeles …
I'll be back...
I couldn't believe I was actually going to go to the USA!!
When I was 18 years old, I used to "play" basketball in a team at the sports club where our family had a membership... (El Asturiano).
This sports club was just a few blocks away from my home where I grew up and, though it was quite close, it always seemed too far to walk to. (I'd sometimes hitch a ride there!)
I practised several sports while I was there, football (soccer), swimming, tennis, squash and finally basketball and volleyball...
I was never great at any, but I was always sure I had fun and did my best.
In my early teens, I was quite short and tiny and in my basketball team (Covadonga) they used to call me "the flea" as I was the tiniest.
My team coach would normally keep me in the bench up until the last few minutes of the game and then he would allow me to jump in and play a bit... all those few minutes were always exhilarating and made me feel part of the team.
I never missed training and was always on time, I guess I learned about punctuality there, as my coach was fairly strict.
Then, when I was eighteen, I started growing, things started to change and my interest in the sport started to grow.
I was an absolute L.A. LAKERS fan, and so was my coach, we even copied their uniforms and used their trade colours!
One day my coach said... "We're organising a trip to the USA and a preliminary game at the L.A. Lakers Forum in L.A.... who would like to come?
WHAT!?
Me! I said...together with other teammates.
Then he said... "Cool, the trip will also include a visit to Disneyland and Magic Mountain"!
We were ecstatic!! and then he said... "You'll need to pay your own way and you need a visa to the USA"...
Now, that represented a challenge and some sweet-talking to Mum and Dad (my selling skills started developing fast).
After all kinds of tricks, begging and coercing I convinced them it was possible and that I would love them even more!!
The U.S. visa had to be approved, first, and you had to pay for the visa application, whether they approved it or not … my father had to serve as a financial guarantor and demonstrate with Bank documents that he was financially sound, and I almost had to swear that I would return to Mexico and that I would not stay in the United States illegally … it was a great dilemma to get that visa … however, they gave it to me.!
I was on cloud 9 from the moment we boarded the plane, my FIRST TIME going abroad!!
I was so nervous and excited, my teammates as well, but we got there and stayed at the Holiday Inn Airport. The next day we went to the Forum to "Play" against some team, truthfully, we could care less, we were THERE at the LA. Laker's turf!!
We played the preliminary game, and I don't even remember who won, we probably lost, but at the end, we went to the locker room to change and... there walks in THE L.A. LAKERS entire team!!
WHAT?!
They were bearing gifts for all of us, we got T-shirts, basketball boots and most importantly we got to meet them!
I was blown away, especially standing up close and personal next to Kareem Abdul Jabar who was towering above me like a skyscraper!!
OMG!!
What an unbelievable moment in life, that in itself was worth the entire trip, even though Disneyland was great and the terrifying rides at Magic Mountain were unreal, meeting our basketball idols up close and personal was a totally unique experience....and the seed for "more of that" was planted in my heart and in my mind...
It was a great adventure, and I even drove a Van for the first time in Los Angeles to take the team to Magic Mountain, since I was the only one with a driver's license on the team… (I had just turned 18)
My hunger or desire for more travel and adventure was starting to grow and I'm sure I must have said when we left, very appropriately for Los Angeles …
I'll be back...
FOUR
4. First Backpacking Adventure
Suddenly...I grew up...
I picked up an office job for a year after finishing High School, saved some money and set my sights on a wider world...
My backpacking adventures were about to begin...
It was a time in my life that I just could not believe it was happening... I was about to embark on something that would transform my entire life and had no idea how it would evolve...
That first BACKPACKING trip was to be my first TRUE adventure by myself...and with my own money...
This was, let's say, my backpacking trial run for 1 year...
I had only $2,000 USD to my name, which I thought was quite a lot of money at that time, I had my essential clothes and toiletries in my backpack and a bunch of music cassettes together with my Sony Walkman in my carry-on bag...
I was in other words all set to conquer the real world...well, not quite...
I remember I was feeling quite confident, though I had no clue what I was going to do, see and learn, and was oblivious to the challenges I would face...
My family... Mum, Dad and sisters, took me to the airport and it was a totally surreal experience...not sure if I was excited or sad or neither, I all know is that I knew that I was ready to explore a new way of life and it was about to hit me right in the face as soon as I boarded that first Pan Am flight... Mexico City > Houston > London... (return ticket open for 12 months)
As the plane took off, I said to myself...
See you in a year Mexico... I hope I can make my funds last the whole year and that I find a way to survive out there in the world...
Let the adventures begin!
I picked up an office job for a year after finishing High School, saved some money and set my sights on a wider world...
My backpacking adventures were about to begin...
It was a time in my life that I just could not believe it was happening... I was about to embark on something that would transform my entire life and had no idea how it would evolve...
That first BACKPACKING trip was to be my first TRUE adventure by myself...and with my own money...
This was, let's say, my backpacking trial run for 1 year...
I had only $2,000 USD to my name, which I thought was quite a lot of money at that time, I had my essential clothes and toiletries in my backpack and a bunch of music cassettes together with my Sony Walkman in my carry-on bag...
I was in other words all set to conquer the real world...well, not quite...
I remember I was feeling quite confident, though I had no clue what I was going to do, see and learn, and was oblivious to the challenges I would face...
My family... Mum, Dad and sisters, took me to the airport and it was a totally surreal experience...not sure if I was excited or sad or neither, I all know is that I knew that I was ready to explore a new way of life and it was about to hit me right in the face as soon as I boarded that first Pan Am flight... Mexico City > Houston > London... (return ticket open for 12 months)
As the plane took off, I said to myself...
See you in a year Mexico... I hope I can make my funds last the whole year and that I find a way to survive out there in the world...
Let the adventures begin!
FIVE
5. First time in London
From London to Athens, 3 days by bus...
It seems crazy but back in 1980 there were no cheap flights, as there are now, however, there was something called the "Magic Bus".
It was advertised in the Youth Hostels in London notice boards as the most economical way to get to Athens, and it was. It only cost around 30 British Pounds.
They said it was a great road trip and that it would be an unbelievable experience, and it certainly was!
First, I must tell you briefly about my arrival experience in London...May 17, 1980
After leaving Mexico I had no clue how things would unravel...
I landed in Houston and went on to get on my Pan Am flight to London...
We landed in London's Heathrow Airport, where a friend of mine from Mexico was supposed to be waiting for me with some friends he was staying with. They were going to take me to my Youth Hostel in Chelsea, it was a good plan as I had no clue what to do, however...things didn't quite work out as planned...
After I collected my luggage on arrival I proceeded to the passport control area, I queued up like everyone else and when it was my turn I went to the counter, feeling quite confident.
I had been told in Mexico that I didn't need a Visa to travel to the UK and that I would be given a Visitor's Visa on arrival, sweet as, I thought...
Then the lady at the desk asked me for my passport and I handed her my Mexican Passport and she looked at me...
Then she asked, in a very strong Yorkshire accent, "how long are you planning to stay here? and How much money have you got?"
I couldn't quite understand her, so I said...what? with an innocent look on my face...and said, excuse me?
She repeated what she said, and I still couldn't get it...so I only stared at her...
Then she asked me, very slowly..."Do - you - speak- English?" I smiled and replied, I do, do you? I asked, sarcastically...
She didn't like that...
She, asked again, "how long are you planning to stay and how much money do you have?" and then said, "please show me your money"...
I took out my Traveller's Cheques proudly, a total of $2,000 USD and said there you go...
I'd like to have a 6-month Visitor's Visa please, I said.
She looked surprised and asked, "are you intending to work in the UK?"
I said promptly, no way, I'm on Holiday...
Somehow, she didn't like me and my answers, and she asked for assistance over the radio...
A man came and said, "follow me"...
I was taken into a "small interview room" where I was questioned for 3 hours...about the same, how long I was planning to stay and the money I had and my intentions for being there...
I stood my ground, a bit shaken by the interrogation, and said, - look I don't even know If I'll be here for only a week or 2, I just said 6 months to have flexibility... I was evidently quite naïve and didn't know about the problems they had with illegal immigrants in the UK...
Eventually, they gave in, they took my passport and stamped it, giving me a 6 Month Visitor's Visa, and sent me on my way...
(I have just taken a look at my very first passport...Yup, it's right there on page 13, by immigration officer 547, Heathrow.
it says...Leave to enter for six months. Employment Prohibited)
After that ordeal, my friend, unable to reach me or see me at the arrivals lounge had left, understandably, so I was left at the mercy of the famous London Taxi Cabs...as I was coming out of the airport a man said..."Taxi Sir?"
Yup, thanks very much, I said..."Where to?" he asked, and I handed him the address for my Youth Hostel in Chelsea.
"Right Sir, not a problem," he said...
I was relieved that all that hassle was behind me, I had my visa, and I was in a classic Black London Cab!
How cool is that? I thought...
Until we arrived and he said, "That'll be 19 pounds Sir"...What?
I had no idea about the cost of Taxis or anything else and thanks to my dad, I was able to pay, he had just given me a 20-pound note as we said goodbye at the airport in Mexico...
Well, there you go I said to the driver, keep the change...
Well, thank you, sir, enjoy your stay in London"...
Wow, that was some first experience and unexpected into the real world...
Now, back to my story about going down to Athens...
I had only been in London for about 5 days and, to be frank, the weather was horrible, the sky was grey every day and it was raining and freezing cold. Well, what could I expect, it was right at the beginning of winter so I shouldn't have been surprised, but being my very first backpacking adventure, I had no idea what to expect, truthfully speaking ...
All I knew was that I was ready to head out for warmer weather and a more affordable place to hang out.
So, as I was going to head down to Israel at some stage, I figured I'd best be on my way sooner rather than later.
So, they said it'd take 3 days on the road, 'big deal', I thought...We'll enjoy the ride and the views and the scenery along the way while meeting some new people...it can't be that bad...
Well, as a matter of fact, it wasn't that bad at all!
The journey was amazing, from the moment we went across the 'English Channel' by ferry the entire trip from then on was sensational and made some great stops along the way.
However, there was a challenge with the loo on the bus, so we had to wait till we got to the next toilet stop if we wanted to go and also some of the stops were in the middle of the night, which was rather inconvenient.
We'd have to make the most of each stop and eat something if we were hungry.
I did all right most of the way until we got to what used to be Yugoslavia, where we made a stop in the middle of the night.
It was freezing outside and snowing...and as we got out of the bus at this "TruckStop" place and we could see that smoke was coming out of the restaurant's chimney and something smelled good!
In we went and they had lots of burgers on the grill cooking for the customers inside, they looked amazing and without hesitation, some of us ordered one right away. Inexpensive, hot and delicious!!
The perfect burger, I thought... until a few hours later back on the bus where my stomach started making noises I'd never heard before, or maybe I had, but they seemed louder than ever, and I had to control myself, the next stop was actually the terminal in Athens, so I figured I'd hold it in until then.
I had the sweats and was shivering like crazy.
I felt like I was ready to explode all over the bus as my big "Hello Athens, we made it here!"!
But no, I managed to control myself for a while longer until we actually got to the Youth Hostel in Athens, where, before checking in or anything else I asked the dude at the reception desk...
"Excuse me, where's the loo?" ..."at the end of the corridor", he said...
and then...
Helloooo Athens!
(Here's the road map we went through)
It seems crazy but back in 1980 there were no cheap flights, as there are now, however, there was something called the "Magic Bus".
It was advertised in the Youth Hostels in London notice boards as the most economical way to get to Athens, and it was. It only cost around 30 British Pounds.
They said it was a great road trip and that it would be an unbelievable experience, and it certainly was!
First, I must tell you briefly about my arrival experience in London...May 17, 1980
After leaving Mexico I had no clue how things would unravel...
I landed in Houston and went on to get on my Pan Am flight to London...
We landed in London's Heathrow Airport, where a friend of mine from Mexico was supposed to be waiting for me with some friends he was staying with. They were going to take me to my Youth Hostel in Chelsea, it was a good plan as I had no clue what to do, however...things didn't quite work out as planned...
After I collected my luggage on arrival I proceeded to the passport control area, I queued up like everyone else and when it was my turn I went to the counter, feeling quite confident.
I had been told in Mexico that I didn't need a Visa to travel to the UK and that I would be given a Visitor's Visa on arrival, sweet as, I thought...
Then the lady at the desk asked me for my passport and I handed her my Mexican Passport and she looked at me...
Then she asked, in a very strong Yorkshire accent, "how long are you planning to stay here? and How much money have you got?"
I couldn't quite understand her, so I said...what? with an innocent look on my face...and said, excuse me?
She repeated what she said, and I still couldn't get it...so I only stared at her...
Then she asked me, very slowly..."Do - you - speak- English?" I smiled and replied, I do, do you? I asked, sarcastically...
She didn't like that...
She, asked again, "how long are you planning to stay and how much money do you have?" and then said, "please show me your money"...
I took out my Traveller's Cheques proudly, a total of $2,000 USD and said there you go...
I'd like to have a 6-month Visitor's Visa please, I said.
She looked surprised and asked, "are you intending to work in the UK?"
I said promptly, no way, I'm on Holiday...
Somehow, she didn't like me and my answers, and she asked for assistance over the radio...
A man came and said, "follow me"...
I was taken into a "small interview room" where I was questioned for 3 hours...about the same, how long I was planning to stay and the money I had and my intentions for being there...
I stood my ground, a bit shaken by the interrogation, and said, - look I don't even know If I'll be here for only a week or 2, I just said 6 months to have flexibility... I was evidently quite naïve and didn't know about the problems they had with illegal immigrants in the UK...
Eventually, they gave in, they took my passport and stamped it, giving me a 6 Month Visitor's Visa, and sent me on my way...
(I have just taken a look at my very first passport...Yup, it's right there on page 13, by immigration officer 547, Heathrow.
it says...Leave to enter for six months. Employment Prohibited)
After that ordeal, my friend, unable to reach me or see me at the arrivals lounge had left, understandably, so I was left at the mercy of the famous London Taxi Cabs...as I was coming out of the airport a man said..."Taxi Sir?"
Yup, thanks very much, I said..."Where to?" he asked, and I handed him the address for my Youth Hostel in Chelsea.
"Right Sir, not a problem," he said...
I was relieved that all that hassle was behind me, I had my visa, and I was in a classic Black London Cab!
How cool is that? I thought...
Until we arrived and he said, "That'll be 19 pounds Sir"...What?
I had no idea about the cost of Taxis or anything else and thanks to my dad, I was able to pay, he had just given me a 20-pound note as we said goodbye at the airport in Mexico...
Well, there you go I said to the driver, keep the change...
Well, thank you, sir, enjoy your stay in London"...
Wow, that was some first experience and unexpected into the real world...
Now, back to my story about going down to Athens...
I had only been in London for about 5 days and, to be frank, the weather was horrible, the sky was grey every day and it was raining and freezing cold. Well, what could I expect, it was right at the beginning of winter so I shouldn't have been surprised, but being my very first backpacking adventure, I had no idea what to expect, truthfully speaking ...
All I knew was that I was ready to head out for warmer weather and a more affordable place to hang out.
So, as I was going to head down to Israel at some stage, I figured I'd best be on my way sooner rather than later.
So, they said it'd take 3 days on the road, 'big deal', I thought...We'll enjoy the ride and the views and the scenery along the way while meeting some new people...it can't be that bad...
Well, as a matter of fact, it wasn't that bad at all!
The journey was amazing, from the moment we went across the 'English Channel' by ferry the entire trip from then on was sensational and made some great stops along the way.
However, there was a challenge with the loo on the bus, so we had to wait till we got to the next toilet stop if we wanted to go and also some of the stops were in the middle of the night, which was rather inconvenient.
We'd have to make the most of each stop and eat something if we were hungry.
I did all right most of the way until we got to what used to be Yugoslavia, where we made a stop in the middle of the night.
It was freezing outside and snowing...and as we got out of the bus at this "TruckStop" place and we could see that smoke was coming out of the restaurant's chimney and something smelled good!
In we went and they had lots of burgers on the grill cooking for the customers inside, they looked amazing and without hesitation, some of us ordered one right away. Inexpensive, hot and delicious!!
The perfect burger, I thought... until a few hours later back on the bus where my stomach started making noises I'd never heard before, or maybe I had, but they seemed louder than ever, and I had to control myself, the next stop was actually the terminal in Athens, so I figured I'd hold it in until then.
I had the sweats and was shivering like crazy.
I felt like I was ready to explode all over the bus as my big "Hello Athens, we made it here!"!
But no, I managed to control myself for a while longer until we actually got to the Youth Hostel in Athens, where, before checking in or anything else I asked the dude at the reception desk...
"Excuse me, where's the loo?" ..."at the end of the corridor", he said...
and then...
Helloooo Athens!
(Here's the road map we went through)
SIX
6. Athens, Greece
My first Xmas overseas...
Athens, Greece.
I never would've guessed that Athens would be the first place I'd ever have a Xmas away from Mexico and my family and friends, at first I thought It'd be in London, but as I said in my previous post, it was just too cold...
I arrived in Athens, I believe, on the 24th of December 1980, and got settled in the youth hostel, which is listed as the very 1st Youth Hostel of the YHA (Youth Hostel Association).
I remember the day I arrived quite clearly, due to my dilemma on the 'Magic Bus', and also because it was such a welcoming place run by very friendly people.
This Youth Hostel was located close to Syntagma square, downtown Athens, so it was the perfect location to be close to everything you want to see in Athens, and also at walking distance from the Acropolis (pictured above).
It was an old building and had a lot of character, it was also the most economical Y.H. I ever stayed throughout my entire backpacking life!
It was only about $1 a night, and it included breakfast!! OMG!!
So cheap... What was the downside?...
I think the beds...they were bunk beds, 2 or 3 in every room and the spring-base of each bed was so worn out that they all bent drastically, so I had the bed above me nearly on my face... but who cared... it was only $1 USD!!
I could've stayed there longer, but you are only allowed to stay up to 5 nights, at least back in those days.
So, I figured, I'd stay there for Xmas and then head down to Israel, which I did.
Anyway, that first day I had a look around the square and saw the change of guards in front of the Hellenic Parliament in Syntagma Square (see video below). It was an interesting experience I'd never seen before; I didn't even know they did that in Greece...
So, December 24th came about, and we wanted to celebrate Xmas eve, as it is always celebrated in Mexico, so, I and another Mexican friend had a great Greek sandwich meal for Xmas dinner at the hostel and then we decided to head out to a bar with some of the other guys who were staying at the same place.
We found a great wee bar just a couple of blocks away, so we went in, my friends started ordering drinks and, up until then, I had refused to drink alcohol, so I was just going to order a Coke at the bar...
Then the bartender said, "Where are you from?" Mexico, I said, then she quickly pointed at a bottle of 'TEQUILA Cuervo', sitting on the shelf. and she said, then you must like Tequila, right?
I wasn't going to look bad saying "No, I don't drink" so I lied and said "Sure", ok, she kept on... "so you'll have Tequila, right?"... she said...
Well...why not...
My very first shot of Tequila ever, in a Greek bar in Athens, served by an Egyptian bartender...go figure!
I tried to remember how people did the 'Tequila thing' back in Mexico, I'd never tried it before, with the lime and salt and all that, so I faked it and... down it went!
UUUOOOPAAAH! As they say in Greece....
I think I felt my eyes pop out...
Then I had another one and then another...not sure at that stage how many more because the bartender said, "the next one is on the house"... not sure how I paid or how many free shots I had.
I was drunk before I knew it... for the first time in my life...
My Mexican friend found me and together we zigzagged back to the Y.H. which by that time was closed! Yup, there was a curfew, and we were supposed to be back by 11 pm...it was way past that!
What to do?
We walked back and stumbled across a little hotel, we went in and somehow, we managed to get a room, way more expensive than the Y.H. but we had no choice...
The next day I had a terrible hangover, my first ever... and everything was closed, of course, December 25th in a Greek Orthodox country...nevertheless, we decided to go up to the Acropolis with my head about to explode....the streets were empty, and couldn't even find anything to eat...then, after getting to the top of the hill, we discovered that it was closed for the public holiday...what?...No way!
Well, what a first Xmas overseas that was!
Was it an unforgettable Xmas?
It sure was!
Athens, Greece.
I never would've guessed that Athens would be the first place I'd ever have a Xmas away from Mexico and my family and friends, at first I thought It'd be in London, but as I said in my previous post, it was just too cold...
I arrived in Athens, I believe, on the 24th of December 1980, and got settled in the youth hostel, which is listed as the very 1st Youth Hostel of the YHA (Youth Hostel Association).
I remember the day I arrived quite clearly, due to my dilemma on the 'Magic Bus', and also because it was such a welcoming place run by very friendly people.
This Youth Hostel was located close to Syntagma square, downtown Athens, so it was the perfect location to be close to everything you want to see in Athens, and also at walking distance from the Acropolis (pictured above).
It was an old building and had a lot of character, it was also the most economical Y.H. I ever stayed throughout my entire backpacking life!
It was only about $1 a night, and it included breakfast!! OMG!!
So cheap... What was the downside?...
I think the beds...they were bunk beds, 2 or 3 in every room and the spring-base of each bed was so worn out that they all bent drastically, so I had the bed above me nearly on my face... but who cared... it was only $1 USD!!
I could've stayed there longer, but you are only allowed to stay up to 5 nights, at least back in those days.
So, I figured, I'd stay there for Xmas and then head down to Israel, which I did.
Anyway, that first day I had a look around the square and saw the change of guards in front of the Hellenic Parliament in Syntagma Square (see video below). It was an interesting experience I'd never seen before; I didn't even know they did that in Greece...
So, December 24th came about, and we wanted to celebrate Xmas eve, as it is always celebrated in Mexico, so, I and another Mexican friend had a great Greek sandwich meal for Xmas dinner at the hostel and then we decided to head out to a bar with some of the other guys who were staying at the same place.
We found a great wee bar just a couple of blocks away, so we went in, my friends started ordering drinks and, up until then, I had refused to drink alcohol, so I was just going to order a Coke at the bar...
Then the bartender said, "Where are you from?" Mexico, I said, then she quickly pointed at a bottle of 'TEQUILA Cuervo', sitting on the shelf. and she said, then you must like Tequila, right?
I wasn't going to look bad saying "No, I don't drink" so I lied and said "Sure", ok, she kept on... "so you'll have Tequila, right?"... she said...
Well...why not...
My very first shot of Tequila ever, in a Greek bar in Athens, served by an Egyptian bartender...go figure!
I tried to remember how people did the 'Tequila thing' back in Mexico, I'd never tried it before, with the lime and salt and all that, so I faked it and... down it went!
UUUOOOPAAAH! As they say in Greece....
I think I felt my eyes pop out...
Then I had another one and then another...not sure at that stage how many more because the bartender said, "the next one is on the house"... not sure how I paid or how many free shots I had.
I was drunk before I knew it... for the first time in my life...
My Mexican friend found me and together we zigzagged back to the Y.H. which by that time was closed! Yup, there was a curfew, and we were supposed to be back by 11 pm...it was way past that!
What to do?
We walked back and stumbled across a little hotel, we went in and somehow, we managed to get a room, way more expensive than the Y.H. but we had no choice...
The next day I had a terrible hangover, my first ever... and everything was closed, of course, December 25th in a Greek Orthodox country...nevertheless, we decided to go up to the Acropolis with my head about to explode....the streets were empty, and couldn't even find anything to eat...then, after getting to the top of the hill, we discovered that it was closed for the public holiday...what?...No way!
Well, what a first Xmas overseas that was!
Was it an unforgettable Xmas?
It sure was!
SEVEN
7. Israel - Tel-Aviv
My first New Year's Eve overseas...
After having spent Xmas in Athens, Greece, I flew down to Tel-Aviv, right on December 30th, 1980...
So, I celebrated the beginning of 1981 in Tel-Aviv... and I was officially for the first time in the Middle East.
An interesting point to make is that I was in a country where their Jewish calendar doesn't mark a New Year the same day as we do...for them, 1980 was the year 5,740 and 5,741 wasn't coming until September!...
They do live their daily lives, as most countries do, with the internationally accepted civil calendar the 'Gregorian calendar', however, there are no celebrations on New Year's Eve as there are in many countries around the world.
So, it was pretty quiet in town, no decorations, no announcements, no big anything, apart from the 'SALES' at stores, where they do kind of get into the commercial side of it...of course, as it is a very cosmopolitan city.
As soon as I arrived in Tel-Aviv I realised it was going to be a different game there, somehow, I learned quickly not to jump into taxis that may overcharge you or unmarked vehicles with drivers saying "Shaaalooom my friend, where are you from? I can take you, where are you going? I'll give you good price..."
-Yeah, Nah... I smiled and caught the local bus to the place I was going to stay at.
I had learned to avoid things like that thanks to a couple of books that many backpackers carried and used to travel with, they are like a travel guide for backpackers. Yes, a 'hard copy book' that could tell you what to do, what to avoid, where to stay, what to eat, the regular prices for things and all kinds of different tips and ideas...
One of the books was called "Let's go Israel" (there are "Let's go" books for many countries and cities). There was also a book called "Israel on a shoestring", with similar content...Those books were absolute gold in those days before the internet and mobile phones existed.
I stayed in a Youth Hostel, as usual, but not as cheap as the one in Athens, I think it was about $5 dollars including continental breakfast, which meant, coffee, cereal, toast, jam, and maybe a hard-boiled egg...not great but, ok...
December 31st arrived and...
What are we going to do to celebrate?
Well, after my experience in Athens at that bar, another one of those was out of the question!
Learned my lesson real fast.
So, what then?...
No one in the Youth Hostel had great plans, and they all seemed to be very excited about the fact that after dinner time, around 8 pm, they were going to show a Video in the dining room of the Youth Hostel, and somehow many thought it was going to be awesome!
I was like... ok, so let's have some dinner and let's get to it...
What is the name of the movie? I asked...
They said, "it's the 'BLUES BROTHERS' man!... Have you watched it?"
and... frankly speaking, I'd never heard of it and had no clue why they were so excited about it... nevertheless, I decided to go along with it and pretend to look excited...and said... "Cool!"
I'll be here to watch it...
Well, it was a cool movie, I guess...with lots of music, although I couldn't quite understand why the BIG DEAL...
Maybe it was because I was just beginning to watch something in just English, which I was just beginning to get the hang of and couldn't quite understand it all and... the subtitles were in Hebrew!... which didn't help...
All those with more advanced English and those guests from English speaking countries were laughing and singing along to some of the catchy tunes, some which I'd never heard before...
I think I might've dozed off a bit, now and then, as all of a sudden, the movie was over, and people were saying how cool that was!! (*You can view the movie trailer below; hope you know the movie)
We said our "Happy New Years" and "Good nights" and went to bed... I even learned to say both in Hebrew right there ….'Shana Tova'! (Happy New Year) and 'Laila Tov' (Good night) …
We woke up to a New Day and a New Year for my New Adventure, in a fairly New Country as we know it now. (Israel was recognised as a new nation, just 32 years before I got there, the State of Israel was formed on May 14, 1948) …
However, I was quite aware that I was in a very old land, which has gone through some major upheavals and changes throughout thousands of years of history...
It is a land which is regarded by Jews, Christians and Muslims (the 3 'Abrahamic religions') as their Holy Land....and for that reason and many others, it may forever be in some kind of conflict...
More about this incredible place and my adventures in the Middle East in future posts...
What a start of a year...
Shana tova!
After having spent Xmas in Athens, Greece, I flew down to Tel-Aviv, right on December 30th, 1980...
So, I celebrated the beginning of 1981 in Tel-Aviv... and I was officially for the first time in the Middle East.
An interesting point to make is that I was in a country where their Jewish calendar doesn't mark a New Year the same day as we do...for them, 1980 was the year 5,740 and 5,741 wasn't coming until September!...
They do live their daily lives, as most countries do, with the internationally accepted civil calendar the 'Gregorian calendar', however, there are no celebrations on New Year's Eve as there are in many countries around the world.
So, it was pretty quiet in town, no decorations, no announcements, no big anything, apart from the 'SALES' at stores, where they do kind of get into the commercial side of it...of course, as it is a very cosmopolitan city.
As soon as I arrived in Tel-Aviv I realised it was going to be a different game there, somehow, I learned quickly not to jump into taxis that may overcharge you or unmarked vehicles with drivers saying "Shaaalooom my friend, where are you from? I can take you, where are you going? I'll give you good price..."
-Yeah, Nah... I smiled and caught the local bus to the place I was going to stay at.
I had learned to avoid things like that thanks to a couple of books that many backpackers carried and used to travel with, they are like a travel guide for backpackers. Yes, a 'hard copy book' that could tell you what to do, what to avoid, where to stay, what to eat, the regular prices for things and all kinds of different tips and ideas...
One of the books was called "Let's go Israel" (there are "Let's go" books for many countries and cities). There was also a book called "Israel on a shoestring", with similar content...Those books were absolute gold in those days before the internet and mobile phones existed.
I stayed in a Youth Hostel, as usual, but not as cheap as the one in Athens, I think it was about $5 dollars including continental breakfast, which meant, coffee, cereal, toast, jam, and maybe a hard-boiled egg...not great but, ok...
December 31st arrived and...
What are we going to do to celebrate?
Well, after my experience in Athens at that bar, another one of those was out of the question!
Learned my lesson real fast.
So, what then?...
No one in the Youth Hostel had great plans, and they all seemed to be very excited about the fact that after dinner time, around 8 pm, they were going to show a Video in the dining room of the Youth Hostel, and somehow many thought it was going to be awesome!
I was like... ok, so let's have some dinner and let's get to it...
What is the name of the movie? I asked...
They said, "it's the 'BLUES BROTHERS' man!... Have you watched it?"
and... frankly speaking, I'd never heard of it and had no clue why they were so excited about it... nevertheless, I decided to go along with it and pretend to look excited...and said... "Cool!"
I'll be here to watch it...
Well, it was a cool movie, I guess...with lots of music, although I couldn't quite understand why the BIG DEAL...
Maybe it was because I was just beginning to watch something in just English, which I was just beginning to get the hang of and couldn't quite understand it all and... the subtitles were in Hebrew!... which didn't help...
All those with more advanced English and those guests from English speaking countries were laughing and singing along to some of the catchy tunes, some which I'd never heard before...
I think I might've dozed off a bit, now and then, as all of a sudden, the movie was over, and people were saying how cool that was!! (*You can view the movie trailer below; hope you know the movie)
We said our "Happy New Years" and "Good nights" and went to bed... I even learned to say both in Hebrew right there ….'Shana Tova'! (Happy New Year) and 'Laila Tov' (Good night) …
We woke up to a New Day and a New Year for my New Adventure, in a fairly New Country as we know it now. (Israel was recognised as a new nation, just 32 years before I got there, the State of Israel was formed on May 14, 1948) …
However, I was quite aware that I was in a very old land, which has gone through some major upheavals and changes throughout thousands of years of history...
It is a land which is regarded by Jews, Christians and Muslims (the 3 'Abrahamic religions') as their Holy Land....and for that reason and many others, it may forever be in some kind of conflict...
More about this incredible place and my adventures in the Middle East in future posts...
What a start of a year...
Shana tova!
EIGHT
8. Kibbutz Neve Eitan
My first time in a Kibbutz in Israel...
January - May 1981
Some time, while I was beginning to plan my first backpacking adventure, I heard about the Kibbutz from a friend of mine who had some Jewish friends in Mexico.
I'd never heard anything about them before and had no idea what they were, and probably you hadn't either until now...
So, let me tell you a little bit about what a Kibbutz is...
It is mainly a collective community, traditionally based around agriculture but they also have some other farming projects including commercial fishing from their own artificial fishponds and some have some sort of industrial plants. Many of them also have cows and chickens. (Mine did)
A kibbutz is run by its members and some duties are rostered every now and then. There are still around 250 Kibbutzim (plural) operating in Israel quite effectively, though I hear some things are changing lately.
Their production is for their community and the workload and profits are shared. They all work, even the elderly while they still can, they simply want to be of help and continue contributing to their community.
The kids go to school or day-care where some of the ladies look after them while the rest are working out there.
It is nearly like a utopia of a socialist society, you might say, where all have work, duties, responsibilities, and modest housing with all the modern commodities you'd have in a 'western world' house...
Within the 'mini village' there are several houses, scattered throughout the living grounds, where the members live with their families and some other houses are used by the volunteers and some young soldiers who also go to work in a kibbutz as part of their military service for some time.
We even had a great swimming pool, a gym, a basketball court, and a library and once or twice a month we'd all go to the local cinema to watch a movie, together with members and volunteers from other nearby kibbutzim...all free!
You practically don't need any money while you are there, as you get everything you need, food, clothing, entertainment, and you can get a few bits and pieces from the little store within the kibbutz, where you use tokens to buy stuff like chocolates and beer, and you were allowed to have about 7 packs of free 'Noblesse' cigarettes a week (a local brand), maybe that policy has changed by now...
We all had meal breaks and met up in the huge dining room at the same mealtimes. They always had great fresh food, primarily from their own produce and from other kibbutzim nearby. It was a self-service buffet where you would gather your meal, as much as you wanted, and take it to your table and afterwards, you'd take your dishes and tray to the massive dishwashing machine.
Everyone goes to work every morning, 6 days a week, from Sunday morning to Friday afternoon when everything stops to celebrate Shabbat. That starts at sunset on Friday and ends on Saturday at sunset...
Friday nights were always very special in my Kibbutz, everyone got cleaned up and dressed up for Shabbat Dinner. Everyone came to the dining room including children, which you rarely see during the week. They set the tables up beautifully with white tablecloths and nice cutlery and, on that night, we all get served dinner at our table. At my kibbutz, there was normally some delicious roast beef with gravy and vegies, and we got to have some special bread for Shabbat called Challah bread, they even served us wine, although it was a special Shabbat wine, a bit too sweet, but it made that dinner very special.
And, for dessert, we had a delicious cheesecake...Best ever!
They would say a little prayer before dinner, and they'd light up the Shabbat candles... It was really quite something every Friday night...
Well, now you have a brief idea of what a kibbutz is, although there's much more to it than that...
Before going there, I frankly could not believe such places existed nowadays and I was extremely curious to see one for myself!
Then I was told that they accepted volunteers to go and work there in exchange for food and accommodation, and many people flocked there every year to live a "Kibbutz Experience" and to learn some new skills you'd probably never learn back home.
The only requirement is that you have to be in good health and fit enough to do some physical work, you have to be between 18-30 years old and speak some basic English...and I said...
Hey, that's me! (I was 20 years old then).
After spending that New Year's Eve at the Youth Hostel in Tel-Aviv, watching the 'Blues Brothers' movie, as I mentioned on my previous post, I went the next business day to the Kibbutz Organization Office, where you can apply to volunteer in a kibbutz, it must've been January 2, 1981.
I had to pay a small fee, just a few dollars and had to take a medical test.
After doing that I was interviewed by a man who asked me a few questions like... "where would you like to go?"...I had no clue, "what kind of work would you like to do?"... no clue there either..."Never mind" he said...
"How long would you like to stay?... It is a minimum of one month"
Yup, one month is good for me, I said (although I ended up staying for 3 months!)
"I have the perfect Kibbutz for you", he said, "it is not too big and not too small, and has a good reputation amongst volunteers, it is called NEVE-EITAN..."
Cool!... and when can I go? …
I asked...thinking I may need to wait a week or so...
and he said promptly, "RIGHT NOW!" with a big grin on his face...
I'll give them a call now and I'm sure they'll be looking forward to seeing you there."
Excellent!
I went back to the Youth Hostel where I had left my stuff and quickly got on my way...
I first had to go to the Bus Terminal, in order to get on a bus to the nearest town to my Kibbutz, this town is called Beit-Shean, close to the 'Sea of Galilee'. (See map below)
When I got to the terminal it was all a bit confusing, there were lots of "Egged Buses" (the largest transportation company in Israel) they all looked the same, red and white, and I kept wondering, why is it called Egged?... weird name for a bus company... ("never mind" as they day in Israel all the time...)
After a while, I found my bus and got on it.
There were also a lot of young soldiers walking around with their guns over their shoulders, although they looked quite relaxed. I actually sat next to one on the bus and he had his gun, a big rifle next to his... So, I asked...
What's the story?
How come there are so many soldiers all over the place?
He said, "Oh, we are on leave and going home, we actually get some time off while we are doing our military service..." and why the guns? ...I asked.
"We are all given a gun when we start, and we are responsible for it at all times and if we lose it, we may go to jail"...
In Israel, all men have to do 3 years and the women 2 years of compulsory military service.
They do take very seriously their defense duties and there's never a dull moment in Israel.
Anyway, after a 2 hour or so ride I arrived in Beit-Shean, where I had to find out about any buses going to my Kibbutz and there was going to be a long wait for the next one, so I decided to hitchhike to my kibbutz.
In no time at all I got a lift on the back of a small Ute, (a small pickup car) and it happened to be a member of my kibbutz, so he drove me all the way in, lucky me!
He suggested I went to the dining room to look for the volunteers' leader, her name was Dudda.
Dudda was a young mum, in her 30s, with extremely curly red hair and a big smile.
I found her in the kitchen and said - Hello, are you Dudda? I'm Hector...and she said... "Yes, Shalom shalom...
Welcome to Neve-Eitan!
I've been waiting for you, where are you from?
I said, Mexico... Oh, Mexikani (Mexican in Hebrew) … glad to have you here, we've never had a Mexican volunteer before...
Let me show you to your house.
We walked through the nicely landscaped gardens, nobody was around, they were all working somewhere, then at the end of a path she said, there is your new home!
She walked me into my room, there were 2 beds, and she said "Here's your linen for your bed, you haven't got a roommate yet, but you may get one soon... (that story on my next post)
That door there is the toilet, and the shower is over there at the other end, you get to share that with the guys in the other room next to yours...."
Cool, thanks so much!
I was truly quite excited about the whole deal!
"Get set up and I'll see you in the dining room when you are ready so we can talk about work and all that, ok?"
Excellent, no problem I'll be there soon, I said...
I had really no idea what I was in for, but I was really looking forward to this experience whatever it might be.
I immediately made my bed, not sure why maybe I wanted to make myself at home and claim my bed! Put all my stuff in the small wardrobe and tucked my backpack under the bed, placed my cassette tapes and Walkman on the bedside table and I was all set...
I sat on a chair that we had in the room and had a look around the room, it was fairly spacious and clean enough, and there was a small window at the back of the room between the beds looking towards the back garden and other houses...
Then, I took a deep breath and said to myself...
Welcome to My First Home Away From Home...
I headed back to the dining room and when I got there, I said...
Shalom Dudda, where to from here?
More on this in my next posts...
January - May 1981
Some time, while I was beginning to plan my first backpacking adventure, I heard about the Kibbutz from a friend of mine who had some Jewish friends in Mexico.
I'd never heard anything about them before and had no idea what they were, and probably you hadn't either until now...
So, let me tell you a little bit about what a Kibbutz is...
It is mainly a collective community, traditionally based around agriculture but they also have some other farming projects including commercial fishing from their own artificial fishponds and some have some sort of industrial plants. Many of them also have cows and chickens. (Mine did)
A kibbutz is run by its members and some duties are rostered every now and then. There are still around 250 Kibbutzim (plural) operating in Israel quite effectively, though I hear some things are changing lately.
Their production is for their community and the workload and profits are shared. They all work, even the elderly while they still can, they simply want to be of help and continue contributing to their community.
The kids go to school or day-care where some of the ladies look after them while the rest are working out there.
It is nearly like a utopia of a socialist society, you might say, where all have work, duties, responsibilities, and modest housing with all the modern commodities you'd have in a 'western world' house...
Within the 'mini village' there are several houses, scattered throughout the living grounds, where the members live with their families and some other houses are used by the volunteers and some young soldiers who also go to work in a kibbutz as part of their military service for some time.
We even had a great swimming pool, a gym, a basketball court, and a library and once or twice a month we'd all go to the local cinema to watch a movie, together with members and volunteers from other nearby kibbutzim...all free!
You practically don't need any money while you are there, as you get everything you need, food, clothing, entertainment, and you can get a few bits and pieces from the little store within the kibbutz, where you use tokens to buy stuff like chocolates and beer, and you were allowed to have about 7 packs of free 'Noblesse' cigarettes a week (a local brand), maybe that policy has changed by now...
We all had meal breaks and met up in the huge dining room at the same mealtimes. They always had great fresh food, primarily from their own produce and from other kibbutzim nearby. It was a self-service buffet where you would gather your meal, as much as you wanted, and take it to your table and afterwards, you'd take your dishes and tray to the massive dishwashing machine.
Everyone goes to work every morning, 6 days a week, from Sunday morning to Friday afternoon when everything stops to celebrate Shabbat. That starts at sunset on Friday and ends on Saturday at sunset...
Friday nights were always very special in my Kibbutz, everyone got cleaned up and dressed up for Shabbat Dinner. Everyone came to the dining room including children, which you rarely see during the week. They set the tables up beautifully with white tablecloths and nice cutlery and, on that night, we all get served dinner at our table. At my kibbutz, there was normally some delicious roast beef with gravy and vegies, and we got to have some special bread for Shabbat called Challah bread, they even served us wine, although it was a special Shabbat wine, a bit too sweet, but it made that dinner very special.
And, for dessert, we had a delicious cheesecake...Best ever!
They would say a little prayer before dinner, and they'd light up the Shabbat candles... It was really quite something every Friday night...
Well, now you have a brief idea of what a kibbutz is, although there's much more to it than that...
Before going there, I frankly could not believe such places existed nowadays and I was extremely curious to see one for myself!
Then I was told that they accepted volunteers to go and work there in exchange for food and accommodation, and many people flocked there every year to live a "Kibbutz Experience" and to learn some new skills you'd probably never learn back home.
The only requirement is that you have to be in good health and fit enough to do some physical work, you have to be between 18-30 years old and speak some basic English...and I said...
Hey, that's me! (I was 20 years old then).
After spending that New Year's Eve at the Youth Hostel in Tel-Aviv, watching the 'Blues Brothers' movie, as I mentioned on my previous post, I went the next business day to the Kibbutz Organization Office, where you can apply to volunteer in a kibbutz, it must've been January 2, 1981.
I had to pay a small fee, just a few dollars and had to take a medical test.
After doing that I was interviewed by a man who asked me a few questions like... "where would you like to go?"...I had no clue, "what kind of work would you like to do?"... no clue there either..."Never mind" he said...
"How long would you like to stay?... It is a minimum of one month"
Yup, one month is good for me, I said (although I ended up staying for 3 months!)
"I have the perfect Kibbutz for you", he said, "it is not too big and not too small, and has a good reputation amongst volunteers, it is called NEVE-EITAN..."
Cool!... and when can I go? …
I asked...thinking I may need to wait a week or so...
and he said promptly, "RIGHT NOW!" with a big grin on his face...
I'll give them a call now and I'm sure they'll be looking forward to seeing you there."
Excellent!
I went back to the Youth Hostel where I had left my stuff and quickly got on my way...
I first had to go to the Bus Terminal, in order to get on a bus to the nearest town to my Kibbutz, this town is called Beit-Shean, close to the 'Sea of Galilee'. (See map below)
When I got to the terminal it was all a bit confusing, there were lots of "Egged Buses" (the largest transportation company in Israel) they all looked the same, red and white, and I kept wondering, why is it called Egged?... weird name for a bus company... ("never mind" as they day in Israel all the time...)
After a while, I found my bus and got on it.
There were also a lot of young soldiers walking around with their guns over their shoulders, although they looked quite relaxed. I actually sat next to one on the bus and he had his gun, a big rifle next to his... So, I asked...
What's the story?
How come there are so many soldiers all over the place?
He said, "Oh, we are on leave and going home, we actually get some time off while we are doing our military service..." and why the guns? ...I asked.
"We are all given a gun when we start, and we are responsible for it at all times and if we lose it, we may go to jail"...
In Israel, all men have to do 3 years and the women 2 years of compulsory military service.
They do take very seriously their defense duties and there's never a dull moment in Israel.
Anyway, after a 2 hour or so ride I arrived in Beit-Shean, where I had to find out about any buses going to my Kibbutz and there was going to be a long wait for the next one, so I decided to hitchhike to my kibbutz.
In no time at all I got a lift on the back of a small Ute, (a small pickup car) and it happened to be a member of my kibbutz, so he drove me all the way in, lucky me!
He suggested I went to the dining room to look for the volunteers' leader, her name was Dudda.
Dudda was a young mum, in her 30s, with extremely curly red hair and a big smile.
I found her in the kitchen and said - Hello, are you Dudda? I'm Hector...and she said... "Yes, Shalom shalom...
Welcome to Neve-Eitan!
I've been waiting for you, where are you from?
I said, Mexico... Oh, Mexikani (Mexican in Hebrew) … glad to have you here, we've never had a Mexican volunteer before...
Let me show you to your house.
We walked through the nicely landscaped gardens, nobody was around, they were all working somewhere, then at the end of a path she said, there is your new home!
She walked me into my room, there were 2 beds, and she said "Here's your linen for your bed, you haven't got a roommate yet, but you may get one soon... (that story on my next post)
That door there is the toilet, and the shower is over there at the other end, you get to share that with the guys in the other room next to yours...."
Cool, thanks so much!
I was truly quite excited about the whole deal!
"Get set up and I'll see you in the dining room when you are ready so we can talk about work and all that, ok?"
Excellent, no problem I'll be there soon, I said...
I had really no idea what I was in for, but I was really looking forward to this experience whatever it might be.
I immediately made my bed, not sure why maybe I wanted to make myself at home and claim my bed! Put all my stuff in the small wardrobe and tucked my backpack under the bed, placed my cassette tapes and Walkman on the bedside table and I was all set...
I sat on a chair that we had in the room and had a look around the room, it was fairly spacious and clean enough, and there was a small window at the back of the room between the beds looking towards the back garden and other houses...
Then, I took a deep breath and said to myself...
Welcome to My First Home Away From Home...
I headed back to the dining room and when I got there, I said...
Shalom Dudda, where to from here?
More on this in my next posts...
NINE
9. My Kibbutz Experience - Part 1
NEVE EITAN - PART 1
(Note: I've decided to break down this story into 2 parts as there's so much to tell...)
Where to begin?...
Well, if you read my previous story, you may recall that on arrival at my Kibbutz, I was allocated a room and I had the room to myself and no roommate yet, right?...
Well, things started to change and evolve quite rapidly from that afternoon onwards...
Firstly, I met up with Dudda, the volunteers' leader, in the dining room and she started showing me around...she explained what time the meals were, and showed me the way to go about things...
Then we went to the laundry room, well, not exactly a room, it was a massive industrial size laundry, like in a hotel or resort, as they wash everyone's clothes there, everything must be labelled with your name and in laundry bags, except sheets and towels.
I was given the opportunity to select a few working clothes there, they were used clothes but recently washed and impeccably folded...from trousers to shirts, t-shirts, shorts, socks, a couple of jumpers, a hat, and a winter jacket, I was even given working shoes and wellingtons! (gumboots)
I was definitely ready to go to work but... what work?
Well, I got back to my room to drop off my clothes and I headed back to the dining room to meet with the guy that allocated the different jobs to the volunteers and others.
We met and he said... "Shalom, Hector, welcome to Neve-Eitan, I understand you are all set and that you are ready to start working, right?"
Yup, sure am!
"Well, we are currently working on our 'cotton fields' and we need a hand, you think you can help us there for a couple of days?"
Sure! I had no idea what I was saying "sure" to, but I was sure I was going to find out all about it the next day...
Then he said, "perfect, we'll meet at the 'fields office' at 5:30 am, we'll have a coffee and then we'll head out there." He explained where the 'fields office' was and he said, "I'll see you there, make sure you are on time!"
No problem, I had also been given an alarm clock, of course!
I went back to my room and started seeing people walking around, they were getting back from work and there were other volunteers heading back to their homes, and I seem to recall meeting a couple of girls first... and they said... "Hey, you are new, right? Welcome! where are you from?"...
One was Josie...a tall redhead girl from Holland, and the other a blond girl, Anna, a bit shorter than Josie, from Sweden....
They were returning from their jobs...and they said, “see you at the dining room for our evening meal at around 7 pm... ok?”
They were wearing their working clothes and were all smiles...so obviously they seemed to be enjoying themselves...
I had still no idea what to expect but things were beginning to evolve...
I got myself to the dining room and there were already some people there sitting already and there was a queue forming at the food self-service bar, so I followed them and started getting some food they had there...
Got some bread, a glass of fresh cold milk, a bit of salad and some ham-like slices, (made of chicken) and made myself a sandwich...I made my way to the volunteer's table, which was quite obvious to find... sat down and everyone started greeting me, "Hi, where are you from? How long are you staying?" and the rest of it...
There were several guys and girls primarily from Europe, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
I asked...is this all there's to eat?
"For our evening meal yes", they said, "but don't worry, our main meal is at around 2-3 pm, where you can have a big meal!
Cool, I said, just like in Mexico!
I headed back to my room to get some sleep and get ready for my first day at work....
I got up even before the alarm went off, I guess I was anxious to see what was going to happen, and probably had very little sleep.
It was still dark when I started walking towards the 'fields office' and when I got there I was welcomed and was told to make myself a cup of coffee....
There was some kind of coffee in a jar and the water urn was boiling, so I put some of that coffee in my cup, poured some water and added a bit of sugar, gave it a quick stir, and had my first sip...
What the...?... it was all grainy and I felt like I was drinking sand...What is this?! …I asked...
They were all watching me, smiling, as if it were a rookie prank.... and said..."That is Turkish coffee, you are supposed to let it settle at the bottom of your cup before you drink it, you've never had that before?"
Nope!
"Well, welcome to the morning coffee at the 'fields office'!"
We all laughed and all of a sudden, we were all in high spirits!
At 6 am we headed out to the cotton fields, we all jumped on the back of a 'flatbed trailer' which was being pulled by a tractor and rode to the first cotton field...the sun was just rising, and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day and a unique first experience....
We moved several irrigation pipes and did some other stuff moving things around, we had a smoko /coffee break and had some fruit and at around 11 am then at around 2:30 pm we headed back to the dining room... my first 8 hours of work, done!
Everyone was there! There was a great smell coming from the kitchen and we immediately queued up to get our meal, they had vegetable soup, rice, steamed vegetables, and some meatballs with gravy...now, that's what I'm talking about...a good meal indeed!
We were finished with work as we had started early so I headed back home... I was a bit scratched all over my arms, I'd never walked through a cotton field before, and those plants are quite prickly! I looked like I had been in a fight with a crazy cat!...
I was, nonetheless, quite happy with my first workday at my kibbutz...that wasn't bad at all...
And then...I had no idea there was a surprise waiting for me in my room...my roommate had arrived!
I walked in and there he was, sitting on his bed playing his guitar!
I was surprised to see him there, I introduced myself and he said, “Hi, I'm Arthur, I'm from Holland”
Cool, I said, Welcome to Neve -Eitan!
I asked him the same questions I was asked...How long are you here for? and all that, he said...shrugging his shoulders "I don't know... we'll see how it goes" …he was kind of quiet and humble...
He was a shortish guy with Indonesian background, he wore glasses and spoke perfect English...
and then the obvious question...so you play the guitar, do you? Yeah, he said, is that ok?
Sure is! what kind of music? I asked and he said...“Country-Rock mainly, like Neil Young, Eagles, Crosby Still, and Nash and all that...”
Frankly speaking, I'd never really heard much of that type of music apart from the famed “Hotel California” by 'The Eagles' which was sometimes played on the radio in Mexico...
I had no idea I was not only going to have a roommate, but it was also going to be my introduction to that 'Country Rock' music world which, since then, I've loved...
He had a beautiful acoustic guitar and he had laid it in its case when I came in, so I looked at it and said, what a cool guitar, why don't you play something....and he said, "sure thing".
He grabbed his guitar and started. singing... "I wanna live, I wanna give, I've been a miner for a heart of gold"... It was like I was just listening to 'Neil Young' himself...sitting right in my room... (Watch a snippet of Neil Young's Heart of Gold, live concert 1971, below)
Wow! Arthur that was awesome... I said...
He smiled...
That was to be the beginning of a great friendship that would evolve from then on...
I took a shower and changed, and we went to the dining room for our evening meal like 'good ol' buddies' where I introduced him to the gang...
Hey guys, this is Arthur...
"Shalom Arthur, welcome to Neve-Eitan," they said...
(Note: I've decided to break down this story into 2 parts as there's so much to tell...)
Where to begin?...
Well, if you read my previous story, you may recall that on arrival at my Kibbutz, I was allocated a room and I had the room to myself and no roommate yet, right?...
Well, things started to change and evolve quite rapidly from that afternoon onwards...
Firstly, I met up with Dudda, the volunteers' leader, in the dining room and she started showing me around...she explained what time the meals were, and showed me the way to go about things...
Then we went to the laundry room, well, not exactly a room, it was a massive industrial size laundry, like in a hotel or resort, as they wash everyone's clothes there, everything must be labelled with your name and in laundry bags, except sheets and towels.
I was given the opportunity to select a few working clothes there, they were used clothes but recently washed and impeccably folded...from trousers to shirts, t-shirts, shorts, socks, a couple of jumpers, a hat, and a winter jacket, I was even given working shoes and wellingtons! (gumboots)
I was definitely ready to go to work but... what work?
Well, I got back to my room to drop off my clothes and I headed back to the dining room to meet with the guy that allocated the different jobs to the volunteers and others.
We met and he said... "Shalom, Hector, welcome to Neve-Eitan, I understand you are all set and that you are ready to start working, right?"
Yup, sure am!
"Well, we are currently working on our 'cotton fields' and we need a hand, you think you can help us there for a couple of days?"
Sure! I had no idea what I was saying "sure" to, but I was sure I was going to find out all about it the next day...
Then he said, "perfect, we'll meet at the 'fields office' at 5:30 am, we'll have a coffee and then we'll head out there." He explained where the 'fields office' was and he said, "I'll see you there, make sure you are on time!"
No problem, I had also been given an alarm clock, of course!
I went back to my room and started seeing people walking around, they were getting back from work and there were other volunteers heading back to their homes, and I seem to recall meeting a couple of girls first... and they said... "Hey, you are new, right? Welcome! where are you from?"...
One was Josie...a tall redhead girl from Holland, and the other a blond girl, Anna, a bit shorter than Josie, from Sweden....
They were returning from their jobs...and they said, “see you at the dining room for our evening meal at around 7 pm... ok?”
They were wearing their working clothes and were all smiles...so obviously they seemed to be enjoying themselves...
I had still no idea what to expect but things were beginning to evolve...
I got myself to the dining room and there were already some people there sitting already and there was a queue forming at the food self-service bar, so I followed them and started getting some food they had there...
Got some bread, a glass of fresh cold milk, a bit of salad and some ham-like slices, (made of chicken) and made myself a sandwich...I made my way to the volunteer's table, which was quite obvious to find... sat down and everyone started greeting me, "Hi, where are you from? How long are you staying?" and the rest of it...
There were several guys and girls primarily from Europe, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
I asked...is this all there's to eat?
"For our evening meal yes", they said, "but don't worry, our main meal is at around 2-3 pm, where you can have a big meal!
Cool, I said, just like in Mexico!
I headed back to my room to get some sleep and get ready for my first day at work....
I got up even before the alarm went off, I guess I was anxious to see what was going to happen, and probably had very little sleep.
It was still dark when I started walking towards the 'fields office' and when I got there I was welcomed and was told to make myself a cup of coffee....
There was some kind of coffee in a jar and the water urn was boiling, so I put some of that coffee in my cup, poured some water and added a bit of sugar, gave it a quick stir, and had my first sip...
What the...?... it was all grainy and I felt like I was drinking sand...What is this?! …I asked...
They were all watching me, smiling, as if it were a rookie prank.... and said..."That is Turkish coffee, you are supposed to let it settle at the bottom of your cup before you drink it, you've never had that before?"
Nope!
"Well, welcome to the morning coffee at the 'fields office'!"
We all laughed and all of a sudden, we were all in high spirits!
At 6 am we headed out to the cotton fields, we all jumped on the back of a 'flatbed trailer' which was being pulled by a tractor and rode to the first cotton field...the sun was just rising, and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day and a unique first experience....
We moved several irrigation pipes and did some other stuff moving things around, we had a smoko /coffee break and had some fruit and at around 11 am then at around 2:30 pm we headed back to the dining room... my first 8 hours of work, done!
Everyone was there! There was a great smell coming from the kitchen and we immediately queued up to get our meal, they had vegetable soup, rice, steamed vegetables, and some meatballs with gravy...now, that's what I'm talking about...a good meal indeed!
We were finished with work as we had started early so I headed back home... I was a bit scratched all over my arms, I'd never walked through a cotton field before, and those plants are quite prickly! I looked like I had been in a fight with a crazy cat!...
I was, nonetheless, quite happy with my first workday at my kibbutz...that wasn't bad at all...
And then...I had no idea there was a surprise waiting for me in my room...my roommate had arrived!
I walked in and there he was, sitting on his bed playing his guitar!
I was surprised to see him there, I introduced myself and he said, “Hi, I'm Arthur, I'm from Holland”
Cool, I said, Welcome to Neve -Eitan!
I asked him the same questions I was asked...How long are you here for? and all that, he said...shrugging his shoulders "I don't know... we'll see how it goes" …he was kind of quiet and humble...
He was a shortish guy with Indonesian background, he wore glasses and spoke perfect English...
and then the obvious question...so you play the guitar, do you? Yeah, he said, is that ok?
Sure is! what kind of music? I asked and he said...“Country-Rock mainly, like Neil Young, Eagles, Crosby Still, and Nash and all that...”
Frankly speaking, I'd never really heard much of that type of music apart from the famed “Hotel California” by 'The Eagles' which was sometimes played on the radio in Mexico...
I had no idea I was not only going to have a roommate, but it was also going to be my introduction to that 'Country Rock' music world which, since then, I've loved...
He had a beautiful acoustic guitar and he had laid it in its case when I came in, so I looked at it and said, what a cool guitar, why don't you play something....and he said, "sure thing".
He grabbed his guitar and started. singing... "I wanna live, I wanna give, I've been a miner for a heart of gold"... It was like I was just listening to 'Neil Young' himself...sitting right in my room... (Watch a snippet of Neil Young's Heart of Gold, live concert 1971, below)
Wow! Arthur that was awesome... I said...
He smiled...
That was to be the beginning of a great friendship that would evolve from then on...
I took a shower and changed, and we went to the dining room for our evening meal like 'good ol' buddies' where I introduced him to the gang...
Hey guys, this is Arthur...
"Shalom Arthur, welcome to Neve-Eitan," they said...
TEN
10. My Kibbutz Experience - Part 2
NEVE EITAN - PART 2
"Our social life in my kibbutz revolved around the 'Dining Room' and other interesting places..."
Somehow, just like in many homes all over the world, the Kibbutz family life and social life revolve around the 'dining room', where families gather to eat and talk about the happenings of the day and many other things.
At least in my case, that's the way it was back home where I grew up in Mexico, although not in the main dining room, which was only used for special occasions, but in the smaller dining area/breakfast table by the kitchen. That was the place where we'd eat all our meals, did our homework, talk about our day and, were told what chores to do and also... where we were told off when not behaving...that was mom's domain!
The 'communal dining room' in my kibbutz was a similar thing...
Apart from having our meals there, our jobs were assigned there, and working rosters and any other announcements were placed on a noticeboard at the entrance. It was the place where we could meet all the members and celebrate whatever festivities were taking place...
It was a massive room (see picture above) that could house about 300 seated people to have a meal at one time.
I was assigned several jobs, right there.
After working in the cotton fields, I went to work in the fishponds, catching fish at 3 o'clock in the morning in the freezing water! Not necessarily 'my cup of tea', I'd say...I also did about 3 days in the nightshift, from 10 pm to 6 am at the fibre-glass factory (most boring job ever!) and then I spent most of the rest of my working time in the chicken-house, gathering thousands of eggs daily and putting them up in cartons!...
They simply put me there because the manager of the chicken-house was Argentinian and needed someone who spoke Spanish...THAT'S ME! I can help, I said...
Julio was his name, (top right picture) an interesting fellow, who rode his pushbike to work and who gave us beer for our coffee break...Cool guy! ... most of the jobs were something I had never imagined I'd ever do in my life...
However, life in the kibbutz was more than just work...
We also had some social activities after working hours...
As volunteers, we had our own 'hang-outs'.
One of the Volunteers' houses was used as our 'common room' where we could go to after work and 'watch a bit of telly while having a cuppa', (learned to say that there from my English friends).
We'd only turned the TV on if there was something in English and cool to watch, like "Fawlty Towers' …that program was my introduction to 'English sense of humour'.
There was also a "record player' so we could play some of the vinyl records that were there... (yup, vinyl LP records, not even CDs and no internet or Netflix back then).
I remember clearly one of the girls' favourite songs was one by Eric Clapton 'Let it grow'...
At first, I was taken aback a bit when I saw the girls singing along...and dancing and swaying to the tune...but after a couple of times of seeing that...I was singing along too!!… "Let it grow, let it grow, let it blossom, let it flow..."(music clip below)
We also had a sort of disco/nightclub inside our kibbutz...it was inside a 'bomb shelter'!
Yup, a BOMB SHELTER!
There were several bomb shelters scattered all over the living grounds of the kibbutz in case of an attack...most of them were kept clean, prepared for any incident, and... closed!
We, the volunteers, had one to ourselves, to party in!
Yes! Every Friday night, after 'Shabbat Dinner' we all went home for a bit, and soon after that we'd head down to the 'bomb shelter'...
I remember the first time they told me about it, I thought they were kidding...
A "bomb shelter"? I said...Really? what for? ...and they looked up at the sky...
It was a spacious room a few meters underground, there was a narrow entrance, above ground that led you down the stairs, it was a very dark room with colour lights like in a disco/nightclub....it was about 70 square meters (a rough guess, about 7mt by 10mt)…there were some chairs and a couple of old sofas by the walls and a couple of small tables and... there was a tiny room, I guess what may have been at some stage a toilet, it was used as a DJ room, they had a record player and some other music equipment in there.
There were a couple of large loudspeakers at each end of the room and the sound wasn't bad at all.
There was usually a young 'kibbutznik' (a kibbutz member) in charge of the place, who was also the DJ, and he played the records we'd request or what he felt like.
It wasn't disco music at all but... we'd dance to music by Led Zeppelin, Janice Joplin, Dire Straits, Bob Marley, and some others. I had never thought it was possible to dance to some of that music, especially Led Zeppelin but... I recall clearly that we'd all go nuts and danced like crazy when they played 'Black Dog' by Led Zeppelin...that was really something! (Music clip below).
We'd all bring down a few beers and danced and talked till late at night...we had Saturday off...
I was also introduced there to the unfamiliar concept of 'dancing by yourself'!
When I was a teenager in Mexico, prior to my trip, I was sold on the idea that in order to dance you'd need a girl to dance with, and if you didn't get a girl to dance with you were not to dance at all! You'd just sit or stand there watching others dance...
I even remember the embarrassing moments of asking girls to dance, only to be rejected by a mere "not now thank you" or "maybe later"...
Well, in my kibbutz I learned from my European friends, that if you heard a tune that resonated with you …you just got up and danced no matter what, and … everybody did exactly that!
So liberating and it felt so right! Then others would join you and, all of a sudden, there were a few more people dancing all over the place, jumping and making all kinds of unorthodox movements which they called dancing...
I'm sure I'd never seen that before in my life and at first, I thought....'Bunch of weirdos'! ...
But then, before I knew it, I was doing exactly the same and it felt so good... there goes the saying...
"Dance like nobody is watching..."
Every Friday night, was somehow different and we'd sometimes come out of the shelter to find my roommate Arthur, out there sitting on the grass, with some people singing along to the tunes he was playing on his guitar (he wasn't much of a dancer)…so, we'd go along and join them and start singing with them, or in my case 'sort of singing', as I barely knew any song, let alone the lyrics!
Things were changing in me...
I was beginning to understand that paradigms can be broken...like the one of 'not being able to dance without a girl'....
Breaking that paradigm meant much more than just that...
I was beginning to understand that there was a different world out there...outside of the social system I grew up in...and that there would be a lot of paradigms that were about to be broken in my life's journey...
I was beginning to realize that this adventure was much more than just a trip...
It was the beginning of an entire journey that was to transform my entire life...and, I understood that many more unplanned experiences were just ahead...
While I was in Israel, I did not only stay in my kibbutz, I also visited some unreal and beautiful historical places...more about this on my next story...
In the meantime...
Play the "black dog" song below and...
"Dance like nobody is watching"!
"Our social life in my kibbutz revolved around the 'Dining Room' and other interesting places..."
Somehow, just like in many homes all over the world, the Kibbutz family life and social life revolve around the 'dining room', where families gather to eat and talk about the happenings of the day and many other things.
At least in my case, that's the way it was back home where I grew up in Mexico, although not in the main dining room, which was only used for special occasions, but in the smaller dining area/breakfast table by the kitchen. That was the place where we'd eat all our meals, did our homework, talk about our day and, were told what chores to do and also... where we were told off when not behaving...that was mom's domain!
The 'communal dining room' in my kibbutz was a similar thing...
Apart from having our meals there, our jobs were assigned there, and working rosters and any other announcements were placed on a noticeboard at the entrance. It was the place where we could meet all the members and celebrate whatever festivities were taking place...
It was a massive room (see picture above) that could house about 300 seated people to have a meal at one time.
I was assigned several jobs, right there.
After working in the cotton fields, I went to work in the fishponds, catching fish at 3 o'clock in the morning in the freezing water! Not necessarily 'my cup of tea', I'd say...I also did about 3 days in the nightshift, from 10 pm to 6 am at the fibre-glass factory (most boring job ever!) and then I spent most of the rest of my working time in the chicken-house, gathering thousands of eggs daily and putting them up in cartons!...
They simply put me there because the manager of the chicken-house was Argentinian and needed someone who spoke Spanish...THAT'S ME! I can help, I said...
Julio was his name, (top right picture) an interesting fellow, who rode his pushbike to work and who gave us beer for our coffee break...Cool guy! ... most of the jobs were something I had never imagined I'd ever do in my life...
However, life in the kibbutz was more than just work...
We also had some social activities after working hours...
As volunteers, we had our own 'hang-outs'.
One of the Volunteers' houses was used as our 'common room' where we could go to after work and 'watch a bit of telly while having a cuppa', (learned to say that there from my English friends).
We'd only turned the TV on if there was something in English and cool to watch, like "Fawlty Towers' …that program was my introduction to 'English sense of humour'.
There was also a "record player' so we could play some of the vinyl records that were there... (yup, vinyl LP records, not even CDs and no internet or Netflix back then).
I remember clearly one of the girls' favourite songs was one by Eric Clapton 'Let it grow'...
At first, I was taken aback a bit when I saw the girls singing along...and dancing and swaying to the tune...but after a couple of times of seeing that...I was singing along too!!… "Let it grow, let it grow, let it blossom, let it flow..."(music clip below)
We also had a sort of disco/nightclub inside our kibbutz...it was inside a 'bomb shelter'!
Yup, a BOMB SHELTER!
There were several bomb shelters scattered all over the living grounds of the kibbutz in case of an attack...most of them were kept clean, prepared for any incident, and... closed!
We, the volunteers, had one to ourselves, to party in!
Yes! Every Friday night, after 'Shabbat Dinner' we all went home for a bit, and soon after that we'd head down to the 'bomb shelter'...
I remember the first time they told me about it, I thought they were kidding...
A "bomb shelter"? I said...Really? what for? ...and they looked up at the sky...
It was a spacious room a few meters underground, there was a narrow entrance, above ground that led you down the stairs, it was a very dark room with colour lights like in a disco/nightclub....it was about 70 square meters (a rough guess, about 7mt by 10mt)…there were some chairs and a couple of old sofas by the walls and a couple of small tables and... there was a tiny room, I guess what may have been at some stage a toilet, it was used as a DJ room, they had a record player and some other music equipment in there.
There were a couple of large loudspeakers at each end of the room and the sound wasn't bad at all.
There was usually a young 'kibbutznik' (a kibbutz member) in charge of the place, who was also the DJ, and he played the records we'd request or what he felt like.
It wasn't disco music at all but... we'd dance to music by Led Zeppelin, Janice Joplin, Dire Straits, Bob Marley, and some others. I had never thought it was possible to dance to some of that music, especially Led Zeppelin but... I recall clearly that we'd all go nuts and danced like crazy when they played 'Black Dog' by Led Zeppelin...that was really something! (Music clip below).
We'd all bring down a few beers and danced and talked till late at night...we had Saturday off...
I was also introduced there to the unfamiliar concept of 'dancing by yourself'!
When I was a teenager in Mexico, prior to my trip, I was sold on the idea that in order to dance you'd need a girl to dance with, and if you didn't get a girl to dance with you were not to dance at all! You'd just sit or stand there watching others dance...
I even remember the embarrassing moments of asking girls to dance, only to be rejected by a mere "not now thank you" or "maybe later"...
Well, in my kibbutz I learned from my European friends, that if you heard a tune that resonated with you …you just got up and danced no matter what, and … everybody did exactly that!
So liberating and it felt so right! Then others would join you and, all of a sudden, there were a few more people dancing all over the place, jumping and making all kinds of unorthodox movements which they called dancing...
I'm sure I'd never seen that before in my life and at first, I thought....'Bunch of weirdos'! ...
But then, before I knew it, I was doing exactly the same and it felt so good... there goes the saying...
"Dance like nobody is watching..."
Every Friday night, was somehow different and we'd sometimes come out of the shelter to find my roommate Arthur, out there sitting on the grass, with some people singing along to the tunes he was playing on his guitar (he wasn't much of a dancer)…so, we'd go along and join them and start singing with them, or in my case 'sort of singing', as I barely knew any song, let alone the lyrics!
Things were changing in me...
I was beginning to understand that paradigms can be broken...like the one of 'not being able to dance without a girl'....
Breaking that paradigm meant much more than just that...
I was beginning to understand that there was a different world out there...outside of the social system I grew up in...and that there would be a lot of paradigms that were about to be broken in my life's journey...
I was beginning to realize that this adventure was much more than just a trip...
It was the beginning of an entire journey that was to transform my entire life...and, I understood that many more unplanned experiences were just ahead...
While I was in Israel, I did not only stay in my kibbutz, I also visited some unreal and beautiful historical places...more about this on my next story...
In the meantime...
Play the "black dog" song below and...
"Dance like nobody is watching"!
ELEVEN
11. The Holy Land
Walking on Holy Land...Jerusalem
While I was living in my Kibbutz, I was given a few days off after each month, it was part of the deal so that all volunteers could get a chance to travel a bit and explore the country and all its magical historical places...
So, at the first chance I had I took a bus to the historical city of Jerusalem...one of the oldest cities in the world (3500 BC). It is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
There is something highly captivating and mysterious about this place that is hard to describe...
I'm obviously talking about the 'Old city'...which is by now completely surrounded by a modern city...
As soon as I arrived there, I was in awe...
It is truly breathtaking...and as you approach the gate you get a sense that you are about to step into the past, nearly like in a 'time tunnel' episode...and, all of a sudden, you are transported into thousands of years back!...
I walked in slowly through the 'Damascus Gate' (Shechem Gate) at the north side of the city...taking my time, breathing it all in... letting all my senses realise I was walking on 'Holy Land'...
The streets in the old city are quite narrow and in the market area, the walls are cluttered, left and right, from wall to wall, with goods, merchants and shops of all kinds of stuff...
Many of them, inevitably, are meant for the tourists with all kinds of souvenirs, but once you get past that you see all the local merchants with goods, produce and foods that the locals buy...and right within that area I found a small 'guest house' where I could spend the night, not exactly a youth hostel, but it was similar in price …probably about $5 for the night...
The fact that it was right in the 'old city', it was much more than a place to crash in, I was in fact, about to spend a night in the 'holiest of holiest cities' for many Jews, Christians and Muslims alike...
The sounds and noises from within the city were not of cars or any other motorised vehicle, it was only from the chatter of the vendors and the shoppers and of people carting things in and out of the old city...
After I got there, I got myself settled and started wandering around the streets, looking at all the things they sell and started interacting with some of the local vendors who have a very loud and voiceful way of marketing their goods.
"Shalom Shalom," they said..."Come in, have a look inside" in a commanding voice, loudly and quite shamelessly, some looked at me and said things like..."You! where are you from? " What you want? Want to get a nice souvenir?"...I'd keep walking ignoring them...
You may even interpret that as being rude or impolite or something like that at first, but after a while, you realise that...that's the way they are...
Then another one asked again loudly "Where are you from?!"… Mexico, I gave in...
"Oh...Mexico!" He said, "I have a friend who lives there, come in, I'll give you good price my friend!"
I was looking at a beautiful "Passport holder bag", one that you could hang around your neck and wear it inside your t-shirt when you wanted to keep it out of sight... and he said...
"Look, this one is beautiful, give you a good price...10 shekel!"
What?!
I said, thinking it was too much...I said no, thank you...then he said, "ok, ok, give me 8 shekel and we got a deal" …no, thank you I said again... then he said, "What are you doing to me? I have a family to feed, you know? ok, ok, only because you are my friend, I'll let you have it for 5 shekel, deal?"...Deal! I said, and promptly he took my 5 shekel note and smiled, we shook hands, and he said..."thank you my friend" putting the item in a plastic bag for me...and I left feeling pleased with my first purchase...
I had just bought myself my first piece of merchandise in one of the oldest cities in the world!...
I was quite excited about the whole experience...it was more than just about buying the bag, it was about having haggled with one of the merchants and having connected with someone within those walls, just like you would have thousands of years back...
Soon after that, I found a small place to grab something to eat, an Arab/Palestinian looking fellow had a little stand that sold 'falafel' and I went to get myself one of those...they looked so delicious...
I watched him patiently and curiously while he prepared it...
He opened up the fresh pita bread, the nicest pita bread I've ever had, and he put some hummus in it and 3 large falafel balls, then he added a bit of salad, some tahini sauce and he asked..."You like spicy?"...Yup a bit, not too much, I said...He nodded and added some kind of spicy salsa... and he said, "2 shekel", no haggling there...
I paid and grabbed a bite of that falafel.... wow...it was out of this world!
The following day I had a wander around the 'old city' and went to the holiest spots for each religion...
I went to the 'Dome of the Rock' (Islam) and onto the 'Western wall/Wailing wall' (Judaism) and went to the 'Holy Sepulchre' church, walked through the 'Via Dolorosa' (Christianity), and then just outside the gates I went up to the 'Mount of Olives', where you can also have a magnificent view of the 'Old City of Jerusalem'.
The site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is identified as the place of both, the crucifixion, and the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth.
That day I gathered a lot of information about all the sites, and quite frankly, I'd never looked into any of those religions too deeply and...I ended up with more questions than answers...
Nonetheless, it was without a doubt, an unforgettable and unique experience that you could never have anywhere else in the world... All 3 main religious sites sitting within the walls of this magnificent old city, a small and divided city, which sits in just under 1 square kilometre...
Jerusalem has been one of the most controversial and fought over places on earth for thousands of years...
What will its future be? Who knows...
Whatever it may be...
It'll never lose its strong religious roots and unmatched mystical charm and magic...
Shalom, Jerusalem!
While I was living in my Kibbutz, I was given a few days off after each month, it was part of the deal so that all volunteers could get a chance to travel a bit and explore the country and all its magical historical places...
So, at the first chance I had I took a bus to the historical city of Jerusalem...one of the oldest cities in the world (3500 BC). It is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
There is something highly captivating and mysterious about this place that is hard to describe...
I'm obviously talking about the 'Old city'...which is by now completely surrounded by a modern city...
As soon as I arrived there, I was in awe...
It is truly breathtaking...and as you approach the gate you get a sense that you are about to step into the past, nearly like in a 'time tunnel' episode...and, all of a sudden, you are transported into thousands of years back!...
I walked in slowly through the 'Damascus Gate' (Shechem Gate) at the north side of the city...taking my time, breathing it all in... letting all my senses realise I was walking on 'Holy Land'...
The streets in the old city are quite narrow and in the market area, the walls are cluttered, left and right, from wall to wall, with goods, merchants and shops of all kinds of stuff...
Many of them, inevitably, are meant for the tourists with all kinds of souvenirs, but once you get past that you see all the local merchants with goods, produce and foods that the locals buy...and right within that area I found a small 'guest house' where I could spend the night, not exactly a youth hostel, but it was similar in price …probably about $5 for the night...
The fact that it was right in the 'old city', it was much more than a place to crash in, I was in fact, about to spend a night in the 'holiest of holiest cities' for many Jews, Christians and Muslims alike...
The sounds and noises from within the city were not of cars or any other motorised vehicle, it was only from the chatter of the vendors and the shoppers and of people carting things in and out of the old city...
After I got there, I got myself settled and started wandering around the streets, looking at all the things they sell and started interacting with some of the local vendors who have a very loud and voiceful way of marketing their goods.
"Shalom Shalom," they said..."Come in, have a look inside" in a commanding voice, loudly and quite shamelessly, some looked at me and said things like..."You! where are you from? " What you want? Want to get a nice souvenir?"...I'd keep walking ignoring them...
You may even interpret that as being rude or impolite or something like that at first, but after a while, you realise that...that's the way they are...
Then another one asked again loudly "Where are you from?!"… Mexico, I gave in...
"Oh...Mexico!" He said, "I have a friend who lives there, come in, I'll give you good price my friend!"
I was looking at a beautiful "Passport holder bag", one that you could hang around your neck and wear it inside your t-shirt when you wanted to keep it out of sight... and he said...
"Look, this one is beautiful, give you a good price...10 shekel!"
What?!
I said, thinking it was too much...I said no, thank you...then he said, "ok, ok, give me 8 shekel and we got a deal" …no, thank you I said again... then he said, "What are you doing to me? I have a family to feed, you know? ok, ok, only because you are my friend, I'll let you have it for 5 shekel, deal?"...Deal! I said, and promptly he took my 5 shekel note and smiled, we shook hands, and he said..."thank you my friend" putting the item in a plastic bag for me...and I left feeling pleased with my first purchase...
I had just bought myself my first piece of merchandise in one of the oldest cities in the world!...
I was quite excited about the whole experience...it was more than just about buying the bag, it was about having haggled with one of the merchants and having connected with someone within those walls, just like you would have thousands of years back...
Soon after that, I found a small place to grab something to eat, an Arab/Palestinian looking fellow had a little stand that sold 'falafel' and I went to get myself one of those...they looked so delicious...
I watched him patiently and curiously while he prepared it...
He opened up the fresh pita bread, the nicest pita bread I've ever had, and he put some hummus in it and 3 large falafel balls, then he added a bit of salad, some tahini sauce and he asked..."You like spicy?"...Yup a bit, not too much, I said...He nodded and added some kind of spicy salsa... and he said, "2 shekel", no haggling there...
I paid and grabbed a bite of that falafel.... wow...it was out of this world!
The following day I had a wander around the 'old city' and went to the holiest spots for each religion...
I went to the 'Dome of the Rock' (Islam) and onto the 'Western wall/Wailing wall' (Judaism) and went to the 'Holy Sepulchre' church, walked through the 'Via Dolorosa' (Christianity), and then just outside the gates I went up to the 'Mount of Olives', where you can also have a magnificent view of the 'Old City of Jerusalem'.
The site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is identified as the place of both, the crucifixion, and the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth.
That day I gathered a lot of information about all the sites, and quite frankly, I'd never looked into any of those religions too deeply and...I ended up with more questions than answers...
Nonetheless, it was without a doubt, an unforgettable and unique experience that you could never have anywhere else in the world... All 3 main religious sites sitting within the walls of this magnificent old city, a small and divided city, which sits in just under 1 square kilometre...
Jerusalem has been one of the most controversial and fought over places on earth for thousands of years...
What will its future be? Who knows...
Whatever it may be...
It'll never lose its strong religious roots and unmatched mystical charm and magic...
Shalom, Jerusalem!
TWELVE
12. Egypt - Sinai, Cairo, Aswan
My trip to Egypt by road...
An unbelievable and nearly deadly experience...
One of those things that you 'must do' if you are in the Middle East is to visit Egypt, and while I was living in my Kibbutz in Israel, I was able to take a few days off to head over to Egypt.
One of the good things about that was that I could leave most of my gear in my room and travel light!
Well, this trip was, in just about every way, quite unique and unpredictable...
As usual, for this trip, I was following other people's tips and guidance from a 'Let's Go Egypt' book...
To begin with, after arriving in Tel-Aviv I got on a bus with a friend of mine from Mexico and we headed towards Gaza...
Yes, in those days the Gaza Strip was part of Israel, it was actually a gained/occupied territory after the '6-day war' of 1967.
(Israel captured and occupied the Golan Heights, the West Bank (incl. East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula) ...
I was oblivious to all this history, as I had never read anything about it and back then there was no internet or google to look up information fast...
After we got there, we had to locate the place where we could catch a 'Collective TAXI' to take us to the Suez Canal...
There were a few 'modified like a limo' Mercedes Benz taxis, all lined up at the sort of 'taxi terminal'.
Each one could carry up to 10 budget-travelers, primarily backpackers, to the Suez Canal.
We were all packed in like sardines...
2 people could travel in the front seat next to the driver and there were 2 rows of seats, more like benches at the back which could fit 4 passengers in each one, it was a bit of a squeeze, but we fitted in just fine...
All our backpacks were sitting on the roof-rack and were tied up with some kind of bungy rope, they seemed quite secure up there.
Anyway, after paying our fees we got on our way, not quite sure exactly how many hours it took to get to the Suez Canal, but I guess it was roughly 4 to 5 hours...
The drive was pretty much through a well-built road with the desert on both sides!!
There was nothing by the road apart from sand dunes and a few rock formations. So, it was definitely not an intriguing view, maybe at first we were like...."wow... check out this road".... but after an hour of the same, most of us were sleeping...
The driver had his Arab music blaring on the radio, and he seemed to know his way around...
As soon as we got to the Suez Canal, we saw a few people gathered by a Ferry terminal...so we went there and got our tickets to get across, it was a quick ride...
Now, I must mention that up until that point we were travelling on Israeli territory, still in Asia, and by crossing the Canal we were entering Egypt and... Africa!
(I was stepping onto another continent...so, thus far on this trip, I had just walked on Europe, Asia, and Africa! I even did a bit of a dance after crossing, I couldn't believe where I was!)
Note: This backpackers' road trip, through this road, does not exist anymore, as The Gaza Strip and the Sinai have now been returned to the Palestinians and Egypt. (The Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1982 and The Gaza Strip to Palestine in 2005)
After crossing the Canal, we went through 'border control' and then...guess what?
We had to take a similar 'Collective TAXI' ride into Cairo, which only took a couple of hours...not too bad...
I had no idea what to expect of Cairo, all I could imagine was an ancient city, like from the pharaohs time, like Tutankhamun, with majestic temples, pyramids and the Nile, the largest river in Africa and, to some, the largest in the world, I guess I was being a bit naïve, but I am sure that what I saw right from our arrival was completely beyond my imagination...
It was like a slap on the face...
After the tranquility of the desert and the Suez Canal to a massive metropolis full of people (20+ million), There were cars everywhere and the noise was coming at us like... how to describe this... It was like waking up, after a peaceful sound sleep, in the middle of the night in the middle of a nightclub where everybody was moving frantically, dancing, jumping, talking, yelling and... and, for no apparent reason...they were blowing their car horns non-stop...
It was like stepping out of a peaceful dream and rushing into a nightmare … I'd say...
This reminded me somehow of my beloved Mexico City, which is also a bustling gigantic metropolis, and made me think of the unaware tourists when they arrive in Mexico City not knowing what to expect and how they too...must get a slap on the face at first sight...
The traffic in Cairo was twice as bad as in Mexico City, in my opinion, I even began thinking how well organised the traffic was in my hometown, in comparison...at least back in 1981...
Anyhow, after seeing this, I truly just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and travel south down to Aswan...
However, we had to do the 'MUST DO' in Cairo first, and that was to pay a visit to the remarkable 'Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx'...which date back to the 26th century BC...
I didn't know what to expect...but somehow, I had envisioned the Pyramids to be sitting in the middle of the desert...out there looking like an unworldly mystical sight...just as you see them in the pictures or postcards or history books...
No one warns you about the actual reality and that you could be in for a true and sad disappointment...
Don't get me wrong...The monuments are, just as you have pictured them and as remarkable and captivating as you imagine them to be...
It is the location of this site that has a bit of a cringe factor...
The day we arrived we got a room in a budget guest house/hotel, we spent the night there and we got ready to go to the pyramids, nice and early in the morning...
We asked the hotel staff how to get there... I truly was expecting it'd be like an hour or 2 out of the city on a special 'tour bus'...
But they said, "Take the 'local bus 355' from downtown and you'll be there in 25-40 minutes depending on the traffic"...cool I said, that's a bit odd I thought, but it was going to be a quick and inexpensive ride for sure...
Well, it did take us over an hour but not because of the distance, it is only about 25 km from the city... but we primarily sat on traffic for quite some time...
It was a plain local bus, overcrowded and we were standing most of the way, the bus made a lot of stops, just like any other local bus would, picking up and dropping off people along the way through the busy city streets...we stayed close to the driver and asked him to let us know when to get off....and then after a long and tedious ride... all of a sudden...he said... "There they are! You get off here"...
He was pointing at …'The Pyramids!'
What?! It can't be, I thought...
I hunched over to see through the bus window and... he was right!
There they were, right there across the road!
We got off the bus and walked across...
We walked up a pretty busy street, there were people everywhere, tourists and merchants alike and several vendors started approaching us... "Want to get a guided tour? Want to get a camel ride? Where are you from?"
We kept walking towards the entrance...
I remember seeing a couple of kids playing 'pretend football' (soccer) with a Coke can (instead of a ball) right there on the street as we were walking up to the majestic Giza Pyramids...
I wasn't sure what to make of this initial experience thus far... All I knew was that it wasn't what I had imagined...
We paid our entrance fee and walked in towards the pyramids...they are absolutely breathtaking, and one cannot help but be in awe...
I remember just standing there looking at these majestic man-made structures...and just like everyone else, I started wondering...How did they build them?...
I think there are many theories about their construction, but I think there's still some mystery around them...
I wish I'd had a smartphone back then, I would've taken a thousand pictures of that place, unfortunately, they didn't exist. I had in my hand a practical 110mm Kodak camera, and with a small budget I didn't want to risk taking too many pictures, and whatever few pictures I took there came out blurry and they are not that great, a bit sad but no problem...
Regardless of that, those images will remain in my mind for the rest of my life...
We even got on a camel and had a wee walk around and got our picture...a classic tourist moment...
We also went inside one of the pyramids, though exciting as it may sound it isn't really, as you need to go into a narrow tunnel to get into the tomb, once we were in the big tomb chamber we were able to stretch and look around...all that was on the walls was graffiti from previous visitors, I couldn't believe my eyes... there was nothing else historical inside or on the walls... 'sigh' …
What?! Yup...never mind...
I climbed out of that place and revelled for a moment in the minor thrill of being in a king’s giant tomb.
After that unsavoury experience inside the tomb, we went to check out the Sphinx, which was getting some restoration work done and was in some parts covered by scaffolding...nonetheless a quite impressive gigantic sculpture/monument.
We wrapped up our day in Giza and headed back to our hotel and got ready to travel down to Aswan...
We spent the next day in Cairo and went to the national museum for the day and then decided to take an overnight train, as it is a 12-hour ride to Aswan, so we figured it'd be a night's accommodation taken care of...
We got on our 2nd class car and sat in a long seat/bench for about 3-4 people...
We sat next to a couple of Egyptians, who after a while on the train took out some cheese, it looked like feta cheese, which was wrapped in newspaper... they had some Arab flatbread with them and started eating... and immediately they offered us some of their food, they said "take take" with a big smile on their faces, and we certainly did, we were quite hungry by then, somehow we started a conversation and they started teaching us how to count in Arabic, this went on for hours and it was quite a fantastic experience...
That experience right there made our entire trip worthwhile! …
I don't remember exactly when, but we must've fallen asleep at some stage...
I woke up just before arriving at Aswan and it was a magnificent sight....
On one side of the railway, it was the desert and on the other side it was lush green pastures... we could see this contrast just as the train was dashing towards Aswan...all the greenery was simply lining the amazing Nile River...which was glowing in a bright blue colour...
After getting there, we got settled in a guest house and had something to eat at the markets...then we headed towards the waterfront to get on a felucca to go over to the other side of the river to see some of the sights there, it was without a doubt a fantastic experience crossing the river at a slow pace on that wonderful felucca for just a few dollars...
The old fellow that was sailing it was quite friendly and slightly toothless...which showed only when he smiled...
Being on that felucca over the Nile River was also a true highlight of that trip...It was an...'I can't believe I'm here moment'...
We returned to the guest house at the end of the day, and we were going to plan the rest of our visit there and then go up to Luxor, however, my Mexican friend started experiencing a tremendous rash all over his body and was feverish, and he started feeling quite ill...
So, we decided to cut our trip short and head back to Israel pronto!
We simply backtracked the same way we got there, I don't even remember the train ride or anything else, we just wanted to get back 'home' to our respective Kibbutz, as we had medical cover by the kibbutz organization insurance, and they would be able to help my friend right away...
One thing I do remember though is that after crossing back through the Suez Canal we got on another 'Collective TAXI' and we headed back towards the Gaza Strip...and this was a bit of a terrifying experience...
The desert road was practically empty, and I was unaware that there had been a sandstorm the day before...
The driver was speeding and had his Arab music going real loud, most of the passengers were sleeping and I just happened to wake up halfway to Gaza and I was admiring the amazing sand dunes until I saw that some of them were covering most of the road and the driver would need to drive through the bit of road that wasn't covered, he was not slowing down, he just kept on speeding, and then as we were heading towards another dune I was watching it with some fear, as we could not see if there were any other cars coming towards us and then... it happened!
A car appeared out of nowhere from the other side, driving over the same bit of road we were on and we nearly collided head-on, they both swerved fortunately in opposite directions and both cars ended up in the sand on top of a dune!!
We must've missed each other by a few inches but I was sure, for a second, that that was going to be it...
Fortunately, no one was injured, and some didn't even realise what had happened as they were sleeping...
The driver laughed it off and we helped him get the car back on the road...
I must add that those taxis had no safety standards whatsoever, no seat belts or anything else...
WOW, what a real near-miss head-on collision...
That might've been the end of my adventure and probably my life as well, right there in the middle of the Sinai desert and no one around...
After that incident, I don't think anybody slept any longer...
Back in Tel-Aviv, we took a bus back to our respective Kibbutz... and fortunately, they were able to look after my friend and he recovered after a few days...he had contracted some infection when working on the 'date trees' in his Kibbutz but the symptoms, the rash, the high temperature and all that, didn't show until a few days later...
Well, that was an adventure and a half...
One day I shall return to Egypt and finalise my trip there, so much to see and learn...
Shukran, Egypt...
It was, indeed, an unforgettable experience...
An unbelievable and nearly deadly experience...
One of those things that you 'must do' if you are in the Middle East is to visit Egypt, and while I was living in my Kibbutz in Israel, I was able to take a few days off to head over to Egypt.
One of the good things about that was that I could leave most of my gear in my room and travel light!
Well, this trip was, in just about every way, quite unique and unpredictable...
As usual, for this trip, I was following other people's tips and guidance from a 'Let's Go Egypt' book...
To begin with, after arriving in Tel-Aviv I got on a bus with a friend of mine from Mexico and we headed towards Gaza...
Yes, in those days the Gaza Strip was part of Israel, it was actually a gained/occupied territory after the '6-day war' of 1967.
(Israel captured and occupied the Golan Heights, the West Bank (incl. East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula) ...
I was oblivious to all this history, as I had never read anything about it and back then there was no internet or google to look up information fast...
After we got there, we had to locate the place where we could catch a 'Collective TAXI' to take us to the Suez Canal...
There were a few 'modified like a limo' Mercedes Benz taxis, all lined up at the sort of 'taxi terminal'.
Each one could carry up to 10 budget-travelers, primarily backpackers, to the Suez Canal.
We were all packed in like sardines...
2 people could travel in the front seat next to the driver and there were 2 rows of seats, more like benches at the back which could fit 4 passengers in each one, it was a bit of a squeeze, but we fitted in just fine...
All our backpacks were sitting on the roof-rack and were tied up with some kind of bungy rope, they seemed quite secure up there.
Anyway, after paying our fees we got on our way, not quite sure exactly how many hours it took to get to the Suez Canal, but I guess it was roughly 4 to 5 hours...
The drive was pretty much through a well-built road with the desert on both sides!!
There was nothing by the road apart from sand dunes and a few rock formations. So, it was definitely not an intriguing view, maybe at first we were like...."wow... check out this road".... but after an hour of the same, most of us were sleeping...
The driver had his Arab music blaring on the radio, and he seemed to know his way around...
As soon as we got to the Suez Canal, we saw a few people gathered by a Ferry terminal...so we went there and got our tickets to get across, it was a quick ride...
Now, I must mention that up until that point we were travelling on Israeli territory, still in Asia, and by crossing the Canal we were entering Egypt and... Africa!
(I was stepping onto another continent...so, thus far on this trip, I had just walked on Europe, Asia, and Africa! I even did a bit of a dance after crossing, I couldn't believe where I was!)
Note: This backpackers' road trip, through this road, does not exist anymore, as The Gaza Strip and the Sinai have now been returned to the Palestinians and Egypt. (The Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1982 and The Gaza Strip to Palestine in 2005)
After crossing the Canal, we went through 'border control' and then...guess what?
We had to take a similar 'Collective TAXI' ride into Cairo, which only took a couple of hours...not too bad...
I had no idea what to expect of Cairo, all I could imagine was an ancient city, like from the pharaohs time, like Tutankhamun, with majestic temples, pyramids and the Nile, the largest river in Africa and, to some, the largest in the world, I guess I was being a bit naïve, but I am sure that what I saw right from our arrival was completely beyond my imagination...
It was like a slap on the face...
After the tranquility of the desert and the Suez Canal to a massive metropolis full of people (20+ million), There were cars everywhere and the noise was coming at us like... how to describe this... It was like waking up, after a peaceful sound sleep, in the middle of the night in the middle of a nightclub where everybody was moving frantically, dancing, jumping, talking, yelling and... and, for no apparent reason...they were blowing their car horns non-stop...
It was like stepping out of a peaceful dream and rushing into a nightmare … I'd say...
This reminded me somehow of my beloved Mexico City, which is also a bustling gigantic metropolis, and made me think of the unaware tourists when they arrive in Mexico City not knowing what to expect and how they too...must get a slap on the face at first sight...
The traffic in Cairo was twice as bad as in Mexico City, in my opinion, I even began thinking how well organised the traffic was in my hometown, in comparison...at least back in 1981...
Anyhow, after seeing this, I truly just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and travel south down to Aswan...
However, we had to do the 'MUST DO' in Cairo first, and that was to pay a visit to the remarkable 'Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx'...which date back to the 26th century BC...
I didn't know what to expect...but somehow, I had envisioned the Pyramids to be sitting in the middle of the desert...out there looking like an unworldly mystical sight...just as you see them in the pictures or postcards or history books...
No one warns you about the actual reality and that you could be in for a true and sad disappointment...
Don't get me wrong...The monuments are, just as you have pictured them and as remarkable and captivating as you imagine them to be...
It is the location of this site that has a bit of a cringe factor...
The day we arrived we got a room in a budget guest house/hotel, we spent the night there and we got ready to go to the pyramids, nice and early in the morning...
We asked the hotel staff how to get there... I truly was expecting it'd be like an hour or 2 out of the city on a special 'tour bus'...
But they said, "Take the 'local bus 355' from downtown and you'll be there in 25-40 minutes depending on the traffic"...cool I said, that's a bit odd I thought, but it was going to be a quick and inexpensive ride for sure...
Well, it did take us over an hour but not because of the distance, it is only about 25 km from the city... but we primarily sat on traffic for quite some time...
It was a plain local bus, overcrowded and we were standing most of the way, the bus made a lot of stops, just like any other local bus would, picking up and dropping off people along the way through the busy city streets...we stayed close to the driver and asked him to let us know when to get off....and then after a long and tedious ride... all of a sudden...he said... "There they are! You get off here"...
He was pointing at …'The Pyramids!'
What?! It can't be, I thought...
I hunched over to see through the bus window and... he was right!
There they were, right there across the road!
We got off the bus and walked across...
We walked up a pretty busy street, there were people everywhere, tourists and merchants alike and several vendors started approaching us... "Want to get a guided tour? Want to get a camel ride? Where are you from?"
We kept walking towards the entrance...
I remember seeing a couple of kids playing 'pretend football' (soccer) with a Coke can (instead of a ball) right there on the street as we were walking up to the majestic Giza Pyramids...
I wasn't sure what to make of this initial experience thus far... All I knew was that it wasn't what I had imagined...
We paid our entrance fee and walked in towards the pyramids...they are absolutely breathtaking, and one cannot help but be in awe...
I remember just standing there looking at these majestic man-made structures...and just like everyone else, I started wondering...How did they build them?...
I think there are many theories about their construction, but I think there's still some mystery around them...
I wish I'd had a smartphone back then, I would've taken a thousand pictures of that place, unfortunately, they didn't exist. I had in my hand a practical 110mm Kodak camera, and with a small budget I didn't want to risk taking too many pictures, and whatever few pictures I took there came out blurry and they are not that great, a bit sad but no problem...
Regardless of that, those images will remain in my mind for the rest of my life...
We even got on a camel and had a wee walk around and got our picture...a classic tourist moment...
We also went inside one of the pyramids, though exciting as it may sound it isn't really, as you need to go into a narrow tunnel to get into the tomb, once we were in the big tomb chamber we were able to stretch and look around...all that was on the walls was graffiti from previous visitors, I couldn't believe my eyes... there was nothing else historical inside or on the walls... 'sigh' …
What?! Yup...never mind...
I climbed out of that place and revelled for a moment in the minor thrill of being in a king’s giant tomb.
After that unsavoury experience inside the tomb, we went to check out the Sphinx, which was getting some restoration work done and was in some parts covered by scaffolding...nonetheless a quite impressive gigantic sculpture/monument.
We wrapped up our day in Giza and headed back to our hotel and got ready to travel down to Aswan...
We spent the next day in Cairo and went to the national museum for the day and then decided to take an overnight train, as it is a 12-hour ride to Aswan, so we figured it'd be a night's accommodation taken care of...
We got on our 2nd class car and sat in a long seat/bench for about 3-4 people...
We sat next to a couple of Egyptians, who after a while on the train took out some cheese, it looked like feta cheese, which was wrapped in newspaper... they had some Arab flatbread with them and started eating... and immediately they offered us some of their food, they said "take take" with a big smile on their faces, and we certainly did, we were quite hungry by then, somehow we started a conversation and they started teaching us how to count in Arabic, this went on for hours and it was quite a fantastic experience...
That experience right there made our entire trip worthwhile! …
I don't remember exactly when, but we must've fallen asleep at some stage...
I woke up just before arriving at Aswan and it was a magnificent sight....
On one side of the railway, it was the desert and on the other side it was lush green pastures... we could see this contrast just as the train was dashing towards Aswan...all the greenery was simply lining the amazing Nile River...which was glowing in a bright blue colour...
After getting there, we got settled in a guest house and had something to eat at the markets...then we headed towards the waterfront to get on a felucca to go over to the other side of the river to see some of the sights there, it was without a doubt a fantastic experience crossing the river at a slow pace on that wonderful felucca for just a few dollars...
The old fellow that was sailing it was quite friendly and slightly toothless...which showed only when he smiled...
Being on that felucca over the Nile River was also a true highlight of that trip...It was an...'I can't believe I'm here moment'...
We returned to the guest house at the end of the day, and we were going to plan the rest of our visit there and then go up to Luxor, however, my Mexican friend started experiencing a tremendous rash all over his body and was feverish, and he started feeling quite ill...
So, we decided to cut our trip short and head back to Israel pronto!
We simply backtracked the same way we got there, I don't even remember the train ride or anything else, we just wanted to get back 'home' to our respective Kibbutz, as we had medical cover by the kibbutz organization insurance, and they would be able to help my friend right away...
One thing I do remember though is that after crossing back through the Suez Canal we got on another 'Collective TAXI' and we headed back towards the Gaza Strip...and this was a bit of a terrifying experience...
The desert road was practically empty, and I was unaware that there had been a sandstorm the day before...
The driver was speeding and had his Arab music going real loud, most of the passengers were sleeping and I just happened to wake up halfway to Gaza and I was admiring the amazing sand dunes until I saw that some of them were covering most of the road and the driver would need to drive through the bit of road that wasn't covered, he was not slowing down, he just kept on speeding, and then as we were heading towards another dune I was watching it with some fear, as we could not see if there were any other cars coming towards us and then... it happened!
A car appeared out of nowhere from the other side, driving over the same bit of road we were on and we nearly collided head-on, they both swerved fortunately in opposite directions and both cars ended up in the sand on top of a dune!!
We must've missed each other by a few inches but I was sure, for a second, that that was going to be it...
Fortunately, no one was injured, and some didn't even realise what had happened as they were sleeping...
The driver laughed it off and we helped him get the car back on the road...
I must add that those taxis had no safety standards whatsoever, no seat belts or anything else...
WOW, what a real near-miss head-on collision...
That might've been the end of my adventure and probably my life as well, right there in the middle of the Sinai desert and no one around...
After that incident, I don't think anybody slept any longer...
Back in Tel-Aviv, we took a bus back to our respective Kibbutz... and fortunately, they were able to look after my friend and he recovered after a few days...he had contracted some infection when working on the 'date trees' in his Kibbutz but the symptoms, the rash, the high temperature and all that, didn't show until a few days later...
Well, that was an adventure and a half...
One day I shall return to Egypt and finalise my trip there, so much to see and learn...
Shukran, Egypt...
It was, indeed, an unforgettable experience...
THIRTEEN
13. The Red Sea - Nuweibaa, Sinai
Camping by the Red Sea...
After returning from Egypt, I was left with one more month in Israel and in my Kibbutz...
So, it was time to do a few more things before heading north to Europe and the UK...
One thing I wanted to do was to visit the Red Sea...
I heard about a place called Nuweibaa (Neviot, Israel) …which at that time was still part of Israel in the Sinai, just a few kilometres south from Eilat...
From Tel-Aviv, I took a bus to Eilat, which is a highly touristic spot in the 'Gulf of Aqaba or Gulf of Eilat' in Israel so I didn't want to stay there at all, so as soon as I got to Eilat I took a bus to Nuweibaa.
That gulf is a very interesting spot, its coastline is divided among four countries: Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. You can literally stand on the beach and look at all four countries from that spot.
I heard about that place on the beach through a friend of mine at my kibbutz. He said he'd been there and that many backpackers went there to spend some time camping on the beach for free and that it was amazing!
He said..."All you need to bring is your sleeping bag and you can crash right on the beach for free".
So, I thought...that sounds like me!
Once again, I left most of my gear in the kibbutz and headed for the beach for 4 days, once again I had no idea what to expect...
and when I got there…he was right!
It was an amazing place and there were lots of backpackers from everywhere, most of them were also volunteers from different kibbutzim...
There was only a small shop run by a Kibbutz nearby and there seemed to be some 'public toilets'...
There were probably five palm trees and nothing else...
On one side of the beach, it was the Red Sea, and behind us on the beach the desert...
Temperatures there got really high, 40+ Degrees Celsius!
So... it was really really HOT!
I met some of the guys there and right away we hit it off. As soon as I was all set on a spot on the beach, I left my gear with some of the guys and went in for a dip in the beautiful warmish tranquil waters of this unusual place...
Later that day I headed over to the shop to buy a sandwich and a drink and other bits and pieces, that's mostly what I ate every day... then, when it was time to use the loo...so I went to the public toilets, and I walked in and...
OMG...are these the only loos? …
I asked some of the guys standing nearby... they said, "Yup"...
They were the 'squatting type' of loos, and they were as filthy as hell, it seemed like nobody had aimed right and there was simply no clean spot to even place your feet on!
So, from that moment onward I refrained from using the loo at all, and do any 'number ones' in the sea... fish do it there anyway...
Not sure how I managed to hold it in but...I did manage... (Mind over matter I guess)
However, I wasn't going to let that ruin my stay...
I spent most of my days going in and out of the water, swimming and snorkelling and sunbathing a lot...
Every night we sat by a bonfire under the stars and there was always someone playing a guitar... just like in one of those scenes you only see in movies...
There was a certain 'unreal peacefulness' about the whole place and floating in the air amongst the people there...absolutely magical...
I slept, like everyone else, in my sleeping bag alongside a bunch of them...it was quite a sight to see on the beach...
There were hundreds of people in their own sleeping bags, all in one line...one after the other like Dominos as if it was an organized thing, but it wasn't. I guess everyone was just doing what the others were doing...
Every night I'd put all my belongings inside my sleeping bag while sleeping and I was using my recently purchased 'Onitsuka Tiger Sneakers' as a pillow wrapped in a towel...
Unfortunately, on my last night there I must've moved away from my sneakers while sleeping and someone stole them!
Bugger! Not my new sneakers!
I had just bought them in Athens...never mind...
Well, now I was shoeless...and had to buy a pair of plastic sandals at the shop to have something to wear...
After those 4 days went by, I headed back home to my kibbutz...
I was really looking forward to being back 'home', having a good meal, and taking a shower, hadn't done that in 4 days, and.... going to the loo!!!
I remember clearly walking into my kibbutz and seeing some of my friends, they were asking me...
"How did it go?" Did you have a good time?
I kept walking fast and said...Yup, it was awesome, I said, I'll tell you all about it later, got to do something first...and I locked myself in the clean conventional loo for a wee while!
It is hard to believe that of all the things in the world all I wanted at that moment more than anything else was a clean loo...
(We do take clean toilets for granted, and from that trip onwards, I've always paid attention to the availability and cleanliness of public toilets everywhere I go and, here in New Zealand, they excel at it!)
When I told my friends about my adventure, some wanted to get out there camping too and most of them had a good laugh about my loo ordeal...others just felt sorry for me...
The next day I went back to work in the chicken-house with Julio...my Argentinian boss...
He was so happy to see me and so was I...
He and his wife Fanny were good hard-working people and they treated me well...
I was quite aware that my days in my kibbutz were coming to an end and the time for me to carry on with my journey was approaching fast...I somehow didn't want it to end...and deep inside I didn't really want to leave my kibbutz...
You've heard me refer to my kibbutz as 'Home' and it totally was...
It was my very first 'home away from home' and I had developed new friendships with people who didn't care about your background, social status, money, education, religious interests, or anything else...they simply took you in at 'face value'...and I reciprocated with the same respect towards everyone else...
My experience in my kibbutz was simply unimaginable and taught me more than the work skills I learned... It taught me how to value people and life in an entirely different way and it triggered an insatiable desire to continue living in such a world...
During my stay on my kibbutz, I forged some great friendships, and some of them I would go on to visit in their own towns after leaving...
I also picked up a couple of new habits in my kibbutz, some good ones, and others not so much...
I started smoking cigarettes there, not sure if I did it because everyone else was doing so or because they were given to us for free in the kibbutz, as long as they were the 'Noblesse' brand (Israeli brand). we could get about 7 packs a week...
I also began drinking beer and wine on Friday nights after Shabbat dinner when we were partying in the bomb shelter and, the occasional beer during the week after work...
Not sure why either, again it may have been due to the people around me...and as they say...'when in Rome, do as the Romans do'...
I didn't use to do any of the above before I left Mexico... (I gave them up in Israel...6 years later)
A couple of the good habits that I picked up were reading and writing...
Yup, my first, non-school-textbook I ever read was in my kibbutz, and it was in English!
There was a wonderful library in my kibbutz, and we could go in and grab whatever books we wanted to read, and I got into it...primarily novels...
That was something that I would never do back in Mexico...and then...
I also started writing...
I started doing some journaling or keeping a diary (my journals are pictured below) ...
I started writing every day what had taken place each day and how I was feeling about things...
Reading through some of my diaries now I realise that I was also a constant writer of letters, to my parents and to some of my friends back home in Mexico... and some of them wrote back...
In those days there was no internet or anything like that, so one of those things that I used to look forward to, was getting a letter from anyone, especially from mum and dad...
Dad was always short of words but would write at the bottom of each long letter my mum would write, like a footnote, he'd write a couple of lines like "Glad all's going well, take good care, my son, Dad"... that was enough 'man to man talk'...I'd say... we never did quite have any long conversations... not a thing between us I guess...
I remember when someone would collect the mail for all volunteers and bring them to the dining room at dinnertime and call out to those who had got something... It was like waiting for your lottery number to be called out...I used to love hearing... Hector, you've got mail! or Hector, you got a letter!
Through those letters, I had deeper conversations with everyone...
I frankly don't think I'd ever communicated that much with my parents in particular...
Before I left Mexico, I guess I was just a teenage boy...communicating with them with short words and not saying or disclosing much...typical teenager I guess...
Somehow, the distance and taking the time to choose my words before writing gave me the courage to open up more and be more relaxed about it...
I was definitely growing up...
Towards my last days in my kibbutz, I promised a few people I'd go visit them, Arthur, my roommate from Holland, said... "Yeah, come and stay a while" and others said similar things... and I said, I'll be there...and I was.... (More on that on future stories) ...
It was definitely a very sad day when I left my kibbutz Neve-Eitan ...
However, just before leaving in my Kibbutz, I did say to my Kibbutznik friends (the Israeli members) and to my Argentinian boss, Julio
I'll be back...I promise... (Which I did 4 years later in 1985, more on that on future posts)
After leaving the kibbutz I headed back to Tel-Aviv to catch a plane back to Athens...and from there fly up to Holland and the UK, where my European adventure started...
Shalom Israel, L'hitraot לְהִתְרָאוֹת
I've learnt so much from you...
After returning from Egypt, I was left with one more month in Israel and in my Kibbutz...
So, it was time to do a few more things before heading north to Europe and the UK...
One thing I wanted to do was to visit the Red Sea...
I heard about a place called Nuweibaa (Neviot, Israel) …which at that time was still part of Israel in the Sinai, just a few kilometres south from Eilat...
From Tel-Aviv, I took a bus to Eilat, which is a highly touristic spot in the 'Gulf of Aqaba or Gulf of Eilat' in Israel so I didn't want to stay there at all, so as soon as I got to Eilat I took a bus to Nuweibaa.
That gulf is a very interesting spot, its coastline is divided among four countries: Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. You can literally stand on the beach and look at all four countries from that spot.
I heard about that place on the beach through a friend of mine at my kibbutz. He said he'd been there and that many backpackers went there to spend some time camping on the beach for free and that it was amazing!
He said..."All you need to bring is your sleeping bag and you can crash right on the beach for free".
So, I thought...that sounds like me!
Once again, I left most of my gear in the kibbutz and headed for the beach for 4 days, once again I had no idea what to expect...
and when I got there…he was right!
It was an amazing place and there were lots of backpackers from everywhere, most of them were also volunteers from different kibbutzim...
There was only a small shop run by a Kibbutz nearby and there seemed to be some 'public toilets'...
There were probably five palm trees and nothing else...
On one side of the beach, it was the Red Sea, and behind us on the beach the desert...
Temperatures there got really high, 40+ Degrees Celsius!
So... it was really really HOT!
I met some of the guys there and right away we hit it off. As soon as I was all set on a spot on the beach, I left my gear with some of the guys and went in for a dip in the beautiful warmish tranquil waters of this unusual place...
Later that day I headed over to the shop to buy a sandwich and a drink and other bits and pieces, that's mostly what I ate every day... then, when it was time to use the loo...so I went to the public toilets, and I walked in and...
OMG...are these the only loos? …
I asked some of the guys standing nearby... they said, "Yup"...
They were the 'squatting type' of loos, and they were as filthy as hell, it seemed like nobody had aimed right and there was simply no clean spot to even place your feet on!
So, from that moment onward I refrained from using the loo at all, and do any 'number ones' in the sea... fish do it there anyway...
Not sure how I managed to hold it in but...I did manage... (Mind over matter I guess)
However, I wasn't going to let that ruin my stay...
I spent most of my days going in and out of the water, swimming and snorkelling and sunbathing a lot...
Every night we sat by a bonfire under the stars and there was always someone playing a guitar... just like in one of those scenes you only see in movies...
There was a certain 'unreal peacefulness' about the whole place and floating in the air amongst the people there...absolutely magical...
I slept, like everyone else, in my sleeping bag alongside a bunch of them...it was quite a sight to see on the beach...
There were hundreds of people in their own sleeping bags, all in one line...one after the other like Dominos as if it was an organized thing, but it wasn't. I guess everyone was just doing what the others were doing...
Every night I'd put all my belongings inside my sleeping bag while sleeping and I was using my recently purchased 'Onitsuka Tiger Sneakers' as a pillow wrapped in a towel...
Unfortunately, on my last night there I must've moved away from my sneakers while sleeping and someone stole them!
Bugger! Not my new sneakers!
I had just bought them in Athens...never mind...
Well, now I was shoeless...and had to buy a pair of plastic sandals at the shop to have something to wear...
After those 4 days went by, I headed back home to my kibbutz...
I was really looking forward to being back 'home', having a good meal, and taking a shower, hadn't done that in 4 days, and.... going to the loo!!!
I remember clearly walking into my kibbutz and seeing some of my friends, they were asking me...
"How did it go?" Did you have a good time?
I kept walking fast and said...Yup, it was awesome, I said, I'll tell you all about it later, got to do something first...and I locked myself in the clean conventional loo for a wee while!
It is hard to believe that of all the things in the world all I wanted at that moment more than anything else was a clean loo...
(We do take clean toilets for granted, and from that trip onwards, I've always paid attention to the availability and cleanliness of public toilets everywhere I go and, here in New Zealand, they excel at it!)
When I told my friends about my adventure, some wanted to get out there camping too and most of them had a good laugh about my loo ordeal...others just felt sorry for me...
The next day I went back to work in the chicken-house with Julio...my Argentinian boss...
He was so happy to see me and so was I...
He and his wife Fanny were good hard-working people and they treated me well...
I was quite aware that my days in my kibbutz were coming to an end and the time for me to carry on with my journey was approaching fast...I somehow didn't want it to end...and deep inside I didn't really want to leave my kibbutz...
You've heard me refer to my kibbutz as 'Home' and it totally was...
It was my very first 'home away from home' and I had developed new friendships with people who didn't care about your background, social status, money, education, religious interests, or anything else...they simply took you in at 'face value'...and I reciprocated with the same respect towards everyone else...
My experience in my kibbutz was simply unimaginable and taught me more than the work skills I learned... It taught me how to value people and life in an entirely different way and it triggered an insatiable desire to continue living in such a world...
During my stay on my kibbutz, I forged some great friendships, and some of them I would go on to visit in their own towns after leaving...
I also picked up a couple of new habits in my kibbutz, some good ones, and others not so much...
I started smoking cigarettes there, not sure if I did it because everyone else was doing so or because they were given to us for free in the kibbutz, as long as they were the 'Noblesse' brand (Israeli brand). we could get about 7 packs a week...
I also began drinking beer and wine on Friday nights after Shabbat dinner when we were partying in the bomb shelter and, the occasional beer during the week after work...
Not sure why either, again it may have been due to the people around me...and as they say...'when in Rome, do as the Romans do'...
I didn't use to do any of the above before I left Mexico... (I gave them up in Israel...6 years later)
A couple of the good habits that I picked up were reading and writing...
Yup, my first, non-school-textbook I ever read was in my kibbutz, and it was in English!
There was a wonderful library in my kibbutz, and we could go in and grab whatever books we wanted to read, and I got into it...primarily novels...
That was something that I would never do back in Mexico...and then...
I also started writing...
I started doing some journaling or keeping a diary (my journals are pictured below) ...
I started writing every day what had taken place each day and how I was feeling about things...
Reading through some of my diaries now I realise that I was also a constant writer of letters, to my parents and to some of my friends back home in Mexico... and some of them wrote back...
In those days there was no internet or anything like that, so one of those things that I used to look forward to, was getting a letter from anyone, especially from mum and dad...
Dad was always short of words but would write at the bottom of each long letter my mum would write, like a footnote, he'd write a couple of lines like "Glad all's going well, take good care, my son, Dad"... that was enough 'man to man talk'...I'd say... we never did quite have any long conversations... not a thing between us I guess...
I remember when someone would collect the mail for all volunteers and bring them to the dining room at dinnertime and call out to those who had got something... It was like waiting for your lottery number to be called out...I used to love hearing... Hector, you've got mail! or Hector, you got a letter!
Through those letters, I had deeper conversations with everyone...
I frankly don't think I'd ever communicated that much with my parents in particular...
Before I left Mexico, I guess I was just a teenage boy...communicating with them with short words and not saying or disclosing much...typical teenager I guess...
Somehow, the distance and taking the time to choose my words before writing gave me the courage to open up more and be more relaxed about it...
I was definitely growing up...
Towards my last days in my kibbutz, I promised a few people I'd go visit them, Arthur, my roommate from Holland, said... "Yeah, come and stay a while" and others said similar things... and I said, I'll be there...and I was.... (More on that on future stories) ...
It was definitely a very sad day when I left my kibbutz Neve-Eitan ...
However, just before leaving in my Kibbutz, I did say to my Kibbutznik friends (the Israeli members) and to my Argentinian boss, Julio
I'll be back...I promise... (Which I did 4 years later in 1985, more on that on future posts)
After leaving the kibbutz I headed back to Tel-Aviv to catch a plane back to Athens...and from there fly up to Holland and the UK, where my European adventure started...
Shalom Israel, L'hitraot לְהִתְרָאוֹת
I've learnt so much from you...
FOURTEEN
14. Amsterdam - The Netherlands
Hello Amsterdam!...
After spending around 4 months in Israel and a few days in Egypt I headed back to Europe...
First, I had to make a quick 2 day stop in Athens as I had a return ticket from Israel...
I didn't do much in Athens this time, I was just there to find my way north and I heard there were great deals on airfares to Amsterdam, so I went looking for one... in those days you couldn't shop around on the internet...you had to physically walk into several travel agents to get different quotes...and eventually I got a good one!
After 2 days in the same Athens hostel where I stayed my first time, I was ready to fly north...
We landed in the famous Schiphol Airport, which was exciting in itself as I wanted to see that Airport which has a famous taxiway for planes that cross over the highway over the cars passing by!
I remember seeing a poster of that before I left Mexico and I wanted to see it with my own eyes...
I thought I was going to be questioned again for a while at passport control as I was in London, but the Dutch were friendlier and gave me no trouble on arrival...
I headed towards the city centre by train...and what a train!
I was so impressed by the beautiful yellow trains in the Netherlands.
This was actually the very first European train I'd ever been on...so cool.
It was just a quick 15–20-minute ride to the 'Central Station' in Amsterdam and the YHA Youth Hostel was a fairly short walk from there.
That Youth Hostel was the perfect location...
It was within walking distance of the 3 major sites that I wanted to visit: The Rijksmuseum (The National Museum), the Van Gogh Museum and the Heineken original brewery in Amsterdam's city centre.
Amsterdam is a beautiful city and I fell in love with it from the moment I set foot on it...
It is an extremely charming and picturesque city and there is something about it and you just can't help but fall in love with it...
Maybe it is its old narrow houses or its canals or the 'pedestrians only' streets or its trams or its amazing cycle-paths or the flower vendors at every train station...
It is hard to pinpoint what makes Amsterdam one of the most likeable cities in the world...
Here are a few things that stood out for me from this wonderful city...
1- Its charming houses...Absolutely adorable...it is like a toy city...
2- Everyone's on bicycles! ...Yes, rain or shine they get on their bikes to go places. I saw hundreds of people travelling by bicycle, umbrellas in hand, if need be, and kids in a child-seat at the back or front of their bikes and only riding on their 'purpose built' cycle-paths and with no helmets!
They signal with their hands if they are going to turn, and they stop at their own tiny 'bike traffic lights'...very orderly...
I had never seen anything like that in my life!
Note: They actually built the 'cycle-path' infrastructure back in the early 70s if I'm not mistaken, due to their transport situation at that time... (something that just recently Auckland City, and other cities around NZ have been working on, probably there hasn't been a real need for that in NZ as it was in the 70s in the Netherlands...) Currently, there are more bikes in the Netherlands than people!
3- Their electric trams... They are just what one needs to move you around the city (if you don't have a bike) ...
What?... They are not free?...
For a couple of days, I thought they were free as you can get on board through any of their 4 doors and no one ever charged me until I realised I should've bought a ticket at the ticket station or newsstand and put it in the machine at the door, I honestly had no idea, the system relies on people's honesty to buy their tickets and there may be an occasional inspector that may get on to check, but never saw one...
4- Dutch Fries...There's something about their potato chips (Friet/Patat) … so delicious, and they eat them primarily with mayonnaise!
5- The beautiful canals...I didn't know about the existence of so many canals in any city apart from Venice, Amsterdam has approx. 160 canals covering 100km. No matter where you are walking around the city you are bound to walk by or over some of the 1,500 bridges!
6- Heineken Beer... Amsterdam is the home of the Dutch most famous beer, although there are many other brands. I was lucky to be able to visit the original brewery in Amsterdam when it was still operating as a brewery, it is now only a tourist attraction. I was able to learn about the entire brewing process and then have a beer right there and, of course, buy myself a classic 'Heineken beer t-shirt'...
(Want to learn more about Heineken beer? visit their website here: https://www.heineken.com/global/en/home
7- The Rijksmuseum... The National Museum in Amsterdam was the very first museum I visited in Europe.
Absolutely amazing! I was blown away by Rembrandt's paintings and had the chance to look closely at the famous 'Night Watch' (pictured below)...
You can learn more about this extraordinary painting in an amazing online show right now, view the 'Night Watch' Experience here: https://beleefdenachtwacht.nl/en )
8- The Van Gogh museum... Wow, his artwork is highly renown around the world for many reasons and you simply can't help but be amazed by his works...
(Learn more about Vincent Van Gogh here: https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/art-and-stories/art/vincent-van-gogh )
Frankly speaking, I had never been that interested in artistic paintings or works of art of any form before I left Mexico. I may have liked and been into music to some degree and I may have taken the "Arts workshop" in high school where I drew with pencils and charcoal and painted a couple of pastels and an oil painting...but never really was into it, per se...
I truly wished I had read or learnt something about Rembrandt and his paintings before walking in at the Rijksmuseum and, the same goes for the Van Gogh Museum... I felt a little bit lost during my visit...
TIP: Do take the time to learn more about them through the above links, I wished I'd known all that about them then...
I truly had no idea how to behave inside a museum...
I was simply looking at the paintings and walking around slowly like everyone else, pretending to know what I was doing but I sincerely was faking it...a bit embarrassing but...I figured many people in the museum were feeling the same way too...
Prior to these museums in Amsterdam and the National Museum in Cairo, the only times I had been to a museum had been when I was a kid in a 'school excursion' to a museum in Mexico, which, in retrospect, may have been a good idea to pay attention at what we were looking at, but I was a kid doing something that was imposed on us as part of our schooling curriculum and they made us take notes and do homework about it, which made the whole experience a boring chore, tedious, and a complete nightmare...thus I never went to any museums after leaving school in Mexico...that is, until I arrived in Europe... then things started to change...
Right at that point of internalised self-embarrassment at the Rijksmuseum, I was somehow, ready to grow and build up my cultural knowledge....
I remember walking around the enormous Rijksmuseum and walking slowly and getting close to some groups which had a guided tour and I would get close to listen in for free, yes it was a bit sneaky but it was an inexpensive way of getting to learn about the things I was looking at and the groups never seemed to mind my tagging along...you have to do this kind of things when you are on a tight budget...
I did the same at the Van Gogh Museum...
I remember hearing in one of the guided tours that I got close to about his cutting off part of his ear!
What!? He cut off his ear?
That somehow made me look at his paintings more intently...
Isn't it weird the things that catch our attention?...
After my first 2 days in Amsterdam and a total induction into real art and museums, I had to have a break and that's when I went to check out the amazing Heineken Brewery and have a 'cold one', as they say...
The whole tour was actually quite interesting...
It was also interesting to learn, for the first time, that there are several kinds of beer...
Up until then I only knew...Beer!
The Dutch are also quite proud of their beer, and they are quite specific about how they must be poured and served at a PUB... It is a bit different to the UK...
It must be cold, unlike the British who like it at cellar temperature, and it must have a head (that is the frothy foam on top of beer after pouring, the perfect beer is considered to have a two-fingers thick foam layer, according to the Dutch) The brits don't really fancy any head on their beer...unless it is, Guinness.
After ending my cultural tour, I spent one more day in Amsterdam admiring the city, walking around its busy 'pedestrians only' streets. I had some delicious 'Dutch Frites', their extremely popular potato chips, traditionally served in an ingenious cardboard cone contraption, smothered in 'mayo' (Mayonnaise or Fritessaus ), and also stopped to listen to several street performers... and then... it was time to move on...
I was beginning to worry a bit about my financial situation...
I left Mexico with $2,000 USD thinking it was a substantial amount of money, but I had really no idea how much everything was going to cost overseas, I truly was so naïve about that and I had the intention to be abroad for a year or so... and so far up until that moment, I had been spending money, carefully and as strictly as I could....but nonetheless, I had spent some of my funds mostly on travel expenses on buses and planes in Europe, and trains and limo-taxis in the Middle East... and according to my notes on my diary, I was left with about half of my funds and I needed to get some money back in, otherwise I'd have to head back home soon and that was not the plan...
So far, I'd been away from Mexico for nearly 5 months, it was now the beginning of May 1981...
I decided then that I would go to London and try to find a job, something that would pay 'cash in hand' and that might take me in not having a working permit...
I was also hoping to get some money that was owed to me from my previous employment in Mexico, I was expecting around $500 USD.... so according to my diary notes, I was fairly confident that if that money arrived and if I could get a job in London for a few weeks I could recoup my capital to my original $2,000 USD by June...
That did not quite happen...however, I managed with some help... more on that in my next story...
Meanwhile, it was time to head back to the UK...
So I took a bus to London, this bus went down to the port of 'Hoek van Holland' where we boarded a ferry across to Harwich, a 6-7 hour overnight nightmarish ride across the 'English Channel'.
It was raining heavily, and the sea was so choppy...
We had huge swells and I could feel the boat going up and down the massive swells and could hear the splashing of the waves....It was simply quite a nasty ride!
I remember clearly, I was trying to immerse myself in my music, I had my 'Sony Walkman' playing my music and I had the volume at its loudest...primarily trying not to hear the splashing but also trying not to hear the people that were making all kind of scared exclamations.
I remember a girl sitting next to me saying..."Oh my god... I'm going to puke!! ... oh, my god, I'm feeling so sick"...
And I was telling her...Enough already! Just hearing you I want to puke too...If you need to do it go to the loo and go for it.... a bit rough but I just wanted to stop listening to her, even over my loud music!!
She left and never saw her again, thank goodness...
Anyway, after a few hours of that, we arrived at Harwich, and I was not quite ready to face the passport control people, dreading again that I was going to be questioned again for hours and I wasn't feeling up to it but... not this time...It was very early in the morning and probably because I had previously been given a 6-month visa they stamped my passport with a 'ONE MONTH' visitor visa (I've just checked that stamp in my very first passport).
After that, we got back on the bus and headed towards London...
Once we arrived at the bus terminal in central London, I headed back to the first Youth Hostel I had stayed at in Chelsea...
It was like coming back home...I'd been there before so I knew my way around...
Then I saw a sign on the notice board...
'Kitchenhand Wanted' for the morning shift...
So, I asked the guys at the reception...Hey, can I apply for that job?
"Sure", they said...When can you start?... Tomorrow, I said...
"Deal! please show up at the kitchen at 6 am" they said...
They didn't ask me any more questions...so...I took it!...
Lucky me...
Well, well, well, Hello London!!
It's good to see you again...cup of tea?
After spending around 4 months in Israel and a few days in Egypt I headed back to Europe...
First, I had to make a quick 2 day stop in Athens as I had a return ticket from Israel...
I didn't do much in Athens this time, I was just there to find my way north and I heard there were great deals on airfares to Amsterdam, so I went looking for one... in those days you couldn't shop around on the internet...you had to physically walk into several travel agents to get different quotes...and eventually I got a good one!
After 2 days in the same Athens hostel where I stayed my first time, I was ready to fly north...
We landed in the famous Schiphol Airport, which was exciting in itself as I wanted to see that Airport which has a famous taxiway for planes that cross over the highway over the cars passing by!
I remember seeing a poster of that before I left Mexico and I wanted to see it with my own eyes...
I thought I was going to be questioned again for a while at passport control as I was in London, but the Dutch were friendlier and gave me no trouble on arrival...
I headed towards the city centre by train...and what a train!
I was so impressed by the beautiful yellow trains in the Netherlands.
This was actually the very first European train I'd ever been on...so cool.
It was just a quick 15–20-minute ride to the 'Central Station' in Amsterdam and the YHA Youth Hostel was a fairly short walk from there.
That Youth Hostel was the perfect location...
It was within walking distance of the 3 major sites that I wanted to visit: The Rijksmuseum (The National Museum), the Van Gogh Museum and the Heineken original brewery in Amsterdam's city centre.
Amsterdam is a beautiful city and I fell in love with it from the moment I set foot on it...
It is an extremely charming and picturesque city and there is something about it and you just can't help but fall in love with it...
Maybe it is its old narrow houses or its canals or the 'pedestrians only' streets or its trams or its amazing cycle-paths or the flower vendors at every train station...
It is hard to pinpoint what makes Amsterdam one of the most likeable cities in the world...
Here are a few things that stood out for me from this wonderful city...
1- Its charming houses...Absolutely adorable...it is like a toy city...
2- Everyone's on bicycles! ...Yes, rain or shine they get on their bikes to go places. I saw hundreds of people travelling by bicycle, umbrellas in hand, if need be, and kids in a child-seat at the back or front of their bikes and only riding on their 'purpose built' cycle-paths and with no helmets!
They signal with their hands if they are going to turn, and they stop at their own tiny 'bike traffic lights'...very orderly...
I had never seen anything like that in my life!
Note: They actually built the 'cycle-path' infrastructure back in the early 70s if I'm not mistaken, due to their transport situation at that time... (something that just recently Auckland City, and other cities around NZ have been working on, probably there hasn't been a real need for that in NZ as it was in the 70s in the Netherlands...) Currently, there are more bikes in the Netherlands than people!
3- Their electric trams... They are just what one needs to move you around the city (if you don't have a bike) ...
What?... They are not free?...
For a couple of days, I thought they were free as you can get on board through any of their 4 doors and no one ever charged me until I realised I should've bought a ticket at the ticket station or newsstand and put it in the machine at the door, I honestly had no idea, the system relies on people's honesty to buy their tickets and there may be an occasional inspector that may get on to check, but never saw one...
4- Dutch Fries...There's something about their potato chips (Friet/Patat) … so delicious, and they eat them primarily with mayonnaise!
5- The beautiful canals...I didn't know about the existence of so many canals in any city apart from Venice, Amsterdam has approx. 160 canals covering 100km. No matter where you are walking around the city you are bound to walk by or over some of the 1,500 bridges!
6- Heineken Beer... Amsterdam is the home of the Dutch most famous beer, although there are many other brands. I was lucky to be able to visit the original brewery in Amsterdam when it was still operating as a brewery, it is now only a tourist attraction. I was able to learn about the entire brewing process and then have a beer right there and, of course, buy myself a classic 'Heineken beer t-shirt'...
(Want to learn more about Heineken beer? visit their website here: https://www.heineken.com/global/en/home
7- The Rijksmuseum... The National Museum in Amsterdam was the very first museum I visited in Europe.
Absolutely amazing! I was blown away by Rembrandt's paintings and had the chance to look closely at the famous 'Night Watch' (pictured below)...
You can learn more about this extraordinary painting in an amazing online show right now, view the 'Night Watch' Experience here: https://beleefdenachtwacht.nl/en )
8- The Van Gogh museum... Wow, his artwork is highly renown around the world for many reasons and you simply can't help but be amazed by his works...
(Learn more about Vincent Van Gogh here: https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/art-and-stories/art/vincent-van-gogh )
Frankly speaking, I had never been that interested in artistic paintings or works of art of any form before I left Mexico. I may have liked and been into music to some degree and I may have taken the "Arts workshop" in high school where I drew with pencils and charcoal and painted a couple of pastels and an oil painting...but never really was into it, per se...
I truly wished I had read or learnt something about Rembrandt and his paintings before walking in at the Rijksmuseum and, the same goes for the Van Gogh Museum... I felt a little bit lost during my visit...
TIP: Do take the time to learn more about them through the above links, I wished I'd known all that about them then...
I truly had no idea how to behave inside a museum...
I was simply looking at the paintings and walking around slowly like everyone else, pretending to know what I was doing but I sincerely was faking it...a bit embarrassing but...I figured many people in the museum were feeling the same way too...
Prior to these museums in Amsterdam and the National Museum in Cairo, the only times I had been to a museum had been when I was a kid in a 'school excursion' to a museum in Mexico, which, in retrospect, may have been a good idea to pay attention at what we were looking at, but I was a kid doing something that was imposed on us as part of our schooling curriculum and they made us take notes and do homework about it, which made the whole experience a boring chore, tedious, and a complete nightmare...thus I never went to any museums after leaving school in Mexico...that is, until I arrived in Europe... then things started to change...
Right at that point of internalised self-embarrassment at the Rijksmuseum, I was somehow, ready to grow and build up my cultural knowledge....
I remember walking around the enormous Rijksmuseum and walking slowly and getting close to some groups which had a guided tour and I would get close to listen in for free, yes it was a bit sneaky but it was an inexpensive way of getting to learn about the things I was looking at and the groups never seemed to mind my tagging along...you have to do this kind of things when you are on a tight budget...
I did the same at the Van Gogh Museum...
I remember hearing in one of the guided tours that I got close to about his cutting off part of his ear!
What!? He cut off his ear?
That somehow made me look at his paintings more intently...
Isn't it weird the things that catch our attention?...
After my first 2 days in Amsterdam and a total induction into real art and museums, I had to have a break and that's when I went to check out the amazing Heineken Brewery and have a 'cold one', as they say...
The whole tour was actually quite interesting...
It was also interesting to learn, for the first time, that there are several kinds of beer...
Up until then I only knew...Beer!
The Dutch are also quite proud of their beer, and they are quite specific about how they must be poured and served at a PUB... It is a bit different to the UK...
It must be cold, unlike the British who like it at cellar temperature, and it must have a head (that is the frothy foam on top of beer after pouring, the perfect beer is considered to have a two-fingers thick foam layer, according to the Dutch) The brits don't really fancy any head on their beer...unless it is, Guinness.
After ending my cultural tour, I spent one more day in Amsterdam admiring the city, walking around its busy 'pedestrians only' streets. I had some delicious 'Dutch Frites', their extremely popular potato chips, traditionally served in an ingenious cardboard cone contraption, smothered in 'mayo' (Mayonnaise or Fritessaus ), and also stopped to listen to several street performers... and then... it was time to move on...
I was beginning to worry a bit about my financial situation...
I left Mexico with $2,000 USD thinking it was a substantial amount of money, but I had really no idea how much everything was going to cost overseas, I truly was so naïve about that and I had the intention to be abroad for a year or so... and so far up until that moment, I had been spending money, carefully and as strictly as I could....but nonetheless, I had spent some of my funds mostly on travel expenses on buses and planes in Europe, and trains and limo-taxis in the Middle East... and according to my notes on my diary, I was left with about half of my funds and I needed to get some money back in, otherwise I'd have to head back home soon and that was not the plan...
So far, I'd been away from Mexico for nearly 5 months, it was now the beginning of May 1981...
I decided then that I would go to London and try to find a job, something that would pay 'cash in hand' and that might take me in not having a working permit...
I was also hoping to get some money that was owed to me from my previous employment in Mexico, I was expecting around $500 USD.... so according to my diary notes, I was fairly confident that if that money arrived and if I could get a job in London for a few weeks I could recoup my capital to my original $2,000 USD by June...
That did not quite happen...however, I managed with some help... more on that in my next story...
Meanwhile, it was time to head back to the UK...
So I took a bus to London, this bus went down to the port of 'Hoek van Holland' where we boarded a ferry across to Harwich, a 6-7 hour overnight nightmarish ride across the 'English Channel'.
It was raining heavily, and the sea was so choppy...
We had huge swells and I could feel the boat going up and down the massive swells and could hear the splashing of the waves....It was simply quite a nasty ride!
I remember clearly, I was trying to immerse myself in my music, I had my 'Sony Walkman' playing my music and I had the volume at its loudest...primarily trying not to hear the splashing but also trying not to hear the people that were making all kind of scared exclamations.
I remember a girl sitting next to me saying..."Oh my god... I'm going to puke!! ... oh, my god, I'm feeling so sick"...
And I was telling her...Enough already! Just hearing you I want to puke too...If you need to do it go to the loo and go for it.... a bit rough but I just wanted to stop listening to her, even over my loud music!!
She left and never saw her again, thank goodness...
Anyway, after a few hours of that, we arrived at Harwich, and I was not quite ready to face the passport control people, dreading again that I was going to be questioned again for hours and I wasn't feeling up to it but... not this time...It was very early in the morning and probably because I had previously been given a 6-month visa they stamped my passport with a 'ONE MONTH' visitor visa (I've just checked that stamp in my very first passport).
After that, we got back on the bus and headed towards London...
Once we arrived at the bus terminal in central London, I headed back to the first Youth Hostel I had stayed at in Chelsea...
It was like coming back home...I'd been there before so I knew my way around...
Then I saw a sign on the notice board...
'Kitchenhand Wanted' for the morning shift...
So, I asked the guys at the reception...Hey, can I apply for that job?
"Sure", they said...When can you start?... Tomorrow, I said...
"Deal! please show up at the kitchen at 6 am" they said...
They didn't ask me any more questions...so...I took it!...
Lucky me...
Well, well, well, Hello London!!
It's good to see you again...cup of tea?
FIFTEEN
15. Working in London
A month working in London...
(illegally)
I was 20 years old back then and was ready to do whatever it took to push forward with my plan to be abroad for a year... and it was time for me to start taking things seriously...
After having spent half of my funds I was beginning to worry about how long my money would last in the real world...
My first 5 months of having a good time and living without any financial worries in a Kibbutz in Israel had come to an end and I was ready to start bringing in some cash to replenish my wallet.
I was quite fortunate to get a job right away in the Youth Hostel working in the kitchen...even though I had no working permit, and it also was 'cash in hand'... (Pictured below)
However, I had no idea how little the pay was...and, what the job entailed, all I can remember is that I was happy to have some form of income...
The job pay included my accommodation and free Breakfast and I made sure that after each breakfast I made myself a takeaway sandwich to eat for lunch.
The main purpose of my visit to London at that time was to restore not only my funds but my confidence that I could make it until the end of the year or thereabouts before my return airfare would expire in December...
I had just arrived in London, and it was the middle of May...and I truly tightened up my belt quite a bit... my only expense was food...
Two of my meals were taken care of at the Hostel, so I was left with one more meal to have...and to tell the truth there weren't many practical or economical options and I remember that many times all I ate was a Big Mac at 'Maccas' by Victoria Train Station which was only a 20-minute walk from my Hostel.
I remember clearly that I even had to eat outside the restaurant to save a few Ps (pence)...
I would take my burger out and sit on a bench near the entrance...
I learned that in London if you wanted to eat inside a McDonalds you would have to pay some extra tax, and I also learned that if you wanted some extra ketchup for your burger or fries you had to pay extra!...
What!? Got to be kidding me...
Welcome to the real world...
My job in the kitchen with the breakfast crew was rather easy, all I had to do was get the breakfast stuff ready for all the guests staying at the Hostel. It was a continental breakfast so...that meant boiling lots of eggs and placing fresh bread on trays and jams and marmalades.
Then of course clearing and cleaning tables and doing the dishes...It was only a couple of us working that shift.
It was an easy job though quite boring, and it paid very little...only about 40 British pounds a week!
Which, at that time, was around $70- $80 USD...
I was practically working 6 hours a day, from 6 am to 12 pm roughly, 6 days a week...
My plan was to save $400 in one month and that type of income didn't quite help me reach my target, but it was enough to keep me going.
My daily expense was literally the one Big Mac or sandwich I bought each day for dinner...which was around 1 pound a day...approx. $2 USD
Every day after finishing work I'd take a 'sightseeing walk'...
I walked everywhere, most of my walking area was around the beautiful Chelsea and South Kensington area and also around Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park a few times...so pretty...and then when it was around 6 pm I'd go to get my burger for dinner and then it'd be time to go back to the Youth Hostel to chill for a while...
There was a common room where there was a TV and where you could play cards or backgammon...there were always many backpackers to meet from everywhere staying there for a few nights and then heading off in different directions.
Later on, at night some of the guys would play some good music to dance and it was a great night just about every night!
They used to play a lot of Reggae music, which to me was rather new, I'd never heard that music in Mexico and only heard a bit while I was in my kibbutz but at this Hostel, they were really into it!
So I learned about Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff and other bands and they also played music by UB40 and Dire Straits...pretty cool stuff...and at the end, I really got into that music too!
During that stay in London, I walked and walked...
I hardly ever took any public transportation to get around, it was a bit costly and an unnecessary expense if I could walk, however, I remember that I had to take 'THE TUBE' a couple of times.
They charge you by the number of stops you travel to...a totally new concept for me, as in Mexico you just buy one inexpensive ticket, and you can go anywhere you want for the same fare...
However, I must admit that the first time I got on the 'Tube' I was quite impressed after I got on board...
I looked around at the benches along the sides, they were upholstered in velvet or something like that...Wow...velvet seats?! …and it was super clean, so I said...Well, at least I'm travelling in some kind of luxury...
Up until then, I'd only been on one underground train/metro and that was in Mexico City... a bit different in many ways.
The Trains in Mexico have a normal train shape, sort of rectangular and run on rubber tires quietly...
'The Tube', is the nickname for the Metropolitan Underground in London, has a unique shape. The trains have a curved top, sort of tubular, and the tunnels they run through are tubular too... I guess that's why they call it 'The Tube'. (Pictured above)
If you are rather tall you must stand in the middle of the car otherwise the door can chop your head off when they close...not that they would, but you get the point.
The trains run on metallic wheels which makes them a bit noisy but not too much.
The underground system in London is much older than the one in Mexico and it is huge...I believe it is the first underground system in the world dating back to 1860...
I wish I'd been able to use it more, but walking was cheaper.
I think that on a daily basis I walked around for over 2 - 4 hours, maybe around 10k or more...
During my walks, I went to see the unmissable 'Changing the Guard' at Buckingham Palace, a striking display of British pageantry when the New Guard takes over from the Old Guard... (watch a short video here)
Honestly, it was all I imagined it to be, and it was indeed quite impressive, however, my financial worries were rather heavy, and I don't think I fully enjoyed the whole thing that much at that time...
All I truly wanted from that month in London was to get the most out of it as I could, moneywise, and then go back to the Netherlands.
Since I left Israel, I had been in communication by post with my ex-roommate from my Kibbutz, Arthur. In one of his letters, he said that I should go over to see him in the Netherlands and that I would have a place to stay for as long as I wanted...
WOW! He was indeed a very kind person...
Some people in the Youth Hostel suggested I'd go to the Netherlands to work with the Tulips, it was nearly harvest season and they normally need a lot of people, so I started planning towards that...It sounded like a good idea...
So, at the end of my short and rather uneventful stay in London, I headed back to the Netherlands...
I don't remember very well my crossing back over the English Channel, but I must've done the same I did to go to London and used the same route through Harwich by bus and ferry onto Hoek van Holland, I was in such a hurry to get to the Netherlands that all that trip is a complete blur...
After arriving in Amsterdam, I went up by train to a small town just a few minutes away called Zaandam, that's where Arthur lived...
I do remember that very well...
He went to pick me up at the train station and it was a great feeling seeing my dear roommate again...especially because he was about to give me shelter when I needed it...
We had spent 3 months or so living together in the kibbutz, and it had been nearly a couple of months since I saw him last...
I remember seeing him at the station...
Hey Arthur! I said all smiles...and he said...
"Hey Hector, Welcome to the Netherlands, how was your trip?" he was smiling too so that made me feel so much better...
'There's nothing like a friendly smiling face at times of need'...
"It's good to see you," he said... Yeah, it's good to see you too! Thank you for coming to pick me up, I said...
"No problem, I don't have a car, but my place is not far from here, we can walk there, you ok to walk?"
Sure thing, I said...I was only carrying my backpack and he took my hand luggage... and we headed off to his place walking through the friendly streets of Zaandam.
He was staying with his sister at her apartment, and he said his sister was ok with my staying there for as long as I needed, so generous indeed. They sort of knew my financial situation so that was very kind indeed.
We walked and talked for a good 20 minutes to his apartment building, and we went up to the 12th floor in a small elevator...
Inge, his sister, was waiting for us and said...
"Welcome welcome!! Please make yourself at home"...
It was a small but cute 2-bedroom apartment with 1 bathroom, 1 separate toilet, 1 mini kitchen and 1 small living/dining room with not much furniture apart from a sofa and a coffee table and a couple of ottomans …there was also a small TV and a sound system to play records and cassette tapes and... Arthur's beautiful guitar sat there too...
Arthur and Inge took the bedrooms and they said I could take the sofa to sleep in...
I actually took the sofa cushions from the sofa and laid them on the floor to have more room when lying down... and put a sheet over them, they gave me a pillow and I used my sleeping bag to sleep in...it was, in a way, quite comfortable...
It was a warm apartment, and it was kept very neatly...
I truly was very grateful for their letting me stay there, absolutely free of charge, it was a time to grow and learn and to be patient … (more on this on my next post)
Thank you, Arthur, and Inge...
You did more than give me a place to stay...
Heel erg bedankt, Thank you so much...
(illegally)
I was 20 years old back then and was ready to do whatever it took to push forward with my plan to be abroad for a year... and it was time for me to start taking things seriously...
After having spent half of my funds I was beginning to worry about how long my money would last in the real world...
My first 5 months of having a good time and living without any financial worries in a Kibbutz in Israel had come to an end and I was ready to start bringing in some cash to replenish my wallet.
I was quite fortunate to get a job right away in the Youth Hostel working in the kitchen...even though I had no working permit, and it also was 'cash in hand'... (Pictured below)
However, I had no idea how little the pay was...and, what the job entailed, all I can remember is that I was happy to have some form of income...
The job pay included my accommodation and free Breakfast and I made sure that after each breakfast I made myself a takeaway sandwich to eat for lunch.
The main purpose of my visit to London at that time was to restore not only my funds but my confidence that I could make it until the end of the year or thereabouts before my return airfare would expire in December...
I had just arrived in London, and it was the middle of May...and I truly tightened up my belt quite a bit... my only expense was food...
Two of my meals were taken care of at the Hostel, so I was left with one more meal to have...and to tell the truth there weren't many practical or economical options and I remember that many times all I ate was a Big Mac at 'Maccas' by Victoria Train Station which was only a 20-minute walk from my Hostel.
I remember clearly that I even had to eat outside the restaurant to save a few Ps (pence)...
I would take my burger out and sit on a bench near the entrance...
I learned that in London if you wanted to eat inside a McDonalds you would have to pay some extra tax, and I also learned that if you wanted some extra ketchup for your burger or fries you had to pay extra!...
What!? Got to be kidding me...
Welcome to the real world...
My job in the kitchen with the breakfast crew was rather easy, all I had to do was get the breakfast stuff ready for all the guests staying at the Hostel. It was a continental breakfast so...that meant boiling lots of eggs and placing fresh bread on trays and jams and marmalades.
Then of course clearing and cleaning tables and doing the dishes...It was only a couple of us working that shift.
It was an easy job though quite boring, and it paid very little...only about 40 British pounds a week!
Which, at that time, was around $70- $80 USD...
I was practically working 6 hours a day, from 6 am to 12 pm roughly, 6 days a week...
My plan was to save $400 in one month and that type of income didn't quite help me reach my target, but it was enough to keep me going.
My daily expense was literally the one Big Mac or sandwich I bought each day for dinner...which was around 1 pound a day...approx. $2 USD
Every day after finishing work I'd take a 'sightseeing walk'...
I walked everywhere, most of my walking area was around the beautiful Chelsea and South Kensington area and also around Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park a few times...so pretty...and then when it was around 6 pm I'd go to get my burger for dinner and then it'd be time to go back to the Youth Hostel to chill for a while...
There was a common room where there was a TV and where you could play cards or backgammon...there were always many backpackers to meet from everywhere staying there for a few nights and then heading off in different directions.
Later on, at night some of the guys would play some good music to dance and it was a great night just about every night!
They used to play a lot of Reggae music, which to me was rather new, I'd never heard that music in Mexico and only heard a bit while I was in my kibbutz but at this Hostel, they were really into it!
So I learned about Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff and other bands and they also played music by UB40 and Dire Straits...pretty cool stuff...and at the end, I really got into that music too!
During that stay in London, I walked and walked...
I hardly ever took any public transportation to get around, it was a bit costly and an unnecessary expense if I could walk, however, I remember that I had to take 'THE TUBE' a couple of times.
They charge you by the number of stops you travel to...a totally new concept for me, as in Mexico you just buy one inexpensive ticket, and you can go anywhere you want for the same fare...
However, I must admit that the first time I got on the 'Tube' I was quite impressed after I got on board...
I looked around at the benches along the sides, they were upholstered in velvet or something like that...Wow...velvet seats?! …and it was super clean, so I said...Well, at least I'm travelling in some kind of luxury...
Up until then, I'd only been on one underground train/metro and that was in Mexico City... a bit different in many ways.
The Trains in Mexico have a normal train shape, sort of rectangular and run on rubber tires quietly...
'The Tube', is the nickname for the Metropolitan Underground in London, has a unique shape. The trains have a curved top, sort of tubular, and the tunnels they run through are tubular too... I guess that's why they call it 'The Tube'. (Pictured above)
If you are rather tall you must stand in the middle of the car otherwise the door can chop your head off when they close...not that they would, but you get the point.
The trains run on metallic wheels which makes them a bit noisy but not too much.
The underground system in London is much older than the one in Mexico and it is huge...I believe it is the first underground system in the world dating back to 1860...
I wish I'd been able to use it more, but walking was cheaper.
I think that on a daily basis I walked around for over 2 - 4 hours, maybe around 10k or more...
During my walks, I went to see the unmissable 'Changing the Guard' at Buckingham Palace, a striking display of British pageantry when the New Guard takes over from the Old Guard... (watch a short video here)
Honestly, it was all I imagined it to be, and it was indeed quite impressive, however, my financial worries were rather heavy, and I don't think I fully enjoyed the whole thing that much at that time...
All I truly wanted from that month in London was to get the most out of it as I could, moneywise, and then go back to the Netherlands.
Since I left Israel, I had been in communication by post with my ex-roommate from my Kibbutz, Arthur. In one of his letters, he said that I should go over to see him in the Netherlands and that I would have a place to stay for as long as I wanted...
WOW! He was indeed a very kind person...
Some people in the Youth Hostel suggested I'd go to the Netherlands to work with the Tulips, it was nearly harvest season and they normally need a lot of people, so I started planning towards that...It sounded like a good idea...
So, at the end of my short and rather uneventful stay in London, I headed back to the Netherlands...
I don't remember very well my crossing back over the English Channel, but I must've done the same I did to go to London and used the same route through Harwich by bus and ferry onto Hoek van Holland, I was in such a hurry to get to the Netherlands that all that trip is a complete blur...
After arriving in Amsterdam, I went up by train to a small town just a few minutes away called Zaandam, that's where Arthur lived...
I do remember that very well...
He went to pick me up at the train station and it was a great feeling seeing my dear roommate again...especially because he was about to give me shelter when I needed it...
We had spent 3 months or so living together in the kibbutz, and it had been nearly a couple of months since I saw him last...
I remember seeing him at the station...
Hey Arthur! I said all smiles...and he said...
"Hey Hector, Welcome to the Netherlands, how was your trip?" he was smiling too so that made me feel so much better...
'There's nothing like a friendly smiling face at times of need'...
"It's good to see you," he said... Yeah, it's good to see you too! Thank you for coming to pick me up, I said...
"No problem, I don't have a car, but my place is not far from here, we can walk there, you ok to walk?"
Sure thing, I said...I was only carrying my backpack and he took my hand luggage... and we headed off to his place walking through the friendly streets of Zaandam.
He was staying with his sister at her apartment, and he said his sister was ok with my staying there for as long as I needed, so generous indeed. They sort of knew my financial situation so that was very kind indeed.
We walked and talked for a good 20 minutes to his apartment building, and we went up to the 12th floor in a small elevator...
Inge, his sister, was waiting for us and said...
"Welcome welcome!! Please make yourself at home"...
It was a small but cute 2-bedroom apartment with 1 bathroom, 1 separate toilet, 1 mini kitchen and 1 small living/dining room with not much furniture apart from a sofa and a coffee table and a couple of ottomans …there was also a small TV and a sound system to play records and cassette tapes and... Arthur's beautiful guitar sat there too...
Arthur and Inge took the bedrooms and they said I could take the sofa to sleep in...
I actually took the sofa cushions from the sofa and laid them on the floor to have more room when lying down... and put a sheet over them, they gave me a pillow and I used my sleeping bag to sleep in...it was, in a way, quite comfortable...
It was a warm apartment, and it was kept very neatly...
I truly was very grateful for their letting me stay there, absolutely free of charge, it was a time to grow and learn and to be patient … (more on this on my next post)
Thank you, Arthur, and Inge...
You did more than give me a place to stay...
Heel erg bedankt, Thank you so much...
SIXTEEN
16. The Netherlands - Zaandam
Life in Zaandam, the Netherlands...
June 1981
Days of financial strife, patience, and personal growth and...
A realization and declaration about my future...
After arriving in Zaandam and meeting up with Arthur a brand-new chapter of my life was about to unravel...
Arthur and Inge, his sister, were extremely generous and offered me shelter while I was waiting for some funds to come from Mexico, we just had no idea how long that would take...
I guess I was expecting the money that was owed to me from my previous job in Mexico would come in at the beginning of July, so in my mind, and I guess also for Arthur and Inge, I'd be at their place for a week or two tops...I arrived there mid-June 1981...
We had no idea I'd be staying there much longer than expected...
Zaandam is a small city...It is actually like a suburb of Amsterdam, only 15 minutes north by train...
There isn't much to see or do there, but many people live there and commute to Amsterdam where they may work, as rents are much lower there than in Amsterdam...
Nonetheless, Zaandam has its charms...and...it was the place where the very first McDonalds opened in Europe in 1971! (Pictured above)
There are some beautiful Dutch Windmills and a couple of picturesque canals and parks...and not much more after that...
Arthur lived in an apartment, part of a housing complex... (Pictured above) …and although they were quite small and simple apartments, they were all kept extremely tidy, and their grounds were well-kept as well...
It was humble living but in a really nice and friendly complex...
My time spent living in Zaandam was sincerely a trying time for me and also rather difficult for Arthur...
Reading over my diary I realize now that times were really tough financially and if it hadn't been for Arthur and Inge and some financial support from Mexico, I would have had to fly back to Mexico halfway through my intended stay in Europe...that would have been the easiest thing to do, but... I wasn't going to give up so easily...
I've just read in my diary that by the time I reached Zaandam all I had left was $350 USD...
Not enough money to survive for long without a source of income...
I tried to keep my expenses to a minimum …I only had to pay for my breakfast stuff, cereal, yoghurt, and milk, and by reading my diary I realise that breakfast for me was practically lunch, as I used to get up a bit late every day, around 11 am or midday and... most evening meals were covered by Inge...she was so generous and kind with me...
I probably just wanted to make the days as short as possible and hoped that they went by quickly...I was truly killing time while waiting for some cash...
I did try, as intended, to get a couple of jobs, I tried to get a job working with the Tulips in the Greenhouses but there were no vacancies, I learned that normally they give those jobs to students while they are on school holidays...understandable...
I tried also for a couple of jobs that Arthur's brothers tried to help me with but to no avail...
It was sincerely hard going, and I was demoralised, and, in all honesty, I wasn't job hunting with enough hunger to get anything...
I mostly slept, read a lot, and wrote a lot...
I was constantly looking out for any mail from home and from anywhere else in the world...
I got letters mostly from Mum who wrote weekly, and sometimes more often...They were beautiful letters...
Even my dad wrote me a letter all by himself while I was at Arthur's...
The only one I got from him on his own, rather than just a footnote at the end of my Mum's letters... According to my diary, he didn't say much but brought me up to speed with the possible cash I'd get from my previous employment...which at that stage was going to be delayed for another month or so...
It was quite a surprise getting a whole letter from him, that in itself, was like a thousand words!
I got letters from my sisters and brothers and from some of my friends back home and I would usually write them back right away...
Oh boy...all those letters kept me alive...
They were like food for my heart and soul, and I'd crave them every day...I'd sometimes go through them again and again...
In some cases, trying to read between the lines...
This line of communication with my parents allowed me to let them know, safely at a distance, that I would not continue with my studies any further when I'd get back to Mexico, instead, I was thinking of working for a bit and saving money again to continue travelling...
Those conversations by mail about my future were a bit tough to write and, I guess a bit difficult for them to read, as I think my parents were expecting me to follow the steps, they had lined up for all their children...
'Go to school, go to Uni, get a degree, get a job, get married, have kids'...
Only after a few months overseas, I had realised there were other possibilities and paths that I could follow to live the life I wanted to live...and I wanted to pursue a new path...and somehow, I would keep on travelling around the world...
So, in a sense, I made a declaration about my future life right there and then...and in my own, hardly legible, handwriting...
I read quite a few books, I was practically reading constantly...a habit I picked up in my kibbutz, and all the books were in English...this new habit helped me expand my vocabulary in English...I remember I used to have a small English to Spanish dictionary handy when I was reading to be able to understand the books, I was reading...
Most of my writing was obviously in Spanish and that kept me living with my first 2 languages on a daily basis...
Over the time that I stayed with Arthur, I visited a couple of beautiful places...
I went up north with Arthur to visit a couple of friends from our Kibbutz Jan and Harm, up in Workum Friesland...
They were living on a farm and had beautiful Holstein Friesians cows...the same kind we had in our Kibbutz!
We also went down to Vlissingen, to visit a couple also from our Kibbutz, Cobie and Joel...
Vlissingen is a huge port town in the Zeeland province...
Note: At that stage, I had no idea that New Zealand was named after this province.
Dutch cartographers named NZ after the Dutch maritime province of Zeeland. Located just northwest of the Belgian city of Antwerp, Zeeland is more than 17,700 km from New Zealand. To provide some perspective on that figure, the maximum distance between any two points on Earth is about 20,000 km, so New Zealand is practically as far as you can be from Zeeland without leaving Earth...
I also went to a magical fishing village nearby Amsterdam, called Volendam, this place is absolutely incredible and the moment you arrive you feel like you are walking into a fantasy land in Disneyland, all the tiny colourful wooden houses are so beautiful, and there are lots of people walking around and working and living there still dressed in their old costumes and wearing wooded clogs...
Living in Zaandam was getting harder...
Reading my diary, I can see that we were both, Arthur, and I, getting tired of each other's company and had had enough...
We had a long chat about it and we came to an understanding, once everything was out in the open, he said...
"Glad we talked about it" with a big smile...and I said Yeah, me too... I apologized for overstaying my visit and said that as soon as I had a chance, I'd make a move...and he said kindly...
"Don't you worry about that Hector; you can stay here as long as you need"...
We were more relaxed after that, so we grabbed a couple of beers, rolled up a couple of 'Samson Tobacco' cigarettes and sat on the balcony to smoke and enjoy the moment, just like what we might've done back in the kibbutz...
Then, just as I was getting close to my last $50 USD, towards the end of July my brother Mario sent me a rescue cash booster...approx. $200 USD!!
Thank you so much Mario...thank you...
This cash boost helped me leave Zaandam and Arthur for a while and go up to Sweden to visit some friends from my Kibbutz and also a friend from Amsterdam...They all said I could stay at their places for a few days...
So, at the beginning of August, I started preparing for that trip and once the funds that my brother sent me were cleared in my Dutch Bank account, I was able to purchase my train ticket for a 21-hour journey up to Stockholm...
I had no idea what was going to happen up there and had no idea what would come out of that, all I knew was that I was set free to move again...at least for 15 days while the funds from my old job in Mexico came through...
On August the 14th, after 2 months in Zaandam, I took that train to Stockholm at 8 pm...
I jumped on board the 'second class wagon' and stepped into a 6-passenger cabin, there were 2 guys already in there, so I asked...
Are these seats free?... pointing at the empty seats..."Yup", they said... "come on in make yourself at home"...
I put my backpack and hand luggage up on the luggage rack above the seats and sat down and said... Hi, I'm Hector...where are you guys from?
And they said..."We are from Sweden, I'm Lars Olof, you can call me Lola, and he is Mike", one of them said...and they asked me "and where are you from?"
I said...From Mexico... "Oh, buenas noches", Lola said in Spanish..."I studied a bit of Spanish in high school"...
Oh cool, I said! what else do you know in Spanish? and he went on to say...
"Alvaro Conqueiro es un Pescador, el vive en Barcelona"... and I was staring at him not knowing what to say... then he said that that was in one of the lessons he had to memorise back in school...We cracked up!!…that totally broke the ice...
After we finished laughing, he said..."Want a beer?" …
Sure thing ...he handed me one from his bag...and that was the beginning of an amazing friendship which at that stage I didn't know how it would evolve over the years...
After hours and hours on the overnight journey by train and ferry, we arrived in Stockholm...
And my first Swedish adventure would start from that moment onwards...
So good to be back on the move again...
"Tjena Stocholm"...Hello Stockholm (more on this on my next story)
June 1981
Days of financial strife, patience, and personal growth and...
A realization and declaration about my future...
After arriving in Zaandam and meeting up with Arthur a brand-new chapter of my life was about to unravel...
Arthur and Inge, his sister, were extremely generous and offered me shelter while I was waiting for some funds to come from Mexico, we just had no idea how long that would take...
I guess I was expecting the money that was owed to me from my previous job in Mexico would come in at the beginning of July, so in my mind, and I guess also for Arthur and Inge, I'd be at their place for a week or two tops...I arrived there mid-June 1981...
We had no idea I'd be staying there much longer than expected...
Zaandam is a small city...It is actually like a suburb of Amsterdam, only 15 minutes north by train...
There isn't much to see or do there, but many people live there and commute to Amsterdam where they may work, as rents are much lower there than in Amsterdam...
Nonetheless, Zaandam has its charms...and...it was the place where the very first McDonalds opened in Europe in 1971! (Pictured above)
There are some beautiful Dutch Windmills and a couple of picturesque canals and parks...and not much more after that...
Arthur lived in an apartment, part of a housing complex... (Pictured above) …and although they were quite small and simple apartments, they were all kept extremely tidy, and their grounds were well-kept as well...
It was humble living but in a really nice and friendly complex...
My time spent living in Zaandam was sincerely a trying time for me and also rather difficult for Arthur...
Reading over my diary I realize now that times were really tough financially and if it hadn't been for Arthur and Inge and some financial support from Mexico, I would have had to fly back to Mexico halfway through my intended stay in Europe...that would have been the easiest thing to do, but... I wasn't going to give up so easily...
I've just read in my diary that by the time I reached Zaandam all I had left was $350 USD...
Not enough money to survive for long without a source of income...
I tried to keep my expenses to a minimum …I only had to pay for my breakfast stuff, cereal, yoghurt, and milk, and by reading my diary I realise that breakfast for me was practically lunch, as I used to get up a bit late every day, around 11 am or midday and... most evening meals were covered by Inge...she was so generous and kind with me...
I probably just wanted to make the days as short as possible and hoped that they went by quickly...I was truly killing time while waiting for some cash...
I did try, as intended, to get a couple of jobs, I tried to get a job working with the Tulips in the Greenhouses but there were no vacancies, I learned that normally they give those jobs to students while they are on school holidays...understandable...
I tried also for a couple of jobs that Arthur's brothers tried to help me with but to no avail...
It was sincerely hard going, and I was demoralised, and, in all honesty, I wasn't job hunting with enough hunger to get anything...
I mostly slept, read a lot, and wrote a lot...
I was constantly looking out for any mail from home and from anywhere else in the world...
I got letters mostly from Mum who wrote weekly, and sometimes more often...They were beautiful letters...
Even my dad wrote me a letter all by himself while I was at Arthur's...
The only one I got from him on his own, rather than just a footnote at the end of my Mum's letters... According to my diary, he didn't say much but brought me up to speed with the possible cash I'd get from my previous employment...which at that stage was going to be delayed for another month or so...
It was quite a surprise getting a whole letter from him, that in itself, was like a thousand words!
I got letters from my sisters and brothers and from some of my friends back home and I would usually write them back right away...
Oh boy...all those letters kept me alive...
They were like food for my heart and soul, and I'd crave them every day...I'd sometimes go through them again and again...
In some cases, trying to read between the lines...
This line of communication with my parents allowed me to let them know, safely at a distance, that I would not continue with my studies any further when I'd get back to Mexico, instead, I was thinking of working for a bit and saving money again to continue travelling...
Those conversations by mail about my future were a bit tough to write and, I guess a bit difficult for them to read, as I think my parents were expecting me to follow the steps, they had lined up for all their children...
'Go to school, go to Uni, get a degree, get a job, get married, have kids'...
Only after a few months overseas, I had realised there were other possibilities and paths that I could follow to live the life I wanted to live...and I wanted to pursue a new path...and somehow, I would keep on travelling around the world...
So, in a sense, I made a declaration about my future life right there and then...and in my own, hardly legible, handwriting...
I read quite a few books, I was practically reading constantly...a habit I picked up in my kibbutz, and all the books were in English...this new habit helped me expand my vocabulary in English...I remember I used to have a small English to Spanish dictionary handy when I was reading to be able to understand the books, I was reading...
Most of my writing was obviously in Spanish and that kept me living with my first 2 languages on a daily basis...
Over the time that I stayed with Arthur, I visited a couple of beautiful places...
I went up north with Arthur to visit a couple of friends from our Kibbutz Jan and Harm, up in Workum Friesland...
They were living on a farm and had beautiful Holstein Friesians cows...the same kind we had in our Kibbutz!
We also went down to Vlissingen, to visit a couple also from our Kibbutz, Cobie and Joel...
Vlissingen is a huge port town in the Zeeland province...
Note: At that stage, I had no idea that New Zealand was named after this province.
Dutch cartographers named NZ after the Dutch maritime province of Zeeland. Located just northwest of the Belgian city of Antwerp, Zeeland is more than 17,700 km from New Zealand. To provide some perspective on that figure, the maximum distance between any two points on Earth is about 20,000 km, so New Zealand is practically as far as you can be from Zeeland without leaving Earth...
I also went to a magical fishing village nearby Amsterdam, called Volendam, this place is absolutely incredible and the moment you arrive you feel like you are walking into a fantasy land in Disneyland, all the tiny colourful wooden houses are so beautiful, and there are lots of people walking around and working and living there still dressed in their old costumes and wearing wooded clogs...
Living in Zaandam was getting harder...
Reading my diary, I can see that we were both, Arthur, and I, getting tired of each other's company and had had enough...
We had a long chat about it and we came to an understanding, once everything was out in the open, he said...
"Glad we talked about it" with a big smile...and I said Yeah, me too... I apologized for overstaying my visit and said that as soon as I had a chance, I'd make a move...and he said kindly...
"Don't you worry about that Hector; you can stay here as long as you need"...
We were more relaxed after that, so we grabbed a couple of beers, rolled up a couple of 'Samson Tobacco' cigarettes and sat on the balcony to smoke and enjoy the moment, just like what we might've done back in the kibbutz...
Then, just as I was getting close to my last $50 USD, towards the end of July my brother Mario sent me a rescue cash booster...approx. $200 USD!!
Thank you so much Mario...thank you...
This cash boost helped me leave Zaandam and Arthur for a while and go up to Sweden to visit some friends from my Kibbutz and also a friend from Amsterdam...They all said I could stay at their places for a few days...
So, at the beginning of August, I started preparing for that trip and once the funds that my brother sent me were cleared in my Dutch Bank account, I was able to purchase my train ticket for a 21-hour journey up to Stockholm...
I had no idea what was going to happen up there and had no idea what would come out of that, all I knew was that I was set free to move again...at least for 15 days while the funds from my old job in Mexico came through...
On August the 14th, after 2 months in Zaandam, I took that train to Stockholm at 8 pm...
I jumped on board the 'second class wagon' and stepped into a 6-passenger cabin, there were 2 guys already in there, so I asked...
Are these seats free?... pointing at the empty seats..."Yup", they said... "come on in make yourself at home"...
I put my backpack and hand luggage up on the luggage rack above the seats and sat down and said... Hi, I'm Hector...where are you guys from?
And they said..."We are from Sweden, I'm Lars Olof, you can call me Lola, and he is Mike", one of them said...and they asked me "and where are you from?"
I said...From Mexico... "Oh, buenas noches", Lola said in Spanish..."I studied a bit of Spanish in high school"...
Oh cool, I said! what else do you know in Spanish? and he went on to say...
"Alvaro Conqueiro es un Pescador, el vive en Barcelona"... and I was staring at him not knowing what to say... then he said that that was in one of the lessons he had to memorise back in school...We cracked up!!…that totally broke the ice...
After we finished laughing, he said..."Want a beer?" …
Sure thing ...he handed me one from his bag...and that was the beginning of an amazing friendship which at that stage I didn't know how it would evolve over the years...
After hours and hours on the overnight journey by train and ferry, we arrived in Stockholm...
And my first Swedish adventure would start from that moment onwards...
So good to be back on the move again...
"Tjena Stocholm"...Hello Stockholm (more on this on my next story)
SEVENTEEN
17. Sweden
Hello Sweden... Hej Sverige...
August 1981
After a 21-hour train journey from Amsterdam, I was completely knackered...
I didn't get much sleep after meeting up with Lars Olof (Lola) and Mikael on the train, we talked for hours and hours...
Halfway through the night, the train we took got on board a ferry!
What!?
Yes!... The whole train got on a ferry to go across from Germany to Sweden (Sassnitz to Trelleborg)
I truly had no idea that was possible, but we'd had a few beers so...anything was possible!
Going across the Baltic Sea took approx. 4-5 hours... then back on land we travelled on to Stockholm for another 7 hours through some amazing scenery...
This was my first time in Scandinavia, and it looked so beautiful!
We must've arrived at Stockholm Central Station at around 5 or 6 pm...
We were all pretty tired and didn't smell great...we probably reeked of beer a bit...
As soon as we got there, I tried to contact my friend from Amsterdam who had said I could stay with her for a few days but...
Surprise surprise!...
She was heading back to Amsterdam the next day because her softball coaching job was cancelled, and I could not stay with her at all...
She was crying...she was devastated and sounded a bit embarrassed over the phone and I felt sorry for her but...
What about me?! … Now, what do I do?!
I didn't have a lot of cash to spend on accommodation at all, especially when the Youth Hostels were so expensive in Stockholm...
So I was in a bit of a pickle...Lola and Mikael heard me having this conversation on the phone and saw my desperation then...Lola said...
"Why don't we go to my place and eat something and then we can ask my Mum if you can stay with us for a couple of days, sounds good?"...
Really?! ...I had just met these guys on the train...and I didn't know what to say but...
Thank you so much, yes, let's do that...
He called his Mum to give her a heads up on what he was doing and about me...
We jumped on a local train and went off to Farsta, where he lived, just a quick 25-minute ride...
Lola and his Mum lived in a medium-size apartment in Farsta, a friendly neighbourhood...
When we arrived, she opened the door and greeted me in Swedish...
"Hej Hej... Jag heter Viva"...(Hi my name is Viva) I had learned how to say that in Swedish too... so I said, "Hej, Jag heter Hector"... she looked surprised and smiled!
Then Lola had a quick chat with her and said...
"My Mum says that you can stay here for a few days, no problem!"
Seriously?! …Thank you so much...
Then she showed me to a room and said..."Here's your bedroom", she handed me a towel and said, "here's a clean towel for you...there is the bathroom"...pointing at a door in front of the spare bedroom...
"While you take a shower and get ready, I'll organise a Pizza for you boys", she told us...
Wow!... This was amazing...and totally so much better than crashing with my friend with whom I was supposed to stay, more than likely sleeping on her couch...
After we showered and changed, we went to the kitchen where a large pizza was waiting for us and we sat down...
Then Viva said..."Want a glass of milk?"... Sure, why not...
I learned right there and then that that's what they normally love to drink with dinner in Sweden... an interesting habit...
Then Lola was on the phone with Mikael and said that the guys had organised a welcome back get-together at a bar... "Wanna come along?" ...Sure thing...
There we met his friends Mikael and Stefan and his brother Jan Erik and his wife Birgitta.
It was Saturday night, so the bar was crowded...they bought me a beer and that's all I drank...one beer...
Why?
Well, it turns out that beer and all alcoholic beverages in Sweden are highly taxed and the prices are astronomical, especially at a bar... so...I made sure that that one beer lasted for the rest of the night...
The next day we went to see the Stockholm Marathon and some sights around Stockholm...it was a great day!
Then after we got home for dinner Lola said...
"Tomorrow Monday I must go back to work; however, my brother Jan Erik has taken the day off tomorrow to show you around some other sights of the city" …
Wow, seriously? that's excellent... I said
And then he said..."Both, I and my mum, are going out to work early in the morning and my brother will come and pick you up at around 9 am", then went on to say...
"HERE ARE YOUR KEYS" and he handed me his house keys...
What?!… I was blown away...
We had just met, and they were going to leave me in their house alone and with their house keys?!
I could not believe it and didn't know what to say...I just said...Thank you...
We had a beautiful meal that night, I tasted for the first time, Viva's delicious Swedish meatballs!
Which is a famous Swedish dish and Lola wanted me to try them, they didn't disappoint at all...so uniquely delicious...
The next morning, I got up and Viva and Lola were gone, they left me some breakfast stuff on the kitchen table and a note saying "Help yourself, Jan Erick will be here at 9 am"...
So I helped myself to some Swedish 'Knäckebröd' (Swedish Crispbread) and cheese and some ham and made myself a nice Swedish 'smörgås' and had a tall glass of milk...let's say it was a typical Swedish breakfast...
There I was all by myself in their house, still in awe about the whole "here are your keys" thing...
I took a shower and got myself ready to go...
Right on the dot at 9 am the doorbell rang...I opened the door and there was Jan Erik, he said "Hej Hector, are you ready?" ...Sure am!
They are so punctual and precise about their times and appointments...
Got my stuff and the 'house keys' and left with Jan Erik for a nice tour around town...
OMG... I loved "Gamla Stan" the old city...It is so colourful and beautiful...
It was still summertime, so there were lots of people walking around in colourful summer clothing and wearing shorts and t-shirts...Swedes love their summer, although it is normally too short compared to their long winters...
We ate some lunch somewhere and at night we met up with Lola, Mikael, Stefan and some others to have our final night out...
I was going to head down to a small town called Linköping the next day, to visit a friend of mine from my kibbutz, Mike, who said I was welcome to stay at his place for a few days...
That last night in Stockholm was fun and we promised one another we'd see each other again, I invited them to come and visit me in Mexico after I'd get back home, and Lola said... "I will" … (and he did visit Mexico a year later, more on that on future posts) …
Once again, the next morning Lola and Viva went to work, although I did see them off this time as it was time for me to leave...
I said bye and thank you to Viva, such a sweet lady, and to Lola, my new friend... and they said Jan Erik was picking me up again to take me to the train station to see me off...
WHAT?!
Jan Erik took the morning off again to pick me up from Viva's house and took me to Stockholm Central station, mind you, we went by train, he had no car, just as many people in Sweden...
Public transport is amazing...
He walked me to the platform where my train to Linköping would depart from and I went on to get on the train, we hugged and said goodbye, and I said, thank you so much for everything and he said...
"No, no... thank you for spending some days with us"...
What?!... again, I was speechless, I got on board and waved goodbye, 'vi ses' I said in Swedish...See you later...
That first visit to Stockholm was rather memorable, as it turned out to become something totally unexpected and, it marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship, not only with Lola but with his family and friends...
When I arrived in Linköping, after a quick 1 and half hour ride, my tall friend Mike was waiting for me at the station...
He was waving and said..."Hej, Hector! ... Great to see you again!" Hej, Mike! I said, how's it going?!...
We walked over to his place not far from the train station and started catching up...and I found out he was about to go up north do his military service which he didn't want to do but had to...he was not too happy about it but...
We talked for hours about our time in Neve Eitan and had a few laughs while having a couple of beers...
I stayed for a couple of days with Mike...there really wasn't much to do there and It was a bit uncomfortable crashing on his couch in his small apartment, nonetheless it was great meeting up with him again...
After a couple of days, I headed down to Eslöv to visit 2 girls from my kibbutz as well, Marie and Lotta...
They had also invited me to stay there for a few days...
I spoke with them over the phone from Stockholm and they said they'd be waiting for me!
Marie went to pick me up at the train station and after we had lunch with her Mum, they drove me to Lotta's farm...which is where I ended up staying...
Lotta lived on a huge and beautiful farm and there was plenty of room...
Marie said as we were driving up..."That's Lotta's family farm"...pointing ahead
WOW!!! I was blown away...What an awesome farm?!
So beautiful...something you'd only see in some postcards or something like that...
Lotta and her family were waiting for us and after all the introductions were made Lotta took me to the upstairs spare room and said...this is your room...hope you like it...
Like it?!
It was gorgeous...immaculate and I had no idea if I was dreaming or if that was real...
It was a room with an inclined ceiling, as the shape of the roof...
It had a small window at the end of it and there was a single bed in it with a really nice goose down duvet on top that looked so inviting...
Wow...pinch me! Am I dreaming?...
I spent a few days on the farm, helping out as well with some of the farming chores...that was so much fun...
Working on a Swedish farm was definitely not on my list of things to do but I loved it!
Lotta had a wonderful family and we got on really well...
Then Saturday night came about, and they said there was going to be a huge party...
GAME ON!
So, that Saturday night we went to a farm nearby, and there were a few cars parked on the grass and there were a couple of open-air marquees, and the music was blearing...
There were lots of people...I don't quite recall everything that took place there, but according to my diary, it was an amazing party, and we danced all night...
What a way to wrap up my stay in Sweden!
I, evidently, had a great time staying my last days in Sweden with the girls in Eslöv and had a great break from the reality that still was hanging over me...
Soon I would have to get back to the Netherlands and continue waiting for my cash funds to come from Mexico...
Then Monday came about, it was time for me to leave...
The girls took me to the train station, and we said goodbye... once again...
I got on the train for another long ride overnight back to Amsterdam...this time I was not going to stay in Zaandam...
I was only going to make a quick stop there just to pick up my mail, hopefully with good news about my money...
Then I was going to travel down to a small town called Roosendaal to stay for a few days with a friend of my brother's...Dies Tolhoek...more about that on my next story...
'Hej då Sverige'...Goodbye Sweden...'det var lagom'...It was just what I needed...
'Jag kommer tillbaka, jag lovar'...I'll be back...I promise.
August 1981
After a 21-hour train journey from Amsterdam, I was completely knackered...
I didn't get much sleep after meeting up with Lars Olof (Lola) and Mikael on the train, we talked for hours and hours...
Halfway through the night, the train we took got on board a ferry!
What!?
Yes!... The whole train got on a ferry to go across from Germany to Sweden (Sassnitz to Trelleborg)
I truly had no idea that was possible, but we'd had a few beers so...anything was possible!
Going across the Baltic Sea took approx. 4-5 hours... then back on land we travelled on to Stockholm for another 7 hours through some amazing scenery...
This was my first time in Scandinavia, and it looked so beautiful!
We must've arrived at Stockholm Central Station at around 5 or 6 pm...
We were all pretty tired and didn't smell great...we probably reeked of beer a bit...
As soon as we got there, I tried to contact my friend from Amsterdam who had said I could stay with her for a few days but...
Surprise surprise!...
She was heading back to Amsterdam the next day because her softball coaching job was cancelled, and I could not stay with her at all...
She was crying...she was devastated and sounded a bit embarrassed over the phone and I felt sorry for her but...
What about me?! … Now, what do I do?!
I didn't have a lot of cash to spend on accommodation at all, especially when the Youth Hostels were so expensive in Stockholm...
So I was in a bit of a pickle...Lola and Mikael heard me having this conversation on the phone and saw my desperation then...Lola said...
"Why don't we go to my place and eat something and then we can ask my Mum if you can stay with us for a couple of days, sounds good?"...
Really?! ...I had just met these guys on the train...and I didn't know what to say but...
Thank you so much, yes, let's do that...
He called his Mum to give her a heads up on what he was doing and about me...
We jumped on a local train and went off to Farsta, where he lived, just a quick 25-minute ride...
Lola and his Mum lived in a medium-size apartment in Farsta, a friendly neighbourhood...
When we arrived, she opened the door and greeted me in Swedish...
"Hej Hej... Jag heter Viva"...(Hi my name is Viva) I had learned how to say that in Swedish too... so I said, "Hej, Jag heter Hector"... she looked surprised and smiled!
Then Lola had a quick chat with her and said...
"My Mum says that you can stay here for a few days, no problem!"
Seriously?! …Thank you so much...
Then she showed me to a room and said..."Here's your bedroom", she handed me a towel and said, "here's a clean towel for you...there is the bathroom"...pointing at a door in front of the spare bedroom...
"While you take a shower and get ready, I'll organise a Pizza for you boys", she told us...
Wow!... This was amazing...and totally so much better than crashing with my friend with whom I was supposed to stay, more than likely sleeping on her couch...
After we showered and changed, we went to the kitchen where a large pizza was waiting for us and we sat down...
Then Viva said..."Want a glass of milk?"... Sure, why not...
I learned right there and then that that's what they normally love to drink with dinner in Sweden... an interesting habit...
Then Lola was on the phone with Mikael and said that the guys had organised a welcome back get-together at a bar... "Wanna come along?" ...Sure thing...
There we met his friends Mikael and Stefan and his brother Jan Erik and his wife Birgitta.
It was Saturday night, so the bar was crowded...they bought me a beer and that's all I drank...one beer...
Why?
Well, it turns out that beer and all alcoholic beverages in Sweden are highly taxed and the prices are astronomical, especially at a bar... so...I made sure that that one beer lasted for the rest of the night...
The next day we went to see the Stockholm Marathon and some sights around Stockholm...it was a great day!
Then after we got home for dinner Lola said...
"Tomorrow Monday I must go back to work; however, my brother Jan Erik has taken the day off tomorrow to show you around some other sights of the city" …
Wow, seriously? that's excellent... I said
And then he said..."Both, I and my mum, are going out to work early in the morning and my brother will come and pick you up at around 9 am", then went on to say...
"HERE ARE YOUR KEYS" and he handed me his house keys...
What?!… I was blown away...
We had just met, and they were going to leave me in their house alone and with their house keys?!
I could not believe it and didn't know what to say...I just said...Thank you...
We had a beautiful meal that night, I tasted for the first time, Viva's delicious Swedish meatballs!
Which is a famous Swedish dish and Lola wanted me to try them, they didn't disappoint at all...so uniquely delicious...
The next morning, I got up and Viva and Lola were gone, they left me some breakfast stuff on the kitchen table and a note saying "Help yourself, Jan Erick will be here at 9 am"...
So I helped myself to some Swedish 'Knäckebröd' (Swedish Crispbread) and cheese and some ham and made myself a nice Swedish 'smörgås' and had a tall glass of milk...let's say it was a typical Swedish breakfast...
There I was all by myself in their house, still in awe about the whole "here are your keys" thing...
I took a shower and got myself ready to go...
Right on the dot at 9 am the doorbell rang...I opened the door and there was Jan Erik, he said "Hej Hector, are you ready?" ...Sure am!
They are so punctual and precise about their times and appointments...
Got my stuff and the 'house keys' and left with Jan Erik for a nice tour around town...
OMG... I loved "Gamla Stan" the old city...It is so colourful and beautiful...
It was still summertime, so there were lots of people walking around in colourful summer clothing and wearing shorts and t-shirts...Swedes love their summer, although it is normally too short compared to their long winters...
We ate some lunch somewhere and at night we met up with Lola, Mikael, Stefan and some others to have our final night out...
I was going to head down to a small town called Linköping the next day, to visit a friend of mine from my kibbutz, Mike, who said I was welcome to stay at his place for a few days...
That last night in Stockholm was fun and we promised one another we'd see each other again, I invited them to come and visit me in Mexico after I'd get back home, and Lola said... "I will" … (and he did visit Mexico a year later, more on that on future posts) …
Once again, the next morning Lola and Viva went to work, although I did see them off this time as it was time for me to leave...
I said bye and thank you to Viva, such a sweet lady, and to Lola, my new friend... and they said Jan Erik was picking me up again to take me to the train station to see me off...
WHAT?!
Jan Erik took the morning off again to pick me up from Viva's house and took me to Stockholm Central station, mind you, we went by train, he had no car, just as many people in Sweden...
Public transport is amazing...
He walked me to the platform where my train to Linköping would depart from and I went on to get on the train, we hugged and said goodbye, and I said, thank you so much for everything and he said...
"No, no... thank you for spending some days with us"...
What?!... again, I was speechless, I got on board and waved goodbye, 'vi ses' I said in Swedish...See you later...
That first visit to Stockholm was rather memorable, as it turned out to become something totally unexpected and, it marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship, not only with Lola but with his family and friends...
When I arrived in Linköping, after a quick 1 and half hour ride, my tall friend Mike was waiting for me at the station...
He was waving and said..."Hej, Hector! ... Great to see you again!" Hej, Mike! I said, how's it going?!...
We walked over to his place not far from the train station and started catching up...and I found out he was about to go up north do his military service which he didn't want to do but had to...he was not too happy about it but...
We talked for hours about our time in Neve Eitan and had a few laughs while having a couple of beers...
I stayed for a couple of days with Mike...there really wasn't much to do there and It was a bit uncomfortable crashing on his couch in his small apartment, nonetheless it was great meeting up with him again...
After a couple of days, I headed down to Eslöv to visit 2 girls from my kibbutz as well, Marie and Lotta...
They had also invited me to stay there for a few days...
I spoke with them over the phone from Stockholm and they said they'd be waiting for me!
Marie went to pick me up at the train station and after we had lunch with her Mum, they drove me to Lotta's farm...which is where I ended up staying...
Lotta lived on a huge and beautiful farm and there was plenty of room...
Marie said as we were driving up..."That's Lotta's family farm"...pointing ahead
WOW!!! I was blown away...What an awesome farm?!
So beautiful...something you'd only see in some postcards or something like that...
Lotta and her family were waiting for us and after all the introductions were made Lotta took me to the upstairs spare room and said...this is your room...hope you like it...
Like it?!
It was gorgeous...immaculate and I had no idea if I was dreaming or if that was real...
It was a room with an inclined ceiling, as the shape of the roof...
It had a small window at the end of it and there was a single bed in it with a really nice goose down duvet on top that looked so inviting...
Wow...pinch me! Am I dreaming?...
I spent a few days on the farm, helping out as well with some of the farming chores...that was so much fun...
Working on a Swedish farm was definitely not on my list of things to do but I loved it!
Lotta had a wonderful family and we got on really well...
Then Saturday night came about, and they said there was going to be a huge party...
GAME ON!
So, that Saturday night we went to a farm nearby, and there were a few cars parked on the grass and there were a couple of open-air marquees, and the music was blearing...
There were lots of people...I don't quite recall everything that took place there, but according to my diary, it was an amazing party, and we danced all night...
What a way to wrap up my stay in Sweden!
I, evidently, had a great time staying my last days in Sweden with the girls in Eslöv and had a great break from the reality that still was hanging over me...
Soon I would have to get back to the Netherlands and continue waiting for my cash funds to come from Mexico...
Then Monday came about, it was time for me to leave...
The girls took me to the train station, and we said goodbye... once again...
I got on the train for another long ride overnight back to Amsterdam...this time I was not going to stay in Zaandam...
I was only going to make a quick stop there just to pick up my mail, hopefully with good news about my money...
Then I was going to travel down to a small town called Roosendaal to stay for a few days with a friend of my brother's...Dies Tolhoek...more about that on my next story...
'Hej då Sverige'...Goodbye Sweden...'det var lagom'...It was just what I needed...
'Jag kommer tillbaka, jag lovar'...I'll be back...I promise.
EIGHTEEN
18. Roosendaal, the Netherlands
Roosendaal, the Netherlands
September 1981
2 weeks of patience and gratitude...
After saying goodbye to my friends Marie and Lotta in Eslöv, Sweden, I took a short train ride to Malmö to jump on the overnight train that would take me back to Amsterdam.
That 15-hour train ride from Malmö to Amsterdam was rather uneventful, and somehow a bit quiet...
This time I didn't encounter anyone interesting on the train, and fortunately, I found an empty cabin when I got on board...
At least the cabin was empty for some part of the night, so I was able to catch some sleep...until eventually, some other people got into my cabin in the morning...perhaps in Copenhagen, or somewhere else in Denmark...
I lost track of where we were, as I was again pondering what I was going to do for the next few days while my funds from Mexico arrived...
Fortunately, I had been in touch with a friend of my brother's in a small town in the Netherlands called Roosendaal, located close to the border with Belgium...
In those days my brother, Mario, used to work for Philips in Mexico, a multinational Dutch company, whose HQ was located in Eindhoven at that time, a town near Roosendaal, and my brother had made friends with a guy who worked there called Dies Tolheok...anyway, this man and his wife Laura had invited me to stay for a few days with them at my return from Sweden...
So, when I arrived in Amsterdam, I took a quick ride to Zaandam to collect my mail at Arthur's place...
Arthur wasn't home, not sure where he was, but his sister Inge was home and as usual, was very kind to me...
She said... "Welcome back to Holland, how was your trip to Sweden?... Come in come in"...
Then she said, "Arthur's gone away for a few days with some friends, but you can stay the night if you want to, you look pretty tired" and of course...I obliged...
Thank you so much...
I was truly tired after the long train journey and, even though I didn't want to impose further disruption to Inge and Arthur's lives, I welcomed the invite...
I also needed a shower badly...
It was early evening, so Inge offered me some soup and we sat down to eat and talk about my trip and adventure in Sweden...and we talked about my future travel plans around Europe once my funds arrived...
It was actually quite nice to be there with Inge and not Arthur...there was no tension in the air...
Then I started opening my mail while Inge watched some telly, there were a couple of letters from Mum and Dad and also a letter from my brother Pepe and my sister Silvia and her husband Tavo …nothing from the Bank...
There was no news about my funds yet, but Dad said he was going to check on that in the next few days...
It was all a bit distressing, but I had to remain calm...
I had a really good night sleep and the next day I got ready to travel down to Roosendaal, once again I said bye to Inge... and she said as I was leaving...
"You know you have a place here to stay if you need to... you can come back any time, just let me know... Ok?"
Wow... that generosity was beyond my understanding, and I thanked her again and walked to the train station...
I caught a train to Amsterdam and then I took a quick 2-hour train ride to Roosendaal...
When I arrived in Roosendaal, Dies was waiting for me at the train station...
"Hey Hector, good to see you again!" he said..."how are you and how was your trip up in Sweden?"
I had previously met Dies, for just one day during a quick day trip when I was living in Zaandam...
We put my bags in his copper colour 'VW Golf' and headed towards his beautiful home...
We talked a bit about my trip on the way and I told him I was expecting my funds to arrive any day soon and he said...
"No problem, you can stay with us as long as you need, we have a spare bedroom"...then he said, "we are both working but you can get around town walking or you can borrow my bike"...
How cool, I thought...
Once again kindness with no strings attached... so uncommon and so valuable...and yet, we may not even truly appreciate it when it is right before our eyes...
Laura, his wife, was waiting for us at his house and welcomed me at the door, showed me to my bedroom and provided me with a clean towel...then she said, "Dinner will be ready soon, I hope you like Chinese food", she was cooking a new dish...and Dies said, "leave your stuff in your room and come out to the back yard and let's have a beer...do you like Heineken?"... I sure do...
Dies had been studying Spanish and wanted to practice...he really was improving...
We had a couple of beers and Laura called us in, she had prepared some Chinese noodles and they asked me, "Do you know how to use Chinese chopsticks to eat?"... Nope, I said... I had never learned or even tried to use them...
So they promptly handed me a pair of chopsticks and showed me how to place them in my hand and how to move them with my fingers to grab some of the noodles and how to transport that into my mouth...it takes some skill to do so, and at first it was quite awkward and the food kept falling off my sticks but after a few tries, I got the hang of it...
Who was to say?... I learned how to use Chinese chopsticks for the first time from a Dutch couple in Roosendaal!!
I had a fantastic goodnight sleep that night...
Somehow, I felt safe and at ease...like staying with family...
After 3 days in Roosendaal, I got news from Mexico!
I spoke with my dad over the phone, and he said my funds would be released on September the 8th, only a few days away, but that the amount wasn't what I expected, in reality, it was going to be about HALF of what I thought it would be!!
No way! I said... How's that possible!?
I was a bit angry... and Dad said, "As soon as we get the funds, we'll transfer them to your account"...
I said thanks to my dad and sent regards to all back home...and started thinking...
-I'm going to have to cut my trip short...
I truly was annoyed but there was nothing I could do...but at last, I was going to get some money...I calculated it to be close to $500 USD...
That would buy me an 'InterRail Pass' (Unlimited trips within Europe) for 1 month and it would allow me to travel on a $10 USD a day budget...
So, I started planning my trip...
I spent a wonderful couple of weeks with the Tolhoeks, a bit bored but nonetheless it was a very peaceful couple of weeks...
I rode around the town a few times by bicycle travelling on their nicely organised cycle paths, while my hosts were at work...it is truly a beautiful small town...
I watched MTV a lot (it was quite popular back then), read my books and wrote a lot of letters...as usual...
We also travelled to Antwerp in Belgium, as it was so close...what a nice town!...
In reality, it was a very peaceful and uneventful time in Roosendaal and once my funds arrived, I said goodbye to Dies and Laura and thanked them for their generosity and Dies said... "I'll be coming to Mexico soon, so I'll see you there some time"...
Thank you, guys, I said...Dies took me to the train station and, we said our goodbyes again...
On September the 17th I went up to Zaandam and left some of my stuff at Inge's place, she said I could do that so that I could travel lighter and then I could pick that up on my way back from touring Europe...
I also collected my mail and the letter from the Bank indicating that my funds were cleared and ready for me to withdraw from my ABN Dutch Bank account...
I was so excited, immediately after retrieving my money I went to buy my InterRail Pass, which cost at that time around $200 USD.
I was ready by September the 19th to embark on a journey that would take me through 8 Countries, making stops in 14 cities... (More on that on my next posts)
I was dying to hit the road again...
I had done a bit of washing in Roosendaal, so I had clean clothes, a Train Pass a bit of cash and my spirits were on a high again!
My 'Grand Europe Tour' was just ahead...and many new adventures were about to reveal themselves...
Let's go travel all over Europe! (Well, nearly...)
September 1981
2 weeks of patience and gratitude...
After saying goodbye to my friends Marie and Lotta in Eslöv, Sweden, I took a short train ride to Malmö to jump on the overnight train that would take me back to Amsterdam.
That 15-hour train ride from Malmö to Amsterdam was rather uneventful, and somehow a bit quiet...
This time I didn't encounter anyone interesting on the train, and fortunately, I found an empty cabin when I got on board...
At least the cabin was empty for some part of the night, so I was able to catch some sleep...until eventually, some other people got into my cabin in the morning...perhaps in Copenhagen, or somewhere else in Denmark...
I lost track of where we were, as I was again pondering what I was going to do for the next few days while my funds from Mexico arrived...
Fortunately, I had been in touch with a friend of my brother's in a small town in the Netherlands called Roosendaal, located close to the border with Belgium...
In those days my brother, Mario, used to work for Philips in Mexico, a multinational Dutch company, whose HQ was located in Eindhoven at that time, a town near Roosendaal, and my brother had made friends with a guy who worked there called Dies Tolheok...anyway, this man and his wife Laura had invited me to stay for a few days with them at my return from Sweden...
So, when I arrived in Amsterdam, I took a quick ride to Zaandam to collect my mail at Arthur's place...
Arthur wasn't home, not sure where he was, but his sister Inge was home and as usual, was very kind to me...
She said... "Welcome back to Holland, how was your trip to Sweden?... Come in come in"...
Then she said, "Arthur's gone away for a few days with some friends, but you can stay the night if you want to, you look pretty tired" and of course...I obliged...
Thank you so much...
I was truly tired after the long train journey and, even though I didn't want to impose further disruption to Inge and Arthur's lives, I welcomed the invite...
I also needed a shower badly...
It was early evening, so Inge offered me some soup and we sat down to eat and talk about my trip and adventure in Sweden...and we talked about my future travel plans around Europe once my funds arrived...
It was actually quite nice to be there with Inge and not Arthur...there was no tension in the air...
Then I started opening my mail while Inge watched some telly, there were a couple of letters from Mum and Dad and also a letter from my brother Pepe and my sister Silvia and her husband Tavo …nothing from the Bank...
There was no news about my funds yet, but Dad said he was going to check on that in the next few days...
It was all a bit distressing, but I had to remain calm...
I had a really good night sleep and the next day I got ready to travel down to Roosendaal, once again I said bye to Inge... and she said as I was leaving...
"You know you have a place here to stay if you need to... you can come back any time, just let me know... Ok?"
Wow... that generosity was beyond my understanding, and I thanked her again and walked to the train station...
I caught a train to Amsterdam and then I took a quick 2-hour train ride to Roosendaal...
When I arrived in Roosendaal, Dies was waiting for me at the train station...
"Hey Hector, good to see you again!" he said..."how are you and how was your trip up in Sweden?"
I had previously met Dies, for just one day during a quick day trip when I was living in Zaandam...
We put my bags in his copper colour 'VW Golf' and headed towards his beautiful home...
We talked a bit about my trip on the way and I told him I was expecting my funds to arrive any day soon and he said...
"No problem, you can stay with us as long as you need, we have a spare bedroom"...then he said, "we are both working but you can get around town walking or you can borrow my bike"...
How cool, I thought...
Once again kindness with no strings attached... so uncommon and so valuable...and yet, we may not even truly appreciate it when it is right before our eyes...
Laura, his wife, was waiting for us at his house and welcomed me at the door, showed me to my bedroom and provided me with a clean towel...then she said, "Dinner will be ready soon, I hope you like Chinese food", she was cooking a new dish...and Dies said, "leave your stuff in your room and come out to the back yard and let's have a beer...do you like Heineken?"... I sure do...
Dies had been studying Spanish and wanted to practice...he really was improving...
We had a couple of beers and Laura called us in, she had prepared some Chinese noodles and they asked me, "Do you know how to use Chinese chopsticks to eat?"... Nope, I said... I had never learned or even tried to use them...
So they promptly handed me a pair of chopsticks and showed me how to place them in my hand and how to move them with my fingers to grab some of the noodles and how to transport that into my mouth...it takes some skill to do so, and at first it was quite awkward and the food kept falling off my sticks but after a few tries, I got the hang of it...
Who was to say?... I learned how to use Chinese chopsticks for the first time from a Dutch couple in Roosendaal!!
I had a fantastic goodnight sleep that night...
Somehow, I felt safe and at ease...like staying with family...
After 3 days in Roosendaal, I got news from Mexico!
I spoke with my dad over the phone, and he said my funds would be released on September the 8th, only a few days away, but that the amount wasn't what I expected, in reality, it was going to be about HALF of what I thought it would be!!
No way! I said... How's that possible!?
I was a bit angry... and Dad said, "As soon as we get the funds, we'll transfer them to your account"...
I said thanks to my dad and sent regards to all back home...and started thinking...
-I'm going to have to cut my trip short...
I truly was annoyed but there was nothing I could do...but at last, I was going to get some money...I calculated it to be close to $500 USD...
That would buy me an 'InterRail Pass' (Unlimited trips within Europe) for 1 month and it would allow me to travel on a $10 USD a day budget...
So, I started planning my trip...
I spent a wonderful couple of weeks with the Tolhoeks, a bit bored but nonetheless it was a very peaceful couple of weeks...
I rode around the town a few times by bicycle travelling on their nicely organised cycle paths, while my hosts were at work...it is truly a beautiful small town...
I watched MTV a lot (it was quite popular back then), read my books and wrote a lot of letters...as usual...
We also travelled to Antwerp in Belgium, as it was so close...what a nice town!...
In reality, it was a very peaceful and uneventful time in Roosendaal and once my funds arrived, I said goodbye to Dies and Laura and thanked them for their generosity and Dies said... "I'll be coming to Mexico soon, so I'll see you there some time"...
Thank you, guys, I said...Dies took me to the train station and, we said our goodbyes again...
On September the 17th I went up to Zaandam and left some of my stuff at Inge's place, she said I could do that so that I could travel lighter and then I could pick that up on my way back from touring Europe...
I also collected my mail and the letter from the Bank indicating that my funds were cleared and ready for me to withdraw from my ABN Dutch Bank account...
I was so excited, immediately after retrieving my money I went to buy my InterRail Pass, which cost at that time around $200 USD.
I was ready by September the 19th to embark on a journey that would take me through 8 Countries, making stops in 14 cities... (More on that on my next posts)
I was dying to hit the road again...
I had done a bit of washing in Roosendaal, so I had clean clothes, a Train Pass a bit of cash and my spirits were on a high again!
My 'Grand Europe Tour' was just ahead...and many new adventures were about to reveal themselves...
Let's go travel all over Europe! (Well, nearly...)
NINETEEN
19. Europe Grand Tour - Part 1
Europe Grand Tour Part 1
September 19 - October 18, 1981
September the 19th came about, and I was so excited!
While I was staying in Roosendaal with the Tolhoeks I started writing down the names of all the places I wanted to visit and planning out my entire journey...and for what I read in my diary, I made precise calculations about my journey (pictured above).
Everything had to be calculated, as my budget was limited, and my timeframe was limited to one month too...
I had to make a list of the cities that I could visit within my limitations, how many days I would spend in each place, how many hours it'd take from one place to another etc...
All calculations had to be done 'Old School' with the help of a travelling book like 'Let's go Europe' or 'Europe on a Shoestring'…
My daily budget was approximately $10 USD per day, and that would cover accommodation and meals... there wasn't much 'wiggle room' for any extras or souvenir shopping...
After leaving Roosendaal I spent a day in Zaandam organizing things... I got my money from the Bank, I got some traveller's cheques, and I bought my InterRail Pass (it cost fl 450 Dutch Guilder, which in those days was the Dutch currency, it was about $200 USD).
As you can see in the map above, I had it all planned out...
One thing I must mention is that one of the rules for the unlimited rides with the InterRail Pass, at that time, was that you could not backtrack to the previous destination, so all stops had to be travelling forward, so I practically did a loop of Europe making stops in 14 cities.
SEE THE GOOGLE MAP HERE
Early in the morning I said goodbye again to Inge and said, I'll be back in a month...
She said..."No problem, enjoy yourself, can't wait to hear all about your adventure around Europe"
My Pass was valid from Sep. 19 to Oct. 18, and I knew there were a couple of special events taking place within those days, one was the famous Oktoberfest in Munich, I definitely wanted to be there, and the other important date was my birthday on October 16...
It was going to be my first birthday abroad and it looked like I was going to be in Madrid for that day...
Anyway, my very first stop after Amsterdam was Brussels, a rather tasteless city, there isn't much I can remember about it...from there I went on to Luxemburg, now, that was a different story, the whole city was so beautiful, and I was so glad I made that stop...I nearly skipped it as not many people mention this city as a must...
From there I went down to Paris...finally Paris, France!
September 19 - October 18, 1981
September the 19th came about, and I was so excited!
While I was staying in Roosendaal with the Tolhoeks I started writing down the names of all the places I wanted to visit and planning out my entire journey...and for what I read in my diary, I made precise calculations about my journey (pictured above).
Everything had to be calculated, as my budget was limited, and my timeframe was limited to one month too...
I had to make a list of the cities that I could visit within my limitations, how many days I would spend in each place, how many hours it'd take from one place to another etc...
All calculations had to be done 'Old School' with the help of a travelling book like 'Let's go Europe' or 'Europe on a Shoestring'…
My daily budget was approximately $10 USD per day, and that would cover accommodation and meals... there wasn't much 'wiggle room' for any extras or souvenir shopping...
After leaving Roosendaal I spent a day in Zaandam organizing things... I got my money from the Bank, I got some traveller's cheques, and I bought my InterRail Pass (it cost fl 450 Dutch Guilder, which in those days was the Dutch currency, it was about $200 USD).
As you can see in the map above, I had it all planned out...
One thing I must mention is that one of the rules for the unlimited rides with the InterRail Pass, at that time, was that you could not backtrack to the previous destination, so all stops had to be travelling forward, so I practically did a loop of Europe making stops in 14 cities.
SEE THE GOOGLE MAP HERE
Early in the morning I said goodbye again to Inge and said, I'll be back in a month...
She said..."No problem, enjoy yourself, can't wait to hear all about your adventure around Europe"
My Pass was valid from Sep. 19 to Oct. 18, and I knew there were a couple of special events taking place within those days, one was the famous Oktoberfest in Munich, I definitely wanted to be there, and the other important date was my birthday on October 16...
It was going to be my first birthday abroad and it looked like I was going to be in Madrid for that day...
Anyway, my very first stop after Amsterdam was Brussels, a rather tasteless city, there isn't much I can remember about it...from there I went on to Luxemburg, now, that was a different story, the whole city was so beautiful, and I was so glad I made that stop...I nearly skipped it as not many people mention this city as a must...
From there I went down to Paris...finally Paris, France!
Paris
Wow, what a beautiful city!!
Just like everyone else, I visited the must-do sights of Paris, The Eiffel Tower, The Notre-dame Cathedral, and the Louvre Museum... all extremely impressive places that didn't disappoint at all.
I was also able to catch up with Alicia Vazquez, a friend of mine and sort of relative from Mexico, she was studying there for a while...
Overall, Paris was a great stop!
After 3 days in Paris, I took a train to the overly immaculate and organized Genève and then went to Bern, in Switzerland...where I made my only souvenir purchase...
I bought myself my Victorinox Swiss Army Knife with only the basics but most useful tools...
I still have it!...
Wow, what a beautiful city!!
Just like everyone else, I visited the must-do sights of Paris, The Eiffel Tower, The Notre-dame Cathedral, and the Louvre Museum... all extremely impressive places that didn't disappoint at all.
I was also able to catch up with Alicia Vazquez, a friend of mine and sort of relative from Mexico, she was studying there for a while...
Overall, Paris was a great stop!
After 3 days in Paris, I took a train to the overly immaculate and organized Genève and then went to Bern, in Switzerland...where I made my only souvenir purchase...
I bought myself my Victorinox Swiss Army Knife with only the basics but most useful tools...
I still have it!...
Munich
Then, I took the overnight train to Munich, for the Oktoberfest which took place from September 14 to October 4...
I had never seen anything like that in my life!
There were thousands of people happily drinking beer, walking from one open-air marquee to another to try different beers and listen to different bands playing traditional German music all day long...
Many people go to this festival every year thus budget accommodation availability is practically nonexistent!
The only places available were way out of my budget, so I decided to spend the whole day at the festival together with other friends I'd met on the train from Ireland, then late at night, around midnight, we caught the last overnight train to Vienna, so I saved on 2 nights accommodation, one from Bern to Munich and the one to Vienna, that allowed me to have enough money to buy a couple of beers at the festival, and had a bratwurst sausage on bread...oddly delicious...
Then, I took the overnight train to Munich, for the Oktoberfest which took place from September 14 to October 4...
I had never seen anything like that in my life!
There were thousands of people happily drinking beer, walking from one open-air marquee to another to try different beers and listen to different bands playing traditional German music all day long...
Many people go to this festival every year thus budget accommodation availability is practically nonexistent!
The only places available were way out of my budget, so I decided to spend the whole day at the festival together with other friends I'd met on the train from Ireland, then late at night, around midnight, we caught the last overnight train to Vienna, so I saved on 2 nights accommodation, one from Bern to Munich and the one to Vienna, that allowed me to have enough money to buy a couple of beers at the festival, and had a bratwurst sausage on bread...oddly delicious...
Vienna
We arrived in Vienna at around 6 am, I was shattered.
I didn't sleep much because the train was full and I ended up sleeping on the floor in a corridor, just like some others on the train...so people were walking over us as we were travelling...
After getting there, I and my Irish friends found a guest house where we could stay for the night, we dropped our gear there and went to have a look around the beautiful city of Vienna...I truly didn't know what to expect...
We got rather lost, but I must say that if there was ever a city where getting lost was the best thing to do, is Vienna, it is like you are walking through a museum, there are hundreds of old and beautiful buildings everywhere you look...
I was in absolute awe as I didn't quite expect that...
It is like you are playing a part in an 'old theatre play' and the baroque streetscapes and imperial palaces are the stage...
The next day we got some fresh bread and cheese from a small local delicatessen, and we went to have a picnic in a beautiful park and then, we parted ways, my Irish friends were heading back home through Germany and France, and I decided to go to Venice, Italy next...
It was actually great fun having a couple of new friends to hang out with for a couple of days...
I spent the rest of my stay in Vienna admiring the city on my own and then took another overnight train...
I was now eager to see Italy...More on that on my next story...
AUF WIEDERSEHEN WIEN...Goodbye Vienna...
It was a wonderful and unexpected surprise!
We arrived in Vienna at around 6 am, I was shattered.
I didn't sleep much because the train was full and I ended up sleeping on the floor in a corridor, just like some others on the train...so people were walking over us as we were travelling...
After getting there, I and my Irish friends found a guest house where we could stay for the night, we dropped our gear there and went to have a look around the beautiful city of Vienna...I truly didn't know what to expect...
We got rather lost, but I must say that if there was ever a city where getting lost was the best thing to do, is Vienna, it is like you are walking through a museum, there are hundreds of old and beautiful buildings everywhere you look...
I was in absolute awe as I didn't quite expect that...
It is like you are playing a part in an 'old theatre play' and the baroque streetscapes and imperial palaces are the stage...
The next day we got some fresh bread and cheese from a small local delicatessen, and we went to have a picnic in a beautiful park and then, we parted ways, my Irish friends were heading back home through Germany and France, and I decided to go to Venice, Italy next...
It was actually great fun having a couple of new friends to hang out with for a couple of days...
I spent the rest of my stay in Vienna admiring the city on my own and then took another overnight train...
I was now eager to see Italy...More on that on my next story...
AUF WIEDERSEHEN WIEN...Goodbye Vienna...
It was a wonderful and unexpected surprise!
TWENTY
20. Europe Grand Tour - Part 2
ITALY!
CIAO VENEZIA!
I was quite tired from roaming around Vienna after a whole afternoon on my own, so when I got to the train station to get on an overnight train to Venice, I was ready to crash for a while...
The overnight train to Venice was exactly what I needed to recover, it took about 9 or 10 hours to get to St Lucia station in Venice...
I remember that it was quite a sight to see first thing in the morning...crossing from mainland Italy to Venice through the causeway/bridge...and... onto a town made of 118 Islands!
Here are some facts about Venice which one must observe as it is a unique city and there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world, in many ways:
Venice is built on more than 118 small islands and linked by over 400 bridges in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. The central square, Piazza San Marco, contains St. Mark’s Basilica, which is tiled with Byzantine mosaics, and the Campanile bell tower offering views of the city’s red roofs.
Did you know all that?
Well, I didn't at that time, all I knew was that it was a city full of romantic canals and gondolas, not much more than that...
After arriving at the St Lucia train station, I took a waterbus (Vaporetto) to a Youth Hostel, right across the canal from the world-famous San Marco Plaza...
Just being on one of those Vaporetti (plural) was a unique experience, I was in love with Venice from the moment I arrived.
Venice didn't disappoint at all, it is all you have seen in pictures or movies, the canals, the bridges the beautiful architecture, it is all fabulous.
I walked everywhere where I could walk, going over those small bridges where the gondolas travel through, just like I imagined them to be.
The Piazza San Marco was packed with tourists, so I didn't want to stay there for long, but it is a must-see place, it was also covered with pigeons and pigeons' poo, you definitely were walking at the mercy of the pigeons who can drop their load on you any time while you are there... I know...I got hit!
Venice was also the first place where I had my very first Italian handmade woodfired Pizza...I had saved a bit of money for this as they were a bit over my budget and was a bit disappointed...maybe I should've known what to expect...
They served me the pizza on a large single plate, with a knife and a fork...hmmm, I asked the waiter, what are this for? and he looked at me like I was crazy, and he explained with his hands, it is to eat, then he said in Italian "Mangia mangia" (eat eat) …
This was a new experience for me... I always thought that to eat a pizza you grab the slice with your hand and go for it but this one wasn't thick enough in the centre so the tip of the slice would drop when you grabbed it, pretty flimsy I'd say...So, then I understood why the cutlery...
I was a bit disappointed as I'd never eaten pizza like this before, nevertheless, it was somehow delicious anyway...
After a day and a half in Venice, it was time to go to Rome!
CIAO VENEZIA!
I was quite tired from roaming around Vienna after a whole afternoon on my own, so when I got to the train station to get on an overnight train to Venice, I was ready to crash for a while...
The overnight train to Venice was exactly what I needed to recover, it took about 9 or 10 hours to get to St Lucia station in Venice...
I remember that it was quite a sight to see first thing in the morning...crossing from mainland Italy to Venice through the causeway/bridge...and... onto a town made of 118 Islands!
Here are some facts about Venice which one must observe as it is a unique city and there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world, in many ways:
Venice is built on more than 118 small islands and linked by over 400 bridges in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. The central square, Piazza San Marco, contains St. Mark’s Basilica, which is tiled with Byzantine mosaics, and the Campanile bell tower offering views of the city’s red roofs.
Did you know all that?
Well, I didn't at that time, all I knew was that it was a city full of romantic canals and gondolas, not much more than that...
After arriving at the St Lucia train station, I took a waterbus (Vaporetto) to a Youth Hostel, right across the canal from the world-famous San Marco Plaza...
Just being on one of those Vaporetti (plural) was a unique experience, I was in love with Venice from the moment I arrived.
Venice didn't disappoint at all, it is all you have seen in pictures or movies, the canals, the bridges the beautiful architecture, it is all fabulous.
I walked everywhere where I could walk, going over those small bridges where the gondolas travel through, just like I imagined them to be.
The Piazza San Marco was packed with tourists, so I didn't want to stay there for long, but it is a must-see place, it was also covered with pigeons and pigeons' poo, you definitely were walking at the mercy of the pigeons who can drop their load on you any time while you are there... I know...I got hit!
Venice was also the first place where I had my very first Italian handmade woodfired Pizza...I had saved a bit of money for this as they were a bit over my budget and was a bit disappointed...maybe I should've known what to expect...
They served me the pizza on a large single plate, with a knife and a fork...hmmm, I asked the waiter, what are this for? and he looked at me like I was crazy, and he explained with his hands, it is to eat, then he said in Italian "Mangia mangia" (eat eat) …
This was a new experience for me... I always thought that to eat a pizza you grab the slice with your hand and go for it but this one wasn't thick enough in the centre so the tip of the slice would drop when you grabbed it, pretty flimsy I'd say...So, then I understood why the cutlery...
I was a bit disappointed as I'd never eaten pizza like this before, nevertheless, it was somehow delicious anyway...
After a day and a half in Venice, it was time to go to Rome!
Ciao Roma!
I couldn't wait to see this place; I had some serious expectations about it!
I took an early morning scenic train ride to Rome, and it was amazing!
Arriving in Rome was a bit of a shock though, the Roma Termini is huge!
So that in itself told me I was in for a few surprises, nonetheless, it was clean and well organized by Italian standards, so not everything was as meticulously organised as it would've been in Munich, for instance.
From the station I took a bus to a Youth Hostel where the staff guys were more interested in impressing the Swedish girls that were arriving than giving me any attention...they were a bit up themselves, but I guess that's how they are in Rome...
After I had waited for a while, I said...Excuse me!... A reception guy looked at me with disdain ...as if I had interrupted him and said..."Yes, can I help you?" Yes, I said, I need a bed for 2 nights...and nearly reluctantly he sorted my bed and room and indicated where it was...
After leaving my stuff in my room I headed out to the big city to see the most important sights, I only had 2 days there, so I had to move fast.
That first afternoon I went to the Fontana di Trevi, what a magical place! and yes, of course, I threw a coin in as everyone else does, they say it brings you good luck...
The next day it was time for the Colosseum, and the forum... yes! It is as majestic as you imagine it to be, hard to believe this structure was built so long ago and its purpose...you can read more about it here https://www.thecolosseum.org/facts/
Then I headed towards the Vatican in the afternoon, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, wow, another impressive place...
Saint Peter's Basilica, is a church built in the Renaissance style, erected over the tomb of St Peter the Apostle, is the largest religious building in the world, the fruit of the combined genius of Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bernini, and Maderno.
It is truly mind-blowing, the paintings and sculptures alike inside are breathtaking...
Rome was, without a doubt, an impressive place in many ways...especially culturally, however, the local Romans' attitude, I'm referring to the men, was a bit arrogant and self-centered, in my opinion, and I wanted to leave town pronto...
So, I left early the day after to catch a train to the beautiful city of Florence!...
I couldn't wait to see this place; I had some serious expectations about it!
I took an early morning scenic train ride to Rome, and it was amazing!
Arriving in Rome was a bit of a shock though, the Roma Termini is huge!
So that in itself told me I was in for a few surprises, nonetheless, it was clean and well organized by Italian standards, so not everything was as meticulously organised as it would've been in Munich, for instance.
From the station I took a bus to a Youth Hostel where the staff guys were more interested in impressing the Swedish girls that were arriving than giving me any attention...they were a bit up themselves, but I guess that's how they are in Rome...
After I had waited for a while, I said...Excuse me!... A reception guy looked at me with disdain ...as if I had interrupted him and said..."Yes, can I help you?" Yes, I said, I need a bed for 2 nights...and nearly reluctantly he sorted my bed and room and indicated where it was...
After leaving my stuff in my room I headed out to the big city to see the most important sights, I only had 2 days there, so I had to move fast.
That first afternoon I went to the Fontana di Trevi, what a magical place! and yes, of course, I threw a coin in as everyone else does, they say it brings you good luck...
The next day it was time for the Colosseum, and the forum... yes! It is as majestic as you imagine it to be, hard to believe this structure was built so long ago and its purpose...you can read more about it here https://www.thecolosseum.org/facts/
Then I headed towards the Vatican in the afternoon, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, wow, another impressive place...
Saint Peter's Basilica, is a church built in the Renaissance style, erected over the tomb of St Peter the Apostle, is the largest religious building in the world, the fruit of the combined genius of Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bernini, and Maderno.
It is truly mind-blowing, the paintings and sculptures alike inside are breathtaking...
Rome was, without a doubt, an impressive place in many ways...especially culturally, however, the local Romans' attitude, I'm referring to the men, was a bit arrogant and self-centered, in my opinion, and I wanted to leave town pronto...
So, I left early the day after to catch a train to the beautiful city of Florence!...
Ciao Firenze!
Wow...what a place!
Florence is a gorgeous city...no matter where you look there's something beautiful to see...and people are extremely friendly, unlike Rome...
These are some of the places I went to:
1- The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is the world-famous Florence Cathedral. This beautiful cathedral dates back to the 13th century, and it's been built in the gothic style.
2- The Ponte Vecchio is an old, medieval bridge over the Arno River. The bridge dates back to medieval times when it was popular to have shops along the bridge. The Ponte Vecchio has 3 arches.
The bridge still houses the shops and is usually busy with tourists.
It's best to view the Ponte Vecchio from afar, such as from Michelangelo Hill...which is what we did.
I made some friends at the Youth Hostel, and we went to see the sights...and at lunchtime, we bought some bread and cheese and went up the hill, wow! Magnificent views from up there, what a place! (See picture below) …
Then we went to see an unmissable sight...
3- Michelangelo's David...
The famous marble statue of David was created by Michelangelo in the 16th century. The statue is located in Galleria dell' Accademia in Florence.
I spent most of the 2 days in Florence walking and looking around this marvellous city and didn't really want to leave, but the clock was ticking so I had to go... to my last whistle-blow stop in Milano...
I simply went there to spend a day and catch an overnight train to Barcelona, Spain...more on that in my next post...
I arrived in Milano at midday, and the weather was not very inviting to go sightseeing, so I stayed at the train station, met some people and had a pizza slice...cold and nasty, I'll never forget that...as the vendor wanted more money to just heat it up...it was already a bit pricey, and when I asked he said "You want it heated? that's an extra mile lira"...he said arrogantly... so I said, never mind...it was like eating last night's pizza that was still sitting in the box...
I was tired so didn't want to look around anymore or argue with the man.
Anyhow, Italy was indeed a wonderful place to visit, even though some Italians have a 'unique attitude', there are some others that were just wonderful...and of all the places I visited in Italy, Florence, takes number 1 followed by Venice and then Rome...
Ciao Italia...It's been a wonderful visit to your gorgeous and historic places...
Ciao Bella!
Wow...what a place!
Florence is a gorgeous city...no matter where you look there's something beautiful to see...and people are extremely friendly, unlike Rome...
These are some of the places I went to:
1- The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is the world-famous Florence Cathedral. This beautiful cathedral dates back to the 13th century, and it's been built in the gothic style.
2- The Ponte Vecchio is an old, medieval bridge over the Arno River. The bridge dates back to medieval times when it was popular to have shops along the bridge. The Ponte Vecchio has 3 arches.
The bridge still houses the shops and is usually busy with tourists.
It's best to view the Ponte Vecchio from afar, such as from Michelangelo Hill...which is what we did.
I made some friends at the Youth Hostel, and we went to see the sights...and at lunchtime, we bought some bread and cheese and went up the hill, wow! Magnificent views from up there, what a place! (See picture below) …
Then we went to see an unmissable sight...
3- Michelangelo's David...
The famous marble statue of David was created by Michelangelo in the 16th century. The statue is located in Galleria dell' Accademia in Florence.
I spent most of the 2 days in Florence walking and looking around this marvellous city and didn't really want to leave, but the clock was ticking so I had to go... to my last whistle-blow stop in Milano...
I simply went there to spend a day and catch an overnight train to Barcelona, Spain...more on that in my next post...
I arrived in Milano at midday, and the weather was not very inviting to go sightseeing, so I stayed at the train station, met some people and had a pizza slice...cold and nasty, I'll never forget that...as the vendor wanted more money to just heat it up...it was already a bit pricey, and when I asked he said "You want it heated? that's an extra mile lira"...he said arrogantly... so I said, never mind...it was like eating last night's pizza that was still sitting in the box...
I was tired so didn't want to look around anymore or argue with the man.
Anyhow, Italy was indeed a wonderful place to visit, even though some Italians have a 'unique attitude', there are some others that were just wonderful...and of all the places I visited in Italy, Florence, takes number 1 followed by Venice and then Rome...
Ciao Italia...It's been a wonderful visit to your gorgeous and historic places...
Ciao Bella!
TWENTY-ONE
21. Europe Grand Tour - Part 3
SPAIN
Barcelona
The beginning of my last leg started with an overnight train from Milan to Barcelona, Spain, a 15-hour ride.
I was eagerly looking forward to visiting the land where my family ancestors had come from many generations back...
I wanted to see a couple of important cities in Spain, Barcelona, and Madrid.
It was a long and disrupted journey as we had to change trains somewhere in the middle of the night when we first arrived in Spain, for at that time the width of the railroad of Spain was slightly wider than the French... (Not sure if it is still the same now)
Anyhow, we arrived in Barcelona in the morning, and I headed towards a nice Youth Hostel near Las Ramblas, a famous promenade/boulevard which runs through the heart of the city centre street for about 1 km and is lined with beautiful trees.
'Las Ramblas' is quite a lively pedestrian-only street with lots of activities and street performers, food stalls and outdoor cafes and some artists, creating some paintings or drawings and various kinds of art on the spot.
After leaving my stuff at the Youth Hostel I was ready to spend the day in the Spanish for Gothic Quarter...
I was hungry so I walked into a bar/café to see if I could get something to eat...
I remember this well because there were some people in the bar speaking Catalan, no one spoke Spanish in that place, even though we were in Spain, Catalonia has its own language, I knew that, but it caught me by surprise first thing in the morning...
The bartender looked at me and said something in Catalan, and I said in Spanish, Sorry I don't understand...to which he rapidly responded in Spanish and said, "Ah, are you, Mexican?" Yes, I said, how did you know? "I can tell by the accent, manito"...he replied, using that term we sometimes use in Mexico to call someone a friend...
He smiled and said, "Is this your first time in Barcelona? What can I get you?"
I said, I'd like to eat something for breakfast, I looked around and I could see people drinking coffee and brandy! I was looking at them in disbelief, I'd never seen that first thing in the morning... then he said, "I can get you a nice sandwich, would you like that?"
Yes, please, then he asked... "Would you like a carajillo? (Pronounced cara-hiyo) I said, what's that? then he said, "It is coffee with a bit of Brandy in it, have you tried it before?" I said, never, then he said, "well as it is your first time, I'll get you one and it is on the house!"...
Some other people walked in, and he said to them as he fixed me a carajillo, "Hey, look, we have a visitor from Mexico, he's having his first carajillo!" Everyone was all smiles and they all welcomed me to Barcelona, they all seemed to know each other well, they must've been regulars to this bar, and they all ordered carajillos to drink with me...It was quite nice, extremely delicious, and rather sweet, and the touch of brandy made it hit my head right away and definitely woke my senses up...
My toasted sandwich was also delicious, made with fresh ham and, unbeknown to me, I had just experienced a typical morning in Spain, which for many is their everyday ritual...
I spent the rest of the day walking through the Ramblas and admiring some of the sensational architecture of the Gothic quarter, so colourful, so quirky, so gothic, so unusual, all of which made Barcelona a unique place in the world...
Then, the next day, I went to see the unfinished 'La Sagrada Familia Basilica', an amazing piece of art itself... designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi...wow, I was blown away!
Here's a bit of info on this place: It has been under construction since 1882...Gaudi died in June 1926 after being struck by a tram and was buried in the church crypt. Work on the basilica is about 70 per cent complete (at the time I'm writing this, November 2021).
Now there is a new license to carry on with the construction of this magnificent place, New Zealand architect Mark Burry was the senior architect and researcher at the church from 1979 to 2016 and has been commissioned to carry out this task.
Burry decided to employ the same drafting technology to solve Sagrada Familia's thorniest engineering challenges on computers before casting them in concrete, iron, and stone.
For such an old construction project, today's Sagrada Familia is remarkably high-tech (learn more). In addition to using the latest virtual modelling software, components are prototyped using 3-D printers, and architects can explore and interact with digital models using virtual reality.
Because of these technological and engineering advances, the current chief architect of the Sagrada Familia, Jordi Faulí, is confident that Gaudi’s grandiose structure — including the tallest church spire in the world at 566 feet (173 meters) — will finally be completed in 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death.
After this wonderful visit to Barcelona, it was time to go to Madrid...
Barcelona
The beginning of my last leg started with an overnight train from Milan to Barcelona, Spain, a 15-hour ride.
I was eagerly looking forward to visiting the land where my family ancestors had come from many generations back...
I wanted to see a couple of important cities in Spain, Barcelona, and Madrid.
It was a long and disrupted journey as we had to change trains somewhere in the middle of the night when we first arrived in Spain, for at that time the width of the railroad of Spain was slightly wider than the French... (Not sure if it is still the same now)
Anyhow, we arrived in Barcelona in the morning, and I headed towards a nice Youth Hostel near Las Ramblas, a famous promenade/boulevard which runs through the heart of the city centre street for about 1 km and is lined with beautiful trees.
'Las Ramblas' is quite a lively pedestrian-only street with lots of activities and street performers, food stalls and outdoor cafes and some artists, creating some paintings or drawings and various kinds of art on the spot.
After leaving my stuff at the Youth Hostel I was ready to spend the day in the Spanish for Gothic Quarter...
I was hungry so I walked into a bar/café to see if I could get something to eat...
I remember this well because there were some people in the bar speaking Catalan, no one spoke Spanish in that place, even though we were in Spain, Catalonia has its own language, I knew that, but it caught me by surprise first thing in the morning...
The bartender looked at me and said something in Catalan, and I said in Spanish, Sorry I don't understand...to which he rapidly responded in Spanish and said, "Ah, are you, Mexican?" Yes, I said, how did you know? "I can tell by the accent, manito"...he replied, using that term we sometimes use in Mexico to call someone a friend...
He smiled and said, "Is this your first time in Barcelona? What can I get you?"
I said, I'd like to eat something for breakfast, I looked around and I could see people drinking coffee and brandy! I was looking at them in disbelief, I'd never seen that first thing in the morning... then he said, "I can get you a nice sandwich, would you like that?"
Yes, please, then he asked... "Would you like a carajillo? (Pronounced cara-hiyo) I said, what's that? then he said, "It is coffee with a bit of Brandy in it, have you tried it before?" I said, never, then he said, "well as it is your first time, I'll get you one and it is on the house!"...
Some other people walked in, and he said to them as he fixed me a carajillo, "Hey, look, we have a visitor from Mexico, he's having his first carajillo!" Everyone was all smiles and they all welcomed me to Barcelona, they all seemed to know each other well, they must've been regulars to this bar, and they all ordered carajillos to drink with me...It was quite nice, extremely delicious, and rather sweet, and the touch of brandy made it hit my head right away and definitely woke my senses up...
My toasted sandwich was also delicious, made with fresh ham and, unbeknown to me, I had just experienced a typical morning in Spain, which for many is their everyday ritual...
I spent the rest of the day walking through the Ramblas and admiring some of the sensational architecture of the Gothic quarter, so colourful, so quirky, so gothic, so unusual, all of which made Barcelona a unique place in the world...
Then, the next day, I went to see the unfinished 'La Sagrada Familia Basilica', an amazing piece of art itself... designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi...wow, I was blown away!
Here's a bit of info on this place: It has been under construction since 1882...Gaudi died in June 1926 after being struck by a tram and was buried in the church crypt. Work on the basilica is about 70 per cent complete (at the time I'm writing this, November 2021).
Now there is a new license to carry on with the construction of this magnificent place, New Zealand architect Mark Burry was the senior architect and researcher at the church from 1979 to 2016 and has been commissioned to carry out this task.
Burry decided to employ the same drafting technology to solve Sagrada Familia's thorniest engineering challenges on computers before casting them in concrete, iron, and stone.
For such an old construction project, today's Sagrada Familia is remarkably high-tech (learn more). In addition to using the latest virtual modelling software, components are prototyped using 3-D printers, and architects can explore and interact with digital models using virtual reality.
Because of these technological and engineering advances, the current chief architect of the Sagrada Familia, Jordi Faulí, is confident that Gaudi’s grandiose structure — including the tallest church spire in the world at 566 feet (173 meters) — will finally be completed in 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death.
After this wonderful visit to Barcelona, it was time to go to Madrid...
Madrid
I had truly no idea what it would be like, but I knew there was a museum I wanted to visit, the Prado Museum.
I got there on October 15 in the evening and got all set at the Youth Hostel...
The next day, October 16, was my 21st birthday...
There was no one there to sing me happy birthday to you, no one knew it was my birthday but me...
It was my very first birthday away from home and it was just...another day...
If I had been in Mexico, I would've been woken up with the 'Mañanitas', a Mexican song we sing for someone's birthday...my Mum or Dad would normally play a record by Pedro Infante, a popular Mexican singer from my parent's generation. Every year they played that first thing in the morning to all in our family, whose birthday was that day... Mum would go up to my room or I'd come down the stairs and there were usually a present or two... and mum would always ask me, "what would you like for dinner?"... As my Birthday treat... so, I'd ask for whatever I felt like, it might have been bean soup, and meatballs or chicken taquitos...
Anyway, that 21st birthday nothing like that took place...but to be frank I was not too sad that day, I had already been prepared and had decided what I was going to do to celebrate, and it was going to be my most unusual and totally 'unlike me' day...
I was going to spend the day in a museum! What!?, I must be going crazy!
It was a special day and it had to be spent in a unique way and the Prado Museum was that and more!
I genuinely surprised myself… I could've even shouted to myself...Surprise!!
I must admit, it was a magnificent day...
I walked into the museum knowing I was going to see the magnificent works by Velazquez, Goya, El Greco, Rubens, and many others, I invite you to view here some of the highlights of this museum... https://vimeo.com/648140614/f7462756b3
At this stage, this museum was the fourth major museum I was visiting during this year abroad and I had learned through experience how to behave in a museum and had learned how to pause to appreciate some of the works...however, I still struggled to be standing still too long at each of the most impressive paintings...I was a bit impatient still...
I remember thinking...I've spent my birthday in a museum, I must be growing up...
The next day I went to see the Royal Palace and some other sights, and I was ready to head back up north, to Holland, however, there was one more stop I wanted to make...
Bruges, in Belgium.
I had truly no idea what it would be like, but I knew there was a museum I wanted to visit, the Prado Museum.
I got there on October 15 in the evening and got all set at the Youth Hostel...
The next day, October 16, was my 21st birthday...
There was no one there to sing me happy birthday to you, no one knew it was my birthday but me...
It was my very first birthday away from home and it was just...another day...
If I had been in Mexico, I would've been woken up with the 'Mañanitas', a Mexican song we sing for someone's birthday...my Mum or Dad would normally play a record by Pedro Infante, a popular Mexican singer from my parent's generation. Every year they played that first thing in the morning to all in our family, whose birthday was that day... Mum would go up to my room or I'd come down the stairs and there were usually a present or two... and mum would always ask me, "what would you like for dinner?"... As my Birthday treat... so, I'd ask for whatever I felt like, it might have been bean soup, and meatballs or chicken taquitos...
Anyway, that 21st birthday nothing like that took place...but to be frank I was not too sad that day, I had already been prepared and had decided what I was going to do to celebrate, and it was going to be my most unusual and totally 'unlike me' day...
I was going to spend the day in a museum! What!?, I must be going crazy!
It was a special day and it had to be spent in a unique way and the Prado Museum was that and more!
I genuinely surprised myself… I could've even shouted to myself...Surprise!!
I must admit, it was a magnificent day...
I walked into the museum knowing I was going to see the magnificent works by Velazquez, Goya, El Greco, Rubens, and many others, I invite you to view here some of the highlights of this museum... https://vimeo.com/648140614/f7462756b3
At this stage, this museum was the fourth major museum I was visiting during this year abroad and I had learned through experience how to behave in a museum and had learned how to pause to appreciate some of the works...however, I still struggled to be standing still too long at each of the most impressive paintings...I was a bit impatient still...
I remember thinking...I've spent my birthday in a museum, I must be growing up...
The next day I went to see the Royal Palace and some other sights, and I was ready to head back up north, to Holland, however, there was one more stop I wanted to make...
Bruges, in Belgium.
Bruges, Belgium
So, once again saving on accommodation with another overnight train, I travelled up to Brussels and then onto Bruges... A 15-hour journey, which was quite uneventful, so I was able to rest just fine...
Bruges...wow!
It is distinguished by its canals, cobbled streets and medieval buildings from the 13th and 14th-century...
It feels like you are walking back in time, and it is hard to believe this town still exists...During WW2, it was occupied by the Germans and spared complete destruction, I believe...
It is an incredibly beautiful town, and I wanted to try a couple of their traditional treats, their Belgium Waffles, and their famous Trappist beer…It is a type of beer brewed inside the walls of a functioning monastery by – or under the supervision of – monks.
I chose to spend my money on Belgium Waffles!
However, I came across a couple from Mexico while I was walking through the beautiful town, I heard them talking in that uniquely ‘Mexican way’ of talking so I knew they were from my hometown...and I said hello to them in Spanish, and said… Mexicans? and they said, "yes, we are, and you?”
Yup, same here, we got talking and then they said they were going to go into a PUB to try the Trappist beer, and said, “want to come along?” …I said, sorry I'm skinned can't afford that...
"No problem," they said, "we are in celebration mode, it is our honeymoon, "we'll shout you a beer, let's go!" Cool, thanks so much I said, and we went into a great looking traditional Belgium PUB...
The beer we tried was rather unique, a Trappist draft beer with grenadine, it was a bit sweet and was a bit high in alcohol, I think about 21%, and I hadn't eaten anything, I hadn't even had my waffles!
I felt a bit drunk pretty quickly and as we walked out of the bar, I said goodbye and thank you to my Mexican friends, and even though we said, 'let's catch up some time when we get back to Mexico', as you do in most cases when you meet someone from back home, we have never met again...
It is funny how I kept coming across good Samaritans along my journey and in fact, I've come across so many of them all along throughout my life...lucky me...
After that I had something to eat and had my waffles, I don't remember how good or not they were... I was still a bit drunk...and having something sweet after drinking is not exactly a clever idea…
The next day I headed back to Amsterdam and Zaandam...it was October the 18th, exactly the last day of validity of my InterRail pass...and the end of my Europe Grand Tour... It was time to collect the rest of my stuff from Zaandam and say my last goodbye to Arthur and Inge, who generously opened their door one last time for me that night...
I'm back I said, they were expecting me...I walked in, and we stayed talking until quite late that night about my trip, and my experiences.
Arthur got pretty excited about my story and said he would do a similar tour himself in the near future...
The next day we said our last ‘goodbyes’ and I headed back to Amsterdam. I stayed there for a couple of days before travelling back to London by bus where a few days later I'd be catching my plane to Houston, USA... and then back to Mexico...
The end of my journey was approaching...
So, once again saving on accommodation with another overnight train, I travelled up to Brussels and then onto Bruges... A 15-hour journey, which was quite uneventful, so I was able to rest just fine...
Bruges...wow!
It is distinguished by its canals, cobbled streets and medieval buildings from the 13th and 14th-century...
It feels like you are walking back in time, and it is hard to believe this town still exists...During WW2, it was occupied by the Germans and spared complete destruction, I believe...
It is an incredibly beautiful town, and I wanted to try a couple of their traditional treats, their Belgium Waffles, and their famous Trappist beer…It is a type of beer brewed inside the walls of a functioning monastery by – or under the supervision of – monks.
I chose to spend my money on Belgium Waffles!
However, I came across a couple from Mexico while I was walking through the beautiful town, I heard them talking in that uniquely ‘Mexican way’ of talking so I knew they were from my hometown...and I said hello to them in Spanish, and said… Mexicans? and they said, "yes, we are, and you?”
Yup, same here, we got talking and then they said they were going to go into a PUB to try the Trappist beer, and said, “want to come along?” …I said, sorry I'm skinned can't afford that...
"No problem," they said, "we are in celebration mode, it is our honeymoon, "we'll shout you a beer, let's go!" Cool, thanks so much I said, and we went into a great looking traditional Belgium PUB...
The beer we tried was rather unique, a Trappist draft beer with grenadine, it was a bit sweet and was a bit high in alcohol, I think about 21%, and I hadn't eaten anything, I hadn't even had my waffles!
I felt a bit drunk pretty quickly and as we walked out of the bar, I said goodbye and thank you to my Mexican friends, and even though we said, 'let's catch up some time when we get back to Mexico', as you do in most cases when you meet someone from back home, we have never met again...
It is funny how I kept coming across good Samaritans along my journey and in fact, I've come across so many of them all along throughout my life...lucky me...
After that I had something to eat and had my waffles, I don't remember how good or not they were... I was still a bit drunk...and having something sweet after drinking is not exactly a clever idea…
The next day I headed back to Amsterdam and Zaandam...it was October the 18th, exactly the last day of validity of my InterRail pass...and the end of my Europe Grand Tour... It was time to collect the rest of my stuff from Zaandam and say my last goodbye to Arthur and Inge, who generously opened their door one last time for me that night...
I'm back I said, they were expecting me...I walked in, and we stayed talking until quite late that night about my trip, and my experiences.
Arthur got pretty excited about my story and said he would do a similar tour himself in the near future...
The next day we said our last ‘goodbyes’ and I headed back to Amsterdam. I stayed there for a couple of days before travelling back to London by bus where a few days later I'd be catching my plane to Houston, USA... and then back to Mexico...
The end of my journey was approaching...
TWENTY-TWO
22. Heading back home
Heading back home...
I had just been over 10 months away from home, in Europe and the Middle East and sadly, it was time to head back home...
I was getting close to the very bottom of my funds, and I had just enough money to get to Heathrow Airport in London, after crossing the English Channel on October 22, 1981
When I finally arrived at Heathrow I had no money, I couldn't even get anything to eat at the airport, I was literally waiting for my meal on the plane...
I was ready to jump on my flight back to Houston, Texas...
It was going to be a 9-hour flight on a '747 *Pan-Am Jumbo Jet', and I was looking forward to a restful flight, after having a meal that is... I was so hungry and really tired, and I was afraid I would fall asleep and miss my meal. I remember asking the guy sitting next to me to wake me up if I was asleep when the food arrived, he said "No problem, I'll wake you" he said... and before I knew it, I was fast asleep...
(*Pan Am, was once one of the largest Airlines in the world, they went out of business in December 1991)
It had been an exhausting journey so far on that particular day, to say the least...First, a bus ride from Amsterdam to London, crossing on a ferry from Calais directly to Dover and from there onto Victoria Station in London and then a train ride to Heathrow Airport... altogether about 16 hours...
All those hours on the road helped me reflect on my 'previously unimaginable adventure' around Europe and the Middle East...
Without a doubt, it had been an amazing adventure, with lots of challenges along the way but somehow, I managed to overcome them.
I had definitely changed a bit and had broken several paradigms I had been brought up with, even the tiny but significant paradigm of "dancing without a partner" ...
Things were going to be different from this adventure onwards in my life...
Freedom to travel to different countries and unusual places, while making friends who opened up their homes and hearts to me along the way without prejudging me or qualifying me based on my socioeconomic background or status, was truly something I fell in love with...
After this journey, I was left wanting more of that, not only in the near future but for the rest of my life.
Conventional life was not in my sights any time soon, and I was keen to learn and explore the rest of the world on my terms...
While I was in Amsterdam I started making my travel arrangements, booked a bus ride to London and my flight back from London to Houston and also contacted my brother Mario, who had just moved a few months back to a town near the border with the USA, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, and he said to me..."I'll come to pick you up at the airport in Houston and then we can drive back to Monterrey" I said, excellent, thanks so much because I have no money left to travel down to Mexico...
I truly was skinned...
Mario, my brother, was actually quite supportive of my adventure, both morally and financially, and as I had mentioned previously, he was the one who sent me a 'cash boost' back in July that helped me travel a bit in Sweden while I waited for some money my old job in Mexico owed me...
He also did one more thing for me...He gave me an American Express Credit Card, an additional card attached to his own card, for any emergency I might've been faced with and, up until then, I had not made use of it at all...
Well, when I landed in Houston, I was feeling great, as I had had two meals on the plane and plenty of rest!
I went through customs nervously, it is usually an awkward moment with the passport control people at any US airport, they usually look at you up and down, like a persona non-grate or low-class individual or a criminal or, as their worst nightmare...
"How long are you going to stay in the USA?" They asked me, looking at my passport and then looking at me, double-checking I was the one in the picture...
I said, only a few hours thanks, I'm travelling to Mexico later on today, or so I thought... they stamped my passport and let me in...
I was expecting to see my brother out there waiting for me, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen...
So, I called him up...
Well, it turns out that there had been some nasty weather or a storm the day before and he wasn't able to drive across the border to get to Houston, so he was not going to come to get me...
OMG, what do you mean? what do I do now? I have no money...
and he said..."Don't worry, do you still have the AMEX card?" Yes, I do...
"OK, then get yourself in a hotel, take it easy, have a look around Houston and then get a flight to Monterrey for tomorrow evening and we can meet here, you can use the AMEX card to pay for all that"...
Really? Wow!!
Cool stuff! My brother had saved my neck again...
I got myself a room in the Holiday Inn near the airport, fortunately, they had a free shuttle bus from the airport, and once at the hotel, I organised a flight to Monterrey for the day after...
I was going to spend a day in Houston, and I had no idea what I was going to do until I arrived at the Hotel...
They had some brochures at the counter about the NASA Johnson Space Center …and their Day Tours...
Hmmm, that looks interesting, I thought...
I had just been over 10 months away from home, in Europe and the Middle East and sadly, it was time to head back home...
I was getting close to the very bottom of my funds, and I had just enough money to get to Heathrow Airport in London, after crossing the English Channel on October 22, 1981
When I finally arrived at Heathrow I had no money, I couldn't even get anything to eat at the airport, I was literally waiting for my meal on the plane...
I was ready to jump on my flight back to Houston, Texas...
It was going to be a 9-hour flight on a '747 *Pan-Am Jumbo Jet', and I was looking forward to a restful flight, after having a meal that is... I was so hungry and really tired, and I was afraid I would fall asleep and miss my meal. I remember asking the guy sitting next to me to wake me up if I was asleep when the food arrived, he said "No problem, I'll wake you" he said... and before I knew it, I was fast asleep...
(*Pan Am, was once one of the largest Airlines in the world, they went out of business in December 1991)
It had been an exhausting journey so far on that particular day, to say the least...First, a bus ride from Amsterdam to London, crossing on a ferry from Calais directly to Dover and from there onto Victoria Station in London and then a train ride to Heathrow Airport... altogether about 16 hours...
All those hours on the road helped me reflect on my 'previously unimaginable adventure' around Europe and the Middle East...
Without a doubt, it had been an amazing adventure, with lots of challenges along the way but somehow, I managed to overcome them.
I had definitely changed a bit and had broken several paradigms I had been brought up with, even the tiny but significant paradigm of "dancing without a partner" ...
Things were going to be different from this adventure onwards in my life...
Freedom to travel to different countries and unusual places, while making friends who opened up their homes and hearts to me along the way without prejudging me or qualifying me based on my socioeconomic background or status, was truly something I fell in love with...
After this journey, I was left wanting more of that, not only in the near future but for the rest of my life.
Conventional life was not in my sights any time soon, and I was keen to learn and explore the rest of the world on my terms...
While I was in Amsterdam I started making my travel arrangements, booked a bus ride to London and my flight back from London to Houston and also contacted my brother Mario, who had just moved a few months back to a town near the border with the USA, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, and he said to me..."I'll come to pick you up at the airport in Houston and then we can drive back to Monterrey" I said, excellent, thanks so much because I have no money left to travel down to Mexico...
I truly was skinned...
Mario, my brother, was actually quite supportive of my adventure, both morally and financially, and as I had mentioned previously, he was the one who sent me a 'cash boost' back in July that helped me travel a bit in Sweden while I waited for some money my old job in Mexico owed me...
He also did one more thing for me...He gave me an American Express Credit Card, an additional card attached to his own card, for any emergency I might've been faced with and, up until then, I had not made use of it at all...
Well, when I landed in Houston, I was feeling great, as I had had two meals on the plane and plenty of rest!
I went through customs nervously, it is usually an awkward moment with the passport control people at any US airport, they usually look at you up and down, like a persona non-grate or low-class individual or a criminal or, as their worst nightmare...
"How long are you going to stay in the USA?" They asked me, looking at my passport and then looking at me, double-checking I was the one in the picture...
I said, only a few hours thanks, I'm travelling to Mexico later on today, or so I thought... they stamped my passport and let me in...
I was expecting to see my brother out there waiting for me, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen...
So, I called him up...
Well, it turns out that there had been some nasty weather or a storm the day before and he wasn't able to drive across the border to get to Houston, so he was not going to come to get me...
OMG, what do you mean? what do I do now? I have no money...
and he said..."Don't worry, do you still have the AMEX card?" Yes, I do...
"OK, then get yourself in a hotel, take it easy, have a look around Houston and then get a flight to Monterrey for tomorrow evening and we can meet here, you can use the AMEX card to pay for all that"...
Really? Wow!!
Cool stuff! My brother had saved my neck again...
I got myself a room in the Holiday Inn near the airport, fortunately, they had a free shuttle bus from the airport, and once at the hotel, I organised a flight to Monterrey for the day after...
I was going to spend a day in Houston, and I had no idea what I was going to do until I arrived at the Hotel...
They had some brochures at the counter about the NASA Johnson Space Center …and their Day Tours...
Hmmm, that looks interesting, I thought...
NASA SPACE CENTRE
I got all the details about it and decided to book the tour, I might as well do something interesting while I'm here, I thought...
*Learn more about the Space Centre here > https://spacecenter.org/exhibits-and-experiences/nasa-tram-tour/saturn-v-at-rocket-park
I slapped everything on my brother's AMEX card, honestly thinking, "I'm sure I can pay him back once I get a job back home"...
However, I don't think I ever did... (Sorry, bro)
The next morning, I checked out of my hotel after that one night and my flight was due later on that Friday evening, after working hours, so my brother could fetch me at the airport in Monterrey.
I left my bags and stuff with the hotel concierge, and I waited for the tour Van to pick me up and went to the NASA Space Centre.
That NASA tour was absolutely worthwhile, I never thought I would ever get to see a real rocket with my own eyes or samples of moon rocks and all that...
It was a wonderful way to turn a 'plain day of waiting and doing nothing' into something magical!
Watch the Saturn V Rocket Video here> https://vimeo.com/650957155/649289c2d0
After the tour, I got back to the hotel, had something to eat and got on their free shuttle bus to the airport to catch my flight...
I got all the details about it and decided to book the tour, I might as well do something interesting while I'm here, I thought...
*Learn more about the Space Centre here > https://spacecenter.org/exhibits-and-experiences/nasa-tram-tour/saturn-v-at-rocket-park
I slapped everything on my brother's AMEX card, honestly thinking, "I'm sure I can pay him back once I get a job back home"...
However, I don't think I ever did... (Sorry, bro)
The next morning, I checked out of my hotel after that one night and my flight was due later on that Friday evening, after working hours, so my brother could fetch me at the airport in Monterrey.
I left my bags and stuff with the hotel concierge, and I waited for the tour Van to pick me up and went to the NASA Space Centre.
That NASA tour was absolutely worthwhile, I never thought I would ever get to see a real rocket with my own eyes or samples of moon rocks and all that...
It was a wonderful way to turn a 'plain day of waiting and doing nothing' into something magical!
Watch the Saturn V Rocket Video here> https://vimeo.com/650957155/649289c2d0
After the tour, I got back to the hotel, had something to eat and got on their free shuttle bus to the airport to catch my flight...
MONTERREY
I arrived in Monterrey and my brother was waiting for me...
I was just 21 years old, and he was 31...but somehow, he was in my eyes much older and more mature than that, he was living in a huge house, all by himself and had a great corporate job... he had it all together... he even had a dog, a very pretty 'Old English Sheepdog'...
He was living as a grown-up does...and he was still single at that time!
The first thing my brother said to me when he saw me at the airport, was …
"How was your flight?... You need a haircut" he looked at me disapprovingly...and he was right, I'm sure I needed one, I hadn't had a haircut while I was travelling throughout Europe, due to lack of money and reluctance, and looked a bit shaggy...
Then he said..."What's my dad going to say when he sees you like that?"
I said, shrugging my shoulders, I don't know, I'll get a haircut when I get home...
I don't remember a lot about my stay in Monterrey, however, I do remember that the next day we went somewhere, probably to his workplace, it was Saturday and there was some kind of party, there was a Nothern Mexican band, playing northern music of course, and there was some meat on the BBQ and drinks...
I remember thinking...This is a bit of an unusual town for my brother to live in, being a Mexico City's cool dude, but he looked happy...and that was the main thing...
It was a brief but pleasant stay in Monterrey...and I'll always be grateful for my brother's help in those days...What would've happened if he hadn't been there for me?... who knows...
That night I caught the overnight train down to Mexico City...it was the cheapest way to travel and more comfortable than a bus, or so I thought...
*Back then there used to be a passenger train from Monterrey to Mexico City, called "El Regiomontano", it was a 15-hour ride, a bit slow and old fashion compared to the trains in Europe, but it was a cool ride and a new experience for me. This train line doesn't exist anymore.
I arrived in Monterrey and my brother was waiting for me...
I was just 21 years old, and he was 31...but somehow, he was in my eyes much older and more mature than that, he was living in a huge house, all by himself and had a great corporate job... he had it all together... he even had a dog, a very pretty 'Old English Sheepdog'...
He was living as a grown-up does...and he was still single at that time!
The first thing my brother said to me when he saw me at the airport, was …
"How was your flight?... You need a haircut" he looked at me disapprovingly...and he was right, I'm sure I needed one, I hadn't had a haircut while I was travelling throughout Europe, due to lack of money and reluctance, and looked a bit shaggy...
Then he said..."What's my dad going to say when he sees you like that?"
I said, shrugging my shoulders, I don't know, I'll get a haircut when I get home...
I don't remember a lot about my stay in Monterrey, however, I do remember that the next day we went somewhere, probably to his workplace, it was Saturday and there was some kind of party, there was a Nothern Mexican band, playing northern music of course, and there was some meat on the BBQ and drinks...
I remember thinking...This is a bit of an unusual town for my brother to live in, being a Mexico City's cool dude, but he looked happy...and that was the main thing...
It was a brief but pleasant stay in Monterrey...and I'll always be grateful for my brother's help in those days...What would've happened if he hadn't been there for me?... who knows...
That night I caught the overnight train down to Mexico City...it was the cheapest way to travel and more comfortable than a bus, or so I thought...
*Back then there used to be a passenger train from Monterrey to Mexico City, called "El Regiomontano", it was a 15-hour ride, a bit slow and old fashion compared to the trains in Europe, but it was a cool ride and a new experience for me. This train line doesn't exist anymore.
MEXICO CITY
After that long and slow journey, I finally got back to Mexico City...
I remember clearly how the train was approaching slowly the *Buenavista Train Terminal in Tlatelolco, I'd never been on a Mexican train before and never been to this terminal or this part of the city, fortunately, my parents were going to be there to fetch me...
*This old train station was demolished and is now a shopping mall...
I was a bit nervous because for the first time I was going to face my parents after I had told them on my letters that I was not going to continue with my studies and that I wanted to continue travelling...that was a scary moment in my life...I had no idea what they were going to say...
I truly had no idea what I was going to do with my life, all I knew was that somehow, I was going to get a job of some description to get some money and somehow make a living, save some money, and eventually take off on my next adventure...
I returned to Mexico City, my hometown, absolutely broke, well, nearly, I put my hand in my jeans pocket as we were approaching the station, and I found a $20 peso coin!... (About a dollar) Oh, look, not so broke...that put a smile on my face but … that was all I had...
As I got off the train, I saw my mum and dad coming towards me, they were smiling and looked really happy...a good sign, I thought...
Dad said as he grabbed my backpack..."How was your Mexican train ride? I'd bet not a good as the European trains, right?" A manly thing to say, 'man to man', I guess...Cool, I said, it was long and slow but not too bad...
And then Mum said...as we hugged...
"My son... I'm so glad you're back and I'm so happy to hear it all went well"...
Then she said the most amazing words that will stay with me forever...
"So, tell me...Where will you go next?"...
After that long and slow journey, I finally got back to Mexico City...
I remember clearly how the train was approaching slowly the *Buenavista Train Terminal in Tlatelolco, I'd never been on a Mexican train before and never been to this terminal or this part of the city, fortunately, my parents were going to be there to fetch me...
*This old train station was demolished and is now a shopping mall...
I was a bit nervous because for the first time I was going to face my parents after I had told them on my letters that I was not going to continue with my studies and that I wanted to continue travelling...that was a scary moment in my life...I had no idea what they were going to say...
I truly had no idea what I was going to do with my life, all I knew was that somehow, I was going to get a job of some description to get some money and somehow make a living, save some money, and eventually take off on my next adventure...
I returned to Mexico City, my hometown, absolutely broke, well, nearly, I put my hand in my jeans pocket as we were approaching the station, and I found a $20 peso coin!... (About a dollar) Oh, look, not so broke...that put a smile on my face but … that was all I had...
As I got off the train, I saw my mum and dad coming towards me, they were smiling and looked really happy...a good sign, I thought...
Dad said as he grabbed my backpack..."How was your Mexican train ride? I'd bet not a good as the European trains, right?" A manly thing to say, 'man to man', I guess...Cool, I said, it was long and slow but not too bad...
And then Mum said...as we hugged...
"My son... I'm so glad you're back and I'm so happy to hear it all went well"...
Then she said the most amazing words that will stay with me forever...
"So, tell me...Where will you go next?"...
