It's Christmas day; and someone has just pointed out to me that I am going through a particularly exciting and eventful time of my life.. and that I should keep a record of it. I am not a diary keeper; numerous are the times that I attempted to keep a diary.. but after day 1 I am usually bored stiff of making a list of the events and emotional journeys and resort to a life with an unrecorded past.
However; I thought to myself.. if I don't at least mention these small steps for mankind, giant steps for Cicra-kind somewhere, one of two things can happen:
1. I wake up one day, sit up in bed all sweaty and out of breath, and wonder whether it was all real, or a really long sleep..
2. My future children and grandchildren will think that I am taking the mickey when I tell them how I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, or walked 800km across Spain, or moved to the land down under, or rode a mule up a mountain and nearly died in the process.
So, I decided I would find a way of putting pen to paper (as it turns out "finger to keyboard") and keep a record. My blog.. my companion during my darker years; was the answer. I hadn't evens saved it as a Favourite on my laptop.. so I had to internet search it. Finding Treshcan again was like finding a long lost friend: awkward!
And now, here we are.. ending a year of adventures. I am smiling to myself because if someone had to tell me I would do all that I have done lately.. I would have laughed at him and told him where to go.
The best starting point is the present. I am not sure I will feel like mentioning everything in the past.. but I am committed to at least note and analyse the future. At this very moment I am sitting in a country at the butt of the Earth, in an armchair, on a porch and I am in T-Shirt because here, Christmas is in Summer. An amazing person (probably the one that led me to and through this adventure) is sitting across from me and I have atrocious toothache. I have not worked for 6 months now.. and I am desperate for a job.. but here, you take things with pace and philosophy, even desperation. The sky is blue and the sun is shining (a lot!), which is quite an achievement considering that a few days ago the Earth had to end.
I I thought the next day: what if the World ends TODAY! That would be sooo ironic! "Yay the World did not end!".. Cabooom! (Silence).
"Take the plunge"
Adios
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Today I am going to spend time writing about Maltese driving because even though I have been driving for 8 years now, I still can't get used to it. I believe it is a phenomenon I should report about so that in years to come people will have a source of facts that explains what the immense number of pot holes and road signage are used for.. a bit like our Cart Ruts.
For a Malteser, I drive long distances every day, and I consider myself a bit of an expert in the field. If driving where a martial art (I would argue that it nearly is), I would be a black belt.. In the long hours I spend in my car I have had time to develop a "Beginners Guide to Driving in Malta". Here is a little summary:
Dear Tourist, if you are planning to come to Malta and drive, we recommend that you pack your belongings but leave behind your common sense, eye sight, logic, manners, knowledge of road rules, fear for precious life and limbs, sense of direction and hope.
There are two major factors that you need to constantly keep in mind in order for you to be able to cover the little distances planned for your trip: The state of the roads and the state of the drivers. Let's start with the first one: the famous Maltese roads. Many have tried, but few have succeeded to look at and obey Maltese road signs, the amount of which will surpass your wildest immagination. In a stretch of 100m road you might find yourself having to first drop speed to 40km/h (and this is a bypass, not a village street), then increase it back to a comfortable 60km to then drop it to 40km/h again. That is, if you are lucky. If you are unlucky, the 60km relief will not be there. You will also find that these signs change from one day to the next.. No one knows what determains these changes but legend has it that it is the whirlwinds that form in pot holes on particularly windy days. These changes, altough frequent, have never as yet been recorded on video.. the sneeky mongrels.
What is difficult about looking at signs while driving? I imagine you are asking. Well, try keeping track of road signs while also avoiding pot holes and consequently, punctures. Precisely! Imposibble. And that's what you will be doing for most of the time here. Well done for choosing such an exciting holiday.
Ok, that was driving on the empty roads. The next ingredient is the drivers; maltese, and dangerous. STOP signs, indicators and roundabout rules are japanese for them. The only rule here is to break rules and scream at anyone who tries to do the same, to your detriment. Then, if you are female or tourist, you get targeted. So be prepared for a lot of negative attention. If you are female AND tourist.. just don't even bother coming here. Life insurance does not cover you if you commit suicide.
Welcome to Malta!
For a Malteser, I drive long distances every day, and I consider myself a bit of an expert in the field. If driving where a martial art (I would argue that it nearly is), I would be a black belt.. In the long hours I spend in my car I have had time to develop a "Beginners Guide to Driving in Malta". Here is a little summary:
Dear Tourist, if you are planning to come to Malta and drive, we recommend that you pack your belongings but leave behind your common sense, eye sight, logic, manners, knowledge of road rules, fear for precious life and limbs, sense of direction and hope.
There are two major factors that you need to constantly keep in mind in order for you to be able to cover the little distances planned for your trip: The state of the roads and the state of the drivers. Let's start with the first one: the famous Maltese roads. Many have tried, but few have succeeded to look at and obey Maltese road signs, the amount of which will surpass your wildest immagination. In a stretch of 100m road you might find yourself having to first drop speed to 40km/h (and this is a bypass, not a village street), then increase it back to a comfortable 60km to then drop it to 40km/h again. That is, if you are lucky. If you are unlucky, the 60km relief will not be there. You will also find that these signs change from one day to the next.. No one knows what determains these changes but legend has it that it is the whirlwinds that form in pot holes on particularly windy days. These changes, altough frequent, have never as yet been recorded on video.. the sneeky mongrels.
What is difficult about looking at signs while driving? I imagine you are asking. Well, try keeping track of road signs while also avoiding pot holes and consequently, punctures. Precisely! Imposibble. And that's what you will be doing for most of the time here. Well done for choosing such an exciting holiday.
Ok, that was driving on the empty roads. The next ingredient is the drivers; maltese, and dangerous. STOP signs, indicators and roundabout rules are japanese for them. The only rule here is to break rules and scream at anyone who tries to do the same, to your detriment. Then, if you are female or tourist, you get targeted. So be prepared for a lot of negative attention. If you are female AND tourist.. just don't even bother coming here. Life insurance does not cover you if you commit suicide.
Welcome to Malta!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Chooks
Cicra was shaking as she read the invite. The evil forces where getting cleverer by the minute.. so much so, that now even SHE, with her IQ score being at par with that of a bat that never slept upside down, could notice it.
The invite said Cicra was to go to a chooks' party. Clearly, to put her mentally at ease. It said there was going to be food. Clearly, to keep her hands busy (her brain was always on standby so no need to devise any complicated concoctions to alienate that).And, because only chickens where allowed, her faithful, cleverer, stronger assistant Le Mon, had to stay behind. CLEARLY, to strip her of any possible survival.
It also said that failure to attend would result in Super Cicra being put last on the list of threats for the evil forces and Cicra would not have that! Her pride and reputation was at stake here!
3 hours later Cicra emerged from her cave-like (in the cluttered, smelly, damp decor, not in the geographical placement) habitat dressed in a lime-green frill shirt, and what looked like a back-firing space-shuttle of a skirt. Bright red lipstick finished the opera that put Munch's SCREAM in an eclipse shadow.
The invite said Cicra was to go to a chooks' party. Clearly, to put her mentally at ease. It said there was going to be food. Clearly, to keep her hands busy (her brain was always on standby so no need to devise any complicated concoctions to alienate that).And, because only chickens where allowed, her faithful, cleverer, stronger assistant Le Mon, had to stay behind. CLEARLY, to strip her of any possible survival.
It also said that failure to attend would result in Super Cicra being put last on the list of threats for the evil forces and Cicra would not have that! Her pride and reputation was at stake here!
3 hours later Cicra emerged from her cave-like (in the cluttered, smelly, damp decor, not in the geographical placement) habitat dressed in a lime-green frill shirt, and what looked like a back-firing space-shuttle of a skirt. Bright red lipstick finished the opera that put Munch's SCREAM in an eclipse shadow.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Si l e n c e . . .
There is a particular moment of the day were you can simply hear silence . This moment is coloured by the lack of the sound of your breadthing, of your heartbeat, of your thoughts. It is a slice of time that is past as soon as it is present. It occurs when the mind stops thinking and obviously is gone exactly when you stop and think about it.
It is this very silence that drives people crazy. It is the very sound of lonliness, emptiness, cold; all at one intense go .
It is this very silence that drives people crazy. It is the very sound of lonliness, emptiness, cold; all at one intense go .
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Beware Amaranth E123
This morning I was sitting in front of a cup of tea, coughing my chest off and looking through online newspapers. I have tried a number of medicines for the cough but it still persists.. probably because it is some sort of allergy; not rare at this time of the year.
Anyhow, I was thinking of my latest, failed attempt of medicine, which I bought over the counter from a pharmacy, and I decided to give it a second attempt. It sat near my laptop while I sipped some more tea and read some more of the endless entaglement of political debate; WHEN, the contents of the medicine caught my eye. Now, very few people probably ever bother to look through a medicine's list of ingredients because, well, medicine is supposedly invented to make you better, not worse right? This time round, however, some Es in the list caught my eye and since I am aware of the danger of a good number of them, I typed the first one into my search engine. It was Benzoate E211. Basically it is what I expected. There is a danger if certain conditions happen to occur to the medicine, it is used in famous soft drinks and is being phased out, it does a minimal damage but if not taken regularly, it should be ok. Nothing so tragic in that.
The next one was the big bombshell. Amaranth E123. Apparently this chemical is used in many jellies, cake mixes, soups, shrimps etc.
"It appears to cause allergic and/or intolerance reactions, similar to nettle rash, particularly amongst those with an aspirin intolerance or asthmatics. can provoke asthma, eczema and hyperactivity; it caused birth defects and foetal deaths in some animal tests, possibly also cancer
Anyhow, I was thinking of my latest, failed attempt of medicine, which I bought over the counter from a pharmacy, and I decided to give it a second attempt. It sat near my laptop while I sipped some more tea and read some more of the endless entaglement of political debate; WHEN, the contents of the medicine caught my eye. Now, very few people probably ever bother to look through a medicine's list of ingredients because, well, medicine is supposedly invented to make you better, not worse right? This time round, however, some Es in the list caught my eye and since I am aware of the danger of a good number of them, I typed the first one into my search engine. It was Benzoate E211. Basically it is what I expected. There is a danger if certain conditions happen to occur to the medicine, it is used in famous soft drinks and is being phased out, it does a minimal damage but if not taken regularly, it should be ok. Nothing so tragic in that.
The next one was the big bombshell. Amaranth E123. Apparently this chemical is used in many jellies, cake mixes, soups, shrimps etc.
"It appears to cause allergic and/or intolerance reactions, similar to nettle rash, particularly amongst those with an aspirin intolerance or asthmatics. can provoke asthma, eczema and hyperactivity; it caused birth defects and foetal deaths in some animal tests, possibly also cancer
.Not recommended for consumption by children.
It is banned in Norway, United States, Russia and Austria (see E129) with a very restricted use in France and Italy (caviar only)."
(http://www.ukfoodguide.net/e123.htm)
WOW.. it is banned in the sensible part of Europe, it can cause birth defects, possibly also cancer.
And then I went into the information leaflet to look for THIS information, well, there's a paper missing... a paper which probably hasn't even been printed yet.
The argument against me would be that you only take very little traces of this E123 for it to be harmful. But how the hell do they know how much I love jelly and prawns. And apparently there are no concrete results as to the dangers of this substance.
The medicine is already in the bin, obviously.
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