Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.

Musings from a child of globalisation.
RSS icon Home icon
  • Snowstorm in Southern Finland

    Posted on February 1st, 2010 chivacongelado 2 comments

    pixelstats trackingpixel
    • Share/Bookmark
  • Recommended movie: Indigènes (Days of Glory)

    Posted on January 27th, 2010 chivacongelado No comments

    Finally had the chance to watch this French-Belgian-Moroccan co-production, and wasn’t disappointed.   The film tells the story of a contingent of North Africans who fight for the liberation of France in the Second World War.  The plot and psychological environment is quite interesting as they are quite patriotic for a homeland they have never seen (a scene of them singing the Marseillaise and the Song of the Africans is quite stinging), but are still treated like second-class citizens.

    It is very refreshing to watch a WWII movie that doesn’t follow the typical American conventions, that’s for sure, even if I really like Saving Private Ryan.

    pixelstats trackingpixel
    • Share/Bookmark
  • It’s so cold in Finland, you can actually ski on the frozen sea

    Posted on January 24th, 2010 chivacongelado No comments

    Skiing over the frozen sea

    Furthermore the exercise, the environment and the beauty of it all are gorgeous.

    pixelstats trackingpixel
    • Share/Bookmark
  • Stockholm

    Posted on January 20th, 2010 chivacongelado No comments

    Walking around Stockholm

    Even if it is geographically and culturally quite close to Helsinki, visiting Stockholm is always an interesting experience.  The city is much more cosmopolitan, people are generally more fashionable, and the riksvensk accent sounds quite peculiar to somebody used to the way Swedish is spoken across the Baltic.  Always a pleasure to visit, especially now that there is a good Mexican taquería very close to downtown (they even sell corn tortillas!).

    pixelstats trackingpixel
    • Share/Bookmark
  • Working immigrant professionals in Finland

    Posted on January 15th, 2010 chivacongelado No comments

    Jorma Ollila at the EVA Forum

    I have been involved in two initiatives lately, Finndiversity and the EVA Expat Forum, where professionals of foreign and local extraction come together and discuss what are the challenges faced by this community and what actions can be taken to bring it forward.  While a good start (in the sense that this section of society is finally starting to get organised), there is still a very long way to go.

    For starters, we are showing that an immigrant is not necessarily a refugee nor on the dole, as is so often claimed here.

    pixelstats trackingpixel
    • Share/Bookmark
  • Skiing to work

    Posted on January 12th, 2010 chivacongelado No comments

    Skiing to the office

    One advantage of the huge amount of snow in Finland is that you can ski everywhere.  Just avoid gritted streets and you’ll be fine.

    pixelstats trackingpixel
    • Share/Bookmark
  • Mexico notes, part 2

    Posted on January 8th, 2010 chivacongelado No comments
    Palacio de Gobierno

    2000 km southeast and 30°C warmer than the previous location: Main square of Mérida, Yucatán.

    Sunset over the pool in Celestún, Yucatán

    Sunset over the pool in Celestún, Yucatán.

    Flamingoes in close-up
    Flamingoes in close-up in Celestún, Yucatán

    Celestún beach
    5 km of virgin beaches in Celestún, Yucatán.

    The only not so nice detail was when on meeting some people I hadn’t seen in a long time I realised that the crab mentality seems to be alive and well in certain sectors of society. Shame, but hey, what can you do. ;-) Overall it was great and I cannot wait to be back again, if only for holidays.

    pixelstats trackingpixel
    • Share/Bookmark
  • Mexico notes

    Posted on January 8th, 2010 chivacongelado No comments

    As my previous post detailed, I spent a great holiday in Mexico, catching up with friends and especially family.  We spent a week in Mexico City, then 6 days in the Copper Canyon trail and a few days in Mérida and the natural reserve of Celestún before having to return to the winter wonderland.  I was struck by the enormous variety of landscapes and peoples living in the country where I was born, even if I knew it in theory.  As usual, pictures say it better (if you want to see more than these, they’re all here).

    Fiery dusk cloud

    The winter sky sometimes seems to take a life of its own.

    Barranca de Urique desde el Cerro del Gallego

    Copper Canyon: Barranca de Urique from Cerro del Gallego in Chihuahua state. The largest of 32 federal entities in Mexico, Chihuahua is bigger than many European countries, e.g. the United Kingdom.

    Barrancas del Cobre / Copper Canyon national park deep panorama

    Deep view of Copper Canyon in Divisadero

    Barrancas del Cobre / Copper Canyon national park panorama

    Copper Canyon panorama from Divisadero

    Barrancas del Cobre / Copper Canyon national park

    Copper Canyon detail

    Barrancas del Cobre / Copper Canyon national park

    Copper Canyon: Piedra Volada or why would anyone get so close to a loose rock?

    Clothesline with a view

    The rarámuri (tarahumara) peoples live in the area, and many sell their handcrafts to the tourists. I earned some brownie points by thanking them in their own language ("Chirigüeraba").

    Panorama of a snowed over Creel

    It also snows in parts of Mexico, you know? Creel, Chihuahua

    Panorama of Lake Arareco, Chihuahua, Mexico

    This is not a Finnish lake, but Lago Arareco in Chihuahua state.

    Cusarare waterfall

    Cusarare waterfall, Chihuahua.

    Continues in Part 2

    pixelstats trackingpixel
    • Share/Bookmark
  • Mexico again

    Posted on December 23rd, 2009 chivacongelado No comments

    Teotihuacán Panorama from the Avenue of the Dead

    We are currently traveling in Mexico, enjoying the Christmas & New Year’s break.  The latest photographic developments will be available here.

    Enjoy the holidays!

    pixelstats trackingpixel
    • Share/Bookmark
  • Istanbul

    Posted on December 17th, 2009 chivacongelado 2 comments

    Visited the city on a business trip. I have to say that the most interesting things about Istanbul for me were the long historical view you get in the city, and the uncanny resemblance Turks have with Mexicans.

    As usual with these kind of posts, pictures say it better.

     

    Istanbul panorama

    A city between cultural zones and continents, it has more than 10 million people and number of different names throughout history (maybe Byzantium or Constantinople ring a bell). So many different peoples have lived in it, that excavations for the metro and the Marmara project have found ancient ruins (just like Templo Mayor in Mexico City).

     

    Grand Bazaar

    Traders by nature, the culture of haggling in its bazaars is very well developed.

     

    Aya Sofya interior

    The Aya Sofya, one of the most imposing religious buildings I have ever been to, started its life as a church, became a mosque and is now a national museum.

     

    Técnica de panadero

    Mexican similarities exhibit A: look at this baker's bread-carrying tecnique.

     

    Técnica de taquero

    Mexican similarities exhibit B: Kebabs are way too similar to tacos al pastor.

     

    pixelstats trackingpixel
    • Share/Bookmark
WordPress Loves AJAX