A bald in Belfast

Facebook does a lot of damage (living abroad according Facebook)

2013-04-28T16:36:00.002-07:00

- Man, your life is amazing! You rock! You have party every day!! I want to go abroad and have the same parties as you have. Phrases...all of them ever heard by people who live abroad.

Is true, there are very good moments, very good friends, big parties to remember and beautiful places to visit. Wherever you go, it's something you always will have and also the pictures from all of them of course!

All of us have at least a friend who lives abroad who upload their pictures in Facebook..and when we see the pics, we always think...woow has to be really nice to live abroad, Rome, London, Paris.. always in parties, meeting new people, new places to visit...look this picture! wow I also want to live abroad...

-Recently a good friend told me: I went abroad to be happy, not to be like...."like now"

Go out from your country doing an internship, Leonardo, Erasmus, volunteer or just to find your life is worth it, no one disputes that, but nobody said it would be easy. There are many days when you live in a cloud, everything is beautiful, party, people, trips....and about that Facebook knows a lot.

But to accomplish this situation, first you must pass other rather poor days. Days when you would take the first plane back home, days when the most repeated question is: What the hell I am doing here? I was very well in home with my family and my people, days when you don´t have money even for a cup of coffee because you don´t find job or other days when just you are so sad and don´t know exactly why... just homesick.

I don´t want to cheat anyone, all of you know that I advise you to leave your own country for your sake, to meet new people, new cultures, open your eyes and your mind to new ways of life, meet people who can give you much more than you think, and learn how to live alone (obviously language problem is already inside everything). But this does not mean it will be an easy ride, super fun and a rose bubble.

The people who is thinking to go abroad to live a new experience, do not take facebook as example, do not see friend / acquaintance´s pictures and think this is the live that you are going to have. Think that you will have good and bad days, better and even worse days.

It's a pity because we don´t have pictures about the bad moments and bad days, it's a pity to don't have a portrait about these days...when you would take a plane and you will return to your home for good, or these days when someone speaks to you and you cannot understand anything or just these days when you go to have a beer with a friend, not because you feel like drink, just because you need someone to talk with, and to not be alone in your home thinking and thinking about your day...

Too bad when Facebook only shows the good things about the travels (sometimes excessive). It's a pity not to publish these pics when you are sad o having a bad day to advice all the people who wants to go abroad thinking that they are going to find job on the second day and they are going to have party and more party every day.

Facebook does a lot of damage

Dedicated to all those people who feel identified, and those friends who always (always!) make me reduce these days to very few.

Loves you,
The bald of Belfast.

kindness or hypocrisy?

2012-11-09T11:25:00.001-08:00

7.30 AM

The door opens, pipip!

Cheers, bye!

I continue on my way, I take a look and I decide to stay standing due the overbooking.

Lost in my thoughts, while my head is phiysically dancing from right to left. Each time with more intensity to the point to changed my thoughts. My head stops abruptly for a moment..

Cheers, Bye!

Then I think it would be safer for me to move and find a free slot, which i visualize. Then I turn to the spot (ñiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic) almost reaching something makes me move straight a few meters more than i desired, like a person on a saturday night with 3 more whiskies in their body...

Cheers bye! Cheers bye! cheers bye!

I grabbed the nearest stick and then i started to think in the hypocrisy or in the kindness of the people from here. I continue thinking when I don't do well my work no one come to me to say me Thanks and they don't say me bye with a big smile on their faces. Feeling panic about my own life I decide to turn on to the entrance, jumping from one stick to other ones. for finally put myself near the door. two people pass in front of me.

....Cheers bye! Cheers, bye!!

restarting the way, I gripped me the red stick when i starting to see my stop (end of the morning race!), waving by the happines produced by this image, I made an absurd error, I released the lifesaver-stick. Epic fail....suddenly He turn left and then He stomp on the brake pedal. Then I swooped to the protective glass of the driver and I stoped the hit with my hands in front of my face...

The door opens, I wanna break this fucking glass and do something crazy to him, but then who will drive the bus? The other thing I wanna do is tell him F....U...!!

As I am a really polite person, I decided to go to the exit door and pronounce:

Cheers, Good bye!!!

1 month more ( My 4th month! )

2012-11-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

Winter is comming....

Now I know what the good of Eddard Starks felts when he said that mythical phrase...

The poor Eddar said it because (although in the book is not explained yet) I'm totally sure that sometime in his life he lived here in Belfast, and just think the fact that we are in November (so not winter yet ) and already makes the cold that is making, believe me ... I'd be paranoid too with the arrival of the winter season.

Even with the arrival of winter and the consequent end of summer (crazy season, happiness and women with short T-shirt leaving little things to the imagination of the reader) waving distant in my memory, I begin to realize that is already my fourth month here and the things that in the beggining seemed a chimera get accustomed, now seems a normal everyday (but not really absent with some misfortunes)

I would like to say that this month it was a very easy month...but this is not true, of course I had some good and necesarie parties, and is true that I saw very special people in my natal country, but otherwise this past month was a hard month, full of important conversations for my project, my stay here, and for my actual future plans.

But as a great song says, is not all future time will be much better? That is my hope and the certainly thing, if all thing continues with the river flow any future time it will be much better.

Now I just wait and see what the results of this hard but worked October. full of talks, war and peace, love and unlove, and especially ILLUSION!

Hugs to you all.

Loves u, The bald of Belfast!

3 months in Belfast!!!

2012-10-04T13:05:00.003-07:00

I was thinking in write something about this 3 months, but most of the times one image is better than 1000 words. Here there are the pictures of these 3 months in Belfast, because if I explain is not the same...

Loves you,
The bald of Belfast.

Electric picnic Festival in Dublin

2012-09-10T15:47:00.003-07:00

(Alert! hard to read...)

...............CHOOOOFFF!!!

It was the first thing I heard just arrived at the festival when I leave the car. When I looked down and I watch my shoes I understand Why..

More than a camping was a sea with a little ground terrain, but finally I built my tent, in fact I built it so well (stand up the 3 days)

The electric picnic is an art and music festival in Dublin, the biggest and most famous festival in Ireland (of both Irelands). It's really huge! I've never been in one festival as big as this one, good music poster and a lot of things to do and see. The price of the ticket was 250€ (yes yes...is not an orthographic mistake, 250€!)

I was lucky because my organization (where I’m working) was invited for free to the festival and we put our own tent to explain our projects to the people. I went to the festival like a volunteer, to give a hand, for this reason we didn't pay ticket.

Friday just arrived there, I built my tent and then I went to the tent of DePaul (my organization) for do a welcome meeting and to explain us our work there. There were 3 different positions, 1 in the bar (we offered free tea and coffee to the visitors), another position was staying outside the tent inviting the people to come in our tent to see our projects and the other one was stay inside the tent talking with the visitors explaining our work in the projects and doing one activity called “hidden talents”

Much of the time I was outside the tent “inviting” the people to come in our tent to see our projects, I cannot say it was not funny, because it really was... the strategy selected for my organization to catch visitors was give free chocolates to the people who was walking around (M&M, mars, kit Kat, and more…) then I was all the day with a cube full of sweets giving them to the people.

Reactions? All types of it. The phrase was, Hello! Would u like some free sweets??

1st reaction: Free?? Are u sure??? Holy shit yes!!! Can I take more than 1?

2on reaction: Free?? Totally free?? Sure it’s totally free?? Yes… Can I give u a hug?? This was really funny and the last day I changed my strategy, but this is another history and I explain u later….

3th reaction: No thx…

My answer was: WHAAAT!!!??? Then I explained them... I am from Spain and I cannot understand the Irish people… If I go in Spain giving something free to the people (and more if it’s chocolate) this cube not last more than a minute, then usually they took 1 sweet for not offend me…XD

4th reaction: People with kids…

Obviously the kids swoop in the sweet box…and they took as many as fit in their hands…the mothers sometimes watched me with bad face (like good mothers) then I told them:

Don’t worry ma’am it’s not drug inside, I’m working in a charity organization you can take 1 too and you can go to my tent to drink a free coffee or free tea, the only drug that they have is caffeine. (Then they smile me and they went for their coffee…of course XD).

Here the festival are not the same like in Spain, when we talk about a festival we are understanding that we are going to a place for drink, and drink, and drink and take drugs... With the aim to see some rock groups, to end senseless and then go to sleep. (This is a very personal appreciation, Sorry if I hurt some readers with my comments…But you must know IT’S TRUE!!)

For them a festival has 2 ways, the first one is the familiar way, the other is the musical way, by the day in this festival was a lot of spectacles, theatre events, and zones with a lot of NGOs (non-government organizations) or charity groups (like my organization), a lot of shops or relaxed concerts like Celtic music. But in the night... Well in the night they are worse than us.

The 1st night, even when I was tired I went for a walk with my organization mates from Dublin to see few shows, and some concerts, 1 of them was Sigur Rós, a group that mix heavy metal, rock and classical music, the singer was playing the violoncello like a guitar and also he played the guitar with a violin stick…quite spectacular.

The 2nd night I was watching the cure, but the truth is that left me a bit indifferent, I expected something better… then I was giving a walk in other areas of the festival with some raves and more concerts and shows.

LAST DAY

As I said before, there were people asking me, can I give you a hug? Then on the last day I decided to wear a sign around my neck where I wrote:

"FREE HUGS & FREE CHOCOLATE"

The reaction was immediately...much more people needed a hug than a simple free sweet (but they took a sweet too :D)

Is not necessary to say that my diet for 3 days was chocolates and 4 or 5 coffees every day…a week later I haven’t be able to eat chocolate… XD)

Also the last day I was inside the tent with an activity called “secret talent” was basically telling people to write on a paper their secret talent (at the end was not secret, but the intention is the important thing here) the papers were really funny too, I saw something like:

“I know how to build a tent” “when I’m wrong I admit my mistakes” “I sing when I’m taking a shower” or one bald person who wrote on the paper: “the hairiest man ever” (I think all of you know who is this last one...)

Then, finally came the night and I went to the concert of The killers...I can tell you a lot of things about this concert…but I’m going to tell u only one “FUCKING BRILLIANT” one of the best concerts that I ever seen.

But! There was still time for 1 more curiosity, the silent disco…

One of the events I saw at the festival was the silent disco, it was a big disco tent, but the funny thing is, it wasn’t music, but you can listened the people screaming songs, the secret? Wireless headphones...

When I went in the disco tent the staff members gave me a headphone, where they had two music channels, one was more dance and the other was more rock. Was a very funny experience

Here you have some pictures of the festival
Sorry for the delay, I hope to explain more things soon.

Loves you,
The bald of Belfast

Belfast and his accent

2012-08-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

What's the craic?? (creck, like they say)

When they say this to you, the first thing that you think is....Welcome to Belfast. Well, this and when you look trough the window and you never see the sun...

Northern Ireland, country with bad weather, and worst accent, but they are really proud of the second thing. because when the English people comes here, they doesn't understand what we are saying (1-0 for Ireland). In concrete the people of Belfast speaks too fast, cut words and they pronounce the words with i and a...

Examples:

Right now (rait nau, for Eu - rainaiii {with a silent n} for them...)

Window ( windiii for them...)

hi, how are you ( hioreu?)

Is amazing how fast the talk, in the same time like we say Hello, they can explain you the Irish history...

The first days, when I was listening "hiya" I answered them with a plain but enough "hiya" (hi you)...But something was wrong, every time i looked their faces waiting for my answer...1 month later, finally I understand, why they looked at me...when I was understanding "Hello" indeed, they were asking me "hi, how are you" but they say something like "hi-r-u" in half second....is a mix between Hello and How are you, in fact when they say this....the best i to say: Fine thx.....

Another curiosity here, They don't say "yes" (never) they say "aai", I don't know if in Irish "aai" is "yes", but they always use aai....

so, the people who are asking me, how are you going with the Irish accent? now...you know. But in fact, they love talk...the other day I was in the Bus and i listen one man explaining his life and miracles to a girl (poor girl) in only 10 minutes. (remember, they talk so quickly)

although the 2 most curious phrases here are:

What's the craic: Crack is not a drug!!! they use crack like, how are you, how is the party? how is the mood...but they use it for all the things like, when you make a bad thing...this is bad crack, if you do something good, this is good crack...

wii bit: Wii is not a Nintendo Console!! They can say wii 5 times in a same phrase, give me a wii bit cappuccino with wii coffee in a wii cup, ant the waiter would respond...in a wii bit moment.

All of these things are only valid if you talk with a serene person, if you have the misfortune to talk with a Drunk person then...I hope god will save you.

~~I put here 2 proofs of this amazing accent, I hope you like it~~ (is not working, I'll try later)

Loves u, The bald of Belfast

Bonfire of 11th July and Boyne battle

2012-07-25T14:34:00.003-07:00

11th of July, important day for one of the Belfast faction’s, for the protestants or loyalist. They commemorate the Boyne’s battle victory in 1690, what better way to celebrate the victory than burn an Irish flag??Yes…during the 11th night of July they make big bonfires in open fields and they burn the Irish Flag (the classic one…green white and orange).

Casually there was one of them at the end of my street, insomuch as I live in a protestant district, but not too protestant…in fact my street is too international, here lives foreigner people and with different religions, because we are near the university.

As you can see, the bonfire is as high as a house and this night the local people advise us for not to go to the bonfire for the danger of it and for the people who is being there…But usually I don’t hear the advices (my mother is right when she says that I never hear her comments…),so I decided to go to the bonfire and see “the party”.

The size of the bonfire is awesome when you see it without fire, but when you see it burning…it’s spectacular, I don’t know how they didn’t burn my home… the bonfire of my district was really quiet and without incidents, but in Belfast we had some problems this night (the normal problems like every year), but so quiet in general.

And now arrives THE MOMENT of the night when they stop the electro music and they put a patriotic song, then most of them accompany with their hand in their hearts. This Soulful moment leave me a strange feeling, not for the gesture of ones…or the chants of the others, is because I saw how deep the people of this city remains divided and stuck in the past.

PS: Dedicated to Teresa's tears, because they failed in their attempt to extinguish the bonfire.

Loves u, the bald of Belfast.

firsts ten days in Belfast

2012-07-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

I arrived ten days ago to Belfast, and the experience is still positive, especially if you count that in 10 days, almost got run over "only" 2 times ... (I remind you that here they drive on the left) which for a foreigner is not bad, even if I have to admit that I needed all my concentration (which is not too much, but it's something said a bald like me, when he found a comb without spikes).

Ormeau Park

This country is really green, is the first thing that impressed me about this country, when I was still in the plane I Thought, where are the villages in this country? Well...they are in the middle of all that green, I have the feeling of I’m living in a park with houses in the middle, on my street there are many trees and I have a huge park right next to my house called "Ormeau Park " to give you an idea how big is, it has a golf course, 5 soccer fields (actual size, not the kind we had in school), 5 basketball field, 3 tennis courts, and a fairly large building indoor tennis, all that is "only" half park ...

I live in the South Belfast near Ormeau Bridge (loyalist Protestant area = English area), about 20 minutes from the city center. The center is small, but has everything you need for a good Sunday afternoon (yes, I say Sunday because here everything is open on Sundays), streets with many shops and food and stuff and a shopping center called Victoria Square just near the town hall.

Victoria Square is not like other shopping centers that I have ever seen, it is as if you took 3 streets of Barcelona, build a roof and put more floors above and below, and a viewpoint above all ... Well, that's Victoria Square.

In addition my favorite building at this moment(I have not seen much of the center) is the town hall, is big, and beautiful and has a front yard with lawn and a large screen for sports broadcast, when the sun comes here to say hello (this is not extremely common) is filled with people lying, watching TV or chatting, it's really pretty. For me Belfast is like a small London, a beautiful city center with shops, coffee shops and little streets and the rest are residential neighborhoods. Well…residential neighborhoods and churches, here are more churches than people per square meter (this is a personal mathematical rule.... nothing confirmed yet!)

But unlike London, Belfast is, above all, a university town, so not many people is living here now, in my neighborhood almost all houses are for rent cause I live near Queens university (which is beautiful, the people says is very similar to Harry Potter castle) and is the students home, so until September it will not begin to come people again.

Queen's University

Speaking about universities, students and students party, I have not seen a too much party but I recognize that I have not been much in the center, as I preferred to use these 10 days to settle down to my house and the city. I promise to tell you more things about Belfast, Northern Ireland and most of its pubs later.

Hugs to all, love you:

The Bald of Belfast

When "miss" means something more

2012-07-09T19:11:00.003-07:00

I’m here in Belfast since few days ago, and the integration in this city is not exactly being easy, otherwise I admit that I’m here for less than 1 week, and I have not visited any pub (well I have drank some pints hehe) and I have not seen much of the city.

But when I walk through the small downtown, the first that comes to my mind is: I miss ...
Because... what we mean when we say I miss you? When you miss is only when you do not see him/her/you? Or when you need to see it and you cannot?

Miss is more than a phrase, is a feeling. Not long ago I left behind my family, friends and loved ones, but when you really feel "Noon", you remember the people who give you the strength to continue each day.
There are many people that I saw recently and today I miss most than ever, I suppose in the background is a feeling of say thanks to all those people who once supported you and never said it, you never feel the importance of those loved ones (friends, family, special people) until you really think, what they say me now?
It's a brutal experience for me, to some of you I told you that "the first 2 month I will be shitty" but definitely with you here, it would be quite half hard difficult of what they can be reach.

When more comes to me this feeling is on daily things, when you have lunch, your family is there with you (although your mother is to tell you to sit at the table to eat and stop play with your food, and your father paste you a shout when you change the channel on the TV ... but they are there)
When you're in home at night and would go to a friend's house to have a beer, just because to see them and laugh a while ... and not just any friend, there are irreplaceable friends (it is very easy to say, you will meet people there.) one good friend always said to me, the great friends can be long time without seeing, but when they see them each other, it is as if they had seen the day before.
When I go out, and I look the sky and I remember Barcelona with the blue sky and sun (a terrible sun…yes, but sunshine after all) and if you have a lot of heat, you can always get you in the shadow of those big beautiful buildings surrounding the Catalunya square in Barcelona. (Although when you're standing there a motorbike beeps at you because he wants to park right where you are...)
I think is not necessary say names, but thanks to all who once support me on this journey, which for different reasons, what you saw right.

I promise to tell you soon more about Belfast, pubs, people, and green parks.

Hugs to all, with love
The bald of Belfast.

Presentation of Northern Ireland and Belfast

2012-06-08T18:18:00.002-07:00

With just under a month to undertake this wonderful travel of one year, I will present the country where I'll be all along.
Northern Ireland is in UK and its capital is Belfast, the city where I will live. is a rather small country with just under 2 million and its capital with 400,000 inhabitants.
Northern Ireland has a very delicated political situation, is Ireland but belongs to England, and this is a cause of discord, is similar to the situation we have in Catalonia, some people will tell you they are Catalan and Spanish are others, it seems exactly the same.
The problem is even greater when you add politics with religion .. which can be quite dangerous .. that's what happens there, on the one hand we have the Catholic Republicans and Protestant Unionists to another, this means:

- Catholic republicans are Catholic and believe that Northern Ireland belongs to Ireland and fight for their customs.

- Protestant Unionists: Are Protestants, they believe that Northern Ireland is a part of England and have the Queen of England as the most important person.

These two factions had major problems few years ago and armed conflict as the IRA, luckily in 1998, signed a peace treaty in which armed groups disappeared and with them the religious-political conflicts were in the background.
Separate political situation, Northern Ireland is a green country, very green, with little sunshine, plenty of rain, castles and spectacular natural landscapes in Northern Ireland have made films and series such as The Chronicles of Narnia, braveheart and more recently Game of thrones. They say it has one of the most spectacular coastal roads in the world, but before I have to learn to drive on the left.

The capital is Belfast, a city that blends colonial times (houses, churches and historic buildings) with a very new and modern center, is the fifth largest city in England, and the last year the geographic nathional put Belfast in the top 10 destinations of 2011.

The good thing about being in a capital city is will not have time to get bored, since according tell their people have the best dark beer in Europe and that's always good, although the pubs do not close as late as Spain. The closing time for pubs is at 1.30 and some clubs close at 3 but I've been looking, and they are very few.

Finally a small mention of the coin, there use the sterling pound, a little expensive than the Euro, so those who want to come to visit me, remember that the euro is worth here.

For now is how little I can tell aoput this country and the capital, but I promise to write more things when i will be there in about a month.

big hug,

the bald man from Belfast!