TravelStream™ news feed for member johnnyc on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/johnnyc en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 05 Jun 2006 06:16:21 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1149502500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1149502500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1149502500/tpod.html Mon, 05 Jun 2006 06:16:21 -0400 Johnny takes on Mont Blanc,

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Grenoble, France

Hello, So apologies for last weeks poor effort at not writing anything, my excuse is that I went to Nice and then came back and I actually had to do some Uni work (shock to the system), But now uni is finished and I'm now refocused on doing this run! Saying that though I did have a rather nice run in Nice along the promenade which made me think that maybe I am a fool for taking on such a stressful run (up a huage mountain) and not a nice easy run along the seaside!!

I am currently a little mad with all things French, I have Mondays off work so I decided that Sunday would be a nice lazy day, I did an hour long run but at a reduced pace...a relaxing pace because today I was going to get a bus up to a plateau at about 1000, and do some training but guess what, the French bus drivers are on strike..who knows there reason, but they are on strike (this is perfectly normal in France) So I'm not quite sure what to do as I am well rested and really want to run at altitude!! (I may have to hitch hike up!) I think the bus drivers may be annoyed because everyone else is off work as it's a bank holiday and they have to work...so they call a strike and stay at home...but I want to run...damn selfish people!!

I still haven't invested in new trainers, it's fairly important stuff and I haven't seen any that really fit the bill...I have to sort it this week though so I can wear them in before the event...I'll be a geek and send a photo next time I write!!

Right I'm off to figure out how I can get up the mountain (no I'm not going to run up yet...I want to actually see how exhausting it is just running at altitude before I deal with the ascent..). Talking of training at altitude The French football team have been training at Tignes (ski resort not far from here) with some vague misguided idea that this will help them progress beyond the group stages at the world cup..hahaha...oh well!!

Ok, a plus!

Johnny
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1148328300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1148328300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1148328300/tpod.html Mon, 22 May 2006 16:14:06 -0400 Johnny takes on Mont Blanc,

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Grenoble, France

Helllooooo Guys, well the hits on this page are slowly creeping up, someone must be reading it!! Great news, Me, Will and Ben are now signed up and ready to go for the marathon it's all quite exciting now, I looked up Mont Blanc the other day on the internet and got a bit nervous!
So I seem to remember that I said I would stop drinking in the last entry, yeah that didnt happen! I have revised that too drinking less and a few weeks before the event going all out with no alcohol, this is because i seemed to drink more when I wasnt meant to be drinking, some strange guilt process that meant that once I had had one beer I may as well have LOADS!!
But this combined with my inherent student laziness means that I sadly did not make a high altidue run this sunday but I did make a 10 miler in a fairly speedy time of 1h30 considering I wasnt in "peak optimal form" (read as hungover) it was pretty god and along way faster than the 2 hour long pooor effort I managed over a month and a half ago, so im ontrack for a half marathon at normal altitude not the Mont Blanc half, but Ive still got 5 weeks or so to go... So here is to a week of drinking not much at all and to not being hung over on sunday... oh and to getting a decent playlist on my ipod for running with, its well annoying to have to change songs and run.. (men and coordination..yes yes i know)

In other news I am taking advantage of the french bank holidays and popping down to watch the monaco grand prix qualifying session HEHEHEHE... very exciting, this may mean Sundays run will be on monday ... Ok should do some work for upcoming exams... sorry Im a day late, was amazingly lazy yesterday after the run!

Ok Thanks again to the doners I'm planning another round of emails soon... I'm about a third of the way to the target, please forward the address on to all your friends now PLEASE!! www.justgiving.com/johnnyc

Thank you!!

Johnny
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1147654320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1147654320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1147654320/tpod.html Sun, 14 May 2006 14:35:49 -0400 Johnny takes on Mont Blanc,

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Grenoble, France

It seems summer has come to Grenoble, it's been a very nice hot day today which pleased me up until I realised I was doing a fairly important run today. So I did the manly thing and put it off right up until I really couldn't avoid it anymore and headed up the Bastille again. So The Bastille is a (very) mini mountain that has some nice (shaded) paths that criss cross up it, if you avoid all the steps it takes about 4km to get to the 500M summit, (you start at 200M) so it's fairly steep but not that steep...My rough calculations show that its a little less than a third of what we will be doing on June 25th in altitude. I was a little apprehensive because since my slight injury I haven't pushed myself very hard and this was meant to be a big push. And to spice things up a bit I ran with my friend Damien who is also intending to do the half-marathon but hasn't been doing much training...

My new training scheme (Thank you BUPA) is very good and tells me that I should be running at a "Conversational" pace, which is slightly open to interpretation especially when your running up mountains and most people walking up are too out of breath to talk but anyway... I started to get a wee bit worried about the laboured breathing behind me as Damien struggled after about 15 minutes especially when had a fairly harsh reminder that mountains shouldn't be messed with when we rounded a corner and found a women collapsed seemingly from over-exertion with a big crowd of people around her (we had overtaken the ambulance men on the way up). I think this may have had a slightly demotivating effect on Damien as after a few more corners he decided it was break time...However after a few minutes we entered the last phase of the "battle" and managed to complete the accent in an honourable time of about 25 minutes. The great thing about the Bastille is you get an amazing rewarding view of Grenoble, which always answers that question in your head ("why am I doing this").

We agreed to take the descent nice and slow as downhill its very easy to do in your knees, (and I'm now a little paranoid about injuries!) it was going well until some cheeky girl over took us, now we obviously saw this as something of an insult so had to deal with her... the problem was she was rather speedy - and my damn shoe-laces came undone half way down. So we thereafter basically sprinted/rolled/skidded down the paths in pursuit, she realised so started going faster and faster - I love the downhill bits because the fatigue building up in your muscles just seems to evaporate; but the problem was all the tourists where a little baffled by the three of us racing down and there where a few go shimmys and close shaves of little kids looking like deer in headlights but as we ran past the collapsed lady (now with about 8 ambulance men and a big red land rover) We where pretty close to the girl with only a quarter of the path left...but she cunningly took a slight detour which we obviously had to follow... after a few more skids round corners I saw the end and taking the inside line round a corner took her Damien quickly followed and we sprinted to the end very smug, very sweaty and absolutely knackered! Damien worked out we where running at 16km/hr which I think is a pretty good pace!! I think we may have scared her!

Today made me think that I really can do this half-marathon, and my fitness is improving which is a great feeling but I know it's not going to be easy, especially since I am not meant to drink for 2 days before training...and since I need to train 4 times a week basically means no more Beer; another challenge is that my training program indicates how much I need to be eating and I'm not eating anywhere enough Carbs - and to achieve that I need to be eating serious amounts (like 2 plates of food for dinner!!). If I get used to that I am clearly going to get fat after the event!!

So 6 weeks to the event, I'm feeling ok, My Doctor has OK'd me for the event (she gave me a funny look when I explained what I wanted to do!) and I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has donated so far, I have been amazed by the response, If you haven't so far please pledge today at www.justgiving.com/johnnyc and send the link on. The donations really do motivate me to get out and run!

Right time to go and feast on the dinner for 2 I've prepared for myself!!

Johnny
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1147024860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1147024860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1147024860/tpod.html Sun, 07 May 2006 14:11:14 -0400 Johnny takes on Mont Blanc,

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Grenoble, France

I woke up a few days back with a twinge in my leg (just above my ankle), and over the last few days its been getting worse... I've rescheduled my training to do no running and give it a break but it just seems to be getting worse, after 5 weeks of training I'm not about to give up but I'm a little scared. So I'm going to see a doctor next week (to get my obligatory health check before I can sign up for the event) and I hope they can help me sort out the ankle, I think it's either a tendon or just a pulled muscle which hopefully will heal with time.

This has made me realise though how much I enjoy running, I keep on finding myself looking out the window at the mountains... (Thinking when can I run up that one). But I'm remaining upbeat I still have a fair few weeks to recover from this and I built one week extra into my training schedule just in case I got injured. Lets just hope it works itself out.

I also just wanted to say thank to SOS UK for getting in touch with me, its very nice to have a few words of support, they mentioned that SOS has a very low profile in the UK even though it is the largest international orphan society, it's true because a lot of Swiss, German and Austrian people know SOS whereas most British people seem to give me a funny look which says something like "has he just invented this charity in some cunning beer money scheme?"

Hopefully my next entry will be a bit more happier!!

johnny
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1146515940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1146515940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/marathon-2006/1146515940/tpod.html Mon, 01 May 2006 16:51:37 -0400 Johnny takes on Mont Blanc,

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Grenoble, France

HeyHey, Well I chose today to really kick off the training efforts, up until today I have been just concentrating in getting the distance in but today I decided that it was time to see how I coped with a bit of altitude. Over looking Grenoble is a fort and behind it a fairly large hill, it actually went fairly well, there where points as I jogged up that I felt like my lungs where gunna explode but once I found my rhythm it was all fine! Coming down was another matter as I managed to choose the thin gravel path clearly built by a crazy man, more sliding than running!

But I don't really want to talk about the jog today; I want to explain a bit where this idea came from and the motivations behind it. This year I have been on studying in Grenoble and we are surrounded by mountains, everyday I wake up look at the window and see mountains, so the year has kind of revolved around conquering mountains, whether it be through Skiing down them or rock climbing up them... I have been looking for something; one last challenge to sort of seal the year off for me and the Mont Blanc Marathon seemed perfect. I have been in training now for five weeks and am starting to believe that I can do it. I know that its not gunna be a question of making the distance we (Me, Will and Ben) are young and we shouldn't have a problem with that, its going to be the gradient that will hurt us, the profile looks something like the tour de France mountain stage profiles...infact it probably is!!

So yes that's why I want to do it, My support for SOS has been there ever since I worked for them in Togo, the work they did was so unlike the other NGOs I visited, the workers actually appeared to care deeply about all the children there and vitally there wasn't any wastage of money going on (as is fairly common in international NGOS...I hate to make sweeping statements). I liked the fact there was no imposition of one religion, the children where free to choose, I liked the fact they support the children right up until they are firmly established on their own 2 feet. The director insisted that noone call the village an orphanage because that's not what it is, they can never be parents but they try to get as close as they can for these children who are orphans...

So check back here for updates on how I get on, if you've got this far please don't forget to donate today at www.justgiving.com/johnnyc

Thank you

Johnny
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/grenoble-eras/1137931680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/grenoble-eras/1137931680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/grenoble-eras/1137931680/tpod.html Fri, 24 Feb 2006 05:10:47 -0500 From Leeds University to Grenoble, France on the Erasmus program...little bit of studying...alot of relaxing..exploring..being converted to the french "way"

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Grenoble, France, France

Erasmus, the European Union exchange program should be something of legend, the Erasmus experience was put fairly accurately recorded in one of my favourite French films "l'auberge espagnol"; Students from all over Europe converge on university cities for one or two semesters of living it up, funded (to the tune of about €200 a month) by the EU; what follows is an amazing mixture, of cultures and languages (aided by alcohol of course).



Naively I never realised how different our European cultures are, in Grenoble we are all of course mostly united by the pressures of skiing, having a good social life and university study (in that order); however the latter is made a whole lot easier as lecturers have proved to be fairly susceptible to the old ploy of gently explaining that exams are too taxing and stressful for us poor struggling Erasmus students, so an essay would be much better for us and for them - This has worked fairly well for most people I know, although in one instance it went a bit too far and the lecturer decided that infact yes written work was too much to ask so a 10 minute spoken exam would be much better!!!

This isn't meant to be propaganda for Erasmus their are obvious flaws in it, not the fault of the EU, one thing I find particularly annoying is that the common language of Erasmus seems to be English, despite all our best efforts when I'm out with my Erasmus friends we always seem to pass a certain point of drunkenness (about 2 am I find) and we switch from French to English, another is that certain aspects of the Erasmus Exchange scheme remind me of a School exchange. I always found school language exchanges totally flawed as you where all shipped off to some European city, went to class with your English friends and then activities where organised in the afternoon and evening with your English friends (so as not to burden your exchange partner) and when you did manage to find time with your exchange partner it was a few quick minutes at breakfast or before bed! My point is that on Erasmus exchange you can, if you want to do exactly the same, hang around with people of your country/language group and yes your language skills do improve but that's by osmosis not due to any effort of your own!! (Ok yes this annoys me a bit!!)

I'm half way through my Erasmus exchange now, what do I honestly think? It's been an interesting experience so far, the culture differences haven't been too hard, obviously French bureaucracy scored a few victories but I'm ready and refreshed to come out fighting again on that front; I think it's an interesting and unique program because I don't know of any other program where you get to live in another country for so long, with so much free time to enjoy and explore the country - oh and get paid for it.



My home university (The University of Leeds) told us all sorts of stories about how exchange students (including Erasmus students) get better degrees in the end and are also more employable, as much of a reason as that is to do a year like this I think the stronger reason is that you go through things you would never have the chance to back home, almost every Erasmus student I have met is open and friendly , you have to be to enjoy the experience I guess, if youre considering going on Erasmus or further afield outside europe I would strongly encourage you to do it, you only live once and when else would I have had the chance to drink champagne at about 2600M, learn to climb, live with two crazy italians whilst learning a foreign language!!

More info:
The film "L'auberge Espagnol" http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006H2Z4/402-3227931-9273742
It's Sequal http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BR0ZIE/ref=pd_sim_dp_1/402-3227931-9273742

Erasmus online :
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/socrates/erasmus/erasmus_en.html
One of my friends photo galery so far
http://www.reiner.tk/erasmus/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=228
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/grenoble-eras/1132766100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/grenoble-eras/1132766100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/grenoble-eras/1132766100/tpod.html Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:17:56 -0500 From Leeds University to Grenoble, France on the Erasmus program...little bit of studying...alot of relaxing..exploring..being converted to the french "way"

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Grenoble, France

Life in Grenoble has been ticking along nicely, lectures are no longer a daily enslaught of gobblydygoook, (i have 3 8 oclock starts), i now understand most of them, jsut cant write them down fast enough....think my written french should catch up soon enough, uni is pretty cool really, the sport is even better, i do climbing (amazing), badminton (to keep me fit---great fun get to pelt little people with shuttlecocks) and i start skiing next sunday...really cheap and so close.

My view of france has changed a little recently.. its quite strange to think now that only a week ago there where riots kicking off 50metres from my house!

A few nights back there was meant to be a big citywide wine festival/piss up here in the centre of grenoble - think guy fawks night without the fireworks and everyone is pissed - It was all going well until some genius thought it would be fun to test out their aim on...the fireman and policemen -maybe they just found the flashy nights annoying who knows,but without any other missles close to hand they chose bottles and rocks; Problem is of course that french police men at the momment are a little....on edge you could say, My theory is that the Grenoble police got so little action in the "banlieue riots" (only a few hundred cars burnt) that they where just looking for a fight and a chance to play with their cool shiny kit (large battons/gas guns/ etcc..)- so anyway the police didnt take well to a few rocks raining down on them so they thought it would be the perfect chance to fire off tear gas into the crowd - Now imagine you are a student having discovered this wine that is €2 a bottle and tastes---ok --- a few hours/minutes your pissed - and you hear that theres a fight going on --- so you are curious and think - "lets go have a look" ---- so the combination of all the bars emptying of people and the police getting well worked up meant Total chaos in the centre of grenoble, the police came in with riot gear firing off tear gas, I wasnt in the square where it kicked off, was about 100 metres away and it looked like clouds of dust coming towards you and then bang .... tear gas everywhere, hundreds of people fleeing, sort of made me choke more than cry; The funniest thing was seeing people look on curiously and then wander into the cloud "to see what it felt like" then 30 seconds----fairly predictably----staggering out spluttering and streaming. Was a litlle serious because there where thousands of people running...movie style down the fairly thin roads to escape the gas and batton wielding police men,

Why do I tell you this? Well youve probably all heard about the riots and violence that "swept" across france, not much happend in grenoble, - But it shocked me, and made me read more into the race issue etcc...in france - But the other night makes me think, first of all the police here are idiots, (they where no where to be seen for the entire night, there where no police men inthe centre until they sent in the riot police - and easily 5000 drunk young people) I guess what im saying is that if this is how they police major events where they know there are going to be alot of people, THey are reactive instead of preventative - My point is there are alot of problems in france I know but the police blatently dont help themsleves.

On the suburb riots, 1 small thing i found out, You know in england on so many forms they ask what "ethnic background" you consider you self "white british etcc..." In france thats illegal, your not allowed to ask and the Government doesnt publish statisitics on who lives in france, the view is if your french you french, eveyone is equal so it doesnt matter where your from" - which means that for example the police cant measure how well there officers represent the ethnic make up of the town because they dont know the ethinic make up and well there not allowed to ask there officers anyway --- this is significant (apparently) because it means that so many of the suburbs where many 3rd generation immigrants live ( not sure why they still call them immigrants) feel no identity with the police forces who are mant to polcie them,

Here's CNN throwing in their bit,

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/18/france.rioting.reut/index.html

And practise your french at
http://archquo.nouvelobs.com/cgi/articles?ad=societe/20051118.OBS5667.html&host=http://permanent.nouvelobs.com/
http://news.google.fr/url?sa=t&ct=fr/1-0&fp=43a03a49a02fdbe3&ei=W1OgQ9TzN5Ck6AGN7-CLAg&url=http%3A//www.lexpress.fr/info/quotidien/actu.asp%3Fid%3D1201&cid=0
http://news.google.fr/news?hl=fr&ned=fr&q=grenoble+beaujolais&ie=UTF-8


Sorry got a bit serious, didnt feel I could ignore it entirely,

take care guys,
Johnny
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/grenoble-eras/1128354960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/grenoble-eras/1128354960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/grenoble-eras/1128354960/tpod.html Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:11:44 -0500 From Leeds University to Grenoble, France on the Erasmus program...little bit of studying...alot of relaxing..exploring..being converted to the french "way"

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Grenoble, France

Helloo....Grenoble is going well..Uni is a wee bit tricky at times,
starting at 8 three days a week and lectures being no shorter than
1:30 hours up to 3 hours is a bit of a mission giving me a sort of
numb, brain dead feeling at the end of Thursdays (about 8 hours of
lessons back to back!)

The Ski season started sunday which basically means some really
sadistic students have zoomed off to some glaciers nearby to get there
adrenaline rushes.... being relatively sporty here actually badminton,
climbing and soon to be learning to ski too....I'm gunna wait for the
snow though coz i reckon learning to ski/falling over on a glacier
just aint gunna be nice.

The erasmus life is really pretty sweet if any of you have seen
L'Auberge Espagnol you'll have a fair idea what its like, many night
spent in cafe's sitting in groups of a real mix of nationalities, the
language switching between french, english, german spanish and italian
mainly....its a really nice feeling to actually be living in french, i
don't speak it all the time coz Ive got some anglophone Friends and
sometimes you really need a break (after loooong lectures) but I cant
help but improve when you can speak french whenever you want! The
travelling is good to so far been to Marseille, Cassis, Aix En
provence...oh and Annecy which is beautiful...I've got friends with a
group of germans who have named themselves the "Crazy Mountain Crew"
which means at every free moment they are to be found climbing g
harder and harder slopes in and around Grenoble, I went on an amazing
walka few weekends back where we walked through dense cloud for about
2 hours until then we broke through and the views were amazing..so
satisfying too! The clouds came and went like waves and we found lakes
with the ends of glaciers around them...it was awesome! There is some
talk of us taking on Mont Blanc soon but we need to build up gradually
to it...Grenoble is surrounded by 3 mountain ranges so theres
something for everyone here (no im not working for the tourist board
just yet)

So some of you may be wondering where im living, after a month of
staying with a slightly potty french lady I have now moved into a big
apartment in the centre of the old town, pedestrian streets below,
with two Italian girls which is a really burden, the good news is
theres a whole lot of floor space for those who want to come stay
here!! Looks like Ill be speaking italien before long too!! I love the
way the italians do things, we went to one of their Friends houses the
other night and before we went out everyone had to neck some of their
seriouslystrong...............coffee....they seem to share so much
more than we do which is cool, especially when it means they cook for
me....Ive promised to cook them a British speciality....im thinking
curry!!! I love the little differences like they put olive oil on
there bread instead of butter and that salad is eaten before the main
course in france, after the main course in italy and well how many
students do you know in England who eat salad!!?

How happy am I, Ive just discovered I can download the chris moyles
show....my week is saved!
Oh and one last thing if you've made it this far, the whole french
culture of striking is just fantastic!....There is a national strike
today, no one really seems to be able to explain exactly why they are
striking, but the transport workers are on strike so there are picket
lines on the tram tracks and well no buses which means i cant get to
uni....shame, i love the fact it means that about half the population
cant get to work/uni but still no one seems to be bothered and just
treats it like another holiday.

Ok I think Ive rambled enough, thanks for your emails keep them
coming...hopefully you'll can see some photos?

Johnny
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/grenoble-eras/1125676440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/grenoble-eras/1125676440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/grenoble-eras/1125676440/tpod.html Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:55:49 -0500 From Leeds University to Grenoble, France on the Erasmus program...little bit of studying...alot of relaxing..exploring..being converted to the french "way"

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Grenoble, France

Salut! Well I'm here in Grenoble, Its a bit surreal really, everything
here is so typicaly French, the lannguage school where ive been taking
much needed lessons was run by a lady who must be related to Cruella
de Ville, Grenoble is basically the "capital of the alps" which really
means that were surrounded by mountains, i havent found one place in
town where you cant look up and see a mountain yet! The town is full
of tree lined avenues with all those french shops you learned about at
school, fromagerie, epicerie, boulangerie, everything!! I've spent
proabably a little too much of my time sitting at one of the many
cafes in town working my way through tiny coffees and or pastis
(depedin on time of day) all in all its been a goo couple of weeks,
aesthetically at least

On the other hand I have had a few too many skirmishes wih french
buraucray, basically it seems that to get anythin in france you need
to turn up with orginal and photocopies of pretty much everything
youve ever been issued, I decided to take thing into my own hand and
in england prepared this folder witht evrthing i could possibly think
of needing in, you can tell who are new students here because they all
have one too! You wouldnt beleive how satsifying it is to see the bank
clerk look me in the eye and go.....Sorry youll have to come back
later as you dont have the....photocopy of (orginal birth
certificate/national insurance card/uk bankstatement/attestation de
residence/ letter from chirac saying your a good bloke) and then as i
reach into my folder and you see this scowl of defeat spread acorss
the clerks face because hahahahaha I HAVE IT, , now you may think Ive
gone a bit mad but seriously it is all about the little victories if i
dont take pleasure in these i would have actually gone mad, until now
its only been minor skirmishes liek bank accounts and househunting btu
next week the real battles commence as i try to enrol in uni and get
my housing benefit ; this is another little quirk ive discovered, the
french gov ernment will pay pretty much anyone under a certain income
level benefit for there hosuing, foreign students as much as long time
residents, so we all get about 100 euros for....living in france.

its a bit cheesy but no matter how frutrating and difficult it has
been getting set up here, the french way of life does make it so much
easier to relax, especially here, the french may get off on paper work
and large rubber stamps but they do know how to make a town look good,
there are alot of squares here with cafes all around, where ive passed
a few nights swapping battle stories and seeing the mountains
gradually fade away.....

Right well Im a little nervous about uni starting, im sure my french
will improve leaps and bounds but i guess i didnt rerally consider
quite how tough akign notes in and writing essays in french will be,
but hey!!

Thanks for the emails youve been sending, Ill be better set up soon so
if you havent got a personal reply yet you will do soon!!! its good to
hear what youve been up to etcc..

Johnny
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/togo-2004/1114584660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/togo-2004/1114584660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnnyc/togo-2004/1114584660/tpod.html Thu, 28 Apr 2005 05:15:59 -0400 Volunteering on an orphans village and trying not to turn into a lobster, my summer 2004!!

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Leeds, United Kingdom

I'm sitting in my comfy room in Leeds but I can't sleep, I read an email this evening from an UN News agency I subscribe to and its scared me. Riots appear to be spreading across Togo, youths are blockading major junctions in the capital, smoke is rising across the capital, there are reports of foreign homes and businesses being attacked, the US embassy is evacuating non essential staff.

The country I had amazing experiences in this summer, Togo, appears to be in trouble. Few of you will know what has happened there I know, but basically the former corrupt President who has held power for 37 yrs died a while ago, this ignited hope within the population that they would see democracy for the first time in many peoples lifetimes, but this was darkened as the Military seized control and installed the former presidents son as Leader.


The international community, the UN. EU, France, The USA and many African stated including the African Union (AU) condemned this, threatened sanctions and the military backed down and rekindled that hope of democracy in many Togolease peoples hearts. The elections were held very quickly and election day was last Sunday. The Former presidents son appears to have learnt the art of election rigging from his father as they have been many reports of irregularities, problems with the voting lists, voting cards, election boxes being seized and many fake ballots being found in candidates houses. It's a common list, its easy stuff to do but its not funny. So many people had so many hopes about this election, and its just all gone wrong. The interior minister warned days before the election that it was too soon for an election, he implied that the people had had so long without democracy they needed time to get used to it and work out what they want, he suggested that an opposition leader should be installed president of a coalition government of national unity. With retrospect his idea sounds wonderful.

It's just a shame that he was fired for his suggestion. He is now in hiding in a neighbouring country.

The opposition party formed a coalition to contest the election and there leader will not concede defeat, speaking from a safe house in the capital he declared himself president, no one knows whether the message got out as the state is either in control of , or has shut down all private radio and TV stations, the French equivalent of the BBC World service has also been stopped from transmitting, in fact the only news getting into Togo is probably coming from the BBC world service or the web!

This is serious, people are dying for freedom and it just makes me think that when our news in the UK is dominated by the election, when people just don't care at all about it, it kind of makes me mad. Miles away people are actually dying because of a flawed election, and no one here knows about it, and I honestly believe very few people will care. Our world is a strange, wonderful and messed up thing and I feel so helpless sitting here getting emailed news reports of the situation getting worse and worse. The former president played on the ethnic make up of Togo for years to maintain his grip on power, there are 2 major groups who are total rivals, in peace times they lived side by side but most problems were blamed on the other group, this election has the power to blow these ethnic rivalries apart into a bitter conflict, there are already warning of Togo slipping into civil war, if it does the consequences could be terrifying.

I think the only thing that can stop this is the international community, led by the African Union and supported diplomatically and if needs be economically and with peace keeping troops from all over the world. In the twenty first century we simply cannot allow this to happen, we cant stand by and watch a country ruin itself. But what can we do?

We can only hope that things calm down, I'm not sure what is better for the people of Togo, living under a former dictators son (what's that phrase, like father like son!?) or to fight for freedom, and fighting for there democracy and right to a free and fair election is honourable but I guess they just have to decide that price they will pay for it

Johnny
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