From La Stampa, Tuesday, October 26.
Five months gone: a brief update
So, it's been nearly five months since I left Cape Town: the World Cup came and went, I haven't kept my promises of updating this blog more often, let alone starting that new blogazine project I was talking about two posts ago....besides, I'm still in Tanzania, only the fifth on my 15-country, Cape to Cairo trip.
Pole pole they'd say in Swahili, slowly slowly, an expression that many non-Africans like to think sums up all that makes the continent not working properly. At least, according to Western standards.
But pole pole also means "gently, softly, quietly; be calm, take it quietly, don't excite yourself, never mind; take it easy."
Yes, things get done in their own time, sometimes they don't, but so what? Perhaps, it is us, busy little ants that we are, who should take it a bit easier, slow down and appreciate the time we believe we don't have, the opportunities we usually don't seize, the stillness we ought to get to know and honour.
...
And now what?
I am in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
I've been here longer than I had expected, but this another story altogether. I am finally ready to leave, and will do so after the weekend. The plan is now to head north towards Moshi and Kilimanjaro, to check it out but not to climb it, then west, reach Kigoma on Lake Tanganyka, turn north again and push through Rwanda, the DRC, and Uganda.
In December I will be in Nairobi, where, as I might have mentioned, I should have a gig helping out the guys at the iHub.
Apparently I am 2297 miles (3697 kilometres) from Cape Town and 2499 miles (4283 kilometres) to Cairo. Not bad. If I was going in a straight line.
Stay Tuned.
Pole pole they'd say in Swahili, slowly slowly, an expression that many non-Africans like to think sums up all that makes the continent not working properly. At least, according to Western standards.
But pole pole also means "gently, softly, quietly; be calm, take it quietly, don't excite yourself, never mind; take it easy."
Yes, things get done in their own time, sometimes they don't, but so what? Perhaps, it is us, busy little ants that we are, who should take it a bit easier, slow down and appreciate the time we believe we don't have, the opportunities we usually don't seize, the stillness we ought to get to know and honour.
...
And now what?
I am in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
I've been here longer than I had expected, but this another story altogether. I am finally ready to leave, and will do so after the weekend. The plan is now to head north towards Moshi and Kilimanjaro, to check it out but not to climb it, then west, reach Kigoma on Lake Tanganyka, turn north again and push through Rwanda, the DRC, and Uganda.
In December I will be in Nairobi, where, as I might have mentioned, I should have a gig helping out the guys at the iHub.
Apparently I am 2297 miles (3697 kilometres) from Cape Town and 2499 miles (4283 kilometres) to Cairo. Not bad. If I was going in a straight line.
Stay Tuned.
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