A typical day in Lagos

5.05 – sound of my iPhone alarm. It sings for me the song of One republic – "Secrets". I like it that is starts with a quite sound of sting instrument and goes on stronger and stronger a pretty loud chorus. This makes me get into the rhythm. I lie in bed normally half way through the song. Then – "Let it be light!" and "where is my book" or National Geographic. I read much more here than I used to in the past year. In fact ever since I came here I finished 3 books – "On killing", "One minute salesman", and "Left to tell: discovering God amidst the Rwandan holocaust". I came back to loving reading and look forward to my next book.

5.50 – quick review of the emails and answering the ones that only need one or two lines without a lot of thinking.

6.00 – TV on. I'm always switching on SuperSports Blitz or Eurosport News to see the yesterday's World Cup goals and other sports news. I love sports. I normally do that while I do my quick morning workout. 1 series of sit-ups, push-ups and back exercises. Need to get back in shape :)

6.20 – knowing that I have to be leaving at 6.40 I rush to the shower. I discovered how much time and water a cold shower saves :) of courser a cold shower in Lithuania and in Nigeria are two different things but every morning it takes 5 seconds of courage to get under water and every time I do that I think that I need work on my blog to not forget these experiences :)

6.30 – out of shower. Quick dressing and packing the back pack. It normally takes me less than 10 minutes.

6.43 - Leaving the room I often spray Mortein to kill the mosquitos during the daytime while I'm not there and switch the electric light in the whole apartment. It's one of those big safety switches that switches off the light in the whole apartment. Need to save electricity here :)

6.45 – I'm in a car with my boss, Banky and Dominik – our driver heading off.

7.20 – if it's Monday through Wednesday we arrive at the church called "Resource center". This center is where John Paul the 2^nd used to say when he was visiting Nigeria. The mass starts at 7.30 and goes on until eight. If it's Thursday or Friday, we go directly to our work place – the Pan-African University (PAU) where there is a little chapel for Catholics (as I found out there are also praying places for people of other beliefs). They hold mass Thursday and Friday 7.30 to 8.00.

8.05 – after arranging my things we go to have morning coffee/tea. It comes with 4 diet cookies. That is very nice :) I like cookies. We normally chat for a while with people from EDS (the center that I work with) or other people from PAU. Everyone is very friendly at our canteen and we always and up laughing and having fun.

8.30 – back to the desk, starting to work. I normally start with defining my goals for the day on a small piece of paper. Currently I work on 4-5 projects. Two of them are the most important ones. The redesign and rebrand of the EDS website (www.eds.com.ng) (which is not yet up) and the establishment of the EDS customer relationship management and knowledge sharing system. Other projects include – guidelines for client meetings, and projects with some of the EDS clients.

10.15 – is time for breakfast. We go to the same canteen and have a donut, some nice sandwiches, little cakes or something similar with some more tea and coffee. Chatting about the latest World Cup scores is the natural part of the conversations.

10.40 – back to work.

13.55 – lately I've been going to have lunch later. At 14 although it has three periods – 12.30, 13.15 and 14.00. But after a breakfast and morning tee I'm not feeling hungry until at least 14.00. Lunchtime is huge. I could have not imagined that the plates in some other place than the US could be as big as that. But it appears it can. It's more or less a canteen, chose what you like food. Which always includes – fried or steamed fish, plantain, white and not-white rice, soups, chicken, beef, salad and some Nigerian dishes that I wish I could learn the names of. Lately I've been trying a lot of Nigerian cuisine and have been enjoying it a lot. The food is normally rather "peppery" (as they say it here) or spicy and they have these white "bun-kind-of" things. I have to ask Rotimi what exactly they are called.

14.40 – back to work.

17.03 – realize that it's past five and if we get out of here later than about 17.30 we might spend about 2 hours in traffic for something that would normally take about 45 minutes in 17.00 traffic or about 15 minutes without traffic. Traffic here is ridiculous for my standards. I always remember the example of the teacher telling students about a full glass – when filling it with big stones first, then smaller stones, then sand, and finally water. So this is a good imagination of what Nigerian roads look like. Imagine 2 jeeps going on a two lane road. Normal. In between them put another 2 cars – on the same 2 lane road. In between squeeze these ridic 3-wheel taxis. And finally fill it the rest of the space with about 10 motorcycles. You can imagine how many horns sound at the same time on a Nigerian road and how fast people move all over the place. That is why the fastest way to get around in Nigeria (just like in Barcelona) is a motorcycle. And that is why they run around all over the place and work like taxis. You can see people in suits in the morning hopping on a "motorcycle-taxi" paying a guy a 100N or so (70 American cents) and riding around the place. Another way of going around is using a mini-van bus. Here you cram as many people inside and the one that has to get of first opens the door and rides standing on the verge of the car with his/her full body outside. Oftentimes, in traffic, people simply climb up a random truck (without even asking) and ride in the same direction and then jump off :) now that's what I call adventurous getting around. Sadly, I did not get to experience that :)

18.15 (if there is no traffic) – we get back. Quick change to sports clothes. If I have about 45 minutes and it's not raining outside, I go to the lawn just outside the little apartment that I live in and do sports. This could vary anything from rolls, to Genbukan stuff, and I always finish with 2-3 series of workout. Sit-ups, push-ups, back exercises. I'm hoping to see a difference between me pre-Nigeria and after-Nigeria :) This follows by a quick 2-3 minute coldish shower and getting dressed into something more confortable.

19.00 – normally moving to the club house. A little bar place run in our "estate". Estate is a cluster of houses that live in one community and manager the place together. During the World Cup I go a little later 19.20 so as to arrive at 19.30 for the last game of the day. In the clubhouse you can get food (normally I would have some chicken and "chips" (French fries) or fish and chips. The latter is my favorite. It took me two weeks before I could try it because the place ran out of fish. But now it's back. They cook it in aluminum foil and with a lot of pepper. It's the most amazing thing ever. The medium fish (probably about 0.5m long) with chips and a bottle of water costs me N1300 (about $9).

21.20 – getting back home and trying to do some work or emailing.

22.00 – reading time. I try to read about 1 hour before going to sleep. I read slowly so it takes more time. But I'm getting used to it and enjoying it a lot.

23.03 – lights out. Good night :) This was another amazing day in Lagos!

Cultural Immersion in Nigeria (from my email to Adeola)

Thanks!

I like the cultural immersion here in Lagos. It's a lot of fun :)
I like that when i trip on the stairs people say "sorry" as if they have done something, although it's all my clumsiness :)
I like when people do something for me and say "thank you" :) This makes me want to delegate all of my work to everybody else and make the people around me very grateful that they are doing all the work for me :))))))))))))))

I'm just kidding! I love my experience here.
Thank YOU!!! :)

Vaidas

An Email to Merimee from Cameroon (a friend in Johannesburg)

Hey Merimee! Nice to hear from you buddy!

I'm not doing my World Cup research here anymore. I'm working for a company called Enterprise Development Services (at the Pan-African University). I might try to do a little bit of the research but considering my schedule so far it might be difficult - it got busy, and the people who are taking care of me, take care of me all the way. I mean i have my days planned and I'll have to see when I can meet my classmate and do some other stuff.

Life's easy for me here because i'm taken care of 24/7 but i suppose it would be very differnt if I were on my own. And I infer from little remarks of the people around here that I should not be traveling alone in Nigeria. Though everybody I meet is super friendly and engaging. It's nice being here and I'm sure I'll enjoy the rest of my stay.

It's nice to hear things In South Africa are moving forwards. I miss that place. It was great hanging out with you guys, and our trip to the market was amazing. I showed my gfriend her presents over the interned yesterday and she loved them. She cannot wait to see them in real life :)

Also, i'm very excited about the World Cup too! I'm hoping to be able to watch as many matches as I possibly can! This means I have to finish the books that I'm reading before next friday because afterwards it's going to be too late :) My evenings will be settled! :)

Well glad to hear from you. How is your girl? I always forget her name, i just think it started with C... :) give best regards to her. it was great hanging out with you guys.

Best regards from Lagos,
Vaidas

Comming Next

- Traffic in Lagos and the glass bottle example
- My typical work day
- Basic facts about Nigeria and life here

Lagos and EDS

Nigeria surprised me by 1) how a developing country looks like, 2) the hospitality of the host family and the EDS. 1) I had never been to southern hemisphere before going to South Africa, and South Africa was a relatively easy experience as we stayed at good hotels and I reserved my sightseeing to what was taxi ride to the companies, the companies, taxi ride back, hotel, shopping malls… it was exciting but it was relatively easy. Nigeria impressed me from the moment we left the airport. Seeing a highway full of people (btw Nigeria is a biggest black country and probably 98% of people here are black), carrying baskets on their heads (something that I had previously seen only on TV) and running around the highway trying to sell you stuff… the chaos on the road is hard to describe. I was surprised we did not once get the car bruised, because oftentimes there are no lanes to drive on, and cars drive by the "rule of HONK HONK thumb". That is whenever somebody is approaching you, you just blow your horn. The myriads of people on the street who according to Rotimi live on $100 monthly salary (as I understood) made a huge impression on me. It was so different from anything I had seen before. I'll get some pictures and hang them here.

2) my host "family" – Enterprise Development Services (EDS) just took care of me at every single step! From the moment I stepped out of the airport to the EDS, to lunch, to stipend (btw I think Nigerian money should need a separate paragraph to be written about because this amount of physical cash ($150 in Nairas) I had last touched when I Still worked at Banesto in Sant Feliu and had to order Euros in packs. These 22 thous. Nairas (see picture) is a story in itself. Supposedly Nigeria is still very much cash-based country and although I saw a card machine on a Supermarket counter today, the actual machine that used to calculate money for the oven that Banky was buying was the one that calculates banknotes and the one that I only had seen used in a bank before. Anyways, Banky, Rotimi, Jide, Wale, Nneka, Nnena (?) and others really made me feel at home. Provided me with my own little room at Banky's house, cell phone card, transport, food etc. etc…

More to come tomorrow :)    

Johannesburg

We were told a lot of things before going to Johannesburg about how dangerous the place was. And in fact this scared us and we took a lot of precautions to be as safe as we could. I asked my friends which regions we should be staying and we were advised Sandton, Houghton, Rosebank. We chose Sandton's Protea Balalaika Hotel which is very well rated on Hotels.com. We also made sure we were taken by hotels pick up service from the airport (which cost us R480 (about a R100 more than a normal taxi), but it was a safe way to go and not get lost. And actually considering that Joburg is considered among the most dangerous cities in the world by many websites this made us feel better.

Joburg was a huge surprise for me. I felt it was a very exciting city and very fascinating. Of course I saw little more than the posh region of Sandton and the few shopping centers that we saw BUT these few places and the people we met made us feel very welcome. The taxi drivers were glad to talk about history and their home towns and ethnicities. Ask them about their native language. There are 11 different cultures in South Africa. Funnily enough most of the people we met were from Limpopo which I had only heard before from the Russian cartoons and giraffes and hippos etc.

We went to a Baron's bar one night advised by Len (thanks buddy! That was great!!) and met Miremee (Ngaleu) from Cameroon. This guy (he was attending us) was amazingly smart, happy and fun. We ended up talking with him the whole night hoping that he would not get in trouble with his bosses. After exchanging our contact details I should be going with him to an African market tomorrow! He's great I hope to keep in touch with him.

Thus Joburg was very positively surprising to me, same as the whole South African country. People were extremely nice and helpful, food was amazing, and getting around in taxi was easy (although the pricing is actually very particular thing of this place… I think they behave like that Watermelon salesman in Xazanov's humor... i.e. shouting whatever price came to their mind at that particular moment).

Also, after having spent here these couple of days I feel that the danger was rather EXAGGERATIED. It is dangerous and you can tell that by all private houses having high walls with electric wires on top of them and security guards 24/7 with openly held shotguns. However, if one does not act stupidly and look for dangers I felt the place was not more dodgy than west Philly. That is one has to be very careful at night time and make sure not valuable items are carried around exposing to the whole world! That can get you in trouble. But other than that we felt very safe and welcome.

It's interesting. We were told a lot of stories about security and Joburg. And in fact, center city is considered extremely dangerous. The security industry is said to be self sustaining as the more criminals and danger there is the more need for security, the more business, the more money! Thus Security will definitely keep the client safe, eradicating the criminality also has certain disadvantages for Joburg. I'll let you make the conclusions on your own, but supposedly now security is the second biggest industry in town. Which again a feel is a big exaggeration but it definitely has parts of truth in it.

It was also greatly suprising that a lot of people here knew Lithuania!!! Much more than in US in my oppinion. Also funnily enough most of South Africa's Jews are coming from Lithuania!!! I met a couple and ended up inviting all of them to visit LT because they were really friendly and told stories about their grandparents coming from Moletai (goooo Ilana!!!) and Vilnius etc… It was an amazing trip, yet tomorrow my travels have to continue… Lagos – here I come!!! 

 

 
 

Our South African Experience

I came here to meet with several companies and research the cultural aspect of advertising in the World Cup. I had never been to the African continent and this was supposed to be my immersion, before travelling to Lagos in Nigeria for more than a month. I had heard some things about South Africa before but I must say, whatever I was told this place exceeded my expectations by a 100%.

Cape Town

Everybody loves it. I knew it before going. Cape Town had been visited by a number of my friends and every single one of them had brought back an amazing experience, wanting to go back. As a result my expectations were rather high. It’s an amazing city! Mountains. the Oceans, very welcoming and “westernized” environment and amazing people. We stayed at the Protea Fire and Ice! Hotel. Which in itself is an great experience. Super original, very youthful, and great service. I travelled to the Table mountain and on top it met two guys working at of Smirnoff– Kenji (I have no Idea how to spell it) and Buz. Walked with them around the mountain as that day I came in late and Miriam (my Lauder colleague and research partner) was doing other tours the whole day. It was great. Also the other days we visited the local markets and the port and ate great and relatively cheap food. As expectations were high I cannot say I was extremely surprised by what I found, but I’d definitely add this place to the number of places of where I would like to go after Philadelphia.

People

We met with a bunch of people in our meetings and outside of them. Adidas, Ilana from AfricaSoccer, Miriam’s Jewish Friends who invited us their amazing house in the suburbs to celebrate a Jewish holiday (I hope you forgive me for not remembering it’s name) and eat amazing food, and Cynthia from INSEAD (exchange Wharton) who happened to graduate the same year as Daliuska and remember him well from her studies!!! The world is tiny. What surprised me is that all the people were so welcoming, friendly and happy to meet with us. Also we understood how small the business world here is even though the country is 48 mio people. Meeting one person opened a way to another 2-3, all of them knew each other and gladly introduced us to the others. Thanks to all of you guys you made our experience at Cape Town very special!!! Also special thanks to Ben (our “travel manager” :) who has made our trips to different places very pleasant and quick! If anybody needs his number is 08 54 54 930 (R9 per kilometer – best we could find).

South Africa - and World Cup - here I am!

Kelionė į Barseloną ( Barcelona )

Iš mano laiškų kodegoms. Imkit mane ir vartykit. Mielai naudokitės tikiuosi padės. Barselona nuostabus mietas į kurį visada norisi sugrįžti. Štai šiek tiek patarimų. Turėkit omeny kad jie nenuoseklūs (iš kelių laiškų) ir kad Barslonoj aš gyvenau 2009 metais paskutinį kartą. Nors šis bei tas gali būti pakitę manau aprašmas puikiai atspindės dabartį ir pagelbės kelionėj. Džiugaus pasibuvimo! jei turėtumėt dar klausimų mielai rašykit į tiavas@gmail.com!

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tai taip ir pradesiu.

* jeigu atskrenda tavo tevai penktadieni ir greiciausiai atskrenda i barselonos El Prat aerouosta is ten gali tiesiu taikymu pasileisti traukiniu i centra, ty ten kur yra uzsirezervine viesbuti. Beje turiu pastebeti kad sitas viesbutis yra labai fainas, pacioje barselonos sirdyje su gerom komunikacijom ir prie pat centro. Ty ju viesbutis yra toje vadinamojoje Rambloje kuri ir yra manau viena zinomiausiu barselonos vietu. tai tokia aleja kur vaikscioja daug turistu ir vyksta daug akciju atrakciju, pajasu, aktoriu ir kt. nezinau kiek tavo tevai turi lagaminu, bet jei neturi daug galetu vaziuoti traukiniu iki Passeig de Gracia (aerouoste yra vienintelis traukinys ir jisai veza i sita stotele), iskart po stoteles Barcelona Sants (pagrindine barselonos traukiniu stotis). Islipus Passeig de Gracia yra du pasirinkimai arba eiti pesciomis (butu gal 15-20 min ejimo su lagaminiukais) arba persesti y metro L3 (zhalias) ir kad juos isleistu stoteleje Liceu arba Drassanes (abi vienodai nutolusios nuo to viesbuciaus, ty apie 2-3 min pesciom. Kitas budas yra pasiimti taxi. manau kad galetu kainuoti nuo pat aerouosto apie 30-35 eurus ir tiesa pasakius labai neapsimoka. Bet cia kaip kam patinka. lygiai tokiu paciu budu jie gales ir atgal i aerouosta nuvaziuoti savo isvykimo diena.
* Barselonoje reikia buti labai atsargiam, nesistengti buti geru kokiam nors prasanciajam metro stoteleje arba pagrindinese turistinese vietose. Yra daug vagiu. Ypac labai atsargiam reikia buti metro. girdejau ne viena istorija apie is ranku paimtus pasus, pinigines i kitas gerybes. ty verciau buti pernelyg atsargiam negu veliau gailetis!
* Taip realiai tavo tevai (arba daugiau mama, bet kartais ir tetis :) turi 3 vakarus ir pora dienu. Tuoj pamastysiu ka cia butu butina pamatyti barselonoje:
0. FC Barcelona Varzybos
1. Dainuojantys magiskieji fontanai (La fuente Magica)
2. Gaudzio architectura (gaudzio namai, parc guel ir sagrada familia baznycia)
3. Senamiestis (Rambla, katedra, ferran gatve)
4. Pasivaiksciojimas pajuriu
5. Ispanijos aikste ir aplylinkes (plaza españa)
6. Gracijos gatve, catalonijos rambla (passeig de gracia, rambla cataluña)

* Pirmiausia svarbu pamineti kad Barselonoje zaidzia viena geriausiu pasaulio futbolo komandu i kurios varzybas nenueiti apsilankant Barselonoje yra tas pats kad pabuti Vilniuj ir nepamatyti katedros :) Bilietai nera labai brangus (galima isigyti nuo 30-40 eur) bet labai vertas demesio reginys. Juos pirkti patariu kuo arciau varzybu datos - yra tikimybe kad bus daugiau bilietu. Kodel? todel kad FC Barselonos 100 tukst vietu stadiono 80% bilietu yra ispirkta abonentais. Tai parodo kokia kulturine svarba turi sis ypatingas sporto klubas vietovei. Abonentai gali parduoti bilietus, bet, aisku, jie daznai juos parduoda tik paskutiniu metu. Super ispudingas reginys kuris patiks tiek sporto megejams tiek ir siaip barselonoj besilankantiems.

As tavo tevams sudeciau mazdaug toki plana:

* Antradienis - atvaziuoja ir ramiai isisainina i viesbuti. Ju vietoje as ta pati vakara iseiciau pasidairyti po rambla ty vos islindus pro viesbucio duris jie atsiduria toje gatveje, reiketu lipti ta gatve aukstyn iki tol kol prieis didele aikste (plaza cataluña, kuri irgi yra viena barselonos izymybiu). tos aikstes pradzioje (kai tik islendi is gatves ziurint truputeli desiniau) pamatys dideli zenkla su "i" raide - ten yra pagrindinis barselonos turist info, taip kad gaus zemelapiu ir kitokiu smutkiu :) toliau is eiciau toliau nosies tiesumu taip kaip isejo is Ramblos. kol prieis Passeig de Gracia, viena is barselonos izymybiu su daug imantriu parduotuviu ir keletu gaudzio pastatu. Pirmai dienai as siulyciau uzsiropsti iki pat passeig de gracia virsaus pamatys kairej gatves pusej viena gaudzio pastata kitoj gatves pusej kita (gaudzio pastatai tai tokios imantrios architekturos ir paprastai spalvingi pastatai :) siulyciau jiems jokiu budu nemoketi 10 eur uz iejima i situ pastatu vidu, nes ten viduj realiai nieko nera ir TIKRAI neverta. taigi, uzlipus iki passeig de gracia virsaus (ty ten gatve susikerta su gatve diagonal sukti i kaire, paeiki iki sekancios gatves ir lygiai taip pat kaip uzlipo keliauti zemyn Rambla de Cataluña aleja. Ja siaip remontavo bet vistiek labai grazu. as keliauciau velgi iki pat Plaza Cataluña. ir nuo ten ju viesbucio link per Rambla. Kazkur apie sitos gatves vidury suka didele gatve i kaire (calle Ferran) ten pasisukus ir paejus apie 100 metru kairej gatves pusej yra labai neblogas Tapu ir siaip Ispano-Baskisko maisto restoranelis. Jis nera labai pigus (ty skaniai uzkasti gali iseiti apie 20-30 eur zmogui (su vynu or sangria)) bet tikrai geros kokybes. manau visa sita antradienio kelione jiems iseis apie 3-4 val.
* Beje jei jau pradejau apie maista. Maistas. Jokiu budu nesiulau ty jei galeciau tai net ir uzdrausciau eiti i bet koki restorana pacioje Rambloje. Jie pritaikyti pigiems, mazai ka suprantantiems turistams, kur uz prastos kokybes maista nulupa auksta kaina. Tai pat nesiulyciau uzsisakineti tipinio ispanisko maisto Paellos (tariasi Paeja). Kodel? todel, kad jis kiles is Valencijos ir barselonoje ji gamina vien todel, kad atvaziuoja turistai, bet is tiesu nesu girdejes apie geros kokybes paella barselonoje. Nebent valecietiskam restorane arba barselontoj (pajurio rajonelis) bet kainos tikrai aukstos. Taciau tikrai butina yra pavalgyti tradiciniu tapu - ty mazu leksteliu su ivairiausiais uzkandeliais, calamares a la romana (kalmaru ziedeliai), patatas bravas (skrudintos bulvytes su padazu), jamon, chorizo (paprastai pakankamai brangus bet tai yra labai tipiskas ispaniskas kumpiukas kurio neparagavus is ispanijos isvaziuoti butu nekas). Siaip daug restoraniuksciu turi savo tapa meniu ir is ten net nezinant ka reiskia vienas ar kitas patiekalas sudetinga prasauti. Jei butu idomu tavo tevams parasyk man as tau atsiusiu koki zemelapiuksti su rekomenduotinais restoraniukais :) siaip ne taip ten sudetinga gerai pavalgyti, bet svarbiausia pasistengti isvengti tokiu visiskai turistiniu vietu. Beje ispanijoje normaliose vietose (ty ne mcdonalds ir ne turistickose) yra pakankamai griezti maitinimosi laikai ty pietus 13-15 vakariene 20.00-20.30 iki 23.00 mazdaug. Ty atejus kitu laiku buk tikras kad arba negausi valgyt arba apskritai restoraniukstis bus uzdarytas.
* Taigi treciadienis ir ketvirtadienis. tavo mama turetu tris-keturias pasivaiksciojimo vietojes ty Parc guell (architekto gaudzio parkas). Labai fainas ir jeigu geras oras ziauriai faina ten pasivaikscioti. Tavo mamai reiktu sokti i metro L3 (zhalias) ir pavaziuoti pora stoteliu iki Lesseps. Ten islipus iskart pamatys nuorodas link Parc Guell (iki jo reikia pasivaikscioti nuo stoteles apie 1.5 km.)
* Antras pasivaiksciojimas galetu buti Pajuris. Iki jo galima nesudetingai nusigauti autobusiuku. ty isejus is viesbuciu pasileisti gatve zemyn iki labai grazios plaza colom (kolumbas) aikstes ir tenai sesti i 64 autobusiuka ir islipti 4 stoteleje. su zemelapiu jau bus labai aisku kaip nusigauti iki pliaziuko. labai verta pasivaiscioti iki bokstu mapfre (kokios 30 min pesciomis) ir port olimpic.
* Trecias pasivaiksciojimas galetu buti Poble Español ir Plaza España. Ty reiktu sesti i metro L3 (zhalias ir vel) ir vaziuoti iki Espanya stoteles. ten islipus tavo mama pati viska supras. o jei dar tures ir koki turistini zemelapi tai visai bus puiku.
* Beje Metro ir autobusai. Metro stoteles pardavinejami bilietai. Labiausiai apsimoka tokiose kelines nusipirkti bilieta 10 kelioniu. tas 10 kelionu gali naudoti ivairus zmones ir iseina pigiau nei pirkti po viena. O be to bilietas tinka ir metro ir tramvajuj ir autobusui... gaila tik dar negalima jo naudoti skrydziui i Lietuva :)
* Netoli pajurio yra tokia tarsi sala kuri vadinama Maremagnum. Ten irgi idomu. Yra parduotuviu, 3d kinas, labai didelis "juru muziejus"-akvariumas (kaina apie 20eur vienam zm ir nezinau ar labai verta. kartais sako kad jis truputeli padarytas vaikams. as nebuvau). bet ten grazu siaip pasivaikscioti. Beje tavo mamai jeigu jai patinka shoppintis :) labai siulau apsilankyti siose parduotuvese Desigual, Custo, La Bohema (Jordi Lavanda marke). Visas tris markes tikrai pamatys ir Passeig de Gracia ir Pacioje Rambloje. Cia tokios jaunatvisko stiliaus rubu parduotuves kurios yra labai ispudingos. Desigual yra vidutines kainos, o Custo ir Jordi Lavanda yra gan "pizoniskos" nors ir fainos markes kurios pakankamai daug kainuoja. Bet siaip man po lietuvos parduotuviu buvo idomu net uzeiti pasidairyti.
* Taigi manau pasivaiksciojimui bus jau pakankamai vietu. Trec ir ketv vakarus as siulyciau praleisti Plaza España ir Senamiestyje. Ty treciadieni as varyciau pasivaikscioti po senamiesti, eiti jau anksciau minetaja Ferran gatve, paejeti iki katedros, ir nuo ten pasukti link Via Laietana ir carrer de l'argentaria. Ten tavo tevai ir uzkast gales ir siaip labai grazu ir senamiestis, mazos gatveles. ten realiai net neraikia labai tiksliu nurodymu kur eiti. kur pasuksi ten bus idomu :) bet geriau su zemelapiu eiti, nes buvau pats keliskart pasiklydes :)
* O ketvirtadieni vakare keliauciau i plaza españa. tenais yra tas magiskasis fontanas. Jis veikia tik vakarais ketv, penkt, sest, sekm tai tavo tevams tai yra vienintele diena ji pamatyti ir is tiesu labai siulau, ispudingas reginys. ar bent man labai patiko ir tavo teciui manau svarbu pamatyti plaza españa. Taigi islipus toje Espanya stoteleje pamatys vienoje puseje lipant toki grazu pastata (nacionalinis muziejus) ant kalno. ten link ir reikia eiti. fontanas yra kaip tik shalia. Show prasideda 21.30, 22.00, 22.30, 23.00 ir 23.30. ty jis vyksta kas pusvalandi kitos dainos. ty show 15-20 minuciu ir 10 min pertrauka. visai nebutina atvykti 21.30. gali atvykti ir veliau. Beje lai neissigasta jeigu atvykus 21.30 neiskart prades groti muzika ir uzsidegs spalvos, kartais tai prasideda tik apie 21.45 nors fontanas jau ir fontanuoja :) paziurejus fontana as jiems dar siulyciau ir pavalgyti tenais kur nors tame rajone. tai gera vieta.
* Paskutinis dalykas ka dar butinai norejau patarti yra Sagrada Familia. Tai tokia gaudzio baznycia, kuriai daug laiko apziureti nereikia. Ir galima taip pat sekmingai pasivaikscioti po vietini rajoneli, nes jis grazus ir turist-friendly. I Sagrada familija vien L3 zaliuoju metro nusigauti nepakaks :) reikia persesti Diagonal stoteleje i L5 (melynas) ir jis nuves tiesiai i stotele Sagrada familia. tik islipus i pavirsiu bus viskas aisku. ten yra nepaprasto grozio, negradicine baznycia kuria jau stato apie 100 metu ir dar nebaigia. Nelabai patarciau pirkti bilietu ir eiti vidun, tenais dar nieko nera, neskaitant kolonu ir kai kuriu architekturiniu maketu.

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Tikrai jusu nepamirsauir stai jums kulinariniai Barselonos patarimai.
Pirmiausia keli dalykai bendrai:

* stenkites nesesti valgyti turistinese vietose - tai brangu ir greiciausiai neturi nieko bendra su vietine virtuve
* Paella - ne barselonos ir ne catalonijos maistas - ty nesugalvokit jos valgyti rambloj ar pan. bus labai bloga kokybe ir labai nusivilsit. Jeigu jau labai noresit geriausia jos ieskotis Barceloneta rajone - bet nusiteik kad bus brangu (gali buti 40 ar daugiau eur zmogui).
* Tai pat nepamisk apie valgymo laikus (berods kazkuriam kitam rasinelyje busiu rases bet dar karteli). Valgymo laikai pietus nuo 13 iki 16 o vakariene nuo 20 iki 24. Kitu metu visos normalios vietos bus uzdarytos. Taip kad teks planuoti savo maistus.

Stai tau keli patarimai apie valgymo vietas ir gerus resotranus:

* La Flauta (C/ Aribau, 23 arba C/ Balmes, 164) - TAPOS - vienos geriausios tapos Barselonoje. Geresne yra Aribau gatveje, bet ten visada marios zmoniu. Gali tekti palaukti 30 - 40 min prie duru, bet labai verta. Jie nerezervuoja vietu. As daznai valgydavau pan con tomate (kepta duona su pomidorais), patatas bravas (keptos bulvikes), huevos rancheros (kiasiniai labai geri), calamares a la romana (kalmarai kepti aliejuj) ir visa kita ko tik sirdis geis. Cia labai gera vieta, viskas skanu ir kaina labai zema tai kokybei kuria gauni. Butina isbandyti desertui crema catalana ir flan.
* Retorno - (C/ Comte d'Urgell, 168) - JUROS MAISTAS - vienas mano megiamiausiu restoranu. Labai mazas ir atrodo nusiures bet maisto kokybe ir kaina yra nepakartojami visoj Barselonoj. Cia gerai butu uzsirezervuoti vietas jeigu galesit -93 415 51 86 (telefonas) arba praeidami. Cia labai verta isbandyti - pescaditos fritos, calamares, pulpo a la gallega, galit pasiimti mejillones (moliuskai) jeigu jums patinka. Porcijos labai dideles, imkit trejeta patiekalu po puse porcijos ir viska dalinkities. taip pat siulau paiimti Turbio vyno. Jis baisiai pigus nes skaitosi blogos kokybes, bet jis labai tradicinis, skanus ir geras. Ir kainuoja 5 eur uz butelka.
* Romantiski pasisedejimai - balthasar (rosello 189), attico (rambla 120) - geras maistas, normali kaina in general. Fondue - La Carassa C/ Brosolí, 1. labai gera, truputeli brangesne ty su vynu isleisi apie 70 eur bet labai verta demesio.
* Panchito - meksikietiskas maistas. Labai geras ir gera kaina. Ju yra keletas, paziurekit internete kuris arciausiai.
* Gracia - visas rajonas yra labai vertas demesio. Eikit vakarop kai tems ten labai grazu ir gerai pasisedeti. Pasiklauskit viesbutyje konkreciu gatviu, nes as jau nebelabai prisimenu.
* Siaip yra keletas labai geru piceriju - La Bella Napoli (C/ Villarroel, 101), Il Golfo di Napoli (C/ De Lleida, 38).
* Kitas labai vertingas restoranas jei jums patinka pasta ir pizza yra Tagliatelle (labai patariu nueiti, nes vieta labai faina, maistas pasakiskas ir kaina nebloga o picos labai ypatingos!). Ju yra keletas taip kad irgi paziurek internete kuris jums arciau.

Tam kartui matyt tiek. Cia sitie yra patys geriausi. Dar gali orientuotis pagal www.tripadvisor.com - visai neblogai restoranus nurodo.

Is laisko ISM kolegoms 2010 05 16

Sveiki mano mieliausieji!

Kaip gyvenimelis jaunas? Girdejau visokiu zababonu apie viena kita is jusu bet jau simta metu nemaciau ir kad ir kaip romantiskai nuskambes - jusu kazkaip passilgta buvo. Gali buti, kad sia vasarele kazkuriuo metu (tarp liepos rugpjucio) parsibastysiu i Lietuva tai butu labai fain susimatzti!

Is kitos puses, norejau jusu uzklausti (tu kas vis dar ant gimtosios Marijos zemes gyvenate), maz turetumet laiko susitikt su mano kolege is Whartono? Ji is Baltarusijos bet bus Vilniuj kita savaitgali. Atvaziuoja nes tevai lanko savo "saknis". Jei turetumet galimybe su ja susitikti ir vilniaus gyvenima aprodyti butu labai dziugu! Parasykit man tiesiai atgal ir as jumi su ja susiekdinsiu :)

Beje, pasirodo daug cia amerikej ju tuokiu "sirdyje Lietuviu". Va turiu kolega Chris Narutis - amerikenas kaip niekad, bet tete kazka senais gerais laikais su Vilnium rezge. Dar turiu kolega Bruno Lasanky - teoriskai argentinietis, praktiskai gauna brazilijos pilietybe dabar, sirdy - tevas ar tai mama irgi is Vilniaus :) Pasirodo, musu tauta palegva uzvaldo pasauli. Jau nekalbant apie musu sena gera drauga Antana Mocku, kuris Kolumbijos prezidentu susiruose buti :)

Tai tokios tokeles. O tuo metu sedziu londono aerouoste pakeliui i PAR. ten pradesiu savo "parduota vasara".
Parasykit prie progos.

TV

Another try 2010

Almos one year after I posted my last post I'll try to restart my writings. Lots of things comming up. The summer is planned full of adventures... also I'll try to recap most important facts that happened to me during the year. I'll also try to keep my posts as short as one box :) A little more than simply tweeting :) And will post random thoughts and discussions :)

Keep tuned in...