The Last King of Scotland: my impressions

In the early 1970s, Nicholas Garrigan, a young semi-idealistic Scottish doctor, comes to Uganda to assist in a rural hospital. Once there, he soon meets up with the new President, Idi Amin, who promise a golden age for the African nation. Garrigan hits it off immediately with the rabid Scotland fan, who soon offers him a senior position in the national health department and becomes one of Amin's closest advisers. However as the years pass, Garrigan cannot help but notice Amin's increasingly erratic behavior that grows beyond a legitimate fear of assassination into a murderous insanity that is driving Uganda into bloody ruin. Realizing his dire situation with the lunatic leader unwilling to let him go home, Garrigan must make some crucial decisions that could mean his death if the despot finds out. This movie is a great overview over the years when Idi Amin ruled over Uganda. It shows the changes that occur during the years, from the president acclaimed by the people to the years of violence and terror. But manly is a movie about two men, and they trip through life. The young doctor grows through the story and acquiring consciousness that things are never as easy as they seem and that for doing good the will is not enough. At the same time the president looks always more toward the edge of folly, becoming more and more lunatic and unpredictable. He evolves from a magnetic leader giving hope to his people to a scarifying tyrant conducting murders on an imaginable scale The performance of the main actors Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy are incredible, the backgrounds are enchanting and the soundtrack is vivid and leads the viewer fluidly across the story. But while all the characterization is done with wit and precision, the rest of the story, or better the historic history behind it remains unsaid creating a sense of ambiguity that leads toward one of inadequacy of the plot to explain the events. One clear example is the passing of time, that feels very short while in reality the movie covers few years. All together a movie that is worth watching especially for the astonishing performances already mentioned but especially for the questions and reflections that the movie leaves to the spectator as a heavy burden.

Powerful quake strikes off Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- A powerful earthquake struck off southwestern Taiwan on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami warning on the second anniversary of the waves that killed more than 200,000 in southern Asia. Two hours later, seismologists lifted the warning, saying the threat of destructive waves had passed.

That's how Cnn introduce the topic in the today news... so let's see what happened...

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, which hit at 8:26 p.m. (1226 GMT), registered magnitude 7.1, while Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau measured it at 6.7. It was followed eight minutes later by an aftershock registering 7.0, the USGS said.

The tremor was centered at sea about 23 kilometers southwest of Hengchun on the southern tip of Taiwan, the bureau said.

Tuesday's quake was felt throughout Taiwan.

• It swayed buildings and knocked objects off the shelves.
• Phone lines were cut in the southern cities of Kaohsiung and Pingtung, possibly hindering reports of damage by residents.
• Several high-rise hotels swayed violently in Kaohsiung, with guests panicking and running into the streets.
• One person was killed and three injured in the southern city of Pingtung.
• Many streets in the city were cracked and a major bridge was damaged.
• Several fires broke out, apparently caused by downed electric power cables.

Well that's what news says, and I was very surprised this morning to discover the quake was so strong!!!

I mean yesterday night I came back from school and dropped dead tired on the bed watching the end of the movie and, at a certain point, the bed started moving... and of course I thought it was my flatmate trying to catch attention... I turn to see what was going on, saw her face and suddendly realized:

"It's an earthquake!"

Time goes and the earth doesn't stop, I really wonder how long it lasted, 30 seconds? It felt a lot more! And while we were realizing that we had no clue what to do we burst into laughing... what else should we do???

The movement stops and we got back to our movie, if it wasn't that after 10 minutes the quake started again, and this time quite stronger, so that all the ornaments on the tv fell off... fortunately was only plastic staff... ;-) We continued wondering what to do and got out of the room, just to find our neighbors also wandering around without any idea of what to do... laughing was the obvious solution, always better than to panic... at least we wouldn't die alone...

Well, that was it... my first strong earthquake and I survived laughing!

That's quite good I would say. It was interesting, scaring but somehow exciting... but I hope I won't experience it again... but reading from the Cnn... Quakes frequently shake Taiwan, which is part of the Pacific's "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. Most are minor and cause little or no damage... I think I should better be ready for some other shaking, just hoping it's not going to get me when I'm in the shower ;-)

KENTING... KENTING!!!!

SUNDAY 11 Nov. 2006

Finally this week end I went to the beach!!!!

Me with other 7 crazy internationals, we went to Kneting that is a quite famous tourist location on thhe far South of Taiwan. It was quite an adventure, starting from the tragical waking up because of the Friday night party.

We arrived at lunch time and had a great spicy Thi lunch and later we rented sccoters… 4 scooter with one driving licence, so of course we had to rent them in different places, one in front of the other… amazing, one guy was showing the licence and another was starting driving, in front of the owner… legality at its best!

Then we went to our HOTEL, that is better been called an homestay, on the first floor of a private house, we had a big room and a floor… for sleeping! Fortunatly they gave us pillows and blankets and the end it was pretty confy.

And then to the beach… wonderful beach but really really windy… you couldn’t stay on the sand because it was whipping you really badly… so we just took off our clothes (the only ones in swimming suit, since for taiwanese it is already winter and anyway I don’t think they would shouw themselves that easily) and jumped in the water that actually was quite hot and with huge waves… definitely I have to get back to do some surfing.

We stayed there couple of hours and I tried some sunbathing without any result… before leaving we took some pics and I was still paler than Satoko... this consideration made the both of us mad!

and then we took the scooters to go a cliff to admire the ocean at the sunset. I have to say that the trip was scary, the wind was blowing probably around 100 km/h and the sccoters were going totally crazy… but it was worthy the sunset and the place were gorgeous and I was definitely feeling home, with my Bora!!!

At night we went to the Night Market in the city and as usual we ate a lot… here in Taiwan is all about food, definitely dying for starvation is the last option!

Then we went back to the hotel, grabbed a beer and spent some time chatting and drinking… Hei it came out that France and Italy have many cartoon songs in common… it was quite funny to start a song and Sonia was continuing it in Franch… amazing, all my childhood came back!

SUNDAY 12 Nov. 2006

We went to the Kenting National Park, the first park in Taiwan… original since 1972… and it was amazing, even if a bit scary: every single animal seemed to be poisonous! But we survived and had a lot of fun, going up and down the caves, seeing the bats live for the first time (fortunately they didn’t wake up… eheheheh), playing tarzan and climbing around and then just getting lost with the impossible signs in Taiwan… you follow the arrow and when you should be arrived the place doesn’t exist… mahhhhhh!!!! But it was amazing!!!!

Last but not least we went to a great rock, near the coast that is a natural art work, engraved by water and wind…

And that's it, it was already time to get back to Kaohsiung… We went to catch the bus and we lost one, cause we were 50 m away from the bus stop, fortunately the busses go every 10 minutes (considering that inside Kaohsiung the busses go every 30 to 40 minutes, it was quite fun to try to understand this schedule)!!

A Song for you: ARIA PER ME!

Hi my dear friends, yesterday I was walking around a market and listening to my I-pod music and i got to listen this song that express really well what I feel about all of you... Is a song by Gemelli Diversi and is called "L'aria per me" So here it is... and an English version at the bottom: Perche’ piu’ ci penso piu’ capisco che e’ un casino la’ fuori, devi affrontare i problemi a milioni se punti a giorni migliori cio’ che ho lo devo all'impiego dei miei neuroni e alla gente accanto a me lontana dai riflettori, al primo posto chi mi ha messo al mondo e visto nascere, al secondo ogni spalla che accolto il mio volto per piangere, terzo chi era con me allora ad ancora c'e’ adesso, siete voi il seme di ogni mio verso, le persone che son state alle nostre serate, spero che conosciate l'emozione che date quando strippate, siete voi la fonte della mia energia penso sia una magia ed io ne sia in balia, non so dov'e' che finira’ pero’ so che chi ho accanto non lo tradiro’ sarebbe una follia, voler dimenticare le sere in quartiere a fumare e a bere insieme a gente col potere di farmi star bene, ed e’ cosi’ perche’ per me siete l'ossigeno, sono in debito, non lo dimentico perche’ se sono qui adesso anche voi ne avete merito e’ per questo che vi saro’ grato fino a che respirero’. . . Io vivro’ respirandovi, in un sogno ad occhi aperti che sa di realta’ finche’ continuero’ respirandovi, voi siete l'aria per me L'aria per me l'aria che respiro io vivro’ respirandovi voi siete l'aria per me Voi siete l'aria per me, l'aria che respiro, siete un sogno in realta’ che sa di paradiso, un sorriso sul viso per ringraziar tutti voi, cio’ che ho di piu’ caro, io non vi scordero’ mai, di noi, porto con me ogni frammento in quanto sento e’ solo per ogni rima che compongo, chi aspetta in studio o sotto il palco, siete la luce mi fa passare su un foglio notti in bianco a chi con me sfido’ la sorte, il primo grazie va per mia madre e per mio padre a chi sta in disparte e corregge se un ragazzo sbaglia, un abbraccio va a tutto il resto della mia famiglia, parlo di chi con me ha condiviso giorni grigi, mille voci, notti passate con amici, sotto le luci con la stessa gente di sempre per sempre legate alle proprie radici, e per voi che tutta Italia siete con noi a chi ci supporta ai live, voi siete la mia musa e c'e’ che mi fate sentire sopra a un palco come a casa perche’ voi siete l'aria per me . . . Here the English version... I hope It sounds ok, but it's really hard to translate stuff like this ;-) More I think about it, more I understand outside there is a mess You have to face millions of problems if you want better days in the future What I have is due to my brain and to the people that are by me far from the stage At first place who gave me birth At second to every shoulder on which I cried At third to who was with me in the past and is still here, you are the reason of every rime To the people that come to our concerts I hope you know how many emotions you give to us You are the source of all my energy, I think it is magic and I’m under spell Wanting to forget all those night spent smoking and drinking together with people with the power of making me feel good And is like this cause you for me are the oxygen, I owe you, I don’t forget Because if I’m here now is also thank to you and for this I’ll be greatfull until my last breath I’ll live breathing you In a open eyes dream that will be reality Until I’ll be breathing you You are the air for me Air for me, air I breath I’ll live breathing you cause you are the air for me You are the air for me, the air I breath You are a real dream that feels like paradise A smile to thank all of you, the dearest thing I have, I’ll never forget you us, I’ll bring with me every fragment of what I feel is for all the rimes I write, for the people that wait under the stage you are the light for which I spend the nights without sleeping to the people that with me tried our luck, the first thank goes to my father and my mother to which stay apart and correct when a teenage make mistakes a hug goes to my family and I’m talking about who shared the greay days, a thousand voices, nights spent with friends under the lights with the same people to which are bond my roots and for all of you that all over Italy you support us at the concerts you are the muse and you make me feel on a stage like at home cause you are the air for me

AIESEC Conference!!!

Hi everybody... on the last week end I've been to an AIESEC conference for new members. Or at least I've been to part of it, because I couldn't wake up in the morning... I arrived in the afternoon for the party, that was starting at 18:30 with a boat race... 8 teams from the different committes etc. One team was trainee team and I have to admit we were really bad, we lost straight away... so we got kicked out and started drinking on the side (fortunatly the OC had a beer company sponsorship...) After the game the real party started, and the party consisted in one hour session of AIESEC dances... they have so many coreography, even more than in Brasil... and in that moment I've seen taiwanes get crazy, in their own way. You probably know how much I like dancing so for me it was really fun but probably for the avarage person that was not the best. After this dance session, at 21:30 the party was over... I know, incredible!!! but that's how it works here. We went to the hotel, most of the people had some sharing session and afterward most of the people went to sleep... but some even organized some room parties. The day after we started plannary with some punishments, those were similar to everywhere else, but with a body contact brought to almost nothing... eheheh it was fun, anyway. Afterward there was world issues session, facilitated by the trainees. And I really enjoyed this session, and I hope @ers enjoyed as much as I did. That was my conference because I had to go to practice on sunday afternoon, but overall was really interesting, different and similar at the same time. Now I'm really looking forward to the National Conference... let's see what happen there!

FOOD, FOOD, FOOD!!!

Hi everybody, I'm back to talk about foooood!!!

That's something so important in the daily life but as you may know I'm not really problematic with food, and in fact I got used to it really soon. And I really like it... I mean I always thought that it would not be a kind of cuisine to which I could get used eating everyday, but actually it is quite tasty, not too heavy and all together they have a great variety (a part of course for the rice that is everywhere).

Of course one thing that was quite strange for me is the habit of eating with the chopsticks... it is definitly quite hard at the beginning, but you get used to it quite soon, especially because they don't have a great eating style. I mean, here is normal to take a steak from the plate, bite it and just put it back... just imagine an italian doing that!!! Or for example, to eat rice, some people do it like in the cartoons: get the bowl near their mouth and just start trowing the food inside... first time I've seen it I was still in the airport and I started laughing, by myself... but now it happens to me too... I suppose that once I come back to Italy I'll have to spend one week locked in the house to get back the proper Italian eating style... eheheh A second thing that I wanna point out is the culture of food they have, that even if the food is different it really remembers me of ITALY. Like us, they are able to spend hours for a meal, and they really enjoy food. They order tons, and, that's different from us, they share it!! Usually you go to the restaurant and you get so many dishes that the first time I couldn't believe it. I thing they bought around 20 different courses, all mixed between vegetable, meat, noodles, fish... and it was just 8 of us sitting at the table... but even if it felt like they were bringing tons of food, at the end, there were almost no leftovers... it was really incredible!

A third thing is that here there are no halfways with the food... nothing is sour or salty, nothing is really sweet. It is really strange, you never know what are you eating. Maye the soup is gonna be sweet, or maybe the meat... but you can almost be sure that the cakes are not gonna be sweet, they are always half way. They told me that this is because here adults don't like sweet, is children food, so at the end the market is small, and a part from international chocolates and stuff, is hard to find typical cakes. A strange thing is that beverages, on the other end, are quite sweet, but in reality you can always pick as much sugar as you prefer, and that is quitye good, they have a scale of 5 opportunity for the sugar and it's quite usefull.

Well this is enough now to talk about food, but I'll definitely come back to talk about some typical dishes... they have many and they are often related to some festival or to some celebration... I already heard some interesting things about X-mas eating habits, but I definitely save them for later ;) Keep in touch guys, I hope to hear from all of you soon!

Monika's question: CULTURAL SHOCKS!!!

So here we are with the first question from my friend Moniquinha (Poland)... she asked me about the first cultural shocks... what can i say, i didn't have real ones, I would say that I've seen things that really looks strange and different to me.

Let's see:

• the hugs and the personal contact... here the maximus is an hand shake and even that you don't use it a lot. The first night I asked how it works and they said that you just say "Hi" and "Bye bye". Coming from Brasil this has been a bit strange because I was feeling almost rude, something was really missing, but now I already got used to it;
• almost nobody speaks English, I thought it would have been easier to communicate, but still I managed ok, because they really like foreigners and that helps a lot, they are always smiling to me, but still no one asked for a picture, eheh, they said they are getting used to white people around;
• the streets and the city are really dirty, there are no dust bins around so people throw the trash on the street because picking it up is supposed to be somebody else job... I was really impressed because I thought Asia would be more clean;
• collecting trash... there are no bins in the street as I said and so there are two trucks going around the city, one for the normal trash and one for the recyclable. The trucks play a music and they go around the streets and they pass every day at the same time in the same area, so that you have to bring your bags to the street and through them straight into the truck. Another thing is that you may give the recycable trash to some people that are collecting and that afterwards are gonna sell it to the incenerator; the bathrooms are similar to Brazil so it was not a surprise that you have to throw the used toilet paper in a basket by the toilet instead of flushing it down the WC;
• another strange thing relates to the bathrooms in the building where I work, but is more an architectural shock... there are no doors to the bathrooms and when you have to go you pass in front of the men toilet where the whole wall is made of urinatories... so that everybody can see everything. At the beginning i was shocked and thought that it was a architectural mistake and nobody used them, but actually I discovered is not true... and that was not nice! (please my almost architect friends... never do that!!!)

That's it for now, maybe I'm gonna add some strange things later, as they come to my mind or as they happen to me.