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Die #Welt und das #Virus : die #coronazeiten in #europa

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SEIT ENDE JANUAR bis März 2020 STÄNDIG BEGLEITET - eine Reise in Zeiten von Corona (Asien - Italien - Rumänien) Anfang Februar wurde ich aus Indonesien und den Philippinen deportiert. Der Grund war ein Kurzaufenthalt in China - und nicht nur der Aufenthalt an sich, sondern, ganz konkret, der Stempel, den ich in meinem Pass trug, genau wie ein scharlachrote Buchstabe… Ich hatte am 26.01. ungefähr 7 Stunden in Peking verbracht: das war ein Zwischenstopp und, da ich so viel Zeit am Flughafen nicht verbringen wollte, bin ich, wie viele andere Reisende, in die Stadt gefahren: die U-Bahn war fast leer, alle trugen die Masken, die zu der Zeit in Europa nirgends zu sehen waren.  Leer war auch die Stadt, die ein paar Tagen zuvor, vor dem Chinesischen Neujahr (25.01.) dicht gemacht wurde… Am Tienanmen-Platz, den ich mir immer zum Bersten voll vorgestellt hatte, gab es nur 3-4 chinesische Familien, die für ein Foto mit dem unsterblichen Stern des nationalen Kommunismus zu allen fähi
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The #coronavirus #panic got to #southeastasia - the Story of my Deportation

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The Corona virus panic or how I got DEPORTED I never would have thought it would come to this: I've seen and been through a lot in my life, but this was the first time I ever got DEPORTED. Yes, deported. And all that because of the panic caused by the corona virus in South-East Asia.  Asia had always been some kind of paradise for me: friendly folks, sun, nature, la dolce vita. However, this time my trip back from the Philippines confronted me with another reality in this part of the world: the dysfunctional administration and the panic produced by that.  It's true, the Corona virus has killed about 500 people so far (6th February 2020), however all of them coming from Wuhan, the epicenter of the crisis; the only death registered elsewhere was in Manila, again, a person who had been to Wuhan. Ergo, considering Beijing is miles away, the 2 locations should not necessarily be put in the same pathological pot.  Going back to the story: my flight to Manila (Jan,
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On a #journey to #israel #jerusalem

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The past & present in JERUSALEM   In Jerusalem, one can almost see the fine lines that separate the different cultures and more so, the different origins of the Jewish community... and I don't only mean the old town, with its various quarters: Muslim, Jewish, Armenian etc., where one can expect those visible boundaries, but the "new" neighborhoods.  Walking across several Jewish ultra orthodox areas (Mea shearim, Geula) was quite an experience: the passersby all wearing the customary clothes made one feel like an intruder (which I was, in spite of the best possible intentions)…  I would look through the windows of the traditional bakeries offering Ashkenazi (thus Eastern European) pastry and encounter surprised looks… I obviously represented a different reality, while the entire streets belonged to the past, with the walls covered in the typical poster-messages addressed to the community and the families shopping for dinner… The same feeling ove
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Thoughts and #travel memories: #israel #telavivjaffa #jerusalem

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Thoughts on a journey to TEL AVIV & JERUSALEM  I just hate black and white. Not the movies, but the concept. And there's not only 1 type of grey, either: there are only shades - of all possible colors. Period. That's why I wanted to come to Israel and see life here with my own eyes, ignoring the biased propaganda some European newspapers practice on a daily basis. Because I knew for a fact that the public policy of a state can seriously differ from the practicalities, its inhabitants and daily life in general. But one must experience that first hand. By traveling, observing, trying to grasp that microcosm.  That's the reason I hadn't even try to imagine how a journey to Israel would be like - keeping in mind the tumultuous and controversial background of that territory, my own writings and interview/encounter with the Jewish Community in Berlin, I preferred to dive into that new reality, to become immersed… to observe and listen to wh
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Inside #puertorico - of real #life in #sanjuan & #riopiedras

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PUERTO RICO - the post-hurricane revival Looking back at the last couple of weeks, at my journey to Puerto Rico, I can't help recalling that feeling of tropical freedom the island almost imposes on one… Naturally, San Juan and its 500 years of history impress, however, what actually stroke me was the rest of the island - the life real people live and how this legendary salsa paradise makes it through the day. This is what I wrote down on the third day of my stay: Today I met a few very interesting people, right here in Rio Piedras, a pretty long way from the touristic beating heart of the island, Old San Juan. I got to know the authentic side of the island: people who are actively involved in the life of the community. They basically founded a cultural artistic center called Capicù Adentro offering all types of workshops for all members of the community, but especially for kids and senior citizens: painting on a given topic, photography, music, even sp
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Of the last #30years in #germany - post #berlinwall

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30 years after the Wall  It's been a lifetime since the Wall's been overcome, destroyed, torn down... and still, some things haven't changed... many foreign people living in Germany still don't think they belong: maybe because they never will... why is that? Why is the German sense of identity so precious, and at the same time, so sensitive, so difficult to comprehend and to acquire?... it's always about the identity, about the search for answers to the question "who am I, who are we?": that's what at the core of every unsolvable matter, that struggle to belong to place and/or group that makes one feel proud: in the end, a matter of ego can trigger serious crises. The fall of the Berlin Wall was not really the start of a reunification - I believe it could be better described as an annexation of East Germany. And the worries West Germans were having about the migration flows from the East are the same that torture many today, in the midd
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#libanon und die Gegenwart: #Reise nach #beirut

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BEIRUT und die Krise Ja, Libanon steckt in der Finanzkrise - Ohne Zweifel. Und trotzdem ist das gar nicht das Bild, das das Land von sich geben möchte. Alle, die am modernen Flughafen ankommen, besonders wenn man von einem afrikanischen Land gerade kommt, haben den Eindruck, eine vielversprechende Welthauptstadt betreten zu haben. Der erste Schock erlebt man, wenn die ersten Taxifahrer einem 30$ für die 15 minütigen Fahrt ins Zentrum oder nach Hamra (ein Gebiet, das näher an der berühmten Corniche befindet) verlangen. Zum Glück gibt es auch Uber oder Kareem, Dienste, die ungefähr die Hälfte für dieselbe Strecke abrechnen und dadurch für gefährliche Konkurrenz sorgen.  Das Stadtzentrum an sich ist überraschend, fühlt sich europäisch an und ist viel organisierter als in Kairo, wo der Verkehr einfach erstickend ist (im wörtlichen Sinne des Wortes). In Beirut gibt es wesentlich mehr Grünflächen, die zentrale Moschee, Muhammad al Amin, wurde neulich renoviert, genau wie di
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#egipt #cairo - voiaj in vremuri tulburi

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CAIRO… voiajul din vremea protestelor Sinceră să fiu, nici nu știu de unde să încep povestea… Ar fi de menționat protestele populației împotriva lui Al Sisi, pe care le-am văzut cu ochii mei acum 3 săptămâni, străzile în furie și extaz, pline de speranța de a schimba în sfârșit ceva… proteste instrumentalizate din 'afară', de către nu mai puțin pătatul Muhammad Ali, hotărât să întoarcă armele împotriva foștilor aliați… în orice caz, manifestările populației au fost văzute cu ochi răi de alte țări musulmane, cum ar fi Turcia, în care s-a criticat (la radio & tv) tentativa eșuată de "lovitură de stat"... evident, tentația proiectării a fost prea mare, un mecanism defensiv trebuia utilizat de către autoritățile turcești, mereu în căutare de analogii pentru propriile "peripeții" cu Fetö… Dar voiajul meu în Egipt nu a fost doar o incursiune în realitățile politice și sociale ale țării, pe care le-am cunoscut și cu ajutorul prietenilor m
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