Back from a field visit to Dakar, Senegal.
It is where you meet the woman who carry water.
The girls in the slums, the daily chores.
Where the "borne fontainier" acts like a grandfatherly garden,
and where in spite of gross inhumanity, kids still smile.
And where, in spite of gross adversity, people still do a good, an excellent job.
In Dakar also the island of "La Gorée", as the Dutch GoedRaad was named.
Witness to centuries of exploitation, of "la Traîte", of the inhuman slave trade.
Where do we stand nowadays?
Are we better off, in terms of gross humanity happiness index?
An answer can only be speculative this weekend, given the failing of the COP17 in Durban,
the complete lock-out of the UK from an ever-advancing European lifeboat project.
It seems that cynism, egoïsm, speculation are driving History, just like 400 years ago in Gorée.
Reading: "Spartan", and getting pschyched for Stephenson's Reamde
Viewing: Contagion
Listening to: Gabriël Rios Compilation CD: thank you for putting "Ausencia" on it! What a track, what a vibe!
Thinking: we can't facebook our way out of the statusquo (N.Stephenson)
Travelling: Maastricht, Dakar, Paris and beyond the horizon maybe Zürs, Vegas, Marseille etc...
