This is it,
the last one, the last country of our trip L We arrived in Mexico, where the sun
is shining high in the sky and temperatures are raising over 40°C. But I love
it! Always wanted to go to this country, its also a perfect country to end
this journey that started in Iran. The entire trip was one big adventure and it
was a once in a lifetime experience.
In my last
blog I would like to talk about the swine pig flu that started here in Mexico
some time ago. Its from a video I saw on the BBC website. The flu had a major
outbreak here, killing hundreds of people. After a while, the flu got spreaded
over the entire globe, killing even more people. It took months before they
found a vaccine against it that could save the life of the people who were
infected. Also in Belgium some people died, but it also involved a lot of
panic, caused by the government without no real reason.
In Belgium
they made everyone really scared because of the death of two people. They
bought way to many vaccines that are useless now because that flu has evolved
into something else. And all the panic wasnt necessary at that time because
the flu hadnt reached an major outbreak in Europe. Some people died of the
flu, but that were mostly people who had visited Mexico. I also think that they
exaggerated and made everyone scared without having a proper reason. A lot of
people didnt want to leave their houses and when somebody got ill everyone
immediately thought that it was the swine pig flu.
But Ithink that the flu would have never had an
outbreak In Belgium or even in Europe because everyone there has a much better
immune system than the poor people in Mexico or other poor countries.
But the whole event was also a perfect example of how the media and the
government can influence the people just by making them scared. Who knows what
else they might be telling that isnt true..
This was my
last blog I wrote for our English classes, I really enjoyed it and I might
consider to keep on doing this.
Were
almost there, after this one we will have reached Mexico and the end of our
journey. But for now, were still in Cuba, beautiful country, lots of history,
not always that peaceful with the history of the communism in the background,
and lots of cigars!
Cigars are
probably Cubas most well-known export product and I think that everyone who
smokes them can agree that they are the best.
Cuba has had a lot of troubles with America, but that didnt have an influence
on their export of cigars. In 1991, when America had a trade embargo on Cuba,
they exported over 77 million cigars, thats just an enormous amount of cigars!
I dont
smoke, so I cant say a lot about how good or bad these cigars are. But theyre
probably good if one country can sell so much. But it doesnt mean I cant talk
about cigars, or more in general about smoking. In my country, Belgium, they
recently made a new law which made it impossible to smoke inside a bar. Lots of
people are pro this law, I guess even more people are against.
I dont really know what to think about it. Its probably something good for
your health and for the people who want to drink beer but dont like the smoke.
But I think its something really bad for the owners of the bar, theyll lose a
lot of customers because they dont want to go to a bar anymore where they
cant smoke.But you could endlessly
discus this matter without coming to a consensus.
But to return to Cuba, I dont think that these laws which are coming in a lot
of countries to prevent smoking in public areas will have a lot of effect of
Cubas cigar production. People will still buy their so beloved smokes just to
smoke the in their own houses, will drinking something or just watching
television.
This way my blog from Cuba, next up is Mexico, the last one, its a shame
because I was really beginning to like it. But Im still really happy that I
have seen all these beautiful countries.
Here we are
again with another blog! Times really flying when you have fun, we just landed
in Jamaica after crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Jamaica is red, green, yellow,
Usain Bolt, Cool Runnings and ? BOB MARLEY!!
Of course,
who else? Jamaica is Bob Marley and Bob is Jamaica, the man who changed music
in his own way and who is an influence to hundreds of bands all across the
world. I have a little video from YouTube of Bob Marley singing no women no
cry, probably his greatest hit and one of the best known songs in the world.
Its a live performance at the Amandla Festival in 1979 in Boston just before
he started his Survival 1979 tour.
For me, Bob
Marley is more than a legend. He found a way to make music that you just cant
hate, music that has so much meaning to it and that must touch everyone. I play
in a band myself and even though we make a totally different style of music,
the reggae of Bob Marley has a lot of influence in our music. His way of
writing and his sense of melody just makes listing to his music so much fun. I
like a lot of music styles and reggae is one of them, it just gives me
goosebumps when I listen to that kind of music.
Bob Marley has had a lot of hits with his band The Wailers such as "Is
This Love", "No Woman, No Cry", "Buffalo Soldier" and "I Shot
The Sheriff" and I love every single one of them. Jamaica breathes Bob
Marley, it just has a mentality of being happy, sunny, in a good mood,.. And
you can feel that in the music, it makes you happy when you listen to it en you
just want to dance on it. Bob Marley also plays guitar and that makes him even
more a legend for me, I love his way of playing en the sound that he can
produce out of his guitar.
Next week well be in Cuba and after that your journey will almost be finished.
Lets hope we have the same weather and the same happy-feeling in our two
remaining countries.
After our
sportive stop in Turkey we moved on to Greece, a beautiful country with a very
rich history. When you think of Greece, you immediately think of the ancient
Greeks with all their wisdom and the magnificent old buildings that still stand
there after thousands of years. To write this particular blog I used a source
from the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. I used it to look up some information
on the building that everyone should have already seen on picture and should
definitely visit once in their lifetime. Im talking aboutthe Acropolis of Athens. A wonderful building
that used to be a temple but is now only just a ruin on the highest point of
Athens. But even the ruins of this building are still very impressive.
I studied a
little bit of Latin/Greek we I first started high school but I had to stop
doing that because learning all those words wasnt really my thing. But the
culture and history of that time always kept interesting me and Ive always
wanted to learn more about it. This trip through Greece was a perfect
opportunity to do some sightseeing of all these magnificent ancient buildings.
I have always been astonished by the way these people could build such high
building without the current technology.And how they made them so though that they still stand after all those
years. Our current houses cant stand 30 years without having to be fully
renewed and some people 2000 years ago could build buildings that even could be
good homes for people.
But the historical Greece is so much more than just the Acropolis, there are
hundreds of temples, statues en other building that make Greece the country it
is now. I think it would also be a shame if all of this culture would be lost
due to some greedy people who might want to build some tear down all these
monuments and make them into skyscrapers.
Our journey
across the world continues and after Iran weve stopped in Turkey for a couple
of days. Here we went to see a soccer match between Belgium and Turkey. I
really insisted on doing this because we come from Belgium and the national
soccer team of Turkey is one of the best in Europe and the world.
In this blog in included a little video I found on YouTube showing the
highlights and the goals of the match. At the end it was 3-2 for Turkey, a
little disappointment for us buta lot
of celebration in Turkey. Here its a habit of driving your car through the streets,
honking and waving flags when the national team wins.
Im a huge sports fan, going from F1, American football to soccer and tennis. Im
also a big fan of the Red devils, Ive seen a couple of their matches during
the Euro 2012 qualification sessions and every time Im more convinced that we
have one of the best European teams. We cant yet compete against teams like
Brazil, Argentina of Spain, but were getting there. We have a lot players
playing in every big competition and they are all the best of the team. But we
still miss a lot of experience, all our players are barely older than 25 and
they all miss the experience of playing for some time together in the national
team. We also have need of a good trainer, someone who knows everyone and
doesnt have favorite player from his older team where he used to coach.
The lack of experience is probably the main reason why we lost the match
against Turkey. We should have always won that match but due to some little
mistakes we gave the victory away.. But after seeing this match you can only be
hopeful for the future. One day well again be playing in all of the big
tournaments and be one of the favorites to win them.
We arrived
on our final destination, namely Mexico. Before we arrived in this country, I
wanted to know something more about the culture. Ive always heard that they
have some special habits, which you only find in this Latin-American country.
And how you can find this better out than by following someone who already
visited the country?
Ive found
an article about someone who travelled through Mexico and had a kind of special
experience. He found out that masked wrestling is hugely popular in Mexico;
there the women wrestlers are known as luchadoras. This kind of sport started
in the time of the Mexican Revolution (1910) and became very popular in the
1940s. Today its still a very popular sport among lower classes, since its
cheap to watch, fun and accessible. If a wrestler loses a championship, they
have to endure a humiliation. This can be losing their mask for about a year or
having their heads shaved.
About half of all Mexican wrestlers get into the sport because one of their
parents was involved.
The
Princess, a famous wrestler in Mexico, had no experience of family disapproval;
her parents didnt even want her to wrestle. Next to that men dont like it
that so many women are wrestlers in Mexico. They prefer to see their wife at home,
and not in the ring. Because of that women want to show their achievement and
willpower.
I never
heard before of this kind of sport, so I was very surprised when I read the
article. But I think women have to get a fair chance to do this sport. Its not
the task of women to be at home and making dinner, etc. Men can also make
dinner and clean the house. I also think its very good that poor people do
this sport. It is better that they do something like that than dealing drugs,
stealing things, etc.
So actually
men should be happy that their women have so many successes and are doing their
sport so good.
We are at
the end of our journey. Im very thankful for doing this, because I learned so
much new things and I had so many nice experiences. This is something I will
never forget.
I thank you
all for reading our blog and I hope you enjoyed it!
First of all I would like to welcome you on our fifth blog. Yesterday we have left the beautiful Jamaica and we have continued our route to Mexico. But before we finish in Mexico we wanted to make a stop in Cuba. Cuba is known for its beautiful nature and environment. But that is not the reason why we wanted to visit Cuba. We wanted to visit Cuba because we wanted to get some more information about the cigar plants.
For over a decade Manuel García, Habanoss who was a commercial vice-president, was the public face for the Cuban cigar industry. All the people who lived in Cuba wanted to be like him, and dreamed of it.But last year he wasnt on the Havana cigar festival, which was very strange because normally he is there to greet the audience. That was because he was caught by the police and rested in jail accused of masterminding graft on a grand scale.
When we were walking on the streets of Havana, we have seen that there is an illegal market of Havana cigars. There are a lot of salesmen who sell the cigars on the street to tourists. Nowadays this isnt the main problem. The main problem is that the export the illegal cigars to Switzerland and the Caribbean. And the export price is improbably low.
Everyone thinks that Manuel García sets up this business, who is the beneficent for a big amount of bribes for each export deal he makes.
But we can conclude that Cuba is one of the nicest countries we have visit on our trip to Mexico. We hope that the we can have the same experience in Mexico as what we have had here in Cuba.
It was hard for me to leave Jamaica. I had such a great time, I met a lot of great people, even met a nice girl J! I got her email address so we can stay in touch and perhaps see each other again some time. But anyway, now here I am in Havana, Cuba. Everything looks a little bit the same like in Jamaica. The people look similar, they speak the same language, But still Cuba has a lot to offer.
If you think of Havana you think of cigars. The most popular cigar from Havana is the Cohiba. Its an exclusive cigar that was initially made for Fidel Castro and other high officials of the Cuban government. Its uniqueness comes from the extra fermentation process. What people dont know is that Cuba was also known for its sugar production in the late 50s. Cuba once was the largest sugar supplier in the world. 80% percent of the export consisted of sugar in the 60s. Cuba had a contract with the Soviet-Union which said that they could sell their sugar above the market price. After the fall of the Soviet-Union in 1991, the sugar export of Cuba also dropped. We can say that Cuba is a country that lived and still lives for the export. Once sugar was very important (during the Cold War), later Cohiba cigars. But besides these two products, Cuba also exports other products. Rum, nickel & salsa music are also wanted by countries like Canada, China, Holland and Venezuela. Because of the fact that cigars are one of the most important export products, I went to visit the factory of Cohiba in Havana. I must say it was very interesting to see how they are made. First of all they select the finest tabacco in the area. When they have selected their tabacco, it undergoes a number of unknown processes to get more flavour. Eventually the cigars are rolled on their laps!
Im enjoying my first Cohiba now and I must say, the taste is unbelievable See you at my last destination, Mexico!
Hello
everyone!
We almost reached our final destination. But before we will discover the great
country Mexico, we stop first at the beautiful country Cuba.
We were
really looking forward to its culture and apart way of living. Before we
arrived at this country, I wanted to know what the current situation is. Thats
why Ive searched for an article about the economy of Cuba.
Raul
Castro, the president of Cuba, has done some large-scale market reforms to
revive the struggling economy. Next to that he also wants that the role of the
state reduces in some areas. In that way workers are allowed to be
self-employed or to set up a small business.
Earlier this year, Castro already launched a scheme under which hairdressers
are allowed to work for themselves. This scheme will now also be launched in
more areas in Havana.
He also
warned that unproductive or under-employed workers in the state sector should
look for another job. In that way he wants to stop the rumour that Cuba is the
only country in the world where you can live without working. He also wants to
reject the reports that he is planning a reform based on capitalist recipes.
Economy
minister, Marino Murillo, said that while the state would reduce his role in
small business, it would continue to get a centralised economy. They want to
reach an economic model in which socialist economic priorities will be the most
important, and not the market.
A reform is really necessary, since the economy has been gripped by a severe
crisis the past two years. Thats also the reason they were forced to cut their
imports.
I think
those reforms are very important for a country as Cuba. But those little
reforms are just a small thing of the whole package. The main problem is still
that they are a communistic country. In that way its very difficult to do some
reforms that also will have a good impact for the people.
In my
opinion they have to go slowly to a more capitalistic economy, otherwise there
will still be a crisis for years. But as weve read in the article, isnt
Castro planning on launching capitalistic ideas.
I also dont think its our task to help that country. The only thing we can do
is advise them things. Its their choice if they want to follow our advice or
deny it.
We have to
stay positive. I think its already good that Mister Castro is planning on
doing some reforms that are good for his country. For example the fact that
people will be allowed to set up a small business. In that way the commerce can
reborn and that will also be the start of a new economy.
May be due
to this condition Castro will admit that capitalism isnt so bad after all.
This was my
blog for this week! Next week we welcome you to our final destination, the
fantastic Mexico!
Were now
in the República de Cuba! All
we did until now was simply visiting the touristic areas of the cities. But
today, we did something different! We went to a primary school, where we could
maybe help out a little bit.
We arrived at the school and we were immediately in love with all the
children. They have to wear a uniform, but they look all very cute in it! Some
of them were dressed in red and others in blue, but this depends of their age.
Every year has a different colour.
We were there only 5 minutes, when a very sociable principal welcomed
us at his school. He gave us a guided tour around the school and told us
everything about the revolution of the education in Cuba.
Earlier everybody in Cuba
was illiterate. There were no schools, so it was impossible for the kids to
learn how to read and write. Even if there would have been schools, nobody
would send their kids to it. Most of the kids work at home and the people dont
have enough money to pay a school fee.
But suddenly, the government started up a revolution for education in Cuba. They made
a lot of schools, all with very good teachers and all the kids could go to
those school FOR FREE! They also made sure that the kids can combine school
with their work at home. I think this is just amazing. In Belgium and other
Western countries you have to pay a lot to go to school. Because of these high
school fees, poor children cant enjoy a good education.
The schools in Cuba are very well organised, so we couldnt help at
all. Seeing all the kids so happy because they could learn and enjoy a proper
education, made us smile as well. And this made sure that we enjoyed our time
at the school.
After a
long trip of 20 hours from Greece
to Jamaica, we finally
arrived some days ago in Kingston!
Luckily this time without any problems, so also without losing my luggage! The
flight was very long, but we all slept the whole time. We were exhausted! Travelling
is always really hard, so we could use some hours to sleep.
When we were
discovering the city, we met a Belgian woman who has been living for 20 years
in Jamaica now. The first thing she asked was about our political situation.
She read something on the internet about us not having a government and thought
that it was just too crazy. She told us about the political situation in
Jamaica, which is really different when you compare it with the system we use
in Belgium, but it is really successful!
The
strangest thing is that Jamaica
doesnt have a king/queen or president itself. Although they are an independent
state, their queen is the queen of England. She is represented in Jamaica by a
governor general, Patrick Allen. She has the executive power, but this is
mostly executed by the cabinet, which is led by the Prime Minister, Bruce
Golding.
Bruce
Golding is a part of the Jamaican Labour Party, one of two major political
parties. The other party is the Peoples National Party.
The Queen
doesnt have the political power, this lies with the Parliament. The Parliament
gets elected every 5 years and exists of a House of elected members who
represent 60 constituencies and a Senate of 21 members. The senate cant be
elected by the people, they get chosen by the Prime Minister and the Leader of
the Opposition.
While she
was telling all of this, she gave us a city tour around Kingston. So after today, we did not only
know a lot about the politics, we also saw the most beautiful places of
Kingston.
Ill be
back next week to tell you all our adventures in CUBA!
We have left Greece behind us and crossed the Atlantic
Ocean, to reach or next destination Jamaica. We wanted to visit Jamaica for its
beautiful beaches, lush green forests, misty mountains and stunning shoreline.
But next to that, there are some other public attractions, why we wanted to
visit Jamaica.
First of all we have the Dunns River Falls. The thing
that makes the Dunns River Falls so special is that you can climb on the
waterfalls. Together with a guide we have forced the waterfall and went to the
top of Dunns River Falls. Lucky for us we had a guide, because there a lot of
slippery place who could cause falling of the waterfall. We also filmed some
very nice shots that we will upload as soon as possible. When we arrived to the
top we had an amazing view over the Dunns River Falls.
Later on we have visited the Dolphins cove. This is an
amazing place in the marine park where can relax and swim with a family of
bottleneck dolphins. The animals were pushing our feet with their noses, or you
had the possibility to grab their fins and hang on for a crazy ride.
What we have especially have seen in Jamaica is the
large variety of water sports. This is because Jamaica has one of the most beautiful
beaches in the world. On the beaches you can find clubs, which offer jet skiing
to para-sailing and snorkeling lessons.
Jamaica is a very nice country to visit and I think we
will back in the future.
After a 16-hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean with Air Jamaica I must admit that I am fed up. I took the plane from Athens to Brussels, refueled there and flew then straight to Kingston the Capital of Jamaica. Then I still needed to take the train and the bus to eventually get to my final destination ( Port Antonio). Because of the fact that I used all of the transportation systems here in Jamaica I will tell you something more about it in this blog post.
The transport infrastructure in Jamaica consists out of roadways, railways and airways. Transportation on the water is also used but not much, its only used for tourism. About the roadways, I can tell you that it consists of 13 049 miles (around 21,000 kilometers). Only 9321 miles out of the total is paved. Which means that there is still a quite large amount of dirt roads. Freeways didnt exist in Jamaica, but thanks to some investors, the government eventually built freeways that connected the main population centers of the island. Due to this investment, roadways became the primary means of transport.
Railways in Jamaica arent very popular anymore. A lot of the railways were closed to build roads on. It is estimated that only 53 kilometers of the once 272 kilometer long railway is still used today.
About the air transport in Jamaica I can only tell you that there are3 airports. One in Kingston ( the capital of Jamaica), one in Boscobel and one in Montego Bay.
So if you are planning to come to Jamaica, know that Jamaica has three means of transportation. The best way to get to Jamaica in the first place is by plane. You can take the boat but then it will be a 6-day boat trip instead of a 16-hour flight from Europe. And for people like me who get sea sick, I dont think it would be a pleasant journey. Once you are in Jamaica you can to choose to take the bus, rent a car or to take the train. If you have enough money, I think it would be useful if you rent a car. Then you are free to go everywhere you want to. In my case I couldnt rent a car so I was forced to take the bus and train. But Ill have to leave you all now, the sun is shining, the music is playing, the drinks are calling me so Im going to partyyyyyyyy !
After we
visited Iran, Turkey and Greece, its now Jamaicas turn.
Before we
travelled to that country, we wanted to find out how save it is there. I
already heard Jamaica had a lot of problems with criminality in the past.
Thats why I did some research and found some articles about it.
I found out
that Jamaica hardly can control the crime in his capital city Kingston. The
biggest problem are the gangs, one of them is Fatherless. Its a group of armed
young men, who have lost their fathers in gang wars. Only last year, five
members of the gang have lost their lives in gang wars.
Death became so common in these parts of Jamaica, that the inhabitants arent
surprised anymore when there is a new victim.
Jamaica has
the highest murder rates in the world. There have been already 300 murders this
year, thats just harrowing. The problem is that Jamaica finds himself in a
never-ending spiral of gun crime. Its a vicious cycle of killing on both
sides; policemen kill criminals and also the other way around.
Things are
already going so far, that recently schools closed down after rising gang
violence in the area. The number of students attending schools has dropped by
40%. The CIA reports that crime in Jamaica is not new, due to the economic
conditions in the 1970s, there was already a rise of the violence. The cycle of
violence, drugs and poverty has served to impoverish large sectors on the
populace.
Next to
that, Jamaica has been a transhipment port for Colombian cocaine. They smuggle
the cocaine into the islands and sell it. Then drug smugglers from Haiti trade
sophisticated guns for marijuana and cocaine. The consequences of these
practises are unbelievable; unemployment, teenage pregnancy and nearly every
household is involved in some kind of criminal activity.
Young
people fight in gang wars, older men travel to the city to rob and steal, and
the women at home often take a break to carry drugs to the US and UK.
There is a
high crime in Jamaica, but it is in the crime hotspots, and not in whole the
country like everyone thinks. The hotspots are areas like Kingston, St Andrews
and Trench Town, its a mix of inner cities and high unemployment
neighbourhoods where young gangs high on crack cocaine and armed with guns to
kill.
Analysts
say Jamaicas culture of crime is a larger, social problem and will take more
than police action to solve. Improving the economy, decreasing unemployment and
cleaning up politics will be the first step to stop the criminality.
I think
Jamaica has huge problems that already drag for years. The main problem isnt
the criminality, but the poverty of the people. Thats why people start to
steal and deal drugs. So the first thing that has to change is the economy and
of course the political situation. You cant have a wealthy country without a
stable political situation. Next to that Jamaica also has to create jobs, so
the unemployment can decrease. This is a job for the government. They can
decide to do some infrastructural reforms. For example building new houses, new
bridges in that way they can employ people and its also good for the economy
of the country. Jamaica will come in a positive vicious cycle and things will
become better. One thing is for sure, it cant go on like the situation is
today.
If everyone
realizes this and they want something changes, it wont be a big problem. But
the government has to take the first step. We can also help Jamaica by giving
good advice and stimulate them to do some investments. But I dont think its
good idea to support them by giving them money. They have to do it by
themselves, or they will have the same problem in about 5 years.
We arent
scared to go to Jamaica, even if we know that there is a lot of criminality. We
will just avoid the criminal hotspots for our own good.
That was my
blog for this week, again a country full of secrets! I hope you stay all tuned and I see you next
week back in Jamaica!
Its a new week, so that means: a new destination, a new adventure, a new
source, a whole new story!
This week we are staying in Greece, a beautiful and ancient country with a lot
of secrets to discover. This week Ive chosen for a little movie instead of an
article. I think images say more than words, so in my opinion a movie was
necessary in a country with such a history.
Everybody
knows Greece is having a hard time, last year they had a lot of difficulties in
their economy, and this year its still not better. Last week the government
took some measures, such as downgrading the credit rating for another time to
get the Greek economy back on track. Investors fear that Greece will have
difficulties to repay his debts to the EU and IMF. Moodys even compares Greece
to countries such as Bolivia and Belarus. But Greece did definitely some effort;
they reformed their pension and tax system. Moodys says that these efforts
didnt have the necessary results. Greeces debts are still a 152, 6 % of the
GDP, and they dont expect it will decrease till next year. Its obvious that
Greece cant solve his problems alone; they need the EU and the IMF. But before
the EU invests more money, they want that Greece pass a test of solvent. Next
to that, the EU will also meet in Brussels to find solutions for the debt
crisis. By finding these solutions, they want to occur that the crisis doesnt
spread to countries such as Portugal and Spain.
A specialist gives his opinion and solutions for the crisis. He doesnt agree
with the opinion of Moodys. He believes that EU should set up a fund to help
Greece, but he thinks its manageable. Even Greece, Spain and Ireland together
are only 16% of the GDP, so Greece alone may not be a problem.
I agree
with the fact that the EU should help Greece. Im convinced that they cant do
it alone, their debts are just too high and I dont see a fast way for Greece
to try to repay them. I think the EU is obligated to help them. Greece is a
member of the EU, so they need our support and also our money. Its actually a
win win situation. When Belgium will ever have financial problems, the EU will
also help us. Were partners, so we should not only take the advantages of
that. But I also think Greece should spend the money wise. This money should
help Greece to repay their debts and to help reviving their economy. They may
not waste it to stupid things. There should be definitely some conditions. When
Greece doesnt obey them, I think the EU has the right to stop investing money
in the country.
But I think
we are all hoping that Greece can come up with a good solution. This country is
way too beautiful to be a crisis!
So that was
it for this week! Next week we are already in our new destination. But Ill
keep it a secret till then!
Im in Turkey now, more specific in the city that once was the capital city of the Ottomanian empire, namely Istanbul. Turkey and especially Istanbul is known for its historical background. Ancient buildings are still standing on the land of the Marmaran-region.
Enough said about the beauty of Istanbul. Now, Im going to tell you something about the economy of the city. Istanbul has been the center ofthe countrys economic life. The reason for that is because the city is surrounded by water, so a lot of international sea trade routespass the city. In other meanings, the city lives from the export and import. It has been estimated that the import and export of Istanbul are respectively 56%and 60.5% of Turkeys total import and export. The main products that are exported are raw materials and energy resources.
But it hasnt always been that great for Turkey. In the late nineties the Asian financial crisis affected the economy of Istanbul. The crisis caused that the export dropped tremendously, knowing that export is very important for Istanbul you can believe it was a real setback. Then Istanbul also had to deal with a major earthquake. This triggered one of the largest economic shocks in history for the city. Due to the earthquake the GDP ( Gross Domestic Product ) dropped two percent. Despite all these setbacks Istanbul is now again a city with a healthy economy.
We can conclude that Istanbul has known a lot of setbacks during the nineties , but luckily the economy of the city has been able to recover itself. Istanbul now has become a very known place around the world. The city became very modern, young people now also book trips to Istanbul to enjoy its night life. It is considered to be outstanding. So Im very lucky to be here now, I sure will put it to the test . I hope Illbe able to make you all jealous!
Before I forget! If there are people that already have been to Greece, could they please send me a personal message telling me the sites I really need to visit in Athens because I have never been there before and I really want to see all the beauty of the city!
Hope you enjoyed my blogpost! Ill speak to you all again when Im in Athens!
Some days
ago we found out everything about the delicious olives here in Greece,
but Olivier already told you all about this. And not only the olives are
delicious, also everything else we already tasted here! There are a lot of
small restaurants who have fish meals as their specialty, so especially the
fish dishes are unbelievably good!. This is off course not abnormal for a
country where a huge percentage of the economy is depended on fishing.
Today in
Crete, an island of Greece, we attended a local fisher on his ship to see how
the fishing in Greece works. This local fisher told us everything about fishing,
but also about some of the huge problems that they face every day. The main
problem is that there arent a lot of fish anymore in the sea, so the catches
are a lot smaller. This is due to overfishing, a problem lots of countries face.
The second
problem is something we never heard about, named fishing with dynamite. We
were so surprised and interested that it seemed like we were really
enthusiastic about it, but of course we werent! The fisherman was a little
confused by our reactions, because this kind of fishing is really cruel and
totally illegal! He thought that we were also dynamite fishers, although he
already knew that we were just tourists. After explaining him that we were just
tourists and never heard about this practice, he explained us everything.
Dynamite fishing or blast fishing is the practice of using dynamites to kill a
school of fishes. Its really dangerous and forbidden by the law of omerta(=
silence) here in Crete! Dynamite fishing is
mostly practiced by poor fishermen who dont have enough financial sources to
buy a boat, but also people who like adventure try this out.
After an
interesting and relaxing boat trip, the fisherman brought us back to Crete
where wed met him earlier today.
This week we have travelled from Turkey to Greece where we wanted to
learn more about the harvesting, production and the export of olives.
When we travelled
true Greece we have visited a local olive mill where the olives are washed to
remove the leaves, and are crushed to produce the liquid, which is extracted
from the olives.
The farmer
told us that there were two methods for the extraction of the olives. The first method is a traditional where
the pits are very important. In this method the pits are helping to channel the
oil when the paste is pressed. This process has duration for about half an
hour. After the pressing the paste is spread evenly over woven mats and go
under a second press, who separates the paste from the oil. There are just a few
more farmers here, who use this traditional method. This is because mainly
there are higher costs involved.
The second
and the most used method is the extraction based on a centrifuge. Here are the
olives crushed by several crushers who separate the flesh and oil.
Each year
Greece produces between the 300-and 400 thousand tonnes of oil and 75% of the
production is done by the second method.
They are
transporting their oil all over the world, but most particular to Italy who
buys three quarters of the total amount of the Greek olive oil transport.
I hope you
enjoyed reading this blog, and you have learned more about the Greek oil
industry. I am looking forward to post new updates of my trip, and give you interesting
facts.
I left Istanbul a few days ago, and now I am in Athens, the capital of Greece . Currently the weather here is very bad, it has been raining all day long. I was forced to stay inside so I thought it was a good idea to keep you all posted.
Greece is like Istanbul, a city which is known for its cultural and historical background. But especially, we know Greece because of the Greek Mythology. Everybody knows about the stories of Achilles, Hercules, Aphrodite etc.
Besides all this beauty, Greece also has a dark side. Today Greece has a lot of debts it cannot pay off. The cause of the debt crisis are the so called hedge funds and other "speculators" because the institutions bailed out with public funds. Because of the crisis, the Greek government requested on April 13th 2010 to the EU and IMF for bail-out money. The estimated amount of money needed to bail-out was 50 billion. But the problem now is that the government isnt able to pay the interest that comes with the loan.
I think the biggest problem now is that Greece is a member state of the EU. So if other countries or investors lose their confidence in the Greek economy, the Greek economy will affect the value of the Euro and will on its turn affect the economy of Europe. That would be catastrophic for all the EU member states!
We can determine that Greece is in a lot of trouble today. Since the crisis started already many Greeks got unemployed because a lot of companies went bankrupt or closed their department. We need to solve this problem together with Greece!
Im in Turkey now, more specific in the city that once was the capital city of the Ottomanian empire, namely Istanbul. Turkey and especially Istanbul is known for its historical background. Ancient buildings are still standing on the land of the Marmaran-region.
Enough said about the beauty of Istanbul. Now, Im going to tell you something about the economy of the city. Istanbul has been the center ofthe countrys economic life. The reason for that is because the city is surrounded by water, so a lot of international sea trade routespass the city. In other meanings, the city lives from the export and import. It has been estimated that the import and export of Istanbul are respectively 56%and 60.5% of Turkeys total import and export. The main products that are exported are raw materials and energy resources.
But it hasnt always been that great for Turkey. In the late nineties the Asian financial crisis affected the economy of Istanbul. The crisis caused that the export dropped tremendously, knowing that export is very important for Istanbul you can believe it was a real setback. Then Istanbul also had to deal with a major earthquake. This triggered one of the largest economic shocks in history for the city. Due to the earthquake the GDP ( Gross Domestic Product ) dropped two percent. Despite all these setbacks Istanbul is now again a city with a healthy economy.
We can conclude that Istanbul has known a lot of setbacks during the nineties , but luckily the economy of the city has been able to recover itself. Istanbul now has become a very known place around the world. The city became very modern, young people now also book trips to Istanbul to enjoy its night life. It is considered to be outstanding. So Im very lucky to be here now, I sure will put it to the test . I hope Illbe able to make you all jealous!
Before I forget! If there are people that already have been to Greece, could they please send me a personal message telling me the sites I really need to visit in Athens because I have never been there before and I really want to see all the beauty of the city!
Hope you enjoyed my blogpost! Ill speak to you all again when Im in Athens!
