First time in Haiti

Writer Ursula Le Guin said that it is not the end that matters as much as the journey to the end. I am enjoying the journey and I suspect that whenever I sit back and reflect on my life I will think that the last month of it has been special.

I started 3 weeks ago in Bosnia and what a place that was. I then made a number of speeches in the UK which seem to have opened up some life changing opportunities and then it was back in France for just a few days before the journey to Haiti where I am now. I am really in Africa although Haiti resides in the Caribbean.

Two high points already. I arrived from Miami via New York (‘Just a New York conversation rattling in my head’ – thanks to the Half Note) with American Airlines (is there a worse airline in the world?) and was regaled by a fantastic Haitian band employed to entertain new arrivals as they get off the plane and make their way to the terminal. They were great. I was whisked through customs by my ‘meeter and greeter’ when everyone else was getting a grilling and within ten minutes I was on my way to the UN compound.

The second high point was a conversation with Shqipe Hebibi, a Kosovar who is also a good friend of a friend of mine back in Kosovo, Arlind Bakraci. Shqipe has a story to tell. Shqipe was working in Afghanistan in 2005 when she and two others were abducted by Islamic fundamentalists on their way to lunch in a UN 4x4. Your chances of not surviving were, and still are, minimal. Shqipe said that everyone tells you that at moments like that you think your life will flash before you. What actually happens is that everything happens so quickly that you can’t compute what is going on. They were held for 27 days and became the lead news item around the world. Shqipe was very, very lucky. It seems that a wealthy Kosovar had made contact with the kidnappers and that the Moslem link together with money had eased her release as well as the release of her colleagues. As someone who is fascinated by the psychology of what happens in those situations I asked Shqipe how she now feels looking back. What she said really interested me because she says that she now tries hard not to forget anything that happened. So the 3 hostages talk about their experiences so they don’t forget. I had imagined that you would try to forget everything but for the three of them this clearly isn’t the case. They will be ‘there’ for the rest of their lives.

My hotel (Hotel Ibolele) is stuck in the side of a mountain overlooking Port au Prince – the higher position keeps the Malarial mosquitoes away – and while my room is one of the worst I have stayed in I have a twenty metre pool for my own use it seems. So every night I swim in the dark, in delicious heat and enjoy Cajan fish and Haitian rice. The mangoes here are stunning and the best fruit I have ever eaten in my life. I am eating 3 per day. Haiti is the world centre for Mangoes – over 150 varieties. So at breakfast I have a plate of mango and banana, fresh coffee, some bread and jam, a fruit juice made from fresh lemons and limes and I can see all of Port au Prince beneath me and for about 70 km. A warm breeze gently eases me into full work mode. I haven’t felt this well for 10 years.

In the midst of all this journeying Sam, my new Commissioning Editor has given me the go-ahead to write the next book. So December and January in France with my babies writing and reflecting on a marvellous passage in my life. And what is more I am booked out completely for February, March and April. I almost forgot to mention that I have just won a contract with the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. Enjoy the peaks Doug.

I am sorry if this blog sounds overly smug and congratulatory but I write it partly for myself. I just want to remember the special times.

I am finding time for music and today it is The Dells and a great piece of Northern Soul ‘Wear it on our face’. But a mention too for Charles Mingus’ ‘Haitian Fight Song’.

Beauty

Has there been a more beautiful piece of music released in the 21st century than 'Olsen Olsen' by Sigur Ros off the 2000 album Agaetis Byrjun? Why haven't I got into this band before? I think I like to keep in touch with newness but I missed this group totally. They are fabulous. Surely the world's leading rockband? Any american bloggers reading this should get along to a screening of their new film 'Heima' in NYC on 19 November. I am sure there are other showings too.

Are they a throwback or something new? Well there are obvious influences but there is nothing like them. They even sing in an invented language.

Just say no

I have a fear of lack of activity. This means that when there is a lull I take on work and projects that I should not be involved in. As I look at my diary for the next 9 days I see I am doing loads of stuff I do not want to do. It is not New Year yet but I resolve to learn to say ‘no’. I could be with my children and writing my next book. Instead I am in places like Birmingham doing ‘stuff’ that doesn’t interest me. Fool, Doug. And why do I feel ill all the time? 67 flights this year must have something to do with it.

Musically I have two new albums to recommend. The Robert Plant/Alison Krauss newie is one of those rare occasions where one plus one equals three rather than the usual one and a half. A gem of a record. Does Marc Ribot now play guitar on every album released by anybody?

And I am venturing into the new Sigur Ros. It hasn’t had great reviews but I cannot understand why. It sounds great to me. I will report more fully after a few more listens.

Bosnia

Waiting in my hotel in Sarajevo for my car to take me to the airport gives me a few minutes to mention my trip to this special place. The high point - although high is the wrong word - was a trip to the famed Mostar. Those who followed the war in the early 90's will remember the name. Almost every building still pockmarked with bullet holes from the street fighting but a quite beautiful 'old town' - little shops, cafes and churches and what they call the new old bridge. The Serbs blew the first one up.

I stopped in a place called Jablanica for a coffee and a chance to look at the stunning snowy mountainous view. From there I could see the famous bridge that Tito blew up in 1943. My driver told me the story of how the Germans stood on one side of the river, Tito's partizans on the other. Tito blew the bridge up and the germans figuring that Tito could now not cross the river went back into the hinterland, safe they thought from Tito's band of brothers. Instead overnight Tito built a new temporary bridge, came round behind the germans and defeated them. It was turned into a film starring Richard Burton the name of which escapes me. The bombed bridge is still there rusting up the side of the river bank.

My hotel where I was staying in Capljina near the Dalmation coast was fabulous. Expecting the usual slightly run down affair I was amazed to be shown the best hotel room I have ever stayed in, anywhere. Being the guest speaker wins one certain advantages!

Today it is airport hopping day. Sarajevo to Montpellier via Vienna and Paris in half a day.

Wilde Travel

Does, as Wilde said, too much foreign travel dull the mind? I am about to find out. This week it is Bosnia followed by 10 days in Haiti punctuated only by a little public speaking in the UK. I will blog extensively on both Haiti and Bosnia on my return. I still maintain that the strangest people I have ever met (and I have been to some strange places) are the french.

I must bhowever mention my music of the week which is anything by Funkadelic. But particularly the 'Hardcore Jollies' album and 'Maggot Brain'. George Clinton still doesn't get the credit he should. He was, and is, completely mad (in the same way as Lee 'Scratch' Perry) but endearingly so. If I ever go mad I hope it is the same way as those guys.