Must read - 10 min of your time required (how can you say no to that?)

Happy Friday, everyone.

I recently came upon this short piece from Dani Rodrik, in his monthly column on the Project Syndicate website. It will take up 10 minutes of your time, but I strongly recommend you to read his latest entry on protectionism in the Western world, and the importance of social welfare systems. For me personally, Rodrik remains one of the best authors in the field of political economy, and I definitely look forward to his next books and articles.

Enjoy: http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rodrik36

I hereby conclude this week.

Have a great weekend,

Luc

Election day + more pics

Ola!

Election day in Mozambique, and there has reportedly been a big turn out. Results will be made public near the end of the day, when the polls close, though the wait for official results could take up to two weeks.
For more info: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8329125.stm

I'll keep you posted on how things proceed here, though for the moment the capital Maputo feels like a Sunday in Europe: everything is closed (except this internet cafe i'm relaxing in).

Some more pics...:

- One of the many, many, MANY campaign cars of the ruling FRELIMO party, strong favorite to remain in power after these elections.

- I have it from a good source that "Hakuna Matata" means: 'we don't sell/have potatos here', in the local language Shona (spoken in parts of Mozambique and Zimbabwe). I'm learning so much here!

Picture time!!

Hey all,

back in Maputo after a 20h bus ride! As requested, I have added some pictures taken in the past week during some field trips. Sorry for the low quality/small size. It was all that this internet-windows pc combo would allow me...

Election day in Mozambique tomorrow, so I'm gearing up for a really quiet and relaxing day, to finally catch up with all the mails and phone calls I still have to return or reply to.

But for now: tchau (Portuguese/Mozambican version of 'ciao'... am i the only one who finds this odd?)

- Old abandoned church in Manica, 45km west of Chimoio (close to border with Zimbabwe)

- Railway in Manica, or what is to become the heart of the Beira-corridor (linking the harbour of Beira with Harare)


- Old rock paintings, several 1000 years old.

More pictures will follow soon, when the universe allows me to upload them.

ciao

soon...

Hang in there people! Only couple more days, and then I'll be back in Maputo, where the good internet lives.

Luc

p.s. Keep sending those mails, though :) miss most of you a lot, and can't wait to see you in London in 2 months time!

The blog is back… with a vengeance!

Hellow all! Guess who’s back? Second attempt to post more regularly on my blog! Why haven’t I posted more often or sooner? Laptop problems, settling in problems, and other problems… BUT there is light at the end of the tunnel, and I’m pretty sure it’s not a train coming in the opposite direction. At the end of this week, I’ll hopefully have secured a place to stay, while my laptop worries have been taken care off for the moment.

So, what have I been up to lately… After a management meeting in The Netherlands at the end of September, I flew back to Mozambique, to kick start activities here. So the past few weeks have been mainly about getting things in order, getting to know the country a bit better, setting up and holding several meetings, and learning more and more Portuguese everyday.

I’m going to leave it at that, but as requested, in my next post I will put up some pictures of the cuteness and smallness that is Chimoio.

Ate a proxima

Luc