29th Stop - Kerala, India

As we stepped out of terminal and walked towards the bus in the sweltering heat of tropical India, I couldn’t resist the fresh squeezed sugar cane juice stand—it’s been ages! The best fruit juice in the world, plus it’s healthy (I think). We took the bus into town and got off in in the outskirts of Ernakulum to meet up with Steve from www.CouchSurfing.org. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get in touch with him so we took another bus and rickshaw to the ferry terminal to cross over and spend the night at Fort Cochi.

Fort Cochi is an old trading post along the tea and spice routes. It was ruled by Indians, the Portugese, the British and probably a few more in-between. Now it is a sleepy fisherman town and tourist attraction. We checked into a hotel and then went out to a bar for drinks.

We had a late lunch so we skipped dinner altogether. After a few drinks, some other tourists started to show up. Mike, a former financial portfolio manager from Hawaii, recently left it all behind to teach in Thailand and would be traveling around India for a few weeks before the semester started promoting his new website www.powerkickinc.com. A Scottish girl from Glasgow who insisted that it was not a good idea for a girl to travel alone in India (especially in Delhi) after experiencing it first hand for the past few months. Apparently, she almost got gang raped in Delhi which explains the hard feelings. Then there was the Australian girl who was on a round-the-world trip and was traveling around India on a motorcycle. Cool.

Up early the next day, we hopped on a bus and rumbled on down to Alleppy, the gateway to Kerala’s famous backwaters. I was engrossed in my book, Losing my Virginity (Richard Branson’s autobiography) for most of the ride, looking up from time to time to take in the scenery. At one point, when we had almost reached our destination, I spotted a JCI banner with a picture of Roland Kweiman, this year’s world president, on it! Wow, JCI is truly everywhere, even in the most remote, “backwaters” places like Alleppy!

That afternoon, we checked in with Antony, our CouchSurfer host who owns a tourism business and resort: http://tourinalleppey.com/. We had a cup of coffee and then he sent us out on a relaxing canoe trip.

The backwaters gets its name from the 1,000 km of canals and rivers that intertwine in a dense tropical fruit tree paradise. Also a tourist photo-happy paradise (thanks by the way to Bela and Deni for all the photos!).

By the time we made it back to our residence, it was dark and we needed to make plans fast. Antony and his Finnish girlfriend decided to join us for dinner so we all went to a nice hotel for cocktails and Indian fare.

Rarely have I relied on guidebooks for my travels so far, but I do look into them from time to time, especially when one is readily available (thanks again Bela and Deni!). The Lonely Planet advised us not to miss out on a backwaters house boat tour, despite the fact that the price would be about 50 times more expensive than anything we’ll have done so far in India. Let me reiterate their advice: you have to do this if you go to Kerala, you won’t be disappointed!

We got on the houseboat around noon, put our things in our rooms and slipped into our houseboat attire: shades and bathing suits! Our captain took us to the middle of the lake first so we could cool off with a swim. Getting into the water wasn’t hard; swimming in the water on the other hand brought back memories of Indiana Jones trying to cross the river of man-eating crocodiles in the Temple of Doom. Our fears got the better of us, so we climbed back aboard for lunch!

The rest of the afternoon we tooled around the canals, listened to Bollywood music, read books, took pictures, and meditated. If you ever go to India, do make a stop in Kerala and tour the backwaters. Thanks to Bess and all the Indian friends who told me to come here! Thanks also to Antony who hosted me on Saturday night.

Next stop: Varkala, India!

25th Stop - Antananarivo, Madagascar

It seems as though the length and extent of my posts are a good indication about the quality of the destination, people, and experience. Madagascar is no exception to this rule. It’s really been a fantastic time, much more than I could have ever hoped for.

I had a nice long drive back to Tana, sitting next to a young girl who was vomiting every 45 minutes or so. No worries though; she had a stash of plastic bags and kept things rather clean.

I went back to Paul’s place for one more night. He had a prior engagement and ended up not coming home, so I went to bed early to get some sleep before the training I was giving the next day.

Wednesday was a great day. I trained five colleagues on how to use Wordfast Pro at a beautiful venue overlooking the entire city. This venue was a Catholic seminary and one of my trainees pointed out that the church has some of the best property in the city.

Wordfast trainees

After the training, I met up with Paul and his colleague Cédric for dinner at the Shakamanga restaurant downtown. Cédric has been living in Mada for two years now, working as a graphic designer for his brother’s IT business. He’ll stay at least another year before trying to work in the United States. Interestingly, Cédric’s mom used to be a member of the Junior Chamber in France; I’m glad I got a chance to tell him more about the association and hope he hooks up with some of the great people I met last week.

Dera came and picked me up at the restaurant, we grabbed my things at Paul’s, and then went back to Valérie and Dera’s home. Dera shared some photos and videos with me of his trip to Mauritius, and we enjoyed some nice scotch from his exceptional collection. We also talked about future business opportunities and parenthood. Thanks again Dera for the interesting conversation!

I got up early the next morning to have breakfast with Dera before he left for work, then I went with Valérie to her office for a couple of hours. Valérie has an off-shore call center called Ma Dactylo that offers solutions for data entry, accounting, administrative assistance, hotline support, and sales calls. Feel free to contact her on my behalf if you need any of these services!

View from the seminary

We both finished up some work, spoke to Fred in New Zealand on Skype about surfing when I'm out there in November, and then went for lunch with some of Valérie’s friends. It was very interesting to meet and discuss politics with a judge and Hérisoa, a JCI Senator and advisor to the Minister of Finance. Unfortunately, it was getting late and I had a plane to catch, so we ate and ran to the airport. Got there just in time!

Thanks to all the JCI members that met up with me. Another big thanks to Paul, Dera, and Valérie for hosting me a few days during my stay in Tana. Thanks also to Wordfast who will be buying a bednet for every trainee I train during the trip. That makes 8 bednets altogether, 8 more families protected from malaria for the next 5 years. Thanks to all of you and best of luck until we meet again!

23rd Stop - Antananarivo, Madagascar

Have you ever dreamed of going to Madagascar to discover the exotic flora, landscapes, and fauna? I had, ever since I leafed through a guide book at the local library seven years ago. I was so excited that as soon as we reached the coastline, I had my eyes fixed on the trees, looking for lemurs swinging to and fro. At an altitude of several thousand feet, it probably would have helped to have had a pair of binoculars. The landscapes were breathtaking, however.

First time in Madagascar and first time after nearly three months of traveling that I would stay in a hotel. Though torn about not meeting more fantastic people and buying bednets, I was looking forward to having some time to myself–and by myself I mean me, my computer, and Facebook!

My taxi dropped me off at the Menhir hotel, just south of downtown Antananarivo (or Tana for short). Downtown is perhaps an overstatement. Tana looks more like a larger version of a village in Provence, with rolling hills interspersed by rice paddy plateaus and dotted with vibrant painted homes and buildings. The contrast with the azure blue sky, red earth, and lush green flora is strinkingly beautiful.

Back to the Menhir, this quaint hotel owned and operated by an ex-pat from Brittany named Dan, is located in a quiet neighborhood across from a police station. This reassured me as I was a little nervous at first because of the coup d’état in early 2009 and the unrest it ushered in. Ever since, inflation, uncertainty, and high unemployment have plagued the country.

Dan was very friendly and later introduced me to Clément, another ex-pat who works in the costume design business in Mada, but also runs the restaurant in the hotel for fun. In case you are interested, Clément is looking for someone with experience who would like to run the show during the week while he is at the factory. it is a Moroccan restaurant (he lived there for 10 years or so). If you are interested, go ahead and contact Dan so he can put you in touch with Clément!

Interestingly, Clément was the third person I have met so far on this tour who has been to North Korea. He lived there for several years, working for a textile company. If you make it to Tana, make sure you drop in for some of the best couscous I’ve had in awhile. It’s so good that even government ministers and people from the French consulate pop in for lunch (I saw several VIPs on at least three occasions). Thanks for the game of chess and the excellent food!

On Monday, I went into town and gave a Wordfast demonstration at the Centre National d’Enseignement de la Langue Anglaise (CNELA). Thank you Stéphane for helping me to organize this, thank you Mr. Rasoloheritsimba for allowing us to use your facilities, and thanks to everyone who showed up!

Upon leaving the CNELA, I was met in the courtyard by three members of JCI Tana: Mirana Olivia, Seder, and Tuv. We talked a bit and made plans for me to give a talk on Wednesday night during their general assembly about international opportunities in JCI. As we parted ways, I told them I was taking the bus back (dressed up in suit and tie with LCD projector and computer in hand) which thoroughly surprised them. Well it makes sense every way you look at it: mass transit cuts down on pollution, lessens traffic, and saves pennies. I think Mada has the cheapest bus fare I have ever paid: 300 ariary or slightly more than €0.10!

On Monday or Tuesday night (I can't remember), Dera, another JCI member and former national president called me up to meet for dinner. He picked me up at my hotel, then we picked up Valérie, his wife and also former JCI national president. We went to the Café de la Gare in downtown and had a delicious meal. It must have been national presidents night out because at the restaurant we bumped into Yannick Moati, former national president of JCI France! Message for Guy T.: Yannick te passe le bonjour ! Thanks Dera and Valérie for a lovely evening out on the town.

After a few nights relaxing stay at the Menhir, I packed bags and headed off to Paul P.’s place, a young French IT ex-pat working in Tana whom I had contacted via www.CouchSurfing.org. Before leaving the Menhir, I told Dan about my project and he jumped at the occasion to buy a bednet. A big thanks to Dan and everyone at the Menhir!

Paul was living in another part of town and his place was difficult to find. The taxi made a couple of wrong turns and we ended up on the worst road I have ever seen in my life. Off-roading through the Tunisian desert in a 4X4 outside of Tozer was a cakewalk in comparison with this! With help from local zebu herders, we eventually found Paul’s place.

I dropped off my things, then Paul and I headed into town on his motorcycle. I hung out in a hotel downtown working on a few things all afternoon until the JCI meeting that night. At lunch, I met Hery Andriamiandra, a former JCI member who is now the editor-in-chief of a IZA Magazine, a nation-wide monthly business magazine. Thanks for giving me a copy of the magazine Hery, it was a great read!

That night, I gave a one-hour talk during the JCI Tana general assembly about how you have to seize the day to be the change. I touched on some ideas picked up from other trainers and shared experiences from the past 4 years as a member of JCI, about how important it is to have a positive attitude, say yes to opportunity, the importance of envisioning in order to move forward and how we should challenge ourselves and others to be better in all aspects of our lives. The message seemed to get across as the members left with “Yes” on the tips of their tongues! Thanks Mirana Olivia, Seder, and Tuv for organizing this encounter.

The night was young so we went out for a bite to eat, some drinks, and a karaoke jam session. I was amazed at how good some of the members could sing. Thanks for the song, the laughs, and for teaching me some key phrases in Malagasy : mi fat fat be ianoa (all of you)! One more stop to meet up with Paul and his friends for a drink and then we went home.

The next morning, I left a suitcase at Paul's and got on the road for Toamasina with the intent to stop off in a virgin forest in Andasibe and frolic with those ever-elusive lemurs.

Next stop: Andasibe and Toamasina!

16th Stop - Rabat

Another improvised stop on my tour. I met Nezha, a JCI member from Casablanca and this year’s national treasurer last year at the JCI World Congress in Tunisia. I contacted her about my project and she really wanted to help out in any way she could. Already, from afar, she gave me precious info and helped me arrange accommodations in Casablanca. Before leaving Tangier, she asked if I wanted to stop in Rabat to meet her friend from the university, Adnane. Sure!

Same old story, no phone and only a Moroccan GPS to rely on, we decided to meet at the train station at 5:30 pm. I had a few minutes to spare, and I stopped twice for directions to make sure I was on the right track. I went the wrong way and was about 1 km from the station when I rolled down my window for a third set of directions. Surprise! It was Adnane in the car with his father! I think my luck is starting to turn around, all it took was to make it to Africa.

Random people.

We parked the car and went for a nice long walk through the medina and along the waterfront. Adnane told me about the cultural work he does for the British Council and we talked about future plans and ambitions. He brought me to the coolest café nestled into the walls of the fortified city, overlooking the river estuary and beaches. The view was magnificent and the mint tea even better.

As we walked over to a fruit juice café, he asked me if I had time tomorrow before leaving to give a talk on leadership to a group of high school students participating in an entrepreneurship program. Of course, I would love to! Mohammed, who is in charge of it, joined us and we ironed out all of the details over an almond, strawberry, banana, kiwi, orange juice cocktail. They went to the mosque to pray and I stayed in the café to watch the world cup final on the smallest screen you can imagine. Adnane’s patience for soccer being what it is, when they came back and the game went into overtime, we decided to go back home.

Adnane practicing his presidential smile

Luckily, Adnane’s dad was watching the game so we caught the second half of overtime and Spain’s game winning goal. I knew they were going to win all along (see prediction in previous post). I just wish Erik B. had been there with me, along with his conversational football skills--just like old times in Ezzarha! Benito, a guest of Adnane’s from the Netherlands, came back from the ambassador’s residence not too happy. Benito would also be giving a talk during the leadership seminar tomorrow. We stayed up a little longer then went off to bed.

I woke up early the next morning and had breakfast with Adnane’s dad. I really appreciated our conversation. He told me that he retired from a government ministry and now dabbles in real estate and is very active as president of a retired persons associations. His cardinal rule for sales is not to try to please your buyer at all costs and lie about things when you don’t know. For me, trust is one of the best assets to have when selling something, and you gain people’s trust by being honest with them.

Benito and I left for the school and gave our presentations later that morning. Leadership is a vast subject but I decided to stick with a few simple notions like focus on the positive, smile, listen to others, and create a vision that others can believe in. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for all of Benito’s talk. He was on a roll in the beginning and I hope to see him again in the future to find out more!

Time for me to hit the road again but before I do, thanks again to Nezha, Adnane and his family, Mohammed, Marouane and Benito for such a memorable time in Rabat!

Next stop: Casablanca!

11th Stop - Amsterdam, part 2

Perfect, well almost. I just barely made my flight. Unfortunately, I couldn't check in luggage in Nice because I was too late. What to do with the four nice bottles of rosé wine I bought as gifts for my hosts? Had to think fast, lest they end up in the trash... Who is always hanging out at the airport in Nice? Mister Limousines of course. I had Laurent on the phone in a matter of seconds, and he told me to drop them off at the Heli Air Monaco desk. He'd swing by to pick them up later. Ok, that was done, time to get on my plane. It isn't very nice to be going through the security check and here your name being called, "Passenger John Di Rico, last call for the flight to Amsterdam!" I grabbed my things in both arms and started to run... and sweat profusely. "Wow, you just barely made. I was just about to close the flight."

The flight got me back to Amsterdam and I was soon in my car. Thanks Chantal for the tip about the free parking outside of the RAI train station! I picked up Marion and Hilde from JCI Amsterdam International and we headed over to Sugar City in Halfweg for a visit of a new office building built in and on top of an old sugar processing plant. They actually kept the existing sugar silos and turned them into office towers! For those who don't know, Halfweg is halfway between Amsterdam and the ocean.

The next day I had a training with 3 translators. I got there extra early to make sure everything was in place. Perhaps too early, I thought to myself, when I showed up and was greeted by an iron curtain in front of the training office. No big deal, I'll go grab a coffee and come back in half an hour. Coffee was grabbed and I got back in front of the office. Still no one there. Then one, two, all three of my trainees show up. "Ok, maybe the person is running late. Let's do introductions outside and then..." Fifteen minutes later and still no one! Luckily, they have a sister organization not too far away. More running, this time in a suit and tie. We finally got the door opened and had a fabulous day of training. Despite having confirmed in person, next time, double check to make sure they received the confirmation by email.

I learned some interesting things about Dutch culture from my trainees. Let's start with the birthdays. Apparently, when it is your birthday, you have to hang around at your place and receive guests all day long. You also serve them coffee and cakes when they pay you a visit. The Dutch also have a thing called club friends. This is a group of childhood friends that remains intact forever. Some clubs even chip in money and plan reunions every year. If you weren't part of the group as a child, there's no way you'll get in as an adult. Thanks again Marlies, Zena and Jean for attending the training and the interesting discussions at lunch!

This time around in Amsterdam, I stayed with a friend (Maureen) of a friend (Chantal). Maureen is an exceptional host, amazing cook, and great conversationalist. She is also a very talented listener. I appreciated the time we spent together talking about family, friends, and life in general. Unfortunately, as the days went on, we started to see less and less of each other because of scheduling conflicts! I want to wish her the best of luck finding a new job in the cultural industry.

The first night, we took the bikes and went out for dinner. Maureen warned me that the brakes weren’t working and she seemed rather concerned. Little did she know about my years of experience riding bicycles, but more importantly, that I used to work in a bike shop. What a great opportunity to fix her bike (didn’t get around to it until Sunday but got it done!). After a delicious dinner in her old neighborhood (pizza with truffle oil and fresh riccola), we watched the end of the World Cup game (the Dutch versus Cameroon).

I made breakfast Friday morning and Maureen’s friend Katelijne stopped by with an apple coffee cake. Katelijne is an up and coming filmmaker and was having a release party later that evening for her latest documentary called The Last Polder. She has some great ideas for future films including an in-depth look at how the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) radically affected small farmers in the Netherlands over the past 50 years. Sounds promising, best of luck and looking forward to seeing it on the big screen!

After taking a ride to the bike shop to get the brakes for the repair job, we had 25 minutes to make and eat an avocado, tomato, feta, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice pasta salad before we were supposed to go to the movie theater. In fact, I got confused, I thought we were going to the release party but it turned out Maureen was meeting a friend of hers to see a new Japanese animation... with Dutch sub-titles! I appreciate the invitation but I think I’ll do something else. Maureen’s friend started recommending good films to see and others to avoid. I’m sorry guys, I know you’re going to lose all esteem for me but I really enjoy watching action-packed Hollywood movies on the big screen. I didn’t find out until later that Maureen’s friend is a film critic!

There wasn’t anything playing I wanted to see so I left them and met up with Enrico, Manus, and Renato for some Belgian beers at Golem. I met Manus 7 years ago when I came to visit Janet in Amsterdam. I was surprised to learn that he just started making movies (corporate films) and wants to start making documentaries. Wow! Going to have to hook him up with Katelijne. Around 11 pm I got a message from Hilde to join her and her friend Uke at a club. Manus and Enrico left and Renato and I headed over to what we soon realized was a 90’s music theme evening. Fair enough. We barely had time to get a drink and find Hilde and Uke when Enrico shows up! I guess he couldn’t resist the urge to dance. Thanks to everyone for such a fun night!

On Saturday, I grabbed some croissants and another one of Maureen’s friends came by for breakfast. Then I left to go to the beach with Hilde and her colleague from work, via Halfweg of course. I rushed into the water only to be scared out of my wits by a giant jellyfish on patrol two feet in front of the spot I planned on diving head first. I think I’m just going to suntan and play the djembé for the rest of the day...

We made it back to Amsterdam and went directly to the riverside restaurant to meet up with Marion, the JCI Amsterdam International local president, and other members from their chapter. She had organized dinner and drinks partly because I was in town. Thanks Marion for doing this and to everyone who joined us!

It was getting late and time to go to a club or bar. Jasper and I were the only two with enough energy so we said our goodbyes and were off on the bicycles for a late night on the town. Jasper grew up in Amsterdam but recently returned from working in Madrid. He’s now looking for a job here in supply-chain management. Good luck to you too Jasper!

We hit up several places: a hard rock bar with a live band playing Metallica covers, a boilerplate bar with top 40’s pop hits, and the Bourbon Street Club with live soul and funk music. We closed out the latter and ran into an Indian friend of Jasper’s cousin on our way out. This friend either really liked his cousin or was really drunk because all of the sudden, I was his best friend and if I went to Calcutta, his family would take care of me. Ok, that sounds nice, can I have your number?

We left and headed back to the first place we had stopped, a former newspaper production facility, but never actually went in. There were some top DJ’s from Berlin spinning and the party was supposed to go on all night, until 3 pm the next day. Sure enough, by the time we got there at 5:30 am, there were people outside waiting to get in. While the sun rose, we waited until the doors re-opened at 6 am (legal requirement to “close” for an hour) and went back into the night.

We met some nice people in there, including Melanie, who told me all about her business plan and recent participation in a young entrepreneurship contest. We danced until about 9:30 am and then reemerged from the night. It’s strange coming out of a pitch black underground dance party at 9:30 on a Sunday morning. You feel almost ready to start the day.

After getting some shut eye, I packed my things, fixed Maureen’s bike and was on my way to Brussels. Thanks again to Enrico, Janet, Hilde, Marion, Jasper and everyone else for such a wonderful time in Amsterdam and especially to Maureen for hosting me. That’s 4 bednets to protect 4 families for at least the next 4 years.

Next stop: Brussels!,

Goal Setting

I had the opportunity a few weeks back to teach a course on time management to JCI members during a training weekend organized by JCI Marseille. One of the most important questions that comes up during this course is “What to do with your time?” To this question, there are three answers:

1. Define your goals.
2. Write down the actions you need to take to achieve them.
3. Free up time to accomplish said actions.

First things first, we have to define our goals. Your goal has to be SMART or Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

I’m going to use my Around the Worldfast project as an example: my goal is to raise $20,000 to purchase 2,000 malaria-preventing bednets by March 2011. This goal is specific, measurable, and time-bound. It is also relevant as it is in line with my values. But is it attainable?

I’ve realized over time that it is important to set ambitious goals. When you take aim at something, you rarely fall far from your mark. For example, I recently sent out a newsletter to more than 2,500 people, 750 of whom opened it. I set a goal to raise $200 with this newsletter by encouraging readers to purchase bednets. The result: 15.5 bednets. Here is a case in point: sometimes we don’t always reach our goals but if we’ve defined them and taken steps to achieve them, we’ll be closer to accomplishing them in the end!

I want to thank Elizabeth, Nicholas, Corinne and Agnès for helping save lives and getting us closer to achieving the UN Millenium Development Goal to have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.

More to come about my stay in Paris in the next post...

Culture and Values

Before this tour gets underway, I would like to share my views on culture and values. I like to define culture as a set of shared values within a given community. When we travel, we discover new cultures, and their values either correspond with or conflict with our own, leading us to call into question our own set of values. Our values change thanks to these cross-cultural exchanges, helping us to better understand others and what they appreciate in life.

This round the world trip embodies several values. These values, among others, are also shared by more than 200,000 JCI members around the world:

1. Human life is world’s most precious resource
2. Individual freedom and free enterprise are the best means of ensuring economic justice
3. The brotherhood of man transcends the sovereignty of nations

Values don’t mean much unless they are transformed into acts. This year’s working theme for JCI is “the impact of ONE”. Each and everyone of us can create an impact in our communities to foster positive change. Working together, we can make an even greater impact around the world. I hope that this trip, the encounters, the exchanges, and the lives saved will help you appreciate these same values and encourage you to take action.

Once you know your values, and before you start taking action, its time to set some goals. Stay tuned for more on goal-setting...