THE RAVEN

URBAN ROULETTE
The raven

Ayutayya, Thailand: We left the Ayutayya ruins to arrive at a garage where a thai food buffet was waiting for us. The food in Southeast Asia is delicious; a mixture of crunchy vegetables with hot and sour flavours turns them in to a whole culinary experience.
The dishes are a majestic mix of a variety of live colurs that contrast with the withe rice. This afternoon the pleasure of food has being mixed with the great company of a new caged friend.
With the company of a Spanish guy I ventured to the backyard, where we found a huge amount of cages that were the home to the most funny and unique birds. As I was walking looking at these funny birds I began to feel like I was in a kind of genetic lab experimentation. In one of the cages I could see what it looked like a parrot with an eagle face (Lineated Barbet). It was desperately flying from one side to another, nervous at see us. In great contrast a huge bird with beautiful colours in the next cage stared at us with his magnificent crest and what seemed to be a banana over its mouth and head (Great Hornbill). We kept walking, finding all kind of strange and amazing birds. Suddenly we heard someone calling us: “Come on, come on”, “oh my gosh!” my fiend and I looked at each other and followed the distressed voice calling us.
We walked through a narrow corridor between white walls. We could see that rain was coming and the sun had been covered by the clouds, giving the place a dark and lurid sight.
Finally we could hear the voice coming out of a cage. A huge dark crow was talking to us, instantly I remembered that Edgar’s Allan Poe, poem, “…Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow…” who would believe that it was possible there could be a raven that could talk, and with such a scary human voice! I could even tell the raven had a British accent!
I have always had a special respect for these birds, as well as black cats, the ones are threatened by the many myths that exist about them. This travel has woken up my interest in crows.
Crows are more intelligent than what we imagine. Oren Hasson, a Israeli zoologist, once sat on a park bench and observed that the crows would go in to the lake with a piece of bread and little by little drop pieces into the water until a fish came up to eat it. The crows would use this method to successfully catch fish. These birds sacrificed their food and time for better prey. A crow can live between 10 to 15 years but there are records of crows that have lived up to 40 years.
Crows have the capacity to solve problems with creativity, imagination and intelligence, really impressive for birds, they have even been considered as intelligent as apes.
Crows know how to use other animals to achieve their goals. Crows can call wolves to an animal’s carcass so they can open it, and make it easier for the bird to eat it later. If it is about food, these birds always find a way. In the USA crows drop nuts over the streets so cars can break the shells. As soon as the lights are red and people crossing the streets, the crows come down to pick up their food.
Not long ago I heard of a scientific study that found bees can recognize human faces. This kind of information makes me wonder how much we have underestimated animals. I believe it’s something similar to what happened in Mexico and Africa when the conquerors came to our lands. At the beginning they said that we were not humans; as if they recognized we had a soul they had to deal with our rights and dignity. I wonder for how much longer we will believe that animals do not think or feel as much as we do.

RAINBOW DIVERSITY

URBAN ROULETTE
Rainbow diversity

After the third time of being threatened with a gun to his head, Julian Carvajal decided that it was time to leave Colombia.
Carvajal has beeen living in Canda as a refugee for the last two years. With his nice latin-american accent and friendly face, he says he can remeber, at the age of 3, hiding in a closet kissing with a boy friend.
Carvajal has known he is gay all his life, and from a young age Carvajal has been involved in social organisation, but
it was not until he went to college that he got involved with PROCREAR, a Colombian organization that helps homeless
transvestites who have problems with mind altering drugs, and sometimes with HIV too. Carvajal is not a transvestite but he said that he got involved in their defence because they are still more vulnerable that regular gay people.
During his work with PROCREA he met a transvestite that turned out to be his boss,
and became a close friend. Carvajal said, “Samantha Palacios is a dark-skinned,
extremely tall woman with enormous breasts.” Palacios and Carvajal worked together to create a more tolerant sociaty, working closely with goverment agencies to change the mentality of the Police, and make them aware of human rights. “We needed to make people understand that these people were also Colombian.” Carvajal explains that is very dificult for a transvestite to get a job, and many of them end up in prostitution, saying “Transvestites believe that is way more honest to make their way in life by standing by a sign to sell their bodies than work for the goverment,
stealing citizens’ money.” After a while, Carvajal got more involved and also helped linked organizations that work with men who want to have a sex change operation. The surgery requires a lot of psychological treatment from before and after. Suddenly people started reacting Rainbow diversity a diversité aux couleurs de l’arc-en-ciel
La diversidad de los colores del arco iris well towrds his work. He organaized speeches at the university so transexuals and transvestites could talk about their experiences. His goal to promote tolerance was succeeding.
The organization was becoming stronger, but the challenges it faced were also
growing. An organization named ‘Social Cleaning’arrest him and Palacios, and the situation became really bad. Carvajal had to change address three times before leaving
Colombia, him Palacios having to run away to Argentina to be safe.Nic Henderson, the
Scottish director of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) network in the UK
said “People are being murder every day because the United Nations hasn’t been brave enough to defend the rights of all humans.” Henderson also said that there are about 27 countries, such as Egypt, Iran and Siera Leone, where it is illegal to be homosexual, and where people are killed because of their sexual preferences. Jose Luna works at Incide Joven in Guatemala . He said “Talk about sexual diversity is to talk about human rights. It’s not about morality. Goverments have the responsability to protect all their citizens, but even when some countries have legislation that supports homosexuals there is still a lot of prejudice against gays.” Julian Carvajal wants to go back some day to his country, and his dream of building a tolerant society and giving space and respect to all human-beings is still part of his future plans.

Laura Müller Rodriguez

Dreams

If only men were paper dolls we could dress in the personalities and jobs we like.
Jaime Mathis.

HOT... OR WHORE?

The Speedy Gonzales adventures in Kiwiland.

After an amazing yoga class I decided to walk home and enjoy all the beautiful blossoms. While walking I was thinking how good and hot, yoga makes me feel.
On Memorial Avenue, I saw this very handsome man in front of me; short hair, wide chest, tall, absolutely yummy, we looked at each other when we passed by, a few meters ahead I decided to turn my face back and check him out and hoo surprise he did the same at the same time, gosh I blushed!
I just smiled and kept walking (looking as red as a shrimp on the pan).
A few blocks later another guy stopped his car next to me and asked me for directions to get to Jelly Park.
I gave him the directions and he asked me if I was singe, I said "yes, I am" and kept walking, a few minutes later the car came back, parked next to me, the guy opened the window and asked me if I wanted to sit (that’s what I understood) I asked him, "what do you mean?" (Not been sure if he was asking me if I wanted a lift). He repeated a "sit" I made an interrogation face and he made a cicule with one of his hands and putted inside of the circle the index finger from his other hand (fuck).
"Ho my gosh" I thought, this guy is asking me for sex! I smiled and said “no way” and kept walking.
On my way home I seriously thought if yoga makes me feel hot or.... whore!

Lessons to be learn in New Zealand.
1. People ask you for sex on the streets.
2. People don't hug others unless they are drunk.

THE SMALL ANT

URBAN ROULETTE
The little ant

Quebec, Canada: This morning I saw hair blonder than mine flying in front of me.
I have not seen Jennifer many times, but every time I see her she reminds me a little ant. Those kind of small ants that run over the walls coming and going, carrying food to their nest, and now that I think about it, that's exactly what Jennifer does, she transmits enthusiasm and produces changes in ant strategy.


Jennifer is my age, frightening 28, the difference between us is that she is one of the 100 most influential women in Canada and I am not even in the Mexican white pages.

But lets travel back in time to the year 1999, when the radio would not stop playing Ricky Martin's song Living la vida loca, and jeans used to cover your butt crack when you sat down. That year, Jennifer and Michael rolled-skated over Ottawa, they were very exited after attending a youth conference, and chatted about all the good opportunities they have had during their life and the importance of getting other young people involve in organizations that can have an impact in today's world.

Their roller conversation went from words to actions and in 2000, their project had a name and website. With a group of volunteers they created takingitglobal.org.

Takingitglobal.org is a web based community where 200,000 young activists from 261 countries share ideas and projects. Young people that work in philanthropic projects, education, sustainability, volunteering, animal and human rights, you name it: taking it global has it.

This web page is the entrance door to a world full of opportunities, available in 12 different languages, were youth can find scholarship, international conferences, guides to create their own organization and many other opportunities such as sponsors for their projects and networking with other youths involved in similar projects around the world.


If you are interested in creating your own organization in the place where you live, taking it global is the place to begin. The newest advantage is Tiged.org: a website for educators, where teachers can find interesting material for their classes and information to begging projects with their students.

Takingitglobal.org has taken Jennifer to international stages. She has worked with important companies such as, Microsoft, Xerox, Credit Union, Nike and HP as well as having the opportunity to collaborate with six United Nations agencies. In 2005 Jennifer was selected by the World Economic Forum as World Young leader.


"I think that with each moment we live, and each decision we make, we have an impact on our own lives, and the lives of those around us. Most of the time, we are unconscious of the impact that we have. I think that the first way for 'others to make an impact' is to become more conscious and aware of the decisions we make and the choices we have. Once this happens, we are able to critically examine our own lives, and imagine new possibilities for ourselves and the world.

"There are an infinite number of ways to affect change and have an impact - the question we should ask ourselves should centre around what contribution we want to make, what kind of experiences we want to have, and what kind of world we want to live in." Jennifer Corriero

Jennifer has achieved through takingitglobal.org the networking of a huge amount of little ants. Ants that carry different flags and speak different languages, but now support each other in the search for peace, equality and order in this enormous ant's net that we call planet earth.

THE WEAPON

RULETA URBANA
The weapon


Quebec, Canada : This was definitely one of my favorite interviews, first beacuse the guy I was interviwing was smoking hot and second because he was very talented and interesting.
The sleeveless t-shirt he was wearing revealed his strong dark-skinned arms, and his cap shaded his eyes, but I could still see through his long eyelashes that framed the most captivaiting gaze. His brown eyes were enigmatic, challenging and had a touch of hypnotic tenderness. When I see my photos and videos of him, I don't see the same guy that I met, which drives me to the conclusion that what makes him so irresistible is his outstanding personality, the one he has been forging in a fight for life and happiness.
Imran is the result of his Pakistani father's desire to stay longer in the United Kingdom after his visa expired. Through his father's search for the nationality, he met a beautiful Welsh girl with with milky-white skin that contrasted with his own. Imran got his eyes from his father, which explains how he made her fall in love so quickly. The marriage did not last long, but long enough to create two small boys.
The two boys learned to cope with the consequences of divorce and from a very early age Imran and his brother found themselves going from one house to another, changing schools all the time and suffering racial discrimination for their different skin colour.
Imran's older brother always took care of him as well as he could, as a consequence of his mother's absence, and bad treat by their grandmother who do not accept having half Pakistani grandchildren.
One of the things for which Imran thanks his brother the most is for having taught him how to hit others in self defence and knock out teeth. That knowledge and attitude is what kept him alive during his life in the poor neighbohoods of Wales, where people count the days they survive drugs, alcohol and gangs.
Imran's refuge was always the music, where he found a distraction, and was through music his brain developed in a healthy enviroment, away from the insults of his grandmother.
It was music that brought Imran and his brother together.
When they were children, they put together some drums made of boxes, pans and sticks.
While one of them would look through the window to check that their grandmother was not coming home, the other would practice on their makeshift drums. They knew that she was always looking for any excuse to be mean to them.
The two brothers’ interest in music grew and they soon found themselves playing real drums in one of their neighbours’ garages. Suddenly they had a group of four playing rock covers. They were good, and local clubs began to ask them to play.
Imran was only 13 at that stage, and he was living a rock star life with his brother and friend who were over 20. The group did not last too long; two of the members died due to drug abuse. After that Imran’s brother stoped playing and Imran - being a teenager - decided that kind of life is not what he wanted.
Imran believed in happiness and knew he deserved it, so he decided to fight for it with the best weapon he had, creativity. During his life music had always transported him to other places in his mind and this time his music took him to a real different place in this world. Imran has since been on international stages as a hip-hop mc and beatboxer. His songs’ lyrics have a message of peace, and their beats are irresistible.
Now Imran works with kids at poor schools and in youth prisons teaching them music. He has great dreams; such as creating new kinds of music and dance. Imran won his own battle with creativity and talent and now he shares his experience with other people who are in the same situation he survived.
This Welshman of dark skin and magnetic personality has two special places in my heart, one for being so handsome and another for been so talented.

MONTEZUMA'S REVENGE

Moctezuma's Revenge
Urban Roulette

It was a beautiful day, the bright green of the Laval University gardens in Quebec, Canada reflected the light of the sun that gave us the perfect weather. Tom and I walked towards the supermarket to get something to eat and stop the crawling for food of our guts. We spent the whole morning working for the newspaper so it was time for a break. I left the supermarket with some Pringles chips while Tom got a six of Corona beer, Tom is a good looking journalist from the UK, he has sweet looking, (and green eyes very similar to the Shrek's cat) that make his personality still more interesting. He is tall and his body reflects the many hours that he spends playing professional Frisbee (yes, even for me this professional Frisbee game is pretty new). In our way back from the shop we saw the shadow of a huge tree in front of us where we sat to eat. Tom opened the beers and I opened the barbecue chips. While Tom was opening the beer he looked at me and said " I forgot to buy lemons", I smiled and answered; "Corona is not one of my favourite drinks but you can still drink it without lemon". He said: "but how are we going to disinfect the beer?," –"what are you talking about?" -"the lemon is to disinfect the rat's pee that the corona has, that is why it tastes good?" –"who told you that Tom?, how in heaven do you believe that an imported beer for which you have paid over 12 dollars is going to have rat's pee? –"Then, why does everybody use lemon?" –"gosh, lemon, salt and even tomato juice because it makes it taste yummy" –"so then we don't have to disinfect it?" –"Your are a real gringo Tom, I bet you tonight's dinner that your are not going to get diarrhoea for drinking a Corona without lemon." –"what's a gringo?". –" We call the Americans gringos in Mexico, actually all Latin-American countries call them that. It is said that during the war between Mexico and USA the Americans wore green uniforms and the Mexicans yelled them "green go home." But I have also heard that word in Brazil and they use it for any person that goes there from another country, so God knows what's the real story Mr. Tom".
During my trips I have discovered that there are unhealthy things that do not change from one country to another: McDonald's, Corona beer, politicians and flies.
Along with them, the already famous legend of Montezuma’s revenge. This is not the first time I have had this kind of conversation with people from another country, they believe Mexicans use the "fruit" in the beer as a disinfectant
I told Tom that the Americans visit Mexico carrying suitcases full of water bottles because they believe the antique Aztec emperor Montezuma takes revenge upon the tourists and they can get diarrhoea if they drink Mexican water. The gringos take over the Mexican beaches at spring break and drink Margaritas by the litre, beer by the yard and tequila as if there was no tomorrow. They also eat the hottest salsas, tacos and fajitas and compete to see who can keep the hottest chilli in their mouth for longest, and then, they say they get diarrhea because of the water? These gringos are really locos!
I think that if I show this British guy a Mezcal with worm inside he will run away from me! Who could send me a little Toloache, before Montezuma calls him?

*Mezcal is a liquor that comes with a cactus worm inside the bottle to give the liquor a salty taste.
*Toloache is a medical plant used by mexican wizards to keep a person by your side.
--


Laura and Tom at Montreal