EVERYWHERE (at the same time) - 1 - Accra/ Dubai/ Caracas/ Gjakova/ Moscow/ Zanzibar

Now, I’m in Accra, the capital of Ghana, and at the same time, I’m in Dubai, I’m in Caracas, I’m in Gjakova, I’m in Moscow, and I’m in Zanzibar, at the Shangani public beach. But, let's get back to Accra, here I’m at the Kantamanto Market, or, as locals call it, the “dededi-witman-márkét”, something like that, say, one of the biggest second-hand clothes market in Africa and in the world, and thus, right now, here I go through a series of stalls with piles of colorful clothes, some hanged around in giant hangers, producing strange shadows over the passers by, some spread on the floor, all around, others compressed in quadratic bales stacked here and there, more like the pieces that have just dropped from the ramparts of some kind of fancy castle, and then, there is this roar of the sewing machines, all around, and, well, as I hear this rumble, somehow, I’m already in Dubai, this is, now landing right on the side of the Burj Khalifa tower building, one of the bigger towers in the world, they say, and, at the same time, I’m in Caracas, more precisely, at Redoma neighborhood, I mean, I'm just here in a queue, waiting to get inside a supermarket, and well, as we wait, they say that there are shortages of milk, eggs, coffee, rice, flour, butter, toilet paper, etc, so, we have to wait here. And then, I’m in Gjakova, a city situated in the Balkan area, inside the Albania-Serbia-Makedonia triangle, thus, here I go, actually wandering through one of the main settlements of the so-called Balkan Egyptians, this is, the Ashkali. And then I’m in Moscow again, just in front of the famous Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed, that kind of palace-like building with arabesque roofs, actually a cathedral built by the orders of the infamous Ivan the Terrible, I get to know. And then, I’m in Zanzibar, on the beach, this is, I’m here with some guy from Ethiopia, Assefa, and we are actually speaking about the languages of his country, and so, “mainly, we speak the Amharic and the Oromo that are Semitic and Cushitic branches… respectively” he says, “but we also speak Somali, Tigrinya, Sidama, Wolaytta, Afar, etc!” And as he says this things, the term “Semitic” kinda rings some sort of bell in my head, but, I’m actually a bit confused about its meanings, therefore, I ask him about it and instantly, “the Semitic languages”, he says, “are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family spoken in the Horn of Africa, Malta and in small pockets in the Caucasus… and actually, historically, the term “Semitic” comes from Shem, or Sem, that was one of the three sons of Noa, along with Cain and Jafé, for sure you have heard about that…”; “I think so!”; I say, and then he continues, “it’s from the Book of Genesis… this is, Noa was already five years old when Sem was born… and, apart from that, some of his other descendants were Elam, Ashur, Aram, Lud and Arphaxad… and Abraham, the patriarch of the Jews, Christians and Muslims, they say, that he was one of the descendants of Arphaxad… but in other versions of the same book, it is also written that he was the father of all the children of Eber or Ābir, thus, an ancestor of the Ishmaelites… and then, Ishmael had one daughter and twelve sons, the twelve princes mentioned in the Genesis… and so, in the Islamic tradition, these gave rise to the Twelve Tribes of Ishmael…'' and, as he says this things, now, I distract myself, staring at the sea, thinking about what can be there on the other side. And thus, moving back to Accra, the capital of Ghana, still at the Kantamanto Market, getting intoxicated by the noise of the sewing machines, and then, Dubai again, still by the Burj Khalifa building, this is, as it goes, I get to know that this enormous tower was built by the Samsung Engineering from South Korea, a company that also participated in the projects of the Petronas Towers, in Malaysia, and Taipei 101, in Taiwan. And then I’m in Redoma Petare, Caracas again, Petare which is considered one of the biggest slums in South America. And so, here I am now speaking with some guy that supposedly participated in some sort of gangster movie apparently shooted in this neighborhood, and then, as the conversation goes on, he even wanna show me where exactly the movie was shot… and so, in a while, here we go along some narrow alleys with a series of slanted buildings on both sides, and, as we advance, I’m back to Gjakova, still wandering through one of the main settlements of the so-called Balkan Egyptians, this is, the Ashkali. And then, I’m in Moscow again, now going across the north bank of the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, a bridge over the Moskva River, immediately east of the Kremlin. And then, I’m in Zanzibar again, inside some kind of bar-chalet now, this is, some kind of fancy cottage with an inner garden, a fancy fountain in the middle of it, some fancy bars on every corner, and some fancy characters wandering around, between the bar areas and the fountain in the middle, this is, just now I see this pale guy splashing himself on the shallow waters of this so-said fountain, and then, as we look at him, he is already making silly signals on our direction… but we ignore it, and then, my mate Assefa, the one I met on the beach, he just comes on my side and introduces me to a stylish black girl with stones on her hair, “this is Naída” he says, “she works here!” And then, I also get to know Freja and Aria. This is, Freja, a very thin white girl from Denmark, so thin that the bones of her legs look like coming out of her skin, and Aria, a much more tanned one, from the United Arab Emirates, I get to know, and as it goes, when they ask me from where am I from, I actually say “America”. And as I say this, some Russian guys approach the girls and I’m set aside. And then, further, closer to the bushes, there is also this middle-age couple lying under the shadow of some kind of wattle tree, and, as I approach them, I’m already apprehending their names, this is, they are Nora and Jakob, both from Norway. And then, as we get into some kind of conversation, they say that they are actually traveling in East Africa, and they also say that they pretend to visit the Serengeti savanna and the “Victoria lake, one of the largest lakes in the world”. And then, as it goes, they even show me their touristic books about Africa, with the safari places, and, here, I look straight to them, actually nodding (negatively) my head. And thus, now, moving back to West Africa, more precisely, to this city by the Bight of Biafra, this is, Accra, and so, here I am, again, at the Kantamanto Market, still getting intoxicated by the noise of the sewing machines. And then, I’m actually back in Dubai, now at the Palm Jumeirah, an archipelago of artificial islands on the Persian Gulf, this is, I’m here with a couple of Indian guys, bricklayers, we are actually inside some kind of casino, drinking sparkling currant now. And then, coming back to Caracas, Petare again, the biggest slum in South America, they say. And so, here we go, this is, by we I mean, me and that guy that apparently have participated in some sort of gangster movie shoot in this neighborhood, and as it goes, by now we are actually following along Av. Principal Las Vegas de Petare, and, as we go by, we pass some barbershops that also serve as storage place for big fruits, we pass a mending clothes store that also sells antennas, we pass a butcher that also sells alarm guns, and we pass some garages with men burning papers inside, and we pass some sweet stores that also distribute strange medication. And in the meanwhile, I’m back in the industrial area of Gjakova, this is, an area with a settlement of the so called Balkan-Egyptians, therefore, here I am, playing some kind of board game with the Ashkali kids, I mean, we are actually moving stones, pieces of jewelry and old bullets over a men seized chess board. And then I'm in Moscow again, now going through the Balchug Island, also known as Bolotny Ostrov, which means, the Bog Island, actually an artificial island situated between the Moskva River and the Vodootvodny Canal. And then, I’m back in Zanzibar, now going through the city center, passing along bazaar streets, advancing towards the famous Freddie Mercury house. And then I’m in Accra again, still at the Kantamanto Market, now undressing my old clothes, and in exchange for the clothes I’m actually undressing, they wanna give me a full bale of rags, which I accept. And, as it goes, I’m back in Dubai, still at the Palm Jumeirah artificial archipelago, or more precisely, at the “Hadiqat Akwafintishar Waterpark”, and, while slipping through serpentine tunnels, it happens that I get in touch the daughter of an oil baron, this is, we have some fun together, and as it goes, she even wants to take me home and present me to her father. And then I’m in Petare, Caracas again, now passing by some kids driving rolling carts down the hills, and while driving the carts the kids are actually holding strings, actually pulling kites flying over them, and, as they go downhill, they are saying nonsense things like “Maduro-Prejuro Maduro-Prejuro, no tengo ni un duro”. And in a while, I’m back in this industrial area of Gjakova, this is, by now the Ashkali kids are actually taking me to visit the local Isis temple, and in the meanwhile, as we get there, I come to see, a fancy sort of Isis actually wearing a chic night dress filled with straw, and fancy sort of Osiris in front of her, this one wearing some kind of fancy bizness suit, it, and, there are also some kind of fancy bizness suit, it, and, there are also some kind of door in between them, or better, a frame made of wooden slats with some colorful rags hanging on it, and so, as it goes, they try to convince me to pass through that door. And then, I’m in Moscow again, now going across the south bank of the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, more precisely, over the Vodootvodny Canal. And at the same time, I’m in Zanzibar, now at the entrance of the Freddy Mercury house, which is closed, but some ladies are actually here, selling iced teas, presently saying “we have purple rain, sunset, and sunrise, which one you want?”; “a mix of the three” I say. And then, moving back to the opposite coast of Africa, this is, Accra again, still at the Kantamanto Market, and so, I keep doing business with my old clothes... And then, back in Dubai, now at the house of the oil baron, the father of the girl I met at the aqua-park, this is, by now, me and the big man are here on the porch speaking about Charles Dickson, Walt Whitman and Arthur Rimbaud, and then, after sharing some drinks, the man quickly gets drunk and falls down over the table, sleeping, sleeps over the table, and so, at this point Abia comes by and takes me to her room, and, as she turn on the lights, what I see is, an almost empty room, this is, it looks like she dragged all the furniture and objects to a corner, assembling all that stuff to make some kind of sculpture, this is, the sculpture is a pile of things and wreckage that extends almost until the ceiling, ceiling with blinking stars and some kind of shiny arab lettering with monster faces attached, not only monsters but also pop starts, this is, I recognize Jonathan Davis, from the american nu-metal band Korn, Justin Biber, Kanye West, Liana Li Hava, Snarky Puppy, and in the meanwhile, there she goes, cuddling up, already entering inside that that tower of wreckage on a corner, and as she enters, she even makes some signal, as if, demanding my approach. And as it goes I’m in Petare, Caracas again, and so, after having been following along Av. principal de Las Vegas de Petare, I get in Palo Verde metro station, that is the last station of Line one. And instantly, I’m back to Gjakova, still here with the Ashkali kids, this is, we are visiting the pyramids now. And at the same time, I’m going along the Bolshaya Ordynka in central Moscow, and then, it’s night, and here I am in Zanzibar again, this is, we are actually getting inside some kind of small boat that will take us to the Seychelles islands, or something like that, the boys say.