I found!

Yes! I found a flat!

Great folks, great location, great room.

I feel out of the dark tunnel of house hunting. (And boy it was getting dark in there)

I want to jump around.

Here are a couple of pics of the flat:

Rant on rent

(Warning, rant ahead)

SERIOUSLY, I can not take this anymore! I am looking for a flat for WEEKS now and nothing works out. I have spend so much time looking at this, and worrying about this, it is really getting unbearable. I am constantly scrutinizing all the website with offers, reading the paper with ads, asking all people, it just does not work.

All that are find are small room on big loud streets. The occasional larger room is usually in a flat shared by folks that are either not interested at all to live with anyone but can not afford it, or people that smoke. (Who is the world smokes *inside* anymore?? yuk)

I guess I have high standards, but where I live matters greatly to me. I am in a foreign country I barely babble this language. I work hard and put a lot of energy into it. At least I want a comfortable safe haven to come home too! I am done living with sloppy students buying the cheapest toilet paper and eating only ramen noodle. I am done living in half-broken house that are cold and dark.I have got some basic criteria that I need: no carpet (allergies), no smokers (I despise that habit), no small room, no big loud streets, not a guy-only place. I do not need luxury, or fancy, just plain comfortable and pleasant to be in.


The harder part is the search process. I can finally decrypt all the ads from their abbreviated German. Example:

Moebl. 3er-WG-Zimmer (Stuehl.) zur ZW-Miete fuer ein Jahr (bis Aug. 2008), gr.
Bad u. Kueche; Tel.0761/3690149 o. 0172-3862421

Not easy. And then there are the phonecalls. I have to muster the energy to pick up the phone and call the people. Most of the time, they are not there. When they answer, they are usually just asking you: 'When do you want to see it?' And the male kind are the most difficult to handle. There is something so 'ungentle' about German guys. They have this authoritative voice as if they were always defending their turf. They speak to a stranger in the coldest most impersonal terms. Gee! What about a little 'Thanks for calling' or some enthusiasm in the voice? Instead I have been yeld at, lectured about timing, ignored in my requests for a slower pace of speaking, and so on.

The experience is just getting more difficult. I dread the phonecalls now. Especially I have started to speak to people in German, that might have been a mistake. I get the general point, but stay in the dark for a lot of it. If I do not speak in German I just phone and say, 'Hi, I am Jean-Olivier from Canada. I do not speak German well, perhaps you speak a little English?', that put a lot of them off. And if one of them in the flat speaks English other don't, or don't want to. So much for the idea that young Germans love to speak English, rubbish.

And now the problem, I am leaving on Friday for two weeks, so I MUST find. But the later we get in the month, the uglier the apartment gets. It feels like Halloween where the good candies are gone early and the average fructose sucker is all that's left for the latecomers.

Unlike a car or a pair shoes, one can not shop for a long time. There is a deadline: I am homeless in 14 days. Then I have to make a choice on a few 'not horrible' places and get stuck there for a long time.

Stupid Germany. This recent experience really adds to the tally of "I should leave" column. Things should not have to be this hard. I had tear of desperation this morning, I do not like that.

J.o.

A video from the top

Howdy there.

Here you can watch a video from my visit to the highest point of Rio where the Cristo Redentor (Le Christ Redempteur) is overlooking Rio. I just love this statue, its serenity and its peacefulness.

Brazil, un pais de todo

Greetings from Sao Paolo.

I am currently sitting in the ICLEI project office in Sao Paolo. They are well located just inside the central park of the city with lots of windows and greenery. There are a total of 9 people working here, thanks to many new projects that have started since April. In particular they are working with the city of Sao Paulo to write up the draft legislation on the climate protection. The staff is friendly and speaks good English. I made sure to take pictures to show you later.

Yesterday there was a 1 day event about sustainable construction with more the 600 participants. The mayor of Sao Paulo was present for some time, quite an achievement for ICLEI. The event was powerful in bringing together the main policy makers of the city. I am constantly amazed that the mayor is in charge of a city with 17 million people! In the afternoon Mr. Buschmann presented and I was on the stage as a debater. It was great to speak about ICLEI and its multiple projects.

The Betim event was a succesful one as well. I had a chance to meet the policital leadership of Betim, which reminds me of the commitment I have seen from Mayor Salomon in Freiburg. Politicians that are personally engaged in an issue can really make a difference. While us `project people` can `do`, the elected folks can `move things´. The Mayor and some secretary are considering to send a delegation to Freiburg, althought nothing is fixed yet. After the event, I got the opportunity to spend a night in the mayor´s home, since his son was so generous to show me around the region and the nightlife in Belo Horizonte.

I am currently staying with my colleague Gabriela and going to Rio on Thursday. There I will stay with one of the participant in the Betim event, an eco-architect.

I will fly back on the 8th.

Best regards