Meet Mr. Fu Hao

That of ‘the world is small’ and of the ‘chance encounters’ around the world is a recurrent theme in our Blog (ref. to Emanuele, Henrik, Juan Carlos, Martin, Bruno and Alejandro just to name a few recent ones).

But what happened to me a few weeks ago in the middle of the Yunnan province in China is somehow… surreal, because I met a person that… I didn’t know!

Let me explain. I happen to be on a field visit in Yunnan, in the Xinping county, a few hour drive from the capital Kunming, when I exchanged my business card with a local officer of the Bureau of Agriculture, Mr. Fu Hao, who, when he read my card, said:

- Oh, Matt-eo, -E-O… I met a Matt-ia, -I-A, in 1994…

Now, there are many Mattias in Italy, and 1994 is 21 years ago (I don’t even remember who I met 21 years ago) - so the chances that I knew this person were practically zero. But, incredibly, when Mr. Fu started describing a bit this Mattia we discovered that the Mattia he met 21 years ago is the same Mattia I know!

Well, I may be trivial, it may be a cliché, but it is true: the world is small! 

Buffet at the Kunming Hotel

Mathilde says that, food-wise, I am spoiled.

And she is right: after one week on mission I am craving for a plate of pasta, a mozzarella, some Parma ham. As soon as I land in Fiumicino, the first thing I do is to have a cappuccino and a cornetto. My favourite restaurants in Addis, Washington DC, and Delhi, where I spent overall ten years of my life, were the Blue Top, Two Amys, and Amici - all Italian restaurants.

Fussy? Difficult to please? Spoiled?

Well, do eat for a week at the buffet of the Kunming Hotel in Yunnan, China, and then let me know…

(Ps: for the records, on the buffet you can find bamboo worms, cicadas, wasps, silkworm pupas, grasshoppers, dragon flyers, and holotrichia. Help yourselves, as much as you like!) 

While Matteo is running around Asia...

While Matteo is running around Asia like a spinning top (after Ulan Bator and Manila, I am heading to Nanchang for a few days, then Shanghai, and finally Beijing, before returning to Rome), the news coming from Rome are not very rosy: both Leo and Tommy are sick and under inhalation therapy. And apparently, Mathilde doesn’t feel very well as well.

Luckily we have Dr. Tommy in charge…

In Manila

And after Ulan Bator, 8 hour flight and 61 degree Celsius later, Manila!

Mongolian & Europian

Fa anche rima! (it rhymes as well!)

Genghiskhanlandia

Genghis Khan (Chinggis Khaan in Mongol) was the founder of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in history.

Renowned for being a great military leader and an extraordinary strategist, Genghis Khan is also credited for having unified the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia, for establishing the first written Mongolian law, for practicing meritocracy, for fighting corruption and bribery, for encouraging religious tolerance, and - thanks to the cohesive political environment under his empire - for having increased the communication and favoured the cultural exchanges between the Buddhist and Taoist Northern Asia, the Muslim Southwest Asia and the Christian Europe.

No surprise then that here in Mongolia Genghis Khan is more than a hero, more than simply the founding father of Mongolia. In Mongolia, Genghis Khan is here, there, and everywhere: 

Genghis Khan is the gigantic statue at the entrance of the Parliament, Genghis Khan is the name of the main square in Ulan Bator, Genghis Khan is the name of the Ulan Bator international airport, Gengis Khan’s birthday is the Mongolia national day, Genghis Khan is the icon on all Mongolian tögrög notes, Genghis Khan is the name of the national vodka and of the national beer…

Welcome to the land of Genghis Khan, welcome to Gengiskhanlandia!

Mongolia from above

Vast, endless, pristine, essential… Mongolia has been for long long time one of my top three dream destinations (the other two are Patagonia and the Sahara Desert).

Well, this time it's Ulan Bator only. But in June…

Ulaan Baatar!!!

Not sure I mentioned it yet, but since October last year, in addition to the China portfolio, I am now responsible of the Mongolia portfolio as well.

And this is my first official trip to Mongolia.

Below is the conversation I had this afternoon during my first meeting at the Ministry of Finance:

- So, Mr. Matthew, is this your first visit to Mongolia? 

- Yes
- And how did you find Mongolia?
- Well, I have just arrived this morning, I haven’t had yet time to see much. But when, before leaving Rome, I saw that the temperature was -29^oC…
- Oh yes, it has been two weeks that spring has started…
- !!!
- If you come in two weeks, it will be -10^oC…
- !!!
- If you had come one month ago, it was -45^oC…
- !!!
- Yes, this has been an unusually warm winter. It must be the effect of global warming…

Les M&M’s 2015

Apologizes for the delay: a very happy new year from Les M&M’s!

A quick reportage of our Christmas trip to Sicily, before going back to our backlog of yet untold stories…

Con l'assicurazione - da parte di due nostri amici siciliani - che “in Sicilia a dicembre fa caldo”, “si va al mare”, “i tedeschi fanno persino il bagno”, “il vero mese freddo è gennaio”, Les M&M’s decidono di non andare a Zanzibar, vecchio sogno di Matteo, ma in Sicilia - che tanto fa caldo uguale.

Non solo: convincono gli amici francesi - Christophe, Clemance e bimbi - a lasciare la fredda Normandia per raggiungerli, promettendo caldo e bel tempo.

A dire il vero le previsioni del tempo qualche giorno prima della partenza qualche dubbio lo insinuano: pioggia tutta le settimana e temperature che non superano i 10 gradi - ma tanto, quando mai le previsioni del tempo c’hanno azzeccato?

Morale, lasciamo i maglioni di lana e i piumini a casa (che occupano tanto spazio in valigia) e portiamo infradito e costumi da bagno. Il bagno forse non lo faremo, non siamo tedeschi, ma una bella passeggiata sulla spiaggia in bermuda con foto annessa farà morire d’invidia i nostri amici…

(Comunque, per non saper né leggere né scrivere, io il maglioncino di cotone lo metto in valigia).

E ora il resoconto.

Atterriamo al Catania International Airport e veniamo accolti da una pioggia fitta fitta e da un grigiore milanese che ci fanno dubitare di essere arrivati al posto giusto.

Ma dove siamo arrivati veramente? Scozia? Irlanda? Kamchatka???

Provo ad allungare l’orecchio per cercare di capire la lingua, ma nonostante i miei trascorsi in giro per il mondo, onestamente si tratta di un ceppo linguistico a me sconosciuto.

Alla fine un po’ in inglese, un po’ a gesti, riusciamo a comunicare con gli autoctoni e - a sorpresa - ci viene detto che sì, siamo atterrati nel posto giusto, a Catania. Vabbhe’, un pomeriggio di pioggia capiterà anche in Sicilia, in fondo siamo nell’era del climate change.

Lascio moglie e bimbi in aeroporto, e vado a recuperare l’auto a noleggio. Devo farmi ripetere tutto due volte dall’addetto perché non capisco quello che mi dice. Alla fine, un po’ per fatica e un po’ per vergogna, dico ‘si si’ a tutto quello che mi viene detto e faccio finta di aver capito tutto.

Recupero tutti e via, sulla Catania-Siracusa.

Dopo un’oretta di viaggio eccoci a Siracusa, o meglio Cassibile, o meglio ancora Fontane Bianche - ridente località di villeggiatura del siracusano: villette, giardino - non c’è un’anima in giro. Si sente qualche cane abbaiare da lontano.

I nostri amici Clemance e Christophe ci accolgono un po’ interdetti - lo sguardo è interrogativo: “e il sole?” sembrano voler dire. Cerchiamo di rassicurarli: “tranquilli, vedrete domani”. Ma qualche dubbio cominciamo ad averlo anche noi...

Ma il problema non è solo il freddo e la pioggia fuori. Il vero problema è il freddo dentro. Ossia dentro casa. La proprietaria ci aveva accolti, probabilmente un po’ stupita di aver clienti a dicembre, dicendo: “dovreste venire in estate, questa calda è freschissima, si sta benissimo”.

Si, fresca in estate, gelida in inverno!

La tecnologia del calorifero sembra non essere ancora arrivata da queste parti. In realtà, probabilmente intimoriti dal fatto di avere ‘ospiti dal nord’, i proprietari avevano anche acquistato due termosifoncini elettrici - di quelli che scaldano dieci centimetri intorno. Ma il problema è che se si accendono quelli, non si può utilizzare nient’altro di elettrico. Insomma la scelta è: avere un pochino di calore, o vivere nelle tenebre.

Comunque, per noi che possiamo vantare nel nostro curriculum camping in Islanda e Alaska, ci facciamo coraggio e decidiamo di resistere - che tanto sarà qualche giorno di freddo, e poi alla fine il sole arriverà...

Ma invece del sole, alla fine è arrivata la famosa ondata di freddo siberiano che aveva colpito il resto dell’Italia - non temperature da -20 come veniva riportato in Molise, ma 3 gradi (dentro e fuori casa) e la neve che in Sicilia - a detta di Salvatore, il proprietario della casa - non si vedeva da 80 anni!

E cosi, dopo una settimana polare, siamo stati contenti di rientrare a casa a Roma, dove avevamo lasciato i termosifoni a 18 gradi - ed è stato un po' come arrivare ai tropici...

A parte questo, la Sicilia ci è piaciuta: Marzamemi e Capo Passero, Siracusa e il canyon di Cavagrande, Pantalica e Noto.

Ai bimbi (e forse anche ai grandi) è piaciuta soprattutto Pantalica.

A Mathilde Marzamemi.

A me Noto più di Siracusa.

E soprattutto abbiamo mangiato benissimo. L'oscar l' ha vinto il Grillo Parlante a Siracusa.

A Clemence e Christophe è piaciuto soprattutto il panettone al pistacchio, il risultato sublime della fusione tra cucina lombarda e cucina siciliana.

Avremmo voluto fare grandi spese di prodotti locali e invitarvi tutti per una cena siciliana, ma alla fine eravamo in ritardo per la riconsegna dell’auto e abbiamo saltato la tappa finale all’Auchan di Catania.

Sarà per la prossima volta - rigorosamente in estate!

Guess who I met in Siem Reap

That of ‘the world is small’ is a recurrent theme in our Blog. Moreover, lately, for a strange stars’ alignment, I have been accidentally meeting many old friends during my trips. But of all the chance encounters of the past few months, this was the most unexpected…

Our Blog’s regular readers should well know Emanuele - my twin divided at birth (as well as best man) - and the story of our parallel lives that, sometime, cross each other: Turin 2000, Addis-Nairobi 2001-2003, London 2003-2005 (missed), Washington DC 2006-2009 (including Paris 27.06.2009), and Delhi 2009-2010.

Recapitulation of the last few years: while I was in Delhi, Emanuele moved to Mozambique. As Emanuele was regularly travelling to Delhi from Washington, his move to Maputo sadly interrupted his periodic visits and our regular meetings. Shortly after his move to Mozambique, I moved to Rome - perhaps not geographically, but certainly psychologically closer than Delhi. During this period, I have looked several times for an opportunity to go and visit him in Maputo - but, for a reason or another, I never managed it. Last August I have been very close to go to Mozambique on mission (I even had got my visa!) - but at the very last minute my trip was cancelled. And while I was thinking of a new chance to travel to Mozambique, Emanuele moved to Geneva. Well, now that Emanuele is just one-hour flight from us, I am sure we will be seeing each other more often, in Rome, Geneva or mid-way - I thought.

Well then, in fact we finally managed to see each other, but not in Rome, Geneva or mid-way, as I expected, but in the most improbable place and in the most accidental circumstances.

Last week I was in Siem Reap, Cambodia, to attend a workshop. On Thursday I was about to check-out from my hotel, and before switching-off my computer I absent-mindedly checked Emanuele’s Blog, and - unexpectedly - I saw his latest post announcing he had safely arrived in Cambodia two days earlier.

What???

Without too much conviction (Cambodia is big, and the chances he was in Siem Reap were not too many), I wrote a comment on his post: Where are you?

Now, if the chances he was in Siem Reap were not too many, the chances he could read and respond to the comment in the few minutes before I checked-out were even fewer…

But against all the probabilities, Emanuele responded, and - surprisingly - he was in a hotel just five minutes far from mine!

And so, while rushing to the airport, I stopped by his hotel, where in 20 intense minutes we updated each other on the past two-three years. Looking forward to the next time: in Rome, Geneva, or… who knows???

Leo & la scavatrice (Leo & the excavator)

- Leo, what was the thing that you liked more in Ischia?
- The excavator…

Sul traghetto (On the ferryboat)

The beauty of parenthood is that many of the things you have been doing for years, suddenly become exciting again as your children experience them for the first time.

This was the first time Leo and Tommy took a ferryboat. And, in a way, it was as if we had taken the ferry for the first time as well... 

Mathie & Tommy

Tommy, mangi?

They say that when a couple decides to have two children in a row it is because the parents have been spoiled (or deceived) by the firstborn.

To a certain extent this applies to us as well. Leo was definitively a sleepyhead, and - above all - a big eater. We always tell the anecdote of Leo’s childcare teacher who once asked us whether Leo had breakfast at home, because “after the mid-morning snack, he picks the crumbs from the floor…”

To tell the truth, Tommy is not as sleepyhead as Leo, but - listening to the accounts of other parents - we can’t complain either.

But as far as food is concerned, he is an agony. Simply, he doesn’t eat. No matter if you beg him, if you threaten him, by hook or by crook, he does not eat.

So, please, Tommy… mangia!!!

Benvenuti al Sud

February in Ischia: sunny, warm, with a clear blue sky… for two ‘northerns’ as Mathilde and I - who were used to long, grey and cold winters in our respective hometowns - Southern Italy is a wonder!

Airbnb

Camping, hostel, bed & breakfast… since we discovered Airbnb, we became great subletting lodgings' supporters.

We love Airbnb!

I bacini di Leo

Vola-vola-vola

I miei primi quarant’anni (My first forty years)

The 5 main achievements of my first 40 years (or the 5 things I am more proud of):

1. Two beautiful children (Leo 2011 and Tommy 2013), and a wonderful wife (Mathilde 2009)
2. Saved someone's life (from drowning, Awash National Park 2002)
3. Reached the roof of Africa (Kilimanjaro 2002)
4. Run a marathon (Milan 2012)
5. Swum with the whale-sharks (Yucatan 2007)

And the 5 things I wanted to do during my first 40 years, but didn’t manage (and that I wish I could achieve in my next 40 years…)

1. Writing a book
2. Climbing a 6,000 m
3. Climbing the Aguglia di Cala Goloritzè with Federico
4. Visiting Antarctica
5. Encountering the Wild Mountain Gorillas in Uganda

15 February in Ischia

It should have been something unusual, exceptional: a trip somewhere in an exotic place (Zanzibar?). Then, for practical considerations, it was converted into a trip somewhere in a still exotic but not too far place (Tunisia?). Then, it was turned into something more significant: a skiing week-end with my 1974-born friends (Courmayeur?). It eventually became a long-week-end with my little family in the near Ischia.

Could not think of a better way to celebrate my fortieth birthday…

La storia della fontana triste

Have you ever found yourself in the uncomfortable situation of having to face one of your two-year-old child’s ‘why’ questions?

One day Leo saw a fountain that didn’t work, and asked me: ‘Why is that fountain sad?’

After a moment of hesitation, this is the answer I gave. This is the story of the sad fountain…

Quella fontana un tempo sprizzava acqua da tutti i pori. E un uccellino che abitava su quell’albero lì vicino andava ad abbeverarsi tutti i giorni dalle sue vasche.

Quel rituale aveva fatto diventare i due buoni amici, e la fontana era felice.

Ma un brutto giorno un signore catturò l’uccellino e lo mise in una gabbia. E da quel giorno l’uccellino non poté più andare ad abbeverarsi alla fontana.

La fontana lo aspettò, lo aspettò, lo aspettò -- giorno dopo giorno, settimana dopo settimana -- ma non vedendolo arrivare divenne sempre più triste, fino a quando smise di zampillare.

Solo se un giorno il signore libererà l’uccellino, o se un nuovo uccellino andrà a posarsi su una delle sue vasche, la fontana ritornerà ad essere felice e a spruzzar nuovamente acqua…

(I know, it's a sad story, with a sad ending. If you have a better ending, please send it to me, and we will update the story!)

Che orecchie grandi che ho

Che orecchie grandi che ho (What a big ears I have) is a music performance organized by the Rome Auditorium specifically addressed to 0 to 2 year old children to introduce them to music.

Children and parents are invited to sit on a big red carpet, in the middle of the orchestra, surrounded by several musical instruments: the piano, the violin, the flute, the drums...

As soon as the concert starts, the murmuring suddenly stops, and children fall mesmerized by the sound of the different instruments. But then, after a few minutes, they start interacting with the music, each in a very different and personal way: there are those that gently roll in the arms of their parents at the rhythm of the music, those that that softly hum, and those that stand and give the hint of a dance...

Beautiful, moving, difficult to describe. Perhaps this video can give an idea of the whole experience.

What a chance to have big ears!

Tommy - February 2014

Tommy occhietti neri...

Alla mostra di Nomachi (2)

Alla mostra di Nomachi (To Nomachi’s exhibition)

Kazuoshi Nomachi. Japanese photographer whose work focuses on portraying people who live in the most remote and harsh lands.

We didn’t know him, but his was one of the best photography exhibitions we have been to.

Highly recommended!

I Dialoghi di Leo (Leo’s Dialogues)

- Papà, guarda, un aereo! Torna!
- Da dove?
- Dal Pakistan…

- Leo, dove sei stato ieri?
- Alle Terme di Calin-Calin*

(*) In francese, calin significa ‘coccola’

- Papà, dove andiamo?
- Al parco
- Perché andiamo al parco?
- Perché è una bella giornata
- Non voglio andare al parco!
- E dove vuoi andare?
- In ufficio…

- Daddy, look, an airplane! It comes back!
- From where?
- From Pakistan…

- Leo, where have you been yesterday?

- To the Baths of Calin-Calin**

(**) Calin means cuddle in French

- Daddy, where do we go?

- To the park
- Why do we go to the park?
- Because it’s a beautiful day
- I don’t want to go to the park!
- And where do you want to go?
- To the office…

From Geneva to Kabul - 16 years later

But the most remarkable encounter was that with Henrik in Kabul in February.

Henrik was one of my best mates in Geneva, long time ago, in 1998, when we were both young interns at our first working experience.

After Geneva, we met once in Milan - when he (a great Inter supporter) came to watch an Inter match in San Siro, the Inter’ stadium.

Then we took different paths, and - despite email, facebook, linkedin, etc. - we progressively lost track of each other.

Until when, a few months ago, I accidentally found a message from him in the Spam folder of an email account that I don’t use anymore. He was telling a long list of people that he had moved to Afghanistan. That was right before my last mission to Afghanistan in February.

And so, 16 years later, we found each other chit-chatting in front of a coffee as if time hadn’t passed at all; as if we just had had a coffee the evening before. Knowing that probably there won’t be many opportunities to meet again in the future, but with the feeling that if one day we ended up living in the same place, we would certainly be ‘best mates’ again.

As a seaman (?)

Almost as a seaman who can boast a lover in each harbour in which he docks, it seems I can boast a friend in almost every town in which I land…

My last trips had several encounters with many old friends in store: Juan Carlos in Kabul in September, Martin in Lahore in November, Bruno in Islamabad in December (and then again in January), and Alejandro in Beijing in April.

And the pleasant feeling to be somehow at home wherever I am…

At Views on News

In my own little way, I also enjoyed my moment of celebrity during my last mission to Pakistan, before being reassigned to China.

For a couple of days I have been on all main Pakistan newspapers, and had a 45 minute live interview at Views on the News, a talk show on the Pakistan English Channel.

Entertaining!

(Ps: tie: courtesy of sorella Chiara).

If food wastage was a country...

“If food wastage was a country, Food Wastage would have the surface of China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan together”.

“If Food Wastage was ranked among the most greenhouse gases polluting countries, then it would be the third most polluting country after China and the US”…

With these and other images, Mathilde was able to attract the attention of the general public on the problem of the impact of food waste on natural resources, gaining for a few days the limelight of media and blogs worldwide. She was even broadcasted on Radio Vaticana!

Did you have any doubt about Mathilde excelling when she started her job at FAO a couple of years ago?

Good job Mathilde!