http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/PlayingForHope/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from PlayingForHope en-us Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:07:02 +0000 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:07:02 +0000 The final leg of the trip involved a journey down to Baltimore to meet up with the Cleveland City Stars a professional mens soccer team competing in the USL2 division of US soccer. The City Stars are a secondyear franchise I first encountered last year while coaching at soccer camps in Cleveland Ohio. The team was in Baltimore to play the first of two away games that weekend so Jaime drove http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Ohio/Cleveland/blog-292182.html Once again I took advantage of a gap in the schedule to spend a few days catching up with a friend in New Jersey Jaime and reacquainting myself with probably my favourite city in the world New York. Unfortunately this meant flying on one of my least favourite airlines in the world American Airlines. We were supposed to arrive a bit before 9pm at LaGuardia airport but ended up getting there c http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/blog-286528.html Due to the food riots and various travel warnings I contemplated skipping Haiti right up until about a week before we were scheduled to fly there. In the end though I figured enough time had passed since the riots and I also held on to the belief that things wouldn't be as bad in reality as they were portrayed in the media. This was the case in both Indonesia and Nigeria and even though it onl http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Haiti/blog-286527.html Flights from Sao Paolo Brazil to Port au Prince Haiti all go through Miami US so when I planned this trip I thought I'd take the opportunity to spend a few days hanging out with a friend in Florida before continuing the filming. The flight itself wasn't too enjoyable particularly cos I was still feeling pretty sick but arriving in Miami lifted my spirits. Even the two hour delay getting http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Orlando/blog-286526.html We had been warned about Sao Paolo before we got here. And when I say warned I mean everyone we spoke to immediately said ooh be careful upon finding out this was one of our destinations. We were told to expect bulletproof cars and robberies on every corner and to avoid the dreaded favellas places where if you made you're way into you were unlikely to make your way out of. So it's fair http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Sao-Paulo/S-o-Paulo/blog-286525.html I had forgotten how beautiful Granada is. I first came here in February 2003 and was blown away by the views of the city and the Alhambra from the hills of Albayzin. It didnrsquot take long for these memories to resurface as we walked to our hostel situated nicely as it turns out on one of the highest streets in Albayzin. Granada truly is a stunning city when viewed from this vantage point http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-286524.html Arriving in England always feels like a homecoming to me. It is a little known and seldom admitted fact that I was actually born in England and have lived nine years of my life there the first eight plus one in 200203. Donrsquot get me wrong Australia is my home and I never think of myself as anything other than Australian but travelling to England is different from travelling anywhere e http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/blog-280530.html One of the biggest things that struck me as I arrived in Phnom Penh was how little attention the locals paid to Ruth and I. Irsquom not being vain here hellip the reason it struck me was because of how different it was to Bau Bau where you couldnrsquot really go anywhere without being stared at. The answer was soon forthcoming from our friends Kim and Phil who informed us that the locals http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-271681.html Note For Indonesia and Cambodia I had to leave the video camera behind so instead of filming football projects I spent the time visiting friends with my sister Ruth.I had many expectations going to Indonesia few of them great. Australian media reporting is almost exclusively negative when it comes to Indonesia focusing on the Bali bombings Schapelle Corby the Bali Nine and every now and th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/blog-271655.html A massive sense of relief washed over me as I arrived in Cape Town. I loved the familiarity even just of the planes and airports and then when my friend Brent picked me up from the airport I properly relaxed again for the first time in quite a while. Within minutes we were laughing and making jokes at each otherrsquos expense I felt normal again. Irsquom not even being ironic either I http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-262493.html As soon as I arrived at Lusaka airport I knew I was in for a different kind of African experience. For a start there were only two planes at the airport and there were hardly any cars on the road. After Lagos and Accra though I was craving a bit of space so this was great news Another difference was that it rained every day compared to West Africa where it didnrsquot rain at all.In Lusaka http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-261854.html Impressions of GhanaAccra is a lot more ordered than Lagos there are sealed roads traffic lights shopping malls and constant electricity. I still couldnrsquot get any cash out here but this time because my debit card didnrsquot work in the ATM rather than there being no ATMrsquos in the first place. Religion is just as prominent here as it was in Lagos and once again Christians and M http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Greater-Accra/Accra/blog-261740.html The trip from Lagos to Accra by road is definitely an experience After being refused by one bus company because I didnrsquot have transit visas to cross through Benin and Togo apparently Nigerians without passports were less of a problem we eventually found a bus company that would take me albeit for twice the normal fare about 100. Then as we set off in our 15seater van a strange http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Greater-Accra/Accra/blog-260520.html Nothing can prepare you for Lagos. It is an overwhelming claustrophobic city and a dramatic introduction to Africa. The best word to describe Lagos is hellipchaos. The roads are something else. There are no traffic lights stop signs or roundabouts so every intersection is a mess and traffic slows to a crawl at each one as cars ldquomergerdquo inches apart. Drivers pay little attenti http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Nigeria/blog-260497.html