Hong Kong, Africa

The Hong Kong airport has 3 bookstores. Two are on the departure level, one on the arrivals level. They are the bookstore flavour you encounter in most airports: some bestsellers, some good books, plenty of magazines and some toys and junk.

I had plenty of time. And so I spent some there.
I was stupid enough to underestimate distances and overestimate transportation options. I thought about going to the airport, leaving the big pack there and then going to see a fishing village on the island. Considering that my flight was at almost 1am, getting to the airport around 4pm seemed reasonable. A couple of people told me it didn't make sense. There was no direct bus and with bus connections I would have needed more than 1 hour one way. I'd miss the sunset and just rush both ways.

Missed. I stayed 8 hours on the Hong Kong airport. No internet - I mean there was a cafe where the timer was set for 15 minutes and you had to pay for a drink each time. How many coffees can I drink late in the evening before getting on a 10 hours flight?
And I had decided not to buy the small laptop I found after a lot of pondering. It would have done the job with its wireless modem, as most places seem to be "wired" for that. But it meant yet another item for me to carry around and worry about. It seems that every decent person travels with a laptop so all that is needed to decalre a place an Internet cafe is WiFi access.

I found a small book by Bill Bryson, really small. It's entitled "African Diaries" and, as the title indicates, contains his thoughts and report from a one week trip to Kenya in support for the CARE organisation. I bought it without hesitation especially since all proceeds go to CARE. And so I travelled to Kenya and learned new and interesting things. There are terrible slums in Nairobi. The problem is not just that they exist, but the fact that their sheer existence is being officially denied. Acknowledging a problem requires looking for a solution. Denying a problem means no problem. At least for the government. The amount of millions disappearing under the thick folds of the corruption dress is unbelievable.

And yet, the best schools in Nairobi are in one particular slum. Why? Because people feel motivated, because they make efforts. Adults live here because they try to provide a better future and education to their children. Children, well, they have no choice but to live here; however,they feel motivated to learn. If this is not convincing, how about this: people living outside of the slum are making efforts to send their kids to the schools in this slum.

Short and funny the little book has transported me to the slums of Kenya, Africa. Hong Kong? It's anywhere you want to place it. Just pick a good book while you're on the airport.