Tim Thompson's blog

Welcome to my old blog

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Thompson) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:05:00 +0000

With the recent news that Google will be disabling the ability for bloggers to upload their blogs to their websites via FTP and the sad realisation that my blog never really got kick-started again after 2007, I have decided for the moment to lay my blog to rest - or at least until I have something important to say again.

That's not to say I've gone away though. In the July of 2009 I set myself up in business as a web desginer/developer under the name of Stem Pixel. This is an exciting new venture for me and probably had a lot to do with my lack of blog updates over this past year. If you're in need of a good website, don't hesitate to drop by!

All of the above was itself driven by discovering in early June 2009 that my wife was pregnant. Combined with being in a dead-end job in Mexico and the desire to still do great things with my life, I was inspired to take the jump - I quit my job and set myself up in business. In the January of this year I became the proud Dad of Isabella Montserrat. Now being both father and business man, for the moment my priorities are very much domestic and oriented towards putting bread on the table.

I'm ambitious though, and want to be back with new stuff one day. Meanwhile, if you want to keep up with me, you can currently find me on:

This blog will stay online as a reminder of all the things I got up to before I had to be responsible! Thank you to those of you who have followed my writings since first starting this blog in 2005,

Tim

P.S. I'm currently re-developing the Milamex website - the very reason for my blog just over four years ago. I'm giving them today what I didn't know how to do back then - the technology to allow them to easily update their website. Due for launch later in March, watch that space...

Square peg, round hole

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Thompson) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:42:00 +0000

Around about the middle of 2008 I solved for the first time in my eight-year career the dilemma of whether I was a web developer or web designer. Though this may not seem like the greatest of dilemmas to the reader, it has been eating away at my soul for a great many years not knowing where I fit.

The skim reader can skip to the end of the article to find out what I discovered. Below is the bumpy story of how.

The prospect of losing my soul

On finishing my work with Milamex in the summer of 2007 I was not only left contemplating trivial life questions such as should I stay [in Mexico] or should I go [back to England], but I was also left asking myself where to take my career next. Since beginning my web development career in 2000 I was always tripping over the fine line of whether I was a 'developer' or a 'designer'.

I have one of these personalities which is both technical and creative at the same time, so never know in which camp I belong. I have both the passion of an artist and the logicalness of a mathematician (though sadly not the brain power).

At the time, it seemed that if I chose to be a developer, it would not be long before I were a full-blown programmer/database guy, my whole life being consumed with writing stored procedures, defining class methods and never seeing a ray of interface sunlight. On the other hand, if I chose to be a designer, I would be encapsulated away from the medium of the web for which I have a passion and would not be able to have a say about issues such as accessibility, usability, how to make web applications fit for the purpose and so forth.

At Milamex, as with previous jobs, I had walked the tightrope. Being relatively small/medium-sized projects, I could exercise both sides of my personality. I knew though, that the time would come for me to make a decision, one that would surely see me lose my soul.

The fall of the guillotine

In the autumn of 2007, with this fate firmly hanging over me, I landed the position of web developer at Arena Premier. I was brought in as part of a new team to build a web-based ticket-sales system, likened somewhat to TicketMaster, but only better. Not really knowing more than that, I was thrown onto a Microsoft training course to learn youWillBeAProgrammer.NET. As I traversed the dry course materials, I comforted myself knowing that at least I was getting professional training and positioning myself for a good money-earning career in programming. Soulless but stable.

After the training course, it was decided that, as I was the one with an HTML background, I should develop the interface for the web applications whilst other members of the team focus on programming. The idea was that HTML was a quick and easy thing to do, and I could integrate myself on the programming side once that was done. The relative passing importance of the interface was an oversight of my employers at that time, but all the same, a ray of hope.

Unfortunately, I was soon told that the graphic designer of the parent company would be in charge of the visual design of the web applications as I was formally a member of the programming team and this was not in my scope. It felt like meetings of countless suffering as I had to sit down with the graphics guy (who had little appreciation of user interface design) to hear him decide colours, button roll-overs and so forth. Every graphic decision I made was subjected to his approval. Soul crushing.

Furthermore, my comments for user interface design fell also on the deaf ears of the Director responsible for marketing. He would regularly call for a designer to be present in our meetings as 'they understand how to solve creative problems', overtly looking beyond me. Very frustrating.

The decision had been made: I was a web programmer and nothing more.

Fighting back

Although disheartened, one of the good things about being a web developer is that I'm the guy who actually builds the website. As such, I can exercise my influence over the design without necessarily making it official. With timelines and resources regularly being very tight, it's not possible to pass everything by the graphic designer.

One day I was asked to present 'wireframe' diagrams to the Directors of one of the web applications. What I actually presented was wireframes set in a visual template that I had designed, a design to which many immediately showed favour. Although the graphics guy was the official designer, my interface had been approved for further development.

My work eventually began to gain reputation. I developed a new innovative web-based interface for a touch-screen cash register which cut out much of the cluttered usability of it's windows-based predecessor. When seen in action, the Directors were duly pleased.

As I began to show off my competence applying my creative mind to 'front-end' matters, I began to receive more interface and design related tasks, with the 'back-end' work firmly being distributed between the programmers. Suddenly, I was beginning to see a new role for myself emerge.

The mythical square hole

One thing which I have not perhaps separated out here to its full is the difference between graphic design and user interface design - which strictly speaking are two distinct disciplines. Graphic design in the context of web development is, as my colleagues would say, putting 'make up' on the interface. Interface design is more to do with how to organise information on the screen.

Usability experts deride some user interfaces for the graphic design obstructing how users interact with the site. However, this is just the area in which I can be a specialist. In having a good understanding of the medium (my technical side) coupled with balancing usability and graphic needs (my creative side), I find myself fitting comfortably into a role which I often now see described as 'front-end web developer'. I'm not sure this term was in popular use a few years ago, but maybe this is the square hole I've been looking for.

Although I may never be a javascript 'ninja' or a database 'guru', neither will they likely be concerned with how to make a good user interface or if the quality of information on a website meets users needs. I have come to learn that in larger projects I can't be a jack of all trades; I must specialise.

Perhaps then, I could define my specialism as this: to bring together various technologies in a creative way to develop a good user interface; to champion the content or function which the website/web application is serving and ultimately make the life of the human being sitting in front of the computer that little bit easier.

As my career progresses, I hope I may be able to abstract myself further to the level of creative director so that I can see my values better implemented. Until then, I'm happy to have discovered a specialism that doesn't require me to sacrifice one side of my personality in favour of the other.

It's hip to be square (at last).

I'm back

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Thompson) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:40:00 +0000

I'm back

It's been almost two years since my last post, detailing my adventures in Latin America. Since then, Tony Blair stepped down as Prime Minister, Facebook became a big thing and more recently Capitalism was brought to its knees. But I'm back, and looking to see where to take this site next.

To round up the past two years in a nut shell, in the months following my last post my projects with Milamex in Mexico and Unela in Costa Rica drew to a close. I got engaged to a Mexican girl in the Summer of that year, and was tasked with finding employment here in Mexico. Since November 2007 I have been working as a web application interface developer for the Mexican technology company Arena Premier (whose new website I designed should launch in the next couple of weeks). The November of 2008 proved even more memorable, as we married in a beautiful garden along the canals of Xochimilco.

My new family

The wedding was a very emotional and exciting day, and afforded me the opportunity to invite my family from England so they could meet the new in-laws and experience first-hand a part of the world which has shaped me so much in these past three years.

My wife Mirna brings with her a 9-year-old daughter Arely, thus over night I went from being young free and single to responsible dad and head of family. It's an exciting new life but full of challenges.

Another overnight change that took place is that now in the region of ninety percent of my family live in Guadalajara, Mexico. Mirna has 20-something aunties and uncles, all with large families of their own. I really can't put a date on when I'll know all their names!

The future

It's been on the cards since the day we met - the possibility of a return to England.

It's a sad fact of life, but whilst we both remain employees of Mexican companies, we will never have the opportunities that a life somewhere else might afford us. This is a subject I may expand upon in a future post, but I'm going to cite just one example of the difficulties which Mexicans face.

The great majority of companies here offer the legal minimum of holiday (vacation) days as stated by Mexican law. An employee here must work their first year without a single day of holiday (with the exception of bank holidays - of which I'm taking advantage of today) so to earn in their second year just 6 days. The third year 8 days, and so on. When you move employer, you start from scratch. The company for whom I work have been very gracious with me and gave me three weeks paid holiday so I could enjoy a honeymoon and show my family around, but this is quite an exceptional case. Together with longer working hours and significantly lower salaries, were we to hope to even visit England, it could almost certainly never be achieved.

So, as I begin a new life with my new family, I am seeking new foundation upon which we can grow, that is both economically secure and can offer us both adventure and new opportunities.

As a Christian, I look back over these past three and a half years since first coming out to Mexico, and can see more than ever now the importance of the work which Christians do here - working in difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions to see a new 'politic' of the love of Christ work throughout this society for change. I would hope that God can still use me as an instrument for change too in the years ahead.

The two-year new year's resolution: revisited

As a final point of reflection, I am reminded of the first blog post I published back in the December of 2005, The two-year new year's resolution - written just over three years ago. In the post I pondered on where I might be in two years. It doesn't matter that we're three years down the line (see Steve's comment at the bottom!), perhaps now is the right time to look back as I seek to put some closure on the past few years and look ahead to the new. At the time I was embarking on a new adventure and was uncertain what the future would hold. In many ways I'm in the same boat now. Just as I can see now how my future eventually unfolded and how God protected and guided me at that time, I rest in the belief that God still accompanies me in those same travels today. I faced over the years that followed some great challenges and emotional trials, and now I must seek to trust God as the next chapter is written, not knowing what lies ahead.

Rincón de la Vieja

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:22:00 +0000

www.flickr.com

On the weekend of 24th-25th March 2007, I had the opportunity to visit a national park in the north fo Costa Rica called 'Rincón de la Vieja' (meaning, 'Corner of the old lady'), a name taken from local legend. I went with fellow Latin Link Strider Sarah Baker.

See my photos on Flickr.com and videos at the end of this blog.

Rincón de la Vieja is volcano from which the park takes its name. We visited just a small, but very diverse section of the park, straddling between rain forest and dry forest, with many volcanic features and diverse wildlife.

Volcanic activity

We didn't get the opportunity to visit the volcano summit (clouds cover over the crater very early in the day, so you have to be up really early to make the trip worthwhile). However, on the second day we followed a 3 kilometer trail called Las Pailas which took us through the foothills of the volcano revealing for me a suprising number volcanic features and wildlife for such a short walk.

El Volcancito

The main volcanic attraction was 'El Volcancito' ('The Little Volcano') which sits on the edge of the forest. As we followed the trail, I couldn't believe that we were going to approach a volcano, as we were in thick relatively low-ground forest. However, as we got near walking through the forest vegetation, a strong rotten egg smell began to fill the air, caused by escaping hydrogen sulfide gases. This was often sickening if you caught a gasp as the wind blew in your direction.

The forest opening to the volcano was quite dramatic, as lush forest land gave way almost suddently to a dead-wood area surrounding the vocano mouth, with only more durable vegetation (such as hard-leafed plants) in bloom. We approached the mouth of the volcano, and indeed it could be described a as a mini volcano, with it's orange crater mouth surrounded by iron-rich rocks. Inside the volcano was, from as far as I could tell, boiling mud-water letting off the nauscious foul-smelling gas. The surround temperature was also very hot. The moment was quite atmospheric and eerie, with photos on Flickr and the moment of approach captured on the video 'El Volcancito' below.

Plopping mud and the volcanic lagoon

Crossing from the rain forest to the dry forest was equally dramatic. As we walked through high rise trees, we came to an opening marked by a small stream. We crossed stepping stones, and rose up a dry reddy-orange steam-emitting bank to be greeted by flat-lands of dead trees and a grassy plain.

Walking along the trail here, we came across cordened-off pools of plopping mud. The mud was fascinating to watch, as though it were porridge simmering away. Further in another direction lay a volcanic lagoon, a large greenish pool of acidic, metalic sulpher-smelling water too dangerous to go near. The surrounding rocks were all reddy-orange in colour, due to the oxidised iron. In addition to the photos on Flickr, videos of both these features can be seen below.

Diverse wildlife

Ian Darke, a resident member of the Latin Link team here in Costa Rica once quipped that it's good to develop an interest in moss and small vegetation when out on nature trails, as the chances of spotting wildlife are often disappointly slim. However, I think we were quite fortunate. Although we didn't get to see any wild cats which live in the area, we did get to see and hear monkeys, lizards, a pozote (a furry ground animal) and some colourful birds.

In addition to photos on Flickr, videos of white-faced capuchin monkeys, and the call of howler monkeys can be found below.

Videos

You will need QuickTime installed to view the videos.

Entering the Park (2.9MB)
Looking around the Tropical Moist Forest (5.5MB)
Howler Monkeys (audio only) (128kb)
White-faced Capuchin Monkeys in the Trees (3.1MB)
El Volcancito (The Little Volcano) (9MB)
Plopping Mud (3.5MB)
Volcanic Lagoon (1.5MB)

Costa Rica

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 09:01:00 +0000

www.flickr.com

On 1st February 2007 I flew off to Costa Rica to begin a 3 month project to redesign the website for Unela - Universidad Evangelica de Las Americas (Evangelical University of The Americas), based in the country's capital, San José.

See my photos on Flickr.com and videos at the end of this blog.

This is the first trip I've made outside Mexico since the last Latin Link Central America Conference which was held in Guatemala in May of last year. In between then, I've been burying my head in my work to launch the website for Milamex in December last year.

Costa Rica was going to be my last stop on my original 18-month work plan before heading back to the UK. However, I have now extended my stay in Mexico until the Autumn this year, to complete the full 2 year term allowed on the Latin Link Strider program, and will be returning there on 22nd April.

Exploring (a very small country)

Unfortunately, I've not had that much time to explore Costa Rica as I've come here to work under a rather tight time-schedule. However, I was able to take a weekend break towards the end of March to visit a volcano and its surrounding countryside, of which I have written a separate blog with its own photos and video.

The one thing I've really noticed about Costa Rica though is how quiet the capital city San José is in comparison to Mexico City. Perhaps that would be stating the obvious, but I was suprised to learn just how small Costa Rica is, with a total population of only 5 million, with at least one-fifth of those being immigrants (compare that to Mexico's 100 million, with an estimated 15 million+ living in the capital).

I can actually walk from my house on the outskirts to the centre of San José in about one hour, so it really is a very small place by comparison. The other thing to notice, is that although Costa Rica suffers similar economic problems, there is a distinct lack of street sellers, people waiting to flag you (unncecessarily) into a car-parking space just to make a tip, or performers at every traffic light. You don't even need to give the person packing your shopping at the supermarket a tip, all of which I've come to expect as the norm in Mexico. Overall, Costa Rica is a much easier-going place to live.

The Culture - did I return to Britain?

Having come from a 14-month stay in Mexico directly to Costa Rica, a few things really struck me as being different about Costa Rican culture.

This perception may not please Costa Ricans (feel free to challenge me), but in my experience, as much as the people are very amiable, the culture is a largely 'cold' culture, as Mexicans would describe the British. There is a social reserve, and where a hug between men and a kiss on the cheek to women would be common in Mexico when greeting someone familiar, a hand-shake or a nod of the head will suffice in Costa Rica.

Also, the form of Spanish spoken here is more formal, with the formal word for 'you' ('Usted') being used far more often than its informal counterpart ('tú') in informal contexts such as between young people.

One thing I am a bit more comfortable with though is that Costa Ricans don't seem as roudy as Mexicans. Perhaps I'm getting old, but Mexicas wouldn't think much to playing thumping music any hour of the day (and in Mexico if the neighbours call the police to complain, the police often either do nothing or just end up going to the party themselves!). However, in Costa Rica, things seem to calm down more at a reasonable hour. This may be related to the climate here where people are early risers in order to take advantage of the dry mornings, as in the wet season (which lasts for about 8-9 months) long periods of rain will affect afternoons and evenings.

The last thing I have also appreciated about San José is that, being smaller, it's also greener, with more greenery around. Sadly, Mexico City is a very dirty, built-up, concrete city, and the vast majority of public parks are (I can only describe as) 'squarish', with squarely trimmed hedge-rows, concrete pots larger than the plants inside and dusty pathways laid out in a grid. It was very refreshing to come to Costa Rica to find the average public park with large grassy areas, hilly bits and curves.

Final impressions

I've enjoyed my stay in Costa Rica overall whilst working. It has been a bit difficult to feel integrated here, as I know I am only here for a short time, so I've not built any deep friendships or have got involved with the Church much.

It has been interesting to experience different cultures within the wider latin culture, but I feel after being in Mexico for the past year and a bit, I'm beginning to feel a bit homesick missing Mexico! Where's 15 million people all around you when you need them?

Videos

The Latin Link Conference 14-15 February 2007

These were taken during my free-time, as I explored the valley in which we were located.

Waterfall in the Rocks (3.2MB)
Exploring the Valley (4.1MB)

Bridget Bennett's birthday party

Bridget, who is one of my team leaders here, celebrated her birthday on 17th February. A live music group played a few great accoustic songs to accompany the night, a couple of which I've grabbed below. During Sundays, the group also lead the worship at the Church.

The live music (short version) showing Ray and Bridget dancing (11.1MB)
The live music (full-length version - audio only) (3MB)
The live music - final performance of the night (23.7MB)

Don't forget to visit the photo's on Flickr.com, that tell more of the story.

Milamex website live

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 22:26:00 +0000

I can happily announce that on Wednesday 6 December at about 8:55pm (Mexico time) the Milamex website finally went live. To jump straight in, the link below connects to the English section of the website:

www.milamex.com/english/

If you've been following my blog you'll have noticed there's been a slight dip in updates recently. Well actually, none for the past 5 months. You know, I found myself spending more time writing about what I was doing than actually doing it. So I thought, come on Tim, stop waffling, just get on and design the website. Let's just say my 10 stage plan is now complete - albeit fractionally over time that I originally planned.

Delays, delays and more delays

There are numerous reasons for the delay in launch (given my original target date of mid-August). If we put aside for one moment the 3 month holiday in Barbados I took (or was that a 3 month dream of holidaying in Barbados?), a number of things conspired to push the launch date back.

The biggest frustration I perhaps felt is that I received less support from Milamex than I was originally anticipating. I'd originally hoped the staff could take a pro-active role in writing content and shaping the site, but with a continual stream of publication launches, events and engagements, it seemed there was always something more urgent to be done. I don't want to be too critical - I think this may be a common problem for many non-profit, understaffed organisations with high ambitions. However, this lead to great frustration on my part as I spent time chasing others for content, making correction after correction, and just sitting down and writing many pages myself.

There was also a fair degree of 'requirements creep' that also showed its head during development. As we began to develop the site, I identified that in order to provide accurate, complete and useful information, we needed to put in more work to deliver it. I have high standards about not launching a website that is not information complete. I have one shot at launching a site, and I don't want people visiting it, finding the site lacking, and not coming back. I therefore spent more time worked hard on upping the quality of content, so that the website can be what it truly should be: a useful information resource.

There have been many times over the past few months that I genuinely doubted that the website would ever see the light of day. With all the above setbacks, together with the usual factors that can push a launch date back (coding problems etc), the end result was the sight of a stream of deadlines whooshing past. Sometimes I'd work a day on doing a nice illustration, and wondered if anyone would ever see it! But in all, I know from past experience, that these things come to fruition in the end. Also, as a Christian, I always held in mind that one day this website would serve a God who I believe wants to restore lives - something so needy in Mexico - so I never lost hope.

Well, at long last, the day finally arrived last week, and the live website - the concept of which had taken on mythical status by this point - actually saw the light of day.

The design

I'd like to say a big thank you to all those who sent me feedback (either by email or leaving a comment) regarding the design proposals I posted in July. It was very helpful to see your views, and helped confirm or reject ideas I had in my mind.

Apart from some cosmetic changes, the overall structure of the site is as I proposed. Each main activity of Milamex has its own 'micro-site' that sits consistently within the design of the wider site. The result I believe gives a unique feel for each ministry but a consistency to navigate easily throughout the wider site.

Figuring most of you reading this can't read Spanish, let me point you to a few links taking you to some of my favourate visual pages of the website:

What's next

Well, for those of you following, launching of the website is the completion of 'Phase 1' of a 2-phase project. The next part will be to develop a system where the site can be maintained as much as possible by non-techies. I've got a lot of the coding in place, so ideally I'd like to make the site data-base driven. My only concern is what happens if I need more time to achieve that goal than I have remaining!!! I need to make some decisions about exactly how this can be done.

It was my original plan to return to England in March/April 2007, but I am now aiming to stay until the Autumn to complete a full 2-year term. This is subject of course to me finding sufficient money. If you feel led to help me financially, please let me know, as that would be of great help to me and the completion this project.

Additionally, in January I am heading off to Costa Rica for 3 months to assist training staff at a seminary, working with other members of Latin Link, my sending organisation. I shall be returning then to Mexico in April for the remainder of my time to complete the project with Milamex.

Hopefully, now my head is back above the water, you'll hear a bit more from me again! Stay tuned.

Visualising Milamex.com

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 19:38:00 +0000

As mentioned in Progress report - the 10 stage plan last month, the next stage in the development of the Milamex website has been to come up with some visual designs for the site.

After battling through illness last month, and testing a shoot-out between graphics apps, I eventually came up with a visual design proposal for the new-look Milamex website. I presented the proposal to Sally, the mission director last week, and am happy to say she liked it.

However, that's not good enough for me, and I wanted to show the ideas here, to allow others to offer their feedback. I've presented the evolution of my visual ideas as a mini slideshow, with brief commentary alongside each picture.

To view the slideshow, cick on the button below, which will launch the show in a new window. Note: The pictures make better sense when you view them in numerical order - explanations and translations of key text are given as you go along.

If your browsers doesn't allow pop-up windows, click here to view the slideshow in the current window. Please note, you will need a monitor resolution of at least 1024x768 to view the show.

Feedback

Any feedback that others can provide is always really helpful, as otherwise I only have my intuition to go on. If you want to let me know what you think, I welcome you to leave a comment at the end of the blog, or drop me an email.

For the free-thinking, you can tell me whatever! However, if you want a bit of guidance on the sort of things I would like to know, here are some questions I've got for you:

From what you can make out in the pictures and my explanation, does the navigation of the site seem initutitive or confusing? (Slides 1 and 2)
Does the diversion into a micro site for each of our main activities and moving the 'breadcrumb' trail above the main page seem a good one, or would it lose you? (Slide 5)
Which of the blue gradients in the background do you prefer - the lighter blue (that is softer on the eyes) or darker blue (that provides more contrast)? (Slides 5 and 8 make good comparisons)
More broadly, do you like the colours, or would you choose different ones?
Which of the main title bars do you prefer - the floated grey box above the main page area, or the grey bar which extends the full page width but takes up less vertical space? (Compare slides 5 and 10)
The main page area (everything in the box below the title bar) is of fixed width. This allows me to do some pretty pixel-perfect picture positioning. Do you like this approach, or do you prefer layouts that extends automatically according to the width of your screen?

PS. If you're not 'tecchie', don't be intimidated by those who are - just drop me some thoughts - whether they be simple or clever.

Half-time in Xochimilco

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 20:28:00 +0000

www.flickr.com

Last month marked the end of the road for Graham and Joey - fellow Latin Link volunteers who have been with me here in Mexico City since September/October last year - who returned to the UK after completing their 9 month placements.

See my photos on Flickr.com and videos at the end of this blog.

As one last get-together for us all, Paul and Nydia Johnson, our Mexico team leaders, took Graham, Joey, Myself and a few others out for a daytrip on the canals of Xochimilco - a district of Mexico City which lays claim to the last few remaining canals that, centuries ago, once characterised the whole area on which now sits the famous urban sprawl.

The daytrip was a fascinating insight into the contrasts of Mexican culture itself. As we ventured into the idyllic canals of Xochimilco (pronounced 'sochi-milko'), it could have been as though we were in England. For a moment, it was impossible to believe you were in this shanty-town-clad urban metropolis. But then came the street-sellers and the mariachis - all floating towards us on boats. Can't quite picture it?

Reflecting on the last 9 months and looking ahead

Seeing Graham and Joey head off home has given me much pause for reflection, as I realise I am now half-way through my 18-month placement, and if the next 9 months goes as quickly as the last, we'll, get me a beer in, I'll see you in 5 minutes.

I am left with a very big question as to whether I have a longer-term calling to serving God out here in Latin America or not. I hope to have a better idea on that after I return to the UK. However, it is quite possible that my work might be extended here for a further 6 months, as the 'Stride' programme I'm on allows me to stay for up to 2 years. This is something I plan to review after I've got 'version 1' of the Milamex website up and running, still on course for a mid-August launch.

It certainly has been a mind-blowing past 9 months. I've seen so much here in Mexico that has put my past life in the UK into a different perspective. All the things we take for granted in the UK are luxuries for many over here. Even down to basic things like social security, or having a toaster. From my excursions to Cuba and Guatemala, to the sleepless nights of Mexico City, for good or bad, it has been a great privilege to have had these experiences.

I am deeply grateful to the many who have encouraged me to do what I am doing, and who are providing support either in friendship, prayer or financially. I'm not only fulfilling a dream of a lifetime, but it's also a privilege to serve God using my vocational skills in this way.

I have a lot more planned yet for the next 9 months. In addition to the completion of the Milamex website, I'm looking forward to a possible project in Costa Rica and a return trip to Guatemala. Of course, my Spanish still isn't what I'd like it to be, so I'll be taking some more lessons in there somewhere as well. I look forward to reporting on all this in due course, stay tuned in the meantime. Just don't count on it seeming more like 5 minutes until l return home again.

Xochimilco Videos

Here's a few sweet clips of the Xochimilco canals for your delight. If you see nothing else, at least take a look at the Mariachis - not to be missed.

Walking through the Trajineras to board (6.6MB)
The Floating Mariachis (4.5MB)
Floating towards the market stop (2.8MB)
Drifting past moored Trajineras (3.4MB)

Illustrator vs Fireworks

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 21:28:00 +0000

Please note: this article is now out of date. However, as of CS4 I still largely concur with many of my findings back in 2006. My view as of today (March 2010) is that Fireworks - even though it appears Adobe markets it more as prototyping software - is still the superior program for generating web template graphics. Photoshop is a bitmap editor and Illustrator is for generating vector illustrations. I think the basic lesson to take away from the comparison here which still stands true today is: 'use the right tool for the right job'.

Shameless plug: drop by Stem Pixel, my web design and development business. All examples of my websites were built using Fireworks, Photoshop and Illustrator, allowing each application be true to itself. If you like my work, I'm available for hire.

So, you're a web designer. You use Macromedia Fireworks to generate your website templates, but have been frustrated that you want a bit more creativity in your layouts. You know Fireworks can generate the sort of vector graphics that might give your work that bit more flair, but lets face it, when it comes to vectors, Adobe Illustrator is King. And what's the point of investing precious time learning the vector tools of Fireworks which will no doubt be more limited in function than Illustrator? Well, if you're that person, then you'd be something like me.

Yes, there is Flash too, which generates vectors very intuitively - but that orients its toolset for animation. If you want an application which will give you the greatest freedom for static creatives, Illustrator has to be the tool for the job.

So if Illustrator is so good, why not use Illustrator rather than Fireworks to generate website templates? Well, this is a question that has been on my mind for sometime, so I sought to find an answer on the internet. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any comparisons that addressed the specific questions that I had, so set out to do a comparison of my own, and this is the result of my findings.

I do not do a full review of each application, rather I just pick up on the points of interest as I sought to try to achieve with Illustrator the types of tasks I might want to do in generating creative website layouts.

For the comparison I used Illustrator CS 2, and Fireworks MX 2004.

The background to my quest

The reason I don't already know how Illustrator stands up as a tool to generate website template graphics is that, despite having designed websites for some years now, it was not until recently that I had the opportunity to learn a fully-fledged vector illustration program.

For many years I have been wanting to learn a professional illustration package such as Freehand or Illustrator, though or one reason or another, with all the twists and turns that life brings, I've never been able to justify the time learning one. Well, in 2003 I acquired my first personally owned copy of Macromedia Studio. I was very excited that it came with Freehand, and thought this would be the time to dive in. However, it was also becoming painfully obvious that Adobe Illustrator was winning the war of the illustration packages. Macromedia had not updated its Freehand for the Studio 2004 release, and soon thereafter Adobe announced it's acquisition of Macromedia - so it was a no brainer really - Freehand was being end-of-lifed, and I was going to have to jump ship to Illustrator if I was to make my learning time a worthwhile investment.

In 2005 I made my first ever purchase of the Adobe CS 2 suite. My decision to purchase (as opposed to 'acquire') was a moral one; I was coming out to work for a Christian organisation here in Mexico, and thought it only right (quite ironic really, as this is the country of pirated software, but hey). So here I am in 2006, and have found the time at last to devote a bit of learning to Illustrator.

Learning Illustrator

I started - as I do with learning any new software - by picking up one of the many tutorial books available. In my case, I used Adobe Illustrator CS2 @Work: Projects You Can Use on the Job from SAMS Publishing. I ran through a few lessons that would help me get up and running quickly, and very slowly, Illustrator began to transform from this strange, foreign, complicated looking program, into something which began to feel more familiar and intuitive.

I began to understand how the tools and palettes worked, and which would be the most useful for me. Slowly, I began to feel like I was the one in control of the creativity and not the limits of my knowledge. I spent time practising and coming to understand the pen tool; I began to learn how to apply strokes and fills, and then apply effects such as blending, warping, masking and so forth.

After having developed some competency with the application, I turned my attention to how to use these skills to generate the type of vector objects, text effects and so forth that I would want to produce in the development of a creative website template.

Creating website graphics with Illustrator

Encouragingly, Adobe provides all the 'basics' to easily allow you to output graphics to the web. As with Fireworks, Illustrator:

offers a 'Pixel Preview', so you can see how the image rasters to a 72dpi screen,
allows you to view colours according to their hexadecimal values (eg #33FF99), and
offers 'Slicing' support, so you can export later on.

Great, I thought. Surely it would just be a matter of creating the text and geometric objects that would compose the template, and using Illustrator's superior creative tools, I could add that bit more magic to my layouts. Well, it's about at this point, after two weeks of labouring with Illustrator and the hope of all its potential, that my dream came to an abrupt, disappointing end.

As I began to generate the first of the 'boxes' that would form the basic framework to the template (page content, section navigation, masthead etc), Illustrator very quickly began to show that it is not an application optimised for generating webpage layouts.

Below, like the strewn-out wreckage from a plane crash, are all the problems that I encountered along the way in trying to generate a website template from Illustrator:

Pixel-level graphics do not render correctly

You draw a box, apply a stroke and fill as you would like to see it exported. However, looking twice at the box, you notice that one of the strokes that makes up the border is in fact feathered to a depth of 2 pixels. Once you've noticed this, you can't un-notice it. This might not sound like a big issue, but often, when you're creating a clean graphic that need to blend invisibly with a CSS-rendered 1-pixel line, this is a big issue, and a seemly silly one for what is a pro-level graphics application.

The documentation explains how Illustrator rasterises according to the position of the rulers etc. But it seems a no-brainer to me. If you have 'pixel-preview' and 'snap-to-pixel' enabled, specify your units of measurement by pixels in the preferences - when drawing a 1-pixel line, you should get a 1-pixel line! I did find one work-around, which was to disable anti-aliasing from the preferences box, but then all my other graphics would be rendered in a 'jagged' way, so this was simply not an option. Frankly, Illustrator does not provide the pixel-level accuracy of Fireworks.

Colours are difficult to choose, mix and apply

No, I'm not a circus entertainer jumping through hoops - but Adobe wants you to be one. That's what it's like to select and mix colours using Illustrator. The colour mixing method is in fact common amongst Adobe apps, and I'm not convinced by it. I won't go too much into the ins-and-outs here (which would merit a blog in it's own right), it just seems that somehow mixing and choosing colours in Fireworks is so vastly easier than in Illustrator. And I mean vastly easier.

In Fireworks, you can just select a new colour from a pop-up swatch, mix it a bit to get a variant, and release to see your chosen colour applied. In Illustrator, for the most part, you have to have select a colour first, create a swatch from it, and then apply it. If you don't like the colour, it's not intuitive or quick to mix a variant.

I think this process of colour selection might be to do with Illustrator's print background - where choosing colours for print was and still is a much more complicated process. Thankfully, choosing colour for screen is much easier, and with Fireworks being a web-era screen-graphics program, it makes colour selection a pleasure rather than a chore.

You need that flexibility to play freely with colours when designing graphics for the web and Illustrator just doesn't provide it - and that's very, very frustrating.

There are no bitmap editing tools

Although a website template is composed predominantly of vector-based objects, it also often needs to incorporate bitmap images such as photographs. Personally, I don't need to tweak bitmap images that much - but I do often need to adjust their levels, colour settings etc, and this is a common task of mine. Although Illustrator allows you to import bitmaps, you just can't do that much with them. This means that Illustrator is dependent on having Photoshop open at the same time to tweak photos. But it gets a pain when you have to keep switching back-and-forth as you experiment with different settings.

Fireworks is a unique application in this respect, that it provides bitmap and vector editing in the same window, thus allowing you to work with photos and geometric objects at the same time. Without even having some of the most basic bitmap editing tools, Illustrator becomes cumbersome when needing to use in conjunction with Photoshop.

Support for applying patterns is limited

Of course, professional illustrators don't need pre-defined anything - they just get on and create what's in their imagination. The thing is, when creating web graphics, you often want to apply some kind of pattern to an object to give it differentiation. Patterns are handy, as they repeat accurately either horizontally or vertically (a useful characteristic in template development), and although Illustrator does support patterns through swatches, there are very few provided out-of-the box.

Fireworks on the other-hand provides a great many patterns together with a handy preview of them when you're selecting one. I considered creating a library of pattern swatches in Illustrator from the Fireworks patterns folder, but you still wouldn't get the preview facility - selecting a pattern from the swatch would be guess work.

Other li'l things

Here's a quick run-down of a few other little niggles I had when trying to use Illustrator to create a website template:

When experimenting with effects applied to objects, there is no way of quickly 'disabling' an effect, and re-enabling it later if you want to come back to it. Effects list in the 'Appearance' palette as they do in Firework's 'live effects' palette, but in Fireworks, you can choose to 'hide' or 'show' an effect - making the creative process much easier.
Dragging objects on-screen just drags their outline. This makes pixel positioning difficult. I often have to drag the object completely out of the way, then move it's outline back to get some semi-useful preview. I would like to find a preference to change this, but I can't.
In Fireworks, you can switch between standard Mac and PC gammas - this might be possible by creating different 'colour spaces' in Illustrator, but it's certainly not intuitive.

Conclusion

So there you have it: Firework is better for creating website templates, hands down.

This test was in no way intended to be a tirade against Illustrator - for the purpose of illustration, it is a very powerful tool (though I might still criticise its usability somewhat). I began this quest with the impression that Illustrator might be the right tool for the job in creating website templates, given its powerful vector illustration capabilities - however in this particular application it is by no means king of the hill.

You could say that I'm comparing one app against another, and not judging Illustrator by its own merits. However, I am trying to compare both apps against common tasks I perform as a web designer. There's no doubt in my mind that Illustrator offers creative controls that I would like Fireworks to have, but by virtue of it's design, if you're going to use Illustrator to produce a website template to your fussy creative satisfaction (which is important!), you're going to be one exhausted, emotionally drained designer by the end of it.

Salvage from the wreckage

The time spent learning wasn't entirely futile, however. I have come to apply much of what I learnt in Illustrator back to Fireworks. Although I don't think the pen tool is quite as flexible in Fireworks, I can now effectively use the pen and direct-selection tools in shaping paths, as they function in a very similar way to the equivalent tools in Illustrator - and if you're going to learn the pen tool, I think Illustrator is probably the better program for it.

Also I have come to understand better the types of work to which Illustrator lends itself. There are many occasions when I want to design small illustrations to complement a template, or add illustrations to particular articles in a webpage - contexts in which Illustrator would apply itself very well.

Final thoughts

In all, Fireworks is a very capable creative application for designing website templates. With superior usability and unique vector and bitmap editing tools within the same interface, the small ways in which it falls behind Illustrator can be forgiven. If something is so important that it needs to be done in Illustrator or another vector app, then that's an option, but for 95% of the task, Fireworks will do the job just as well, with none of the frustration of Illustrator, and in a fraction of the time.

If you found this article useful, or would like to provide feedback, please leave a comment in the space below.

Progress report - the 10 stage plan

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 19:01:00 +0000

I have been promising for sometime to show progress on the Milamex website as it is being developed. I'm writing this as part of a planned series of 'progress' blogs to keep you in touch with what I'm doing. As I put up samples and screenshots of my work, if you have any thoughts or reaction to my ideas that you think would be helpful, this is an opportunity where you can give me feedback.

In this blog I play a little catch-up, as I take you from when the project began back in March, to where I'm at today, but I break it down into nice sub-headed sections, so you can skip to the bits that interest you the most.

The Process

Every website and software development project has what's called a 'project lifecycle', where the development is rationalised into phases. One UK design agency used a 5-stage process when working with my former company, where each stage was branded with a word beginning with 'E'. As I recall, something like: 'Enlighten', 'Envisage', 'Enable', 'Execute' and 'Equip'. Only a design agency could come up with that!

Well, maybe I'm not quite so well branded, but I've identified 10 key stages in my journey of bringing the Milamex website to life. I've hammered through five of the stages so far, with a projected launch date for 'Version 1' of the website in mid-August.

Below I talk a little about what I've done in the five stages already completed.

Stage 1: Consultation

This is quite an important phase, primarily in building my relationship and trust with the client. What I want at the beginning is for the website to be a success at the end, so it's important that we're thinking on the same wavelength, to avoid mis-understandings, false expectations, and make the process a fun and constructive one.

It is here that I ask questions like: What does the client want from the website? Who is the audience? How will the website make a difference to the organisation? After discussion, I often have my own ideas to add, and we discuss all the ideas we bring to the table.

At the end of the primary consultation phase in March with Sally, the mission director, (I say primary, because consultation is really an ongoing process), I had developed a good idea of what's needed to be done. I discuss a little bit about this phase in my earlier post Discovering Milamex.

At this stage, I also take client through a few visuals - either past websites I have designed, websites of other organisations in a similar market, or some plain conceptual websites. One great site I look to for inspiration as a designer is CSS Zen Garden, a wonderful fountain of conceptual website designs that always challenges me to be more creative. I took Sally through a number of visuals, and it gave me a good idea for her taste of colours, designs and layouts etc.

Stage 2: Planning timescales and deliverables

If I were designing a website as a freelance project, it would be very important to plan how long a project would take, and what I could actually achieve in a given timeframe, not least from the point of view of charging for the work. However, with Milamex, I'm not quite so bound by these constraints, as I have ample time, and am not charging for it! However, I am driven by a desire to serve God, and want to deliver a website that glorifies Him.

To deliver a website that will best serve Milamex, one of the skill areas I need to improve on is in programming. Although I have built up a lot of programming experience in recent years (including having attained an MSc in Computing), one of the things I need to do for the Milamex website is develop some type of database-driven content management system (CMS), an area which I've not ventured much into in the past. My timescales therefore need to factor in time for training in this area.

In April, it was my plan to spend some weeks/months refreshing my programming knowledge and develop the skills to design a CMS. However, as reported in my Guatemala post, one decision I made after returning from the Latin Link retreat in early May, which I strongly feel was lead by God, was to deliver a website in phases, so we could get a basic version launched sooner, with a more advanced version delivered in stages thereafter.

The idea here is that whilst I am developing more advanced functionality for the website, a simpler version (which to the public eye, won't be that much simpler) could be live, serving Milamex sooner. The principle type of functionality I need to develop thereafter is one which will allow Milamex to maintain the website themselves, and whilst this is essential for the longer term, it needn't be in place for day one.

On discussion with Sally, we have planned to launch a 'Version 1' of the website sometime during mid-August this year, allowing me to work on much of the 'back-end' functionality in the months ahead.

Stage 3: Site architecture design

My favourate part would be to jump straight into the visual design of the website. I really enjoy the visually creative part, but I hang back on this, as the most important part of the website is of course the actual 'content'. As Vincent Flanders puts it 'Content is King'.

Having talked during the initial consultation about what information we are going to put on the website, and what we'd like it to do, at this stage I think about how to best structure that information in a heirarchy of pages and sub-folders.

There is a balance to be found, as in my highly logical mind, I am tempted to structure information into a deep nest of accurately categorised sub-folders. The problem here though is one of usability, as people don't really want to be clicking 4 or 5 levels deep to find the information they need. Likewise, I need to bear in mind how the website might grow, and don't want to be doing a major re-organising of the site because I had developed too rigid a structure from the start. Conversely though, I'm not a great fan of 'flat' websites, where every page sits at one level, with a long list to choose from. I do like some structure, so the trick was in finding a balance.

In early May, after working through a number of options with Sally, I came up with a structure that I think balanced well a folder hierarchy with the flexibility of a flat structure. See this Tree diagram (PDF), showing how I propose to break down each key page of the proposed website. The word 'Inicio' in the diagram refers to 'Homepage', which sits at the top of the structure.

Stage 4: Page layout design

Here I jump into my first bit of visual design. Though it could be left to a later stage, I think it's helpful for the client to visualise how the website might look. The website design process in its early stages is quite a theoretical one, with lots of discussion and writing, but where possible, I like to keep things as visual too, to keep the client 'inspired'.

Not to be confused with graphic design, page layout design shows how I might arrange the the various blocks of information on the page. In a website, you have common page areas such as the 'masthead', which may contain the branding, the navigation area, the main page body, and areas for auxiliary information such as search boxes. How this information is laid-out on the page is affected to some extent by the site architecture, so builds on the decisions made during that stage.

I produce page layouts as 'wireframe' diagrams, avoiding as much as possible any use of colour, styled text or other aesthetic consideration. I'm always amazed by this, but the one thing I consistenty experience in clients is how easily they get hung up over colours - almost as if that was more important than what will actually be on the website. Keeping diagrams as wireframes at this stage helps the client focus on what is important - I don't think you can really discuss colours effectively (and other graphics issues), until you have a better idea of what information is going to be on the page and how it's going to be arranged.

For Milamex I produced a proposed layout for the homepage, and two layouts for how the rest of the site would look. Click on the links below to see these wireframe diagrams (small GIF format images), then click on the 'back' button, to return to this page:

I presented these ideas to Sally in mid-May, and after some discussion the homepage idea was approved, and 'Page layout concept 2' was chosen as the template for the rest of the pages. Although, as ideas evolve, the final website may actually differ to some extent from what's shown here, these provide a good starting point from which to begin the design.

Stage 5: Page writing guidance

The last stage before I develop some proposed visual designs is to commission the actual writing of the pages themselves. Although the website is much more than an 'online brochure', there are still a fair wack of pages to write text for. The client is responsible for writing the text, though I want to bring my knowledge of how to write text for the web, before they start. I advise in ways to help make text as usable and readable as possible. I recommend on what key topics need to be discussed, how each page relates to the other, and how the information might be structured on the page. Furthermore, there are some tricks in text writing to improve listings on search engines like Google, which clients are always interested in learning.

With Milamex, I produced page writing guidance for each key page of the website (about 30 in total), as listed in the Tree diagram from Stage 3. I know that Sally, who will be doing the writing, is an extremely busy person. She doesn't really have the time to think from a blank slate on each of these pages, so the fact that I've done the ground work here, I believe will be a great help for her getting the pages written. I presented these to Sally a couple of weeks ago, so for a mid-August launch of Version 1, I'm hoping that she can have these pages back to me by about the end of July. But with all the deadlines that make that lovely 'swooshing' noise as they pass on by, we'll see if it happens ;-)

But at least while Sally's writing the pages, I can be getting on with my favourate bit, the design.

Where I'm at today

So here I am in early June, a mid-point of getting a 'Version 1' website complete. The remaining stages of the project are as follows:

Stage 6: Visual design concepts
Stage 7: Implementation - where I go ahead and develop the website
Stage 8: User testing
Stage 9: Bug fixing
Stage 10: Launch

The visual design stage is quite exciting for me, but it can also be a bit frustrating if I'm lacking in creative ideas! I plan to give Sally 3 or 4 visuals from which we can work. No doubt the choice of colours will be a lively topic, but at the end, we will have a template on which we can build the design of the new Milamex website.

In my next progress update, I will put up screenshots of some proposed visuals developed during Stage 6, and discuss the thinking behind them.

If you've not guessed by now, I'm quite a methodical person.

Advertising

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Tue, 30 May 2006 17:34:00 +0000

You know those irritating websites you see more and more these days which have those little boxes on them with advertisements placed by Google? Well, I've just become one of them. No, seriously, I'm trying it out. I'm cash-strapped, earning no money, and it requires very little effort on my behalf, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I have been considering advertising for a while, but have been reluctant. Is it appropriate to put secular adverts on a Christian website? Moreover, am I going to irriate my visitors with their presence? Well, I'm going to do this for a trial period, and see how it goes. I've tried to position adverts so they're visible, but not over-invasive.

The adverts are 'content-targeted', which means Google tries to place adverts that are relevant to the content of the page. Whilst this is a very effective technique, it does have it's drawbacks. How ironic (and dare I say counter-productive) if there were adverts for the Jehova's Witnesses, or Mormons on pages where I talk about my Christian faith because Google, when analysing the content of the page, can't differentiate between Christianity and it's deviations. I know I try to encourage people to think for themselves when it comes to Christianity, but I don't particularly want to roll out the red carpet and point people in the wrong direction, either!

According to Google rules, I can't say anything to encourage visitors to click on these links, as advertisers pay a small amount for each click on their advert. So in Google spirit, only click-through if it's stuff that interests you.

Well, I'll roll with this for a while and see how it goes. And if the advertising bothers you, we'll talk about it in my mansion, after I've become a millionaire (cough).

Guatemala

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Thu, 18 May 2006 22:25:00 +0000

www.flickr.com

As briefly mentioned in my last post, I had the opportunity to visit Guatemala at the beginning of this month to attend the first ever Latin Link conference in Central America. The conference ran from 1st - 4th May, but I arrived on Sunday 30th April, and hung around till the 5th of May, which gave me time to see a few more interesting bits and pieces.

See my photos on Flickr.com and videos at the end of this blog.

Though I'd known about the conference for some weeks, I was not sure I'd be going, as I was in a wrangle with LL over whether I should travel by air (more expensive but only a 2 hour journey), or by coach (24 hour journey but cheaper). Well, in the 11th hour, it was eventually agreed that the coach option was infeasable, so I bought my tickets and went by plane.

Visiting Guatemala comes hot off the heels of me visiting Cuba just two months earlier, and I'd hardly got my rucksack unpacked before I was filling it up again. Although Guatemala may not be quite as prolific as Cuba, I found myself very quickly developing an affection for this country.

Chicken buses, indigenous clothing, green grass - sights which I'm just not accustomed to in Mexico City, all enchanted me as I settled into Guatemala. It was also nice to be breathing fresh air again. On all these things though, I'll let the photos speak for the beauty of this country.

Little britain

One of the greatest treats of visiting Guatemala was not just about having the opportunity to visit another country and culture. Within 30 seconds of me walking into a room on the first day and being introduced to the British-born team-leaders, I was being offered a cup of tea. Yes, a real cup - made with PG Tips. I couldn't believe it. In Mexico, they just don't get tea. It's something herbal you drink without milk. So what joy it was to meet other Brits, have a cup of tea and not have people look at you funny when you put milk in it.

Then there was the humour. That sweet British cynicism that's so easily mis-interpreted across cultures. It's funny, cos Mexican's often describe british culture as 'cold' and 'unfriendly'. It's understandable - and I would agree to some extent. But I think one thing they don't get is our humour. I was recounting to my team leaders about how every Sunday our Church in Mexico has a 'welcome' song that we sing at the end of each service. By the second verse of the song (which eveyone knows off by heart), people start turning round and hugging each other, and this is how the service ends. Very sweet I hear you say. How lovely. And compare that to the Anglican 'peace', and the Brits are the misery capital of the world. But multiply this Latin American saccarine by every single Sunday, and it starts to feel a bit much. And that was just the reaction I got from the team leaders when I told them this story. "Oh my goodness" they cried, "that reminds me of the dreadful welcome song we used to sing in Costa Rica". Upon this, they began to bellow out the words of this song in beautiful mis-harmony, recalling 'friendlier' times. It was nice to be back in cynical company!

Getting back on track

Although I couldn't be further from home, meeting other British Christians working in Latin America really helped make me feel as though I could be home. We could relate stories together, and pray for each other. It was also uncanny for me as each of the four team leaders knew my home town of Bedworth in Warwickshire, as they themselves had mostly come from the Midlands area. It seemed truly ironic to be talking about Bedworth whilst we sat in a restaurant surrounded by native central american indians.

However, the retreat was not only a time to relax and take a deep breath, but was also very useful for me from a work point of view. This was my first opportunity to meet Ian Darke, a member of Latin Link working in the field of Christian publishing throughout Latin America. After having only a vague idea of the needs of the Christian Church in Latin America for web development, this was the first time I really had to talk with someone who could give me guidance on where my skills might be in demand in the future. It was also a chance to talk about Milamex, the mission where I currently work, and compare what they're doing with other initiatives within LA.

One upshot of this time in Guatemala has been a slight re-prioritising of my tasks in the short term. I had been planning to invest some months in improving my programming skills to launch a feature-complete website for Milamex later in the year. I have now re-juggled this a little, to provide a feature-limited version by about August this year, and work on building in back-end functionality after its launch. This is now the plan I am currently working on, and it was in part thanks to the retreat which gave me the space to re-think my game a little.

Returning to Guatemala

At the end of the week, Chris and Nikki Adlam, Latin Linkers working in Antigua invited me back to visit again some time. As Mexico borders with Guatemala, apart from the arduous 24 coach ride, it's quite easy to go and visit. It may also be an opportunity at trying my hand with working with street children, a project they are involved with in Guatemala City. Although I think God has given me gifts in web development that I am currently putting to use, it can feel a bit dry stuck in an office, away from the real world that is crying for God's help, so this would be something that might be good for me to try out. Besides which, I could also climb the local volcano dominating the skyline of Antigua that I didn't get chance to climb this time.

As throughout Latin America, Guatemala has massive social, economic and moral problems. It feels good to be working with charities that are trying to combat these issues, and helping to share the message of hope that comes with the Christian gospel. But also Guatemala and its people is a beautiful country to visit, and if I get chance to take Chris & Nikki up on their invitation, I will.

Videos

Below is a selection from some of the many videos I took during my stay in Guatemala. For the best file-size to quality ratio, I've used quite recent compression formats, so ensure you have QuickTime updated with the latest version.

A view of Lake Atitlan, Panajachel, with volcanoes in the distance (1.8MB)
Boat trip on Lake Atitlan with the Latin Link group (1.9MB)
Travelling through the countryside from Panajachel to Antigua (8.8MB)
Patzún town hall (788k)
Patzún market place (920k)
Looking over the Patzún townscape from the Church (1.5MB)
Antigua from the rooftops (1.4MB)

A friend gone home

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Thu, 11 May 2006 01:21:00 +0000

This is a quick update to reflect on some tragic news which I received today. A fellow Latin Link volunteer working in Peru, and someone I knew a little as a friend, Steve Corbin, died in the early hours of this morning.

According to news which came by email from our head office, Steve was collecting a football which had landed on a rooftop, when he fell and injured his head. He was taken to hospital, but died in the early hours of this morning.

I know this is one of those things you always here when someone dies, but my immediate thoughts go to his family and close friends. I know what it's like to be out in Latin America, living in a more dangerous part of the world, and having family back home worrying about me, so I pray fervently that his family know God's peace at this time.

At about 22 (I'm not sure exactly), Steve was an exciting and passion lad. Not only did he have a bit of bling with the ladies from what I remember, but he was keen to share the Gospel, and serve God. He was full of potential to grow in his faith and God's service, and you're left wondering why someone with so much to offer was taken from us so soon.

He sent his latest email newsletter only last week, and it felt like he was very close to us, as he enthused (as I do) about what he was getting up to.

Yesterday he was with us, and just like that, he is now with God. It is comforting to know he is in the care of the one true loving God, but hard for us here on earth, who have to come to terms with this great loss. Life is so fragile, and it's this fact which is playing around in my mind the most at this time.

For those of you who pray, please pray particularly for his family and friends, who must be suffering immense grief. Please also pray for the other Latin Link volunteers, as we come to terms with this news over the next few days and weeks.

God willing, I'll be back in touch again shortly with an update and photos on a visit I made to Guatemala last week: a trip which I didn't think was going to happen until two days before I left. But at this time, please remember those in prayer who I have mentioned above.

God bless.

Digesting the digital divide

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 02:32:00 +0000

I was listening to TheWorld.org technology podcast the other day and heard an interesting article about recent research into the 'digital divide' and the difference between how computers, the internet and technology are being used between developing and developed nations.

Over the years a common assumption has been that with the growth of the internet, and the transformance of the world into an 'information society', developing countries would be better equipped to compete with the developed world and pull themselves out of poverty. The university study which was featured on the podcast however has shown that, in collating data over the last 10 years or so, there is still a sizeable digital gap.

This finding in itself is not particularly surprising, but the research throws more light on the nature of the divide. For example, in its first key finding, it was observed that the equality of personal computer distribution in the world has actually worsened between 2000-2005. On the flip side though, the distribution of mobile phones has improved significantly, and is the primary means of technology in the hands of many everyday people in the developing world.

There are many great and varied reasons for trends such as these, and a key intention of the report is to help aid organisations and official bodies direct their resources more effectively.

Computer use in Latin America

Research like this is of particular interest to me, as I measure the impact of what I'm doing here in Latin America as a web designer, and in what direction I should best be focusing my efforts.

As such, I was particularly drawn to their fourth key finding. This in summary found that 'developing countries put more content online than into books'. The results were most distinctive for Latin America. By comparing book production with the number of web hosts, it found that whereas between 1997-2003 book production had increased by 25%, the number of web hosts has increased by whopping 2532%.

This is a curious finding, as according to the study, it's not the cheapest thing to use the internet in Latin America. For example, whereas the cost of using an internet cafe for one hour in London costs between 4-13% of an average daily income, in Mexico City it costs between 4-24% of an average daily income. In Buenos Aires it is between 11-26%, and in Sao Paulo that increases to 34%. And if you're in Cuba, forget it. My own experience a month or so back meant that for 2 or 3 US dollars, I got just half an hour. Bear in mind that most Cubans probably earn a fraction of that in a day, I don't think they get much chance to surf the web in their free time. Though Cuba maybe is an exception.

Whatever the costs, internet use does seem to be very popular here in Latin America. Anecdotally, a retiring missionary from Brazil told me last year that he was able to file his tax returns over the web in 1996 - when the internet was just a twinkle in the eye of the UK government.

What does this mean for me?

Well, this is all information to keep an eye on. I don't think it will have a great impact on the work I do for the moment, but with the internet evolving so quickly, I never like to take my eye off where things are going.

The exponential growth of web hosts here in Latin America may be one reason why my services are in demand, but I still lack solid information about actual internet use here, and how it is penetrated in the culture. Is this just Latin America's own 'dot com' bubble? Or is there a real critical mass of internet users here for which I am developing useful web services? I don't mean to be cynical, but I think these are useful questions to ask.

One benefit of my work here maybe to put publications online that we otherwise would not have the finance to put into print. It may also be that, in response to research such as this, I find myself developing more services for mobile phones in the future. It's interesting to see what the next 10 years will bring - let's just hope that the developing world will be a little more developed by then.

Silence

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 05:13:00 +0000

This is an unashamed complaint. Please bear with me.

Q: What do you get when you put a Mexican in a room with a loud music sterio and a hammer?
A: A very happy Mexican.

Silence. I had to look this word up in the dictionary the other day, as I had forgotton what it was. I don't know why it is, but Mexicans are die-hard DIY'ers. They need their hammer and sterio fix, or they'll go mad, I swear.

I had it in the last house I lived in. Our neighbour upstairs thought nothing of it to hammer away at his plumbing at 3am in the morning right above my bedroom. Each 'klunk' would resonate through my skull, just to keep reminding me I was alive. Not that I wanted to be reminded of that at 3 in the morning mind. But that was just on occasion.

As I sit and write this, I have a loud radio and hammering noise coming from the front yard of the house where I live, and booming hammering and another loud radio reverberating through the walls from the house adjoining to the back of my bedroom.

It would be ok if this was the exception to the rule, but there is at least one set of hammers and sterios going at it somewhere in sound-privacy-invasion-shot of my room at most times during the day, nearly every day.

And even that might be ok, if it wasn't for the music at night. Oh yes. Fling open the windows, crank up the volume "Let's keep people awake at night!" I hear them chant in fits of giggled laughter with their mouth frothing with delight. Last Friday, the music actually didn't stop the whole night long. But don't worry, everything was ok, as I was greeted by hammering again at 8:30am the next morning.

Now, whenever I catch a bit of silence, I tend to think it's a blank slate, waiting for someone to paint on it.

The amazing thing is, the only time it usually stops for any reasonable length is Saturday night/Sunday morning, and that's when I need to get up for Church!

Mexicans are the true Picassos of noise. I've no idea on this earth why God chose to put someone like me in the centre of a city like this. Perhaps I'll learn to tolerate it one day. Or perhaps I'll go deaf first. I bet even the deaf can hear this though.

Well, I think I'll go and listen to some music now. Hang on, I'll just go and open the window.

Discovering Milamex

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 04:40:00 +0000

In late March I found time to sit down with the Sally Isais, director of Milamex, and discuss strategically the website.

I find that discussing a new website with clients is quite an enlightening experience for them. In order for me to get an idea for how it should be structured, presented, what it should 'do' and so forth, I often ask probing questions about who the company is, it's history, structure and vision for the future etc. I find that this is quite a soul-searching experience for the client, as they often haven't given much thought to these questions in a systematic way for some time.

This was the same for Milamex, and we ended up discussing everything from how easy it would be to sell books online to how the mission statement is phrased. For example, their strapline 'not to be served, but to serve', though very biblical and noble, doesn't for me capture much about 'who' Milamex really is, or what they do.

As I asked Sally about their past, I discovered that one of the great passions of her late father who founded the mission was not that he himself should be a great preacher, but that he should teach others how to share the gospel in their own communities. Apparently he was a very gifted evangelist, and could have easily been the 'Billy Graham' of Latin America for the reputation he held, but chose to invest his time instead in showing how each person can share their faith, each using the gifts they have, and in developing a ministry to resource this goal.

This gem of knowledge began to capture my imagination, as I began to see how the various tentacles of Milamex pivoted around this vision. A strapline such as 'resourcing Christians to fulfil their potential in Christ', or something like that, would seem to me more relevant somehow.

Little things, but I think they're important in shaping how the organisation sees itself. Well, I'm working through some of these ideas with Sally now, and we'll see what comes of it.

I should say, and rightly so, that Milamex has been wary of using overly-commercialised marketing techniques to further it’s reach. This has resonated with me, as often I have felt uncomfortable in the past at some aspects of the commercial Christian sub-culture I see in the UK. The only thing is, I don't want to put out something drab and grim, for fear of being over glamorous, so I guess it's about finding the right tone.

I'll touch more on this maybe in a later update, but it's of note that while Milamex are struggling to make ends meet, they want to distribute reading materials and provide other resources for as little cost to the reader as possible. Their hope is that the skills I can bring will not only widen the reach of the gospel, but also help improve their financial situation, though in doing all of this, I'd like to do it in a way that is of Christ.

On the development side, I now have a better idea of the structure of Milamex, it's direction for the future, audience, and some of the things we want to achieve with the website.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be developing the architecture, visuals and testing technologies for it's implementation. I'll give some more info on it's progress, with links to some pictures of how its coming along, in a future update.

Technical frustrations

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 04:39:00 +0000

Reviewing my time here, I've been in Mexico for just over 6 months now, and have about 1 year left, or a bit more at a stretch. It feels like my time is racing past. Though it doesn't feel like I've achieved that much as yet, as in part, getting things achieved here has been a little like wading through mud.

With my arrival to the mission, Milamex saw this as an opportunity to 'modernise' themselves. There are about 12 or so people who work full time in the office, and we recently had broadband fitted, not only for my benefit as web designer, but for the others too.

With my marketing hat on, one of the first things I identified was that we had no corporate email addresses, even though we have ownership of a website name. Our website is www.milamex.com (which incidentally, is still sporting the design of an early contractor who failed to finish the job) but all our addresses were at AOL, which seemed somehow unprofessional to me, and inconsistent. AOL charge the earth for access, and I didn't like how we were tied to them for our email addresses.

So my first task in the new year was to set people up with milamex.com addresses as a shift away from the money guzzling AOL. But this was a pain in itself, as I was struggling to get in touch with the person who could give me access privileges to create these new email accounts. Then it was a hard time configuring people's computers, because many of the staff use second-hand 'donated' PCs, with various limitations. I found myself scouring the web for legacy Windows 95 software, and then wondering how to install it, as there is no way of connecting my USB flash-disk to a Windows 95 machine.

Of course, then there's the issue of viruses. Since we're now a 'connected' office, suddenly everyone's PCs were getting infected left, right and centre. However, because some of the machines don't have original copies of Windows on them (quite normal in Latin America), we were unable to upgrade them with the Microsoft security patches. Being a Mac user, and having enjoyed a virus-free life all these years, I never realised just what PC users have to put up with! No way man, I couldn't live like that. I'm getting things fixed slowly, but the story goes on...

I know the above couple of paragraphs may have lost some of you, but I wanted to illustrate some of the frustrations that I have found working for a non-profit organisation in Latin America.

I think I'm getting on top of things now, but it has been a concern, as I don’t really want to while-away my next year 'firefighting' PC issues when I think I should be focusing on projects that will bring more lasting benefits.

A Spanish-speaking odyssey

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 04:37:00 +0000

This is the journey of my language speaking so far.

I'm pleased to report my language skills have noticeably improved over the past few months. Although my speaking is still a bit hit and miss, I can get by, and have a sufficient vocabulary to express most things I need to say.

I always felt that a threshold point would be where I would have sufficient fluency that if there was something I didn't understand, or know how to express, I could express it in more simple terms, and I would understand the explanation - thus not needing to turn to a dictionary or translator every time.

I think that I am nearing that point now. Probably my greatest weakness is in comprehension. The best conversations I have are with those who know to use more straightforward words, and know to speak a bit slower. If I meet someone who does not appreciate my level of spanish, I'm less likely to understand what they say.

For this reason, my ability to converse with people I don't know (such as in a shop), or to converse over the phone, is more limited, and I still have to keep pushing myself past the confidence barrier in those contexts.

I'll be taking some private classes in the evening from now on to keep brushing up, and keep optimistic that I will be more fluent in another 3 months or so.

You'll know when I've arrived, when my website becomes bi-lingual!

Reflections on Cuba

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 21:18:00 +0000

www.flickr.com

I've been back in Mexico for nearly two weeks now after returning from Cuba, and I put to paper here some of my reflections on this remarkable other-world.

I should say we only had opportunity to visit Havana, so I can't report on Cuba in the holistic sense, but I had reactions to Havana alone sufficient to fill a book.

Included in this report are links to photographs and videos. You can skip to all my photos now at Flickr.com (though pictures don't tell the story that needs to be told), or see my videos at the end of this report.

A place of dreams

I guess many people have a dream to visit some place they hold as magical in their mind. Romantic notions of visiting a foreign land, or maybe influences from early childhood play a role in shaping those dreams. That was true to some extent for me in my desire to live and work in Latin America - though as a Christian I have moreover sought to see if this is rooted in a deeper calling from God.

What I didn't know until very recently is that Havana is a place I've always wanted to visit. Well how could that be? Perhaps it's because I never thought visiting Cuba a real possibility. The desire has floated in the land of make-believe not really making a connection with the land of real-possibilities.

However, when the proposition to visit Cuba was put to me in November last year, little sparks of magic wonder-stuff started firing in my brain, and I was inexplicably drawn to parting with nearly my whole holiday budget for the next year-and-a-half to experience just 4 days of Havana goodness. I don't know why. A gravitation in my teens towards the music of Gloria Estefan (of Cuban descent), a bewonderment of the iconic Che Guevara image, and more recently my passion for Salsa dancing suddenly fused together in all it's Latin American gooeyness to make this an opportunity not to be missed. Plus I was told the women are quite hot too.

First impressions

I knew I was entering a communist country. I knew Cuba has a controvertial history. I knew there was one world that the Cuban government wanted us to see, and another world that wants to be seen. I just hadn't given it that much thought.

Accompanying me to Cuba were two fellow Latin Link volunteeers working in Mexico - Graham Young and Joey Marris. As we were chauffeured from the airport to the centre of Havana, I was keen to spot the housing and everyday life of Cubans that we would pass along the way. Sure enough, as I looked out of the car window, we passed some pretty awful housing estates. High rise concrete buildings, crumbling and semi-derelict, but clearly still in use. The streets were eerily quiet, with just a few people walking about. The same could be said for the motorway we were travelling on, which seemed to have very few cars on it. For such an impoverished world, I was suprised to learn that the crime rate is very low. Admittedly it was a Sunday, but it all still seemed too quite somehow. That being said, there were no complaints from me. Having just come from a dirty, polluted, over-populated, and crime ridden city - to see palm trees, green fields and to breathe fresh air; to see a world of peace and placidity as we passed on by - sheer heaven.

Things began to bustle up as we approached the centre of Havana, and we began to take in with some awe the grandeur and majesty of this crumbling colonial city. What suprised us most though was to see our hotel. An agency in Mexico had arranged the holiday on our behalf, and we really knew very little about where we would be staying. What we were presented with though was a stay at the oldest hotel in Havana, the four-star Hotel Inglaterra. The "I'm not worthy" feeling began to creep to mind, followed shortly after by the realisation "Ahh, that's where all my money went".

After settling into the palace, and taking in the grand view from my balcony (photo, video), we took our first steps into this magical new world.

Entering a socialist world

As all three of us had come from Mexico where everything is very cheap; we had hoped Cuba would be the same. However Cuba uses two currencies - one for locals, and one for tourists. Because we were using the 'tourist' currency, shops and restaurants where we could spend the money charged prices more on a par with the UK than Mexico. Suddenly, not only did we feel massively cheated, but our shoe-string budgets were stretched to the limit.

Looking for our first lunch, we traipsed around the city until we found a restaurant with reasonable prices. We sat down in an Italian restaurant and began to ponder on this divide between Cubans and foreigners, and particularly on the socialist world in which the Cubans are trapped. I began to ask myself questions I have never needed to ask before in any other country.

How does a Cuban really know what an Italian restaurant is, when the country is so cut off from the outside world? Or how was it that I could be served branded Coke, when sanctions mean Coke can't do business with Cuba? My questions got broader. What is it that motivates people to do a good job, if everyone is paid more-or-less the same wage from the state? Why is there not massive corruption? I started to feel uneasy that the Cubans serving us in the restaurants, or in the hotel, were really so much poorer than ourselves, and did not have the same rights (or financial means) to visit other countries as we had to visit theirs.

Thinking on this over the next couple of days, I began to feel tourists were simply being exploited as a cash-generator by Castro, and began to even question if coming to Cuba was a right thing.

Touching history

With all the new questions that I had about socialism though, you couldn't help but feel that you were experiencing a slice of living history. Fidel Castro, the same leader in power today, was the same leader who fought with Che Guevara in the revolution of Cuba in 1959. The same leader who co-operated with the Russians against John F Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis, is still alive and in power today. And because of the lack of any real development in the country, it felt like you were visiting a land stuck in time. It was amazing to feel that somehow I was connecting with a history that pre-dates my years (cos, you know, I'm still really young), even though for me, that history presents moral ambiguities.

Worlds apart

It was both awe-inspiring, and yet saddening to walk around a city that would have once been the bustle of life, but now is left in ruin. Doing a straight comparison with Mexico City, the two worlds couldn't be farther apart. Where in Mexico the streets would be lined with vendors - literally everywhere - Havana is near deserted. I think particularly of the promenade (photo, video) that lead from our hotel to the coast, and how it just sat in ruin.

Walking the streets, the teem of life just wasn't there that you'd expect from a capital. Although in the heart many streets bustled somewhat, walking away from the tourist district, it just seemed to be a 'Sunday afternoon' wherever you went - people sitting on door steps, wandering around, playing stick-and-ball. A city that a long time ago had been invaded by the body-snatchers. Quite haunting.

In all this though, the Cuban Government seems to want to convey an image of 'normality' as much as possible - from bookshops to museums - we even saw a video of a Cuban 'boy-band' at one point - the official message seemed to be 'everything is ok'. But enter a bookshop or a museum, it was clear that government has a tight grip on any kind of written material. If a book expressed a political view (and most of them were political), it was always an apologetic for socalism, or some sort of decry of the United States. When we visited the 'Museum of the Revolution' on our last day, it was amazing even to read the government-spun language of the museum exhibits.

McDonalds-free-zone

On the flip-side though, it was a beauty to behold a country that has not yet been globalised. At least, not by US companies. What a pleasure it was to walk from street to street, without being bombarded by Coke advertising, McDonalds, Starbucks, Kentucky Fried Chicken. It felt somehow as though we had escaped - that we were truly on holiday.

This lead us to debate some of the virtues of a socialist world. We suddenly came to realise how our lives in the 'West' had been overrun by global companies, and that the world somehow was not a better place because of it. We began to lament how, if Cuba were freed from the grip of socialism, it would soon degenerate into a world where the horizon would not be lit up by hills and trees, but a pair of golden arches and a giant inflatable burger. Why? Because if McDonald's didn't do it, someone else would.

Though capitalism is pretty good for freedom of enterprise, ask a family begging on the streets of Mexico, and they might beg to differ. As a Christian working in Latin America, I couldn't help but ask, if Castro came to liberate, how would Jesus do it? In asking this question, I began to compare and contrast between Castro's world, and that which Jesus came to build two thousand years ago.

The mythical third way?

The basic idea behind Communism is quite good: that wealth should be better distributed so that no-one should suffer in poverty. What cripples communism though is that it is a system based on control, rather than freedom. Put a human being at it's head, and corruption creeps in. People are denied basic human rights to maintain good order, and communism becomes no more of an effective system as is a prison with a bad warden. Of course, this is one reason behind why we have democracy in the West, and corruption is still a problem even then.

Jesus often spoke about the 'kingdom of heaven', refered to prominently in the gospel of Matthew. This kingdom is not so much a place, as a 'new order' of things, a new relationship between humanity and God, that overflows into our relationships with each other. In comparing between how Jesus ushered in the kingdom of heaven, and how Castro established his own earthly kingdom, I began to observe the difference essentially between how we do things as humans, and how God does things.

Where Castro took a country by means of force and sought to liberate it from US 'imperialism', Jesus took the world by means of love, and in laying down his life, liberated it from the grip of sin.

Whereas the Cuban government needs to virtually imprison the people for its system to work, the kingdom of heaven is freely given. Jesus said "The kingom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." (Mat. 13:44).

It seemed ironic to me that Cubans should idolise a deceased Che Guevara - the symbol of the revolutionary spirit - with more iconography than a Catholic, whereas I believe there is one true revolutionary, Jesus Christ, who not only gave his life for us, but rose from the dead to offer us the hope of eternal life today. For some reason it's cool to pay respects to Che (yes, I bought the t-shirt too), but it's not cool to do the same for Jesus.

Communism suffers in part because it is ruled by a fallible human being. As a Christian though, I believe that in Christ, the servant-king, we have the perfect leader. Jesus said "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11). By submission to him, we have one who knows both the best interests for this world, and our own lives. Jesus said "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35). When we can find rest in Christ, and put him at the centre of our decision making, we become truly free.

Reflections on Cuba

Of course, Christians regularly fail the seemingly no-brainer task of obeying Jesus, me included. But we fail in the confidence of being able to come back to a loving, forgiving Father.

Ultimately, I looked at Cuba and saw an idealism in communism that cannot, I believe, work in the hands of a human dictator. This helped me to value more the freedom that I enjoy, but also to realise more the responsibility that comes with being a Christian, to stand up against the sin at the heart of world's injustices, such as the oppression of the poor, and model ourselves to a better way, the way of Christ. Now there's a revolution.

Reflecting on Cuba

If the length of this report is any indication, Havana left a deep impression on me. It was everything I dreamed it would be, and I had to pinch myself many times to check I was not actually dreaming. From the moment I stepped out onto my hotel balcony, I'd become like Alice in Wonderland. The encaptivating carribean-latin music that drifted through the streets was remeniscent of my salsa dance classes a year before, and the friendliness we found in the local people, all lent to an experience I was very privileged to receive.

The opportunity to have a glimpse into such a beautiful but crumbling world, and to experience a microcosm of socialism today left me with many thoughts and impressions which will stay with me and affect me for some time.

By the way, Cuban women are nice, but I think I prefer Mexican girls.

Videos

These videos were taken with my Sony Ericsson K700i camera-phone. Although they're low resolution, they give a good 'feel' of being there. You'll need QuickTime to view them.

Flying over the Gulf of Mexico (224k)
Flying over clouds - a tranquil view of the clouds from above (360k)
The view from my hotel balcony (356k)
Walking down the promenade from our hotel to the coast (264k)
Sat at the edge of the sea (492k)
Walking towards the John Lennon memorial park (240k)
Plaza de la Revolución 1 (236k)
Plaza de la Revolución 2 (920k)
A typical Havanan city street (404k)
View of Havana from our hotel rooftop (252k)

Return from Cuba

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 00:30:00 +0000

Below are a few taster shots of my stay in Cuba earlier this week.

Above: the sea front running across the length of Havana.

Above: one of a sea of crumbling colonial buildings that typify the architecture of central Havana.

Above: a Havanan street typified with Habaneros lazing about, sitting on their doorsteps.

Happy to report I returned home safely on Thursday morning. The James Bond in me was half wanting our plane to be blockaded by swarms of police cars before take-off, on the suspicion that I would be a dangerous anti-Castro reporter. Sadly (and gladly), that did not happen.

We did however take photos of many things that would be regarded politically sensitive, and on a few occasions were ushered to move on by the police. I recall the incident a few years ago of British tourists being arrested in Greece on the accusation of photographing in the wrong places, and frankly I think we were quite lucky at times to not have our cameras taken from us.

The photos from my 'fun' cam are currently being developed, but I'll post a full update (with pictures & videos) of my experiences and thoughts about Cuba soon. In the meantime I'll leave you with two (very low quality) videos taken with my camera-phone. You will need QuickTime to view them, but they're pretty cool I think.

The view from my hotel balcony (356k)
Walking around the 'Plaza de la Revolución' (920k)

If you're having problems with the videos, leave a comment below, and I'll try to reply with a solution.

Reporting from Havana

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 23:14:00 +0000

Saludos de Cuba. I wasn't sure whether I would find internet access here, but there are in places. I have a friend working in this country at the moment, and he tells me that all internet communications are monitored by the government. This also includes any post he sends or receives, which is first opened at the post office before it reaches its destination. So I need to write with a bit of care. One means the government has in controlling internet information is to make it very expensive to use - I can only afford 30 minutes to write this article. So, what I can say is that it is truly amazing to be here. As I write this, I have the sound of live Cuban music drifting from across the street. Habana, the capital, is indeed a vibrant and captivating place to be. The streets are very safe to walk about any time of day (unlike Mexico City), and for me, its literally a breath of fresh air to be both by the coast, at sea level, and not breathing in smog with every breath! It's a beautiful and haunting city. It was also amazing to be able to celebrate my birthday two days ago here in Habana. There is actually a plaza here called '13 Marzo', the day of my birthday, so we went to visit it, and take some photos. I brought with me a 'fun' cam (disposable), so hopefully will have some good photos to put up soon. I must go, as my time is running out, and there is lots more I want to say about this country, and the people, but I will write more information to come when I'm back on democratic soil.

Vacacciones de Cuba

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 00:32:00 +0000

Well ok, my blog entries won't be quite that regular in the week ahead. I'm off to pay my respects to Fidel Castro on Sunday as I have the arduous task of travelling to Cuba for a short break.

I'm taking advantage of the opportunity as two of my fellow 'Latin Linkers' need to leave Mexico for a few days to renew their visas (they only have 6-month tourist visas). Although I don't need to go, I couldn't really turn down the opportunity when they said they were going to Cuba.

The only slight downside to this once-in-a-life-time never-to-be-done-again adventure is that my digital camera still hasn't returned from the repairers (see previous entry today), meaning I can't prove I went. Still, I'm going to try and find a disposable camera or something, but great shame, all the same.

On the upside, and even though I'll never be able to prove I went, I will be celebrating my 32nd birthday in Cuba on Monday 13th.

I'll do my best however to collect some evidence, and post my experiences when I get back. And if I can find an internet cafe - I may even post a blog from the shores of Cuba itself.

Stay tuned.

Back in business

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 19:58:00 +0000

After a busy couple of months, I'm back in business on this blog. I didn't exactly get off to a riding start when I launched it in December, so hopefully will get a better crack at making some entries now!

In summary: On the same day in mid-January this year, I moved house, began Spanish class in the mornings and started work at Milamex in the afternoons. Each part came with its own challenges, and I found myself heavily playing catch-up, until my classes finished at the end of February.

My Spanish is now at a level where I can talk without having to look every other word up in the dictionary, so I joyfully began work at Milamex full-time earlier this week. This means I will be around a bit more now to write up my thoughts and experiences as they happen...

If you're wondering why my photo gallery hasn't been updated lately, it's because I'm still waiting for my camera to be returned from repair, which I trashed big time on Christmas day. It's been due to arrive for some days now, so hopefully any day now.

Watch this space.

The two-year new year's resolution

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 20:14:00 +0000

I think it was about two years ago that Steve Tilley (a member of the clergy from my church in Leamington) preached on the concept of the 'two-year' new year's resolution. I don't remember the substance of it now, but the gist was that a year is often not long enough to achieve some of our greater goals we set as resolutions, and so introduced the idea that we should make resolutions we can more realistically achieve in a two-year time-frame.

I'm not sure if there was any great Christian teaching in all this (!), but these musings did play in the back of my mind in 2004. One of my great life-long dreams has always been to live and work in a Spanish-speaking country, and I spent some time on my own and with others praying through if this was a calling from God.

Well, in May 2004, I took a holiday in Gran Canaria with two other friends. We were there to celebrate our 10th anniversary of living and working there for three months in 1994 as part of a work programme, and to this day many of us have stayed in touch. But walking through streets which I had not seen in 10 years, yet were so familiar to me, my heart yearned to return to a country like this.

At the end of our week in Gran Canaria in May 2004, I set myself a 2-year resolution that I would be back living and working in a country like this two years from now. Of course, this is to some extent a selfish dream, but I prayed through and talked extensively with others about if this was something God might be calling me to.

For those of you reading this who are not Christians, you may ask what the hang-up is about having 'selfish' dreams, and you may wonder if I'm unnecessarily beating myself up to seek the approval of a 'God' in these matters. I could discuss this issue in much greater depth here, but I want to keep things short (so I can finish my story!). I would just say that in my (often painful) experience, dreams that I have not submitted the God who I believe loves me and has the best plans for me, are dreams that usually let me down in the end. If my ultimate dream is to serve and love the God who loved me first and lets me call him 'Father', then nothing can disappoint. As a human, I always have to work at this, but that is my ultimate aim.

Well, it seems that God wanted somewhat to smash my two-year resolution I made in May 2004, as the chain of events that took place over the following year meant that by May 2005, I had been offered a placement to work in Mexico City, and I was on my way to raising money to be out there.

So here I am, having arrived in Mexico in October 2005, eight months ahead of schedule, writing to you from Mexico City. I thank God every day for how he is taking my life forward, both in fulfilling dreams and allowing me to serve him to the best of my ability here. I don't know what the future will bring for good or bad, but I know that whatever comes, I want to submit both doors that open, and doors that close, to God.

And so, as the new year approaches for 2006, I ask myself again, where will I be in two years from now? I know where I'll likely be in one year - in Mexico, as my current placement doesn't end until Spring 2007. But by Christmas 2007, where will I be? Well, my boss here at the mission office has expressed great interest in keeping me here for a longer period of time. There is so much work to do, it seems lame by the scale of my job that I should leave as early as next year.

Over the next year and a bit, I will spend a lot of time thinking and praying if God wants to use me out here for a longer period of time. I am about to start properly on my job in January, so the next few months will give me a greater sense of any potential calling for living in Mexico. But through all this I want to always put my hopes and fears before God, and to know that what doors open for me are his will for my life.

In the first instance, I will more than likely have to return to the UK in Spring 2007, and I will have many challenges ahead of me, not least of a financial nature! But as for Christmas 2007, will I be back in Mexico? Well, my heart has a few ideas, but only the God - for whom nothing is impossible - knows.

Check back in two years...
Happy New Year.

¡Feliz Navidad!

paulnydia@gmail.com (The Johnson's) — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 20:24:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I was invited to spend Christmas with a local Mexican family from my Church. It was an honour to be invited, and I was also rather grateful given my distance from home. However, I can't say it has felt all that much like Christmas these past few weeks.

Bearing in mind that, at least during the day, the temperature here can be similar to that of a late British summertime, it seemed strange to me to see a Mexican labourer walk past me recently wearing a Santa hat. But yet apart from the weather, Christmas in Mexico shares many similarities to festivities in the UK.

The Traditions

Although perhaps decorations go up a little earlier here (November-time), Mexicans share the joy of putting up the same tacky flashing lights, tinsel and Christmas trees that likewise we adore in the UK. The commercialisation of Christmas is also well-rooted, with the same last-minute rush to the shops on Christmas Eve.

However, there are also great traditions we celebrate in Britain noticeably absent here: Carol singing (not that children would go out at dark in this city, mind!), mince pies and mulled wine, roast turkey, christmas pudding and the breaking of christmas crackers to name a few.

In lieu of christmas crackers however, Children get to enjoy wielding a stick to smash open piñatas - large star-shaped Christmas decorations filled with sweets such as peanuts, fruit and sugar. Piñatas have religious symbolism too, and is a tradition originally brought over from the Spaniards. If this wasn't my highly un-systematic treatment of Christmas in Mexico I would elaborate further on this and other traditions, so I will save that for next year...

As Christmas day approached, I began to miss some of the traditions from home, and wanted to share something of my own Christmas experience with my Mexican family. I've always been brought up eating little oranges around Christmastime, and as Mexicans don't seem to 'do' little oranges at Christmas like we do, I thought it would be a nice idea to take some to the party. As the whole family was gathering, including brothers, in-laws and cousins, I bought about a dozen to distribute on the day.

La Noche Buena

For Mexicans, the most important day of celebrations is Christmas Eve (called 'La Noche Buena', or literally 'The Good Night'). Late in the evening (and I mean *late*, 11pm onwards) families will get together for a big meal. Afterwards, in the early hours of Christmas-day morning, people exchange presents. Christmas day is spent pretty much in recovery.

When I arrived that first evening, people seemed a little bewildered why I would bring a bag full of oranges to a party. I put the bag down to one side, and waited for the right time to explain my tradition. However, after a lot of preamble it wasn't until a staggering 1am that we actually sat down to eat (and boy, I was hungry). But with plate after plate of food coming to the table, we all soon ate more than our fill. I would at this point explain the traditional Mexican Christmas meal - but I have no idea, as my family this year chose to break from tradition and eat something different (some meat-thing I won't attempt to describe), so I'll have to save that for next year.

After the meal, the family held a present interchange. Beforehand we had all been given the name of one person to give a present to. In this family's tradition, the nature of the present was agreed in advance - socks! I had bought a pair of american football socks for a 10-year-old boy who I knew was a fan. Afterwards, individual presents were exchanged.

Of all the bizzare (but enjoyable) traditions, we ended the night playing dominos, and I was returned to my house at 5am Christmas-day morning. After all the abundance of food and commotion that night, I had forgotton to hand out my little oranges.

El Dia de La Navidad

Christmas day I returned late afternoon (after sleeping away most of the day) to enjoy much of the same - eating scraps of food left over from the night before and playing dominos. For me though this was quite anti-climactic. I normally enjoy going to Church Christmas-day morning, enjoy the build up to a huge turkey lunch in the afternoon, and later to open presents and watch a film in the afternoon. But this is Mexico, and holding all the festivities the night before meant it felt more like Boxing day than Christmas day.

Still, I did enjoy the more party-like atmosphere of the large family get-togethers they have here. I think Mexicans know how to let their hair down a bit more and have fun, and I was aware throughout the night of the great privilege I had of spending this Christmas with a Mexican family, and all the experiences I was enjoying, that otherwise I would not have had.

Now I just need to find a way to eat up all these oranges.