2011年11月18日(金)
Friday, November 18th, 2011

走行距離:160キロ
出発時間:9:45
到着時間:14:00
天候:曇り時々雨のち晴れ
気温:17℃
Distance: 160 kilometers
Departure: 09:45
Arrival: 14:00
Weather:  Clouded, occasionally rain, and sunny later
Temperature:  17 °C

今日は、友人ちえさんの学生時代の親友が、ボゴタの北北東140キロにあるラキラという町にいらっしゃるということで訪ねることになりました。
ここでコロンビアの子供インタビューが出来ることになっています☆☆☆
Today, I went to see my friend– Ms. Chie’s best friend from school. According to Ms. Chie, her best friend lives in a town named Raquira, 140 kilometers northeast from Bogota. I would be able to interview a Columbian child there!!

途中、道を確認するためハイウェイの降り口付近にバイクを停めると、すかさず、車が寄って来て停まる。
On my way, I wanted to make sure I was going in the right direction. I parked my bike at the highway exit area. As soon as I stopped, one of the cars came up to me and also stopped.

BMWのヒストリックカーを積載しているトラックだ。
It was a large truck and it was loaded with a BMW historic car.

「ヘーイ!俺たちはBMWオーナーズクラブのもんだけど、どうした? 何か困っているなら相談に乗るぜ!」
と言いながら車を降りて来た。
“Hey! We’re members of the BMW owners’ club. What happened? Do you need any help?” the man said while he was getting out of his truck.
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と、その直後、後方からバイクの音が。
At the same time, I heard the sound of a bike behind me.
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二台のバイクが停まり、声を掛けて来る。
There were two bikes that pulled over. They started talking to me.

「イェー! 君、昨日、ボゴタのBMWのディーラーにいたろ?見たよ。どうした
? 何か困っているなら、手伝おうか? 俺はそこのディーラーの関係者だよ。」
“Yeah! You were at the BMW dealer shop in Bogota yesterday, right? I saw you there. What’s wrong? If you need anything, I’ll be happy to help you. I have connections with the dealer shop. 

私が道を知りたいことを言うと親切に教えてくれる。
I told them where I needed to go. They showed me kindly.

寄ってたかって私を親切にするコロンビア人!
Every Columbian person I’ve met had been so nice to me!

なんなんだよ、この人達の親切さ!(笑)
What’s going on?  They are all so kind to me! (haha)
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ヘルメットとその右の男性がライダー。
他の3人がトラックから降りて来た方々。
The person wearing the helmet and the person to the right are bike riders. The rest of them were people who got out of the truck.

それぞれのグループのリーダー?から名刺をもらって、
「困ったことがあったらすぐに連絡してくれ!」と。
I received business cards from the leaders from each group. (Well… I think they were the leaders anyway.) They said “Let me know if you need everything!”

もー、感謝感激っ!!
I was so grateful!!

道を教えてもらえたので、安心してラキラへ向かうことが出来ます。
I headed to Raquira without any worries, because of the kind people who showed me the right direction.

途中、激しく雨が降る箇所もあったり、事故があちこちで起きてたりでライディングには気を使う。
I had to pay extra caution. It was raining heavily and there had already been some accidents.
I paid extra caution because I had heavy rain and there were some accidents. 

ラキラまで残り30キロくらいになったあたりから急に天候が回復した!
Thirty kilometers to Raquira, the weather started to clear up.
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おおっ、青い空の元でバイクを撮影するって久しぶりだな!
気持ちイイ=!
It had been so long since I took a picture of my bike under the blue sky.  I felt so good!

ついにラキラに到着。
私を待っててくれたのはこの方です☆
I arrived in Raquira at last.  This is the person who was waiting for me.
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アーティスト、今泉卓さん
He is an artist, Mr. Taku Imaizumi.
 

卓さんは実力派の陶芸家としてとても有名な方なのです。
卓さんのホームページ:http://shippokudo.com/ He is known to be a very famous and skilled ceramist.  Here’s the web address of Mr. Taku.  http://shippokudo.com/
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=563323294&sk=wall

現在、ジャイカ(青年協力隊)のシニアボランティアとしてこのラキラで日本の陶芸技術を教えています。
He is currently teaching Japanese pottering skill in Raquira as a senior volunteer of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency).  

ラキラはコロンビアでは「陶芸の里」と呼ばれる有名な所で観光地でもあります。
 Raquira is called “Pottery Village” in Columbia, and one of the famous tourist spots.

ウチに泊まって下さい、とのお言葉に甘えて卓さんのお住まいへ行きます。
He offered me to stay at his house, so I accepted his kind offer.
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卓さんはラキラ郊外に広大な敷地を持つ邸宅に住まわれています。
He lives in a fine house in the suburbs of Raquira.

バイクを敷地内に置かせてもらいました。
I parked my bike in his house.
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犬のディンゴが珍しがっています。
Dingo, the dog, was curiously looking at my bike.

提供して頂いた部屋。
He let me use this room.
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イタリア/トスカーナ風のお屋敷で、居心地、最高!
I was very comfortable staying at his fine residence. It was an Italian Toscana design.

遅めの昼食から始めましょう!とおっしゃって頂けていたのでお腹をすかせてきました☆
I came here with a hungry stomach. He offered me some late lunch.
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まずは美味しいビールが出てきました!
こんなことは、この旅始まって以来です。
っていうか最初で最後だと思います。(笑)
The starter was tasty beer! This kind of treatment was the very first ever since I’ve started this journey. To tell the truth, I think that it would be the first and the last. (Haha XD)

「最高の和食を用意して待っています!」と前から言ってくださっていて、まずは特製「焼き野菜のカレー」です!
He mentioned to me when I arranged the date for today that he was going to prepare the best Japanese meal for me. The first meal was curry rice with fried vegetables!
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超こだわりのスパイスをふんだんに使ってあり、この美味しさ、ミシュラン5つ星ですよ!
There were many original spices in this curry rice.  I think the flavor was equal to five stars in the Michelin Guide!

最高の腕前なのは陶芸だけでなく料理もでした!
Mr. Taku was not only a skilled ceramist, but also a great cook.

そして、噺家(はなしか)としてもやっていけるんじゃないかと思うほど、一緒にいて最高に楽しいのです。
あ、FM横浜でよく出演なさっていらっしゃるんでしたね。
I had a great time talking to him. It was like I was talking to him like he was a professional storyteller?  Oh, he often appears on FM Yokohama! (A radio station.)  
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卓さんの彼女のユンソンさんが日本から来ていました。
His girlfriend, Ms. Young Song, was here from Japan.
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カレーを食べ終えると二重の虹が!
There was double rainbow on the sky after the meal.

ラキラの町に3人で繰り出します。
Three of us headed to the town of Raquira.

コロンビアでは、町外れに聖母マリア像がこのように電話ボックスのようなものに入っていたり、崖をくり抜いて石窟式になっていたりするものを見ることが出来ます。
I was able to see the statue of Blessed Virgin Mary in a phone booth, and also curved on cliff.
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ラキラの郊外の山手から、もくもく煙が発っているのが見える。
We saw the smoke coming out of a mountain in the suburbs of Raquira.
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陶器の焼き物の釜から出ているのだそうです。
I came to find out that the smoke was coming out of a pottery workshop.
ラキラの目抜き通り。
This is the view of Main Street of Raquira.
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陶器の焼き物を中心とした土産物屋が並び、週末には多くの観光客が訪れる。
There is a line of pottery souvenir shops on the side of Main Street. They attract many tourists on the weekend.

焼き物屋のオーナーと話す卓さん。
Mr. Taku was having conversation with the owner of one of the pottery shops.
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「この人は私の生徒なんですよ」
伝統あるラキラの町に、日本の陶芸技術を卓さんによって伝承される。
“She is one of my students.” Mr. Taku said. Japanese traditional pottering skills have been taught by Mr. Taku to many people in the long established traditional town of Raquira. 
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町の至るところで、声をかけられる卓さん。
この町の英雄であり、人気者なのです。
Mr. Taku was called out by many local people everywhere.  He is well known in Raquira, and also their hero.

豚の貯金箱がラキラ名物だそう。
Piggy bank pottery is a local specialty product of this district.
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店内に犬がいる陶器屋さん。
This pottery shop had a dog inside.
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客に売れる数よりも、犬が壊す数のほうが多いんだって。
I was told that the dog broke more pottery items than the amount of pottery items they actually sold.

その後、卓さんの仕事場を見せてくれて、
After we came back from the town trip, Mr. Taku showed me his workshop.
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なんと、実際にろくろを回し、茶碗作りの実演をして下さいました!
流石、ホンモノの陶芸家。
手の動きのひとつ、一つが感動で、ため息が出ます。
How lucky I was! Mr. Taku gave me a demonstration on how to make a bowl on a potter’s wheel! As might have been expected, each of his hand movements was just as incredible as of those of a professional potter.  I was impressed and couldn’t help but sigh.

ホンモノっていうのは空気が違うんだよね。
A true professional has his own aura round him.

私もろくろ、初挑戦。
I tried making a bowl on a potter’s wheel for the very first time in my life.
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さて、どっちが、僕で、どっちが先生が作ったか判る?
うん、微妙でしょ?
Can you tell which one is mine and which one is the teacher’s, Mr. Taku?  I bet it’s hard to tell :P

「山手の飲み屋にいきましょう!女の子も一杯いるんですよ」と卓さん。
“Let’s go to the bar close to the mountain! There are many girls, too!” Mr. Taku said.

店に入ると、
I entered the bar.
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職人が集まる飲み小屋でした。(笑)
It was a bar where workmen got together and drank. 

皆、陶器業に従事している方々。
They are all in the pottery business.
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ろくろ職人だったり、釜の係だったり、その種類は多岐にわたります。
Some of them are workmen of the potter’s wheels, and some f them are in charge of the potter’s heater. There are various work types.

多くの職人が酒を飲いんでいる中、薄暗い電灯の下で作業している職人がいる。
While many workmen were drinking, there was a man who was still working under the gloomy light.  
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収入は歩合制だそうで、
Their income is by the commission system.

「娘を大学にいかせるため」
“I’m doing this to have my daughter to college.” he said.

と夜遅くまでろくろを回す。
He continued turning his potter’s wheel.

後ろにずらりと並んだつぼが今日、一日で作ったもの。
これだけ作って、一日の手取りは3000円くらい。
All of the pots behind him were the ones he had made in the same day. All of them together were only about 3,000 yen. And that’s in one day!

家族の為、集中力が落ち易くなる時間でも頑張って、一生懸命働いている。
It is easy to lose concentration in the night after long hard-working day, but he was working hard for his family.  

卓さんのお陰で無事、コロンビアでも子供インタビューが出来ました!
I was able to interview children in Columbia with Mr. Taku’s help!
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このラキラの町でどんな夢、幸せを語ってくれのかは映像のアップをお待ち下さい。
この収録後、通訳もして頂いた卓さんから感慨深いコメントを頂きました。
後日の報告とさせて頂きます。
Please look forward the video clip of children who talked about their dreams in Raquira.  After filming with Mr. Taku’s help on translations, I receive very warm words from him.  I will report that later.

卓さん宅に戻ると、敷地に生えている木の中を何か探している。
When we went back to Mr. Taku’s house, he started looking for something in a tree in his premises.  
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「翌朝用のレモンを取るんです」
何とも素晴らしい生活じゃないですか!
“I’m getting lemons for tomorrow morning.” he said.  What a beautiful life!

夕食は、極めつけの和食を作って下さっています!
He cooked delicious Japanese food for dinner!  
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【直火焼き茄子】
Grilled eggplants! :D

まるで、超高級料亭にいるように錯覚するほど、素晴らしい懐石料理が次々と出てきます。
まさかこんなものをコロンビアでありつけるとは!!
I felt like I was in a first-class Japanese restaurant while I was served a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. I didn’t expect this kind of treat in Columbia!!

シャンパンとワインとおいしい食事と共に会話を楽しんているとあっと言う間に1時。
We had a great time with great food, great wine/champagne, and great conversation, and the next thing I knew, it was already one a.m.

芸術、陶芸に懸ける情熱や、アイデンティティを聞かせて頂くことが出来、深い感銘を受ける。
Mr. Taku shared his passions on art, pottery, and identity.  I was deeply impressed.  

そして涙が出るほどずっと笑っていた。
We were laughing so hard that tears even started coming out of our eyes while we were talking.

周りにいる人を常に笑わせ、幸せな気分にさせてくれる人って本当に素晴らしい。
What a great person he is!  He was the kind of person who made people around him laugh and be happy all the time.

旅先でなければ一生出会えなかったかもしれないと思うと、つくづくこの旅に出て良かったと思う。
I really think that I made the right choice by starting this journey. If I had never done this, then I wouldn’t have met Mr. Taku like this.
 
Translated by Maki & Angela Trolio