The Beach
I think I died. It must be that, or a very strongminded dream that is not willing to let me wake up any time soon. What else would explain the fact that my tent is on a beach, only a few meters from the sea. Or that continuous soothing hum of the waves breaking on the shore or the grilled prawns that were for dinner yesterday. The fact that I don't have to worry about anything but slapping enough sun lotion on. The canter on the beach on a beautiful horse with the wind in my hair. Dipping into the nice fresh water after baking in the scorching sun. Watching crabs crawling on the beach. Pancakes for breakfast. The hammock. The gorgeous sunset...
Wait. Sun lotion. So that means I might get burned, so it's probably not a dream, because people don't get sunburned in dreams... So I guess I actually am in paradise then! Ha, lovely! ‘Waiter! Another cocktail please!!'
(Yes, this blog update is entirely dedicated to make all of you feel extremely jealous! Muwhahaha...)
Picture update
Pfoe, het valt niet mee om jullie op de hoogte te houden! Uuuuuuren ploeteren om mijn foto's te uploaden en na verschillende (zeer frustrerende!) mislukte pogingen dan eindelijk het een en ander online. More to come, maar het is midden in de nacht, dus ik vind het wel even genoeg.
It's cerntainly not easy to keep you guys updated on what's going on! After several failed attempts I finally managed to get some pictures online. More to come, but it's passed midnight, so I'm gonna call it a night.
Some more on Buenos Aires, scroll right from this picture: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=11212861&l=51a4b7e4c1&id=736800320
More Argentina from this picture: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=11488319&l=ee09b5ef2d&id=736800320
Bolivia: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=11488319&l=ee09b5ef2d&id=736800320
and Peru: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=401041&id=736800320&l=c66ed522b9
Buenos noches!
Btw: off to the beach tomorrow! Finally...I can't wait!
The importance of tourism
First of all: I planned to write my blog in Dutch this time, I know some people find it difficult to keep up in English, so I considered a break. However, today's tour made such a big impression on me, that I'll do the first part in English anyway. I have another message to send across. J Hope you forgive me for preaching. So Dutchies: hold on, work your way through the first part, I'll reward you with Dutch for the second!
As a tourist, you try to see a country, you'll try to pick up the culture, see how people live and experience the vibe of it. However, there is so much more that you don't see. As a tourist you will be mostly sheltered from the nasty bits, you'll hardly see what it really is about. Peru is a beautiful country with a rich cultural heritage and a lot of history (not all of it pleasant, but hey, no country has a clean record there, right?) and wonderful nature. On the other hand it is also very poor and corrupt with a democracy that seems to backfire on the people. Today, some of us did the reality tour through the ‘slums' of Arequipa. An eye-opening confrontation with the reality of poor people in Peru.
Though it is still rather early in the morning, the sun is already burning on our backs quite strong. A fairly young man is working huge bricks with an improvised piece of equipment made of old car parts, trying to get them to fit a perfect smooth size brick. I can't guess his age due to the protective clothing he wears to try to keep his body from the dust of the stonemine and the radition the sun causes on the white stone. His father is chopping up huge boulders into smaller bits so that he can smooth them out into the preferred size. The smoother the bricks, the more money they'll make on them. His father is not wearing the protectional clothes, consisting of gloves, a buff against the dust and sunglasses. He claims he's too old and it's too late for him to protect his health. The father's father used to work in this same part of the stone mine, and before him, his father and before him, his father and so on. It's a family run business, but unfortunately not by choice. At this moment the wives are preparing lunch and the kids are in school, but the will all come to join them to work later in the afternoon. They leave school at the age of 13. The only reason why they are in school before that age is because they aren't strong enough to work yet, so it makes a cheap daycare. In order to be able to feed themselves the next day, they need to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. No break. No holidays. No extra's. No healthcare. Nothing. They earn 1,5 soles (about € 0,35) per brick and can produce about 10 bricks per day. It's a tough life and because of the hard work, people are worn out at an early age. Therefore they prefer to have some children who will be able to work with them in the mine from the age of 13 and can provide them with a living when they are too old or ill to work any longer. Education is expensive and useless, because in Peru, it's not about what you know, but who you know and how much money you are able to spend to bribe your way into a proper job. So for these people, there's no way out...
Our guide, Miguel, knows what this life is about. Because he can speak English, he was able to get away and now tries to help the local community as much as he can, by informing tourists about what's really going on and donates the money we spend on the tour to the local charities we visit. Not in terms of money, but in terms of supplies and equipment, so that the ‘bad ones' cannot be tempted to spend money on drugs or alcohol. He took us to a cemetery, where the divide between rich and poor is made very clear: even after death people are stuck inside their social class. Luckily some of the people make a huge effort to try and do something about their own situation. We saw two good examples: one a daycare where young, single mothers can leave their children when they go try to find jobs while one of them stays in the daycare to look after the children. The other, a ‘soupkitchen' where local women take turns providing meals for the poor for only a tiny amount of money. Miguel explained us a lot about how things really work and how on paper, Peru is doing really well, but in real life things are not at all great. The facts speak for themselves and he was very strong minded about how the corrupt government is not making things better. He is doing a great job improving the situation for some of them and supporting the ones that try hard instead of the ones that make a mess of whatever they've been given. A good advice: whenever you see a beggar in the street and you're think about giving the poor fella some change: think again. You will only support begging and it's mockery to the ones that work so hard trying to make their own money. All the money we've spend on the tour will be used to support the locations we've visited. Miguel's dedication is inspirational and that's why I'm trying to get this message across to whoever is willing to listen. Tourism makes a huge difference for countries like this. They rely on it greatly. For a large amount of the population, it is their main source of income. What I'm trying to say is: instead of bringing your money to very wealthy touristy areas near home, why not once in a while consider spending a little more on means to get to your holiday-location, but save heaps on local payment (so in the end you're holiday most likely will be even cheaper) and, while supporting the local people, making yourself a huge memory that will stick with you much better than another beach holiday on the Costa Brava (to name one)... Go off the beaten track. Really, it's not as scary as some of you may think it is!
Well, so much for preaching and trying to get into your minds, here's a proper update of what I've been up to so far. Sorry, as promised: in Dutch!
Dusssss.... Daar ben ik dan, ik Zuid Amerika! Ja, daar zat ik inderdaad al een tijdje, maar sinds ik Argentinië heb verlaten is het gevoel pas echt aanwezig. Vanaf Bolivia is het een andere wereld! Duidelijk zichtbaar in kleding, voedsel, gebouwen, vervoer, etc. In mijn vorige update was waarschijnlijk wel te merken hoe ik onder de indruk was van de cultuurshock. Aan de ene kant best zenuwachtig, misschien zelfs een beetje bang voor wat me daar te wachten stond, aan de andere kant vreselijk benieuwd! Over La Paz heb ik behoorlijk spannende verhalen gehoord, over overvallen, met of zonder mes/pistool, bedreigingen en zelfs moord. Was ik blij dat mijn nieuwe Peruaanse vriend Raúl me naar mijn hotel wilde brengen... Na een uur daar durfde ik mijn plan, om mijn hotelkamer de komende 2 dagen niet te verlaten,te laten varen. Na een heerlijke douche (27+ uur reizen voelt niet heul prettig. En ruikt ook niet super fris trouwens...) heb ik de locale ‘witches market' verkend met Asa uit Finland, ook een verse nieuwkomer voor de overland tour. Fantastisch! Wat een mooi gezicht en prachtige souvenirs. En super goedkoop! Het is dat we de dag erop Bolivia, spijtig genoeg, alweer gingen verlaten en ik dus maar weinig Bolivianos bij me had, anders had ik waarschijnlijk veel te veel sjaals, tassen, sieraden en andere meuk gekocht! Misschien zelfs een llama-foetus om voor mijn deur te begraven en mijn huis te beschermen tegen boze geesten? Gelukkig blijken ze ze in Peru ook te verkopen, dus als iemand interesse heeft...? Met alle enge verhalen bleek het ook reuze mee te vallen. Maar we hebben ons dan ook braaf gehouden aan de adviezen om niet alleen de straat op te gaan en ‘dodgy areas' te vermijden.
De groep in de overland tour is super leuk! Een zeer gevarieerd gezelschap, de jongste(n) 18, de oudste 57 en de overgrote middenmoot tussen de 24 en 35. Een paar stelletjes en vooral veel dames. Iedereen is heel aardig en, behalve de onvermijdelijke mini-irritaties waar ik me gelukkig zeer goed buiten weet te houden, zijn er geen buitenbeentjes of kliekjes. Ik was gewaarschuwd door pessimisten die niet geloven in het concept reizen-in-een-groep, maar het bevalt zeer goed! En ik kan ook niet klagen over het feit dat ik even niet hoef na te denken waar ik heen ga en hoe ik daar kom en wat ik daar dan ga doen en hoe ik dat ga regelen en toch krijg ik de mooiste dingen te zien. J Lekker lui, straks met Sjoerd ga ik wel weer aan de planning en organisatie.
Zo hebben we overnacht op een eiland bij quechua-sprekende locals en hebben onze ‘moeders' (zo moesten we ze noemen voor de ene nacht) heerlijke lokale gerechten voor ons gekookt, kregen we een kleurige handgemaakte muts van Alpaca-wol en werden we in de lokale klederdracht gehesen, wat er belachelijk uitzag aan onze lange gringo-lijven met hiking boots er onder. Het was een fantastische ervaring om even deel uit te mogen maken van hun gezinnetjes.
Cath: heb nog heel veel aan je gedacht tijdens mijn uber-hike! Heftig! 5 dagen afzien op steile bergen. De ergste was de 2e dag: na 45 min steil downhill, een stunning, jawel, 5!!!!!! uur uphill gevolgd door nog een uurtje op en neer. Dat uurtje noemden ze ‘plat', wij hadden ons er dus ernstig op verheugd, maar ‘we learned the hard way' dat Andes-plat HEUL wat anders is dan Nederlands-plat... Dachten we de volgende dag een rustig dagje te hebben onderwijl de ruïnes van Choquequiraw bekijkend... Nee hoor! Gewoon keihard nog meer hiken tussen die bloody steenhopen! 'Kom kinders! Een kilometer lager kunnen we nog een paar van dezelfde terassen bekijken zodat jullie nog 100 foto's kunnen maken die aaaaaallemaal op elkaar lijken!' Dus Iris heeft heel lafjes de middag overgeslagen om heerlijk een boekje te lezen en naar ons werkend ‘personeel' te turen (ergens toch een beetje fijn als je zelf niks moet) en paarden te aaien (J) en vol energie mijn uitgebluste medewandelaars te verwelkomen na hun middag meer-van-het-zelfde. Ik had uiteindelijk niks gemist (had ik al verteld dat ik niet de enige was die thuis bleef? Niet dat jullie denken dat ik in m'n eentje Sjaak Afhaak aan het spelen was!) It paid off, want toen we de volgende dag na een vreselijk steile afdaling van 2,5 uur nog eens 1,5 uur omhoog moesten naar de lunch terwijl de zon ons roosterde, kwam ik zo'n beetje als enige fluitend boven terwijl vrijwel iedereen echt KAPOT was. Mijn dank aan John Mayer die een erg fijne loop-beat in zijn muziek heeft. Steady I go. J
We verblijven meestal in steden of dorpen in ho(s)tels, zo af en toe tussendoor wordt er ook gekampeerd. Mijn eerste bushcamp was super met zelf-gekookt eten (de truck is fantastisch uitgerust!) en marshmellows boven een kampvuur. Mijn reisgenoten houden wel van een drankje en een avondje uit, maar gelukkig zijn het niet de eeuwig-dronken engelsen waar de eerder genoemde pessimisten me voor waarschuwden. Gister hebben we een hilarische karaoke avond gehad vanwege het vervroegde afscheid van 2 personen. Uiteraard hoort daar een drankje bij, maar ik vond het met slechts 1 cocktail ook heel gezellig en moet toch een beetje om het budget denken (hmm.. vandaar dat ik zeker vandaag maar weer eens een icekoffie ga halen en voor souvenirs ga shoppen... Prioriteiten!)
Nog geen 4 weken en dan komt Sjoerd al deze kant op. Heel veel zin in, maar het besef dat de tijd vliegt is wel steeds meer aanwezig. Voor ik het weet ben ik alweer thuis! Damn! Gauw verder genieten dus, mijn update is toch al weer veel te lang geworden... Adios! Muchos besos grandes de Peru!
Fata Morgana
I know it´s kinda quick, but Bolivia just needs an update of it´s own!
Have you ever been to the Efteling and if so: did you gointo the Fata Morgana? Well try to picture the part where you go by the marketplace with people dressed in exotic clothes shout random things, there smells and things to see everywhere, it´s noisy, it´s beautiful, it´s scary, it´s different and more than that. Well, picture that, change the arabic for anything south american you can imagine and add some cars blowing their horns constantly and there you have it: La Paz!
Arriving at the busstation on the border was so funny. As soon as I stepped out of my taxi, about 8 Bolivianos rushed over to me like flies, trying to convince me to travel with their company, pulling on my arms and fighting with each other. I managed to find a decent enough bus and met up with a guy from Peru. We travelled al the way to La Paz and with my 2 weeks of spanish I was surprised how well I managed to talk to him. I told him about Holland and our food, our bikes, little towns and why it´s impossible to see as many stars there as they have here.And he loved my ´western´ music while I listened to some of his latin music and saw videos where he does typical Peruvian dances. Very fun! And I was glad to have him helpme find my hotel in this major city, it´s just so chaotic!
The journey here was long and exhausting. Though the bus was better than I expected, I still didn´t sleep well. We stopped in a small town on the way for food. It was beautiful! Women dressed in wide skirts with high hats and huge loads of merchandise(or babies) wrapped in colourful blankets on their backswalked down the streets. I was probably as much of a site for themas they were for me, it was quite funny to see young kids pointing me out to their moms. ´look mommy! A gaint with blonde hair!´ The mosquito´s were curious for my gringa-blood as well, leaving me with a hug bump in me neck. Ah well... Also loved how, whenever we stopped, local people would jump in and sell food and stuff. Humita´s! Hmm! There were boys on the side of the bus, selling ice cream by throwing it up through the windows and their customers in their turn threw down some money.
I already met two of my fellow travellers for the overland tour. For Catherine: one is from Finland, her name is Osaand apart from that she had a shower, went for coffee and seems very nice, I know nothing of her yet. We only met shortlyThe other is 18 year old Tom from England and also very nice. Looking forward to meet the others this afternoon, but first: sleep!!
Sweet goodbyes
'Daaaaaar gaaaaat ze...' Just an hour or two ago I said goodbye to Catherine. After 4 weeks sharing, rooms, waterbottles, beautiful views, nose-spray, hardship in several occasions, sunshine, downpoor, handdesinfectant, pictures, chocolate, shampoo, friends and a huge amount of time,the moment cameto say goodbye. Funny how time seems endless at the beginning and is like nothing when it has passed. We had so much fun, sometimes were very nasty to each other (you know what girls can be like...) but because we are so the same in some ways we forgot about in within seconds too. It was a great time, so we both felt so sorry it came to an end. She is on her way now to Buenos Aires and then back to Holland on saturday. I will be on a bus to Bolivia at midnight. I'm very curious and a little nervous too: it will be a different world out there! And then she left me to face it all alone!!
After Patagonia (in the south) we flew to Iguazú (in the north) with a short stop in Buenos Aires. So from snowy mountaintops, a short stop in an huge metropolitan, and then straight into the jungle. The town of Puerto Iguazú is charming with dusty streets and beautiful flora and fauna. It wasn't as hot as people said, but it surely felt tropical! Hmm, nice!
After arrival we went to see the Brazilian side of the falls. I was in Brazil! Woohoo! :D The busride through the park to the falls was fantastic, butterflies in bright colours, the size of my hand everywhere!! (I was maybe more stunned by them then by the falls themselves...) We saw monkeys, lizards, strange birdspecies and HUGE spiders on the way, while you could hear the roar of the falls from a distance. They were quite stunning: from the Brazilian side you can see the whole stretch of falls which is overwhelming. Condors circling in between them. We explored the area for a few hours with two german girls and one Israeli guy. Fun!
The next day we planned to see the Argentinian side, but it poored with rain, so we took a really nice lazy day: reading in the hammock, listening to music, stuff like that. Our main activity was to find lunch. Such a hard life... The day after finally the Argentinian side. The weather was beautiful (it was cloudy before) which made it even more stunning with rainbows and butterflies everywhere. Finally we took a little train to the top and saw the most breathtaking view over the falls: from above you can get really close and feel the power and pure violence of the water. WOW!!
After some more breakfast in Buenos Aires (Quimbomba, everyone, on calle Costa Rica. You have to go there!! 20p for the best breakfast ever + luiquido's de la casa!!) we took a camabus to Mendoza. Champagne, food, movies, even whiskey! We were two happy girls, gotta love these busses. Too bad breakfast here was, like most of the time, 90% sugar again... Ok, maybe we are a little spoiled, but still! How can these people live on just sugar, white bread, cheese huge slabs of meat and dulce de leche!! Can't wait for Bolivia's food, hope it's better... In Mendoza of course we went cycling through the vineyards tasting wine, and met with a group of 6 others, al from different countries and ended up spending over a week with them. Loads of fun! Sorry mr. busdriver, for being so loud on your bus, but we're probably not the first drunk tourists you've had in there...) We all went to together Salta and rented a car to explore the area. Now Mendoza was nice, but Salta! My god! The town is beautiful, but then the views in the surrounding area!!! You just have to see the pictures. So nice... Or better: go see for yourself!
Time passed quickly. Another adventure awaits already. On Saturday I'll start my overland tour from La Paz (Bolivia) to Quito (Equador). It's too much. I can't take all this beauty. Travelling is such hard work, I think I need a holiday soon...
Tried to upload pics, but internet is slow. Better luck next time!
Because that's life...
Do you know what means to be alive? I'm not talking about the mere fact that you're making CO2 out of oxigen or that your heart beats or that you're effortlessly making stinky stuff out of great food. Or the fact that we are born, make a living for ourselves, create a family and eventually die.
I am talking about the moments in life that are so special that make you just ooze energy and love and excitement. I hope that everyone that reads this recognises these moments and was blessed to have some or rather: many of them. You don't always get them thrown at you, it also requires a certain skill to recognise and appreciate them. In fact, I believe a lot of people get them, but don't realise this is it: this is the moment so grab it by the hair and take it in. Sometimes it takes someone or something to remind you and make you open your eyes and look around you. It's often in small things, just pay attention.
In the situation I am in now, it's really quite easy to see them. Also, they are not that small and rather easy to recognise and I don't have to look that hard. Still they overwhelm me and that's exactly what so great about them.
A few days ago I arrived in Patagonia. Catherine and I agreed that we need to spread the word about this hauntingly beautiful place. Go see it if you ever get the chance!! We flew from Buenos Aires to El Calafate, on the Argentinian side. The extreme contradictions between the locations are quite stunning, from a concrete jungle, civilised and elegant, to the robust and wild south. The weather was excellent and quite warm. The town itself isn't that special, but it's the main place to depart from for visitors for the famous Perito Moreno Glacier. It's one of the only 2 glaciers in South America that are still growing and moving, making it a very spectacular one, because the growth (our guide told us it moves 1,5 meters everyday) causes a very frequent crumbling of huge chunks of ice from the high glacier wall, into the water below. The sound of the glacier moving, moaning and roaring, and the thunder-like sounds when a piece breaks off and hits the water is breath taking. We walked the glacier for 2 hours with crampons. It was super cool. The cracks in the ice are stunningly blue and in the distance every now and then you hear the roaring of the moving ice. We even got a taste of it, seasoned with some whiskey. J I mostly loved to sit on the balconys built opposite of the glacier and watch and listen, your senses sharpened, waiting for a sound or a move. Even the smallest piece causes gunshot-like sounds, but the big ones give you goose bumps. Now that was one of my ‘moments'.
Another huge ‘moment' got me when, 2 days later we were in the buss heading for National Park Torres Del Paine on the Chilenian side of Patagonia. WOW!!! The mountains, the wide open spaces, the beautiful skies with big fluffy white clouds, light-blue milky lakes, wild animals: breathtaking... I took pictures, but no matter how beautiful they are, they don't come near the real thing. Along the way, 4 gaucho's came into our buss: 3 guys, 1 girl. They looked stunning with their worn clothes, tough boots and rabbit-fur accesoires. Very cool. Piece of advise: for beautiful women: go to Argentina, but for beautiful men you definately need to go to Chile. ;) The last part before actually starting the hike we took a catamaran through one of the pastel-blue colored lakes with glimpses of the peaks we were going to climb in the next days. You can tell by our pleased looks on the pictures we were ready for them. Yeehaw!
The hike through Torres Del Paine was a lot of many things: beautiful, tough, cold, breathtaking, unbareable, exhausting, fantastic... It's hard to explain, but whilst being a pain in the ass (and the rest of the body) it was a true highlight. We decided to go camping, after letting go of the plan to stay in the refugio's (hostel-like places in the mountains) when we heard the prices they charge. So that meant we had to carry a tent, 2 sleeping bags and 2 matrasses, loads of canned and dried food and therefor our big packs instead of small day packs. But we're a bunch of tough cookies, so the hell with it: let's go camping! It wasn't all that bad to carry the stuff and I'm not even mentioning that we now look so much cooler in the pictures... Unfortunately we didn't sleep very well in our cosy little (did I say little? I meant LITTLE!!) tent. The 1st night we kept sliding down to the small end of the tent due to the slope we were on, 2nd night was quite comfy, but the mice trying to steal our food and therefor running al over our tent kept us awake, making us ‘ssshh!' them every ten minutes and the 3rd night was just darn cold and windy. Advantage: our fantastic superextrafragilicious hostel with the nicest beds EVER was even nicer when we returned there after the hike. My god, did I sleep well the night after... J
No matter how much we were complaining and moaning and though I realise that what's above here makes it seem like an aweful experience: it was far from that, the views were gorgeous, the park was like nothing I've ever seen and we were so proud when we made it to the top to the end of the trail. The weather was mostly fantastic. It was windy and even snowed a little in our last hours towards the top, but that gave it an extra dimension. Funny detail: after finally having finished the trail, all we needed was to get back down. So thinking we made it, we apparantly missed the directions for the path down, ending up on the wrong mountain and having to climb some dangerous loose rock and steep gravel-covered slope to make our way back to the path. It was only when we were safely back on track that I told Catherine my doom thoughts about us causing an avalanche and that I was glad we were carrying a copy of our passports in case we needed to be identified... (don't worry moms, we are safe!) Being back in Puerto Natales we treated ourselves with a really nice meal in a veggie restaurant: loads of vegetables, fresh juices, coffee and cakes! Hmm!
Next thing: back to El Calafate, see the flamingo's on the lake tomorrow and then back to Buenos Aires. I showed Catherine some parts of the city, so now it's time to explore the nightlife too. It's passed midnight now, so I'll be heading to my dormroom. Not looking forward, because Catherine just told me that we're sharing it with 2 guys who had apparantly also done the hike, but didn't care to shower just yet... yay...
So there you have it: I am alive and loving it! I have my moments: sometimes I miss my family, my friends, my lover. Heck, even my job! But that's also part of the deal. Because that's love. And that's what life is all about. (and I call them ‘moments' too) So apart from this being a blog-update, I feel the need to post a small educational addition. You may call it corny or cheesy, I don't care because I know there are people out there that need to hear this and I feel like I have to tell it. And I think I am entiteld to, because I am making an effort to live up to it and realise how important that is.
I am going to quote a book I have just finished reading. It's ‘de ontsnapping' by Heleen van Rooyen (in dutch, I'm sorry). A very funny book, worth the read. Now the whole story is not at all what I want to be preaching, but I found this next paragraph very striking. I don't think I need to explain it. I also want to emphasize I do not criticize other people's life styles, I just think people should look into their hearts and decide they are happy with what they have, or do what ever is in their power to make the most out of it. And mostly: do not be afraid to make some necessary changes. And it's ok to be crazy sometimes, forget what ‘they'think.
That's it. Off to my french-blue-chees-scented-dorm! Because that's life too!!
'Ik heb net bedacht dat ik een trein ben. Zo eentje die vroeger door de etalage van de speelgoedwinkel reed. Keer op keer hetzelfde rondje, altijd stoppen bij dezelfde stations. Dat doe ik nu ook. K dender van huis naar school, van school naar kantoor, van kantoor naar de supermarkt, van de supermarkt als het even kan naar ma, want die zit ook maar alleen, tussendoor moeten de kinderen van en naar paardrij of zwemles, aftuigen, afdrogen en weer naar huis, ziehier: de volle glorie van mijn leven. En alsof dat nog niet spannend genoeg is, is er het huishouden. Een huishouden is een moeilijk te bestieren, omvangrijke toestand die ooit is begonnen, steeds groter wordt en nooit eindigt. Op een gegeven moment, als je de pech hebt dat je heel oud wordt, wordt het huishouden kleiner, maar dat loopt rechtevenredig met het verliezen van je vermogens tot het runnen ervan. Mijn oma kon twee weken bezig zijn met het kopen van een postzegel en zich daarna drie weken afvragen of het wel de juiste was. Vroeger vond ik dat belachelijk, tegenwoordig begrijp ik haar beter dan ooit. Sinds enige tijd jaagt het huishouden me angst aan.'
Heleen van Rooyen - de ontsnapping
Pictures:
Argentina: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=383451&id=736800320&l=ed2b42f309
Chile: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=383479&id=736800320&l=1384b7c181
(more pics from BsAs will follow soon)
And back again!!
Wow, I was just watching my statistics and am impressed by the number of people visiting my blog!
I´ve just come back from a holiday in my holiday to the lovely town of Bariloche. I had some time before Catherine comes and was just craving for some fresh air and some activity.
After a 23 hour (and very! comfortable) busride, I found al of that in a former swiss settlement somewhat south and west of Buenos Aires, close to the chilean border. The town itself is know for it´s swiss looks and also for the chocolateandmany outdoor activities. With my friend Lottie I went hiking and rafting and had a fantastic time doing all of that. The weather was gorgeous; we got lucky, because for many days before it had been cloudy and cold. The first day we did a short hike up one of the smaller mountains to warm up for the nest days. The next day we went rafting, that was super fun! Hadn´t done it before, but will do again! After two hours in therather cold glacierwater, but with fantastic views on the surroundings, we were transported back to basecamp where huge amounts of freshly barbecued meat awaited us. I think I ate a whole cow...
Next was a hike up Cerro Catedral, this time a serious one. It took us 4 hours to go up and 3 to get down. It was totally worth it! With the view changing and many different types of landscapes on the way, it was totally worth the exhaustion and sore muscles! Feeling very pleased with ourselves, we gladly returned to our hostel for some tea and an excellent view from our hostel. It being in the 10th floor of a building provided us with the stunning scenery of lake Nahuel Huapi and the mountains around it.
Very cool, am super happy I took this trip. Back in BsAs now, Catherine will arrive tomorrow. Gonna have fun here, but we´re already off to the south on the 16th! More south in Patagonia this time.
To put an image to these words, and to make you all very jealous (hehe) I finally managed to upload some pictures. Took me a friggin´ long time in this internetcafé, but here they are:
Wedding: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=378331&id=736800320&l=557db38fa4
Bariloche: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=378300&id=736800320&l=049edeb00e
More picsfrom Buenos Aires will follow, I´m done with this screen for now... :)
Chau! Besitos de Argentina a todos!
Back in town and leaving again
I can see you thinking about this title: back?! Yes, I had left the place and didn't tell a soul! Well, apart from some...
Did you hear that story about a brother and sister both getting married on the same day (no, not to each other, don't be gross!) and their little sister not being there because she's travelling the world? Guess what: she was there after all! :D
A little over a week ago, I was writing a letter to them, to send home for their weddings. While writing, it suddenly hit me what it means to be that far away and I realised I actually really need to be there!
Two hours later I walked out of an internetcafe, completely stressed and with a big gap in my budget: I booked a ticket to Amsterdam! I was so hyper that I needed Sjoerd on skype to guide me through the booking proces, because I wasn´t even sure anymore aboutwhat my birthday is.
I only told Sjoerd and the best friend of my future sister in law about it, I needed some people on the other end for logistical preparations.I flew in on friday, so had to ´hide´ at Sjoerd´s place for a few days.
One other advantage of coming back was that I finally had a good excuse to go shopping!! It´s so good here. The style is really nice, kinda gypsy/bohemian chic, or however you describe this. The shops are great: apart from having really nice and cheap stuff, they are also beautifully decorated. Too bad that they sell nearly only XS or S, and if they by any chance have an M, you´re lucky if it fits, because they don´t seem to have the same idea of what a size M should be.... :/ I went shopping with a friend and we felt like some humungus whales trying to fit in these tiny clothes. Anyway: succes! I had a hard time choosing from some really good ones... But I have to be strikt: this morning I packed all my stuff into my backpack for the first time and it´s heavy and big now!! Woops! Well, I just tell myself I´m gonna have to last 8 months or more on this, so I´m alowed some overweight pack, ain´t I? And more than that: I´m a girl! I can´t help it! ;)
So I was in Utrecht for some days, we had a really great time! It was really nice to just hang around, no obligations, nowhere to go to. I had some nice sunny days with snow, excellent!
Monday was quite stressfull though. I had an appointment at the hairdressers at 12:00 in Utrecht. Haven´t been inside one for many years, but my regular hairdresser was occupied with other things.... Booh! ;) I was supposed to be at my parent´s house before 13:15, because everyone would leave then and of course they weren´t going to wait for me... You can imagine I was slightly stressed when the girl that was going to do my hair was late... Anyway she did a good job and I rushed Sjoerd while he drove us home (sorry for that love, glad you understood!) and we made it exactly in time.
And then: the moment supreme!! Arrival at the mispelgaarde!! Wow, that was so excellent! After meeting my stunned father outside the frontdoor, the rest of my family inside went nuts when I came in! They couldn´t believe their eyes! Disbelieve soon turned into complete excitement and it was fantastic to see them all again and see howhappy everyone was.
It was a great day and everyone, me at most, was very happy I could be there for one of the biggest moments in the lives of both my brother and sister, but of course also for my new brother- and sister-in-law and for my parents! I´m so glad I went, wouldn´t want to have missed this in the world!! Excellent day, thank you all!
I´ve been back in Buenos Aires for a few days now. It has been raining a lot ever since and that doesn´t make the city very apealing. Of course I could take more spanish lessons (which is going quite well, I must say) but adventure is calling. Add to that that I´ve seen most ofthe city,and I´m a little done with the crowdedness, dirty air and lack of natureand you might understand why I´m leaving this afternoon. In two hours I will be on a 23 hour busride down south to Bariloche! I´m very excited, there´s so much to do there! Rafting, horse-backriding, skydiving, cycling, hiking, beautifull views, nice swiss-looking town and it´s also the chocolate-capital of Argentina! Don´t think I need to explain more, do I?I´ll only stay a week, Catherine comes next sunday, very much looking forward to that too! We´ll give the city another go then.
So in between working off loads of calories and adding them back on in the evenings over good food and chocolate, I´ll give uploading pictures another attempt. I have tried it several times, but they make it quit challenging here! So that´s my excuse for not keeping everyone updated properly. Sorry! At least now you know what´s up, will be adding pictures to these words as soon as I can.
What a pity I didn´t meet many people in my ´bliksem-bezoek´, so would like to hear how everyone is doing! René: I went by your house when taking a walk around the neighbourhood with Sjoerd, unfortunately you weren´t home! :( What a pity! Maybe better luck next time...
So greatings from the other side of the world.
Hasta not so luego!!
(ps: sorry if you got two emails about this post! I looked at it again after posting and discovered so many spelling mistakes, I had do edit it! :) Otherwise all my english-speaking friends will be making fun of me...)