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 1^st night we kept sliding down to the small end of the tent due to the slope we were on, 2^nd 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 3^rd 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)