Me-related end of year thoughts (but Israel really shouldn't have bombed Gaza!)

I said goodbye to Madeleine yesterday, and it was very hard. I actually don't think I'd ever spent 4 weeks straight, almost 24/7, with someone before. It was a bit of a shock and kind of scary to be alone again, and part of me really wished I could've gotten on the plane with her.

However, after a few minutes of crying and feeling like Bridget Jones when she's singing the 'All be myself' song, I realised it would probably all be ok. I also remembered how in Sydney I really loved spending time alone, and not making any plans until the last moment, just so I would only do exactly what I wanted to do. In many ways this is actually a lot easier than doing things with someone else all the time.

The only question is, what do I really want to do?? Sleep a lot, that's for sure. I also wanted to go and buy running shoes so I could go running again, but I don't think that would be wise in this heat (coming up withg excuses is so easy, I love it). Oh, and I'm taking a break from the wine drinking. Hmm, this is starting to sound a bit too much like new years resolutions. Don't worry, we're going clubbing tonight so it's not all about being a health freak!

I can't help but also put this 'what do I want to do' question in a bigger perspective though, with the start of 2009 and my birthday being so near. I think that over the past 15 months I've done quite well with listening to my intuiton and making decisions that made me happy. But what if you ask yourself the question and there are multiple answers, each one making the another one impossible?
For example, what if I would love to be able to see my Dutch friends regularly, but cannot picture myself living in the Netherlands? What if I would love to go back to Australia, but don't have a visa, and don't want to be so far away from, well, everything?

Luckily there are also a few things I do know. Like that I am really looking forward to starting a new job and finally working on some sort of career (make that the best, fastest, most impressive career you've even seen, I'm going to take it seriously this time). That I want to find a place to live and not move for at least a year, that I want to join a gym, or pick up tennis or hockey again. In short, I think I am finally ready for a more 'normal' life. Wow, and all that at the very young age of 27 years & 51 weeks, it's truly amazing!!

In the meantime I am going to make the most of my time here in Buenos Aires, which among other things means taking another week of much needed language classes. When you are Dutch and start using English numbers in your Spanish sentences you know you are not practising your Spanish enough!
Apart from that, there was a recent display of the amazing effectivity with which over-analyzing on one side and over-emotionalizing (is that a word?) on the other can make something fun, easy, and promising suddenly seem....very complicated. This has made me realize that patience and not needing to be in control all the time are qualities I should start practising asap.

And last but not least, I think I am going to eat more steaks, because I am truly sick of eating cheese all the time.

I hope you people up north are ice-skating, and that everyone down south is beaching!

p.s. I will reply to emails soon!

Pictures

Iguazu

Hot hot hot hot hot in Asuncion, Paraguay

Capital city transportation, Asuncion


Faking a smile, finally at the Argentinian side of the Argentina-Paraguay border

Llamas

Salt flats

Less is more

Who ever thought it was a good idea to write a blog while travelling?! It´s not like I´m Bill Bryson or something. And anyway, I am sure he does a lot of his writing afterwards too.

We are doing so many different things, in so many different places, in such a short period of time, that it´s difficult to remember everything, let alone write something about it. Actually, we´ve found that the only way to deal with everything is drinking a lot of wine. Drinking a lot of wine also helps you get through long, hot afternoons in poor/dirty/boring/chaotic towns. And it really helps you to fall asleep in beds with mattrasses which are older and thinner than your great grandmother.

When we are not drinking wine we are:

- Laughing a lot about things that aren´t necessarily funny
- On a bus
- Lounging on a deserted river beach, where the guys that run the place dash off into the woods with hunting guns
- On a bus
- Admiring the Iguazu waterfalls. There are no words to describe them, go and see them for yourself
- On 3 different buses
- Walking around in the 43 degree heat of Asunción, Paraguay. (I wouldn´t recommend this to anyone, although on the upside, the people are super friendly and everything is dirt cheap)
- On a bus
- At the border bribing our way out of above-mentioned Paraguay because we never got the entry stamp. No entry, no exit, it seems.
- On a bus
- Winning back the bribe money at the casino in Corrientes, playing roulette. (Actually, we were drinking wine and that made us decide to go to the casino...)
- On a bus
- Getting frustrated in Salta, and then very relaxed in Cafayate, a place famous for....it´s vineyards and wine
- On a bus
- Endlessly talking about how cute llamas are, and buying all sorts of llama souvenirs, then finding out that the milanesa (schnitzel) we had for lunch also once used to be a cute llama.
- In a car
- Taking great jump-pictures on the beautiful salt flats ´near´ Salta (pics soon!!)

Three guesses about where we will be tomorrow....

On a bus.

Which will take us to Buenos Aires in just 18 short hours.

Buenos Aires, you confuse me

As you can see, I keep my promises: (finally) a new post. It might seem like I have been too busy to write, something not all that surprising when travelling. In fact, I haven´t been busy, just really really lazy.

Since Madeleine´s arrival in Buenos Aires we have been taking it easy, not doing much more than walking 500 meters, deciding that that was quite an effort, and then sitting down for a drink and/or food for the next 45 minutes. Still, I think we managed to see a lot of the city and we definitely got a good idea of the Porteño vibe.

What Buenos Aires is like? It´s difficult to describe because to me it seems to be a city of contrasts. Sunny and 37 degrees one week, 19 degrees and rainstorms the next, the newest mini cooper showroom, with homeless people sleeping in front of it, heavy traffic that exhausts horrible fumes, but also lots and lots of trees and parks.

My feelings in the 10 days I was there mirrored these contrast: loving it the first day, hating it the days after because it was too hot and dirty, back to liking it after having drinks with E., a Scottish girl I had met in Mendoza, loving it again on our last day.

Mad and I did some of the standard touristic things: we went to the cemetery where Evita is burried (we couldn´t find her grave and had to ask four different people, it´s in a tiny alley and doesn´t stand out in any way). We also went to a Boca Juniors soccer game, a great experience but highly overpriced. We glanced at some monuments and museums from a distance, but most of our time was spent in shops, cafés and restaurants. But apparently that´s exactly the thing to do in Buenos Aires, so we don´t feel bad about it at all.

At night we went out for dinners and drinks, once with a bunch of international girls, friends from Scottish E., but we also went to a very nice bar with two (also very nice) Argentinian guys. Maartje (my Almelo friend in Sydney) had put me in touch with R., who she met in Sydney when he was studying there. He was happy to meet up with us and take us out. Apart from being good company, R. and his friend T. picked us up from our hostel, held open doors, ordered food, paid, and drove us back again as well. And yes, I do intend for Dutch guys to read this and learn something from it!

In general, we had the best times when we did things that were not in our guidebooks, like finding a fishermen´s pier with only locals (who were there to fish, sursprisingly), and a great view of both the river and the city skyline.

There´s not much of a culture shock, Argentina is very European and it´s easy to figure out how things work. This is very relaxing but it also makes it harder to appreciate the fact that we are so far away from home. Then again, all I need to do is look at the Dutch weather forecast and then I know that it really is a different world!

One thing I did notice however was that Argentinians love to make out in public. There are couples passionately kissing each other everywhere: in the park, at restaurants, on the pavement right in front of a café terrace, in packed bars on ordinary Tuesday nights.. They don´t care and the people around them don´t seem to either.

I wonder, might this be one of those things where ´When in Rome.....´?

Yes I WILL write a new post soon, I promise!