Are you a giver? Birthday wish, and please also keep clicking that link to the TunaFish website!

In my last post I mentioned I was planning something for Christmas and my birthday (2 January). The something I was planning involves you, and your money. This is not sounding good, is it? Please give me a chance to explain.

Because I am practically in a different country every year, most of you haven't had to buy me any birthday presents for a while now (ok, I do realise that this works both ways and that you probably also didn't get a present from me on your birthday, but that's not really the point in this post). This year, even though I couldn't physically be further away from most of the people I know, I wanted to ask you for a birthday gift. Or Christmas gift, if that's more your thing.
Lately I've been reading a bunch of books about the Tao and related stuff, and I was inspired by the idea of needing less, giving more. This led to the plan to ask you to help me raise some money for a good cause. So your gift to me would be money that we can give to people that need it more than I do.

I talked about this plan with a few people and they were pessimistic and didn't think it would work. The word 'recession' was mentioned. But really guys? Please don't tell me you can afford two more drinks, but can't spend that same money on something/someone that really needs it. I refuse to think that's you, so I still believe that you are generous and would love to give something, no matter how small the amount. If I am right, you can click on the 'Donate' button on the right (I'm very proud of my geeky me that managed to set this up). This button links to PayPal which allows you to donate with your credit card, of from your own PayPal account if you have one. The money goes into my PayPal account and you can leave a message too I think. I promise you that I will NOT keep the money for myself (unless that's your specific wish of course).

If you don't want to use this option please email me and I will send you my bank details (Dutch, Australian or Kiwi).

As for the good cause, I have a few in mind but find it very hard to choose so suggestions are welcome. I will let you know which one I picked. Once again, any amount is welcome, and I will donate something myself as well.

I picked a cause! I've decided to donate the money to the Liliane Foundation (Liliane Fonds). This is a Dutch organisation that helps handicapped children in developing countries. I picked this one because a family friend with years and years of experience in this industry recommended it to me as an organisation that doesn't pocket your money for themselves. They only have a Dutch website: http://www.lilianefonds.nl/, so if you want to know more and can't read Dutch let me know! I've been thinking about my own contribution, and decided I will sign up to give them a monthly donation.

And to keep up the spirit of giving, I don't have anything tangible to give, but I do want to tell you all that I miss spending time with you and really think the main downside of travelling is that I don't get to spend nearly as much time with you as I'd like. Then again, some of you I'd never have met if I hadn't done this travelling!

One thank you in particular to B&F for supporting everything I do in every imaginable way!

And last but not least, a repeat of the request for my personal benefit: please click this link (clicking it is all you need to do).

Good news

Just a really short update to let you know I finally got my visitor's permit changed into a working holiday permit. A word of advice for all of you thinking of coming to New Zealand: apply for your visa before you get here. Seems obvious doesn't it? So you're wondering why I didn't do that? Because I am stupid?

Nope. I really tried to complete my work visa application online (I'd already filled in most of it), but I kept getting a pop-up window saying 'Sorry, this website is currently unavailable'. I then called the immigration office and the girl I spoke to assured me I could just come to New Zealand, get a visitor's permit at the airport and then change it to a work permit later.

She was right, it can be done. It just takes a lot more time, and the system will automatically ask you to do a full medical exam. To cut a long story short, my application was approved yesterday, and I didn't have to do a medical.

On a very different note, I am planning a little something for Christmas and my birthday, so please keep checking in because I will post it online soon. Actually, I will be emailing you about it too, so there'll be no escaping it.

Also, if you are reading this (and I know you are, because well, you're reading this), I'd love to hear from you through the comment section. Most of you are not too familiar with the blogging world but you'd be surprised what happens out there/in here. (It's wild man! Or, you know, just fun)

Last but not least, I am entering a competition to win a ticket around the world. Jesus, has she still not travelled enough?! No, I haven't. I will address this subject soon. For now though, I need your help (read: a mere click of the mouse) to win, so please click here to see the website of my travel agency, TunaFish. The more hits they get via my blog the more chances I have of winning the ticket. I'll be forever grateful and will bring chocolate/speculaas/cheese when I visit you on my trip.
Don't worry though, this blog is not all for personal gain. The Christmas/birthday thing involves this competition but also something else, so stay tuned!

I like shooting too

New Zealand, country of sheep, kiwifruit, hot guys (or so I have been told), and sheep. Apart from all these wonderful things, New Zealand is also known for it's amazing natural beauty and crazy adventure sports. Yes, New Zealand is a country for the great outdoors. Dutch people in general are not used to the great outdoors, probably because we don't have a lot of it, and I especially are not an outdoor thrill seeker. I don't surf, I don't do rock climbing, mountain biking (except in Argentina and only downhill), I've never tried wake boarding, snow boarding and anything on a board for that matter, and I've never found a good reason to try things that involve elastic ropes and high altitudes. Even scuba diving is not for me. I do like snorkelling and I am highly skilled in floating in caribbean waters.

Do I sound boring? Maybe, but I don't really care. I still consider myself pretty adventurous and cool and I don't see why my self image should have to relate to reality. I mean, what good would that do?

Seriously though, last week I spent some time in a shop called Ocean Hunter. Why? Because my new flatmate has a hobby called spearfishing. This involves diving without oxygen tanks, a gun (not a spear apparently), and lots of other interesting equipment that I had never heard of. Like a shark shield. Except when I just googled this device I found this result. Aah!

Next up was a little trip up North from Auckland, to a place called Pataua, an almost deserted peninsula with a few houses, boats, and a campsite.
While my flatmate went off to shoot some fish, I thought it would be good if I did something adventurous too, like climb the weird looking hill at the end of the beach. But it was 6.30 in the morning and I quickly abandoned the idea. Instead, I did some shooting that is more my kind, the one that involves a camera. Below are some of the things I shot. Yep, myself too.









and one pic shot on One Tree Hill in Auckland

The question is: what is the question?

People love asking questions. Actually, that's not really true. A lot of people prefer to just start talking about themselves, and there's also a group of people that ask questions just so that once you're done answering, they can tell you their answer (which is always bigger, better, more impressive). But I think it's fair to say that most people do like to mix in a few questions when engaging in social talk with someone they've just met.

In the Netherlands, the favourite question usually revolves around the way you make your money: " Hi, I'm so and so, what kind of work do you do?" If you don't really know how to answer this, you'd be surprised how quickly they start mumbling something about going to get a drink or spotting a good friend across the room. Not that I've ever experienced this of course...

I guess the best answer to this question involves something that implies status, money, and hard work. Whether you like your job or not isn't very important. Oh, and adding something like "and last month I used my annual leave to help build houses for orphans in Africa" always works well too. The more exotic the better. For example, Australia is cool because it's sunny and far away, but really, it's kind of 'been there done that tell me something new'.

In Central and South America the first question is ALWAYS "where are you from?". They will utter some positve oooh's and aaah's about the Netherlands, immediately followed by "what do you think of Costa Rica/Chile/Argentina/Paraguay?". If you tell them you love it, the only question you'll have to answer from then on is whether you'd like some more food and drinks. Yep, it's that easy.

Here in Australia the question they ask me seems to be either how long I am here for (is it worth befriending you), or where I live (North or South of the Harbour).
On top of that, the Australians have also been asking themselves a question:

"I wonder if we can make new Uggs that are even uglier than the old Uggs...?"

The answer?

"Hell yes we can!"

Going places, meeting people

I'm back in Sydney. It's a very strange experience to travel for 30+ hours and not arrive somewhere that's new or home. Sydney for me is somewhere in between. I know my way around, I know how things work, I am familiar with the money, know where to buy what, and can hold a perfectly (mutually) understandable conversation with an Australian. But it's not home, I am not from here, and I don't have house or a job. Hmm, one might wonder if I have any reason at all to be here...but they might wonder wrong.
I am here to find a sponsored job, but also (and probably more so) to catch up with friends and enjoy everything that makes Sydney such a great city.

So, the sponsorship. Have I got one yet? What do you think?? Highest level psych degree, combined with low level completely unrelated, random work experience and lots of gaps caused be travelling. You and I know that this makes me the perfect candidate for just about any job, but strangely enough, not everyone agrees.
My biggest chance is with Arup, the company I worked for last time I was here. Even though I didn't really do any challenging work I somehow managed to impress people with my charm and intelligence. This means I got to meet up with two people from Arup for lunch today, to discuss where I might fit in and how to get me there. Paul and Anna were so nice and enthusiastic it was touching. They'd already thought about it and discussed it, and really wanted to find a way to help me. Unfortunately the decision to hire me isn't up to them, but things have been set in motion and who knows, in time something might come of it.

On top of that, I think they might have made me realise that I really want to go back to social psychology, and more specifically, do more with my training skills. So even if I never get a job with Arup, apart from being really enjoyable, this lunch meeting may well have been very worthwhile.

Whether a sponsorship will materialize or not, it will take time. Time that I am not going to spend here in Sydney doing nothing or doing cash-in-hand waitressing/babysitting jobs because I am not allowed to work here. Instead, I am planning to go to New Zealand soon, and work there on a working holiday visa.
Through Facebook (you got to love it just for this)I found out I know someone who is in Auckland too. He's really helped me out already with lots of info and even the offer of a room. I think it's a sign...even though some Australian friends have been trying to convince me that New Zealand is boring and backward and my favourite Kiwi friend hates Auckland....

In the meantime, I am enjoying beaching and swimming (yesterday, and hopefully tomorrow and every day after that), thunderstorms (now), and catching up with all the lovely people I still know here in Sydney. I've missed them and it is great to see them again. And it's sad to think I will probably have to say goodbye again soon. But New Zealand is close, and I'm sure I'll be back.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go practise my Kiwi vowels: uhm, is that six, sex or sucks?!

There I go again

Yep, there I go again. After four great months in Barcelona (including, since the last post, an attempted robbery, lots of days at the beach, a lot more days at the office, a new apartment etc), and one significantly less hectic month back home I am on the road once again.
I will get into the details about why and for how long some other time (eh, or not), but right now I don't really trust my brain. After 26,5 hours of travelling so far, with 6,5 still ahead of me, a stomach full of airplane food and a nose full of dried up snot I am feeling....well, quite good actually! But clearheaded? Not really.
I'm writing this post with a view of Auckland harbour to my right (well, I see a lot of water, and I'm at Auckland airport, so I'm assuming it's the harbour), 8am-Burger King eating Kiwis to my left, and a poster of, what else, a herd of sheep on the wall in front of me. The way to Sydney is long this time, but I mean to visit both New Zealand and Shanghai (my other stop) on the way back. If only to avoid the same long trip again.

For now just a little word of advice to people looking into buying a plane ticket. Do not fly with KLM. Out Royal Dutch Airline is anything but royal, in all respects. Air New Zealand on the other hand was a very pleasant surprise. The steward told me they were second in the world, and are 1st when it comes to leg room. Who knew. Highly recommended!

Aaaah I feel like I'm on a boat. Is that the jetlag or did they forget to tell us Auckland airport is a floating one?

More from Sydney!

Settling in Holland Attempt #6 (and 1-5): FAIL

So when I came back to Europe from my adventures in Argentina en Chile, I thought about staying in Spain, but three weeks in Spain were enough to make me think that this was not a good idea (no jobs), and that perhaps the time had come to go back ‘home’, for real this time. For real meaning finding a job, a house, renew the old friendships…in short, start to lead a normal life in my own country, like everyone else.

Yeah. Right.

I don’t want to get into too much detail about why it didn’t work out. Maybe because I don’t know why it didn’t work out. It just didn’t. And this time I really wanted to give it a go, so what does that tell me? Nothing that shocking, just something I’ve always known but have never wanted to really accept: my country is not for me. This doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with it, and that I don’t miss things when I’m not there. Or that I don’t like or miss my friends. I do. Holland’s great, it’s rich, well-organized, and efficient. I love our directness, our sense of humor, I think Dutch bread is the best bread in the world, I love drop, HEMA, stroopwafels, pindakaas, and that I know exactly where to go for what. But who cares about these things when it’s not enough to make you happy? Well, I don’t.

So back in Spain I am. Barcelona, like my plan in January. With a job this time though. A job at a Dutch company. I’m working at the emergency centre for lots of different insurances, the ANWB being the main one. Basically my job consists of helping Dutch tourists that get car problems while in holiday in Spain or Portugal and call us for help. It’s only a summer job, and apart from me about 20 other people got hired just for the summer. Who would move to Barcelona for a job for 3 months when the economy is in such a bad state? Right, people like me! And this is the best part about my job: I work with people that are in the same situation and understand my thought and feelings about career, the future, etc. It’s great to finally not have to explain why I’m doing what I’m doing. As you can imagine, we’ve already spent many an evening drinking wine and worrying about/discussing our plan for when our contract ends. We also share a fear of commitment, and the inability to make decisions. Planning something for next week is about the most you can ask of us. September is still a big question mark.
Scary? Sometimes, but for us it’s not nearly as scary as the feeling of ‘is this it?’ and routine that we get from a more ‘normal’ life. Maybe there are more and deeper lows in our lives, but the highs are high and sometimes really unexpected.

A long story to tell you I am in Barcelona and feeling happy. But now at least you know why I’m here, since my last post was written in the Netherlands.

Now that I’ve updated you a little about the bigger picture, my next posts will hopefully be about random Barcelona experiences. Like how I love using Bicing, how I’m learning to read Catalan because at my gym they seem to think it unnecessary to put the instructions in any other language, how I bumped into someone so hard that my tooth went through my lip and I started crying, how I love spending my day on a beach chair at Sitges Platja, the interesting phenomenon that travelling Dutch-Moroccans with car problems always also have headaches, or sick children. I bet you just can’t wait for all these great stories!

Life is sweet?

Long time no blogging on Life is sweet, does that mean there's less sweetness in my life? Not at all. And after a little down time post-Australia & Argentina it's about to become sweeter again, so stay tuned for more.....soon!

Rat race

Lately, when talking to people here in NL, the image of a hamster frantically running around in it's treadmill has been popping up in my mind a lot. Together with the term rat race. Because I actually didn't know the exact definition of a rat race, I decided to look it up in Wikipedia:

A rat race is a term used for an endless, self-defeating or pointless pursuit. It conjures up the image of the futile efforts of a lab rat trying to escape whilst running around a maze or in a wheel. In an analogy to the modern city, many rats in a single maze run around making a lot of noise bumping into each other, but ultimately achieve nothing (meaningful) either collectively or individually.

And this quote:

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat

I really don't want to offend any of my friends by saying I think they are engaging in something endless, pointless and self-defeating, nor do I want to suggest that I myself have never fallen prey to rat race-like behaviour. In fact, I don't think there is anything wrong with joining the rat race at all, as long as you are enjoying it. And this is where (in my eyes) things go wrong. I think a lot of people got sucked into it and now feel like they are stuck, and like they would have to give up on too much (i.e. money, status, security) if they would step out of it.
From what I've read, hamsters do enjoy running around in their treadmill, so I guess I am trying to say that I think we should be more like hamsters, less like rats. At least, I hope I will be.

In the meantime I am still job-hunting. I have such a great feeling for timing, coming back to look for work just as the crisis starts to take effect! One thing I've decided though, is that I'd much rather work in a nice little café (like my sweet Creme Anglaise in Woollahra), than in some sort of boring office job where I still don't have to use my brain (although figuring out some coffee machines can be quite tough). But of course ideally I'd like a well-paid, interesting and challenging job, with funny and friendly colleagues, you know, the ones that are the hamster kind.

To consume is to exist....

When I was in South America I didn't feel like I was missing things, or like I wanted to buy stuff all the time. The only things I longed for sometimes where a room for myself, a better command of the Spanish language (ok, this I wished for every day), and maybe a nicer shower.

Back in Holland however, this has changed. Straight away I started noticing that everyone owns só many things. The iPhone for instance, is so normal here that I have friends that wouldn't want to be seen with it, it's nothing special anymore. People have iPods, laptops, big plasma tv's, expensive shoes, jackets, bags, houses, cars, etc etc. You have to be strong not to get tempted. Well, big surprise, I am not that strong.

Things I never knew I needed but now desperately want to own:
- Philips wake-up light
- coloured contact lenses
- Mac desktop computer
- expensive moisturizer
- about 15 pairs of stockings/leggings
- anything else they will give me in exchange for money

I might not be strong enough not to get tempted, so far I have managed to stop myself from actually buying things. But I wonder how much longer I will last.....!

Why I bought a one-way ticket to the Netherlands

Yes you are reading this correctly, I bought a ticket Barcelona-Amsterdam, for this Thursday. After all my talk about not wanting to go back and live in Holland it appears that that is exactly what I am going to do.
Two weeks in Barcelona was long enough to make it clear to me that instead of getting excited, I was just feeling…lethargic. I am not blaming the city, I think I have just been away for long enough to finally appreciate that Holland isn’t all that bad. And that my Dutch friends are precious to me and I am really longing to see them and spend time together or at least talk on the phone for less than a euro per minute.
In a previous post I mentioned that I was feeling ready for a career. Well, I still sometimes think I am, and in this respect Holland is a much better bet than Spain as well.

But after about 6 days of weighing the pros and cons, it still really just comes down to a feeling, the feeling of wanting to go home no matter what the arguments. Part of me feels like I am taking the easy way out, giving up, etc etc, but when I think about it objectively I don’t agree. In fact, I am quite scared of going back to Holland because I know it will be hard!

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has already expressed their happiness over my return and the offers of places to stay, airport pickups, meals…it feels great! Donations of winter clothes are very welcome too by the way, and if you have an extra bike, let me know!

And also many thanks to my old and new friends here in Spain, you have helped me a lot and it was great catching up with you!

It's all about the money...or is it?

Happy as I was to say goodbye to hostel-life, the real world isn’t all they make it out to be. Sure, I’ve got my own room now and I am not woken up anymore by people leaving early in the morning, and also, I don’t have to be quiet anymore when I get home or get up.
On the other hand though, I am suddenly not meeting new people anymore, and instead of noisy roommates I now have noisy neighbours: a baby, mother and grandmother that love speaking to each other VERY LOUDLY on one side, a couple with child that love to ARGUE AND CRY VERY LOUDLY on the floor above, and on the floor below there’s an old man that loves to listen to his radio at 5 in the morning, but only in summer. Lucky me that it’s winter. In short, I am not so sure yet how I feel about my new life.
These mixed feelings have also been brought on by the fact that I am suddenly stuck in a European winter, with nothing to do but look for jobs that do not interest me in the slightest. You could get depressed from less I think.

Spain has been hit hard by the financial crisis, with an increase in unemployment of around 7% (compared to 4% in the Netherlands). In fact, Spain is the country in Europe that is suffering the most, and the Netherlands the least. So a request for my friends back home: please stop telling me that the situation is not good in the Netherlands, it’s all relative and you don’t realize how lucky and rich you are!
Available jobs for foreigners in Barcelona who aren’t bilingual Spanish/Catalan (and which foreigner is) can be divided in two categories: teaching English and call centers/customer service centers. As you might recall from my last post, I’ve already ruled out teaching English. Leaves me with the call centers. And to make matters worse, you probably pay your cleaning lady quite a bit more than what I would earn in a call center.
Understandably, I spent the past week checking out flight prices to Eindhoven or Dusseldorf on ryanair.com and trying to picture myself back in the Netherlands. Only reason I am still in Barcelona is because I have already paid a full month’s rent, which stops me from giving in to my urge to run back to the land of family, friends, extremely well-paid jobs and last but definitely not least: hot, high pressure showers.
It’s also easy to fantasize about all the things I could do with the money I would (probably) earn and save so quickly back home. Like go on a new trip, or just go on a little weekend trip every month. It would also be so easy to deal with everything in my own language again, and to know exactly where to go and who to talk to, no matter what you need. Or, heaven forbid, maybe I could finally find a job that is actually challenging and rewarding. Imagine that!

To be honest, it’s not just the already paid rent that is keeping me here. Although staying here would clearly not be good for neither my bank account nor my career, I started thinking about the things that I find difficult here and how they would be better in back home. And the answer is that they probably wouldn’t be. Because one thing I dislike after spending so much time in countries with lots of sunlight is the cold, dark and grey weather, but this will only be much worse in the Netherlands. A few days ago it was actually sunny and 19 degrees here, so I shouldn’t even say anything about the winter in Barcelona.
Another thing that’s different from Sydney or South America is the openness of the people here. But it takes about 6 months to make a new Dutch friend! (In the Netherlands, abroad it’s a different matter.) And I don’t know if I am ready for people using their diary to plan going for a coffee, let alone constantly having to listen to others and myself complaining about how tired and busy we are…

That’s why I have decided to give it another chance. But man, writing a motivation letters for jobs that have about 0 aspects that you like is really, really hard! So don’t be surprised if my next post is written at the airport after all….

Or, if someone has a car and some spare time, you can come pick me up if you like! A little road trip through Europe, wow, I think I am onto something here!

Children, anyone?

Coincidentally, both Sara and one of her friends wrote a post about children while I was thinking about this children-related post for my blog. There must be something in the air.

Those of you that know a bit more about what I did in Sydney last year know that children are still not my idea of fun. Even when I get paid for it I can only just tolerate them. Don’t get me wrong, I like some children. The ones that are related to me for example, but only if they are smart and well behaved. And they need to like me too. I also like the ones that like to read, as in, like to sit in a corner with a book and stay there quietly for an hour. And it helps if the parents are around to take them back when they start annoying me, or if I am allowed to bribe them with chocolate or tv. To cut a long story short: working with children definitely doesn’t belong on the ‘things I like’ list.

My life here in Barcelona seemed to go pretty smoothly. In the week since my arrival I arranged a room, a job interview that actually led to a job, my work permit and social security number. Not bad, especially considering everyone was telling me it would be very difficult to find a job. I got a job as an English teacher at a small language school. Yesterday was my first day and you can imagine my joy when it turned out I had to spend 90 minutes trying to teach three 5-year-olds some English. This was when I remembered that I DO NOT like kids. And also, that I do not like teaching! (Duh, might that be why you didn’t pursue your career as a trainer even though you spent a year of your life getting a masters degree in that area??)

So today I did something that I am not proud of. Even though my other classes wouldn’t be with children, even thinking about going to work made me feel stressed and unhappy. And trust me, this is not because I just generally don’t want to work, because I really do. Today I was supposed to assist another teacher so I could get to know the students and take over next week. But on my way to the school all I could think was ‘I don’t want to go, I don’t want to go I don’t want to go’. So, I just didn’t go.

Hey, aren’t we always bombarded with magazine articles that tell you to listen to your feelings? Well, that’s what I did. I got off the metro, walked around to the other platform and took the next metro back. I am not proud of what I did but I feel so happy and relieved about not having to do that job! I have no idea what I am going to do now, but I am sure good ideas will come to me soon.

So now I am in Barcelona with no clue about why I am here. Barcelona was on my list of cities-I’d-like-to-live-in, so I guess that’s why . But I’d better come up with some more reasons soon! I just can’t help but compare everywhere I go with Sydney, and Sydney always wins. I know that that’s the place I really want to be, but I just don’t really see how I can make it happen. If anyone has any good ideas, please let me know. If you are male and Australian I consider a marriage proposal a good idea too.

For now I will stay here in Barcelona, watching Italian movies dubbed in Catalan. Joy!

Dissolving bodies in acid chemicals

I am back in Europe (Spain) and my everyday life here gives me loads of ideas for posts. So why haven´t I written anything since Chile? I don´t really know, but I think it might have something to do with not having my own space. Hostel computer areas are not suitable for thinking, let alone writing. Plus I feel guilty spending time writing blogs because I feel I should be looking for jobs instead.

But good news, I am moving into an apartment tonight! The bad news is that my laptop has a virus or something, so I will have to go to internet cafés until I get it fixed. If you know a computer genius in Barcelona please let me know!

For now, instead of writing about Barcelona, I want to share some fairly bizar news with you. This is the link to an article I found on the Dutch news website www.nu.nl:

http://www.nu.nl/algemeen/1905075/stoofpottenmaker-bekent-oplossen-300-lijken.html

If you can´t read Dutch (idiot!), it´s about a Mexican guy in Tijuana that gets paid 460 euro a week to get rid of people that are murdered by drug lords. Ok, nothing special you may think. But he does this by letting the bodies soak in acid chemicals until they are completely dissolved. Kind of smart come to think of it.

Mr. ´Pozolero´ (after a local cooking tradition that uses stewing pots, or pozoles) thinks he dissolved around 300 people this way. Give or take.

When I was travelling by bus from Santiago to Mendoza at the start of my trip I actually saw a movie in which a serial killer did something similar. It makes me wonder whether film makers get their ideas from the real world, or whether real world criminals get their ideas from films. Either way, someone in this world is sick enough to come up with it first.

I´m telling you, watch out for people that got straight A´s in chemistry......

About travelling alone and crossing borders

Crossing the border from Argentina to Chile is not something for impatient people that are used to the open EU borders. When I went from Chile to Argentina 7 weeks ago the whole operation was a piece of cake, with our whole bus going through all the checks in what can´t have been more than 30 minutes.
Yesterday, coming back took me about 4 hours. Three of these hours were spent doing, well, nothing really. Just sitting and waiting (but isn´t that the favoured pastime all around South America anyway?). And I was lucky to be on a bus, because the line for regular passenger cars was so long that I think some of those people might actually still be there today.
The final hour consisted of collecting various exit and entry stamps at different windows, and looking at the guards checking our bags for things Chile wants to keep out.

During this border crossing adventure I noticed once again how concerned the people here are when they hear you are travelling alone. And I also noticed again how much crap (very flattering crap, but still) you have to put up with being a girl by yourself. The bus driver flirts with you. The entry stamp guy tries everything to talk to you, starting with ´which country is your passport from´ (uhm, isn´t it your job to establish that?), and ending with ´you´re beautiful´. Another border guard, after I asked him a question: ´your eyes are so beautiful´. Etc etc. But the one thing they all ask, usually at least twice: ´are you travelling alone?? I mean like, all alone??´ I´m still not sure whether it´s genuine concern or if they just want to make sure there isn´t a strong, tall boyfriend hiding behind the bus somewhere! I am guessing a combination of both.

Sometimes the attention annoys me, but yesterday it was a nice change from the monotony of sitting on the bus. That was probably why I got talking to a guy from my bus, while we were waiting for our luggage to be checked. After I had assured him that yes, I was travelling alone, and no, that wasn´t dangerous or lonely, we moved on to more interesting things. It turned out that he is studying in the US on a tennis scholarship. Pretty cool I think. Once we´d cleared customs he asked me if I wanted to come sit with him in the downstairs area on the bus, meaning in the more expensive section with much nicer seats than the one I´d paid for. Well, if that´s what I have to do to be able to practice my Spanish, alright then! To cut a long story short, we ended up having dinner in Santiago, before he had to go to the airport for his flight to the US. The reason I am writing about this is because it shows exactly why it´s so great sometimes to travel alone: it makes it much easier to meet all these different, interesting, nice people. Also, all the warnings and stereotypes try to make you believe it´s better not to trust anyone. But that means you also miss out on experiences like these, with people that are nice to you without an ulterior motive. So once again I was reminded that I should just trust my own judgment. All in all, the few times when I was wrong are by far outweighed by the great people and places I got to know when I was right.


So now it´s Sunday, and Santiago is very very quiet. My hostel is new and nice, but I was in a dorm with three very annoying guys. Picture the type that falls out of his bed and then continues sleeping on the floor. Luckily I moved to a girls dorm this morning, so I won´t have to deal with that again.

It´s 30 degrees here but I think I am going to try to find some gloves. After all, only two more days and I will be back in the cold!! Wish me luck.

Travelling is not my thing

How do they do it? Backpackers I mean. How do they travel around for months and not get bored, or tired, or simply fed up with everything that comes with the backpacker lifestyle?
Don´t get me wrong, I envy them (or you, if you are one of them). It sounds amazing and I would love to be able to do it too. But it´s just not for me. This is not a new discovery, some revelation, a new insight in my personality. I´ve known it for years, but in some areas of my life I completely ignore the basics of the trial and error method: if error, then do not repeat.

On the upside, I´ve had some pretty fun, interesting and crazy experiences in the last couple of days.
My birthday for example. The weather on my birthday was the most perfect weather I´d experienced in BsAs so far, the streets were quiet because all the Porteños were at the beach, so there was nothing to stop me from absolutely loving the city. The fact that I was on my way to a spa also helped I guess.
But then I turned a corner and the tranquility was gone: blaring police sirens, people running around and shouting, gun shots, and after that, a dead body. Some burglar was shot by the police. I think he also had a gun and was shooting too. I hope so, because I heard at least six gunshots: a bit harsh if your target is not even armed/shooting back.
Don´t worry, I was at a fairly safe distance and didn´t do anything heroic or dangerous. I did go for a closer look once it was safe though. Does that make me a bad person? I also thought the whole thing was kind of exciting...and these feelings scared me a bit. I mean, someone died!
Luckily I didn´t have to break my head over these complicated things for long: the spa was beckoning. (For those of you that know the city, if you are on Arenales between Riobamba and Callao and see any dark stains on the pavement, it´s probably blood.)

Another crazy thing happened later that same day. After dinner we went out to a club in Palermo. I was standing at the bar just minding my own business when out of nowhere this random guy walked up to me, grabbed my face, and stuck his tongue in my mouth. Ugh!! But wait, the story gets even better: a few hours later, when we were leaving the club, he walked past me and did it again! Clearly the (very angry!) push I´d given him the first time wasn´t enough, so this time, I hit him. Sadly, I don´t think it really hurt all that much. I´m pretty sure he still thought the whole thing was hilarious. I didn´t.

But all in all definitely a birthday to remember!

Saturday I broke a promise I´d made to myself only two weeks earlier, namely to never ever take a long distance bus again. But I have to get to Santiago before the 13th of January and tickets are ridiculously expensive, so I didn´t really have a choice but to bus it, first to Mendoza and then next weekend to Chile. To my relief my trip to Mendoza was the nicest, fastest, easiest bus ride I´ve ever had. The trip was 12 hours and I slept through about 10 of them. Without a sleeping pill.

So now I am in Mendoza. It was my plan to take some more spanish lessons and I did do that this morning. But to say that it was enjoyable........not really. So not sure if I will continue going.
Right now I am killing time because the shop I need to go to is closed for siesta. Great.
I wanted to write something a bit more profound, but there are screaming children just outside the internet café. Strangely, screaming children do not inspire me that much.

So maybe I will just go for an ice cream instead...