Life is sweet!

I'm moving again

2010-05-09T01:33:00.002+12:00

Click here to go to my new blog!

(elsbethstoove.wordpress.com)

Time to move on

2010-04-08T21:01:00.000+12:00

My dear New Zealand,

It´s time to go our seperate ways. Correction, it´s time for me to move on and leave you behind. This should come as no surprise to you, as it was clear from the beginning that you and I....just weren´t made for each other. I know we both tried hard, and every now and then it seemed to work, but every time we got back to the same point of just not knowing how to make each other happy.

Let´s face it, you like the foreign girls with hiking boots and tons of other sensible gear, and if they have a German accent, even better. And sometimes you tend to go for the other extreme: ten-inch heals, too much make-up, not enough clothes, Kiwi twang. I am neither, and I can’t change just for you.

Still, I am glad I met you and spent some time with you. You’ve shown me things that I had never seen before and were breathtaking (sometimes in a literal, sulphurous way, but beautiful nonetheless).
I’ve met some really great people through you, who I will surely will keep in touch with, and one of my best nights in the past 6 months was spent eating, drinking and playing silly games with your family in Dunedin.
Needless to say, I always loved exploring the fiords and climbing the peaks in your Southern regions, leading me to heavenly views. But other times, you made me feel lonely, prevented me from earning enough money, you bored me, you made me spend too much. I guess we just never really understood each other.
It’s not you though, it’s me. I am a product of Europe, as much as I like to think I’m not, I am. A product of the smallest, most crowded, least wild, part of Europe. You can take a girl out of the city, but...well, she’ll miss it! I do love nature and hate cities that don’t have enough green, but I need a good balance and I didn’t find that with you.
Nevertheless, these months with you have given me new insights for the future and I am very grateful for that.

So now, as I am getting ready to leave you, I feel tired and a little sad, but mostly, relieved. Relieved that I have decided that enough is enough, and that I am moving on to something bigger and better. Or smaller and better, who knows.
As these things go though, I am sure in not too long I will start looking back and see more and more good things about you. And after a few years I will have forgotten the bad stuff and will probably long for you sometimes. So who knows, maybe in the future we can have a little rendez-vous again. An adventurous, fun, let’s-go-crazy-and-spend-all-our-money kind of thing. Good but short, because you and me where never meant to be together forever. So many others do feel that way about you though, so I am sure you will be far from lonely.

Well, goodbye, take care, and don’t let those Germans mess with you!

Love,
Elsbeth

Just put that pig in the bag and relax

2010-03-31T17:26:00.002+13:00

Tonga-time: why hurry when you're ahead of the rest of the world anyway?

Maartje and I have known each other since we were three and we thought it was time for an adventure as far away from home as possible.
So why not try something different and travel to Tonga without doing any research or bringing a guide book? Why not indeed, so travel to Tonga we did.

Air New Zealand was once again great, providing us with food, drinks, and in-flight entertainment that works straight away, not just after take-off. And this is essential if you want to watch a two hour movie during a two-and-a-bit hour flight.
So there I was up in the air (which was also the name of the movie that Maartje watched, what a clever title), between New Zealand and the Kingdom of Tonga, watching the hardships in the life of The Young Victoria, accompanied by Schubert's music and Dutch actors speaking English with German accents. Ah, it was wonderful. And not altogether as different from Tonga as you'd think: unsealed roads, women in beautiful dresses, pigs running around freely, and quite a few white men speaking English with German accents.

Anyway, as I said, we were unprepared, and after a taxi ride during which we probably asked the driver a whole bunch of stupid questions ("Do you have crocodiles here? Or monkeys?". "No crocodiles, but a lot of monkeys sitting around watching tv and doing nothing all day"), we decided to walk into town to find something to eat. Unfortunately it was dark and we couldn't find the town centre. We asked the Chinese people that ran the little store that we did find, but they didn't speak English. So, stepping over the dead cat in the gutter, we returned home and went to bed.
The next day it all looked better and we found the centre and a nice cafe. Amazingly Tonga is still free of fastfood chains, no McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks, nothing, which adds to the charm. They do have Coca Cola of course, and Heineken, though both are frequently past their sell-by date.

In short, we walked around (and sweated), cycled (too far), hitchhiked (and made a friend), went swimming at a beautiful beach (where we were the only ones), drank watermelon juice (delicious), waited (for everyone and everything, but mainly for the ferry), saw dolphins (from the ferry), were amazed (at how friendly the people were, and how big the guys), went hiking (to a look-out that we never found because the guide got lost), and relaxed (at a resort where we could hear the waves from our bed and once again had the whole beach to ourselves).

Other things I discovered:

1. Tongan bananas and pancakes taste good
2. Eating Vegemite (with lots of Vit.B) and liberally spraying myself with Off! doesn't repel the Tongan mosquitoes.
3. An open sea ferry ride at 5.30am without breakfast makes me feel horribly seasick, and
3a. I can't vomit while the captain and his friends can see me and
3b. once the worst of the nausea has gone down, it's pretty nice to sit out on the deck surrounded by living pigs in potato sacks that are being transported from one pig-inhabited island to the other.

All the Tongan girls wanted to find Maartje and me a nice Tongan husband, but we politely declined and boarded our plane back to New Zealand as scheduled.
New Zealand: where every backpacker speaks English with a German accent. Typical, you go to the other side of the world and run into your neighbours.

Connected

2010-03-21T17:06:00.000+13:00

I've got a laptop again. After serious in-depth research of about 3 hours I decided to just wave the credit card and splash out. No, that doesn't mean I bought something fancy, it means I bought the cheapest available netbook, but that's still a MAJOR splash-out for me these days.
Anyway, after two months without a computer I've gotten used to not having one, and I am not really sure what to do with it anymore. But I trust it will all come back to me soon. Next up is finding free WiFi, which on a Sunday in a sleepy Christchurch suburb (by the beach!) seems pretty much impossible. But since the library is open again tomorrow and I've got the whole day to myself, a new blogpost might just be on the horizon.
Next dilemma: do I take this laptop with me to Tonga or not...? Ah, life is full of difficult choices.

See ya tomorrow!

Riches to rags

2010-01-29T14:31:00.000+13:00

So turns out a lot of you are the generous type and gave me money to donate to the Liliane Foundation, which is really great to see. As checking to total balance involved me checking my bank account and I had the feeling that would not make for a pleasant day I have been putting off getting back to you. But apparently ignoring your problems doesn't make them any smaller (damm, I was doing such a good job!). What does help then? Confronting them? Let's try something a bit more buddhist: acknowledge and accept. Yes, acknowledge that my funds are dwindling, that people gave me lots of money, and accept that I cannot use that money for myself.
Ah, if only I were that strong!

Only joking (though it was very tempting I must say): the grand total is 160 euros (none of that worthless NZ dollar shit in this case), and I just transferred all of it to Liliane. Thanks to all of you who contributed, and as you know I believe good things come from doing good things, so watch out! Either way I'm sure we've helped a few kids get a slightly better life.

As for me, yes, my finances seem to have fallen off a cliff. A cliff with a beautiful viewof Queenstown, the lake and the mountains, but it was a bit of a drop nonetheless.

But whatever, who's interested in my finances anyway. Acknowledged, accepted, next! (This next might be a phone call to the parents...)
In the way the world seems to work though, I've been meeting exactly the people I needed to meet, giving me guided tours, massages, meals with parents and haircuts, not to mention positive energy, insights and stimulating conversation. So it's safe to say I've finally shaken off my Auckland depression (brought on by a variety of events better left unmentioned) and am now floating around in a state of bliss.
Until I remember I have no money that is, but that is a situation I can and will work on, and which will sort itself out soon. Queenstown is full of super low-paid jobs for money-deprived travelers like myself and I managed to get one of the best-paid ones around, selling clothes at Quiksilver. Only 12 days until payday, yahoo!

In the meantime, I hope that everyone that has been making me feel happier has gotten something back from me in one way or another or will do so in the future. I mean, watching that Swedish film where someone gets raped in the ass was so enjoyable, I'm sure my friends in Dunedin were delighted I talked them into seeing it and now feel culturally enriched. If not, I'll buy you some beers next time I'm there!

My laptop died so it's been a bit more difficult lately, but I hope to blog again soon...

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

2009-12-23T14:34:00.005+13:00

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

2009-12-10T10:47:00.006+13:00

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

2009-11-29T12:09:00.008+13:00

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?

2009-11-17T12:18:00.007+13:00

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

2009-11-12T19:42:00.003+13:00

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

2009-11-07T07:31:00.002+13:00

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

2009-07-10T08:31:00.005+12:00

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?

2009-05-02T08:55:00.003+12:00

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

2009-03-03T23:53:00.004+13:00

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....

2009-02-15T07:22:00.003+13:00

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

2009-02-03T04:30:00.003+13:00

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?

2009-02-01T06:25:00.000+13:00

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?

2009-01-30T02:54:00.002+13:00

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

2009-01-24T23:59:00.003+13:00

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

2009-01-12T06:43:00.005+13:00

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

2009-01-06T06:27:00.005+13:00

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...

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

2008-12-28T09:49:00.005+13:00

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

2008-12-20T06:46:00.012+13:00

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

2008-12-18T13:52:00.004+13:00

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

2008-12-07T07:11:00.012+13:00

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!

2008-12-07T05:19:00.001+13:00

The mind works in mysterious ways

2008-11-21T13:29:00.011+13:00

Before I left for my trip to Chile and Argentina I was joking with an Arup colleague that I wouldn't be doing any real backpacking, that I would just chill out by a pool drinking cocktails.
This joke slowly started turning into reality when, half an hour before leaving for the airport, I decided to take a suitcase instead of my backpack. A decision I haven't regretted for a moment. After all, both Chile and Argentina have paved roads.

Then, once I was in Chile, I got invited to stay with a Chilean family, in their holiday house in the moutains. I think the pictures say it all. A huge wooden house, all the water directly from the river and no electricity until after sunset, when the generator was switched on. A five star back-to-nature experience. But the highlight of this adventure was the 9 year-old Benjamin, who very patiently kept teaching me new words in Spanish.

But even though I was surrounded by the most beautiful scenery and welcoming people, my mind wouldn´t stop thinking lots of ¨if only´s¨. If only I were here with my own family/friends, if only I spoke better Spanish, if only I could go back to Sydney soon, if only this were my house. If only, and it would all be perfect. Does this mean I am spoiled? Well, obviously I am, but I don´t think that was the reason. I think it was just the thought of being dependent on these people, not being able to leave if I wanted to, to do my own thing. Maybe my year in Sydney has made me a bit too independent. After a severe test of my patience with Latin timing (with everything happening a day later then planned!) we finally got back to Santiago/Valparaíso on Monday night. The next morning I made a dash for Mendoza (Argentina), just over the Andes. And it´s amazing how much better I feel! Mentally I mean, because my body is actually quite sore from horseback riding.

Briefly skipping back to Santiago de Chile again: I thought it was a pleasant city, and Sara (see previous post) showed me some neighbourhoods that I am quite sad not to have been able to explore further. Maybe on the way back. I was also pleasantly surprised to see my favourite tree, the jacaranda. Too bad its blooming season was near the end.

Mendoza is great as well. It´s very, very green and very calm without being sleepy or boring. It actually feels a bit like a Spanish town. (Hmm, how strange....doh)

Some of you might be pleased to hear that I haven´t been able to maintain my vegetarianism. In Chile I did fairly well. Because they eat everything with avocado I would just ask for no meat-extra avocado. But here in Argentina the avocado has disappeared from the menu. Instead, it´s meat, meat and meat. Today I had about 6 pieces of the most delicious (and deliciously bbq-ed) meat ever. I comfort myself with the idea that out here the cows lead happy pampa-lives, far away from over-crowded cages and hormone injections. Yay.

From Mendoza I am going to Buenos Aires (on Saturday), where Madeleine will join me on 28 November. Together we will explore BA a bit more, (hopefuly) go to a Boca Juniors soccer game, and then travel around other parts of Argentina until Christmas. After Madeleine leaves on 26 December, I hope to stay in Buenos Aires to learn more Spanish (with that peculiar Argentinean accent) and maybe find a job of some sort. I am actually going to look at an apartment in BA this Monday!

Over the past week I had about a million ideas of what to write about, but in reality typing a blog on a hostel computer is not ideal. There´s wi-fi in most places, so I can use my own laptop too, but the handy, tiny thing is so tiny that I will develop RSI in every part of my body if I use it for too long. So you see, lots of excuses!

I guess the main point I want to get across is that I am happy to be here.

I am in Chile

2008-11-14T11:58:00.002+13:00

As the title says, I am in Chile! And it's great. I will post an update later but just wanted to say I had a great day with Sara, an American girl that doesn't look American (and doesn't sound American when she speaks Spanish). She showed me around the city and we both got very red-faced because it was really hot. Not complaining though! I also had my first pisco sour, the national Chilean drink, dangerously nice!

More to come soon!

McCain supporters on the Dutch news

2008-10-28T05:18:00.002+13:00

In Sydney I succesfully sheltered myself from most of the world's news. This wasn't on purpose, and I don't know if it's a good or bad thing, it's just the way it was. It didn't worry me too much because I figured that if something big happened I'd hear about it anyway.
Hmm, come to think of it, I did quickly check a Dutch news website almost every day, so I am not being totally honest here!
My point is, if the recent trivia quiz at work had focused on current affairs, I would've sucked.

Luckily (?) I feel a bit more involved again now that I am back in Europe. For instance, there is no escaping the financial crisis. Even all my girl friends seem to suddenly know a lot about shares, pension funds and putting your money into a savings account in Iceland (don't). I still think it's an extremely dull topic, although I must admit the sudden collapse of the Aussie dollar, just when I (for the first time in my life) have quite a few savings (in Australian dollars, in an Australian bank account) did make me swear on quite a few occasions. I'm trying to be more Zen about it now. I'm sure it's still worth a lot in Chile and Argentina...

Last week though, the Dutch news had an item covering one of my favourite things: the opinions of the average American. Ok, I know that editing is manipulative, and that they'd rather show extremes because normal, sensible people are less interesting to watch, but boy does it make for some great tv!
They were interviewing people that were waiting to go into a community hall or something where McCain was going to hold a speech. The interviewer asked them if there was a chance they would vote for Obama:

Woman: "Hell no, he's a criminal!!!"

Reporter: "? A criminal? How so?"

Woman (with a look of disbelief that the reporter guy didn't instantly agree with her): "Yes! He's a socialist!" (Socialist pronounced like it's the most disgusting thing in the world)

Reporter: "But is a socialist necessarily a criminal too?"

Woman: "............well,........well,........with his record they wouldn't even hire him at a post office if he applied!!!"

This post office example was repeated by someone else. Apparently people seem to want a president that could just as well have been an employee at a post office. I should hope that a potential president would be slightly overqualified for a job at the post office, but hey, what do I know.

Another lady was very, very concerned that "all the foreign newspapers I read want Obama to win". This to her was a clear sign: "Of course they support Obama and want him to win, they want America to become weaker, they don't want a strong America".

Finally, some shots of McCain saying nothing of any interest. Just yelling: "We have to stand up and FIGHT!!".
Sure, that's just what you need. Spend some more time, energy and some xx billion dollars on fighting. After all, fighting is what makes people happy. Poverty, healthcare, and the environment are nothing but topics for socialists. Oh sorry, that should be 'criminals', of course.

Back to Dutch life

2008-10-14T22:15:00.004+13:00

Stereotypes are true sometimes. Yesterday I ate two slices of brown bread with some Old Amsterdam cheese. Then I got my bicycle from the shed, the bike that I've had since I was...13? and rode it to my friend's house, without encountering any hills on the way. We drank some cinnamon tea and ate some good chocolate.

No clogs and windmills though. And the sun was shining!

Karma II

2008-10-14T21:59:00.003+13:00

Well, I was right. What goes around comes around, in this case in the form of three whole seats to myself on both legs of my journey from Sydney to Amsterdam. The first flight wasn't full so more people were lucky, but on the second flight every seat was taken, except the two next to me. It made me feel a bit guilty, stretching out and sleeping for 8 hours. But then again, it's not my fault I was the only one generous enough to give away free money!

I'm flying again soon, hopefully I'll have an absent-minded, forgetful day before that flight too.

Signs that make you wonder...

2008-10-10T01:08:00.003+13:00

Today I saw two signs that made me laugh.

I encountered the first one when I was jogging in Rose Bay, along the posh, plush, green Rose Bay Golf Course:

"Illegal dumping prohibited"

I might just have to run around to the other side of the course tomorrow, because this suggests there might also be a place where it's "legal dumping prohibited" or maybe even "illegal dumping allowed".

The second sign was in the Botanical Gardens where I was lazily strolling around in the afternoon. (I am a lady of leisure these days, it's not bad at all). In the Botanical Gardens you are encouraged to walk on the grass, touch the trees and talk to the birds. But there were two very big trees with a fence around them. The sign said something like: "Please don't climb over this fence. Branches may drop without warning". Am I supposed to assume that going near the other trees in the Gardens is safe, because those trees do warn me before they drop a branch?

This is pretty useless info and it won't win you a trivia night (for that you need to be an expert in American pop culture and Disney movies), but it's these small things in life that can make me laugh out loud. LOL.

Australia's good, bad, and strange from a Dutch point of view

2008-10-06T23:01:00.004+13:00

As a social psychology student you are flooded with interesting experiments, facts and fictions about stereotypes. For example, did you know that thinking or reading about old people can make you walk more slowly? Also, thinking about Einstein can improve your exam results whereas thinking about someone stupid (say soccer hooligans, or Mr Bush) will make you temporarily dumber.
In short though, we need them, but they are also a driving force behind things not so great, like discrimination
As for me, I should know better but I actually quite like them and find they make great conversation and discussion material.

So, here are a few of my own stereotypes/judgements/opinions about life in Australia (Sydney):

- Lifestyle:
Definitely more relaxed than in the Netherlands. More outdoor activities, less need to plan ahead, slightly less career focused. Also more open to people that make different choices, where Dutch people would ask: 'but why would you want to do that?' Australians tend to say: 'wow, good on ya!'

- Sydney weather
Big blue skies, light like nowhere else. But also: lots of very heavy rain. It either rains or shines. I like it (when it shines that is).

- Men
Usually one or two out of the following three: too feminine, too macho, too short. This doesn't mean they aren't good looking!

- Women
Less is more...but they take it a bit too literally! I've heard this is typical for Sydney but I've seen in it Melbourne too. At the same time they live by 'more is more': shorter skirt, higher heels, straighter hair, more make-up, more jewellery, more perfume. And coats are for losers.
(With this point I'd like to stress that I know a lot of girls that are not like this!!)

- Sports
I can never remember the difference between rugby league and rugby union (I do right know but only because there was a game on last night), but both are not bad to watch. One thing is for sure, our soccer players have a lot to learn from these guys. After seeing the Aussies play they would be horribly ashamed of themselves for falling to the ground pretending to be in agony. They don't know what pain is!

- TV
Good and bad. It's kind of good that Australian tv is so ridiculously bad: you don't ever want to watch it!

- Pubs
Carpet?? TVs?? I rest my case.

- Traffic
Too many cars in too many places. Crossing lights for pedestrians stay red forever. Road signs are sometimes there, sometimes not, sometimes before the turn, sometimes after...even someone with a great sense of direction will easily get lost driving in Sydney.

- Food
Good and cheap. Or deep-fried and cheap. And always in your face. Resisting is difficult.

- Views
Views of the Harbour, the ocean, the city, the Opera House...amazing! So much better than in a flat country. Not much to see when you are not on a hill. Or when there's no hill to look at. Unless you really love the horizon....

Of course I could go on and on, but let's not.

Australia (and Sydney in particular) is a great place and I will really miss it (heaps).

Karma

2008-10-04T21:04:00.008+13:00

Ever feel in need of some good karma on a rainy Saturday? I know just the thing to do.

1. Go on a listless, uninspired shopping trip where you try on two things and buy nothing (oh ok, except for a lentil wrap (?))
2. Decide you could do with some more cash in your wallet as this always comes in handy when at the pub
3. Go to the ATM, insert your card, punch in the numbers, and take out your card
4. Walk away, leave the money in the ATM and so brighten the day of the lucky person that uses the ATM next

Et voila, that's it: good karma created.

Wow, I can't wait for all the good stuff that's surely coming my way!

Back to Blogspot

2008-10-03T12:35:00.003+13:00

The bastards at waarbenij.nu are going to delete the pictures from my blog, unless I pay them (again). Enough reason to come back to my blogspot page, which I like much better anyway!

Posts will be in English from now on, to cater for the more linguistically challenged among my friends (aka native English speakers, or other randoms that don't speak Dutch). That said, I'd like to ask y'all (you all) for some open-mindedness when I make mistakes in my English, or start mixing Dutch and English. Hey, I'm only human too.

Last Sydney post will follow soon, and of course I will also let you know what it's like to be back in the Low Lands.
I'm keeping it short now because I am at work. I know it is my last day in the office but still feel like I should at least pretend to be doing some work.

En voor de mensen in Nederland, tot heel binnenkort! Sorry voor de switch naar Engels, maar neem aan dat dat voor jullie geen problemen oplevert, toch?

nieuwe website

2007-10-18T01:16:00.001+13:00

Het is heel afgezaagd maar toch wel handig, daarom ben ik ook maar een waarbenjij.nu begonnen. Blogspot doet soms raar met foto's en is soms langzaam.

Drie keer raden naar de naam van de site....

Goed zo!

www.elsbethstoove.waarbenjij.nu

Zie jullie daar! (Er staat een nieuw bericht)

xxx

Bijna weg

2007-10-14T05:32:00.001+13:00

Lieve allemaal,

Niet iedereen weet het al, maar morgenavond vertrek ik naar Sydney! Het is heel snel geregeld: ik wist het zelf ook pas zo'n drie weken geleden.

Gelukkig weet ik wel wat ik van Sydney kan verwachten, en dat is veel goeds. De timing is ook niet verkeerd, binnen twee dagen van de herfst naar de lente! Wat ook heel leuk is, is dat twee lieve vriendinnetjes van mij, Maartje en Elke, al in Sydney wonen en ik me dus zeker niet eenzaam hoef te voelen.

Bart blijft in Den Haag wonen en werken maar komt sowieso langs voor een vakantie. En heel misschien komt hij zelfs in Sydney stage lopen.

Omdat het zoveel leuker is dan tekst, hier nog wat plaatjes: Sydney vijf jaar geleden.

Tot slot wil ik nog even zeggen dat ik de afgelopen week heel erg heb genoten van alle leuke afspraken, etentjes en drankjes, thanks!

Wordt vervolgd..

I'm back!

2007-06-28T21:31:00.000+12:00

Eerst nog even een paar foto's.....

Terug op Nederlandse bodem in de Nederlandse kou en de Nederlandse regen, maar so far so good, ik vermaak me prima en kan nog wel even teren op de herinneringen aan de afgelopen 2 maanden.

Conclusies: blij dat ik gegaan ben; ik wil meer Spaans leren; Ik wil meer van Latijns Amerika zien; hitte is fijner dan kou; avocado's zijn lekker; een reisgids meenemen is toch wel aan te raden; van hockeyen na 2 maanden niks doen krijg je spierpijn; en tot slot: het Scheveningse strand is ook mooi!

Foto's! Pacific coast Costa Rica

2007-06-16T00:57:00.000+12:00

Hallo!

Hier wat nieuwe foto's, ze staan een beetje door elkaar maar zal even aangeven wat wat is. In ieder geval ben ik gevlucht uit Boquete, terug naar het strand! Goede keus.

Ben nu in San José, en over een uur of twee ga ik weer op weg naar Bocas in Panama voor de laatste dagen zon zee strand. Niet slecht. Kreeg net een email met een quote (van Voltaire volgens de mail), waarnaar ik ook in Nederland maar wat vaker moet gaan leven:

Paradise is where I am
xxx

Met mijn hoofd in de wolken (helaas alleen letterlijk)

2007-06-06T11:09:00.000+12:00

Niet alleen de stranden van Bocas waren leuk, ook de mensen en het uitgaan en gewoon de sfeer die er hangt hebben me allesbehalve verveeld. Het is dan ook eigenlijk niet zo heel erg gek dat de volgende bestemming een beetje tegenviel!

De reis van Bocas naar Boquete was interessant, op een goede manier. Ik kwam een Franse jongen tegen die al 8 jaar aan het reizen bleek te zijn. Zijn hele doen en laten ademde dat ook uit, en ik had hem ongeveer 30 geschat, maar nee hoor, hij was slechts zo’n 20 dagen ouder dan ik, ook 26 dus. Dit betekent inderdaad dat hij al vanaf zijn 18e aan het reizen is! Wow, it’s amazing! Ik vroeg of hij helemaal geen bezittingen thuis had (denk aan meubels o.i.d.), toen zei hij ‘oh ja hoor, ik heb wel wat kleren enzo bij mijn moeder liggen’. Hmmm, zo kan het dus ook! Zijn paspoort was gestolen en zijn noodpaspoort moet over een jaar verlengd worden in Frankrijk, maar hij had eigenlijk niet speciaal in de planning zitten om dan al (??) weer terug te komen.
Tsja, ik voelde me nogal een beginner vergeleken met dit figuur, maar goed, geeft niks. Het was in ieder geval erg verfrissend om met iemand te praten die er heel andere ideeën over het leven, carriere en geld op na houdt dan de gemiddelde persoon van mijn leeftijd in Nederland. Wij denken allemaal dat je veel moet werken om veel geld te kunnen verdienen om dan veel te kunnen reizen (maar is daar dan nog tijd voor?), maar kennelijk kan het ook anders. Something to think about.

Zoals gezegd valt Boquete dus een beetje tegen, en dat is een beetje een understatement. De voornaamste redenen zijn het feit dat ik de enige student hier ben, en het feit dat het k#tweer is en elke dag regent. De hele omgeving hier maakt me op slag depressief en ‘s avonds alleen in een groot huis slapen dat je niet kent…daar rust je niet echt van uit. Ik heb wel gezelschap van Pepe, de papegaai. Helaas begint hij om 6 uur ‘s ochtends te gillen, waardoor ik ook ontwaak. Nu ben ik erachter dat ik een doek over z’n kooi moet doen, dat zal ‘m leren.

De school zit best ver van het centrum, maar gelukkig zit daar een Canadees meisje, Andy, dat ik ken uit Bocas. Zij vind het hier ook niet echt leuk, dus nu kunnen we elkaar gezellig verder de put in praten. We zijn ook allebei compleet uitgeput hier, terwijl we op Bocas nooit moe werden. Volgens ons heeft het met de luchtdruk enzo te maken, zo lamlendig is gewoon niet normaal. De conclusie is echter wel gewoon heel duidelijk: het is weer tijd voor iets anders!
Ik had beloofd hier twee weken op de school te passen, maar dat gaat dus drastisch verkort worden. Alleen zijn en niks te doen hebben, dat komt me iets te bekend voor, daarvoor ben ik niet helemaal hierheen gekomen.

Mijn volgende bestemming is nog niet helemaal duidelijk. Ik wil uiteindelijk nog terug naar Bocas denk ik (al is dat niet echt handig), maar wil ook graag wat meer van Costa Rica zien. Andy en ik gaan sowieso donderdag naar San José, daar doen we de hele dag over. Daarna waarschijnlijk naar Montezuma of Mal Pais, in ieder geval naar een strand en de zon, dat beviel ons stukken beter dan deze cats and dogs, pijpestelen, etc.

Ondertussen denk ik ook regelmatig na over wat ik ga doen als ik terug ben in Nederland. Ik had natuurlijk gehoopt op een aha erlebnis, waarna ik precies zou weten wat me te doen staat. Helaas, het is nog niet gebeurd. Ik heb eigenlijk alleen maar nog sterker het gevoel gekregen dat ik me voorlopig echt nog niet kan settelen in Nederland met een ‘serieuze’ carrière en alles wat daarbij hoort (behalve het geld dan). Huizen kopen, auto erbij, 25 vakantiedagen alleen in overleg op te nemen….ik krijg er geen blij gevoel van. Van huizen kijken op Funda trouwens wel, vooral bij die met een tuin ga ik watertanden!
Maar anyway, wat betekent dit inzicht verder? Ik weet het nog niet. In ieder geval niet dat ik ook van plan ben 8 jaar te gaan reizen!

Geen foto’s deze keer, ik heb ze hier nog niet gemaakt, en ben het ook niet echt van plan. We blijven genieten van die van de blauwe zee in Bocas.

Hasta luego y muchos besos

Elsbeth xx

Panamá!

2007-05-31T03:37:00.000+12:00

Als je nog geen vakantie geboekt hebt kan ik je aanbevelen een ticket naar San José te kopen en door te reizen naar Panama, de foto´s spreken voor zich! (O.a. het eiland van de Amerikaanse expeditie Robinson)

Geen ideale locatie om Spaans te leren want iedereen praat Engels tegen je, heb mijn ene lesuurtje dan ook maar verplaatst naar volgende week, als ik weer in de bergen en regen zit. Ik ben wel van plan om mijn laatste dagen weer hier in Bocas door te brengen, veel relaxter kun je een reis niet beeindigen denk ik!

Ik hoop dat de temperatuur in Nl ook de goede kant op gaat, en dat alles goed met jullie is.

Later meer

xxxx

2007-05-23T12:36:00.000+12:00

Ja daar ben ik weer!

Het is lastig om de dingen die ik hier doe en meemaak goed voor jullie te omschrijven zonder er een ellenlang verhaal met allerlei bij-uitleg van te maken, maar er zijn wel een paar leuke dingen te vertellen.

Inmiddels heb ik ook een paar middagen vrijwilligerswerk gedaan, op een basisschool in de Engelse les. Ok, ik heb geen ervaring met basisscholen behalve toen ik zelf klein was, maar wat we hier zien is echt niet normaal! Ten eerste is de organisatie superchaotisch, terwijl de school heel weinig leerlingen heeft. Het is een openbare school met weinig geld, dat verklaart natuurlijk wel veel. Maar wat er verder gebeurt! De kinderen hebben geloof ik nog nooit geleerd wat het concept onderwijs krijgen betekent, ze blijven niet zitten, lopen gewoon in en uit, schreeuwen, praten en slaan elkaar. Wat ik ook vreemd vind is dat sommige van de kleine meisjes zich aan het lichaam van de mannelijke docent hangen alsof het hun vader of vriend is, ze klemmen zich helemaal vast. Deze docent engels (van de andere docenten weet ik het niet) heeft vrij weinig gezag en het lijkt alsof hij niet zo goed weet waar hij mee bezig is. Hij weet ook niet goed wat hij van ons wil, en wij weten dus ook niet zo goed wat we moeten doen en of we wel nuttig zijn. De kinderen lijken ons ook een beetje te gebruiken als interessante nieuwe reden om niet op de les te letten! Wij willen wel regels instellen maar dat is ook zo lullig als de leraar zelf er ook nog bij is! Vandaag gaan we dan ook maar even een dagje niet, en we gaan met onze schoolmanager van de talenschool bespreken of het nog wel zin heeft zo. Sommige van de kinderen zijn trouwens wel heel schattig en het is echt zielig voor ze dat ze geen beter onderwijs krijgen.

Dat dus wat betreft het vrijwilligerswerk. Mijn eigen lessen gaan goed, ik had vorige week vier uur per dag groepsles (met twee andere meisjes), dat was wel leuk maar ook lang en vooral ook wel weer veel wachten omdat er steeds maar eentje aan de beurt is. Deze week heb ik twee uur privéles, vind ik zelf fijner. Mijn plan was om hierna nog maar twee uur per week groepsles te nemen, maar ik denk dat ik maar even investeer in nog wat privélessen, dan schiet ik tenminste echt op. Ik kan me verder wel prima redden, al zijn sommige mensen moeilijk te verstaan. Spaans uit Spanje wordt nog lastig, we hadden laatst Volver gehuurd en konden er niks van volgen, ze praten veel sneller dan hier!

Bij mijn gastfamilie is het gezellig, al zie ik ze niet eens heel erg veel. Vooral de oudste zoon is continu aan het werken (minstens drie dagen per week van 7u tot 22u) om zijn universiteit te betalen, nog eens wat anders! Verder hang ik wat rond met de andere mensen van school, doe ik vrijwilligerswerk en ga ik spinnen. Zaterdag ben ik met drie andere meisjes gaan raften, heel erg gaaf! Helaas was de mooiste rivier te hoog en dus te gevaarlijk, we moesten dus naar een iets minder mooie, maar ik vond het alsnog heel indrukwekkend. Alleen jammer van het Paul de Leeuw-Bob achtige helmpje dat je op moet...Leuk met onze 20 jarige gidsen over de rivier, gek hoor dat wat in Nederland nog echt jochies zouden zijn hier dan zoveel verantwoordelijkheid hebben. Ik weet wel dat hun favoriete moment het eind van de trips is, als de toeristen droge kleren aan moeten trekken terwijl er geen huis of kleedhokjes zijn ‘kom jongens, we laten ze even alleen, niet kijken’ en dan vervolgens niet eens doen alsof je de boot interessanter vind, haha.

Aanstaande zaterdag ga ik weg uit Turrialba en ga ik naar Bocas del Toro in Panama, aan zee. Het schijnt daar alleen ook nogal veel te regenen, dus veel strand zal het niet worden vrees ik.
Na een weekje in Bocas ga ik nog twee weken naar Boquete, ook in Panama. Daar ga ik op de talenschool zelf werken, handig want dan heb ik gratis onderdak. En dat is mooi meegenomen als je werkloos bent! Dat werken mis ik trouwens totaal niet (vreemd he...) en ik heb ook nog steeds geen idee wat ik wil doen als ik terug ben, maar dat zie ik dan gewoon wel! Gelukkig houdt Bart wel van werken ;-)

Zo lijkt het me wel weer even genoeg geweest, het is hier tenslotte niet eens zo heel anders, ik ervaar geen cultuurshock en kan niks vertellen over in rivieren voorbij drijvende lijken ofzo (schijnt in Azie normaal te zijn??). Gelukkig maar, want ik mag Nederland dan een beetje saai vinden, ik weet ook dat ik geen die-hard ontdekkingsreiziger ben. Een ander meisje dat hier was gaat nog zo’n tien maanden verder reizen door Latijns-Amerika, dat zou dus echt niks voor mij zijn, al klinkt het wel gaaf. Kortom, ik kom gewoon weer terug eind juni!

Volgende keer waarschijnlijk bericht uit Bocas. Ik heb echt al uren besteed aan klooien met foto’s maar het lukt steeds niet, jammer. Probeer het vanmiddag weer even met wat foto’s van rafting..

Tot gauw,
Xx
Elsbeth

Tot slot, mijn zeer van sport houdende gastbroers lopen vaak rond zonder t-shirt, dus speciaal voor Estela (ze zijn jong!) en anderen zal ik proberen wat foto’s te maken!

Nieuws!

2007-05-16T08:19:00.000+12:00

¡Hola!

Hoe is het ermee? Hier is alles prima, ik heb ook eigenlijk het idee dat ik al veel langer weg ben, Nederland lijkt ver.
Mijn vlucht naar San Jose was nogal een test voor een het humeur: gecanceld, mee op de vlucht van de vorige dag, twee uur in het vliegtuig zitten wachten op Schiphol, de beloofde personal tv¨s waren niet geladen en in San Jose dachten ze blijkbaar dat we niet meer zouden komen en was er geen trap. Maar ik hield me vrolijk en heb vrienden gemaakt met iedereen, behalve met de te brede (niet door spieren), snurkende persoon naast me.
Mijn hostel in San Jose was heel relaxt, en de stad zelf viel me ook heel erg mee, vrij modern en niet overal lelijk. Ik mocht meteen een voetbalwedstrijd tussen twee teams van hier op tv bekijken, maar dat was niet zo spectaculair, behalve dat het wel grappig was dat ze op het veld zoveel vochten.

Nu zit ik in Turrialba, een klein bergstadje. Mijn gastgezin is heel leuk, met twee zoons (van 21 en 26 ), de oudste is vooral aardig, de jongste houdt meer van slapen en Bob Marley dan van praten met het zoveelste gastzusje. Op de school ook allerlei leuke mensen, voornamelijk Nederlanders.
Turrialba is klein maar leuk, er is weinig armoede en het is vergeleken bij Maleisie een stuk minder vies. Maar het belangrijkste: de mensen zijn echt superaardig, iedereen gewoon. In San Jose trouwens ook. Vergeleken bij Spanje is het hier veel makkelijker om Spaans te praten, omdat de mensen veel meer geduld hebben en ook gewoon wat langzamer gaan praten. Ze vinden het juist superleuk dat je hun land komt bezoeken.

De omgeving is hier ontzettend mooi, zaterdag hebben we een volkaan beklommen en dan kom je ook nauwelijks andere toeristen tegen. Die vulkaan is trouwens al meer dan 100 jaar slapend maar sinds een paar weken weer actief. Echt gaaf om een rokende vulkaan te zien en te ruiken! (Geloof niet dat we hier gevaar lopen.)
Het weer is apart, heel warm en ’s ochtends goed, maar elke middag wordt het bewolkt en gaat het regenen, onweren en bliksemen. Maar omdat ik toch niet hoef te fietsen, en ook niet hoef te zwemmen, is het prima te doen.

O ja, dan nog even iets, het spaans, daarvoor ben ik hier tenslotte naar gekomen! Het gaat best redelijk, vooral zo’n gastgezin is wel goed voor mijn spaans, en ik probeer in de stad ook zoveel mogelijk te praten. Het is hier makkelijk te verstaan dan in Spanje, en mijn docentes zijn erg leuk lief en aardig. Het gaat dus zeker een heel stuk beter worden in m’n tijd hier.

Tot slot, gisteren heb ik een leuk alternatief van Bikram Yoga gevonden, spinning in Turrialba! Heel warm natuurlijk maar wel lachen met locals. Met een beetje mazzel kom ik dus ook nog heel sportief terug......

Ok, ik probeer wat foto’s erbij te doen maar tot nu toe wil dat allemaal niet zo lukken.
Ik vind het heel leuk om van jullie te horen, en ik hoop dat alles goed gaat in alle delen van de wereld waar jullie verblijven!

Tot gauw,
xx

Van hot naar her en weer naar hot

2007-05-08T21:50:00.000+12:00

Hallo hallo,

Nog niet veel nieuws over avonturen in Costa Rica, ik ben namelijk nog gewoon thuis! Na een supervakantie op Curaçao (zie boven) heb ik de afgelopen twee dagen als een gek geprobeerd alles voor de volgende reis te regelen, en volgens mij is het aardig gelukt. Alleen nog wat laatste tas-inpak acties en dan kan ik gaan.

Nog even voor degenen die niet helemaal weten wat ik ga doen: ik ben eerst twee weken in Costa Rica en dan vier weken in Panama, voornamelijk om Spaans te leren bij de talenschool waarvan de website onderaan dit blog staat. Ik ben ook van plan om vrijwilligerswerk te gaan doen en natuurlijk veel van de omgeving te zien. Lekker vogels spotten!?? En vulkanen op banjeren enzo.

Maar genoeg voor nu, de verhalen komen wel als ze er zijn. Hou me ook op de hoogte van gebeurtenissen in Nederland. Ik weet het, geen nieuws is goed nieuws, maar flauw/leuk/onzinnig nieuws is nog beter nieuws!

Btw voordat jullie jaloers worden, in San José regent het nu ook!

Nou, hopelijk tot snel op deze blogspot!