Less is more

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

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

When we are not drinking wine we are:

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

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

On a bus.

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

Buenos Aires, you confuse me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The mind works in mysterious ways

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

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

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.