| What language to speak | |
| Geplaatst door: Felix | Tijd in Nederland: 19:09 03/08/10 - Tijd in Valparaíso, Chile: 13:09 03/08/10 |
| Welcome! The sun is shining and I will tell you why! I am coming back to hug everyone allovertheplace! This weekend, when love crushed my head with a rock, luckily no bleeding supposedly, I came up with a new plan. Since Colombia was looking further away everyday and my sister is almost ready to leave for Beautiful Barcelona. It so happens that Barcelona for me is the Capital of Spain. Yes I know that's my own invention but it works, no? So when Veronica told me about her idea months ago, there was already a little light in my head telling weird stories. Those stories are coming scarily close now, I can tell you that. Living in Valparaíso, learning the language, the habits, the people, the beauty of Ocean, Mountains, Stars, Full Moon, Amazing Parties, all so close together. Looking back, at 4 months now, has been a wonderful ride, I have been on a high a lot of the time, almost everytime thanks to everyone I met on the adventures of Night & Day. I must admit something too. Where have my posts gone, it has been quiet here for so long. For some reason I didn't feel like writing too much, because for the best part of July I was utterly unsure about how to follow up the Adventure. A lot of Adventure has been mental. No idea that I could go loco like I absolutely did! I might have made some weird choices and moves, but the end result is a happy surprise nonetheless. Yeah and no. I have seriously no clue about how to write in English anymore. Never in my life I have been so far away from English and Dutch. And it has been fantastic. While it is time to leave the Best Continent of The World, for now, I absolutely don't want to leave the beautiful Spanish language. How lucky am I, Veronica will be studying in Barcelona from September! Last week we talked about it, and came to the conclusion that there is only one way to go from here! So I will follow her really quickly, and will go jobhunting like mad, and we will be spending some good time together in sweet BARCA! Oops that might be a disappointment at the same time because of course it means I will not stay for long in the town of Amsterdam. It's right. But Amsterdam is not going anywhere and I don't want my Spanish to leave me anytime in my life!! Also the Chileans apparently have their own way of Español, o Castellano, so it might be that I have to learn a whole lot more even! So yes all in all. After calling for hours with American Airlines, Iberia & my sweet travelagent, it appeared that my ticket which supposedly was unchangeable, could be changed, ONE last time, to suit my needs. Sooooo drrrrumroll! 2 more weeks and I will step foot in Belgium! 18th of August. That's it. Although I will leave Chile 1 day earlier, 17th! Just in time for a dutch birthday party, and a whole lot more! But how to say goodbye here so soon to everyone, what a mess! It will be difficult but luckily I know it won't be for too long, since I left so much to discover yet! Too much you say?! Never too much! Summer in Amsterdam, I am coming for a dip! Zeeland get ready! And Barcelona enjoy while it's possible to relax without me, goodluck! See you soon dutchies! Big hug, F |
|
| 3 Months... & about not going home | |
| Geplaatst door: Felix | Tijd in Nederland: 07:47 29/06/10 - Tijd in Valparaíso, Chile: 01:47 29/06/10 |
| It´s a miracle. It´s night, a beautiful night, with the just about not full moon anymore, outside the window. I am typing on an old laptop, donated to the family by my mom´s good friend, Eduardo, (dad of Fresa!) many years ago. Crushed by a big cerveza it almost died, but only the keyboard got hit seriously. Powered by a new cordless keyboard and wireless internet the family is a small step more connected to the world now, in the luxury of their own home. Almost went to bed. But I have a story to write. Today is a special day, the 28th of June. When I look at my passport, and the latest stamp, it tells me I entered Chile exactly 3 months ago, the 28th of March. Wow, is it really 3 months already? Time is flying, as always. ´Tomorrow´ might even be more special. Because my original flight out of Lima, back to ´you´ guys, was planned to be in a couple of hours... Even I have a weird sad feeling now, although there is no reason of course, because this continent is way too precious to leave so soon. I changed my plans a while ago, mainly because I am in love with Valparaíso, and even more so, Quebrada Verde (our neighbourhood), but especially, my family, Fresa, Antonio, Félix, Lucila, Carlos & Carmen. Living here with them has been as close to a dream as one can get, in real life. The weather was getting a bit more Autumn-like the past weeks, only to change for the better a week ago, (at the official start of...Winter!). To my surprise it has been Summer everyday, with a lot of sunshine and the sea beautifully blue around us. Not to forget the clear skies at night, with an amazing amount of stars, and the wonderful full moon out last saturday. After coming home from a big party, really late, I sat down on ´my rock´, in front of the house, watching the sky, the ocean, listening to the first birds welcoming the day to come. Moments like that are a bit twisted, because they make me feel really happy and sad at the same time. Happy because I am living in Paradiso err Paradise err Paraíso...Valparaíso. Sad because I do miss a lot of you. Big time. (I really want to start a list of names here, but) But I chose to stay, and I definitely do not regret my decision. I simply have more to accomplish yet, even if it might only be studying a bit more of the countries and the language. It´s just that. Chile is so wonderful. Never in my life for example have I hitchhiked so much, even if it´s only 5km´s into town, it´s such a great feeling that people you don´t know can be so helpful with absolutely zero self interest. And it has been so cool to be able to talk with the new people that I meet, (in their own language!) instead of being the ignorant tourist of a few months ago, yes I am talking to me here. My plan was to go to bed on time. That plan has failed. But I am glad I got my message out, although not everyone might like what they read. Yes it is a bit of a bummer that I will miss what we call Summer at home, but there will be more of those and you know it. Time to fly, with a kiss, F |
|
| Elections | |
| Geplaatst door: Felix | Tijd in Nederland: 01:23 10/06/10 - Tijd in Valparaíso, Chile: 19:23 09/06/10 |
| But let´s not get political! Holland is far away these elections for me, and we´ll keep it like that, okay? Wow that took me a while. But the pictures for May are finally on their way to the site. And it´s about time, you can now actually see a part of our Combi adventures to Santiago, and more! Normally I do this at the end of every month, at least that was the plan. I am a little late this time! Won´t happen again? Meanwhile Valparaíso got a nice week of Summer weather, unfortunately right now it does feel like Autumn, what a pity. My time in Chile might be ending soon, my stamp only allows me till the end of June, which might not be a bad time to go, given that it will be Winter here... Not that Winter will be anything like home, but still. Up north, direction Bolivia/Peru, might not even be that warm, especially high up in the mountains. But that´s what it´s all about right, if everything was easy and comfortable, why would you be travelling. (Errrrr!) The Pictures: Part 1 includes The best puppet show ever Out and about Cerro Yungay The Jaiva daughters Santiago The Combiride The kids running around Rosita´s garden Returning home with a truckload of Mole de Mexico! (yummie!) Part 2 then The Nokia Show The parade through Valparaíso, for hero Mr. Prat! Beds & Cars Part 3 The Beauty of the Best Laguna Verde sunsets Felix & Felix going high in the sky All American Birthdayparty Party with Fresa & Antonio! All the family going wild around the house House full of Art & Instruments Some closeups of me, feeling not so well. All is good now! Some flashes of May, hope you like ´em. Already need a new memory card, again! A kiss, F |
|
| September | |
| Geplaatst door: Felix | Tijd in Nederland: 00:20 20/05/10 - Tijd in Valparaíso, Chile: 18:20 19/05/10 |
| It´s a cool day in Valparaíso. I will explain why. The air is fresh but the sun is shining bright, as (almost) always. This afternoon I had a phone conversation with my mom, Josje. She went to the travel agency today in Amsterdam. Through email messages I have made arrangements to change my flight. Scratch june out of your agendas, I will not be home! 1 september is the new adventureflight to Brussels. Also I changed the departure spot. No more Lima, Peru. I will be heading for Bogota, Colombia! Now of course there are more sides to this story, I will miss some people big time this summer. But more importantly, I know how I feel. There is more to this place then I have yet discovered. And I just need more time to do that. Work on my Spanish, continue with the somewhat strange jobhunt. Now I have bought myself some more freedom, which you must know, I love. I was waiting for confirmation and all, before I wanted to say anything here. It has been a bit quiet, yes. Valparaíso is a lot of fun, and beauty, and great weather, fantastic surroundings, and what not. And more importantly, I feel like I have a real family here, I could never stay this long away without their comfort & love. Antonio, Fresa, Carmen, Carlos, Lucila, Felix (chico), Muchas gracias! This weekend we went off on a little adventure. Parents, kids, and me, in the Volkswagen Combi, off to Santiago. And adventure we got. Just about 40km´s out of town, on the highway, we heard a weird noise. Antonio made his way to the ´street´ on the right, and we discovered we had a flat tire. Luckily we also had a spare. Great to discover the extra tire didn´t have any air! Oops. Antonio went off to look for help, we stayed with the car. In Chile they have this interesting phenomenon, shops next to the Autopista. We happened to have a flight literally right next to one. This creates more fun than you could ever imagine. Right there on the emergency part of the highway, big trucks pulled over and ´parked´ next to us, to buy a Coke, and cookies of course! The upside was that with big trucks next to us, we were a little more safe from other traffic.... I guess? Antonio found a mechanic and he had air on his truck available, 5 minutes of work and we were happily on the road again. 80km/s steady, some trucks passing us, but no problema, this way we can enjoy the landscape much more, it was a beautiful day and we stayed out of real trouble. With a little GPS guidance we made our way to Alto Las Condes shopping district. This place makes you feel like America. (North America) Funny detail is that in reality I don´t know how that part of the world feels like, but it must be somewhat like this I imagine. Cars everywhere, parking places bigger than soccer fields, and shops, shops, shops, and did I mention the shops? Not to forget they are Big. Why did I say Big? I mean. Enormous. You´d think that enormous shops got everything. And most of the time I guess you would be right. Not so here. They just got more of the same. No Doritos Pizza. Incredible. What a disappointment for me and my smaller counterpart. Nothing serious I know. The good part is still coming. In the supermarket we met Rosita. Fresa´s sister. It´s saturday, and it happens to be... her Birthday!!!!! Feliz Cumpleaños Rosita!!!!! Wine, Pisco, Cerveza & Snacks were bought, to get the party started at her house later tonight. But not yet. Driving out of that ...place, Antonio asked if Fresa would look out the window, to see if the tire was alright. It was. Then Antonio opened his window, and discovered part 2 of today. The other tire at the back was flat. Oops 2. Of course now we didn´t have another lying around in the van. Time for Fresa & Rosita to hop into a taxi. An hour or so later they arrived with a ´new´ tire, Antonio got to work for a couple of minutes, and within no time, and just before real dark, we were on the road. Again! With Rosita! (And all the groceries!!). Rosita lives with mother Veronica and nephew Ivan. In a beautiful hilly neighbourhood, once ´far´ away from Santiago, now ´just another barrio´. I love the place, it´s calm as long as the dogs don´t go wild, it´s right at the start of the mountains. July, August (winter), you can ski at a 30 minutes drive up the hills. A lot of Pisco, wine, guacamole, chips, music from Los Jaivas, friendly people, and a lot of kids running around! Made for a special and really good atmosphere, only no dancing but we got other places for that. The weekend before last, Fresa and I went to Santiago together, by bus. We met Rosita and headed for Estacion Mapocho. An old trainstation, now used for all kinds of big events. Tonight for a special concert. First some Chilean girls singing, the warm up the crowd a little bit. Then the band of Joe Vasconcellos, a famous Chilean group of bandits (about 10 guys on stage with all instruments I know). But I only came, for the grand finale: Los Jaivas ! Many people reading this probably have never heard of them. But here they are worldfamous. Josje told me stories all my life. We listened to the CD´s (& vinyl! tapes, etc!) since I was little. Here I was, reunited with my heroes, some of them I had last seen when they were recording a new CD close to Paris, France. Many, many years ago. Before they started we went backstage! Fresa & Rosita are daughters of one of the founders, Eduardo Parra, a good friend of my mom. He now lives in Paris, and therefore is not an active member of the group at this time. When I was little the original drummer, Gabriel, lost his life in a road accident in Peru. Seven years ago the singer, musican, writer of the group, Gato Alquinta was taking a bath in the Ocean, until his heart stopped. For the band, and all friends and family, this was a huge loss. Too young and still with many projects in his head... But with time the band found new members, and they are playing again, not as much as they used to but right now they are in Argentina, where they will play along the festivites of the Bicentario (200 years independence). Lucky for me, that I was here in Chile on the date of the event. Incredible to see them, in a really big old building, almost completely full of Chilenos, a lot of families! Small kids, parents, grandparents, and all of them dancing, singing, clapping with all the tunes I love. Wonderful. Unforgettable. And also heavy, because most of the tunes are full of feelings, the losses of the band, me being far away from home, far away from so many people, who I would really like to hold very close. It´s getting dark outside. And I am getting emotional. Not good! Or... I will let you know what my plans are, whenever I discover them, for now, I am learning. Abrazo, F |
|
| Pictures of April around Valparaíso! | |
| Geplaatst door: Felix | Tijd in Nederland: 00:40 28/04/10 - Tijd in Valparaíso, Chile: 18:40 27/04/10 |
| YES! Hundreds of April pictures are ready to be clicked at! Goodluck everyone... 1 The guesthouse! Enjoy Felix on the moto! Lucila drawing! The Combi! The hammock in action! The park where Antonio works! 2 Laguna Verde Bay! Rosita visiting! More moped, more kids! Sunset at the house! Fiesta with the grown-ups! Easter with the whole family! Downtown Valpo! 3 Riding the trolleybus! Valpo Bay at Night! Antonio showing me around! Out & about the harbor! Ascensors! The family and moi at a beautiful viewpoint! Absintha! Fiesta a La Aduana! The kids & the playground! 4 Viña del Mar, Fresa rocking the bateria (drums!) Laguna Bay with some of the Regatta boats! The forest nearby the house on fire! Carmen! More Valpo by night! Graffiti! Regatta boats in El Puerto, at night! Sunset! Gato statue, leadsinger of Los Jaivas, Viña del Mar! Viña ´open air rock stadium´! 5 Calling ´home´ (my home!) Streets and kids! Sunset @ Viña del Mar Waiting for the bus and empanadas! And April by Nokia shows some more random shots of the last month! That´s all for now, take care, enjoy Queensday! F |
|