Hibernation

I'm currently spending most of my time hibernating in front of my parent's log fire. Not overly exciting, but definitely very snuggly!

In other news, I have applied for a job in Vietnam.

Budapest

Parliament Building
Originally uploaded by Fiwit

I spent last weekend in Budapest which was great as I needed some more adventure. I'm having a lovely time in Sarajevo but am starting to feel fidgetty and wanting to do more.

I learnt a few things while I was there:

• Eating dinner in a fancy restaurant seemed like a good idea, but actually I found it very lonely.

• On a similar note, thermal baths are much more fun if there is more than one of you

• Chocolate is always your friend and can make any situation feel better (so long as you ignore what it may be doing to your hips, etc.)

• Walking everywhere is good and means that you don't feel guilty regarding the chocolate intake. However you do end up with very sore feet. 

• Walking everywhere also solves the problem of having to work out public transport which I have a definite mistrust of!

• So long as you have something to read at all times you will be fine.

• Shopping makes me happy! (Okay so this is nothing new, but there were some rather lovely shops in Budapest.)

• My brain is still very much in South America mode - I was shocked to see so many tourists with expensive cameras hanging round their necks. It took me till Sunday to accept that it was perfectly safe to do this!

I basically decided/discovered that whilst I am very happy to be on my own during the day, it's not so much fun at night time. So in future I will look for livelier hostels and make sure I always have a book!

Sarajevo

Having had an absolutely awesome summer at home I have now ventured to Sarajevo. I've been here for a week and am enjoying exploring the city. It's lovely to spend time with Lou and the kids. 

Sarajevo is a fascinating city that most of us have heard of because of the war here in the 90s. The war ended 15 years ago and Sarajevo is re establishing itself. There are still many buildings that show the signs of war, but it is a vibrant and buzzing city. It also a place where life revolves around coffee!

I've started teaching some English classes and very quickly went from 2 lessons a week to 4. It's fairly easy work and a little bit of extra money which helps. 

At the moment I'm staying with Lou but may move into a nearby apartment in the next week or so. I'm hoping to see it on Monday.

So, life continues to happen and I continue to smile.

Interesting Developments...

So, one reason I decided to take a year off was so that I can focus on photography and music more. Well, it's amazing what happens when you make a decision like that! Last night while I was singing at The Barrel I was approached by a guy I've known for a few years who is interested in the possibility of me doing some recording - how exciting! He is very established in producing and recording different artists! 

On the photography front, I made a decision while I was at The Big Chill that I would like to be back for next summer and to work at some more festivals. I talked to Max of Brightgreen about the possibilities I could see for a photo journalistic story of what happens behind the scenes at festies in regards to recycling and waste - she is very keen and said that I could cover my hours doing that!

Life is, without a doubt, happening at the moment - I am loving it!

Whoosh!

Goodness me, what a whirlwind of things have been happening since I returned to the flatlands! I have been having a wonderful time catching up with so many different friends.

•  Latitude
• Appleyard Fayre
• London for a week
• The Big Chill
• Busker's nights in Banham and Burston
• Friday night in The Eagle
• Weems' Wedding and the Harlequin Fayre

I really do feel like I'm whooshing about all over the place. I have so many wonderful moments in my head...it would take hours to tell you about all of them.

Mostly I am loving the moment when I see one of my many friends and then the hugs ensue! There are still lots of people I want to see - it's amazing how many people I know!

On the boy front - well he has been in touch but very sporadically...no longer holding out hope there. Did meet someone interesting at the wedding...

Ho hum...

Still waiting and hoping.

Girl meets boy confusion

So about a year ago, girl meets boy and thinks he's cute. Girl and boy become friends and hang out together when possible - although not all the time as boy is often away. End of Jan, boy leaves South America. Girl and boy are in regular contact for 6 months and get to know each other really well. Over this period of time, girl likes boy more and more. Girl pesters boy to go to festival with her when she comes home. Much excitement ensues about said festival and boy. Girl and boy find that they miss each other if they're not in contact for a while - however girl is not sure what form the boy's missing her in. Girl wonders if they are just best mates or whether it could be more. Girl wonders a lot. Girl tries not to hope too much, but as girl is usually fairly optimistic about things she's not very good at not hoping. Also, girl is a bit of an ol' romantic and is hoping for her 'happy ending' - haha! Girl finds her teenage like crush quite ridiculous. Summer arrives and girl gets home. One week later girl and boy are at festival. Girl and boy have a wonderful time together. Girl can't help but like boy even more.  Girl thinks that boy likes her too, but can never quite be fully sure because in some respects, boy is quite different to other boys she's known. However girl and boy are together for the whole festival and share a tent. Girl and boy have lots of cuddles. Boy and girl leave festival. Girl bottles out of talking about how she feels. Girl hugs boy and waves him off at train station without making a plan to see him again. Later on girl wishes she hadn't bottled things. Three days later girl is waiting and hoping for boy to get in touch, but has this feeling that boy is hiding. Girl misses boy and hopes she's proved wrong.

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig!

Amazingly my two years in Ecuador are over and I'm back in Norfolk once more. I arrived home early on Friday morning and was greeted by both Mum and Dad at Heathrow. I think I'm currently dealing with reverse culture shock! I am remembering that I don't need to worry if paying with a '20' that the establishment will have enough change. I'm also remembering to drive on the left hand side of the road now!

I have to be honest it feels quite strange to be living in my parent's house, even though I know it's for a relatively short amount of time, only a couple of months. I also got very sad on Sunday when it started to sink in that I've left Ecuador. Although it's looking hopeful that I may have some house sitting to do over the summer!

On my last night, a friend commented on how strange she found it that I was sad to leave, as she always just looks forwards to the next adventure. However I am sad - I have had the most amazing life and freedom in Ecuador. I've been able to do exactly as I please outside of work and I've made some amazing friends - who I really will miss.

I will miss opening my curtains and looking out at the mountains everyday; being constantly reminded of the fact that I am living a different life in a different country. 

On the other hand I do have much to look forward to here, starting with Latitude on Thursday!

I also have wonderful friends here and caught up with quite a few people yesterday afternoon - I laughed a lot. It was also very clear that I have been missed.

End of termitis

Two more weeks of term and quite frankly that's 2 weeks too many. I've had enough now, I'm ready to move on and I'm bored.

I'm up to date with all my work; I'm tired and I just can't really be arsed. I want to spend time with my friends outside school and get back to my family and friends back home. I'm finding the people at work more and more irritating.

I know this is because I'm tired. I know this is because I want the next part of the adventure to begin. I know that some of the people I work with are fuckwits- haha!

On the other hand, it doesn't really feel real that I'm leaving in a few weeks - although I will actually be on a plane 3 weeks today. It's all quite strange. I've been saying goodbye to some good friends over the past week or so and another leaves after this weekend - I really am not enjoying that part of life. Although I know that there will be a huge welcome for me once I get back to Norfolk, I'm sad to be leaving my life and my friends here. (Outside of work!)

Last trip to Baños

Last week I went to Baños with my class for 4 days. On the way there we stopped at an organic farm where the kids were enthralled by the fun that could be had pulling vegetables out of the ground. It was just like Donkey in Shrek, "Pick me! Pick me!" They also got to ride on horses and had a go at milking a cow. The cow looked quite startled at the idea of 17 kids all having a go! I also tried my hand at milking and have to say that it's quite similar to something else...lets just say that some of the boys were particularly good at it!

On Wednesday we biked the route of the waterfalls - I did this last year too and it's great fun, mostly downhill! I definitely prefer biking on the flat or downhill!

On Thursday we went for a walk around Baños. We walked up to the virgin from where you can see the whole town and the surrounding countryside. The walk itself involves lots of steps and I found it quite hard...although one of the kids was finding it even harder and by encouraging him I also found my way to the top. The virgin statue was pretty tacky and wouldn't have looked out of place in Blackpool. We rested for a while and then wound our way back down the steps and into the town. I have to admit my legs were shaking after all those steps!

In the afternoon we had lunch in a local park where the kids had a football match with some of the local kids which was cool. We then went back to the hotel to wait for our guide to go horseriding. The guide was only about 20 minutes late so I suppose it wasn't too bad.

Some of the kids are experienced riders and very quickly mounted and were ready to go. There were tears from a couple who were very nervous, but they overcame their fears and started the ride. I almost didn't get a horse because I was walking with one of these kids. Luckily there was one horse left - who turned out to be very slow.  I was way behind the majority of the kids and Tom the teacher who came with me. There was just myself and one of the girls who was being led because she was very nervous. Eventually we arrived where the others had stopped and found that they had gone to have a look at something...we were about to start walking to find out what when the all returned! We remounted and started to head back. This time I was on a different horse who was much faster and I enjoyed some trotting and a bit of cantering. It was also good to be at the front rather than the back of the ride. As the horses got closer to home, they speeded up. My horse got too close to another who proceeded to kick out, giving me a nasty bruise on my left leg. However this was not as bad as what was to follow...

Arriving back in the field with 10 of the kids, I was about to dismount when I saw that one of the other horses was very close to me. It made me feel quite nervous and I was unsure about getting off the horse. Very quickly after this, said horse then mounted my horse, with me still sitting on it. I was absolutely terrified and didn't know what to do. Meanwhile the horse put it's hoof over my shoulder and also scraped down my right leg. My jeans were ripped to shreds - although I didn't realise this till I got off the horse. The whole experience was probably a maximum of a minute before the guides pulled the horse away, but it felt like much longer. I always knew that horses are very powerful beasts, but you don't realise quite how much till one has it's leg over your shoulder and is also pinning you to another horse. I had also only recently got over the fear I'd had since I was a kid, when I was chucked off a couple of times. After what seemed like forever I was able to get down and proceeded to shake like a leaf for at least 30 mins, I was also crying but had my sunglasses on so I don't think the kids were too aware of that. However they really didn't know how to react and I knew I had to put a brave face on things for them. I told them that I would be ok and make jokes about it soon, but that they needed to give me at east 15 mins before they laughed. The girls were all very sweet and came and sat with me and chatted till the shaking had almost subsided. The boys, when told that it was ok to, laughed their heads off. 

Back at the hotel I hid away for a while and inspected the damage. I had two scrapes and bruises on my right leg and the bruise on my left leg from the kick. I was still pretty shocked and shaken for a while afterwards. Although very quickly I was concocting what to write on Facebook...I decided on the truth rather than one of my usual witty remarks...but knew that other people's amusement/comments would help me to deal with it.

That evening we had the 'last night disco'. It's surprising how many old 80s tunes the kids knew the words too. I was wondering if there would be any couples like last year, but towards the end, the boys watched the girls swanky dance moves from the sidelines.

Friday came and we headed to breakfast, to find that about 4 bus loads of men had turned up for breakfast. They proceeded to call out to me whilst I was getting breakfast and I have to say I was very glad to be leaving that morning. 

The bus ride back to school was uneventful and I gladly waved goodbye to the kids and came home to collapse for a couple of hours before heading out to have some fun with friends in Quito.

Sunset

Canoan Sunset
Originally uploaded by Fiwit

So here I am in my last term at BSQ and feeling like the sun is starting to set on my time here in Ecuador. It's a strange time and my head is certainly looking very much towards the future and the further adventures of fiwit.

There is much to do at school over the next 11 weeks...which really doesn't seem very long at all. Furthermore it means that I'll be heading back to Norfolk in about 12 weeks.

In so many ways time seems to have passed so quickly, but then looking back over all I've done since I got here...

I have not written for a long time because I felt there was nothing new or interesting to write. Life has settled into a fairly normal balance of life and work. I've been spending a lot of time in Quito with friends and having a lot of fun. There are certainly people I will miss greatly when I go and a good handful who I know I will keep in touch with.

I spent a long time yesterday formulating plans and ideas of what I want to do next...this has been in my head for a long time, but I was thinking of the financial aspects yesterday and trying to work out what is actually possible.

There are so many places that I want to see and my current plan is this:

• Return to Norfolk in July
• Bosnia in September for a couple of months
• Back to Ecuador next Jan/Feb and spend about 6 months wandering around South America
• If possible head to New Zealand for a few months, which then also leads to the possibility of some time in Australia (there are some friends I'd like to see if nothing else).

I would love to also travel in S E Asia and India - but feel that I shouldn't try to cram in too many places in a year. I know what I'm like, if I find a place I like I want to be able to stop there for a while. My current feeling is that after my time off I may try to find another international job in that part of the world.

All of this is very exciting and also scary. Not as scary as when I left Norfolk for Ecuador. I know a lot more about myself and what I'm capable of achieving now. However I wonder where I will end up and whether there will be someone else with me on my journey.

There has been no significant relationship for me here, which has actually been very good for me. I realised a few days ago that I've been living on my own now for about three and a half years and it does suit me. But it's not how I want things to be forever.

Recent conversations with a very good friend made me realise I'm still optimistic on the relationship front, but I do think it gets a little harder as you get older. Ah well who knows, life is still a daring adventure and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Transient

transient [ˈtrænzɪənt]

adj

1. for a short time only; temporary or transitory

2. (Philosophy) Philosophy a variant of transeunt

n

1. a transient person or thing

2. (Physics / General Physics) Physics a brief change in the state of a system, such as a sudden short-lived oscillation in the current flowing through a circuit

[from Latin transiēns going over, from transīre to pass over, from trans- + īre to go]

transiently  adv

transience , transiency n

 

People will always come and go in your life, but living in a different country you realise this far more often than if you stay in one place for a long time. You make bonds and connections with people more quickly than you perhaps would at home and yet sometimes you stay more detached so as not to be hurt when the person leaves.


Tonight I said goodbye to a friend who has come to mean a great deal to me in a relatively short space of time. I've only known him since June and until the past few weeks, we would only see each other quite randomly as his work was based outside of Quito. We've been hanging out together a lot for the past two weeks and our friendship has moved to a different level of closeness, not in a boyfriend/girlfriend scenario, but just the closeness you have to someone you know well and are completely comfortable with. 

I'm really going to miss him and I'm feeling pretty sad tonight.

Couch Delinquency!

Over the past week I have been in a state of denial over the amount of work I have to do and been out several times! This reached it's optimum this weekend!

I went out on Friday night to a certain Irish bar that I like to frequent on a fairly regular basis. Much as expected a good time was had by all and several beverages were consumed. However at closing time, I did not wish to leave the bright lights of Quito and accepted an invite back to a good friend's place (well his girlfriend's actually). Another good mate came too.

In the company of these two handsome gentlemen, I giggled away the night and much of the day. It was one of those lovely occasions when you end up with lots of 'in' jokes that will instantly make you laugh whenever they are mentioned or you have a flashback to the night!

I passed out at about 3pm as did one of the previously mentioned chaps. Waking up at 10pm, we discovered our compadré was missing in action...so we returned to the scene of the previous night's debauchery and were reunited once more.

Further beverages ensued, including some fairly lethal shots of tequila and sambuca. I danced and laughed and happily got a lift home at about 3am!

It's been the best weekend I've had for a while here. Big thanks to the other couch delinquents who made it possible!

New Year's Eve at Tayrona

On New Year's Eve, after a few more days chilling out in Taganga, we arrived at Tayrona National Park. We walked for about an hour through beautiful forest until we reached Arrecifes.

 

This was my first glimpse of the beach at Arrecifes and it took my breath away.

 

 La Piscina

We continued walking around beaches and through coves until we got to Cabo de San Juan where we had booked hammocks for the night. Previous experiences of hammocks that week made one a little wary, but I figured that I probably wouldn't sleep much anyway so it wouldn't matter.

During the course of the afternoon whilst sitting on the beach and doing very little, quite a few of the people I'd met in Cartagena wandered past. It was nice to see them again and I ended up playing Frisbee with some of the lads.

In the evening we discovered that if we wanted to eat we had to pay 25,000 pesos for a meal, there were no other options. So we coughed up the dosh and kept fingers crossed that it would be good.

Meanwhile there was a beach to sit on and a full moon to gaze at!

As expected the meal wasn't great and it took a long time to get served. However it was fun being with a good group of people.

As the night went on, I was waiting for the party atmosphere to get going, but unfortunately it never really did - the music just wasn't good enough. The location couldn't be faulted though and I enjoyed the sound of the sea and the sight of the moon.

I think it's the quietest NYE I've had for a very long time, not that I didn't enjoy it, but I would have liked to party more. I think I would have gone out more in Taganga if I'd realised what it would be like there.

All in all though, a great holiday where I saw many different things and had a great deal of time to relax, which was most definitely needed at the end of last term! 

I know from talking to people that Tayrona is much busier than it was 10 years ago and they haven't been happy when they've returned to it. For me, it was the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen - I really felt that I'd arrived in paradise.

La Guajira

Cabo de la Vela, La Guajira 
Originally uploaded by Fiwit

On Monday the 28th, Paula and I got up at stupid o' clock in order to go on a tour to La Guajira. We got to the bus at 5am and were mightily surprised to find ourselves with a bus load of Colombians - we had expected it to be a small tour of about 4-5 people, not 30!

The bus was freezing because of the air conditioning and the tour guide (affectionately named 'fat wanker') decided we should all introduce ourselves - impressed, not!

We stopped for breakfast in Riohacha -it was dire! The choices were shark, something else decidely fishy or mince. All were gross looking and tasting from what I could see - I ate very little. On the plus side though, the toilet was clean and fairly pleasant.

We continued onwards to Uribia - the indigenous capital of Guajira...where we stopped at a shop, so the Colombians could buy alcohol...hmm. The toilets here were considerably less salubrious. I got some interesting photos though, so I was quite happy.

The last stop of the day was Cabo de la Vela - a beautiful bay that stretches for 2km and is inhabited by the Wayuu people. We had hoped, foolishly, for decent food and accommodation here. Unfortunately the food was fairly boring (but ok if you like fish) and the accommodation consisted of hammocks, with little or no space between them.

In the afternoon we decided to opt out of the tour and spend the afternoon on the beach.

Dinner was much the same as lunch - an early night was had by all. I was actually the last awake, reading until about 11pm.

The hammock situation was not great - I was lucky that I had Paula on one side of me and a lovely Swedish girl we'd met on the other because if you moved you could feel the person next to you. Paula was not so fortunate and was fairly sure her other neighbour (male) was engaged in some nocturnal activities with himself.

Another early start, with yet more bland food. We visited salt flats in Mauare which was quite interesting, particularly photographically. Then onwards to Riohacha; lunch and back to Taganga (which was rapidly feeling like home!).

After all the dire food, my vegetarianism went out of the window and I indulged in a very good steak at a fantastic restaurant back in Taganga.

Taganga, Colombia

Sunset, Taganga, Colombia
Originally uploaded by Fiwit

I arrived in Taganga on Boxing Day - it was lovely to meet up with Paula again and hear about her adventure to the lost city. I also regaled her with stories of my adventures in Cartagena.

We had a peaceful couple of days. I have to say it was very exciting to stay in a room with only one other person in it and a private bathroom!

I spent a considerable amount of time reading in Taganga, which was lovely and very relaxing.

Also, the sunset watched over a few beers was just beautiful.

Cartagena

City Wall, Cartagena
Originally uploaded by Fiwit

The rest of my stay in Cartagena was great. I saw the sunrise on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - which is always good in my book!

Christmas Eve was fun - a lot of us has dinner at the hostel (which was actually a complete rip off, about $18 for a bowl of rice). However the atmosphere was good and we ended up in a Cuban bar just down the road.

I have to admit that I got pretty bored waiting around for people to decide where the wanted to go and was tempted to bugger off on my own - but salsa dancing to a live band sorted me out. Especially when told I was a better dancer than Colombian girls. I'm sure it was a line that had been used many times before, but it still did my ego a lot of good. Particularly as some of the younger girlies really liked this guy!

On Christmas day, we all cooked food and had a much better meal than the previous night!

Calling home was quite weird as my family couldn't really hear me to well and it made me feel very disconnected and a bit sad. You can't really shout when you're in a room full of other people also trying to call home.