Skateboarding is not death!
13 years ago
Monday, November 26, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Post for Jill (and others who don't speak Czech :))
Dear Jill, I owe you an explanation (countable or uncountable? :). The post that was in Czech only - this one - is about a project organized by one Czech radio. I know your Czech is absolutely fluent now :) but in case...
It's a Christmas project - kids without parents, i.e. kids from the children homes, or how they're called in English, write a letter (not to Santa Claus, as you know we don't believe in him, to us, probably the most atheist nation in the world, Little Jesus (Ježíšek) brings Christmas gifts :) That's wonderful irony, isn't it? Does that mean that God likes us more because we don't make so much fuss about him/her :)) haha... ok, that was enough for the Czech Christmas intro :)) and then their wishes (the kids' wishes, if you already got lost in this huge amount of words :)) are posted on the radio website. You can register there, choose a child based on whatever criteria you prefer (name, age, gift, disability), buy the gift the child wants, send it to the radio and the kids will actually get them for Christmas. I like the idea a lot so I put it on my blog so that more people would join it. I already did. It makes me believe, at least for a little while, that I'm not such a bad person (and believe me I need it, especially after my two days at school, when I think I'm a complete idiot, I can at least think "well, I might be an idiot, but at least I'm not a bad person :)). So that's it... I don't want to discriminate you, my dear native speakers of English language who haven't had time to learn the wonderful language from Central Europe - Czech :))
Have a nice pre-Christmas time! :)
PS: We can actually make a little Czech language blog course, haha. :)
It's a Christmas project - kids without parents, i.e. kids from the children homes, or how they're called in English, write a letter (not to Santa Claus, as you know we don't believe in him, to us, probably the most atheist nation in the world, Little Jesus (Ježíšek) brings Christmas gifts :) That's wonderful irony, isn't it? Does that mean that God likes us more because we don't make so much fuss about him/her :)) haha... ok, that was enough for the Czech Christmas intro :)) and then their wishes (the kids' wishes, if you already got lost in this huge amount of words :)) are posted on the radio website. You can register there, choose a child based on whatever criteria you prefer (name, age, gift, disability), buy the gift the child wants, send it to the radio and the kids will actually get them for Christmas. I like the idea a lot so I put it on my blog so that more people would join it. I already did. It makes me believe, at least for a little while, that I'm not such a bad person (and believe me I need it, especially after my two days at school, when I think I'm a complete idiot, I can at least think "well, I might be an idiot, but at least I'm not a bad person :)). So that's it... I don't want to discriminate you, my dear native speakers of English language who haven't had time to learn the wonderful language from Central Europe - Czech :))
Have a nice pre-Christmas time! :)
PS: We can actually make a little Czech language blog course, haha. :)
THE TOUR: Day 9 - Himba Tribes
The next post is coming. I suppose it's going to be of a low language quality as I started to hate writing a couple of days ago... :))
So Day 9... Waking up at 6 am, after a night under the Namibian sky without any tent. :) That was nice. Very nice. We left the camp site at 7, stopping at a gas station on the way (with funny toilets... I must say I felt sick... Jan, the driver, said later: "The first two hours of driving were so exciting!" That explains why I was sick. But at least Jan had fun for which I'm happy now :)). We also stopped somewhere where local women were selling hand-made dolls. I liked them so much and still regret I didn't buy any. (And they had lovely colourful dresses. One of the ladies told me she really liked my clothes because of the colours I was wearing: orange trousers, the ones Jill likes so much, haha, and green T-shirt... but still... their clothes were so much better :))
And we saw our first giraffes!
Our final stop for Day 9 was the Himba Camp. Himba is a local Namibian tribe that is, from what the guide there told us, not among the government's favourite ones. I think he said something about them having fought against the government that's in power now. But I must admit I should study the history of Namibia much more to be able to tell you something.
First of all, we went to see a house that was built kind of in a rock by some French film makers who made there a movie whose name nobody knew because it was in French. :) The house was amazing! It was without windows, therefore open and therefore when it rains and you stay there, you get completely wet. But it was amazing! It's actually a 'hotel' now but they let the people who stay in the camp site to go in and see it all, so we did.
Then we went to visit the Himba tribe which was very interesting but also weird a little. You know how it feels - you know it's good to go there, learn something about a completely different culture, you know that they actually earn money this way and that they need the money... But you still feel that it's not right, you're looking at them as if they were animals in a zoo, they're looking at you, you'll never find out what they think (I actually believe that they don't care at all because their life style seems to be like that), you'd like to talk to them but you can't because you don't speak their language. And because you can't talk to them you can't really learn so much about them. We went, anyway.
So I'm going to tell you something more about the red-looking people. :) They are so different from us! They put ocher on their bodies (that's why their skin looks rather red than black) which protects their skin from the sun and which also substitutes a razor :) They seriously have no hair on their bodies at all! Isn't that amazing? There's so much that our Euro-Atlantic civilization can learn from these people, that some Europeans/American would call undeveloped.
As there's not enough water in their region, they don't use any water at all for hygienic purposes. They put some herbs (they use them as a personal perfume - every person uses different herbs) together, put them on fire, or something like that, and thus they get a kind of sauna - they put the burning herbs into a ceramic pot, sit on it and as they are sweating, they're actually getting clean. If it doesn't make sense, I can't help you (or maybe I can, just ask :)). But it really works! I mean - they really don't smell bad or anything! :) Ok, this all takes several hours. It's like a ritual. They need to sit on the pot for one hour, but to prepare it also takes time. That's why they wake up every day at 4 am. When they're done with their hygiene, they wash their clothes pretty much the same way.
The last thing I remember about the tribe is that there's also some kind of ritual for boys to become men. One part of it is to "lose" (probably in a rather more violent way :)) four teeth - one is the tooth of beauty (they don't need to be beautiful, probably), another one is for being able to speak their language well and the rest I don't remember... (Jill, Susan, help! :)).
We learnt all this from a guy who's definitely not Himba by origin :) and who was a bit weird. Ha said he lived there and tried to help them and I think he actually had a child with one the women.
We could also buy some bracelets and stuff like that which they're supposed to make there. So we did. And then we left earlier than the rest of our group because it was getting too weird to be there.
Then we washed our clothes using a biodegradable washing soap. :) And took shower in cold water because it took some time to warm the water and we didn't want to wait. It wouldn't be that bad if they weren't outside showers and it wasn't windy... :)
Oh, I'd forget to complain almost! :) I stepped on a little twig which was, however, big enough to got stuck in my foot. It was very painful and bloody, I guess I had at least 1 centimeter of it in my foot. I think I said some words that one shouldn't say in public (but almost nobody could understand me anyway :)) - and no, Jill, I didn't say "Drz hubu" as it wouldn't make any sense :)). And I was limping (I have no idea if this is really the word I want to use, but probably it is :)) for like three more days. Oh yeah... The lesson learned was - don't enter the tent without your shoes on. :) Ha, I guess I should stop now, this post is spinning out of my control. :)
And sure, the photos will come later. And I'm really sorry for my English. Unfortunately, I can't promise it'll get better. :)
So Day 9... Waking up at 6 am, after a night under the Namibian sky without any tent. :) That was nice. Very nice. We left the camp site at 7, stopping at a gas station on the way (with funny toilets... I must say I felt sick... Jan, the driver, said later: "The first two hours of driving were so exciting!" That explains why I was sick. But at least Jan had fun for which I'm happy now :)). We also stopped somewhere where local women were selling hand-made dolls. I liked them so much and still regret I didn't buy any. (And they had lovely colourful dresses. One of the ladies told me she really liked my clothes because of the colours I was wearing: orange trousers, the ones Jill likes so much, haha, and green T-shirt... but still... their clothes were so much better :))
And we saw our first giraffes!
Our final stop for Day 9 was the Himba Camp. Himba is a local Namibian tribe that is, from what the guide there told us, not among the government's favourite ones. I think he said something about them having fought against the government that's in power now. But I must admit I should study the history of Namibia much more to be able to tell you something.
First of all, we went to see a house that was built kind of in a rock by some French film makers who made there a movie whose name nobody knew because it was in French. :) The house was amazing! It was without windows, therefore open and therefore when it rains and you stay there, you get completely wet. But it was amazing! It's actually a 'hotel' now but they let the people who stay in the camp site to go in and see it all, so we did.
Then we went to visit the Himba tribe which was very interesting but also weird a little. You know how it feels - you know it's good to go there, learn something about a completely different culture, you know that they actually earn money this way and that they need the money... But you still feel that it's not right, you're looking at them as if they were animals in a zoo, they're looking at you, you'll never find out what they think (I actually believe that they don't care at all because their life style seems to be like that), you'd like to talk to them but you can't because you don't speak their language. And because you can't talk to them you can't really learn so much about them. We went, anyway.
So I'm going to tell you something more about the red-looking people. :) They are so different from us! They put ocher on their bodies (that's why their skin looks rather red than black) which protects their skin from the sun and which also substitutes a razor :) They seriously have no hair on their bodies at all! Isn't that amazing? There's so much that our Euro-Atlantic civilization can learn from these people, that some Europeans/American would call undeveloped.
As there's not enough water in their region, they don't use any water at all for hygienic purposes. They put some herbs (they use them as a personal perfume - every person uses different herbs) together, put them on fire, or something like that, and thus they get a kind of sauna - they put the burning herbs into a ceramic pot, sit on it and as they are sweating, they're actually getting clean. If it doesn't make sense, I can't help you (or maybe I can, just ask :)). But it really works! I mean - they really don't smell bad or anything! :) Ok, this all takes several hours. It's like a ritual. They need to sit on the pot for one hour, but to prepare it also takes time. That's why they wake up every day at 4 am. When they're done with their hygiene, they wash their clothes pretty much the same way.
The last thing I remember about the tribe is that there's also some kind of ritual for boys to become men. One part of it is to "lose" (probably in a rather more violent way :)) four teeth - one is the tooth of beauty (they don't need to be beautiful, probably), another one is for being able to speak their language well and the rest I don't remember... (Jill, Susan, help! :)).
We learnt all this from a guy who's definitely not Himba by origin :) and who was a bit weird. Ha said he lived there and tried to help them and I think he actually had a child with one the women.
We could also buy some bracelets and stuff like that which they're supposed to make there. So we did. And then we left earlier than the rest of our group because it was getting too weird to be there.
Then we washed our clothes using a biodegradable washing soap. :) And took shower in cold water because it took some time to warm the water and we didn't want to wait. It wouldn't be that bad if they weren't outside showers and it wasn't windy... :)
Oh, I'd forget to complain almost! :) I stepped on a little twig which was, however, big enough to got stuck in my foot. It was very painful and bloody, I guess I had at least 1 centimeter of it in my foot. I think I said some words that one shouldn't say in public (but almost nobody could understand me anyway :)) - and no, Jill, I didn't say "Drz hubu" as it wouldn't make any sense :)). And I was limping (I have no idea if this is really the word I want to use, but probably it is :)) for like three more days. Oh yeah... The lesson learned was - don't enter the tent without your shoes on. :) Ha, I guess I should stop now, this post is spinning out of my control. :)
And sure, the photos will come later. And I'm really sorry for my English. Unfortunately, I can't promise it'll get better. :)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
THE TOUR: Day 8 - Spitzkoppe (pictures)
Swakopmund
Welcome to Spitzkoppe!
going up...
I was there! :)
This is not photoshopped!!! :)
Amazing, isn't it?
San rock art.
View from the top.
The rock art? :)
The group.
Are we crazy? I guess... But it wasn't my idea... Me... claustrophobic... :)
Going down...
The only toilet at Spitzkoppe camp site.
Magical Spitzkoppe
The Swiss and a very cool pic :)
Sunday, November 11, 2007
THE TOUR: Day 8 - Spitzkoppe - the place I'll never forget...
This was one of my favourite days because Spitzkoppe was one of my favourite places. Amazing, awesome, magic...
But from the beginning. We were leaving Swakop not earlier than 10:30 but I woke up at 7:30 (as I said before - it's very hard for me to sleep in a room for 10 people). After breakfast, we went to do some shopping (mainly for water as there was not going to be any water at the next camp site) and went to the seaside for a walk. And we walked and walked and took some pictures and then got on Harrison, which was cleaned (i.e. without sand :)), and left Swakop for good.
We got to the camp around lunch time and had lunch. The camp site was wonderful - there was nothing (and no people), just the rocks around. Well, there was a "toilet" but nobody was really using it as it really smelled. There were plenty of bushes, though, so it was ok. :)
I guess I should tell you something about Spitzkoppe. Some people say that it looks similar to the Australian Uluru (Ayers Rock) but I cannot tell because I've never been to Australia. :) In any case, it's amazing. Imagine you're in Namibia for a week and see nothing, nothing, nothing (but this nothing is beautiful), sand, sand, sand, a weird tree from time to time, and then in the middle of the nothing, there are suddenly red rocks. I loved that place!
After lunch, we went to see the San rock art (the San were one of the local African tribes) - pictures on the rocks that the San people drew there during some rituals. Spitzkoppe was actually a sacred place for them so they went there only to perform these rituals (otherwise they were scared), during which they used some drugs and then they were drawing pictures that don't make much sense. :)
We had to go up quite a steep rock, but it was worth it. And then some of us joined Jan who had a special trail somewhere... That was lots of fun, really, and we got much higher so that we could see much more (of the nothing? :))
After we got back to the camp, we didn't stay there for too long as it was time for another beautiful African sunset and so we went to another rock from which it was nice to watch it. We spent some time there and then got back to the camp and did all these usual things like having dinner, not having shower and so on...
But this is not all!!! This time (and it was the only time for me) we slept outside! The guides told us it was probably the best place to do so, also safe (though they didn't forget to tell us some scary stories. One was that hyenas ate a boy in front of his mother. Too late to save him... And the other was rather funny - there was a black cat in the camp site. I really wondered how it got there, but it was there, trying to get some food and stuff. The guides said it had been there for some time already and that last time it jumped at somebody sleeping outside right at the moment when the guy opened his eyes. Funny now, I guess I wouldn't find it funny if I was that guy :) Oh, and I would forget - they also said that you can hear voices coming from the rocks at night.)
So we did sleep outside and I loved it! You're watching the stars and you actually don't want to fall asleep as there were so many of them, plus so many shooting stars... Wow... How I miss Spitzkoppe now... So I'm not going to write anything more. And if you want to know more... go there and see it yourself!!! :)
But from the beginning. We were leaving Swakop not earlier than 10:30 but I woke up at 7:30 (as I said before - it's very hard for me to sleep in a room for 10 people). After breakfast, we went to do some shopping (mainly for water as there was not going to be any water at the next camp site) and went to the seaside for a walk. And we walked and walked and took some pictures and then got on Harrison, which was cleaned (i.e. without sand :)), and left Swakop for good.
We got to the camp around lunch time and had lunch. The camp site was wonderful - there was nothing (and no people), just the rocks around. Well, there was a "toilet" but nobody was really using it as it really smelled. There were plenty of bushes, though, so it was ok. :)
I guess I should tell you something about Spitzkoppe. Some people say that it looks similar to the Australian Uluru (Ayers Rock) but I cannot tell because I've never been to Australia. :) In any case, it's amazing. Imagine you're in Namibia for a week and see nothing, nothing, nothing (but this nothing is beautiful), sand, sand, sand, a weird tree from time to time, and then in the middle of the nothing, there are suddenly red rocks. I loved that place!
After lunch, we went to see the San rock art (the San were one of the local African tribes) - pictures on the rocks that the San people drew there during some rituals. Spitzkoppe was actually a sacred place for them so they went there only to perform these rituals (otherwise they were scared), during which they used some drugs and then they were drawing pictures that don't make much sense. :)
We had to go up quite a steep rock, but it was worth it. And then some of us joined Jan who had a special trail somewhere... That was lots of fun, really, and we got much higher so that we could see much more (of the nothing? :))
After we got back to the camp, we didn't stay there for too long as it was time for another beautiful African sunset and so we went to another rock from which it was nice to watch it. We spent some time there and then got back to the camp and did all these usual things like having dinner, not having shower and so on...
But this is not all!!! This time (and it was the only time for me) we slept outside! The guides told us it was probably the best place to do so, also safe (though they didn't forget to tell us some scary stories. One was that hyenas ate a boy in front of his mother. Too late to save him... And the other was rather funny - there was a black cat in the camp site. I really wondered how it got there, but it was there, trying to get some food and stuff. The guides said it had been there for some time already and that last time it jumped at somebody sleeping outside right at the moment when the guy opened his eyes. Funny now, I guess I wouldn't find it funny if I was that guy :) Oh, and I would forget - they also said that you can hear voices coming from the rocks at night.)
So we did sleep outside and I loved it! You're watching the stars and you actually don't want to fall asleep as there were so many of them, plus so many shooting stars... Wow... How I miss Spitzkoppe now... So I'm not going to write anything more. And if you want to know more... go there and see it yourself!!! :)
PS: Photos coming soon. ;)
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Free Rice
Click on this link: FreeRice, play a game in which you can learn some new vocab :) and feed hungry people! That electronic world of ours is sometimes simply unbelievable, isn't it?
Friday, November 09, 2007
Daruj hračku (Český rozhlas) - Czech only...
Moji milí čtenáři,je za námi už zase skoro rok a já s radostí zjistila, že akce Českého rozhlasu Daruj hračku se koná i letos!!! Někteří z vás ji znají, někteří ne, jedná se o akci, při níž lidé posílají vánoční dárky dětem z dětských domovů z celé ČR. Všechny informace získáte na těchto stránkách:Daruj hračku (Český rozhlas)
Podstata je prostá... Na stránkách si najdete seznam dětí (podle jména, věku, dětského domova...) a podíváte si, co by si které dítě přálo letos dostat. Dárek, který se rozhodnete obstarat, si zarezervujete, obstaráte a pošlete na adresu na stránkách uvedenou. Nerezervujte si hračky, pokud nejste stoprocentně přesvědčení, že je budete kupovat a posílat! Systém je sice nastavený tak, že pokud do nějakého časového limitu od doby rezervace rozhlas dárek neobdrží, vaši rezervaci zruší, ale nedělejte prostě nic, čím byste děti připravili o možnost získat vánoční dárek.
Takže vás chci touto cestou poprosit, abyste akci podpořili. Když už ne darováním hračky, ať už z jakéhokoli důvodu, tak aspoň šířením zprávy dál. Momentálně je dětí úplně bez hračky 1061. Nebylo by super, kdyby jich bylo v prosinci o 1061 míň? ;)
Takže vás chci touto cestou poprosit, abyste akci podpořili. Když už ne darováním hračky, ať už z jakéhokoli důvodu, tak aspoň šířením zprávy dál. Momentálně je dětí úplně bez hračky 1061. Nebylo by super, kdyby jich bylo v prosinci o 1061 míň? ;)
Thursday, November 08, 2007
And so it seems I got the visa
Well, if you think I should be sure by now, you're right. I had the appointment at the embassy today and therefore I know. The guy said: "You're going to get the visa next week." He meant: "You're going to get your passport with the visa issued next week." :) I'm just kidding. The appointment was funny. I was there earlier but still had to wait for longer than I liked. First, you have to go to a desk number 1 or 2, where you give them the form, your passport etc. Then finger prints. Then finger prints again, but finally, already, you wouldn't believe it was going to happen :), you get to talk to the consular, the god-like creature who decides about your future (exaggerating, of course :)).
The consular was not Czech, so I guess he was American, right? (I really don't know what you have to be to work as a consular at the US embassy.) He spoke Czech, but not 100% so I couldn't understand him sometimes. Our conversation was thus very funny as we were both talking about different things. I know, I could have started in English to make it easier for him, but I decided not to as I don't agree with the US visa policy towards the Czech citizens. :) That's how brave I am. :)
To be honest, I was quite sure I'd get the visa because they wouldn't have any reason not to give it to me. But you never know when the policy is "I like you, you get it, I don't like you, you don't get it". And actually when he was asking me for the third time the same question and started to look very suspicious, I didn't know what to think.
To sum it up: I'm gonna receive my passport with the visa next week. It actually seemed to me that he was so desperate and tired from talking to me, when we didn't understand what the other one was saying, that he decided to get rid of me by giving me the visa. :) And that's my US embassy experience.
The consular was not Czech, so I guess he was American, right? (I really don't know what you have to be to work as a consular at the US embassy.) He spoke Czech, but not 100% so I couldn't understand him sometimes. Our conversation was thus very funny as we were both talking about different things. I know, I could have started in English to make it easier for him, but I decided not to as I don't agree with the US visa policy towards the Czech citizens. :) That's how brave I am. :)
To be honest, I was quite sure I'd get the visa because they wouldn't have any reason not to give it to me. But you never know when the policy is "I like you, you get it, I don't like you, you don't get it". And actually when he was asking me for the third time the same question and started to look very suspicious, I didn't know what to think.
To sum it up: I'm gonna receive my passport with the visa next week. It actually seemed to me that he was so desperate and tired from talking to me, when we didn't understand what the other one was saying, that he decided to get rid of me by giving me the visa. :) And that's my US embassy experience.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Where the Hell is Matt?
I want to do that!!! I know it wouldn't be original but it looks like so much fun :)))
Friday, November 02, 2007
THE TOUR: Day 7 - Swakopmund
Day 7, which was 7/7/2007 :), was full of activities. We woke up relatively late, went to the town to try the slowest Internet ever and then, from 9:30 waited for a van which was supposed to take us to the dunes where we tried.... SANDBOARDING!!!
Well, I can write here whatever but if you don't try, you can't really know what I'm talking about. :) Ok, sandboarding is very similar to snowboarding, except it's on sand and you don't have to wear winter clothes. It's actually exactly the opposite - you should wear summer clothes because going up the dune with the board and in snowboarding boots is very very demanding. :)
The people who taught us to sandboard were great, friendly, helpful. Of course, you can't learn it in one day, but I tried. I was really good compared to other beginners, if you want to know. :) But I didn't manage to turn to the left, I always fell down... Which wasn't that bad because it doesn't hurt in the sand. So this was stand-up sandboarding, for the hardcore people :)))
But because we paid more, we could also try the lie-down sandboarding which was lots of fun too. You simply lie down on a piece of plywood (if it's the right English name) and go down the dune with your head first. Lots of fun! The speed is up to 75 km/h. And it hurts. And we - because we were the hardcore one - didn't get the elbow pads and stuff like that which the not-cool guys (i.e. those who did only lie-down :)) had. But we did enjoy it anyway :)
Around noon, I think, we finished and got some food. And bought T-shirts but they are really nice. :) And went back to the backpackers to take a quick shower and get ready for another sand activity - QUAD BIKING.
They say it's "the most fun in Namibia with your clothes on". I don't know if I liked this or sandboarding better because it was so different. But it was so much fun too (though I wouldn't like to get lost in the dunes...) However, the fun was very much based on the group you were in. And ours was good. Until this stupid girl didn't force herself to be the first one (after the guide). I was the first one almost all the time, second was Emma, a girl from our tour, and we really had fun cause we were fast. But this girl sucked and was slow and annoying... The advice is - don't try to be first when you suck. :)))
Oh, and the good thing about both activities was that in both cases, we were the biggest group of the day which meant that we got videos from both for free! Yeaaah!!! :)
PS: Some photos coming soon...
Well, I can write here whatever but if you don't try, you can't really know what I'm talking about. :) Ok, sandboarding is very similar to snowboarding, except it's on sand and you don't have to wear winter clothes. It's actually exactly the opposite - you should wear summer clothes because going up the dune with the board and in snowboarding boots is very very demanding. :)
The people who taught us to sandboard were great, friendly, helpful. Of course, you can't learn it in one day, but I tried. I was really good compared to other beginners, if you want to know. :) But I didn't manage to turn to the left, I always fell down... Which wasn't that bad because it doesn't hurt in the sand. So this was stand-up sandboarding, for the hardcore people :)))
But because we paid more, we could also try the lie-down sandboarding which was lots of fun too. You simply lie down on a piece of plywood (if it's the right English name) and go down the dune with your head first. Lots of fun! The speed is up to 75 km/h. And it hurts. And we - because we were the hardcore one - didn't get the elbow pads and stuff like that which the not-cool guys (i.e. those who did only lie-down :)) had. But we did enjoy it anyway :)
Around noon, I think, we finished and got some food. And bought T-shirts but they are really nice. :) And went back to the backpackers to take a quick shower and get ready for another sand activity - QUAD BIKING.
They say it's "the most fun in Namibia with your clothes on". I don't know if I liked this or sandboarding better because it was so different. But it was so much fun too (though I wouldn't like to get lost in the dunes...) However, the fun was very much based on the group you were in. And ours was good. Until this stupid girl didn't force herself to be the first one (after the guide). I was the first one almost all the time, second was Emma, a girl from our tour, and we really had fun cause we were fast. But this girl sucked and was slow and annoying... The advice is - don't try to be first when you suck. :)))
Oh, and the good thing about both activities was that in both cases, we were the biggest group of the day which meant that we got videos from both for free! Yeaaah!!! :)
PS: Some photos coming soon...
Thursday, November 01, 2007
On the Radio - once more...
And I promise it's the last time. But I just love the lyrics so I put a part of it here... Isn't it beautifully written?
This is how it works
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't
You laugh until you cry
You cry until you laugh
And everyone must breathe
Until their dying breath
No, this is how it works
You peer inside yourself
You take the things you like
And try to love the things you took
And then you take that love you made
And stick it into some
Someone else's heart
Pumping someone else's blood
And walking arm in arm
You hope it don't get harmed
But even if it does
You'll just do it all again
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't
You laugh until you cry
You cry until you laugh
And everyone must breathe
Until their dying breath
No, this is how it works
You peer inside yourself
You take the things you like
And try to love the things you took
And then you take that love you made
And stick it into some
Someone else's heart
Pumping someone else's blood
And walking arm in arm
You hope it don't get harmed
But even if it does
You'll just do it all again
THE TOUR: Day 6 - Swakopmund
Day 6 was a day of early morning, the tent-shaking came at 6:30. After breakfast, we headed off in the direction of Swakopmund which was to be the first town we were going to see after... 6 days. :) (And I can tell you - I preferred the outside-of-civilization life.)
So, I think we didn't do much this day. We spent the whole morning in the truck, I think I slept most of the time (thus I had no idea where we lost the sun and found the clouds...). Oh, yes, and we stopped at the Tropic of Capricorn to take a group picture. I don't think I liked that ("Ok, guys, that's the Tropic of Capricorn, you can get out and take a picture..."). But we did take a picture and it was actually quite fun. You know how it is with group pictures. You give all the cameras to one person. There were about 25 of us. Lots of fun, really... It seemed that Wessel had some never-to-run-out-of-cameras pockets... And then, the guides, Wessel, Jan and Helen, asked us to take a picture of them. To show them how it feels, we all took our cameras and started to take pictures of them. Oh well, if you say picture time then comes a real one. :)
Then we stopped somewhere, in a town which was actually the first town we saw, it wasn't Swakop to take a stroll along the sea which really smelt... The reason why it smelt was that there were plenty of flamingos. And those flamingos (they told us something interesting about them, I'm pretty sure... but don't remember it) did literally everything in the sea... Literally... (One of the Dutch girls went into the sea to take a better pictures of the flamingos, her feet were sooo disgusting afterwards...) I remember there were supposed to be toilets. And they were there but out of order. That's always the best joke when you're travelling :) Oh, and yes, I remember I fell asleep on the truck and then woke up and realized it wasn't sunny anymore. That wasn't very pleasant, pretty much like the flamingos smell. But neither lasted for a long time. :) And then, when the Germans were done with their flamingo excursion, which took them forever, we finally left for Swakop.
The main activity for the day was to stop at the adventure center in Swakop and book and pay for some optional activities for the day after. I'm not going to tell you know what we did... You'll have to wait :)
Then we moved to the Dunes Lodge where we were going to spend two nights. Two nights without the tents, at a backpackers. I missed the tents, seriously. My mattress in the tent was so much more comfortable than the one in the bed. Plus - there were 10 people in the room, whereas in the tent, we were only two... Well, we had to survive... :) (Also, the room was very damp which was very annoying...) The backpackers had a bar, an inside pool (dangerous for a local dog who almost drowned there) and it was not too bad, it just wasn't the tent. :)
In Swakop, we did some shopping (tissues and this kind of stuff necessary for survival) and also tried the Internet, which sucked, it was probably the slowest connection ever, but the local people seemed fine with paying for it.
Then we went for a walk with Jill. We went to the sea and walked around and somehow we got to a local crafts market, which we kinda regretted later. Of course, we were being stopped by people trying to sell whatever all the time. And of course, they didn't believe us when we said we didn't have any money (and we really didn't). I didn't like that. And there was this guy, he told us his name (it meant "small town" in translation, I think) and talked to us. Then said he'd give us a gift. Jill said no. She told me the reason later - Marie told her that when they say they're gonna give you something as a gift, they'll ask you for money anyway after you take it. I didn't know that, so I didn't say no. He gave me this thing about which he claimed it was an elephant. I could see that with lots of imagination. Anyway, I think, and most people do, that it is really a hammerhead shark. You can see it if you want to. :) And he didn't want any money from me! However, he wanted to know at what backpackers we were staying and our room numbers... Ehm... That he would camp (?!) there... Ehm... We said we didn't know. :) And sure - we'll see you out tonight! We were kinda running away then...
And the last activity of the day was going out, as a group, for dinner. To a restaurant called Cape to Cairo, which is a chain restaurant that you probably can find at different places in Africa. It wasn't bad. There were more than 25 of us, though, and it was a big trouble for the waiters. Everything took forever, they didn't have anything... I must say I rather felt sorry for them than was angry. What was worse - our new fellow-travellers. To make us all happy, they were Germans and they were far far far worse than those we had already (ok - nothing against Germans in general... it's just those we had on the tour, they were unbelievable). Well, Wessel wanted us to be nice to them so that they'd feel welcomed. We tried but I must say, for myself, that it was freaking hard.
I don't remember what we ate but remember that most of the people went out later. But we were so tired, plus we had to wake up early in the morning, that we decided to be the losers and went to bed instead. Well, I'd say nothing better than a good night sleep. But it wasn't the case at the backpackers. There was no good sleep at all. First - the mattresses were very uncomfortable. Second, people were coming back throughout the night... ten people in one room means not only no privacy, but also no silence, and sometimes no dark, things I need to be able to sleep. Third, we had to wake up in the morning into a room full of sleeping people. How I missed our tent!
Then we stopped somewhere, in a town which was actually the first town we saw, it wasn't Swakop to take a stroll along the sea which really smelt... The reason why it smelt was that there were plenty of flamingos. And those flamingos (they told us something interesting about them, I'm pretty sure... but don't remember it) did literally everything in the sea... Literally... (One of the Dutch girls went into the sea to take a better pictures of the flamingos, her feet were sooo disgusting afterwards...) I remember there were supposed to be toilets. And they were there but out of order. That's always the best joke when you're travelling :) Oh, and yes, I remember I fell asleep on the truck and then woke up and realized it wasn't sunny anymore. That wasn't very pleasant, pretty much like the flamingos smell. But neither lasted for a long time. :) And then, when the Germans were done with their flamingo excursion, which took them forever, we finally left for Swakop.
The main activity for the day was to stop at the adventure center in Swakop and book and pay for some optional activities for the day after. I'm not going to tell you know what we did... You'll have to wait :)
Then we moved to the Dunes Lodge where we were going to spend two nights. Two nights without the tents, at a backpackers. I missed the tents, seriously. My mattress in the tent was so much more comfortable than the one in the bed. Plus - there were 10 people in the room, whereas in the tent, we were only two... Well, we had to survive... :) (Also, the room was very damp which was very annoying...) The backpackers had a bar, an inside pool (dangerous for a local dog who almost drowned there) and it was not too bad, it just wasn't the tent. :)
In Swakop, we did some shopping (tissues and this kind of stuff necessary for survival) and also tried the Internet, which sucked, it was probably the slowest connection ever, but the local people seemed fine with paying for it.
Then we went for a walk with Jill. We went to the sea and walked around and somehow we got to a local crafts market, which we kinda regretted later. Of course, we were being stopped by people trying to sell whatever all the time. And of course, they didn't believe us when we said we didn't have any money (and we really didn't). I didn't like that. And there was this guy, he told us his name (it meant "small town" in translation, I think) and talked to us. Then said he'd give us a gift. Jill said no. She told me the reason later - Marie told her that when they say they're gonna give you something as a gift, they'll ask you for money anyway after you take it. I didn't know that, so I didn't say no. He gave me this thing about which he claimed it was an elephant. I could see that with lots of imagination. Anyway, I think, and most people do, that it is really a hammerhead shark. You can see it if you want to. :) And he didn't want any money from me! However, he wanted to know at what backpackers we were staying and our room numbers... Ehm... That he would camp (?!) there... Ehm... We said we didn't know. :) And sure - we'll see you out tonight! We were kinda running away then...
And the last activity of the day was going out, as a group, for dinner. To a restaurant called Cape to Cairo, which is a chain restaurant that you probably can find at different places in Africa. It wasn't bad. There were more than 25 of us, though, and it was a big trouble for the waiters. Everything took forever, they didn't have anything... I must say I rather felt sorry for them than was angry. What was worse - our new fellow-travellers. To make us all happy, they were Germans and they were far far far worse than those we had already (ok - nothing against Germans in general... it's just those we had on the tour, they were unbelievable). Well, Wessel wanted us to be nice to them so that they'd feel welcomed. We tried but I must say, for myself, that it was freaking hard.
I don't remember what we ate but remember that most of the people went out later. But we were so tired, plus we had to wake up early in the morning, that we decided to be the losers and went to bed instead. Well, I'd say nothing better than a good night sleep. But it wasn't the case at the backpackers. There was no good sleep at all. First - the mattresses were very uncomfortable. Second, people were coming back throughout the night... ten people in one room means not only no privacy, but also no silence, and sometimes no dark, things I need to be able to sleep. Third, we had to wake up in the morning into a room full of sleeping people. How I missed our tent!
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