What am I up to?

Now here I am, sitting on my bed, putting down my stories. The house is like a guesthouse, yet everybody living here is living here on a longterm basis. Although I was told I am still not sure about how many people live here and what their names are. Please do not blame me, it is my second day in Puerto Varas and I had to work 10hours each day...We have to ovens fired with would-that is it when it comes down to heating. That is why all of us are running around in sweaters and shoes, drinking loads of tea. I think I already got used to it yet I am sometimes asking myself why I left that nice summer of the nothern hemisphere to come to a place where it rains more than in Hamburg with an average 8 degrees. This is obviously not meant serious but getting out of bed in the mornings knowing that even the bathroom with the shower is not necessarily warm is really not the easiest exercise. The people around me here are all nice: Chilean, French, and one more German. But here comes my biggest struggle that is giving me a really rough time: conversations are done in Spanish. It is really tough. Speaking the castellano you learn at uni is hard enough but listening to Chileans taking faster than the concorde flies and mumbling at the same time is one of the biggest challenges I have been facing. It is a little bit like back in the time I came to the States as an exchange student not being able to speak on word in English.

Private conversations is one thing. The other is using Spanish at work. There are a few people capable of the German language but it is obviously not very welcomed to speak in German. Thus, I am more or less forced to communicate in Spanish which is good on the one hand but it does not make things easier. During my first two days I studied a lot about Chile, its sights, and Protours, my new employer. A lot of information has only been available in Spanish which was ok to read. So I guess I do have a good basis but as mentioned before: speaking and listening to a foreign language which is "new" is really tough. But I am positive that I will manage. Everything else at work is fine and I am excited for what is waiting for me...

I think I have written enough for today and everybody who wanted to is up-to-date now. We are going out tonight to learn some Salsa and of course I will have one of those nice South American Pisco Sours. Maybe it is gonna be easier after one or two to get that Salsa going (which I have never danced before). We will see...

My journey to Chile

Monday, 12:30h. Bus company: Andesmar. Seat: 46, semi-cama. Estimated time of travel: appr. 33 hours. Yeah, it should be a long journey. But I chose the bus over the plane because I assumed that I would get some impressions on how South America would be like. Which was indeed the case. Luckily the busses overhere are better then anything I have seen before in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the States. Semi-cama are seats that recline almost fully with an extra rest for the legs. One class better are camas the recline complety and guarantee a good night's sleep. Unfortunately that version was fully booked. I did not mind though because up to that stage I saw myself still like a traveller.

Having be overwhelmed by all those Argentinian cultural impression reality hit me once the bus got to the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Obviously, a metropolitan like the capital had to have a dark side. And just like in Bangkok I saw one slum after the other. All one could see was poverty that was poorer than poor. Not to forget that the winters here do really get could (a little bit warmer than German winters, but living in a slum with no means of heating...). Having recovered a little I got out my diary and wrote, and wrote. The streets were luckily in good shape so that I will be able to read what I wrote in a year's time. The first 800-900 kilometers were, as others had suggested, rather boring. Just vast plains, steppe with brownish red sands. It reminded me a little of Australia's Outback. It got dark at about 7p.m. and I was happy about those four movies they showed before it was bed time. Two of them were good. During the other two I studied some more Spanish and read in my book "Generation Stupid" (Thanks again for that Lea. You were right, it is amazing how stupid we seem to be :). Because the bus offered everything you need (toilet, food, drinks) we were barely allowed to get of the bus which bothered me a little. However, I made to get out once to brush my teeth and fresh'n up a little. I remember that I shut my eyes at about midnight and never woke up until 10 the next morning. So I did have a very good sleep but I missed out on breakfast. I considered it not to be too bad because that 350 other sandwiches made white bread that is giving your tommy a hard time from the day before were enough. However, at about 2p.m. I was happy to be able to hop off the bus and buy something-again a sandwich. By now the landscape had become far more interesting. The first pre-Andes hills arose and the houses were built like you know it from wild wild west movies. I was impressed did I not have a clue what Argentina would be like. From my last sandwich to Puerto Varas I had just eight more hours+one hour more time difference. I had a nice feller sitting next to (by now I was sitting up front) from the states. Also the border was not to bad. High up in the Andes-snow, juhuuu-we had to jump of the bus, get our exit-stamp, hop on the bus again and 21 ks later jump of the bus again and check into Chile. So Chileans were very fuzzy about vegetables, drugs, and fruits. Dogs were sniffeling out bags but not enough. Just like at the airport all the luggage was unloaded from the bus, x-rayed, and reloaded again.

By the time we were all on the bus again it was dark and really foggy. So much that I decided to put on a seatbelt (which before me was probably never been used). Having arrived in Puerto Montt I was picked up by Jose, a really nice man. We were talking, obviously in Spanish which kept the conversation on a very easy level. He dropped me off at my new home were I was welcomed by Elizabeth. We had been in touch beforehand and she had to answer all my dumb questions I had before I left Germany. Thanks for that and hey, apparently I also belong to the "generation stupid" so I guess all the questions were justified ;). Now here I was still not knowing what would really expecting me...

Hello Argentina

I do have to admit that I did not know what I had to expect of Buenos Aires. All you read is: Be careful, there is loads of crime and a tourist's life is in danger. Well, I tell you what!? It turned out to be nothing like this!!! Janna, Jorge (her boyfriend), and I took that 45-minute drive with the Remis (you go roundtrip but pay just for oneway-very nice institution) to their house. The airport really is in the middle of nowhere (the regular bus is cheaper, but hey, it takes two hours). I did not feel too much of a jetlack. It was a day-flight so it never got dark. Time difference is five hours and so the Friday night just got really long. The Argentinian lifestyle is crazy-it seems like they do not a lot of sleep. You go out for dinner at about 11p.m. (and as you are in a wine-producing country you obviously have some) yet the people get up at 7 or 8a.m. to be at work on time...Anyway, so the night of my arrival we went out to a tipical Parilla and gosh: Me estoy cagando de frio (it just means that I was not very happy about the temperature :). When you order a Parilla you get a little barbecue with loads of meet on it-everything: rips, kidneys, liver, intestines filled with di....., some salad and of course wine. A little bit later two Argentinians got out their guitars, played some folklore and others got up to dance that traditional folklore. I was finally back: out of the materialistic, rather negative thinking mentality I was back in a world I so much appreciate: lifestyle, culture and people that smile even if they do not mean to. I escaped the triste everyday life in Frankfurt (eventhough I do not want to complain about my time in Frankfurt) and was on my first night in a place from which I could learn so much and which just made me happy-I was overwhelmed (although I was really tired!!!).

Luckily I did not have to get up early in the morning. Yet I did worry a little bit about to get to Puerto Varas, Chile on time. Would there be a bus going? Was the pass over the Andes open or was it closed because of too much snow? After we got up we took that long long journey to the long-distance bus station to get a ticket. Everything worked out fine. I got the ticket (and had even one day more in Buenos Aires as planned), did not pay a lot of money, and luckily had Janna with me who get help me loads with Spanish. It was when I started realizing that it would NOT be easy at all to get my Spanish going-and it still turns out to be true. Janna and I did some sight seeing, not too much. We went to places no tourist goes to. We went on a subway that was older than the age of my whole family (adding up their ages), had more parillas, enjoyed more folklore, did some shopping, baked alfajores, talked loads (we had not seen each other in a looong time), went on a traditional "cowboy" market offering really nice things made of would, lama hairs, etc. and just had a great time. When I left on Monday morning we both tastified that we are indeed good friends although we haven't kept in touch lately. Thanks for those two amazing days Janna!!!

Good bye Frankfurt

It was on Wednesday night when I first noticed how many people I would miss once I would take off into my new adventure. Gill (my flatmate) and I had a farewell party which was one of those events that make yourself realize how many people care for you. Thank you very much all for coming, for letting us have such a great time, and also for the Chile guide book and the diary (which is already filled with loads of my thoughts). After a long fun night I had to organize loads of things on Thursday that just needed to be done while I was still in Germany. Having done that successfully I went to the Rossmarkt in Frankfurt downtown to watch the game Germany vs. Portugal. It was good fun, an amazing atmosphere and loads of beer over myself cause the people lost control over their hands (with the beers) every time (so three times) when the Germans shot a goal. A little bit tipsy myself I went home, packed everything that was left in my empty flat and went for a short rest.

The next morning Gill and I left for the airport. Starting to realize what I was about to do-leaving the country once more-my knees got a little bit shaky (and that whilst I had to carry my backpack, 20.5 kilos-yeah, I know it is a lot but it is freakin' winter here). Having arrived at the airport everything went wrong which could have possibly gone wrong. Nothing really serious but just some comfort I could have gotten. IGUAL!!! Saying good-bye to Gill was not too easy, but it was time to go. I passed security, and that science fiction style Iris scan (a new way to get through customs-you really got to sign up for this. You do not have to wait in line and you feel like in a star wars...). Before I boarded the plane I went to one of the lounges I was working at for the past year. I got some coffee, some breaky, and some magazines (no worries guys, none of our big bosses is gonna read this :) and hopped on the plane that was parked directly in front of the lounge's windows. After fought through to my seat of the 747 I seriously saw my people standing at the window looking out for me. So I got out my already switched-off phone, gave them a buzz, told them where my seat was and we indeed could see each other. Everybody, cook, service, supervisor, and dish washers were giving me a warm good-bye. I realized: Just a few more minutes and I am gone-Thanks to all of you who had been standing there!!!

The flight was half as interesting as the airport scenario. I had really good looking flight attendants which were nice to chat with in the galley, I had loads of space eventhough I was travelling eco, and yeah, Lufthansa's service really was surprisingly good (sorry guys for critisizing all the time). What else, drank a lot, ate a lot (even got a cognac), slept a lot, read a lot, wrote diary, and by God I enjoyed that dark orange, deep blue sky once we were about to land in Buenos Aires!!! Just like two years ago: The sky in the Southern hemisphere is soooo much more astonishing. Once having landed I was surrounded by rain and wind. But hey, who cares about the weather when a good friend of good old times is picking you up?

Now here we go again...

...it has been a little more than a year that I have spent in Germany and now the next adventure is waiting for me-Puerto Varas, Chile. But before talking about the whens, whys, whats I want to give a brief review of the last year. The most important to say is that I have to tell my parents a very SPECIAL THANKS!!! After returning from my little round-the-world-trip they gave me shelter, nurished me, and gave me a warm welcome and a lot of support when it came to finding a job. Without them, life would have been a lot more complicated...

After two months at my parents' in Berlin my destiny sent me to Frankfurt in July '07-a city I never wanted to live at. Now, after almost a year I can tell everybody: It is not the most beautiful city filled with lifestyle but it is also not as bad as people say it would be! And as most of the tourism industry is situated here I might very likely come back to Frankfurt some day. The other half is in Munich-but who would want to live in Bavaria?!? I started working at Do & Co, the catering company that is supplying Lufthansa's First Class Lounges at Frankfurt Aiport. Back in hospitality I had a very rough time for the first few months-lets say up till January '08. Being back in Germany, caught in the huzzle and buzzle of everyday life was a lot harder to get used to than I thought it would be. I struggled a lot till about November but from then on things got a lot better: found myself, my social environment, and started to get used to my job. Yet I knew that Do & Co was no perspective for the future and I had to find something new. Again it turned out to be a little bit more difficult than expected. I had a few job interviews but in the end it never worked out. After having done some thinking I decided to follow-up on a dream I had since I was studying Tourism Management in Freiburg: Southamerica and fluent Spanish :)!

I sent out many applications with no success, except for one: Protours Chile. One of the managers was traveling to London (via Frankfurt) in March and we met at the airport to have a chat. We went to a bar and René (the manager) ordered a big beer. So I decided to do the same (eventhough I already had some at the Main-river-damn, it is summer, what do you expect). René really seemed to be just a little tipsy after the second beer. Must have been the long flight or something...A week later I had the job. And now it is less than three weeks when I will board LH flight 510 taking me on the 20 June to Buenos Aires, Argentina. From there a busride, only two days long, will take me over the Andes to Puerto Varas. I am really excited for all the adventures, nature, work, and experiences that are waiting for me. And for those of you who want to be part of the adventure a very welcome to follow me on this blog!!!