Updates and News
Door: Lisette
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Lisette
11 Mei 2010 | ,
Within the first 5 months, the year of the tiger has had tremendous global changes. Here in Chile, of course, the earthquake woke up the whole nation. Although the country is working very hard on its reconstruction it will take years before all houses and buildings will be finished. Daily life in Santiago continues, but still people try to give a hand where needed in their spare-time. With a group of friends, Mario and I went volunteering for a weekend with “Un techo para Chile”, an organization of volunteer workers that build small wooden chalets to help Chilean families which have lost their homes. These chalets will help for the time being and will prevent the family from living in tents. Even though I wasn’t the best construction worker, it was a great experience to be able to help and get to know the family that we worked for.
I assume most of you already know, but I have been together with my boyfriend Mario for almost 6 months now. We are living together in a very nice apartment, just in front of “Parque Forestal”, with Manon (France), Erin (US) and Gonzalo (Chile). My life in the past few months mainly consisted of chilling, and travelling to several parts of South America. In January me and a friend Felipe went on a trip hitch-hiking to the south of Chile, continued by a solo-tour to parts of Argentina, which you will see more about in the pictures on Facebook or later at this website.
After finishing my job at Hostal Providencia, I thought my backpackers’ life would still be the same as it was before but it became clear to me that things had changed. As I wasn’t enjoying the travels as much as before, in February after 3,5 weeks of traveling, I decided to return from Buenos Aires to Santiago. It turned out that I was right on time to experience one of the biggest earthquakes in history…
Back in Santiago I got a long visit from my best friends' brother Polke, and from another friend Daan. At the same time my best friend Hilde arrived for a 3-week visit in March. Of course, I had been looking forward to her visit for a long time, because apart from the fact that Santiago feels like my new home, I started missing my friends and family back in Holland. Together we made a voyage to a more northern part of the country, La Serena, Coquimbo and to a valley of which is said to be a gathering of many positive energies, Valle de Elqui.
And the travels didn’t seem to end with Hilde… Mario and I just got back from an amazing trip to the north-east of Brazil, where we arrived in “winter season”, which generally speaking stands for rainy, humid days. Stupidly enough, we forgot to check the forecasts before booking the tickets. We had already given up all our hope after looking at the weather forecasts for the upcoming weeks of holidays. Grey clouds and thunderstorms where the main prospects given. Nevertheless, it would have been impossible to be unlucky while traveling and apparently the good vibes continued to flow resulting in exceptionally sunny days everywhere we arrived. You get the picture: perfect beaches, palm trees, coconuts, hammocks, caipirinhas, sweet-water-lakes, fish, fruit juices, surf, capoeira, music, good vibes and pure relaxation – Brazil has it all! The coastlines that we saw are definitely one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Starting in the cultural counterpart of Recife, called Olinda, we escaped city-life ASAP to travel more south to Porto De Galinhas (Chickens port), a former little fishing town that got its name as a result of the slave trade that secretly continued after the abolition. Ships smuggled slaves from Angola hiding them in chicken caves. The arrival of slaves at the beach were announced by saying “There are new chickens in the port”. Nowadays, it is considered one of the most beautiful places of Brazil. But of course there was more to see… Praia da Pipa had even more beautiful beaches. While swimming in the water, dolphins swam near us at no further than 5m away. Also in this place our main daily concern was to decide to which beach to go, what to eat, and which sunscreen factor to use. Like many Dutch people, I’m a big fan of baking in the sun for hours; they say people seem to like what they don’t have… And again (after reading all the jealous comments on my holiday photos on Facebook, sorry guys! ;-) it becomes clear to me that this time of the year the Netherlands is not the place to be when looking for tropical weather…
The climax of our Brasil tour was definitely the National Park Jericoacoara. Far away from the hassle of city life, this little town simply put is the picture of perfection. The streets are paved with sand, the beaches stretch as far as the eye can see and the warm water marries with palms swaying breeze. The town has gained fame as being one of the most beautiful and lengthy beaches in the world, surrounded by sand dunes and freshwater lagoons, perfect for sandboarding and chilling in “water-hammocks”. As you can read, it was the perfect beach holiday and definitely recommended for anyone who wants to travel to Brasil!
While relaxing at the beach, I got the great news from the “Universidad Católica” that I had been accepted for their Master of Business Administration (MBA)in Santiago. Of course, this will be a great opportunity, as well as a great challenge, as the course will be in Spanish. So, mid-August I will start the MBA-program which will last about 15 months (until December 2011).
But as I said, travels still continue… It has been such a long time since I have seen my family and friends in the Netherlands that I feel it’s time to go back to my roots for a while. After agreeing with my personal investor ;-) I was finally able to book my ticket back to Amsterdam. And it might even be earlier than some of you expected cause I will set foot on land in less than 3 weeks. To be exact, on Friday the 28th of May at 18:20hrs. What’s even better is that I’m staying until the 10th of August, just enough time to chill out with the homies, to regain the healthy Dutch mentality (“just be normal, that’s crazy enough”) and to miss life & love in Chile that much to go back again.
I’m really happy to be seeing you all very very soon!!!
Lisette
PS.1 I’m looking for a full-time job in the months of June and July so any tips are welcome!
PS.2 Apologies for some of the old-school quality photos… they have been taken with an analog camera (ashamedly big) as our digital one broke… Imagine the surprised reactions (“these poor deprived Chileans) that we got after asking people to take our photo.
I assume most of you already know, but I have been together with my boyfriend Mario for almost 6 months now. We are living together in a very nice apartment, just in front of “Parque Forestal”, with Manon (France), Erin (US) and Gonzalo (Chile). My life in the past few months mainly consisted of chilling, and travelling to several parts of South America. In January me and a friend Felipe went on a trip hitch-hiking to the south of Chile, continued by a solo-tour to parts of Argentina, which you will see more about in the pictures on Facebook or later at this website.
After finishing my job at Hostal Providencia, I thought my backpackers’ life would still be the same as it was before but it became clear to me that things had changed. As I wasn’t enjoying the travels as much as before, in February after 3,5 weeks of traveling, I decided to return from Buenos Aires to Santiago. It turned out that I was right on time to experience one of the biggest earthquakes in history…
Back in Santiago I got a long visit from my best friends' brother Polke, and from another friend Daan. At the same time my best friend Hilde arrived for a 3-week visit in March. Of course, I had been looking forward to her visit for a long time, because apart from the fact that Santiago feels like my new home, I started missing my friends and family back in Holland. Together we made a voyage to a more northern part of the country, La Serena, Coquimbo and to a valley of which is said to be a gathering of many positive energies, Valle de Elqui.
And the travels didn’t seem to end with Hilde… Mario and I just got back from an amazing trip to the north-east of Brazil, where we arrived in “winter season”, which generally speaking stands for rainy, humid days. Stupidly enough, we forgot to check the forecasts before booking the tickets. We had already given up all our hope after looking at the weather forecasts for the upcoming weeks of holidays. Grey clouds and thunderstorms where the main prospects given. Nevertheless, it would have been impossible to be unlucky while traveling and apparently the good vibes continued to flow resulting in exceptionally sunny days everywhere we arrived. You get the picture: perfect beaches, palm trees, coconuts, hammocks, caipirinhas, sweet-water-lakes, fish, fruit juices, surf, capoeira, music, good vibes and pure relaxation – Brazil has it all! The coastlines that we saw are definitely one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Starting in the cultural counterpart of Recife, called Olinda, we escaped city-life ASAP to travel more south to Porto De Galinhas (Chickens port), a former little fishing town that got its name as a result of the slave trade that secretly continued after the abolition. Ships smuggled slaves from Angola hiding them in chicken caves. The arrival of slaves at the beach were announced by saying “There are new chickens in the port”. Nowadays, it is considered one of the most beautiful places of Brazil. But of course there was more to see… Praia da Pipa had even more beautiful beaches. While swimming in the water, dolphins swam near us at no further than 5m away. Also in this place our main daily concern was to decide to which beach to go, what to eat, and which sunscreen factor to use. Like many Dutch people, I’m a big fan of baking in the sun for hours; they say people seem to like what they don’t have… And again (after reading all the jealous comments on my holiday photos on Facebook, sorry guys! ;-) it becomes clear to me that this time of the year the Netherlands is not the place to be when looking for tropical weather…
The climax of our Brasil tour was definitely the National Park Jericoacoara. Far away from the hassle of city life, this little town simply put is the picture of perfection. The streets are paved with sand, the beaches stretch as far as the eye can see and the warm water marries with palms swaying breeze. The town has gained fame as being one of the most beautiful and lengthy beaches in the world, surrounded by sand dunes and freshwater lagoons, perfect for sandboarding and chilling in “water-hammocks”. As you can read, it was the perfect beach holiday and definitely recommended for anyone who wants to travel to Brasil!
While relaxing at the beach, I got the great news from the “Universidad Católica” that I had been accepted for their Master of Business Administration (MBA)in Santiago. Of course, this will be a great opportunity, as well as a great challenge, as the course will be in Spanish. So, mid-August I will start the MBA-program which will last about 15 months (until December 2011).
But as I said, travels still continue… It has been such a long time since I have seen my family and friends in the Netherlands that I feel it’s time to go back to my roots for a while. After agreeing with my personal investor ;-) I was finally able to book my ticket back to Amsterdam. And it might even be earlier than some of you expected cause I will set foot on land in less than 3 weeks. To be exact, on Friday the 28th of May at 18:20hrs. What’s even better is that I’m staying until the 10th of August, just enough time to chill out with the homies, to regain the healthy Dutch mentality (“just be normal, that’s crazy enough”) and to miss life & love in Chile that much to go back again.
I’m really happy to be seeing you all very very soon!!!
Lisette
PS.1 I’m looking for a full-time job in the months of June and July so any tips are welcome!
PS.2 Apologies for some of the old-school quality photos… they have been taken with an analog camera (ashamedly big) as our digital one broke… Imagine the surprised reactions (“these poor deprived Chileans) that we got after asking people to take our photo.
-
12 Mei 2010 - 05:45
Malou:
Hey!
Wat geweldig! Ben blij dat je ff terugkomt! Je wordt gemist :)
Je mag gezellig mee pannenkoeken gaan verkopen op festivals als je daar zin in hebt. Ik stuur je het overzicht wel toe, geef maar aan of je interesse hebt en voor welke festivals.
Hasta pronto!!!
XXXXX -
12 Mei 2010 - 06:43
Jet:
Jeeeeej een update!! Ga m vanmiddag lekker rustig lezen maar wilde vast even laten weten dat ik er met smacht op heb gewacht ;) -
12 Mei 2010 - 06:56
Mamita:
Querida Lisette y guerido Mario,
La vida esta linda!
Let's keep it that way!
I'am very, very happy to see you soon Lisette!
Love to all your friends in Chile!
Besos, mamita
-
12 Mei 2010 - 08:33
Nicolette C.:
Liesbeth de Spater...krijg toch wel kippevel als ik je verhaal lees...echt zooooooo ontzettend gaaf!! maar ook stiekem wel heel leuk dat je even terug komt naar NL...ik vertrek vandaag voor paar daagjes naar Parijs (heb het al weer gehad met NL) maar daarna maybe dan toch een keer skypen en anders maar heeeel snel bellen als je de 27e weer terug bent ;) dit is echt schandalig ahahahah!! dikke kussen en goede reis!! -
12 Mei 2010 - 09:27
Jozalien:
Tjonge, wie had dit alles gedacht toen je aan je grote reis begon!!!!
-
12 Mei 2010 - 09:31
Maartje :
Geweldig verhaal weer en vette foto's Lisetje! Gelukkig kun je ze binnenkort allemaal 'life' met ons delen! Kijk ernaar uit om je weer te zien!!!! Heel veel liefs en tot snel!!!! -
12 Mei 2010 - 09:37
Hilde:
Jeeeeeeej! -
12 Mei 2010 - 11:17
Malou:
Wouw lisette, jij hebt echt een paradijselijk leven ;)
Liefs Malou (vd Krieken) -
12 Mei 2010 - 12:46
Evi:
Holaaa! Me da muchisimas ganas de verte!!
Gelukkig vertrek ik 17 juni pas dus kunnen we elkaar nog zien in de tussentijd!
Kus Eef -
12 Mei 2010 - 12:56
Carlien:
OMG je komt gewoon 2 maanden naar NL!! En al zo snel ook! Ik werk met verstandelijk gehandicapten en weet dat ze nog vakantiekrachten zoeken ;) -
12 Mei 2010 - 14:55
Theo:
Hey De Later,
Top verhaaltje zeg weer, die foto's word ik op het moment ZO jaloers op.... Het is hier strak 8 graden en volop regenachtig op het moment. Thx voor de zonnige plaatjes! En dat je naar NL komt zeg, helemaal goed! Wat een verhalen zal jij te vertellen hebben.
Tot ziens hier in de NL wellicht. -
13 Mei 2010 - 08:34
Yvonne/peter:
reactie volgt, we staan op het punt om een paar daagjes ervan tussen te gaan (met dit mooie weer = koud en regen!!!!)
Tot dan! -
15 Mei 2010 - 13:23
Yvonne:
Intussen alle foto's gezien en ik sla volkomen groen uit van jaloezie. Ik wou dat ik zo'n 35 jaar jonger was!!!!!Maar terug in het NU. Weekendje Utrechtse Heuvelrug was prima, alleen was ik niet helemaal lekker. Het weer knapt nu een beetje op, dus hoop ikzelf ook. Ook nog ff bij Linda geweest, leuk appartement, ziet er goed uit.
Nog een paar weekjes en dan kun je alle veranderingen hier "live" aanschouwen.
Kijk er naar uit! -
16 Mei 2010 - 12:09
Bente:
Fijn om te horen dat je eventjes terug komt! tot gauw meis!
Kus
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