Courage! Je t`aime :)
Bisoussement vôtre |
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I came across this site while doing some travel research... and I wondered what mine looked like. Lots of red in places I haven't been, and lots of gray in places where I'd like to go.
create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide |
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Only 21 days left. That’s three weeks before I cease to be a European resident. The adventure is quickly coming to an end. It was a good time.
It’s hard to avoid thinking about the "should haves". I should have gone to visit such and such a place. I should have done more of this and that. I think it’s part and parcel of getting to know a new home. You discover it’s intricate beauty and learn all that it has to offer. But, all in all, I’m quite satisfied with what I was able to accomplish, and all that I’ve learned, here, in Brussels.
One of the wonders of living in Europe is that there’s so much to discover right at your doorstep. I mean, in the time it takes me to drive to Toronto, I can travel to half a dozen countries. It’s a diversity that’s all the more wonderful by it’s accessibility. And that scores big points on the travellers scoreboard.
On the topic of travelling... I’ve made my list, I’ve checked it thrice... I'm feeling really good about my Fertile Crescent itinerary. According to most of what I've read, what I’m planning to see, and the amount of time I’m giving myself to tour and travel, would qualify as reasonable. That means I’ve read as many people who have done in it half the time as I have people who say you should take more time.
But I stand firm on remaining flexible. Everywhere I turn it's written that the best thing about visiting this part of the Middle East is the friendliness and kindness of the people. They say that it's rather common to get invited for tea or coffee and nargileh at someone's house. That is something I cannot afford to miss because I'm rushing off to see a site.
I talked to Laith today. He says he’ll help me find a nice djelaba. He also says it’s 36 degrees in Amman, and it’s only going up from here on in. I am not a "heat" type person. And now I’m visiting the desert in the summer time. But I figure that’s the best way to do it. Otherwise it would be like visiting Canada in the summer: you only get half the experience. |
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Things sure are a-shakin’ in that building they call Parliament. From over here it looks like the Liberals have gone through the wash and are now in the spin cycle. And it seems our elected members have some voting issues and as a result we’ll all have to do some voting to set them straight. I don’t like the prospect of an election at this time.
I’m afraid the Bloc and the Conservatives, although they have been getting along rather well in their efforts to bring down the government, could end up irritating themselves to the point that that nasty itch that just wont leave – separation – will poke it’s ugly head out again. As a French Canadian proud of his culture, that’s not a pretty picture. Anyhow, I think I’ll be placing my vote from an embassy.
Guess who bought some plane tickets? Yup, uhu, it’s down to 30 days before I land in Jordan. Only one group project left then exams are off and running. They are the only things standing in my way. But I have motivation, bright, sunny, and arid even, light at the end of the tunnel: the desert sun. I’ve been having a wonderful time sorting through the bazillions incredible things to see and do in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon during the too short month that I will be travelling the region. It’s a lot of planning and work but I’ve no doubt it will be one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had the opportunity to live. It’s hard to choose were to cut what to prioritize but I’m starting to have a comfortable, flexible itinerary. And I’ll have my lifetime beard by the time I get there. It’s going to be a time to remember. |
| » I'm going loco |
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Yesterday night, I had a dream... and it was in Spanish! Well, at least the very last part was; those few seconds I remembered after I woke up. I dreamt I was reading my Spanish textbook. As you can see, it’s exam season starting.
I wish I could be in a Spanish speaking country. I can read the paper, and I can almost understand a tv show or a movie without subtitles. I need some exposure to Spanish to finish what I’ve started. I’m just on the verge of nailing it down. I think that a good three months of daily Spanish would be enough to seal the deal. I guess you can say I’ve developed a bit of a crush on this language. I like to hear people speak it. I find it to be sensuous. It has great musicality (although not as intense as Italian!), a soothing flow and a convincing swagger. And I love the expressions.
Since we're on the topic of languages, it got me thinking. It's often said that French is the language of love, and I can understand why. You have to caress it gently for it to say what you’d like to express. And it has a poetic way with emotions.
I remember how, as a youngster, I thought there was a verb missing in French. In English there’s "like" and there’s "love". There’s a different level of intensity there. If you say "I like… something", say for example, "that girl over there" or "that kind of red potatoes", it’s very different from saying "I love…" "my Mum" or "the way the sunset is reflecting on the still lake". But in French there’s one verb that’s used in all cases: "aimer". It takes up a large space on the feelings ledger, and it’s much more closely related to "loving" than to "liking". In that sense, it’s easier to love in French, be you thinking, speaking or writing.
Anyways, I feel like I'm inches from getting a real good grip on my third language. I would like to get over the hump so I can move on to number four. I’m thinking about tackling German next. But there’s also Arabic, Mandarin and Russian tickling my curiosity. Their different alphabets and phonetics are enticing me by defiance.
22 avr 2005 @ 18:14
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| » Canada, here I dont come. I hope. |
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Since my last post about returning to the Motherland (meaning, where my Mum lives: Canada) I can’t stop thinking about going to the Middle East. It’s almost obsessive. I have read much about travelling to Jordan, Syrian and Lebanon. I’ve dreamt even more about seeing the desert. About being in a place where I can’t decipher alphabet let alone speak a word. About meeting the people who live in a country that we are told is “evil”. About walking in the footsteps of our ancestors, in the places where civilisation began.
It all started when the uni released the exam schedule. I was surprised to see that my last written exams was on June 6th. This was fantastic news, if unexpected, because it meant that I could make it to Jordan in time to chill out with Laith and his family before he jets off. How amazing would that be!?!? But I also have a couple of oral exams. There are no dentists involved. But, to my surprise, changing their dates is like pulling teeth. Normally, oral exam dates can be changed like underwear. But my profs are giving me a hard time. Grrrr...
In the meantime, I’ve become an expert on cheap flights to the Middle East. From Czech Airlines to Air Romania, I know where the deals are.
21 avr 2005 @ 11:09
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| » Ottawa here I come... |
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I almost bought I plane ticket back home today. Almost.
I'm looking at all the options and it's so hard to decide. How long to stay? When to come back?
For the moment my favorite is Belfast-Toronto (Hey, I get to visit Belfast!). It's only 275 $CAN but I have to get to Belfast and from TO. That's not really a big problem. I can get to Dublin for about 70 bucks with Ryanair.com...
Hmmm... Decisions, decisions, decisions...
13 avr 2005 @ 19:26
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| » Sunny Days |
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I landed back in Brussels yesterday night after three amazing weeks in Spain. It was a wonderful sojourn with a great travelling partner, Hugo, and some gracious hosts: Karoline & Nicola, Ginette & Brian, Patricia & Raquel. Much love to all. Great people, great food, incredible scenery and so so so much old – really old – palaces and castles and cathedrals and murals. It felt like I was walking through time.
Three weeks is a short time but enough for a delicious appetiser, a foretaste of the aromas and flavours that Spain offers to its numerous passers-by. It’s not quite full blown tourist season yet but I have to admit that there were times when I felt like a sheep: walk here, look there, follow the leader leader leader, follow the leader... and don’t stray. It can be unpleasant but it’s unavoidable around the well known attractions.
Nonetheless, it’s easy to fall in love with a southern country. I think it’s all that sunshine. It's like the fruits: fresher, juicier, and richer to taste. The rugged Spanish landscape and its mountainous backdrop alike made me want to ride along on horseback straight into the sunset.
( Spain: behind the cut )
08 avr 2005 @ 11:12
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| » Your Mama! |
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This weekend I discovered a little gem of kid-culture that absolutely blew my mind!
I was with a few Belgian school teachers who were discussing the always adventurous happenings of the day. It seems the excitement never stops when you’ve got a class full of eight-, nine- or ten-year-olds.
Nico, a secondary school teacher at one of the roughest high schools in Brussels – where they send kids with behavioural problems – was explaining how he reacts when the shellacking begins and the kids start to clobber each other. The lesson here seems to be that aggressive behaviour is part boundary testing and part cry for attention. So, a good response is to under-react and catch them off-guard.
I bent over laughing after he explained the look of stupefaction on his students faces when, in order to end a small altercation, he calmly suggested that they move all the desks into a ring so that the brute and the bully could take care of their business. And that was the end of that little feud.
Then Léti to add (she has also been teaching at a primary school with rather difficult students) that when two of her pre-teens started to slap each other, she calmly placed her hands on her hips and asked sardonically “Will that be all or should I get you two some knives?” And nothing more was heard from those two.
But the real cracker came when I asked how it was that these kids came to fists. “It’s usually a comment about your Mom”, I’m told. Ha! Some things just don’t change. I remember when I was in grade school, if you wanted to pick a fight, any sentence starting with “Your mama…” would do the trick.
However, none of these kids had started to fight because of “Your mama” taunting. It seems that this year, if you really want to piss off a ten year old kid in the schoolyard in Brussels, the king of insults is to call him a Bush. Yes, as in George Bush. So it seems “You’re such a Bush” has replaced “You’re such an Osama”, that was en vogue a few years ago, as the most outrageous verbal slap you can mutter.
28 fév 2005 @ 12:00
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