So here is my list. These are the kind of things that I might want to do if ever the opportunity arises or if I'm not engaged in other things and I wonder what to do next. I found out that the likelihood or ease of doing something isn't related to the actual realization. Here are a few topics I picked from the list:
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Brazil ( quick decisions! read about it in the archives) | |
have a helicopter trip |
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do a horseback trip |  |
climb the Kilimanjaro |
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Siberia in winter | |
play Bach on the piano (properly!) |
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speak ten languages | |
see an active volcano (read about it in the archives) |
During preparations for our trip I ran in some more specific things:
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visit Balikpapan | |
make my own animation |
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white monkeys at Qiupu |
(Cornelia's page) |
In France during a geological fieldwork I couldn't join in on a horseback trip; I had never mounted a horse in my life. So I decided to take lessons, but very soon I got fed up with riding in very crowded circles at the riding school.
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However, when I was in São Paolo I was invited to spend Easter at the fazenda (range) of friends, in the interior of São Paolo. One day, the cattle had to be inspected for diseases so we went along, on horseback. I got the quietest horse of the pack, and off we went. The horse only staggered once and I didn't fall off. We rode through fields with vegetation coming up to our shoulders, descended sharp ravines and moved through fields of ferocious zebu (the white long-horned South American cow, but they didn't act very wild though). It was lovely and the next day I didn't have sore legs (but I would have had sore feet had I walked). Read more about this trip in Brazil on Cornelia's page of quick decisions or in the archives of the Americas in Brazil. |
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I have to admit that I probably like winter better than summer. I also have some twisted romantic idea about snow, ice, taiga, wolves and bears. The only way to cure me from this is to see for myself.
Extreme? Well, I think the world is just such a diverse and wonderful place, and you should have seen it all to make up your mind about the good and the bad things in life.
So this is one of my dreams that has come true during our trip! Maybe it wasn't midwinter, but enough to get an idea and I wouldn't mind going back. Read about our winter in Siberia it in our adventures in Russia.
No doubt because I like talking, I consider languages as a priority in life. So for the preparation of our journey, I took an evening course Russian, while Fabrice pained himself to master the Chinese language.
It would be great if, during the trip, I could turn my Russian sentence-like monstrosities into something modestly called "speaking Russian".
And indeed, in the end I was able to communicate with the Russians, although it wasn't poetry! Read about our visit to Russia in our adventures in Russia.
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During the last month of my working experience in Brazil, visited Rio for a week. I arrived at 6 o'clock in the morning in Rio de Janeiro and somebody from Geo-Rio picked me up. He took me to the office immediately and explained me loads of things about the work they did. Instability of the slopes of the morros (the granite hills such as the Pão de Açucar (Sugar Leaf) in the city provides a lot of hazards in the city and Geo-Rio tries to prevent them. Then, how could I have expected this, I went on a helicopter ride! Once a week, Geo-Rio takes an hour's inspection of the hillsides that aren't accessible but by air, to evaluate possible hazards. It was a fantastic experience, not in the least because Rio of Rio's unique setting. Read more about this trip in Brazil on Cornelia's page of quick decisions or in the archives of the Americas in Brazil. |
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Because my mother spent a great deal of her childhood in this city on Kalimantan I decided I had it see it for myself, being in the "neighbourhood". Besides, a trip on the island Borneo, with jungle, with Orang Utans, Dayak (local people of Borneo) and all other exiting things can't be a waste of time.
And indeed, it was well worth the trip! Read how we visited Balikpapan in our adventures in Indonesia
I read this poem of white monkeys at a lake called Qiupu. It was so charming that I now want to see it. A minor problem is that I haven't yet found out where in China the Qiupu-lake is; for all I know the name might have changed since the poem was written...
Here is a Dutch translation of the poem:
Witte apen
bij Qiupu wemelt het van witte apen
die wegschieten en springen als vlokken sneeuw,
van een tak hangend laat één z'n jong neer
zodat hij kan drinken van de maan in het meer.
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Li Bai (701-762) Uit: Honderd Chinese Gedichten (samenstelling en vertaling: Daan Bronkhorst) |
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I had this idea of an animated link. See for yourself! (I hope it works...) My piece of art is titled: "I want to go home" |
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(Cornelia's page) |
