Back in New York City & MCSM H.S. graduation

Wednesday Verena and I spent on the plane: 9:30 am departing Bogota, 3:34 pm arriving in Atlanta, Georgia, 5:40 pm leaving Atlanta, 8:28 pm arriving at JFK airport in New York City. The whole day I had been feeling rather unemotional – I mean I was happy and satisfied with my trip and that I had the opportunity to do this, but I also wasn’t sad that it’s coming to an end. Funny. I was so calm and satisfied, neither very sad (that it’s almost over) nor particularly excited (to be back in New York). Until, well, we were waiting for our backpacks at JFK and I borrowed Verena’s cell phone to call my friend Veronika about when to meet her tomorrow. And that’s when the excitement kicked in – I suddenly felt so happy to be back, to see my friends soon – it’s wonderful to be back in New York

So on Thursday, I met up with Veronika and her two kids, Maximillian and Katharina, whom I both adore, and we spent the day together – catching up about their time back in Austria and my travels in South America. I felt as if I had never left. That’s what it always feels like with true friends – no matter how often we see each other, once there’s a certain connection it’s always there

Later I met up with Peter, his brother Patrick, and his cousin Frank for a couple of drinks. It’s always fun hanging out with these guys   On the way home, I ended up falling (well, more being thrown) into a fountain, but I won’t go into details on this blog   Just that much: I was soaked and I had a lot of fun that night

On Friday, I went to the GRADUATION of Manhattan Center of Science and Mathematics H.S. (MCSM) - at 10 am at Hunter College (69th Street on the UES), and although I had planned on watching from the back, the principal asked me to come up on stage (where most of the teachers were sitting) when he welcomed everybody at the beginning. Although there were (and still are) issues between the administration and a lot of teachers, and I haven’t forgotten the protests last year after Mr. Thomas was sent to the rubber room, etc.,  I felt this wasn’t the time for me to make a point, and I simply walked up on stage and watched the ceremony from up there. It was wonderful to see my former students (who had asked me to came back for their graduation when I left MCSM, New York and the U.S. at the end of last school year) graduate. Sitting there made me look forward to teaching again But I still wouldn’t want to stay here. I still feel the same way I felt last year: it’s time for a change, time for me to move on. I’m glad I still feel the same way a year later. It’s time to move back to Europe, back to Vienna and teach there. I know it’s been 7 years since I left (summer 2002) and people keep asking me if I’ll be able to adapt to the Austrian way of life again or whether I have become too American to be happy there. Well, first of all I don’t believe I have become too American to live in Europe. (There’s this saying: “You can take the girl out of Austria, but you can’t take Austria out of the girl.” And I believe this to be true to a certain extent.) Anyway, going back to graduation. Here’s the video from the principal’s introduction – including me walking up on stage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnVyWSsL1Cc

It was wonderful to see my former students graduate and I also have to admit that it was lovely that they gave me such a warm welcome. Afterward the ceremony I got the chance to talk to some of them and their families   Memories of the 5 years at Manhattan Center kept coming back… And it was such a great finish – sort of – to my trip, one leading me back to teaching. And the good thing is that within this year of traveling I feel I got myself back, well I mean the person I like. At the end of last year I wasn’t like that. I had somehow over the years in the city and working for the DoE lost some of my positive outlook on life, some of my groundedness, some of my faith in people, etc. Last year around this time I felt I was ready to leave New York, but I wasn’t ready to go back to Europe yet. It’s not that I needed to find myself, I know who I am, what I do and what I stand for. I needed to get – in short – my happiness, my groove, or whatever you want to call it, back. And I consider myself lucky to have found it. I’m back the way I like myself   I know I’m not going to change the world, and I’m still saddened at times that I couldn’t do more and by the fact that good teachers like Mr. Thomas (since last year) and Mr. Moshos (since this year) are still in the rubber room and about other things. But this part of my life is over and sometimes no matter how hard you try, how hard you work, and how much energy you invest – sometimes (not often, but it happens), you still don’t win and things don’t work out. So I let go… For those who don’t quite understand what I’m talking about I just want to say one thing: the students at MCSM never really gave me any problems and the joy of teaching the students at MCSM (and teaching Mathematics in English) is one of the reasons why I stayed in New York for all those years. Overall, with all the good and the bad, I wouldn’t want to miss any of these 6 years, though   I learnt an awful lot, I truly enjoyed teaching in East Harlem, I made some really good friends and I guess  this is why New York has become my home - but not the one where I’ll grow old. That’s more likely going to be Vienna. But then who knows what life brings… Maybe I’ll grow old in Fiji, or in New Zealand, or somewhere else… Or in Vienna

I’ve just been letting my thoughts wander off…

PS: Later that day I bought a cell phone (prepaid) for $20. Funny isn’t it: I have traveled around the world for more than 8 months without a cell phone, but can’t really do New York without one

Bogota – my last day in South America

I left Cartagena on Sun, 3:30 pm; arrived in Bogota on Mon, 1 pm, met up with Verena in our hostel, went on a city tour in Spanish from 2-4 pm, stopped by the hostel where Tracey and Ari are staying (we were on the same Galapagos cruise), went out for dinner with them (Crepes & Waffles), and ended up having a few beers at their hostel. It was so nice to see them again

Today is our LAST DAY IN SOUTH AMERICA! Verena left early and I slept in   Then a wonderful surprise awaited me: Kati and Daniel showed up! We have traveled with them before, but thought we won’t see them again on this trip, but now they are here    Will have dinner with them tonight – our last evening in South America…

Cartagena

On Friday I took a minibus from Taganga to Cartagena – a lovely Caribbean city with lots of beautiful, old colonial buildings in the old quarter. At dinner at “El Bistro” I met Gabriele from Germany who teaches in Caracas, Venezuela. We had such a great time that we met again for dinner on Saturday night   Furthermore, I was able to have a conversation for half an hour in Spanish (!) with a taxi driver – about Cartagena, traveling, politics, family, various South American countries, etc. My Spanish is by no means good and my grammar is pretty much non-existing – so I was quite amazed how much we actually were able to talk about

On Sunday I was having breakfast on the Plaza Santa Domingo when I met Constance and Brian, whom I had met back in Bolivia (Uyuni trip). They are also traveling for a year and we exchanged travel stories and memories, as they had a similar route on the trip   Then I went back to my hostel, packed and left Cartagena.

TAYRONA N.P. is beautiful :)

The Tayrona National Park is on the Caribbean coast in the northeastern part of Colombia and it´s beautiful!

On Sunday we spent the day in Santa Marta – on the Caribbean Sea, then took a minibus to Taganga, a small fishing village nearby, where we spent the night and did the usual travel planning.

On Monday Verena and I took a minibus to the TAYRONA N.P., then once inside another minibus to Canaveral, continued on horseback to Arrecifes and then walked along the beach – more or less – to Cabo San Juan de la Guia, a beautiful beach with a place for tents, a few hammock under a roof, a small restaurant and open-air showers and toilets that stopped working on Tuesday. But lovely. Relaxing. Not off the gringo trail, though   We saw the most backpackers in one place in quite a while. But it was still a very nice and relaxed place. I met a lot of nice people there

Unfortunately things between Verena and myself didn´t seem to be working anymore. There are still too many things that annoy or upset her about my personality, even though I have been trying –  trying to talk less, talk to fewer fellow travelers, etc. I don´t want to go into details on this blog. But I must say that I finally realized that I have been feeling more lonely for the last 2 1/2 months than most of the previous 5 1/2 months when I was traveling by myself. On Tuesday Verena left and I stayed. We are traveling separately now.

So I stayed in the national park. I loved sleeping in the hammock at night, reading a book on the beach (¨A Thousand Splendid Suns¨), and talking to other travelers. I had dinner with a guy from Colombia and afterwards played cards with two English and two Norwegian girls. Even when the showers weren´t working it was fun having a shower the old fashioned way – emptying a bucket of water over your head

Yesterday I took a boat back to Taganga – a rough and fun ride   Now I´m back in Taganga, still reflecting from time to time on what happened over the last few days, and just taking it easy, reading my book and walking along the beach of the little fishing village – although I must admit that the beach at Cabo San Juan de la Guia was nicer

Tomorrow I´ll be heading to Cartagena, probably.

PS: Finished the book “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini. Sad, but really good!

Off the gringo trail & off the beaten track in Colombia

Compared to the rest of South America, most of Colombia is still off the gringo trail, but probably not for long as it has been getting a lot safer over the last few years. Verena and I spent the last 5 days mainly on various buses in Colombia, traveling from the south to the north, the Caribbean coast.

TUE: bus from Quito to Tulcan, near the border; taxi to cross the border from Ecuador into Colombia, bus from Ipiales to Bogota.

WED: Arrival in Bogota around 11 am. My camera is dying – can´t read some of my memory cards anymore… Mueso del Oro (gold muesum) in the late afternoon.

THU: 9:30 am departure - Bogota; 7 pm arrival in Bucaramanga. travel planning time at the bus station. 10:30 pm departing Bucaramanga

FRI: 7 am: arriving in El Banco. looking for a boat all over town. no boat. have to take minibus to Mompox (10 – 12:30). Mompox is off the beaten track. no tourists. nothing. different experience. nice dinner on the main square. the pizzeria is just a stall on the main square. different. but fun

SAT: it rained at night. the roof of our hotel was leaking. my clothes are wet. some are really, really wet. soaked. these are the moments when traveling is not fun. once the clothes are dry (a/c first, then drier) we leave. taxis leave once there are 4 people going to Bodega. locals seem to go there often. we leave 10 minutes after showing up at the square. one hour from Mompox to Bodega, then a 20-minute boat ride to Magangue, the most off the beaten track town we have been to in South America. at first it´s annoying, once we´re on the bus it´s lovely. the bus driver (pollito) and his assistant (allesandro) treat us like queens, let us sit in the front, bring us coffee. simply lovely. the best bus ride   they hardly ever get tourists here. arrival in Santa Marta late at night (22:30).

Off to COLOMBIA

Verena and I are leaving Ecuador today to travel in Colombia for our last two weeks in South America. Our bus leaves Quito at 5:30 am; we’ll arrive at the border about 6 hours later, take a taxi across the border (about 2 hours), and then take another bus to Bogota (about 20 hours) where we should arrive tomorrow morning around 10 am.

Mitad del Mundo (EQUATOR) & teleferiQo

What an interesting and funny day! Verena and I went to MITAD DEL MUNDO (Middle of the World) today – which is on the EQUATOR. Well, interestingly enough, the official monument is slightly off – about 240 m off the equator. We still took pictures on the “fake” equator line – calculated by French scientists many years ago   We also met Jorge and Grant there; what a nice coincidence   Then we went to the MUSEO SOLAR INTI NAN, which is on the real equator, and did some cool experiments there   My favorite: the water in the sink: in the southern hemisphere the water goes down clockwise, in the northern hemisphere it turns counter-clockwise and ON the equator the water goes down STRAIGHT! No kidding!!! It works even if the distance from the equator is only 1 or 2 meters. I watched it a few times  – mesmerized – and continue to be fascinated by it   There were a few other experiments one could try, like walking on the equator with eyes shut and ending up walking like a drunk due to the magnetic forces pulling you in southern and northern direction, the experiment with the forces, and finally balancing an egg on a nail. Verena and I had a lot of fun at this museum!!! I totally recommend it to everyone who’s ever near Quito!

We got back to Quito around 6 pm and took the teleferiQo (cablecar) up the Cruz Loma at 4100 m. Though cloudy, the view over Quito was beautiful   After taking the cablecar back down we wanted to take a taxi as it was already dark. Unfortunately there was no taxi. So we took the shuttle back to the main street and then were trying to hail a taxi from there. As we got off the shuttle I noticed a girl whistling strangely (as if to call her friends to rob us) and we realized that we were in not the best neighborhood. After about 15 minutes without any success (few taxis driving by and none stopping) we decided to walk a few meters – and were stopped by 3 girls and 1 guy immediately. They told us we mustn’t walk anywhere around here – peligroso – dangerous! When the 3 girls (2 from Ecuador and one from Western Europe) got on their bus the guy accompanied us to get a taxi. Walking down another street we heard another person whistling and the guy just told us – muy rapido – to walk faster! Then we were lucky to get a cab before anything could happen. But that whistling was on my mind all evening… Quito is definitely not the safest place after dark. Verena and I almost feel the least safe here in all of  South America so far…

Quito

Sightseeing in Quito – Old Town. My favorite church here is the La Compania de Jesus! We also went up the El Panecillo (Little Bread Loaf) hill – had to take a taxi up and down as it’s not safe to walk up there. Once up there, it’s fine.

In the evening Quito is a little stressful as it’s not that safe so we have to return to our hostel when it gets dark and then only take some cash to go out for dinner – no camera, no debit/credit cards, etc. But again, we have been careful so far and lucky, I guess; nothing has happened so far. We just continue to hear stories from or about other travelers who have been robbed… This is really something that happens only in South America on a regular basis, not in SE Asia, NZ, or Fiji.

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

The five days cruising around the GALAPAGOS ISLANDS were simply – it’s difficult to find the right words to describe it – amazing, phantastic, great, awesome, different, etc.

We visited 5 different islands: Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Espanola island, Floreana island, North Seymour island, and then left from Baltra airport, flying to Quito via Guayaquil. We saw so many animals in their natural habitat (most islands are not inhabited by humans) – really close up: tortoises, turtles, pelicans, land & marine iguanas, lava lizards, sea lions, sharks, rays, blue-footed boobies (I love them, they are soooooooooo cute!), Nazca boobies, flamingos, waved albatrosses, magnificent frigate birds, Galapagos doves, Galapagos sea-gull (?), Galapagos hawks, hood mockingbirds, Darwin finches, etc. – including swimming with turtles and sea lions. The sea lions are very curious and playful   The blue-footed boobies were the cutest and as it was mating season we could watch them “dance” – the male trying to win over the female   Seeing all these animals so close and absolutely fearless of us was a unique and wonderful experience!

Furthermore the boat we stayed on for the 5 days, the FRAGATA, was a great boat with delicious food, a great crew (Ivan, our guide, Luis, Franklin, Jimmy, Oscar, etc.) and nice fellow tourists/travelers: Jorge (Ecuador/Spain) & Grant (Scotland/US), Isolde & Klaus (Germany), Ari (New Zealand) & Tracey (England), Sharon & Dvir (Israel), Seanna & Chad (US), Eric, Patricia and their 8-year old son Alec.

The last 5 days were wonderful