Yesterday I had this crazy busy day driving around the island, running errands and doing chores. As per usual I had the radio on full blast when alone in the car and Bad Guy by Billie Eilish came by. I’ve always loved the vibe of this song! Feels like getting ready for battle music. I never really listened to what it was about, so I decided to look up the lyrics today, along with the lyrics for Blur by MØ. (That last song is too dark for the title of this short post.)
I kinda gave up trying to make up for the last almost year of not blogging…I have been writing in my head all the time, but never took the time to put fingers to keyboard, I am just too busy playing outside.
To sum it up, I have been back on Curacao for 4 months and have been working for 2 now. I am working as a terrestrial researcher and consultant at the Carmabi Research Institute, one of the 3 companies I was aiming for. The work for now is mostly physically challenging, with long days in the thorny bush as I am part of the research party that is mapping the vegetation of the Christoffel National Park.
Me and my bromelia pants nd opuntia shoes
In the meantime, I am making new friends, re-acquainting myself with old ones and had many, many visitors the last few weeks! Also making not friends, as I discovered today...Some people's minds take funny turns, but I am cool with not being liked. I like me.
Sjoerd came for Prideweek (and a little bit for me)
Pien in de bocht!
Inge came over!
I celebrated another birthday, in style this time, with a lovely mix of old and new friends on Klein Curacao.
I got back on Facebook, still HATE IT, so if you want to reach me, cindymneman on Insta is the best way, I will not post anything and most definitely not look up anyone on Facebook. It sadly still is the best way to hear about events on the island. And even so I miss most of it, because, as I said, I am too busy playing outside…
Back to Billie…these lyrics, man…gotta love music, how it so often can find you at the exact moment you need it. Today was a good day. And yes, I feel ready for battle. Give me your best shot, new week! Bon siman!
You know
the videos of babies not wanting to touch grass? Like this ?
This was
me from 18 Dec 2018 to 16 Jan 2019. Trying not to touch the ground in Curaçao, but at the same time knowing
that I was eventually going to have to land somewhere for good. I knew beforehand that
when I arrived back home, my baby sister was going to be there and it would be
that time of the year with all the good stuff and that we had only a few weeks before
the trip around the world, so I was prepared for it mentally.
What I did
not anticipate was the physical destruction of jetlag. I was well prepared,
pillows, battery pack, laptop fully loaded with downloaded Netflix series,
books, snacks…There was not going to be an easy way, so I just had to sit
through the 47:55 hours and make it work. The bit I was not looking forward to,
was the 8 hours in Den Pasar airport. I am too chicken to go outside for a few
hours and to be honest, Kuta does not really rock my boat…Last time I was there,
we were happy to move along after 1 night. Again, once again, people take different
things out the same destinations, nothing wrong with that. I choose to stay in.
packing light is not my thing...
bye bye dear friend
love these tags
see you on the other side!
that is one!
yes please
make all the steps you can
that is 2
still minding my step
can I charge me too?
I bought a few books, picked a nice spot in the sun behind a window and read. I
finished 2 books** in the time I had, had a foot massage, had a good meal and then
proceeded to walk the (very, very boring) hallway to make my steps goal for the
day.
The flight from Den Pasar was to Amsterdam, through Singapore and that is
a long one (yay, comfort class). I slept a few hours, that made a little dent in
the total of 17 hours, but mostly saw aaaalll the movies on the flight
entertainment system.
In Amsterdam
I had 5 hours, in which a Yotel room was most useful to take the BEST SHOWER
EVER and make a quick outside trip to the Etos and the Hema. Not to buy
anything, but just to go see if they were still there;o)
They were, coping just fine without me.
The last 10
hours to Curaçao were easy peasy. At the airport
the Committee of Welcomes was ready and waiting. As soon as we touched the
ground the apps started pouring in, I think poor Joris must have aged a few years
waiting on the other end. My (ahum…3) suitcases came though quick and I went
outside to hug the family!
it won't rotate!
Stress kip
The thing
that surprised me the most of my landing, is that even though Joris and I had
had a lot of app contact and a few long calls, I had forgotten about the way
that Polly had affected his appearance. That made me feel really bad as the
scar shocked me deeply all over again. The rest of him looked happy, tan and
healthy, no worries there, but that scar is a reminder of how close to a very
different ending he was.
After going
home to see my mom, we went to the other home, where the cats, Carol and Joris
were roommates in the fabulous house we are now calling kas. The cats of course
were ecstatic to see me.
oh, were you gone?
yeah, that was scary
As I got
home a week before Christmas, you can imagine those weeks went by quickly.
Joris was still working till the end of the month, so he had basically unpacked
what he needed and sat down to work. Me, on the other hand, after having
unpacked 3 huge 23 kilo suitcases (took me a week, as we were not home during
the day and jetlag was sawing me off at the knees at the most odd hours), felt
the need to nest after having been moving from one place to the other for months.
We left our house in Amstelveen the end of September and I had been living out
of a suitcase even before that, as I had been in Curaçao since the beginning of
that month.
And not being certain where I will be calling my home after the
world trip, I needed to stick to the more neutral jobs in the house. So I built
and sewed and painted and was very proud of all the results.
Kaya kaya was the bomb!
Proud builders of the tree
new litterbox being tested #ikeahacks
Off to Aruba we go!
all unsupervised persons will be put to work
the parade of green to be saved every day
mid-final product! The bench itself is next
Christmas brunch with the family
chairs done!
Around new
Years we had more visitors and had to see baby sister off.
January 1st
we walked and ran and handed out medals, which once again was a lot of fun!
scrollie was back home after having escaped before the fireworks
Then we
started planning, finally. Joris was done with work and all visitors were gone,
so we could technically dedicate more time to double laptopping the countries
we were visiting and booking stuff. Let’s just say, we did not. We tried to get
to the beach and run a bit, to leave on our trip more relaxed. Packing went
very smoothly, the house and the cats were left behind in good hands and off we
went!
trip to klein cur
as soon as we left, the cleaning lady sent this...we are missed
* I choose this song for different reasons. Bastille is the one act I really really wanted to see in 2018 and missed on every occasion because of sold out tickets or crappy weather or simply missing the fact that they were performing. I love this song because of the movement you can feel in it, the rushing through life I have been doing these last months. There have been specific moments that I was standing somewhere at 0:15 and thought of this song, feeling the end of the day and also the beginning of an evening that could bring endless possibilities.
**ok, people who know how I read, know I will give every book a 100 pages. It is seldom that I stop reading before that and even more seldom that I throw a book out instead of giving it a good new home. But one of these two books pissed me off beyond anything. I will spoil it for you, so you do not have to read this book. Together, by Julie Cohen. It gets rave reviews. I was not a fan. It is told anti-chronologically, starting in the present and going back in time. It is a love story and there is something horrible that must have happened that they keep alluding to. Maybe I am just too pragmatic a person and I have low tolerance for beating around the bush about important stuff, but really, what a waste of life by living in fear for alllll these years. When you finally get to the end of the book, which is the beginning of the story, you realize that the main characters, the couple it is all about, are half-siblings. I finished the book, found the nearest trash bin and chucked it and went and had a drink. Somewhere in me I appreciate the fact that the book kept me reading and that it got some emotion out of me, but pissed off is not what I want to be after a book.
