Numbers and Money

My favorite saying is "a statistician drowned in a river with the average depth of 2 cm." Many people don't get it, but I use this in different situations, asking somebody to look at things from a different angle, or just not to take numbers or statistics too seriously. Anyhow, for reference, here are some numbers.

We visited 33 countries. One might argue rightly that I artificially inflated the number by including Tibet, Hong Kong and Macau, who some might consider part of China; Lesotho, which we visited on a day trip; France, where we spent a night in a motel across the Swiss border; Vatican, a tiny republic inside Rome; Saudi Arabia, where we only stayed 10 hours in the airport and it even includes Romania and United States (our home bases). I added all these places because they have different histories, cultures, currencies and/or borders and passport stamps. Even briefly, each experience was a special lesson for us. I think that the country model is way overrated, but unfortunately this is what we have in today's world.

North Camp of Mount Everest. China or Tibet?

We Did It

We did it or we made it. However you want to put it we went around the world and we are back home in five whole pieces. We left Bucharest on Sunday afternoon, in the end of January. A short flight to Vienna, a change of planes to Berlin. A little adventure, I booked a hotel at the wrong airport, I realized at the last moment thanks to Ina. Overnight in Berlin, a short encounter with our friend in the hallway of the airport and we got on our last flight. At JFK we got a car and drove a couple of hours toward our house. We left the children to spend the night with a friend in New Jersey and we spend the last night in a hotel. Tuesday morning we drove a few more hours, stopped at Sam's club and Aldi for groceries. We spent $500 on supplies, for the first time in ages we didn't have to calculate how much we needed to buy, we just got everything that we could think of to resupply our pantry and fill our fridge. In the afternoon, we did the last few miles toward our house. It was epic. Unplanned, Louis Armstrong started to sing on the car stereo "What a Wonderful World". We did the last few miles singing and naming all the landmarks that we've learned so well on our way home. When we entered the house there was a lot of screaming and jumping. It took a few minutes of going through the house to recognize our home. In the evening friends joined us for pizza and champagne. It was epic. We did it, or we made it, however you want to put it, we went around the world!

At the airport in Berlin, AirBerlin carousel 

Kali mera Elada!

Present time (November 30th, 2012):

Duty— You should have written every day!
The writer— I couldn’t, the writing would have been dry, just a bunch of facts, what we did, like a check-off list, no one would have been interested.
The child— Can we play now?
Duty— Now you have to write after almost two months; what would you remember now?
The writer—I’ll write, just leave me alone, don’t carry me to all these new places, give me some time!
The child—I want a roiboos tea!
Duty—We don’t have time! And plus, these new places have to be seen, they are a must, remember that you always wanted to see them!
The writer—OK, let’s see them, but then I won’t write!
The child—And I want to watch a movie!
Duty— You have to write! People are waiting for your blogs!
The writer— Are you kidding me? They live their lives, we’re just entertainment for them, if there is no blog to be read, they just go and find something else!
The child—Look at me! Look at me!
Duty—Then write for us!
The writer—I need peace, and time! Leave me alone, to find my muse, to process those feelings, to make them less personal, to bring a unified image of how it was there, and not the whole material. It was one thing to present Asia, where it was a first contact with a different culture, and another to show Europe. I grew up here, I can tell details, but then I have to explain them, and you don’t give me time!
The child—Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong! Let’s escape!
Duty and the writer—WE CAN’T! WE HAVE TO WRITE THE BLOG!

Two months ago and forward.

Kali mera, Elada! (kah-lee mair-ah) Good morning, Greece!

Thanksgiving

Of all the American feast days, Thanksgiving is closest to my heart. The first immigrants gathered with the Indians and gave thanks to God for helping them survive. Many times I thought it shouldn’t be just once a year, but then  I changed my mind; it is good to have an official day, in which one can think about all his or her gifts, received daily or in time. The words to come were written as I thought about them while we were traveling.

I give thanks to God; He helped us every moment.

I thank Mihai. He is the one who transformed an idea into reality. Step by step, innumerable hours, during the day and especially at night, he searched on the internet for the cheapest and most comfortable ways of transport. He read what others wrote and learned from their experiences. He found the ideal weather (you don’t want to be in India during monsoon time, when it rains for three months in a row) and made a schedule allowing us to travel with minimum clothes. He is the one who searched and found hotels and apartments, not only good, but cheap and close to the places we wanted to visit. He is the one who pushed us out of the house, when we wanted to sit and complain, saying there are still places to be visited, and in this way he enriched us.

Baobabs Avenue, Madagascar

Zero Percent

If you try to learn about the world, there is a small population of 13,428,300 in 2010 (0% of the total), who suffered the most and caused most of the trouble in the world. Most of them live in America and some of them live in a country called Israel. They are generally called Jews, even though what makes someone Jew can be an issue of considerable debate. There is a lot to learn about them and the best place to do it is in Prague. It might seem illogical at first, but soon it all makes sense. Hitler dreamed of a museum for the "extinct race of Jews" and apparently he chose one of the oldest synagogues in the world to house it. In an adjacent synagogue they started to pile the artifacts stollen from the population, items of inestimable value, waiting to be put on display when the Nazis would have won the war. So saved from destruction and somehow surviving the communist era, they are now available for the whole world to learn. There is a quarter in Prague Old Town that contains the Jewish Museum, unusual because it comprises a few buildings scattered over several streets in a relatively new Art-Nouveau labyrinth. There is the Old-New Synagogue, built in 1270. The ceiling is awkward, almost clumsy, it has five spikes, the builders were Christians, they knew how to built a ceiling with four beams connecting in the shape of the cross. That wouldn't have worked for a synagogue, so they added a fifth one, clumsily. Why? The Jews were not allowed to built, they had to employ Christians. Why? Asked the children, it just doesn't make sense. They were not allowed to do anything, exempt moneylending. Why? They ask again. People are stupid. That is the short answer, there is a (much) longer one.

The ceiling with five spires, credit wikipedia

Visiting United Kingdom's Capital

We are so spoiled! 

After so many months on the road, we are complaining of a little bit of deprivation of sleep due to uncomfortable chairs. Like all the night buses should have recline-able chairs with a hood to shelter your face as in Japan! Spoiled or not we are sleep-walking to our hostel, where we find out that we can’t enter our room until 3 o’clock. It looks like a dorm one... Well, we’re on a budget, it will do.

After a good night sleep we can’t wait to pick up our girls from the airport. Happy to be together, sad that they don’t have a new stamp in their passports. 

They brought bagels! 

Welcome Home

Africa can be summed up in two words:

Welcome home.

Three Hundred Days

When did three hundred days flow by? It is always today, this week. I have glimpses of tomorrow, what we will do or where we will go. Numbers, like 23, are harsh, dure reminders that something happens that day, and I have to remember it. Months are just names, there is no difference between January in South India and July in South Africa, as we move through a perpetual summer (day time temperatures).

You must have an idea what happened in those days, as you followed the blog. If you are new or need a refresher course, the blog paints the rosy picture of our days in Japan, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Cambodia, Thailand, New Zealand, Hawaii, Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia to this point. Because of the artistic process of producing blog posts (that includes the time and disposition to write down into a readable form some of the things that we did, perusing pictures, picking some and reducing drastically, fighting myself to take out the ones that I like but have no relation to the blog) and a frustrating, expensive, unreliable and wire-grounded connection to the internet, these adventures (South Africa, Madagascar and again South Africa) are yet to come.

What is missing in those blogs is the daily grind, the things that you usually do in your house like sleeping, eating, laundry, even cleaning (when we stayed more than four days in a house).

Luxury bedroom in Macao

You Should Visit Kruger While You're Young

When I say 'young,' I'm assuming the following things:

- You have the ability to sit in a car for an entire day, with set rest stops where you can get out and stretch your legs. (Assume three hours, max, between rest stops)

You may want to cry when you see the car in the morning.

Problems in Madagascar

When we tell people we're going to Madagascar (or, later, have been to Madagascar), their first reaction is "Whoa! That's so awesome!"

And it is awesome. But beyond that, it's really hard to go to Madagascar. Don't get me wrong. It's a beautiful country. There are amazing animals— lemurs, for example, are only found in Madagascar, and there are x73 species. And chameleons are everywhere. Not to mention snakes, spiders (there is a spider here that is huge, completely non-poisonous, and whose silk is used for making Kevlar vests), and a variety of flowers and butterflies.

As well as lemurs. Everywhere.

Bitter Sweet

We left the idyllic island of Nosy Be to see the mainland. The Indian taxi drivers have a lot to learn from the Malagasy ones. The moment that we stepped out of the boat they stretched their hands to take our bags. We carried them on our backs. They started talking in French, English, Italian. Mihai told us not to speak with them, and hearing our language, they tried to figure out where we were coming from. Spain? 

Carts pulled by zebus, a normal way of life.

Antsirabe

We've been on the road for 267 days and today was the first time that I gave something to a begging child. I bought fresh bread and at the exit of the boulangerie, an almost naked 5 year old stretched his dirty hand. He got some fresh bread. How strange.

Beautiful Antsirabe...

A Whiz Through Malaysia

Please get ready to hop into a vehicle that will whiz you through most everything we did in Malaysia at record speed. Please keep hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times, and make sure to close your eyes if you start getting dizzy.

…  ready?

Singapore and Writers

In August 2011, I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo. Like November, the goal is to write 50,000 words of novel in a month. The idea had come all of a sudden, and I couldn't wait to write it. About midway through, I found another writer whose story looked interesting. I PMed her to tell her so, and as we were talking, I think I whined a bit about my word count (always an important consideration, though in 8 events I've never lost once).

"Oh, there's a writing group I help run. It's on TinyChat, if you want to join in."

A New Campervan

Near Darwin: We pick out a powered campsite, probably somewhere near Litchfield, and relax a bit before a dinner of pasta.

The mosquitos are lethal here. Ileana went out to wash the dishes and came back after only five minutes, looking desperately throughout the camper for the repellent. Her back was bright red. I've got more bites on my legs than I know what to do with. It's so hot that our clothes are sticking to us and I don't even mind the oppressive heat and humidity any more… I just try to avoid heat rash— the sweat heats up and then you get a burn in the worst of places— knees, thighs, armpits… mostly thighs, since we walk all the time. It's annoying. 

And it gets hot in the day. We are almost liquid if we ever don't have the AC on.

An Australian Mozzie's Guide to Gorging

AN AUSTRALIAN MOZZIE'S GUIDE TO GORGING

Section B, Camper Vans

Locate any and all entrances into vehicle. Check the edges of flyscreens, as these often come undone during the many bumps these crazy humans encounter along the road. Hide within the curtains which they draw at night for 'privacy' to escape their extraordinary hand-eye coordination.

When they are asleep (also known as temporary death— recognized by slowed breathing, absolute quiet, and odd mumbling sounds that sound like 'talking'), slip out of the curtains. Bite most fleshy parts— calves of legs, thighs (unfortunately often covered), underarms, neck, and cheeks. Hide in curtains again until day, when they open the Door. Slip out as unnoticed as possible. Make sure you are not discovered when they pull the curtains!

REMEMBER: All humans are highly territorial creatures. They WILL KILL if they discover a mozzie, often relentlessly. HUMANS DO NOT FORGET YOU ARE THERE!

Uluru

Uluru is everything. It is a "big rock in the middle of nowhere" to most everybody that only heard about it. It is also the oldest cathedral ever built, the oldest still in service, the place of all past, present and future creation of the universe and any living being. It is a story book written in stone and every little indentation has an explanation, but only very few people know it. It is a maternity ward, a nursery and a school, a place for countless religious functions, a spa resort for families, the orchard of the desert, the refuge for trees and animals and the ultimate source of water in times of drought. It is everything.

Melbourne, in a bit less glory

Melbourne. It's a masculine apartment with one dark gray wall, dark gray carpeting… dark gray tile in the bathroom and open kitchen… there are black shades over the windows to stop too much sun from coming in. The granite countertops are black.

On the first day we actually took out our red Marmots and hung them up on a chair just to brighten up the space.

There are enough beds for six people, but Ioan elects to sleep on one of the couches instead of bringing out the folding single bed.

We watch TV. The person here has a collection of movies (almost none of which we find interesting-looking at all), which includes Ghost Town (Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni; a man going in for a routine operation dies for seven minutes while under general anaesthetic, and finds he can see ghosts)… and some Pierce Brosnan movie with the… Vietnam war? I didn't watch it, so I don't know. Rest assured though, I heard a great deal of gunshots, groaning, etc, and I read the back of the DVD cover, so I know enough to be able to say why I didn't want to watch it.

It's a pretty big city, this. We generally walk to the tram station,

Old People Should Move Faster

"Old people should move faster because they have less time left!" Ileana, my daughter, tells me that every now and then and we both start laughing. And laughing. And laughing. The whole show was full of stupid jokes like that but three of us had a wonderful time, sitting for two hours on the pavement in the Federation Square. It was the International Comedy Festival in Melbourne. Maria and Ileana Ruxandra walked along the river banks or read on a park bench.

Titanic World

We saw "Titanic", the movie, in 3D. On an IMAX-3D screen, the third largest in the world, with the height of a seven stories building. The installation had 15000 watts, but I don't know if that is for the projector or the sound system, or both.