Translation of the Journey Begins for Irma & Geert

First, a word from me; Irma and Geert are from Belgium; well, actually Irma is Dutch but moved to Belgium years ago and now is a Belgie. She's my cousin's daughter. They have begun a long trip that is taking them from Brussels to a number of countries and if you read this you will see how the trip is going. Irma is posting on her blog in Dutch so she's asked if I might post in English (since I'm already translating her trip comments to English for her American family). Hence this blog (incidentally my first blog) was born.


1. Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Where it all began ...
Giri and Kapu at the Rooster Passage (street) in Brussels ... where it all began (Irma says this was just a test to see if the image upload works since a photo was included. Giri and Kapu are nicknames that stem from a trip they made to the Himalayas and the guide could not say Irma and Geert. So Irma is Giri and Kapu is Geert.)
Posted by Irma at 22.12.09 2 comments

2. Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The big plan
On January 19 we leave to go around the world! Our first stop is Buenos Aires in Argentina. Approximately a half year later we will return from Moscow in Russia flying back to Brussels. In the meantime we will go to Chile, Los Angeles, New Zealand, Australia, China, Mongolia and Siberia. On this computer site, you can read and look (photos) how it goes with our trip ...
Posted by Irma at 23.12.09 0 comments

3. Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Welcome To Russia Part 1: applying for a visa
No easy guys, those Russians. To apply for a visa you must arrange the following things:

****passport photos, with your signature on the back (ok, that was easy)

****a letter written in English that you have a travel assistance insurance that is valid in Russia (Europe Assistance looked a little weird at us when we asked, but they still agreed to help us)

****thermal underwear, ski jacket, hat and glove----------------- the waiting room of the Russian Embassy is .... outside, also at -9 degrees, and you only go one by one, through the metal detector of course,
Duh :)

****the sum of € 35 per visa

****and last but not least: an official letter from a person or organization in Russia that they have invited you to Russia.---------------------Oops (we thought), how do we get that, anyway just look thru my address book ... no Russians listed. An old love perhaps? Sorry but unfortunately no. Fortunately there is at the site of the Russian embassy a link to a Russian Internet company that shows that for $ 30 (use credit card) they will invite a person to Russia. Okay, almost all things over there are so easily settled with possibilities like that! And I thought that Belgium was a “monkey land“.

So the visa question became a bulky file ……………….poor pine tree - and the Visa was picked up this morning.

4. Tuesday, 19 January 2010

The home front NOTE FROM LILYAN: here the story is picked up by Irma's father (my cousin in Belgium who is also Dutch born).

Giri & Kapu have asked me to act as a columnist in this blog, on a regular (or perhaps unregular) basis. They were a bit vague about why, but I suspect that this is the first sign of premature homesickness. Walking around over the Argentine pampas, the Mongolian steppes and the Siberian permafrost, they will be deprived of news from the homeland.

The local newspapers are still difficult to read, having only at hand one book with "what and how in Chinese". And CNN is not everywhere. Moreover, even on CNN they hardly know where Belgium is ("Are you from Brussels? Nice, I love Denmark")

And how can you as a Belgian go six months without knowing if Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV) is split, or if there are yet more new strange things being done by Michel Daerden? The Dutch readers of this blog (NOTE ADDED by LILYAN----ditto for the English speaking readers) are probably now in a state of confusion .......But before you type in BHV in Google: Do not do this. You will get 2 million hits. And if you look on Wikipedia: The article on the split of BHV is longer than the article about atom splitting. If you Dutchmen understand nothing of BHV, no worries. Most Belgians also understand nothing.

The strange things that are done by Michel Daerden are easier: look on YouTube and remember that this man is a Belgian government minister. But, with 6 governments (or is it 7?) in this country there can sometimes be a joke among them.This column will keep our world travelers and the Dutch readers informed of the latest developments in Belgium.In about ten minutes Irma and Geert will be here in Bekkevoort, the last stop before Buenos Aires. They still want a little of “stew a la Mama” to eat tonight before they go in the plane.So that's the second sign of premature homesickness.There will be more going on with this trip ..........

Posted by Dad at 19.1.10 0 comments

5. Tuesday, 19 January 2010

THEY LEFT.
Finally ..... the backpacks and travel bags are packed. One weighs 30 pounds and one about 13 (?).

And the stew a la Mama eaten.

On to Zaventem and of course check-in goes smoothly………………………Not so.

"The maximum weight per piece of baggage is 24 kilos Madam. You must therefore pay extra € 35.”

Irma’s frugal Dutch genes sprung into play. So Irma and Geert began calmly and quietly repacking, staying there at the check-in counter with a lengthening line forming behind them. After about 6 kilos of books, travel guides and “how-and-what-in -Russian” guides are moved to the backpack, finally the farewell photos could be made.Now an hour to London and then in 15 hours via Sao Paolo to Buenos Aires .......

Posted by Dad at 20.1.10 0 comments

6. Wedneday 20 January 2010

The first impressions
We are in Buenos Aires, we are relaxing and having our first Argentine beer (Quilmes for the connoisseurs). What a contrast to last week:There is much to check and review for travelers going away for a half year, and Kapu and I walked through the house during the past 2 weeks like chickens without our heads, totally unorganized . Everything Kapu put somewhere to pack, I was always a second later moving to an entirely different corner of the house.A lot still had yet to be settled, the house needed to be tidy because we have temporary tenants and we naturally had to pack our suitcases. We had endless discussions about what we would and would not take. I definitely did not want to drag with us too much junk, but on the other hand, I can’t go 6 months only in shorts and sandals. So dresses and boots and even more had to go along.

Kapu found then the basis for saying what junk he could take with us. He didn’t need a lot of clothes so the room he didn’t need for that, he thought he could fill with books: "Because I like reading when I travel" . When we finally found that in both suitcases, after packing, there was still room, then that space was filled with more books (under my loud protests). What happened to all those books you have read the previous post.

And then there were the farewell parties, in addition to the fact that they are deadly if you want to leave on the trip well rested, people brought us a bit of everything. So we got a few useful farewell gifts (super thanks everyone for this !!!): euros (very useful in South America), half a bank card, a champagne cork, a survival guide for tough guys with the chapters that include "How to prevent an attack from a polar bear” (very useful in the southern hemisphere) and "how to survive Christmas with your family” (hide behind the Christmas tree), another book (with 399 tips from experienced travelers), and then also a medal from St. Christopher that should protect us against accidents while traveling. Oh and last but not least our mascot Sabrina (a small plush giraffe).

But we deviate, so Buenos Aires. After a much too long - but nothing more significant - flight, we took a cab to our hotel in the Palermo district. A nice place, the hotel has a shared garden / living room / kitchen, and every day we can have tango lessons. We are especially taking time to get over the long journey, the jetlag (fortunately only 4 hours time difference) and ending up on the bottom side of the globe. To make this as pleasant as possible, we have just gotten a stash of beer, wine, bread, cheese, sausage and we have discovered that the Argentines are not much in touch with the concept of ecology. In total we bought 11 products in the local supermarket which were packed by the friendly young lady with a broad smile who was at the checkout area and who packed them in at least 6 different plastic bags .... Well when the bag is half full, it’s considered full. Oh and if you put a bottle of wine in the plastic sack, then that is put into a second sack because heavens forbid if that should break!!!!!

Kapu has now 2x already had a compliment because he speaks Spanish so well, but he rattles on with anyone, as though he never did anything else.

The next few days we will further explore Buenos Aires. Tuesday we fly to the south to El Calafate and from there to go to in Patagonia.

Posted by Irma at 20.1.10

Moela said Enjoyed the photos at the airport, enjoying reading your adventures, will print for Tante Lies and will translate for Bill 24.1.10