Grey Sunday

Being away for so long changes your outlook. Sounds pretty obvious, really. First of all there is stuff. Here I don't have a house full of stuff, just a couple of bags, and that still feels like a lot much of the time. You don't have your own space, so you have to improvise for much of the time. The usual routine is gone, you need to take things one day at a time, which makes life a lot easier in some respects.

San Martin, Ushuaia main street, looks different on Sunday afternoon. Like the Kalverstraat in Amsterdam. Many of the shops are closed, you still get the cars driving slowly, though not nearly so much as at other times, and you get the tourists wandering up and down, like the local people. A lot of backpackers, but also Antarctic travellers in all shapes and sizes. San Martin is an old-fashioned main street, all the shops are here, no big shopping centre outside Ushuaia. That is what keeps it lively.

I think all of our Europa guests have now gone, and the new group won't arrive for a while yet. Then again, the Multanovskiy guests might start to arrive now.



Today started grey again, and it was raining when we walked down to the Bahia Encerrada this morning. Still saw some lovely Chilean Lapwings there. It's a little brighter outside now. These seem to be the days for winding up the first two trips and preparing for the next two. I've received some pictures from guests on the first trips, and it's been good already reliving a few memories.

Being back in town and having access to the internet also brings the outside world back in again. It's good to get back in touch with friends, so far I've been able to talk to Leeuwarden, chat to Antwerp and chat to New York. Fun, but weird. It is just as strange talking about my other life here. Yesterday I talked to Alberto at the Cabo San Diego, and he asked me about my job. I told him I was in urban planning, but that seems to be a strange thing to talk about here. The city is like IJburg because of its grid, but that is the only thing the two have in common. Here the grid is filled completely by individuals or companies building on their own plots. Houses in all shapes, sizes and colours side by side. Slightly or completely chaotic, depending on the street, but not often boring. The same goes for the pavements really. Different materials everywhere, the holes that were here three years ago are still there.




I still don't feel like reading the news, though I have looked at some favourites. They seem to belong to another world and a different routine though. For now I prefer reading up on my penguins instead..