Being in Granada in Spain was wonderful: enjoying the warm, winter sun and sharing wine with people from the caves. Camping in the mountains in Israel was amazing: sitting around the campfire, gazing at the stars and listening to friends playing Simon & Garfunkel on the guitar. Having a party in an underground pub with live music in Germany was great for being between lots of friends and dancing the night away. Now, this birthday, I’m not sure where or how it will be celebrated. Perhaps, with luck, Danielle and I will make it to Albania or Macedonia.

I’ll be 30 when I wake up in Athens tomorrow. It’s a funny thing; being in Athens, and using these numbers to keep track of your age like that.

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Dear friends,
Just as a quick update; I post one email I send to a fellow hitchhiker we met some months ago at the gasstation of Michendorf, Berlin:

Hey Jared,
After almost a whole moon spent on the island of Ikaria, Greece, I got
back to Athens and easy access to internet… It’s really nice reading
what you’ve been up to and hearing how you manage your nomadic life!

I also spent many nights outside – in caves, under trees, on the
beach, etc. No city lights & no moon – so it was amazing to look up at
the night sky which is covered in stars. Some people told me Ikaria is
a kind of ‘robbers’ island, and it’s definitely got a good feeling to
it. Met some great people, one time I came out of the high mountains
tired and cold and within 10 minutes of getting to a sleeping village
some good people invite me to their home. From there I started
hitching, and the first car to pass, an old lady with a dog, stops.
She points to the back of the pickup truck, I hop in, and enjoy the
fresh air and great views as we drive down close to the sea, up
through the high mountains and dodge the many goats which are roaming
the roads. She lets me out in Levkada, an awesome place where there
are hot springs in the sea. Of course I jump straight in for some
total relaxation… And just when I start wondering where to sleep I
meet four Spanish, German and Greek people whom invite me to a friends house, to stay in somewhat of a flatshare style, without electricity, but with home made wine, olive trees, and lots of home grown food… Such great hospitality.

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Back to university for a while – the first of february I subscribe myself as a student, and already the third I pass my first exam. But my feet keep itching, especially now, when it’s Carnaval time again! So near the end of the month I go to Frank’s place in Bemelen again; to celebrate with the crazy people from last year, the other people Frank recruited and of course the tens of thousands souls who are partying in Maastricht!
(Credit for all the carnaval pictures goes to Jonas from Brasil.)

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My mother is patiently feeding me kiwifruit with a spoon while I’m lying in a bed in the guestroom of their house. Just sitting upright already takes a lot of effort and I manage to eat for as much as two minutes before I’ve to lay down again. I’ve got about as much energy as a wet tea towel, and this comparison is in fact not very flattering for the tea towel! I guess the whole situation isn’t helped a lot by the fact that I’ve lost around one liter of blood since Monday afternoon.
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My old weblog tool was somewhat time consuming to use. Whenever I tried to change something small the site would stop working and it wouldn’d start again until I hadn’t changed the whole site design by trying to nail the bug down. In fact, that’s how the previous design evolved; it got messed up, I tried fixing it, and suddenly it was back online – in minimalist mode with green leaves everywhere. Well, why not?

I did consider spending my life behind the computerscreen trying to fix everything, but in the end I thought better of it and just got another weblog tool. Now, as a result there are some minor esthetical changes (see the old weblog). For those who noticed; what’s your opinion on the new interface?

Oliver (Talinn, Estonia): “And remember, life is what you make of it. It’s not a big hunk of metal that you slowly shape to something. It’s more like clay, you take it to your hands and make whatever you want out of it. (Words of the greatest philospher alive.)”
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