It can't get worse...!?

This week didn't start well. Had some difficult situations at work. But I thought it could not get worse. Last night I dreamed of my trip to the famous Galapagos Islands and I hoped that this was a sign. I always dream of the beautiful islands when I'm feeling good.




And today when I started my computer, my harddisc was empty. I tried to recover my files, but no chance... Everything gone. Great! And the best thing: I wanted to make a safety copy of it today :-( Hahaha!

The family is very important

I organized a family gathering for my whole family. My uncles and aunts, my cousins and also my grandparents were invited. We did not meet for 15 years, except at weddings and funerals. I wanted to change that and tried to get the whole family together. Everyone came.

We met at 11 am at our Scout-House in the forest next to Zurich. And there it started: the electricity broke off, it started raining, they had to walk to the house instead of driving through the forest by car, ...

The only thing I learned today: The only person who does NOT make any mistakes is someone who doesn't make anything at all!

I am quite disappointed now and very angry. I hope to meet them only at weddings and funerals within the next 15 years!

As time goes by

I was supposed to stay at the office till 11 pm yesterday. There was nothing to do but waiting. In the room next door our youth were giving a party and we had to be there in case there would have been any problem they could not have managed on their own. And what do you do when you have nothing to do? You start looking for some distraction. We did not want to play "Settlers of Catan", what we usually do, there was nothing good in TV and no one in the chat. Then we found a 3D-jigsaw and decided to try it. It was very special because at the end you have a globe.


My latest jigsaw 

How embarrassing

A man is lying in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask over his mouth. A young nurse enters his room to sponge his face and hands. "Nurse," he mumbles from behind the mask, "Are my testicles black?" Embarrassed, the young nurse replies, "I don't know Mr. Jones, I'm only here to wash your face and hands." He struggles again to ask, "Nurse, are my testicles black?" Again the nurse replies, "I can't tell. I'm only here to wash your face and hands." The head nurse walks by and sees the man getting a little distraught, so she marches over to find out what's wrong. "Nurse," he mumbles, "are my testicles black?" The head nurse whips back the sheets, pulls down the man's pajamas, moves his penis out of the way, has a good look, pulls up the pajamas and says, "There's nothing wrong with them." Frustrated at this, the man pulls off his oxygen mask and asks again, "I said, are my test results back?!"

Moot was great

I'm not exagerating when I say that Moot was one of the best camps I ever visited. and I've visited a lot. I met some interesting personalities in Taiwan. Here are three of them:


Abdou. Thanks for those interesting discussions. I miss you and hope we will meet soon!


Carola, who I really miss. Fortunately we will meet again in 50 days :-D

and


Carlos, my new big brother, who is very curious. Had some interesting discussions with him. Hope this will go on... See you soon in Lis!

Of course there are many more. Send me a picture and I will expose it :-)

Enough for today, I will write down my Moot-Stories tomorrow. I am too tired now and that Blog will take a long time...!

The swiss contingent 

The most important thing to know in Taiwan 

Little Buddah (35 meters!) 

... and after 

Before... 

Weather changes fast 

You have to see it...! 

Taiwanese BBQ?!? 

Luxurious hotel after camping 

Our bus during Post-Moot 

Tea time 

My Team: Hung-Kuen, Abdou, Sarah, Rabbit, Sonia, Adolfo, Dimi and me (from right to left) 

Typical Taiwanese breakfast 

Follow the leader 

Go, Taiwan, World Scout Moot 

... Swiss and many more 

... Mexican ... 

There are Portuguese... 

Make new friends! 

Camping in Taiwan 

Tunisia in 2003

I won't tell you anything about those three weeks. Otherwise you could start imagin things... I just blog it to avoid forgetting it someday :-P

Ecuador in 2002

After finishing school I immediatelly left Switzerland to make a great experience. The main goal of this trip was learning spanish and experiencing how life can be. I did not want to go to Australia because everybody went there. So I decided to go to South America. When I arrived in Quito I did hardly understand a word. I went to school for two weeks and decided that I needed a break. I took holidays and went to the famous Galapagos Islands. My father's present (for my birthday and for finishing school with a good result) was a one week diving tour. I enjoyed it, I have seen many new animals, thousands of sharks, manta rays, turtles, birds, ... The flora and the fauna of the islands are unique.

Boobie 

A Galapagos penguin 

Almost perfect camouflage 

Sleep well! 

Diving 

Bartholomé Island 
The day before I was suposed to leave I had an accident. I had to spend more than 10 hours in a hyperbaric chamber. And I was not allowed to leave the islands for another week. I could stay at the hospital and I helped at the Charles Darwin Research Station, which was very interesting and helped me understanding the things I once learned at school...
After two weeks I went back to school for another three weeks and took another two-weeks-break. The doctor I met on Galapagos was on the main land for holidays and he took me with him. We drove from the south to the north by car. We went from beach to beach and then back to salinas, where he spent his childhood.

Sunset at the beach 
After the last week at school I went to the jungle. WOW! A mate and me, we went to a lodge called Kapawi in the middle of nowhere. We had to take a plane which landed on a muddy runway. That was exciting!

In the Jungle, the mighty Jungle... 
I was arriving as a normal tourist. But soon I realised that I was in a confortable situation. Maybe I must explain several things about Kapawi: it is an american project. They built the lodge, train the natives to maintain it by themselves and to manage it without foreign help within 15 years. A native and a western (ecuatorian as well) form a guide team. The natives don't know english, so they need someone to translate. I had the chance that I knew spanish, so I could talk to the native. His name was Gilberto. While talking to him I learned many things about life in the jungle. I appreciated it very much. After one week I did not want to leave so I asked them if they had a job for me. And they had! That's how I became a spanish and english teacher in the jungle. I stayed there for another three weeks and learned a lot. Not only about the people there but also about life and about me!

That's the Jungle 

Kapawi lodge 

Sunset in the Jungle 

The airplaine 
Back to the civilisation I visited several market places and villages in the andes. I was very proud that I got to climb one of the high mountains. 5707 meters above sealevel! Unfortunately I forgot my camera at the hotel :-(

I returned to Switzerland as a new person. I was not the same anymore, I changed a lot in Ecuador. I love the country, it is beautiful and very divert. I still keep in touch with some Ecuatorian and with some mates from school. I hope to return there one day, a part of me is still there and will stay there forever...