Nelleke Reckers

Nelly around the world

Nelleke Reckers

Hi!

I'm Nelly, 27 and I´ve started my trip around the world in August 2013. I've chosen to make the most of this by creating a project with the aim to make a difference, eventhough it may be small.

I'll try to do that by volunteering as a fifth year medical student and qualified TEFL-teacher in well-chosen projects in South-America, Asia and Africa, and involving people in the Netherlands, Europe and the rest of the world by writing stories with my experiences, trying to inform people of what life is like in other parts of the world, to raise awareness and hopefully inspire them to make a difference in their own way. I know it's a big aim, but you know... Where would we end up if we don't believe in trying?

Anyway, I really hope you'll all enjoy my stories, I always have a good time writing them :D. Don't hesitate to let me know what you think, I'm always curious to know what's to improve 😊.

Happy travels! Greets, Nelly




Yay, the unofficial Brazil 2014 song´s ready: all for the show. If you want join the world championships too, don´t hesitate to share... because you agree with me, because you like the tune or because you don´t want your government to put a highway on your house the next time there´s a big sports event... :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxRhXmSJP2A&list=UUpMrlwsjn42jrGBb42mTZrw LYRICS If you need ways, I´ll make way - I´ll make room if you need rooms - I never was a sports fan anyway - and now I´ve got other things to do - "For order and for progress", yeah - all together for the yellow and the green - Games and bread for everyone - well would that be including me? - And I say: oooh oooh ooh, I think I´m gonna go now - Oooh oooh oooh, ... read more

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Latacunga December 31st 2013

(Read what happened before, in: ¨Breathtaking Quilotoa: staggering horses on the edge of a volcano.¨) ¨What do we think, is this too touristic?¨ We just climbed out of the truck of our ¨saver in emergency¨ and now we´re standing with our backpacks in the middle of the only road through the little township of Chunchilán before hostel Cloudforest. The wooden constructions and colorful hammocks look inviting, so we get in to ask how much they charge. We get a room all together, with a bathroom and, yes, hot water (and cold water apparently: two buttons in the shower this time) for 12,50 including breakfast and dinner. Around the fireplace we make our plans for the next day while sipping on our coffee and hot chocolate. No, no, not ¨or¨, ¨and¨! To recover a bit. Our meeting ... read more

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Latacunga December 31st 2013

(Find out what happened before, in:¨The Single Knob for automatic hot water. Uh-huh. Really.¨) ¨Excuse me, mister, are you sure that I won´t crash into the crater together with your horse any moment now? He seems to be really tired…¨ I´m sitting on the swaying back of a snorting and sweating horse that stands still every five minutes to catch a breath. We´ve almost arrived the top of the crater, and I imagine that I would ask that question and that the man would say: ¨yeah sure, no worries, you´ll both be fine.¨ As in: ¨sure, I know the way,¨ or ¨sure, that´s the normal price,¨ or ¨sure, tomorrow morning we´ll have water again. Hot water.¨ I hold on to that last thought when my staggering quadruped and I are both getting ready for the next ... read more

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Latacunga December 31st 2013

(Read what happened before, in¨One hour, downhill¨ and other Ecuadorian untruths) It doesn´t happen much that I have to think twice about where I am, if I woke up too late or too early and who´s lying next to me, but this is one of these mornings. Soon though pieces of the solution start to enter my awakening mind. Guinea pig soup. The lost gallery. Mountains, always uphill. A string out of the door to open it. Aaah, yes, we´re doing the Quilotoa loop and this village with no water between four in the afternoon and five in the morning is called Zumbahua, known for its Saturday market. It´s Saturday, and next to me lies Graham still asleep: he´s the travel companion that was elected (? :P) to ... read more

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Latacunga December 31st 2013

¨To tigua? At thát desk,¨ they had told us, and we had taken a deep breath before we had went to stand in line at the back of the row: half of the people in the overcrowded bus station of Latacunga seemed to queue upbefore the same desk. And although I knew my backpack was safe and well in the hands of my travel mates, this wasn´t the most relaxing situation that I could imagine. While I tried to find a good balance between my ¨I´m not bothered¨-look, my ¨I´m watching you¨-look and my ¨stay away from me¨-look, I stood there with my hands in my pockets (where my money was), trying to both keep my place in the queue and checking on where the man that was stuck on my back was putting his hands. ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Quito » Historical Center December 31st 2013

To the tune Row, row, row your boat; ¨Tell me what you do, early in the morning. Everyday I brush my teeth, early in the morning.¨ Easy one, the songs and chants for kids module of the teaching english course last May in Seville. It took us about five minutes to make the song and then we could have sung for half an hour about morning routines: ¨Everyday I wake up, I take a shower, I´m getting dressed, I have some bread, I brush my teeth, I pack my bag, I hug my mom, I go to school… early in the morning.¨ While singing we could mimic the activities that we were mentioning. Yeah, we were sure: this was going to be a hit for the kids. My new three to five year old friends from ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Quito » Historical Center December 31st 2013

Twice I had almost turned around. The first time it was because of the taxi driver: obviously a special case of ADHD. Everytime he couldn´t accelerate, steer or change gears (oh yeah, or honk of course!), he turned the volume of the radio randomly up and down. Loud, quietly. Loud. Aaaand quietly again. Loud. Sigh, quietly. Besides, there was a local program on and Friday afternoon was ¨bad jokes continuously¨-time. Our driver found everything said hilarious, but his good mood didn´t reach any further than the front window. Honking, swaying, pushing in, and pointing at his forehead he made his way through the Friday traffic in Quito. And when occasionally he didn´t touch the radio for more than a minute, the volume was always left at an annoying level of 12+, where 8 indicated the limit ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Quito » Historical Center December 31st 2013

¨Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.¨ - Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) - ¨If you´d have been born in a family of the market, would you be doing what you´re doing now?¨ Eightteen European and Northern American heads shake firmly. ¨Why not?¨ Well, probably we wouldn´t even understand the concept ¨foreign country¨. And even if we would, we probably couldn´t be less interested because you don´t need ¨foreign country¨ to survive. And that is the most important daily activity here: to survive. And there we are: eightteen gringos and gringas from the Rich World, each of us with a (pre-)academic education, with enough money to fly to ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Quito » Historical Center December 31st 2013

It will be a life threatening event to ever go and participate in Dutch traffic again. My fright reaction has fallen behind in comparison to my brothers and sisters in evolution anyway (or actually, it has over-evolved: it can only be evoked by acute life danger that´s directly visible), but after two weeks in Quito, I´ve also become honk-immune. One has to be, or else you´d need tranquilizers every time you go out on the street. So by now I´ve learned the basics of the Ecuadorian honk language and I´d like to share my new knowledge with people in countries where you pay 130 euros if you honk when there´s no direct danger. I have to admit though: there´s always direct danger here, so maybe it´s not as mad as it seems :). Here are the ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Quito » Historical Center October 30th 2013

"Do you have these in 39?" I put the shoe that I hold in my right hand in the air. Between all the hearts, bows, flowers, gold, silver and glistening little stones I found a pair of shoes that you could call "normal". To compensate that normality though (I'm sure that "normal" will be out of fashion for a few more decades here in Ecuador), most simple models are painted in orange, light green or in any other spectacular variant. I look questionning at the salesgirl while I try not to look to desperate. She shakes her head: "Solo hasta las 38." Hmmm, which ones do you have in 39? She hesitates before she points at the three most horrible shoes on the shelf, all combinations of the decorations and colors I mentioned earlier. No thanks. ... read more




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