Woohooo het blok is voorbij!
Ging redelijk goed! Top gesprek gehad met mn scriptiebegeleidster, maar moet wel 60 pagina's schrijven. 10.000 Woorden vond ze namelijk veel te weinig hahaha! Ach ja, heb ik tenminste mn eerste boek alvast achter de rug ;)
Dadelijk op naar het vliegveld om mijn verjaardag in Dublin te vieren - yaay! Ook een gesprekje met de master coördinator van Cork en Belfast en mijn host fam in Blarney opzoeken. Heb er echt heel veel zin! Nouja snel mn tas maar eens inpakken want ik moet er over een half uur vandoor!

Na enkele tegenslagen ben ik 'back in the game'. Mn opa ligt nog wel in het ziekenhuis, maar ik heb het volste vertrouwen dat, dat vast wel goed komt. Ik probeer nu elke avond tot 22.30 in de bibliotheek te zitten en ik moet zeggen dat ik het hartstikke leuk vind. Ik sta dan ook nog steeds totaal achter mijn keuze om een researchmaster te gaan doen *fingers crossed dat ik erin kom*.
Goed cijfer terug gekregen bij Godsdienstpsychologie, ondanks dat ik al een deal had met de professor dat ik hem mocht herkansen wanneer het een onvoldoende zou zijn - hoera!
Duitsland was erg leuk. Heb ontiegelijk veel lol gehad met mijn broertjes. Oli komt dit weekend ook naar Utrecht. Ik hoop dat Johann ook meekomt. Ik ben hem iig al flink aant trappen. Ze zijn helemaal in de ban van de 'kroketten muur' en Oli vroeg gister ook al of er een 'kroketten muur drive through' bestond - uhm nee! Hhahaha

Ben helemaal klaar om naar Ierland te gaan. Mn hostfam was helemaal enthousiast en mag ook bij ze blijven pitten - yaay! Kan niet wachten om ze weer te zien. Heb met een paar Alias lui ook al een tripje naar Parijs gepland in Februari. Gelukkig maar, want ik wil nog zoveel van de wereld zien en ben tot mijn grote schaamte nog nooit in Parijs geweest. Heb trouwens amper nog wat van Europa gezien.
Wegens omstandigheden is mn trip met Curacao en de Eurotrip even uitgesteld, maar we gaan binnenkort even iets anders leuks plannen. Heb er zin in :D

Nou hup terug aan BHO - nog een paar 1000 woorden te gaan maar ik heb van mn lieve 'juf' uitstel gekregen - yaay! Wat kunnen mensen toch soms ontiegelijk lief zijn. Echt alle steun die je van mensen krijgt, fantastisch!

All is going extremely well considering the double workload and the upcoming Symbols event.
There is only one prop left that needs a bit more work, but besides that it's nothing I cant manage - hooray!
The weekend after it's off to Germany with Jos to meet my alta's. I'm so looking forward to that too. It's been too long :) I hope Guillaume manages to drop by as well. (that reminds me I need to kick him about that)

University is fun and interesting. Delving deeper into my thesis I'm becoming more aware of what my future job might entail. I'm currently reading several books all of them focussing on group mobilization. One of them, focussing on the Cambodian genocide, is really disturbing. It includes interviews and passages, like: "... the trees were stained red. Some baby's had been smashed/thrown dead upon them the night before."    "To keep you is no profit, to destroy you is no loss."
Every night about a hundred people were excuted and that's just in the one town the book provides as an example in this scenario.
But man the vivid descriptions about the 'purging' of people, children and baby's is heartbreaking.
I guess I'd better get used to it! It's one thing to read it out of a book, it's another to interview people about and another to actually see the remains, etc... *gulps* They must have some psychological training and stuff before they send people into the field. Otherwise I wont get much done I'm afraid. Ah well, I'll see.

So, everyday I'm reading dozens of pages on death and destruction - hooray! It is bloody interesting though! The examples are just a bit gruesome. But that's all part of the game of course.

My job is so happy to have me back that next month I have to work 2 nights a week - jikes! I immediately left a note on my team managers desk asking politely to display his happiness in a different way next month as I absolutely have no time for so much work if I want to graduate in February.

Ooh I'll be going to Curacao in March - yaay! Margot's aunt has a hotel there, so we can crash for free. Maybe I can combine it with some fieldwork too as I have unlimited free time (that is until September) anyway. I'm looking for flights to Dublin/Belfast to check out the uni's there so if anyone wants to tag along for a weekend you're more than welcome to :D

PETITIE: Uit de kast, uit de klas

Wij,
Bezorgde Nederlanders,

constateren
• Dat de Nederlandse wet scholen op religieuze grondslag nog altijd het recht geeft om lesbische, homoseksuele of biseksuele leerlingen van school te sturen;
• Dat het bezoeken van Gay Pride, lidmaatschap van een homo organisatie of het op andere wijze openlijk uiting geven aan je seksuele voorkeur daarvoor al voldoende aanleiding kan zijn, als daarmee de grondslag van de school wordt geschonden;
• Dat de Nederlandse wet scholen op religieuze grondslag ook nog altijd het recht geeft om lesbische, homoseksuele en biseksuele docenten te ontslaan die openlijk uiting geven aan hun seksuele voorkeur;
• Dat de Nederlandse wet op deze wijze discriminatie van lesbiennes, homoseksuelen en biseksuelen legitimeert;
• Dat Nederland hierover op de vingers is getikt door de Europese Commissie, de Raad van Europa en de Commissie Gelijke behandeling;
• Dat de regering de besluitvorming op dit punt al 3 jaar voor zich uit schuift.


en verzoeken
• De regering en het parlement deze discriminerende wetgeving (de zogenaamde ‘enkele feit constructie’ uit de Algemene Wet Gelijke Behandeling) nog dit jaar af te schaffen;
• Deze wetgeving niet te vervangen door andere regels die discriminatie van lesbiennes, homoseksuelen en biseksuelen op school op welke wijze dan ook mogelijk maakt;
• Daarover uiterlijk tijdens het op 30 september 2009 geplande overleg in de Tweede Kamer een besluit te nemen.

De petitie kan je op onderstaande link tekenen! Please do, want dit is absurd!!

http://www.petities.nl/petitie/uit_de_kast_uit_de_klas/

Well home sweet home as they say.
It really feels très strange dat ik 11 dagen geleden nog in Thailand rondliep.
Ik weet niet zo goed hoe ik me voel de laatste tijd. Ben ik blij om terug te zijn? Verdrietig dat ik weg ben? Wellicht maakt het ook wel niks uit.
Mn hoofd is iig totale chaos en ik vlieg van de ene plek naar de andere. Het is echter wel fantastisch om iedereen weer te zien :D
Moet alleen al wel weer aan de slag met mijn bachelor scriptie welke ik behoorlijk verwaarloosd heb de afgelopen maanden. Gelukkig loopt mn scriptie begeleidster me alweer vrolijk te schoppen dus volgende week weer flink aan de slag.
Ook even de laatste loodjes met Symbols, zodat ik me in oktober weer totaal op school kan storten. Ga dit blok drie vakken doen, want ik moet flink doorknallen om dit jaar alles te kunnen afronden. Ik mis nog een aantal verplichte vakken en niveau drie vakken. Het liefst zou ik mn scriptie voor febuari af hebben, maar dat is denk ik een zware illusie haha.
Dan weer opzoek naar een Master. Heb er zin in. Wil eigenlijk stiekem terug naar Ierland. Jaartje Dublin lijkt me wel wat. Maar eens uitzoeken of ze daar interessante masters hebben :)

With a thudding heart I'm realizing that my time here is up, well at the wonderful Chaiyapruk Salaya, that is.
I can't believe that in exactly 15 minutes I'll be walking outside and will order a cab. I am quite unable to phantom that tomorrow morning (dutch time) I'll be landing in freaking Brussels and this brilliant thrillride has finally come to an end.

*sighs*

WEIRD!

I want to go, but I dont want to go.
Almost all of my friends have left now and there is only one other exchange-student left here. Bloody 7,5 months - poof! Gone!

WEIRD!

Luckily my days back home are already fully packed with fun things until the 23rd: first a road trip with my ALIAS buddies for a couple of days, and then my awesome German Oli is coming over for a weekend! I'm really hoping that Johann is coming as well as that would just make the weekend perfect! In October I'll be hopping over to Germany to visit them there. Hopefully Guillaume is able to join us there as well, so the AWESOME crew is complete. (Are you awesome? Are you really sure??)

I'm really looking forward to meeting all my friends again! That's the only reason why I didnt ritually burn my passport as I was planning before haha. I'll come back here though. Maybe to teach. The money is really good, as is this freaking country!

FIVE MINUTES!

Uni is quite chaotic. Emailed the study councellors as my bachelor program apparently changed and I have absolutely no idea what kind of subjects I still have to take and if they are still being taught. If not, I'm forming my own major, which luckily I am allowed to do as a Libral Arts student. Phew! Conflict and Religion, it is then. Maybe even better.
Thanks to Iris, who I absolutely love for this (and other things of course - she's a good cook and stuff :p), all my housing problems are solved. I did not lose my appartment and didnt have to pay 350 euro, etc. Phew on Monday I have an appointment with Ad Hoc so I can officially move back to Utrecht - hooray!

I'm really nervous, but I'm sure that as soon as I'm back home and see everyone again I'll be just fine.

Better order that cab, ey....

Okay I have 3 minutes left for a really quick update
Everything is awesome
Went snorkling with sharks and beautiful koral and fish with my german gang and my sister+ friend at Koh Tao
Did massive shopping for Els'  shop
Loved Burma
Loved Malaysia
Loved Chaing Mai
Loved Pai

Up next: Burma border, Nature Park, Cambodia: Angkor Wat - wooohoooooo!!!!!, Koh Samet and maybe some other stuff if we have time
These things I'm going to do the upcoming three weeks with my mum

Aahhh 30 seconds

so bebye!

It sucks ass saying goodbye! Major ass!
But it's the same drill as last term, but just a tat more emotional.
Now I've been living together with people for 6,5 months, going to uni together, going out together, exploring together, travelling together, getting wasted together, etc....
No longer!
And I have to say goodbye as well... even though I'm the last one to leave.

I dread the day I have to say goodbye to my two alta's with whom I have become incredible close, despite the fact that I tried my hardest not to.

Let's bring out the tissues and enjoy our last moments together in Thailand *pinkt traantje weg*

Hello hello,

after ages of not posting anything see here another update.
It's been quite a busy but also wonderful couple of months filled with make a huge group of new friends and going places I hadn't even considered going before coming here. Aka it has just been a brilliant couple of months and I can (almost) cry at the thought that in 8 days I will have to leave the wonderful Chaiyapruek and will have to say goodbye to soooo many people *snif*

The beginning of the second term was quite hard as I had to get used to everyone again. Luckily by now I started to love Thailand, so that was a huge plus. I became great friends with two German guys at Chaiyapruek and kept hanging out a lot with Guillaume. We've done so many things together. No only the three of us, but also with other housemates as well.
I've been to Pattaya = hooker village. With a uni-trip. Oli and I kinda wanted to spend the night there, but as we only saw hookerbars when we were driving around we decided against it. The trip consisted off: Bananaboat race, Dr Fish (letting fish eat the dead skin of your feet), delicious rooftop dinner, a two hour bodymassage (which I turned into a foot massage), and the cool -5 bar. Where we had icecold wodka shots in winterjackets.
Midterm exams were a breeze. I'm also taking creative writing now and I'm learning sooo much in that class. Re-reading old stories of mine now makes me realize how much they suck hahah. I think it has improved my writing skill a lot. The funny thing is, is that the professor used to LARP. So when I handed in my first short story which involved a couple of LARPers, he really liked it  - yaay!

Beginning of June Keimpe arrived and so did JW (he showed up as a surprise at the airport. He had secretly booked a ticket to fly with us to Koh Phangang - brilliant! Because there were two flights that day, so he was in luck that he choose the right one) The Full Moon Party and especially the poolparty before were really cool. It was nice to see the sunrise at the beach and still have so many people dancing around you. Although from the 17 people I went with it was just Guillaume, Keimpe, JW and me left by that time. I dont think I'll do another Full Moon though. Once was enough.

Soon after Roos and Iris arrived and it is simple amazing that they are here. I left for Burma two days later though, as I had been dying to go to that country ever since I wrote my first essay on it two years ago. And man were my expectation met and more! I can without a doubt say that Bagan is the most beautiful city I have ever been to in my whooole life!
It was the vision of a fairytale! I truly felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie, or Tomb Raider where Lara Croft has just found an ancient city. I will post pics asap (they're already on FB for those who have it) because I do no have the words to describe it. We rented bikes and didnt see tourists for several hours. We were invited into 11th century temples, which made me dazzle in wonder.
The Burma story is so incredible sad and the locals we met were simple overjoyed to see tourists. 2006 Tsunami, 2007 Saffron revolution, 2008 Cyclone Nargis, 2009 Aung san, 2010 elections. Aka the tourists stay away. Of course when they stay away the military junta doesnt make any money on you, but it is quite easy to simple to steer away from government run bussiness.
I will definitely go back there some day!

When I came back from Burma I realized I truly did wanted to go Malaysia with the guys so I decided to book a ticket afterall and would leave three days later hahaha/ Crazy!
Malaysia was also fantastic, well we only went to Kuala Lumpur, so I can only give my opinion about the capital city and its surroundings of course. I stayed there for four whole days (longer than the other), which gave me more than enough time to explore this vibrant city. I/we went to the Islamic Art Museum, the central Mosque, bird park, butterfly park, Petronas towers (of course!), KLCC tower, Lake gardens, Batu Caves, Times Square (which has a rollercoaster inside its mall) and I'd say a little bit more. Mostly we walked around enjoying the same same, but different.

I flew back on Monday night and decided I really really really had to go and see Iris and Roos as I had seen them way too much.
So I went to school the following morning, grabbed a taxi after and booked a train(14 hours) to Chiang Mai for the same evening.
On Wednesday afternoon I arrived and finally met up with my chickies. Unfortunately had a huge fight with a French hostel owner when I wanted to cancel my booking. He wanted me to give him 15 euro for a room I only used for three hours (in Thai standards that's an extraordinary amount) it was just not the money that irked me, but also his tone of voice. He told Roos to shut the fuck up when she said excuse me, etc... I was unreasonable and said he would call the police and then simple stormed off.
So I stood there a little bit forelorn, unsure of what to do. Luckily the Thai guy who worked at the reception came to me and said that 6 euro was fine. So I paid and we left immediately.
For dinner we found a wonderful place where they actually served kroketten, bitterballen en frikandellen, so obviously I bought a frikandel! Hahaha! There are quite a lot of Dutch tourists here actually. More than I have ever seen since I arrived here 6 months ago.

Right now we are in Pai (the so called hippie village of the North). It is indeed quite laid-back and absolutely wonderful. The bungalow we are staying at has a beautiful view on a small river and mountains - once again i will post pics asap.

Well, that's it for now!

I hope you are all doing well. And as always if you have LJ and Waarbenjij.nu please ignore one of the two :p

Yesterday during Abnormal Psychology I watched the most impressing documentary I have ever seen in my life. It's so shocking that I still feel completely.. I don't know, like consumed by it.
It's about a guy's life as he grows up with a schizophranic mother (well she also has a comorbidity with a bipolar disorder - her manic episode is absolutely heart-breaking) and his disturbed grandparents. The story is so heartbreakingly sad and the things he says and does as an 11 year old and up are unlike anything I've ever seen. It confronted me bluntly with the harsh reality that's out there. I've worked with various mental pantients, but this is sharing a life with one at a young age, which is completely different than taking care of one in an regulated setting.
The professor even apologized afterwards as he had totally forgotten that the documentary was so disturbing.

I would definitely recommend it though. Just be prepared (we weren't) and cuddle up to someone before you watch it. I found it an eyeopener and Í now definitely know more about mental disorders. Stuff that books simply cannot teach you. Also the fact that everything is real makes it even more earth-shattering I think.

The name is Tarnation.

You can see the trailer on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLDQL23nutw
but it definitely does not give the feel of the movie. You can click further to some short scenes which definitely does. Like for instance this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en7ltF2kCXg&feature=related

No 11 year old should be able to have such an imagination. This little scene shows how much this little boy has already been through. *shivers*

Woohooo booked a ticket to Burma!
Finally I'll go to the one country whose conflicts I have studied for so long!! I'm so incredible excited!
Fingers crossed that the conflict because of Aung San Suu Kyi doesn't escalate again though and they lock up the borders, because I just really really want to enter the country. *bounce bounce* I can't wait to take photo's there!

I wonder how the decades of conflict have scarred the country. Did you know that Burma has the longest on going conflict for example - it's just crazy! Getting into the country can also often be quite difficult, but as long as you don't say you study certain things like journalism, photography, conflict studies *kuch kuch* you're fine.

I'm not quite sure who's coming with me. I know two of my German buddies here are going, but they will go to a different city. Guillaume will probably travel with me, but he hasn't booked yet. Two other girls are also thinking of going, so that should be fun :D

But first Keimpe will arrive on Friday. On Saturday we'll fly to Koh Phangan where we will going to the Full Moon party with 15 people, so that should be fun. Then on Wednesday JW arrives. Aka cool times ahead!

But tomorrow first my Abnormal Psych midterm, so I should better go and study!

Ik wil graag even kwijt dat ondanks mn fantastische tijd hier, ik mijn buddies in Nederland wel een hele hoop mis hoor!
Het gros zit erop (3/5) en de tijd hier gaat enkel nog beter worden, omdat een shitload aan vrienden me ook nog eens komt opzoeken. Tot nu toe zijn het er 8 en waarschijnlijk worden het 9 man. Echt hoeveel mazzel kan iemand hebben?

Natuurlijk boeit het niet of je wel of niet komt, want dankzij lieve emails, kaarten/brieven, stalk sessies via Skype en MSN, en blog posts/comments voel ik me toch nog een beetje betrokken betrokken bij het leven van alle dag van waar jullie dan ook zijn :)

Ik kan niet wachten om jullie stemmen weer te horen en in levendelijve te kunnen ondervinden hoe veel er wel niet aan jullie en in de omgeving veranderd is. Nou, is dit natuurlijk heel erg melodramatisch allemaal hahah, maar daar hou ik wel van op z'n tijd. Je moet toch wat als halve insomniac :p
Ik ben natuurlijk ook pas vier en een halve maand weg en zo lang heeft mn trip naar Australië ook geduurd, dus het is niet dat ik het niet gewend ben ofzo. Echter in 2005 had ik nog niet zulke fantastische nieuwe vrienden als die ik nu heb (Margot en Annabel daargelaten) en daarom mis ik ook echt mensen, terwijl dat normaal gesproken niet iets is wat me vaak overkomt. Enkel in speciale gevallen heb ik ooit iemand gemist. (pink allen een traantje weg, bitte)

Dus ja hier om 2.15u 's nachts weer eens een mushiemushie update - ik denk dat ik een block moet zetten op mn LJ zodat ik na 24u niet meer kan posten, om zo emotioneel geblaat tegen te gaan ;)

Anyhoe heb vandaag weer een hoop oude pics op mn flickr site gegooid:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/miekebakx

En dr staan waarempel ook nog een handvol met foto's van mezelf op *klopt zichzelf op schouder*


Dikke knuffel!

Het gevecht is gestreden,
gisternacht is Jan na een jaar vechten overleden.

Hoi Allemaal,

SomethingEls (aka mn zusje :P) wil haar assortiment uitbreiden en heeft hiervoor jullie hulp nodig.
Op de volgende link staan allerlei verschillende sieraden en tassen en wij zijn erg benieuwd waar jullie voorkeur naar uit gaat.

Vul daarom dan ook de volgende enquête in en maak kans op een tegoedbon van SomethingEls voor 10 euro wanneer je reageert voor 25 mei!

Vanaf augustus zal het complete nieuwe assortiment beschikbaar zijn.

Alvast bedankt!

http://www.landsinexile.nl/SomethingEls/SomethingEls.html



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Enquête

1. Bezoek de volgende link http://www.landsinexile.nl/SomethingEls/SomethingEls.html en bekijk de producten. Stel van de producten je favorieten top 5 samen.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

2. Wat vind je gemiddeld van de prijs van de producten? (1 = veel te hoog, 5 = precies goed, 10 = veel te laag).


3. Zijn er nog producten die je graag erbij zou willen zien. Zo ja, welke?

You know finally since the end of last month I've totally settled here.

I'm used to the fact that ambulances are not given priority in traffic even when they have their sirens on at full blast, but a political convoy has no trouble closing down entire streets and skypaths. That everyone stops in his tracks at 18.00h every evening to listen to the King's song which is played everywhere, or that everytime you go to the movies you have to stand up when they display a short video about the King's greatness. To have ten people do a one men's job. To see villa's towering next to the slums. To realize that almost no videos are 'available in your country' at youtube because of censorship, etc

And I must admit that I beginning to love it here. The new people in the house are fantastic! We went with ten housemates to Koh Chang, one of Thailand's many islands and we just hang out on the beach, did some snorkling and ended it all with a fantastic paintball match which has given me the biggest bruises I've ever had in my life. We'll be doing it again soon :)
I don't think I've enjoyed myself that much for a long time. Some highlights:

- Olivier being stung by a bee/wasp on his tongue - and me telling him the poison+sting should be sucked out. The look on his face: priceless!
- Same evening the bottom of my left foot starts swelling up and we see what appears to be a long purple line at its centre. Olivier informs me I'm pregnant with worms and I wonder if it's too late for an abortion and if it is too late whether I should starting working on my puffing techniques yet. Some lame lines said during that wonderful drama hour were: "He took you hard and quick" (as it hurt like a bitch) "'He dissapeared in the night, so my children will never know who their daddy is. Unless he's actually burried inside there..." "I wanted to have kids, but I didn't think my wish would have been granted this soon." "So, thought of any names yet?" "How will you explain this to your friends and family? I wasn't paying attention and bam before I knew it I was knocked up! Especially with all your bruises this seems more like a soap opera!" Etc
- We took a mini-van home and when it stopped for a break Charlotte said: "Ooh why are we stopping I was almost well not sleeping but you know... hmmm *makes moaning sound*" I give her a wide-eyed look and we both start laughing. "What in the hell were you doing next to me Charlotte?"
- Arriving at our bungalow's around three o'clock at night after celebrating Olivier's bday party I realized that Juliane was missing. The guys were too drunk, so I went back alone to the bar to find her sleeping in a hammock!
- Playing paintball and comparing bruises. (I had the most and biggest ones - don't think that's something to be proud of) And realizing that Charlotte got hit on her ass, but on such a weird spot that we wondered what happened there.
- Trying to take pictures of the girls jumping in front of the sunset, but with a malfunctioning camera. "Yeah, it's working again. Quickly jump! Oh no wait error 99. Try again." (Tineke, mn camera flipt steeds en zegt dat ik de batterij opnieuw moet plaatsen - heel vreemd. Enig idee?)
- Going on a snorkling cruise and writing tons of postcards only to have them destroyed by a huge thunderstorm, which soaked absolutely everything. Us hiding under a towel, which was soaked after a minute and laughing our asses off.
- Seeing Dada trying to jump of the roof of said boat, but being so afraid that she practically killed herself while trying to hang of the boat in various positions to make the jump smaller.
- Thinking that snorkling around a small island alone with your lifevest on is a good idea. Than realizing your mistake too late, forcing you to swim an entire circle around the island, and coming back on the other side to find one of the lifeguards swimming up to meet you and haul your ass back on the boat as everyone's waiting for you - oopsie
- Finally being convinced to get a Thai oil body massage with Olivier and Juliane. (I hate massages and the whole touching my body thing) And then finding out that the woman in charge is a complete nut job. "RELAX! MASSAGE!" She says, trying to pull off Olivier's trousers. He pushes her away only to have her pulll up her shirt. Finally we she arranges three masseuses (iek no idea how to spell that word) and we find out that it's an open area with just a small curtain in front of it. "Strip please!" Uh what?
- Finding out that saying Mangko is a nono in front of Tomomie.

Even though I kept on thinking in the back of my mind about all the things that were going on at Symbols. Oeh it's now 1 o'clock so it must be TIME IN. Ooh Saturday night: exciting, etc. And then I saw the pictures and talked to enthusiastic people on Skype and MSN... Actually that was the first thing I did when I came back was turn on my laptop and stalk people and the Symbols forum hahaha.
It looks and sounds awesome and so many people have changed so much. It's only been four months, but when I saw that it seemed like four years. Still I'm here and I don't regret my decision, so yeah... only one month before Keimpe and JW are here :)

Well on our one day in Delhi we decided to go to the movies: Fast and the Furious 4 was the only English movie that was one, so we thought why not.
We arrived half an hour in advance, because the movie screen always says you should do so to avoid seating complications, but no we were not allowed in. Then don't make up the rule, but hey whatever. What happened next was freaking hilarious. Sara and I were lurking around waiting for the security guys to let us in. So this backpacker, an Irish guy named Ben, arrived carrying a small back-pack with virtually nothing in it. So the guy at the register refuses to sell him a ticket because of this. Meanwhile I am carrying a huge shoulder bag and am allowed in. So we see him arguing for a while before stalking off angrily. So, I decided to be nice for a change :p  and offered him to put his bag into my bag. So we did! I went through the two sets of security checks and was allowed to enter. Although the second check was pretty thorough. My entire bag and his inside was turned inside out. He had a flashlight, but that was not allowed so we had to remove the batteries and than it was okay. The thing was his flashlight was a multi-pocket-knife as well, so apparently the woman was blind as I was allowed to take that inside :s
Last she cleaned out all the crums out of his bag hahaha and lastly inspected a lost tampon in my bag. It was just hilarious.

Ben had also brought a camera with him which was absolutely not allowed, so they told him to give the battery at the second security check, but there they told him to give it to the first security check. It was such a mess, it was just hilarious. So finally after 15 minutes, around the time that the movie started we finally we inside and could enjoy the movie.

The trip to Shimla was okay: 5 hours in a normal train and than 5 hours in a World Heritage Unesco train, which went up and up the hills towards the little town. The view was amazing. The room between the seats was insanely small though. Still because of this a 61 year old man with 4 four wifes and 20 children asked Sara to marry him... which was another brilliant memory. At the end of this entry I will post some hilarious quotes of things/people we encountered.
Shimla was the perfect town to end our trip. It was a previous British colonial capital during the hot summers and I can understand why. The scenery was brilliant, the people were great and the building old but nice. I actually saw the freaking himalaya's which I still can;t quite grasp. You learned about those mountains at school and now I was just able to see them, which was one of the most coolest things of the trip. I definitely want to go more closer to the himalaya's for some trekking - of course more of the other foothills, and not actually high-up.

At the town there were mostly upper class Indians, so no one bothered us. Also a lot of women approached us, just for a chat. While during the previous two weeks not one woman had been either around or had approached us, so that was nice too. We took a day trip visiting a temple, a 'hot' spring, which was more like a river with stones and uhm... oja the oldest gold course of India+the pine-tree forest.

All in all I'm still glad I've been to India, as it makes me a heck of a lot happier to be staying in Thailand. Right now everything doesn't seem that bad: the people, the traffic, the climate, the culture all together - which is great! Yeah I know Bangkok was apparently a bit chaotic when I was away. Even two of my housemates were transported out of their hostel by black-tinted cars so no one could see that there were still foreigners in the area hahha. Another girl accidentally walked into the chaos during sonkran at Victory Monument, but she just calmy avoided any situations. Apparently there was a curfew and you weren't allowed to be with more than 5 people around khoa san/palace area, but we didn't get into trouble if we were with more people. Even after the state of emergency was dropped last Friday there were still military check-ups  from cabs and stuff. But as long as you say "Ditchan pen Naksuka tea Mahidol" - I'm a student at Mahidol - you're fine

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@ Thailand:

- Afslag gemist? Dan rij je toch gewoon achteruit op de snelweg om hem alsnog te halen!
- At ziekenhuis: "Hoi, ik heb nu een afspraak met de dokter." "Uhm, die is nu nog aan het lunchen. Hij is er over een uur." "Ja maar volgens   mijn afsprakenkaart... never mind."

@ India

- At Agra: Our driver points a nice old-fashioned looking white car. "VIP's like the ambassadors and the PM drive in those. They are safe cars, strong body you know. This car is bad, bad body, it is unsafe."  - Thanks for the info mate!
- At Agra: Same driver: "We have doctors who don't go to school. They're scientists. Even children can be;
If we burn cowdung the mosquito's will go away. It;s not poisonous - all natural"
"No, the car didn;t break a Nothing breaks!" He tells us while the car breaks down and we have to go to the garage in the middle of nowhere.
- At said garage: "Hey you!" a guy yells at me while we are waiting in the pitch dark at the garage. He;s standing under a lamppost with two other friends. I look and he starts making out with his startled friend. Riiight

- At train to Shimla: A 61 year old guy with 4 wives and 20 kids asks if Sara wants to go to lunch with him: NO; if she wants to drink whiskey with him: NO; if she wants to get married in India: NO!

- At Jaipur: A kid in an auto-rikshaw tries to bond with us: "I study psychology!" "Really, so do you know Freud?" "Nope, I've never been there"
- At Jaipur: "The Netherlands, ah isn;t that in Holland? Yes the Netherlands is a good country. I like it!" "Have you ever been there?" "No..."
- At Jaipur: "Yes we own this auto-rikshaw! And we have a nice appartment for 25.000 rps per month" Riiight - in Jaisalmar we ask a nice gentleman how much an appartment in a big city would be: "In Delhi, in a really upper class area about 6000 rps" Aaah that makes more sense!

- Level of staring in India is 10 times worse than in Thailand, where I already was going crazy. Even Julie mailed me from India wondering how I was handling it - knowing how bloody annoyed I could get in the beginning in Thailand haha.
Anyhoe people tripped over huge stone blocks, bump into other people and nearly crash their motorbikes

- In the train ride from Delhi to Kalka I saw hundreds of men and woman peeing and pooping on fields, mountains of trash, people brushing their teeth, walking around in bathing towels etc - the slums are so extensive that poverty is almost everywhere, which came as quite  as shock to me. Let's hope the elections will bring a tiny spark of change :)