Spring Images

Here are some images from the past several weeks as spring finds its way north here. We are getting some warmer temps now, this week is in the teens (50s F) and so more is growing and greening all the time. Nights are still brisk though, hovering right at freezing or just above and so we awake to fogs or heavy condensation on everything due to the large temperature spread.

Our weeks are moving past, now that it's light later (we only just moved our clocks this past weekend) and we are heading out more in the evenings. Last night was a nice catch-up session with some friends in Rotterdam and tonight will be dinner at Marilyn and Geoff's new digs in Leiden. We might have to go up a little early so I can get my stock of Twinings Chai tea re-filled at the ex-pat store up there - yum!

We're also looking forward to a weekend away, we will be joined by our friends Sean and Frans Herman for a trip to Ghent, in Belgium. From all appearances, it's a nice little town that is packed with interesting things. With luck, I'll get some worthwhile photos and share them next week.

The "Binnenhof" and "Ridderzaal" of the Dutch parliament in The Hague. We frequently cycle through this arch and subsequent courtyard to get to our movie theatre on the other side.

The Hague does a nice crocus planting across the street from Centraal Station. This view is looking across the grass to Centraal, which is underneath and behind the buildings behind the large tree.

Same crocus as before, new view. This was taken 2+ weeks ago. Now the crocus are all finished and the daffodils are going mad.

The harbour in Wassenaar and its attendant crocus patch.

This is a local dairy farm where I sometimes go to buy fresh milk and cheese. It's along my running route and I realized that it has a couple good examples of 'canals-as-fences' with isolated gates sticking up.

Same spot on the road as previous photo, just looking the other way at the field access. Saves on fencing!

Not Lost

My apologies for the long silence, and thank you Patsy for your concern. All is well here, I've just been down with a severe case of Cabin Fever as well as getting caught up in some other projects. The big project is that I'm scanning in old print photographs so that I will have everything digitized. Two reasons I'm doing this, in case of fire, disaster, whatever, so that the photos are in a safe place, and also to decrease the amount of "stuff" around the place and make packing easier. No, we're not moving, but it's always something in the back of our minds and doing a project like this at the last minute is not an option.

Today, I want to paste in a "Trip Diary" from Mike's trip to Tanzania. Kim TD put it together from photos she took and the text is from students' diary entries. All credit to her!

Twenty-one students and four chaperone’s took this year’s Tanzania Service Trip (12 February – 23 February) to Moshi, Tanzania, to build foundations for two new classrooms at the Azimio school, volunteer in classrooms and visit a local orphanage. It was a great privilege to work with the Azimio community and spend time with their children, and our students gave willingly of their time, energy, laughter and song to the local community. Each student came home with stories that they recorded in their journals, and so we wanted to share with the ASH community some snapshots of their impressions and experiences from the trip:


Day 2 : Saturday, 14 February 2009- Azimio Work Day by Carrie P.

Today was our first work day: We got up at 6:30 AM, ate breakfast, and headed to the Azimio Primary School to dig trenches which would be the foundations of two classrooms. The locals had drawn lines where we were supposed to dig, and had already started work with picks, shovels, and round metal bowls when we arrived on the bus. We dug trenches basically the whole morning and into the afternoon until they were thigh-high, and we also worked in an assembly-line moving light colored gravel we’d be using the next day for cement. I soon discovered the importance of working together with the Tanzanian volunteers-mostly parents of the students- since they knew so much about what we were doing and how to use the tools.

I met one guy who introduced himself as “Obama”, who kept saying something I couldn’t understand until finally he clarified himself saying “You are abnormally strong”- it was quite funny. Whenever I stopped for a water break someone would say “Carrie, you’ve got dirt in your mouth and up your nose!” so that all at once I’d look down and realize that I had dirt everywhere though I had been unaware a moment before. All the dust and grit did protect me from the sun though-I didn’t burn at all at the worksite.

Later on I had to pee so I asked where the bathroom was. Two little girls walked me over to it-at first they were a little shy but then smiled and introduced themselves when I said “Jambo”, introduced myself, and shook their hands. They spoke a little English so they asked me where I was from, etc. and we had a short conversation. It was so exhilarating for me to meet the people for whom I was building classrooms-it made the whole experience seriously personal. I found that the way to break through the language and culture barriers was to be cheerful, outgoing, and to smile-and it worked.

One thing that bothered me though was when kids waved though the windows of our resting-classroom saying “I’m hungry!”, “Do you have biscuits?”, and “Do you have juice?”- I had no idea how to react, because we weren’t allowed to give anything away for the simple reason that we needed to eat. I just said “I’m sorry” but nonetheless felt dirty and ashamed with the fact that not only do we have much more than the students there, we couldn’t give them anything, at least for the moment.


Day 3 : Sunday, 15 February 2009 – Azimio Work Day by Mackenzie H.

On our third day in Tanzania we awoke with back pains and immense amount of trouble lifting our arms and walking down the stairs due to the strenuous work the day before. We started our day with delicious pancakes and pineapple, and of course, eggs. The morning sky was extremely clear, and perfect for getting photos of Kilimanjaro.

We arrived at the work site by 9 a.m. joining a busy community who had began their day working at 6 a.m. Since it was Sunday, all the women were dressed in their Sunday best, as beautiful and vibrant fabrics filled the work site. Since the trenches had been completed the day before, we focused on making the cement to build the foundation on both of the classrooms. This involved passing about 300 hundred trays and aggregate and sand to where the concrete would be mixed. Once the men mixed it all together we formed lines to move the concrete into the trenches to form the foundation. For the remainder of the day we sang Mamma Mia songs as we tossed the pans of cement into the trenches. By the end of the day both classrooms’ foundations were complete. We were all impressed at how many members of the community showed up. Both the local women and men both were extremely helpful and allowed for us to finish the job much quicker.

We retuned to the house early enough to go for a swim at the International School of Moshi pool before changing for our dinner of beef and delicious soft tortillas and heading off to the Honey Badger Lodge cultural night. The whole group was up on stage within minutes, dancing in circles to the drums and songs. We also got to hear about the local tribes in the region such as the Chaga tribe who worship the mountain and use cows as doweries for their daughters. It was a great day, but after the dancing and working, we all had an early night.


Day 4 : Monday, 16th February 2009, Azimio Work Day and Classroom Visit by Linda P.

After our first two hard days of building the foundations of two classrooms in the Tanzanian heat, we’re all starting to have some trouble getting out of bed on Monday morning. But with Mr. Flaim’s loud and clear wake-up call, and everyone’s spirit and eagerness to get back to the building-site, we yet again manage to get on the bus and be on our way on time! Today the tiring task of laying down bricks for the foundation was awaiting us. Yet with the unending energy and service put into the project by as well the students, as the parents of the school and the local people, the task was completed on time and efficiently, through never-failing teamwork.

That afternoon, we all were offered an experience that I myself found to be life-changing; the chance to go into a Tanzanian classroom for an hour, and working with the children attending the Nelson Mandela Primary School. Divided into groups of 4 or 5 students, we were all shown to our classrooms, filled with eager to learn little 6th graders! After an hour of story-telling, drawing our favourite animals, singing songs and being taught some Swahili by the children, time had seemed to fly by. I was surprised by the connection that I made with the children, after just an hour of knowing them. Their warmth, open-mindedness and high spirits created the opportunity to become close with them very quickly, as well as many many memories.


Day 5: Tuesday, 17 February 2009 – Azimio Work day and Classroom Visit by Renée S.

Day 5 was our last day of work on the classrooms for Azimio School. We left the house in our usual fashion, with tunes and Ms. TD’s constant photo-taking, mostly of banana women. Upon arriving we all saw how much work they had done the day before after we had left. There were four brick high walls in all of the trenches. Our task for the day was to fill the classrooms with dirt, which we had originally thought would be quite tough. We needed to wait for trucks to bring dirt and we needed several trucks filled with dirt to complete the job. Once again many came from the community to help, so there were plenty of people and plenty of waiting for the dirt to come, so it wasn’t as difficult as we thought it was going to be. Like previous days we formed lines to move the dirt, intermingling with community members. As we finished up our last truck load of the day, the rain started. Living in Holland we have seen plenty of rain, but I have never seen so much rain before in my life. The torrential rain continued for more than an hour, the kids from the school seem to like the rain and were playing in the mud, as was Becca coming from the bathroom, intentional or not. During the rain we had our lunch and after we split into our groups to go to some of the Azimio classrooms to teach. My group, Louise, Almu, Kevin, and Adam went to a fifth grade class, where we taught them head, shoulders, knees, and toes, which they all enjoyed. We also played some drawing games where we learnt words for animals in Swahili and they learnt them in English, but most of them already knew them... if they could tell what some of us were drawing (Louise...). We asked them to sing a song for us and to our surprise they sang Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, which of course we belted out with them. Unfortunately we could only stay for an hour so we had to say goodbye and they sang us another song. Back at the house we had another night of playing cards, playing pranks, eating dinner, and of course, we had to endure the dreaded hour required for doing homework. Another successful day of work in Tanzania. We were all really excited for the next day, Safari day!


Day 6: Wednesday, 18 February 2009 – Safari Day in Lake Manyara National Park by Isobel W.

Today we woke up bright and early (similar to all the other mornings) with the prospect of going on safari. Everyone was very excited and anxious to go. But of course before we leapt on the bus we had the usual: Malarone? Check. Food? Check. Water Bottle (full!)? Check. Normally a two hour bus ride can be quite boring, but not in Tanzania. I feel like I had the best seat in the house, sitting next to our tour guide which was definitely a cool experience. As we travelled down the bumpy roads, Isaac was able to tell me all about the colourful towns we were passing through, the different plantations we saw (sugar and coffee) and the wildlife on Mount Mehru as we passed it.

After two very short hours we arrived at the Arusha campus of the International School of Moshi. What a school! Grounds overflowing with bougainvillea trees, herb 'healing ' gardens, and ten times as much sun in one day that we would ever get in the Netherlands. We were all hoping there was some sort of exchange program. From there we were loaded into 5 safari cars, each with our own guide, and in my groups case, Mr Flaim. Our guide, Martin, started our journey with a warm 'Hakuna Matata", we knew we were in the business. We then were given names according to our favorite animals: Tembo for elephant, Simba for lion, Duma for cheetah, Kikobo for hippo, Chui for leopard, and Swala for gazelle (that was Mr Flaim), and we were feeling very ready for the jungle.

The landscape was fascinating, we could see the Great Rift Valley rising up in distance, and the road was speckled with colourful red and blue of the Massai tribe. We entered Lake Manyara National Park at about noon, and safaried until about four. We were all very excited to see that the roofs of our car lifted up, and we could stand the whole safari. It was an incredible experience. Around our first corner we found three elephants, only about ten metres away from our cars. Over the course of the afternoon we found twenty-two more elephants, tons of baboons, a snake, twelve giraffes, a pod of hippos, and of course the flamingoes. I don't particularily like birds, but even I was impressed. There was a pink streak that seemed to reach forever along the shore of the lake, it was unbelievable. By the time it was time to leave, we were all rather hot, smelly, and in need of a shower. We were happy to get to our campsite, trying not to set up our tents on a pile of rocks, and dig into the buffet supper! (Editor’s note: Issie LOVES the word “buffet”! KTD)



Day 7 : Thursday, 19 February 2009 – Safari in the Ngorongoro Crater by Lauren W.

5:00 marked an abrupt awakening from a rocky slumber. We sleepily staggered through our morning routines, motivated only by the prospect of touring the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater. Shortly after breakfast, we departed with the objective of a 7:00 arrival. The ride was largely silent, and we entered the park with little ceremony.

The rising sun was met with rising spirits, after which we began to take stock of our surroundings. We soon found ourselves on the crater edge, a rich panorama before us. But our journey into Paradise wasn’t to be without its trials; our descent was a frightful one, marked by hairpin turns on narrow dirt roads. With a twinge of unease, we noted a land rover that had sped into an earthen bank.

In spite of the harrowing drive, excitement mounted as we neared the crater floor. Immediately, we were confronted by a herd of zebras, on which we wasted numerous photos. Our attentions were diverted as we approached wildebeest, then water buffalo, then more zebras. The safari continued eventfully until 10:00, at which we stopped for a snack at the hippo pool. We resumed our drive with enthusiasm, always eager to see more. Around 1:00, we stopped again for lunch, this time in one of the wooded areas found near the crater wall. We ate lunch in our respective land rovers while our guides attempted to keep a solitary vervet monkey, which was eying our repast hopefully, at bay.

Like many of the animals, we grew languid in the heat of the day. Zebra foals and newborn wildebeest lost their innate appeal, and our ascent was met with complacency. Leaving the crater, we drove to a Maasai village. There, we met the chief, a former warrior. His son served as the interpreter as he described the discrepancies between the Maasai’s traditions and its modern ways. Following a questions session, we divided into groups in order to enter a boma. Once inside, we were struck by the closeness of the quarters, in addition to the lack of light. We emerged to find that the children were returning from school. Like most of the children we encountered, they were eager to have their pictures taken and to shake hands with us. After a few minutes’ socialization, we departed for the campsite.

Dinner was well received, and we went uncomplainingly to another night’s rocky slumber.


Day 10 : Sunday, 22 February 2009 – Orphanage Visit and Trip Home by Laura V.

On the last day of our trip, day 10, we were given the opportunity to sleep in till 8. However by the time 8 rolled around most people were already sitting on the porch with a cup of tea in their hand, looking at the spectacular view of Mount Kilimanjaro. I think that we all wanted to breathe in as much of Africa that we could, before leaving again. After another breakfast of bread, eggs and sausages we prepared ourselves to go to the orphanage. There were mixed reviews about going there, some were really excited to go and spend the afternoon with the children, yet others were afraid that it would be too hard to leave. In the end both sides were right.

As we pulled up to the orphanage, there was already a group of children outside waiting for us. Just looking at their smiling, excited faces and all our nervousness and reserve melted away. We got off the bus and helped the nuns take the little kids inside for a glass of milk. Right away a little girl named Petra came over to me and reached her arms up, as a signal for me to pick her up. Once I was holding her, I got an endless stream of her chattering in Swahili. Unfortunately, I had no idea what she wanted, so I had to find out by hand gestures. Looking around the room, I saw all my peers entangled by groups of little children. Holding them, tossing them in the air, playing games with them, etc. We were there for a good two hours, and each got to play with many different little kids. However, each of us had one or two that we referred to as, “my kid(s)”. After playing with them for a while, it was time for them to get some lunch. The children definitely got enough to eat, with little Petra getting three helpings of rice and beans.

When it came for naptime, most of the children began to sense that we were leaving again. Some were pretty upset, crying and trying to hold us back from going. Even though it was incredibly difficult to walk away at that point, I knew that they were well taken care of. The nuns really did love them and gave them the best care possible. Getting on the bus, I felt different, maybe a little more wise to the ways of the world but also just greatly impacted by these children. Back at the house, I found a place for all the thoughts and emotions which were whirring around. At that moment it was necessary to enjoy the last couple of hours we had in Tanzania by soaking up the precious sun rays (because we certainly wouldn’t have any when we got back) and playing with our friend, Baracka. Then later, when the sun was long gone, our airplane slipped up into the sky and took us back home.

Catching Up

Mike's back home and we've spent the past couple of days getting back into the pattern of being together. He had an incredible trip and said that the students were an integrated and adventurous group - everyone just clicked and made the trip memorable. I'm afraid I don't know how best to put down his experiences, maybe he'll post something this weekend when he has a moment. Right now, he's back at school, and busy as ever.

His flight landed on Monday morning at 7:00 and he luckily didn't have to teach the first block and so was able to come home and get a shower and say 'hello'. He looked luminous and happy, not at all tired (that came later) after flying all night, and was just full to the brim of worthwhile experiences. It's great to have him home again, it was a little too quiet after the first few days!

*****
Signs of spring are becoming more and more evident here. Riding down to the stable yesterday, I saw the yellow and purple heads of crocus about to open, and on my run today I saw clumps of soon-to-be daffodils coming up in a sheltered area. Add to that the geese (I think the Greater White-fronted Goose if the images are what I remember of the real thing*) are getting frisky, chasing one another around while flying and then splashing down and causing a rumpus in the water. Additionally, Maroz and the cats are all shedding hair, so that must mean the weather is changing and warmth is on the way. Exciting!

*While looking up the goose species above, I found an interesting website for bird species in the Netherlands: www.birdingholland.com Who knew there were so many birds in such a small country?! our friend Bill is a keen bird watcher and always pointing out this or that bird when we're out and about, so I will have to forward this site to him in case he hasn't seen it before.

Sunny and Spring-ish

It's been a quiet few days, but that's been fine with me, our lives get pretty busy, so I'm generally happy to take a break and take a look around. On Thursday, I noticed some fresh life coming up, but didn't have my camera with me. Today, not only was I cycling to The Hague to meet Aaron for a viewing of "Bolt" a new Disney animated film (which was terrific, very sweet and lots of laughs, I will be smiling over the hamster for weeks!), but it was sunny, so I remembered to bring the camera and found...

Suspicious patches of white, but not snow....Snowdrops!

Hooray! Growing things! Spring is coming!

However, it's still pretty brown overall, as may be seen in these views of the "Queen's Woods" or Haagsche Bos

Post-movie, we walked out of the Buitenhof cinema and were pleased to see the skies still blue and The Hague looking pretty; here's a view towards the Grote Kerk or "Big Church".

Inside the Binnenhof courtyard. This is where Parliament has its offices and its a great place to stroll or cycle through.

With parliament behind us, we walked across the Plein. I like the effect of the old, classic buildings bordering the square with the modern behind.

I came home to a beautiful sunset as seen from our balcony.

D.I.Y.

In an apartment the size of ours, there's a limit to how much we can put in it, or do to it. Today I had the excuse to add something new. Before Mike left, he asked if I could round up a car and go to IKEA and get him a small table (pre-selected by him) that he could use for paper grading. IKEA is very popular here, and is one of the large employers of ASH parents. The IKEA Concept Centre in Delft is special too as it frequently has items that you don't find at the regular stores. The Concept Centre is a, if not the, major corporate headquarters for the company and has a training college, hotel, and sundry other functions attached to it. It's pretty amazing.

So, while Mike's table is a regular catalogue item, it's still an interesting outing to spend an hour or so strolling through the merchandise. I found the car necessary (I can manage quite a lot on my bike, but after looking online at the packaging measurements and weight, I decided it would be much safer to just beg a ride from someone!), and the driver to go with. Aaron (of Kim and Aaron in Vienna at Christmas) is also spouse-less this week as Kim accompanied Mike as a chaperone on the trip to Tanzania.

We set off on the morning - not quite sunny, but cloud free - and arrived soon after opening to collect our various needs. I managed to stick to the list, only deviating when I saw toilet brushes and remembered we needed a new one, but still tucked away a few ideas for later. There was a nice area rug for a good price that might come in handy somewhere, and some other bits and pieces I have to think about. I'm working on my impulse buying!

We later enjoyed a nice lunch at Me Gusta, an Italian-deli sort of eatery here in Wassenaar. It's usually packed at lunchtime so we were happy to get a table and enjoyed our meal while getting caught up on one another's week alone at home. Now I'm home and getting ready to bust into the packaging and erect the new table. It will be enough construction to satisfy some obscure need in me to do things with a hammer and screwdriver every once in awhile and result in a useful piece of furniture.

Tonight will be quiet, some reading and watching the semi-finals of my BBC show "Masterchef" and keeping company with the cats. Mike is off on safari and I haven't had an update today, so I don't have any news on that front.

Biking Here, Biking There

I suppose since I said I was going to The Hague yesterday and ended up having a 3 hour nap instead, it only made sense that I should bike there twice today. I really did have every intention of going yesterday, but figured I'd have plenty of time once I'd caught a little cat nap. Anyone who has ever watched cats nap know there's nothing little about it - cats are professional nappers. Chloe and Elliot (but mostly Chloe) think when I lay down on the sofa that sleeping the entire afternoon is perfectly normal and so she hops up and keeps me company. I don't know what I'd do without such a good role model...wait a minute, yes I do, I'd get up and go to The Hague like I'd planned!!!

So yesterday was a bust but as it rained all day, I wasn't too upset that I stayed home and cozy - hey, I probably saved money too! So, today dawned, rainy of course, and since it's a Maroz day, I had no choice but to get on the bike and head down. Strictly speaking, his stable is not all the way in The Hague, but it's 3/4 of the way there, so I count it. We went for a nice long walk in the dunes (the rain stopped to allow this) to give him a break from the stable yard, and then I cycled home again.

A quick clean up and then I was off to meet some former work colleagues for dinner in Scheveningen. Since the quickest way there on a bike is to follow the dune path down, especially when the wind is not in your face, that's what I did. It's a great path since there are no motorized vehicles on it, and you only see the dunes, no sign of modern life - apart from the very nice bricked bike path the whole way there. There is also the visual appeal of an undulating landscape, something you miss anywhere else for miles around. I've mentioned before that I have a heavy bike, so this ride warmed me up and gave me a good appetite for dinner.

It was a lovely evening, we hadn't caught up properly since before Thanksgiving so we were overdue. I came home a different way, the dune path isn't lit at night and it quite remote so I prefer to go that way when there's a full moon and Mike is with me. I've been home now about 1/2 hour, so that's why this posting is arriving so late.

Mike and crew finished working on the classroom foundations this morning, made their last visit to the orphanage and tomorrow will set out on safari, to include: Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara National Park, the Snake Park (?), and Maasai Boma. There will also be time in Arusha at the local market. Sounds like a fantastic three days, although his text to me this morning said they were having "torrential rain". So much for me thinking I'd get some sympathy from him that it rained here for the past two days!

Bluster and Beaches

Looking south, towards Scheveningen - The Hague's beach area. If the photo is clicked to enlarge, it should be possible to see shapes of the city through the misty day

This gull only had one leg. At first we thought it had folded up the other, but then we watched it take off and there simply wasn't another leg to be seen!

Can you tell it's windy? The sand was looking very cool with the wind whipping it along just above ground level Looking north toward Katwijk and Nordwijk

Windy, and cold!

Here's Bill, bracing himself against the wind gusting at his back. We were glad to see the sea, but also glad to get inside!

Here's the photos from yesterday's walk on the beach with Bill. There were tons of people out, walking their dogs or just themselves on the beach. When we went into the little restaurant, just up on a dune next to the beach, there were lots of people there too! We had a bowl of soup and then freed up our table so someone else could enjoy it. About a 1/2 hour later, it started to rain and didn't stop all night long, so we timed our excursion well.

At the moment, it's gray, but the clouds are high and I don't think it's going to rain...but I've been wrong about that before! Still, I am headed down to The Hague this afternoon and might take in a movie after running a few errands.

Mike's text to me last night (after I wrote to him telling him his beloved Gonzaga University had won their basketball game on Saturday) said they were, "Just back from the cultural dancing and it was so awesome! Drums and singing. Powerful." I hope he got some photos and I can share them here on his return.