2E Paasdag

Last Monday, the 13th, the day after Easter (Paas), is the 2nd Paasdag. It's the same thing they do at Christmas with the 2nd Kerstdag. I think it's just an excuse to get another day off. In the case of Easter, most businesses, including banks, were closed on Good Friday as well. That's a difference here as, in the US, banks cannot be closed for more than 3 days in a row, here they close for 5. Arjan and I spent the day as true Netherlanders.

First we went to the Woonboulevard in Barendrecht. A woonboulevard is a house/living street found in the area of any city outside the centrum, with bigger cities having more than one, where you will find furniture stores, kitchen and bathroom stores for building/remodeling, a lighting store, sometimes an electronics store, and even fewer times other types of stores. These, along with the home improvement stores, a few supermarkets, and some sporting stores, are the only stores open on these 2nd days so Nederlands flock to them. In fact, after the 2nd Christmas day there is so much traffic into Ikea's they have to close the streets off. At the Easter time, zoo's and other attractions are open and since it was a beautiful day, lots of people went in those directions so it wasn't as busy at the woonboulevard.

We are looking for a new sofa so we went to a furniture store (De Zuider Ster). We found a sofa we like but as any good Netherlander, Arjan will still think about it more before deciding to buy it. Then we went next door to Ikea to have lunch and look a bit. We did find a new umbrella holder that we needed for only 5 Euro, a real bargain compared to other prices we'd seen.

It was such a nice day and still early in the afternoon so on the way home Arjan suggested we go on a bike ride when we got home. (Yes, I am being teased by my sweet Dutch "country leader", for one of my secret shopping companies, for doing such typical Nederlands things. No wonder I came out "Dutch to the Bone" on Facebook's "How Dutch are you?" quiz!)

Here are some pictures from our fietstocht:

First we rode over to Katendrecht to see the SS Rotterdam. This was the original SS Roterdam for the America Holland Line and was brought back to remain permanently in this place. A housing corporation took control of it and it will be opening in less than 100 days. It will house a hotel, restaurants, and conference rooms, think some other things as well. Now it has a big fence around it with lots of work still being done so you can't get too close.

Here's Arjan telling me something about the ship, and you can see some of the beauty from Katendrecht:

We then rode over to Noordereiland...North Island. It's name comes from the digging of the North Haven between 1868 and 1876 that created this island. Here we stopped to enjoy the scenery at one end, the Antwerpse Hoofd:

The yellow structure on the other side is a main ship radar/ship traffic control.


We saw a container ship passing.



Then we biked over to the other end of the island, Prinsen Hoofd, that faces the Erasmusburg.



There were lots of people out enjoying the day, even if it was a bit hazy. There were other bikers and here where some people taking a break from motorcycling:

There were a lot of people on the Spido, the boat that gives a tour and tells about the Port of Rotterdam and it's importance in shipping.

By this time it was close to 4 so we biked home a different way and who of all people did we meet up with on the bike path at a traffic light the last bit of our ride, the only others at the light with us? Arjan's youngest neef , his vrouw , and their 1 jaar dochter also on their way home from a fietstocht. Unfortunately the baby was asleep but it was so cute to see her sleeping in her seat in front of her mother.

A Netherlands Friend?

Unbelieveable...I met a potential Netherlands friend this evening. As some of you know or have heard from me, befriending a Netherlander is very difficult. It is not at all like in the US where people will talk to each other and become fast friends. Most people here have their family and friends from when they were born and school and they've remained friends, noone has moved too far, and they don't need any more friends. This is one reason Arjan thinks the woman is probably raar odd/strange and typically used in a derogatory manner. I told him yes, she is because she's a Nederlander who likes to talk, doesn't like to be told to hold it short.

I was in the Centrum, had finished a visit, and was walking on the Binnenweg to the Buers Metro station to come home when a woman stopped me to ask if I knew if the benches had been removed from the Binnenweg as she had read. Yes, some have been removed I thought for construction but there were still some there. Of course in my Nederlands praten talking, she hoorde een Engels accent/heard an English accent. Then a couple came up to ask me where the grocery store was. They don't know Nederlands and little English but could understand if I spoke English to them. So I gave them directions. The woman then says I have an American accent, not everyone can guess that. This led, after her surprise that an American spoke such good Nederlands, to her telling me a lot about languages and their groupings and what's hard and what's not and asking me what I find hardest in Nederlands. Then came the usual questions...how long have I lived here, where do I come from in the US, how did I come to be here, how do I like it here. This lady can talk...

She told me how she's the youngest and has 2 older brothers who weren't the spoiling, nice older brothers. She told me how she was always told to keep quiet in school because she talked so much and that she can and likes to be quiet and still, oh so much like me. She told me about the books she had bought in the big wonderful Selexzy Donor 8 story bookstore right before us. She asked me where I lived and was surprised, as most are, and it was neat because she was born and lived till her early 20's not too far from us, now she lives in the Kralingen area north of us east of the centrum. I would guess she's in her mid 50's. She really talked and it was so interesting. Her name is Clara Bal and she told me how teased she was with having that last name. (I thought of all the "Ball"s I've known in the US.) It just seemed the more we talked the more we found of interest in each other. We are both adventurers and have each have interest in what the other has done and been through.

So we exchanged numbers to get together in the Centrum and continue talking and this is how it goes in NL...everything is very planned out. She said she would call me first, so basically don't call her, and 9 p.m. or after is best for her so would that be ok, and for our first meeting we will plan to meet where we met each other, in front of the bookstore. She asked me about my schedule and was any day better and I told her how my schedule is flexible so we'll be able to figure a day out when she calls.

I think she is just a semi-lonely woman, looking for someone who will listen to her talk, and someone that has something interesting to say. We'll see and I'll let you know. I am totally thanking God for deze toevallige ontmoeting this chance encounter/meeting. It is an answer to prayer.

I am also thanking God for the people I'm reconnecting with on Facebook. I really can't believe it. From finding family to staying in touch with my dear church family in San Diego and keeping up with my Dave DeVries to seeing photos of my best friend's grandchildren to reconnecting with people from high school and college, my Skyline 20/30 group that was so influential in my life, and former co-workers--we need to find more! to having fun sending special things to people and doing quizzes. I highly recommend signing on to Facebook...you never know who you will find or who will find you and where people have gone since you last had contact with them.

The only downside is it can consume a lot of time and now it's trying to balance that.

Today's photos, not taken today, are of the plein square/plaza where part of the market takes place a couple blocks from us. The children from the school on this plein and others close by are receiving bicycle lessons by an organization. Due to the fact that most of these children have parents that are not a true Nederlander and don't ride bikes, it was found these children are not learning the rules of safe biking and do tend to just ride all over with no attention to signage. An organization actually brings the bikes and small street signs and pylons to set up simulations and teach children how to safely ride their bikes. The children go out for half an hour once a week and take bike lessons...only in Netherlands. They even do it in the rain which I took a picture of but can't find.

Today did end with the beautiful sun going down and some blue sky. Tomorrow is supposed to be drier.

Time to feed the cats and go to bed.

The First Victim of the Season

Monday night right before bed Arjan made his first killing of the year. The victim was a mosquito, mug, yes, that's one of the funnier words for something here. I saw him as Pim spotted him in my little room. I tried to close the door to contain him and be the killer but he flew out the door before I could get it closed.

So, before going to bed I decided I should do the, typically summer, before bed ritual of turning on lights in all areas of the house to look for mosquitoes and get them killed before we go to bed and they buzz in our ears and bite us during the night, that's what the mosquitoes do here. This mosquito had not gone far, was on the hall wall right outside my room. I grabbed a hand towel and summoned Arjan to do the deadly deed he excels in and, voila, the mission was accomplished.

But, people, it was only April 6! All I thought was it's going to be a long summer. Fortunately it cooled off yesterday and today I'm having to wear a winter jacket again, but it has rained most of the day so far. The wet conditions and a bit of warmth are all these suckers need to appear so it can remain on the cold side for a while as far as I'm concerned, and it doesn't bother me one bit when the weather people talk about the summers getting colder, while all the other seasons get warmer. (I tell ya, this place is the next San Diego with more rain.)

I Miss Target

It is a challenge here at times to find an item. It often involves a hunt to numerous stores, and still not finding it or what found is too expensive. On these days I miss just being able to go by Target and pick up what I'm looking for, besides just liking to peruse the store even if I'm not buying anything.

Now I'm on the hunt for a step can for the kitchen. We have a plastic white push down garbage now but what happens, besides at first everything piling up right at the opening, is the bag holds more and by time it's to the top, you can't push it in anymore. You end up having to pick up the whole top to put the trash in and then set the lid back on without garbage falling all over the place. In addition, this white container is used to white the whites and soak the spotted colors before washing. This results in the garbage being put on the floor for a day or so.

As a solution to this situation I want to buy a step can. Then the white one can be for laundry only. Well, right now I'm only finding a name brand that in some stores sells for 169 Euros, and the cheapest I've found them on sale is 59. Isn't there something cheaper than that here? I have to laugh that one of the home improvement stores, where I was heading next on my hunt, has one on sale in the coming week for 59 but instead of the 30L, it's 40L, so at least it's bigger but too big for our bags.

All I was thinking was how easy it would be to go to Grossmont Center Target and if they don't have it simply walk down to Walmart.

Finally fixing it

It has taken a good 7+ months and further detoriation but today they are finally here to repair the side of the roof between my little computer room and the next door neighbor's bigger bedroom. (I still need to update on what happened there, right now it is vacant.)

Back in August a man came to inspect this area. He said he was checking to see if it needed to be replaced and thought it did so if he could just stick his head out our windows for a look and feel with his hands, he'd be able to say he inspected it. He said that it needed to be replaced. Arjan and I are praying that in the end there will be so much that needs to be fixed on this old building, from the early 1900's that was last renovated in 1986, that they will decide to tear it down and build anew. That's fairly common, especially in Rotterdam, for buildings that are of no historical value. By doing this we have a better chance of getting a better place to live, we'll be put on the Urgent list and better helped. (You'll learn about this when I write about next door.)

Nothing happened and we went along with the cats being entertained by the birds that want in there and experienced no leaks, which Arjan suspected we would. It all changed last week when it rained most of the week and was very windy. All of a sudden I was sitting in here one day and this is what happened:

a piece of rotted wood dropped down and hung outside my window. Lovely. So a different work guy came to look at it in the rain, again looking out our windows. He even tried to pull the piece of wood off but one stubborn nail held it there. I was surprised because the wood looked so ragged and would just sway in the wind. The man said he'd have to come back when it dried out. As it hasn't rained since Sunday, it is now good and dry. So this will be no more:


The men are right outside my window drilling, sawing, making a racket, talking, the one was just singing, and frightening the cats out of here. The poor birds that found dwelling behind the bricks up there will have to find another place to call home.

See the wash hanging out in the first picture. It's definitely an advantage in this nice weather.

Tijd om te boodschappen. (Time to do the weekly "big" grocery shopping.)