It’s Wednesday and time to engage ourselves for our schoolwork. Marij and I worked out the planning for our last two weeks and prepared everything we needed for that.
Carla (Tineke and Sharon’s principal) pulled up in front of our house around 6 to ask us if we felt like going for a swim. Of course we did (not really, but Ellen had said yes already) and by 7 we were ready to be picked up by her.
A few laps and I couldn’t handle it anymore (thanks Sharon for the cold!) so I went to the small bar for a snack – which turned out to be my dinner. Around 8pm everyone was done swimming and we left to go home again for some relaxing and some lazy couch potato-ing.
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The next day, Ellen left with Joachim for some Scouts thing. Marij and I were home along, a perfect time to work for school again.
When that was finished, I felt kinda useless and thought about cleaning the house. An hour and a half later everything was shiny again and my body screamed for a shower!
When Ellen arrived back home, it was past 6.30 and time to get ready: we were going for a bet tonight.
We all dressed up, this was going to be an unforgettable evening… Nice dresses, shoes, hair and make-up and we were ready to go spend some big bucks.
Well, not really. I spent 40 SRD in total, of which I got 25SRD back. AND we got free drinks and food the entire evening, so in fact I spent less than what I would’ve spent if we just went out for dinner…
It was a fun first time for all of us. Though it was weird to see all those people sitting there, hypnotised by their machines, throwing away all their money on some stupid slot machine or poker table. Some people just don’t know where to stop, I guess…
We only played the one armed bandits, not really comfortable enough to play a live game yet. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t have a lot of fun. I twice won 100 quarters (of which I kept 100 aside), the only one who got at least something back from the money we put in the machines.
This was fun, relaxing, and if we have the time, we’ll prolly go spend another few SRD in a casino here. Cheap entertainment and drinks/food!
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On Friday the other three girls returned from their trip to Awarradam. No more quietness, no more tranquillity… 5 minutes after they had entered, the TV was playing loudly again, like they had never left. I’m really starting to get fed up with that and a lot of other things they do, but I’m going to try to keep the peace for these last two weeks…
Ellen, Marij and I are going to see a movie tonight. We went for a quick dinner at the fast food joint there and for a drink before the movie started – which was at 10.30. Sex Drive, a comedy, was the film of our choice (not like we had a lot of choice, there are only two rooms). The plot: a guy has a date with a girl he met on the internet. He and his friend leave for whatever the place was, with the brother’s nice car. On the way there they, of course, get into a lot of trouble. In the end, the girl he met turns out to be a scammer who’s only interested in his nice ride. But everything gets solved, the bad guys (or girl in this case) get caught and they all lived happily ever after! Not really what I expected, the X-rated version, with a whole lot of unnecessary boobs and dicks… which led to the guys behind us acting like 8-year olds again. Fun!
By 12.30 we arrived home again and it was time for me to go to bed.
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Today we got up in time. We needed to get to the bank to get some Euros to pay for our last trip, Galibi. Apparently the bank doesn’t open on Saturday, so no money. We went to Trips anyway, and already gave something in advance.
Afterwards we went for a refreshing drink and lunch at ‘t Vat. We also went by the tailor, cause Ellen’s dresses would be ready today, very exciting! Alas, no dresses yet. But on Monday, when Marij and I go to pick up ours, hers will be ready as well.
After our short city trip, we went home again and quickly took a shower. Walking, sunshine, midday, hot, … only good thing about all that is the refreshment you get from the cold shower afterwards!
Tonight Tineke and Sharon went to a Hindustan wedding, Evi had bought herself a pizza, so Marij, Ellen and I head back into town to get something to eat. Pasta with chicken and a mushroom sauce, it can’t get much better than that! Especially if you have a yummy cocktail to go along with it!
When we got back home, we watched the end of Yes man, a comedy with Jim Carey and I went to bed afterwards.
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Around 11.30 I got out of bed. Today was the last day we could sleep in, cause tomorrow is a school day again…
Not a lot happened today. I read a bit, solved a few crosswords and watched a movie (Madagascar 2; funny, but not as good as the first one).
Since everything is set for next week, Marij and I didn’t have a lot else to do.
Tonight was “eat whatever we can find around the house”-day. Result: pasta with chicken, schnitzels, peas and carrots. Not really my taste, but I was hungry.
Going to bed early tonight, cause it’s an early start again tomorrow!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
New Amsterdam
Not a lot to say about this week. We’ve been relaxing, doing nothing and sitting around about the entire time. Things that did happen:
* On Wednesday the four-day march through town started. All sorts of groups and organisations walked miles and miles through town in colourful clothes and loud music. The goal this year was to encourage people to give blood. I don’t really feel like donating my precious blood (especially since I don’t know what conditions the needles here are in), but I do hope other people do/did.
* Wednesday evening we went out for dinner at Zus&Zo. Yummy pasta, nice company and soothing background music is all you need to have a good time!
* On Thursday Marij and I went wild and decided it was time to recolor our hair. Now we are truly redheads!
* Thursday evening Marij, Tineke and I went out to Havana lounge. After a few days of doing almost nothing, it was time to stretch our legs again. We had a great time, good music, nice atmosphere, fun people (some of the people we had met at Blanche Marie were there as well), a successful evening.
* Friday was shopping day. Bought some nice fabrics, went to the tailor and we’re now very excited about how our dresses and skirts are going to look when they’re finished!
* On Saturday we met all Blanche Marie people at Chillz, a club/pub in town. Yet again we had a good time and around 2am we decided to head to Zsa Zsa Zsu to continue the party. On arrival we saw the line at the entrance was longer than we could handle, so we all went back to our place for some drinks and some talking.
* On Monday three of our housemates left for a five-day trip to Awarradam, which means we have the house to ourselves.
* Also on Monday, Ellen, Joachim, Pia and I left on our bikes to New Amsterdam, a town across the Suriname River. An hour on a bike really gets to your ass and when we arrived at the dock where we had to take the little boat to the other side, we were thankful that we could give it a little rest.
At New Amsterdam we went to visit Fort New Amsterdam, the fortress that was put up to guard the entrance to the Suriname River from the Atlantic Ocean. A lot of canons, ammunition and buildings, quite impressive to see. After its use as a fortress, Fort New Amsterdam was transformed into a prison. Small isolation cells with only a plank for a bed, a bucket as a toilet and a tiny window, not even big enough to ventilate the room. The information board told us that people were locked in there for at least 7 days and could only come out for lunch/diner.
The other cells were a lot larger, probably a lot more people in one cell then, and they even still had pin up posters on the wall (the prison was closed in 1982)!
We went for lunch at a local pub/bar/restaurant/shop and returned home afterwards. Another half hour (which seemed like forever) and we were back in town. There we stopped at ‘t Vat for a drink and then on homewards. Marij had made us tortillas for diner (which I though was just a big omelette).
* On Tuesday we cleaned out the kitchen cabinets, cause a rat had left us some very unpleasant surprises… But a quick clean and the house smelled like Ajax again instead of rat droppings!
* We also went out for dinner with the students from the other house again and for bowling afterwards. We played in teams (our team lost :( but I did throw a spare and a strike! :p). Afterwards a few games of pool and then return home for a good sleep!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Blanche Marie
3.30am really IS too early to get up… It’s still dark, no one up, even the birds are still asleep! Luckily the shower’s cold, which is good for waking up. 4.30 and the taxi was already there to pick us up.
We were there on time, but by the time everyone else had arrived, it was past 6am already and we had to hurry so we wouldn’t arrive there too late. Twenty people in a bus with a capacity of 30, you’d think everyone would have plenty of room… Guess again! All cramped in tiny seats, where your knees touch the seat in front of you, no room to even turn around a bit, not a chance I’d still be getting a bit of sleep here… I must say the nature was wonderful: huge trees, wide open fields, forests, … very impressive.
Around 9ish was our first big stop. It was a small village where we could have a break, stretch our legs and have breakfast. We didn’t see much of the village (or the villagers), but at least the breakfast was good and we had the chance to have a quick toilet stop.
By 1pm we had our second big stop: Witagron, a Kwinti-village (the smallest Marrontribe in Suriname) was the chosen place for us to have lunch. Witagron was the place of birth of our tour guide, so he knew the place and the villagers.
Nasi with kousenband, bakabana, tomatoes and cucumbers, yummy!
After everyone had had enough to eat, we all crawled back into the busses and on we went again. The road was bumpy, but less than the one to Brownsberg or Brokopondo. Around 9pm we finally arrived at Blanche Marie, all hungry and tired. We quickly unpacked and installed ourselves on the terraces where we could hang our hammocks.
When we were all ready and headed back to the recreation area, we discovered that the other two busses hadn’t arrived yet. Seemed that they couldn’t get over the mountain without a bit of help, so Diego (our guide) jumped in his pickup and went down there to help them out.
The others finally arrived and could unpack as well. When everyone was ready, it was time for dinner. Afterwards, everyone was so exhausted, we all went straight to bed. No one had even noticed anything from the surrounding landscape; it was too dark and we were too sleepy to care anyway.
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We got up at 7.30 today, breakfast at 8. or so we were told… by 9am we could finally eat: sandwiches with jam, cheese, peanut butter, chocolate paste, sandwich spread and scrambled eggs with cheese and onions. Very good breakfast!
After that we were free to discover the surrounding area and to get ready for the trip. At 10am we were going to leave for the waterfalls. Our group was the first to leave and we went straight to the Blanche Marie. It wasn’t a long walk, not a tiring one either. It still took us about half an hour to get there, cause our guide wanted to tell us all sorts of things about the plants and animals here.
Blanche Marie is the most wonderful waterfall I have ever seen in my life! Irene- and Leofall are nothing compared to this! Blanche Marie covers the entire width of the river and isn’t a straight fall down, but in parts (like the Irenefall). We immediately took our clothes off and got into the refreshing water. The guide warned us not to go too far, cause the currant could pull us down in an instant and it would certainly hurt us, if not kill us if we got carried away over the sharp rocks.
The water was relaxing and refreshing and I could’ve spent an entire day just sitting there, enjoying the cold water on my skin. Too bad we weren’t the only group here and when the second one arrived, it was time for us to leave again.
We first made a short stroll along the river shore and then went on to the next stop. We could choose either the “kidsoelas” (soelas is another word for rapids) or the massage falls. Of course we didn’t doubt for a minute and chose the latter. The massage falls weren’t exactly waterfalls, but more rapids as well. Ropes hung over the water for us to hold on to while the water rushed around us. It certainly deserved the massage-part of it’s name!
Yet again we got disturbed by the other group which “chased” us away again. A short walk took us back to the domain where we quickly head to the river to bathe and relax. Apparently it is custom to wash yourself in the river instead of a shower here, so we took a piece of soap with us and washed ourselves in the cold river water.
After this refreshing part of the day, it was time for lunch: fish, rice, peas and bakabana. Didn’t really like the salty fish, but the rest was nice. After lunch we had the afternoon for ourselves to relax, explore, do whatever we wanted.
at 5pm we all gathered again, cause Easter means: a search for Easter eggs! the guides took the entire group in the forest where they had hidden eggs for us to find. It didn’t take long for 60 people to find 50 hidden eggs, so we turned back to the recreation area faster than expected. The cooking team wasn’t ready with dinner yet, so we had a few moments to relax. After dinner (bami with chicken) a guide came by to gather all chairs for the musical chairs (or however you call it) act. First only girls, then all boys (which weren’t a lot), then the entire guiding team. That was one musical chair too much for me and Marij, Pia and I went to bed. I’ve had a stomach ache all day now, so I hope I fall asleep fast so it doesn’t bother me too much.
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Today, we can sleep in. Sleeping in here, means waking up at 8am because of the birds calling and the water flowing. Marij was up and she had bathed already as well. Time for me to do the same, so I took my shampoo and headed for the river. Nothing like washing your hair with the clean water from the river.
Breakfast was a bit disappointing: the same as yesterday, with the exception of the eggs, which were replaced with leftover fish from yesterday.
The most disappointing part of the day: no activities planned for the day, we had to entertain ourselves the entire day. Our group headed back to the massage falls for a swim, some sunbathing and reading. At 1.30pm we had to go back for lunch. After that, yet again some hanging around and doing whatever you wanted, so we went to the riverside and went for another swim in the cool water.
Around 5ish we finally gathered again and got ready for some action. A walk through the forest took us a bit further along the river, where our guides had improvised a way to the other side of the river by hanging ropes over it. There used to be boats to take us there, but they were all stolen, so we had to solve it this way. Everyone dived into the water, clothes and all, and swam to the other side, guided by the ropes, hanging on to them so we wouldn’t get carried away by the water.
All wet, we continued our trip through the forest to the next waterfall: the Eldorado waterfall. Too bad, no gold here, but it was an impressively high waterfall. We took out our adventure hat and climbed all the way up there, where we got a breath taking view over the waterfall and the forest. No pictures though, because we couldn’t take our cameras with us over the river…
After an hour of just sitting there, we had enough of it and some of us headed back already. A bit of a search to find the right route back, but we eventually got back at the river and could cross it again to the other side.
Different from what we had already done and seen, but it was a fun experience and more adventurous than just walking of course.
When we were all back and dressed again, it was time for dinner: potato salad, coleslaw and chicken, it was delicious! My stomach was still not 100% but I enjoyed it like it was the best thing I have ever eaten.
Plans were to have a camp fire and tell stories, sing songs, … but because of the bad weather tonight, it was cancelled and they had planned another jungle disco (like last night). I didn’t feel like dancing, so I went back to my hammock and lied down a bit to give my stomach the chance to recover a bit. At 10pm I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore and fell asleep.
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The last day of the trip, which means a 15h drive back home. I really don’t look forward to that, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do…
Original plan: breakfast at 7am, pack at 7.30 and leave at 8am.
Eventually: breakfast at 8am, pack at 9 and leave at 10.30… We’re used to the Surinam way of life already, so we didn’t make a big deal of it, except for the fact that leaving later would also mean arriving later as well…
After 5h in the bus, we arrived at Witagron already, where we had moksa aleisi with fish and chicken for lunch. This time, we got a tour around the village. Wooden houses, huts and cabins, a dock for the korjaals (the traditional boats) and a special place for sacrifices, it was a typical traditional Marron village – and don’t worry, no human or animal sacrifices, just food, drinks and clothes. It even had a school and a medical centre.
When everyone had seen everything, we were ready to go again. Still a long way to go!
By the time we had reached our second big stopping place, the small village again, it was dark already (around 8pm). We could go empty our bladders again, but nothing to eat :( I was getting a bit dizzy, but not even cookies or chips around to fill our empty stomachs…
When we finally arrived at the small supermarket near Zanderij (the national airport) I was one of the firsts to head inside and buy everything I wanted (of course it was way too much to eat all at once, but hungry people need loads of food!). The world instantly stopped spinning when I had eating something and I was a happy girl again ^^ A spoonful of sugar is good for more than just helping the medicine go down!
Another hour later, we finally arrived in Paramaribo and were ready to head home again. The trip back home had only taken 13h, so no complaining here! Quickly called a taxi, said goodbye to everyone and got our stuff off the pickup.
When we got home, we couldn’t believe our eyes… the other three girls had cleaned the entire house! They had even cleaned the mirror where they had written “April 1st, a day you won’t forget”. It had taken them two weeks to do that, but it’s clean now, so yay!
I smoked one last cigarette and went to bed. I’m going to miss sleeping in my hammock, especially with this crappy bed!
We were there on time, but by the time everyone else had arrived, it was past 6am already and we had to hurry so we wouldn’t arrive there too late. Twenty people in a bus with a capacity of 30, you’d think everyone would have plenty of room… Guess again! All cramped in tiny seats, where your knees touch the seat in front of you, no room to even turn around a bit, not a chance I’d still be getting a bit of sleep here… I must say the nature was wonderful: huge trees, wide open fields, forests, … very impressive.
Around 9ish was our first big stop. It was a small village where we could have a break, stretch our legs and have breakfast. We didn’t see much of the village (or the villagers), but at least the breakfast was good and we had the chance to have a quick toilet stop.
By 1pm we had our second big stop: Witagron, a Kwinti-village (the smallest Marrontribe in Suriname) was the chosen place for us to have lunch. Witagron was the place of birth of our tour guide, so he knew the place and the villagers.
Nasi with kousenband, bakabana, tomatoes and cucumbers, yummy!
After everyone had had enough to eat, we all crawled back into the busses and on we went again. The road was bumpy, but less than the one to Brownsberg or Brokopondo. Around 9pm we finally arrived at Blanche Marie, all hungry and tired. We quickly unpacked and installed ourselves on the terraces where we could hang our hammocks.
When we were all ready and headed back to the recreation area, we discovered that the other two busses hadn’t arrived yet. Seemed that they couldn’t get over the mountain without a bit of help, so Diego (our guide) jumped in his pickup and went down there to help them out.
The others finally arrived and could unpack as well. When everyone was ready, it was time for dinner. Afterwards, everyone was so exhausted, we all went straight to bed. No one had even noticed anything from the surrounding landscape; it was too dark and we were too sleepy to care anyway.
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We got up at 7.30 today, breakfast at 8. or so we were told… by 9am we could finally eat: sandwiches with jam, cheese, peanut butter, chocolate paste, sandwich spread and scrambled eggs with cheese and onions. Very good breakfast!
After that we were free to discover the surrounding area and to get ready for the trip. At 10am we were going to leave for the waterfalls. Our group was the first to leave and we went straight to the Blanche Marie. It wasn’t a long walk, not a tiring one either. It still took us about half an hour to get there, cause our guide wanted to tell us all sorts of things about the plants and animals here.
Blanche Marie is the most wonderful waterfall I have ever seen in my life! Irene- and Leofall are nothing compared to this! Blanche Marie covers the entire width of the river and isn’t a straight fall down, but in parts (like the Irenefall). We immediately took our clothes off and got into the refreshing water. The guide warned us not to go too far, cause the currant could pull us down in an instant and it would certainly hurt us, if not kill us if we got carried away over the sharp rocks.
The water was relaxing and refreshing and I could’ve spent an entire day just sitting there, enjoying the cold water on my skin. Too bad we weren’t the only group here and when the second one arrived, it was time for us to leave again.
We first made a short stroll along the river shore and then went on to the next stop. We could choose either the “kidsoelas” (soelas is another word for rapids) or the massage falls. Of course we didn’t doubt for a minute and chose the latter. The massage falls weren’t exactly waterfalls, but more rapids as well. Ropes hung over the water for us to hold on to while the water rushed around us. It certainly deserved the massage-part of it’s name!
Yet again we got disturbed by the other group which “chased” us away again. A short walk took us back to the domain where we quickly head to the river to bathe and relax. Apparently it is custom to wash yourself in the river instead of a shower here, so we took a piece of soap with us and washed ourselves in the cold river water.
After this refreshing part of the day, it was time for lunch: fish, rice, peas and bakabana. Didn’t really like the salty fish, but the rest was nice. After lunch we had the afternoon for ourselves to relax, explore, do whatever we wanted.
at 5pm we all gathered again, cause Easter means: a search for Easter eggs! the guides took the entire group in the forest where they had hidden eggs for us to find. It didn’t take long for 60 people to find 50 hidden eggs, so we turned back to the recreation area faster than expected. The cooking team wasn’t ready with dinner yet, so we had a few moments to relax. After dinner (bami with chicken) a guide came by to gather all chairs for the musical chairs (or however you call it) act. First only girls, then all boys (which weren’t a lot), then the entire guiding team. That was one musical chair too much for me and Marij, Pia and I went to bed. I’ve had a stomach ache all day now, so I hope I fall asleep fast so it doesn’t bother me too much.
-----
Today, we can sleep in. Sleeping in here, means waking up at 8am because of the birds calling and the water flowing. Marij was up and she had bathed already as well. Time for me to do the same, so I took my shampoo and headed for the river. Nothing like washing your hair with the clean water from the river.
Breakfast was a bit disappointing: the same as yesterday, with the exception of the eggs, which were replaced with leftover fish from yesterday.
The most disappointing part of the day: no activities planned for the day, we had to entertain ourselves the entire day. Our group headed back to the massage falls for a swim, some sunbathing and reading. At 1.30pm we had to go back for lunch. After that, yet again some hanging around and doing whatever you wanted, so we went to the riverside and went for another swim in the cool water.
Around 5ish we finally gathered again and got ready for some action. A walk through the forest took us a bit further along the river, where our guides had improvised a way to the other side of the river by hanging ropes over it. There used to be boats to take us there, but they were all stolen, so we had to solve it this way. Everyone dived into the water, clothes and all, and swam to the other side, guided by the ropes, hanging on to them so we wouldn’t get carried away by the water.
All wet, we continued our trip through the forest to the next waterfall: the Eldorado waterfall. Too bad, no gold here, but it was an impressively high waterfall. We took out our adventure hat and climbed all the way up there, where we got a breath taking view over the waterfall and the forest. No pictures though, because we couldn’t take our cameras with us over the river…
After an hour of just sitting there, we had enough of it and some of us headed back already. A bit of a search to find the right route back, but we eventually got back at the river and could cross it again to the other side.
Different from what we had already done and seen, but it was a fun experience and more adventurous than just walking of course.
When we were all back and dressed again, it was time for dinner: potato salad, coleslaw and chicken, it was delicious! My stomach was still not 100% but I enjoyed it like it was the best thing I have ever eaten.
Plans were to have a camp fire and tell stories, sing songs, … but because of the bad weather tonight, it was cancelled and they had planned another jungle disco (like last night). I didn’t feel like dancing, so I went back to my hammock and lied down a bit to give my stomach the chance to recover a bit. At 10pm I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore and fell asleep.
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The last day of the trip, which means a 15h drive back home. I really don’t look forward to that, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do…
Original plan: breakfast at 7am, pack at 7.30 and leave at 8am.
Eventually: breakfast at 8am, pack at 9 and leave at 10.30… We’re used to the Surinam way of life already, so we didn’t make a big deal of it, except for the fact that leaving later would also mean arriving later as well…
After 5h in the bus, we arrived at Witagron already, where we had moksa aleisi with fish and chicken for lunch. This time, we got a tour around the village. Wooden houses, huts and cabins, a dock for the korjaals (the traditional boats) and a special place for sacrifices, it was a typical traditional Marron village – and don’t worry, no human or animal sacrifices, just food, drinks and clothes. It even had a school and a medical centre.
When everyone had seen everything, we were ready to go again. Still a long way to go!
By the time we had reached our second big stopping place, the small village again, it was dark already (around 8pm). We could go empty our bladders again, but nothing to eat :( I was getting a bit dizzy, but not even cookies or chips around to fill our empty stomachs…
When we finally arrived at the small supermarket near Zanderij (the national airport) I was one of the firsts to head inside and buy everything I wanted (of course it was way too much to eat all at once, but hungry people need loads of food!). The world instantly stopped spinning when I had eating something and I was a happy girl again ^^ A spoonful of sugar is good for more than just helping the medicine go down!
Another hour later, we finally arrived in Paramaribo and were ready to head home again. The trip back home had only taken 13h, so no complaining here! Quickly called a taxi, said goodbye to everyone and got our stuff off the pickup.
When we got home, we couldn’t believe our eyes… the other three girls had cleaned the entire house! They had even cleaned the mirror where they had written “April 1st, a day you won’t forget”. It had taken them two weeks to do that, but it’s clean now, so yay!
I smoked one last cigarette and went to bed. I’m going to miss sleeping in my hammock, especially with this crappy bed!
Brokopondo
Tonight was terrible! This new room with the new bed is horrible! It’s too hot, too small, it doesn’t smell all too good and lying bed feels like sleeping on a wooden plank! Needless to say I was a zombie when I woke up this morning…
Because it’s almost vacation and it’s the end of this period, we start Monday with going to church. Nothing like going to church in Belgium. The second and fourth grade teachers lead the ceremony and we talked about Christ, his death, Easter and sang songs. An hour after we started the ceremony was over and the kids could go back to school. Mr Paulus (our principal) wanted us to meet the people of the A.M.E.C. first (A.M.E.C. is African Methodist Episcopal Church, or something like that).
Because the fifth grade teacher had left before I had even finished the day last week, I didn’t get the chance to ask her if there was something she wanted me to do this week. I had prepared myself for this and made myself useful making stuff for and organising the library again. Not a very productive day, but at least I did something.
Glenn, Marij and Ellen are on shopping duty this week and Glenn had promised us he was going to cook for us today (yay, less cooking for me to do!). it wasn’t haute cuisine (just cooked potatoes with sausages and apple sauce), but it was good!
After dinner I took some time to relax before I went to bed.
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And again a very sleepless night… Dunno if I can keep this up for much longer.
At school Marij and I had the worst day ever so far! It was the day the kids had to come to school with their parents to pick up their report cards. The two of us just sat there, doing nothing, listening, walking around, playing with the kids, being bored, …By 12 o’ clock Mr Paulus finally gave us permission to leave and it didn’t take us long to get ready and go. We stopped at the bike rental to pay for the last month and head back home.
Today Marij, Ellen and I took Glenn out on a trip to the Paramaribo Zoo. Animals to be seen: Kwata monkeys, ostriches, snakes, parrots, tigers, more monkeys, pigeons (yes, ordinary pigeons are kept in cages at the zoo…), a wild snake that scared the sh*t out of us and an invisible American alligator (the animal had too much waterplants to hide under :()
It’s not a very large zoo, but it’s nice to do something else than sit around at home all day.
Just like at the Palmentuin there was a nice “recreation area” for the kids and again, we had a lot of fun there.
At 6pm the zoo closed and we called a taxi to take us into town to grab something to eat. From there out, we left to the Orange bar, together with the students from the other house, because there’s an information meeting about Blanche Marie. I was exhausted and was glad it was over around 10pm. Back home I didn’t even take the time to smoke a last cigarette and just went straight to bed (very unlike me!)
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Today’s Wednesday and Marij and I have to get up early because we’re leaving on a trip to Brokopondo with the teachers. Most of our fellow house mates could enjoy their first (unofficial) day of relaxing and doing nothing because of the Easter holiday.
By the time all teachers had arrived and were ready to go, it was 8am (I can still hear the principal saying: Whoever isn’t here by 7.30, can walk to Brokopondo)…
The road was still exactly the same as when we went to Brownsberg: hobbly bobbly jump-on-your-seat…
Even the van thought this way and we had to stop to tie the exhaust back in it’s place…
By the time we finally arrived, it was 11am already and time for a swim! The water was refreshing and more than welcome. After that, time for lunch! The teachers had all brought something and we had delicious bami and nasi. In fact it was so good, we all had to lie down and relax a bit before doing anything else. Too bad the weather didn’t like our “anything else” plans and dark clouds forced us under a small hut. Just in time, because the typical Surinam Rain showers had arrived. There go our team building games… But no worries, we had hammocks, food, drinks and each other, so it did turn out to be a wonderful day. The sound of the rain was so relaxing, that I even fell asleep… By the time I woke up again, it had almost stopped raining and it was time to get dressed and go back home.
Yet again the hobbly bobbly hit-your-head-against-the-roof road which had now turned into a mud pool because of the rain.
We weren’t very lucky… half an hour after we had left, we got stuck in the mud. Luckily there was a pick-up who was willing to help us out (well, not the pick-up, but the driver). An hour later, we got forced out of the bus again, because of a flat tire… It was already starting to get dark, and with the help of some flashlights, they finally got the job done. No more incidents after that, but I don’t think anyone will complain about that!
Our principal, who was our driver, was so kind to drop us off at home and I was so tired (damn bed!) I could hardly keep my eyes open. still took a shower though, to wash all the sand from uncomfy places.
Glenn is sleeping in my room tonight, so Marij can have her bed to herself as well for a night. Two people in a crappy bed, let’s hope it’ll last the night…
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Didn’t take me long to fall asleep last night. And the bed has survived the weight of both of us (yay!) And today is the first official day of our 2.5 week lasting vacation, which is supposed to mean: sleeping in! Wishful thinking, cause at 7.15 my phone woke me up… (who the hell even thinks about calling at this hour???) I did eventually fall asleep again, but it was more a nap than getting sleep… At 10.30 I gave up trying and climbed over Glenn and out of bed.
Took a long, refreshing, relaxing shower and when I got out, Marij came to tell me they had decided to go swimming today. Even the kids from our street were invited and we were off to Parima. Because I had worn my bikini all day yesterday, I didn’t really feel like putting it on again today, so no swimming for me, but I did get to enjoy the wonderful South American sun! And the kiddy pool was shallow enough for me to walk around in :p
At 3pm the pool closed for maintenance and we went back home.
Today we have steak with veggies and French fries on the menu. Not exactly very Surinam cooking, but that doesn’t mean it’s less tasty! (well, I actually only had the veggies and a sandwich, cause I don’t eat steak and I didn’t feel like fries either…)
After dinner we all got ready to go out to Havana Lounge. Glenn stayed home because he had a head ache. An entire night of dancing, drinking, enjoying and having fun and by 5am we all were so tired we finally decided to go home again and go to bed.
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The next day I slept in. by the time I got up, everyone was up already. Today is Glenn’s last day (he leaves at 4) so he was busy packing and I subtly put some of my stuff next to his for him to take home already.
When he was all ready to go we played a few games of UNO and then it was time already to say goodbye. The taxi was there to pick him up and take him to the airport (we had decided that it was a bit silly for us to go with him, since that would just cost him more).
Marij, Ellen and I played a few more games and then had dinner. I made macaroni and cheese and everyone thought it was delicious! ^^
After dinner it was time to pack. Tomorrow Ellen, Marij and I leave on a four day trip to Blanche Marie. It’s a 15h ride, so we have to get up early… VERY EARLY!! Let’s hope I fall asleep fast...
Because it’s almost vacation and it’s the end of this period, we start Monday with going to church. Nothing like going to church in Belgium. The second and fourth grade teachers lead the ceremony and we talked about Christ, his death, Easter and sang songs. An hour after we started the ceremony was over and the kids could go back to school. Mr Paulus (our principal) wanted us to meet the people of the A.M.E.C. first (A.M.E.C. is African Methodist Episcopal Church, or something like that).
Because the fifth grade teacher had left before I had even finished the day last week, I didn’t get the chance to ask her if there was something she wanted me to do this week. I had prepared myself for this and made myself useful making stuff for and organising the library again. Not a very productive day, but at least I did something.
Glenn, Marij and Ellen are on shopping duty this week and Glenn had promised us he was going to cook for us today (yay, less cooking for me to do!). it wasn’t haute cuisine (just cooked potatoes with sausages and apple sauce), but it was good!
After dinner I took some time to relax before I went to bed.
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And again a very sleepless night… Dunno if I can keep this up for much longer.
At school Marij and I had the worst day ever so far! It was the day the kids had to come to school with their parents to pick up their report cards. The two of us just sat there, doing nothing, listening, walking around, playing with the kids, being bored, …By 12 o’ clock Mr Paulus finally gave us permission to leave and it didn’t take us long to get ready and go. We stopped at the bike rental to pay for the last month and head back home.
Today Marij, Ellen and I took Glenn out on a trip to the Paramaribo Zoo. Animals to be seen: Kwata monkeys, ostriches, snakes, parrots, tigers, more monkeys, pigeons (yes, ordinary pigeons are kept in cages at the zoo…), a wild snake that scared the sh*t out of us and an invisible American alligator (the animal had too much waterplants to hide under :()
It’s not a very large zoo, but it’s nice to do something else than sit around at home all day.
Just like at the Palmentuin there was a nice “recreation area” for the kids and again, we had a lot of fun there.
At 6pm the zoo closed and we called a taxi to take us into town to grab something to eat. From there out, we left to the Orange bar, together with the students from the other house, because there’s an information meeting about Blanche Marie. I was exhausted and was glad it was over around 10pm. Back home I didn’t even take the time to smoke a last cigarette and just went straight to bed (very unlike me!)
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Today’s Wednesday and Marij and I have to get up early because we’re leaving on a trip to Brokopondo with the teachers. Most of our fellow house mates could enjoy their first (unofficial) day of relaxing and doing nothing because of the Easter holiday.
By the time all teachers had arrived and were ready to go, it was 8am (I can still hear the principal saying: Whoever isn’t here by 7.30, can walk to Brokopondo)…
The road was still exactly the same as when we went to Brownsberg: hobbly bobbly jump-on-your-seat…
Even the van thought this way and we had to stop to tie the exhaust back in it’s place…
By the time we finally arrived, it was 11am already and time for a swim! The water was refreshing and more than welcome. After that, time for lunch! The teachers had all brought something and we had delicious bami and nasi. In fact it was so good, we all had to lie down and relax a bit before doing anything else. Too bad the weather didn’t like our “anything else” plans and dark clouds forced us under a small hut. Just in time, because the typical Surinam Rain showers had arrived. There go our team building games… But no worries, we had hammocks, food, drinks and each other, so it did turn out to be a wonderful day. The sound of the rain was so relaxing, that I even fell asleep… By the time I woke up again, it had almost stopped raining and it was time to get dressed and go back home.
Yet again the hobbly bobbly hit-your-head-against-the-roof road which had now turned into a mud pool because of the rain.
We weren’t very lucky… half an hour after we had left, we got stuck in the mud. Luckily there was a pick-up who was willing to help us out (well, not the pick-up, but the driver). An hour later, we got forced out of the bus again, because of a flat tire… It was already starting to get dark, and with the help of some flashlights, they finally got the job done. No more incidents after that, but I don’t think anyone will complain about that!
Our principal, who was our driver, was so kind to drop us off at home and I was so tired (damn bed!) I could hardly keep my eyes open. still took a shower though, to wash all the sand from uncomfy places.
Glenn is sleeping in my room tonight, so Marij can have her bed to herself as well for a night. Two people in a crappy bed, let’s hope it’ll last the night…
-----
Didn’t take me long to fall asleep last night. And the bed has survived the weight of both of us (yay!) And today is the first official day of our 2.5 week lasting vacation, which is supposed to mean: sleeping in! Wishful thinking, cause at 7.15 my phone woke me up… (who the hell even thinks about calling at this hour???) I did eventually fall asleep again, but it was more a nap than getting sleep… At 10.30 I gave up trying and climbed over Glenn and out of bed.
Took a long, refreshing, relaxing shower and when I got out, Marij came to tell me they had decided to go swimming today. Even the kids from our street were invited and we were off to Parima. Because I had worn my bikini all day yesterday, I didn’t really feel like putting it on again today, so no swimming for me, but I did get to enjoy the wonderful South American sun! And the kiddy pool was shallow enough for me to walk around in :p
At 3pm the pool closed for maintenance and we went back home.
Today we have steak with veggies and French fries on the menu. Not exactly very Surinam cooking, but that doesn’t mean it’s less tasty! (well, I actually only had the veggies and a sandwich, cause I don’t eat steak and I didn’t feel like fries either…)
After dinner we all got ready to go out to Havana Lounge. Glenn stayed home because he had a head ache. An entire night of dancing, drinking, enjoying and having fun and by 5am we all were so tired we finally decided to go home again and go to bed.
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The next day I slept in. by the time I got up, everyone was up already. Today is Glenn’s last day (he leaves at 4) so he was busy packing and I subtly put some of my stuff next to his for him to take home already.
When he was all ready to go we played a few games of UNO and then it was time already to say goodbye. The taxi was there to pick him up and take him to the airport (we had decided that it was a bit silly for us to go with him, since that would just cost him more).
Marij, Ellen and I played a few more games and then had dinner. I made macaroni and cheese and everyone thought it was delicious! ^^
After dinner it was time to pack. Tomorrow Ellen, Marij and I leave on a four day trip to Blanche Marie. It’s a 15h ride, so we have to get up early… VERY EARLY!! Let’s hope I fall asleep fast...
Monday, April 6, 2009
Shopping Shopping Shopping!
Today’s the last day in the third grade. Because I couldn’t pay for our trip to Blanche Marie yesterday, I still needed to go get money today. Not possible without my passport, so I really needed to go get it. Mr Blockland was on vacation, but Mr Zordan was there to help me out. I did need to get there as fast as I could, though, cause at 10am he would be in a meeting he couldn’t get out of until it was done. I was glad my teacher said she would take over some classes and that the principal allowed me to go get it during school hours.
When I arrived, it turned out none of the people there had a key to the vault where our passports are. “It’ll be about 30 minutes till the woman gets here.” Thirty minutes turned to an hour and thirty minutes, and by the time she actually got there, it was past 10am and most of my teaching day had passed.
I quickly head back to school and took over the classes again. Luckily my teacher didn’t have any problems with me being back much later than planned (after all, it wasn’t my fault). I did get back in time to give my first English lesson though: ‘The parts of my arms and legs’, where wrists were feet, ankles were knees and shoulders were hips… But they got it in the end!
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Weekend again! Today is shopping day! Too bad it was raining again... but thank god for taxis!
First stop: Boombox (which, as you prolly can guess, is a music store). Here we bought our tickets for Richie Spice, Dancehall (kind of reggae) artist who will be performing in Paramaribo tomorrow.
Second stop: Ellen. She had already left when we got up and we met her in a nice coffee shop (not the Dutch kind) where she showed us all the stuff she had bought already.
Next stop: Shops!! Bought myself two pair of shoes, two new bags and a CD.
Final stop: Popeye’s for some yummy chicken and biscuits before we head back home.
Around 6ish someone came over to make us real Java saoto soup. It was pretty good, but I like the salty type better than this sweet soup.
Tineke, Sharon and Evi are going out into town and Ellen went to bed early. That leaves Marij and I to entertain ourselves, which we did perfectly with chocolate and a movie!
Wouws and Gunno came by to watch one with us, but by the time it was 4am, I was too exhausted to watch the end of the second movie and just went to bed.
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Today was the day we were supposed to go to Bersaba again. Yup: SUPPOSED to go. Wouws and Gunno were coming to pick us all up at 10, so we could spend an entire day there. By 11am gunno called to say he was going to be here at noon. 12.30 and still no one to be seen, so I called him back. “I’ll call you back at one, I still need to do some things first”. By 2pm we had given up waiting and just went on with our own business. Wasn’t worth going anymore, since it’s an hour drive and we needed to be back in time for Richie Spice. Not worth mentioning we were pissed about all this…
By 3.30pm Wouws finally showed up: in a cab, with all the food he had prepared for us. Still no sign of Gunno, though… By 4.30 he finally arrived with all sorts of excuses: his boss had sent him to pick someone up, there had been an accident at work and he had to go check it out and settle everything, his mom had the car and he couldn’t go anywhere, … I don’t think he even realized he was contradicting himself, which pissed me off even more.
Fortunately wouws had already come with something to eat, so we didn’t have to starve to death :p
By the time it was 9pm, Marij, Ellen and I got ready for Richie Spice. Even though Richie himself would perform around midnight, Ellen didn’t want to miss the entertainment acts that were scheduled before that. And they indeed were very good! I even thought some were better than Richie… we did have a wonderful time, lots of shaking, talking, singing and screaming. Not that we knew the lyrics, but who knows and who cares? :p
By the time we got home, it was past 2am and after a bit of “aftertalk” we all head to bed.
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Last day of the weekend again and I really felt like I had deserved a good sleep in! by 12.30 I finally got out of bed and did a bit of schoolwork.
Glenn, a mate from Belgium, is coming over for a week and Marij and I are going to pick him up at 4. It is nice to have a “new” face around the house and someone else to talk to besides the 5 house mates…
Today’s also the day we switch rooms again. Marij and I have already spent an entire month in bed together (not ALL the time of course, but every night! :p). I am going to miss my talking partner in bed…
We had spaghetti again today. This one was the best I had ever eaten in Suriname (mushrooms!!!)
When I arrived, it turned out none of the people there had a key to the vault where our passports are. “It’ll be about 30 minutes till the woman gets here.” Thirty minutes turned to an hour and thirty minutes, and by the time she actually got there, it was past 10am and most of my teaching day had passed.
I quickly head back to school and took over the classes again. Luckily my teacher didn’t have any problems with me being back much later than planned (after all, it wasn’t my fault). I did get back in time to give my first English lesson though: ‘The parts of my arms and legs’, where wrists were feet, ankles were knees and shoulders were hips… But they got it in the end!
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Weekend again! Today is shopping day! Too bad it was raining again... but thank god for taxis!
First stop: Boombox (which, as you prolly can guess, is a music store). Here we bought our tickets for Richie Spice, Dancehall (kind of reggae) artist who will be performing in Paramaribo tomorrow.
Second stop: Ellen. She had already left when we got up and we met her in a nice coffee shop (not the Dutch kind) where she showed us all the stuff she had bought already.
Next stop: Shops!! Bought myself two pair of shoes, two new bags and a CD.
Final stop: Popeye’s for some yummy chicken and biscuits before we head back home.
Around 6ish someone came over to make us real Java saoto soup. It was pretty good, but I like the salty type better than this sweet soup.
Tineke, Sharon and Evi are going out into town and Ellen went to bed early. That leaves Marij and I to entertain ourselves, which we did perfectly with chocolate and a movie!
Wouws and Gunno came by to watch one with us, but by the time it was 4am, I was too exhausted to watch the end of the second movie and just went to bed.
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Today was the day we were supposed to go to Bersaba again. Yup: SUPPOSED to go. Wouws and Gunno were coming to pick us all up at 10, so we could spend an entire day there. By 11am gunno called to say he was going to be here at noon. 12.30 and still no one to be seen, so I called him back. “I’ll call you back at one, I still need to do some things first”. By 2pm we had given up waiting and just went on with our own business. Wasn’t worth going anymore, since it’s an hour drive and we needed to be back in time for Richie Spice. Not worth mentioning we were pissed about all this…
By 3.30pm Wouws finally showed up: in a cab, with all the food he had prepared for us. Still no sign of Gunno, though… By 4.30 he finally arrived with all sorts of excuses: his boss had sent him to pick someone up, there had been an accident at work and he had to go check it out and settle everything, his mom had the car and he couldn’t go anywhere, … I don’t think he even realized he was contradicting himself, which pissed me off even more.
Fortunately wouws had already come with something to eat, so we didn’t have to starve to death :p
By the time it was 9pm, Marij, Ellen and I got ready for Richie Spice. Even though Richie himself would perform around midnight, Ellen didn’t want to miss the entertainment acts that were scheduled before that. And they indeed were very good! I even thought some were better than Richie… we did have a wonderful time, lots of shaking, talking, singing and screaming. Not that we knew the lyrics, but who knows and who cares? :p
By the time we got home, it was past 2am and after a bit of “aftertalk” we all head to bed.
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Last day of the weekend again and I really felt like I had deserved a good sleep in! by 12.30 I finally got out of bed and did a bit of schoolwork.
Glenn, a mate from Belgium, is coming over for a week and Marij and I are going to pick him up at 4. It is nice to have a “new” face around the house and someone else to talk to besides the 5 house mates…
Today’s also the day we switch rooms again. Marij and I have already spent an entire month in bed together (not ALL the time of course, but every night! :p). I am going to miss my talking partner in bed…
We had spaghetti again today. This one was the best I had ever eaten in Suriname (mushrooms!!!)
Palmentuin, Fort Zeelandia and April Fool's Day
It’s weekend again and that means: sleeping in!
Sharon and Tineke are going on a two day trip to Galibi this weekend, so it’ll be just the four of us. Let’s hope it’s going to be a nice and quiet weekend.
I spent the entire day working for school. I wanted to finish everything, so I could spend the weekend doing absolutely nothing!
Around seven we prepared ourselves to go out: we were going to meet our fellow students to go out for dinner. I had the most wonderful chicken and cheese pasta! After stuffing ourselves, we headed to ‘t vat for an afterdrink. Seemed that a lot of people had that idea, cause when we arrived, the terrace was crowded! We checked out a few other places, but Niky and Vincent decided that they absolutely wanted a banana split from ‘t vat. Our hawk eyes found an empty table and we all gathered around it.
By 12.30pm everyone was exhausted, so we all headed back home for a good night’s sleep.
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Today we planned a trip to Fort Zeelandia, but when we arrived there the sign said: close don Saturdays. Fun!
But luckily the sign that said “Closed till further notice” at the Palmentuin (palm tree garden) had been removed. A few months ago, someone there got hit by a falling branch or leaf and got injured. Poor trees: three or four of them were taken down because of it, but now we could safely walk through without the danger of falling leaves/branches.
Apart from the trees, there’s not much to see, but it is pretty spectacular. They are extremely high and there are around 1000ish palm trees in there. There also was some space for the kids where they could have fun with slides, swings, merry-go-rounds and other things. Of course we had to try everything out! For over half an hour, we were kids again. Even the locals there looked at us in a weird way.
In the late afternoon we finally had enough of it and realised we were thirsty and hungry from all the playing. And yet again ‘t vat was our destination!
A markoesa juice (markoesa means passion fruit) and a banana split filled our stomachs and we were happy and satisfied again.
Tineke and Sharon came back from their trip to Galibi today. They talked for hours about what they had seen and done and it all sounded wonderful, but it kinda ruined the surprise for us, since we also have plans to go there (Galibi is one of the only places where the giant sea turtles come to lay their eggs).
Marij, Ellen and I decided to watch a movie after dinner (bami and nasi, yumm). Sweeney Todd was the film we all agreed on, but Ellen soon regretted her decision… Seems that blood, even in a funny way, isn’t her cup of tea.
I sorta missed the end of the film, cause I had spilled some banana-strawberry nectar and had to take care of the ants that had come to enjoy the sweetness. Hundreds died by my hand and I don’t feel sorry for a single one (those who do can come and talk to me in person!).
After Sweeney Todd, we watched 50 first dates, cause Ellen really didn’t want to go to bed after the first film. That was a good choice: laughing, almost-crying, but in the end, everything turned out ok (doesn’t it always with these kind of movies?)
After this light entertainment I decided it was time for bed. I read a bit and by the time I had finished my book it was past 1am already, so really time for bed!
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We got up around 10.30 today. There is a free guided tour every Sunday at noon and we didn’t want to miss it this time.
It was pretty impressive, but less than I thought. It’s a small fortress and there aren’t many original things left. When it was first used, it was to keep an eye on the Suriname river. That way invaders couldn’t come to Paramaribo unnoticed. Later, they used Fort Zeelandia as a prison, with tiny cells and a pharmacy. Now it is used as a museum and a gallery.
After an hour and a half tour we decided we had deserved a drink, so on to ‘t vat again. In the late afternoon we returned home for some relaxing and Marij still had to finish some schoolwork.
Around 7pm someone came to pick us up. Two mates had arranged for us to have dinner at their moms house. Delicious roti!
After that we got a tour at Gunno’s ENORMOUS house (with bath tub! I miss taking a relaxing bath :( )
By the time we got home and ready to go to bed, it was past 1am… Zombie teachers tomorrow!
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This week Marij teaches fourth and I do third grade. I had been warned about this class: last week Marij had to suspend 4 students because of their behaviour… But they all seemed very nice kids and really worked hard today, lucky me!
Because of the lack of sleep last night, I was completely worn out and by 9pm I just went to bed. Didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.
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Last day of March and I’m guessing the kids sense the nearing of Easter break… All hell broke loose today in class. The teacher had to take over the first grade, cause the teacher was sick, so it was just me and the kids today and now I know why Marij warned me. Savario only hears what he wants to hear and all of them know exactly how to make my blood boil! My throat hurt like hell from all the screaming (which is necessary, cause otherwise the kids just don’t hear you!). I dunno if I can get through another two days of this…
After school it was time for STARS again. Marij and I took the social skills class and got permission to leave afterwards. It’s almost time for report cards and the teachers here celebrate the end of every period. The plans were to each bring an ingredient for a dish and then cook together at school. Marij and I got permission from the principal to arrange a minivan and see if we can celebrate in Brokopondo. So we headed towards the rental centre and because of the contacts of Mr Paulus (thank you Mr principal) it was arranged very quickly.
Marij and Ellen are chef this week and they threw together a pretty good bami for us. After dinner I got a visit from the Sandman, so I didn’t stay up much longer.
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The 1st of April today… three of my house mates had decided to have a few laughs with us. Some of the very “creative” jokes:
Toothpaste on all door handles and faucets.
Soap on the toilet seats.
Salt and vinegar in the water.
Hide our shoes.
I really really REALLY didn’t like any of them, and was kinda furious when I discovered our shoes were gone when I wanted to leave for school. Maybe I should mention I wasn’t in a good mood when I got up in the first place, since I had lost my voice and didn’t look forward to teaching like this.
Luckily it didn’t spoil my entire day. We only had classes till 10 because of a staff meeting. Too bad that doesn’t mean we can go home at 10 as well… We talked about the kids’ grades and Marij and I suggested our Brokopondo idea. Almost all teachers were in favour of it, so yeay, we’re going to Brokopondo on Wednesday! I don’t think the kids will mind either, cause that means an extra day of vacation!
After school we had to go into town, cause we had to pay for our Blanche Marie trip in two weeks. Since everything trip-related is to be paid in euro’s (more profitable than paying in SRD) I still needed to go to the bank. ‘Sorry madam, we can’t give you any money if you don’t have your passport with you. No a copy isn’t good enough. No, you’re Belgian ID isn’t good either.’ So there I was, no money, no passport (Everyone had given their passports to Mr Blockland, the commissioner that is “in charge” of making sure nothing happens to us in Suriname), no way of paying (I was NOT going to put down 600 SRD for this trip!). Fortunately Diego (the tour operator) didn’t mind and said it was perfectly ok if I paid later this week.
Tineke and Evi are going to watch a football game (European football, not American football :P) tonight, so we’re having hot dogs for dinner: quick but yummy! Them leaving also meant it’s going to be pretty quiet around here, and I’m definitely not going to complain about that!
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