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Driftwood in the Desert
Natural art at Hoge Veluwe Park With Queensday festivities officially over last Friday morning, Koert and I took a day to rest before heading back onto the party scene again. We also engaged in a little healthful activity with a bike ride through Hoge Veluwe (pronounced ho-huh velu-wa) Park, the largest nature reserve in the country, and some brain-cell-rebuilding with a cultural visit to the Kroller-Muller Museum (which lies 5.5km beyond the park gate) on Saturday. With a few clouds keeping crowds to a minimum, Koert and I felt like intrepid explorers as we rolled, nearly alone, through an ever-changing series of landscapes - from green fields to lush forests, fine-sanded desert and two-toned savanna.
We returned from our adventure with bellies full of the world's creamiest, meltiest, simplest vanilla ice cream and gave our bodies one more healthy boost of soup-and-salad dinner before heading over to Joost's house for his birthday party. Joost (pronounced yoh-st, not juiced) is a childhood friend of Koert's who, at 31, has decided to move to Bonaire to teach Dutch - proof that it's never too late to embark on the greatest adventure of your life. He is tall (as are all Dutch men), good looking and wildly charming and
Desert and Fields
What a landscape to find in the middle of the Netherlands! we spent about an hour discussing the wonders of roaming the earth before I made it to the main party room where I discovered several more hours-worth of interesting conversation with his friends. Over nearly six hours we covered every topic imaginable from politics and religion to world music and international delicacies. And though we had only planned to stay for a couple of hours, Koert and I began our bike ride back to his house at 3:30am.
Sunday was a little calmer as Koert's girlfriend, Janneka (pronounced Ya-nu-kah), returned from her week-long vacation in Egypt and we all spent an afternoon catching up on e-mails and staring blankly from the couch through the windows at the gray sky outside. But even after a few idle hours, we still made it out for Dutch-style Chinese food (which does not resemble any Chinese food I've ever had in Canada or China, but makes for an interesting cross-cultural experience) that night with another great couple of Koert's friends. At least this meal ended quite early as we were all "shitting in," as they say in Dutch, after a heavy buffet selection of fried and saucy meats.
After such a great
week, it was a bit sad for Koert to return to work yesterday. I would have felt quite lonely, having no one to share spontaneous party recollections with, if it weren't for Janneka, who brought me to her city, Nijmegen (Nai-may-ha), for a unique guided tour. Since she works for Njimegen City Hall, she was able to tell me all about the history and municipal gossip of the sites we visited. Under a slightly ominous-looking sky we strolled through surprisingly crowded streets, lined with a mix of historical and contemporary buildings - the result of the city having been bombed by allied forces in 1944 after being mistaken for a nearby German city. The fact that it was May 4th, remembrance day for all the lives that have been lost to conflict since World War I, made the visit feel even more significant.
With her insider knowledge Janneke gave me a full rundown of the city's impressively progressive social programming while pointing out the oldest, ugliest and even darkest spots in town. And though fatigue had minimized our interaction on Sunday, we made up for it yesterday with hours of conversation over lunch, shopping, licorice-tasting and tea. By the
Desert Dominatrix
Not trying to dominate the desert, but rather my emotions about standing six feet off the ground time we made it back home with Koert, I felt as if I had reconnected with a long-lost friend - not so far from the truth since Koert had already told each of us so much about the other.
As I take today to reflect on my visit and prepare for tomorrow's flight to Ireland, where I'll slow my pace for some quality time with my dad, the week I spent here feels like just a day or two. I could easily feel regret about leaving Europe; everyone who asks if I could see myself living here again gets the same resounding "YES" as an answer. I think I'll be back for a longer visit some day under circumstances I can't yet imagine; but I'm still dreaming of mountains and a real income and barbecued Alberta Beef, so I'm going to make the most of the Liberation Day festivities in Wageningen (Va-heh-ning-ah) tonight for one last celebration in this inspiring country full of inspiring friends.
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Dana
non-member comment
I am really itching to get on a plane next Thursday LOL LOL