Boerenkool en ijspret

Hello everybody, here i am again and will tell you about the last few days.
The 3rd day (03/03) early in the morning start praying around 05.30. I went downstairs to help my friend Ruby (the dog) out of his room. Nienke joined me around nine and she showed me how to make some tea with the machine and we had breakfast together. Then we went out for the voting near the house. This was completely different from back home, so well organised and peacefull. In Africa people try to cheat with the elections, that's really bad. Here in holland they made sure this is not possible. After this we went to the local market. Again this is very different from the markets in Ghana. There where a lot of people with less noise. Everybody was talking normal and there was much attention from seller to customer. There was a lot of cheese and the fish is there in lots of different types instead of just one. Very much different types of food and flowers. Also lots of different bread. All the products are here in so much different veriaty. i was very surprised to hear that the market is only on 2 days of the week. Wednesday and Saturday. In Ghana it is every day there. After this we went for some shopping, i was very surprised to see we could park the car 3 stories high above the shops. We shopped for dinner, and the supermarket was beneath the ground in the cellar. We also went to shop for a new leash for Ruby, again a big surprise to see there is a whole supermarket just for animal products. Then we drove back home and took a short rest with some tea to keep me warm.
Then at one o'clock Estelle was at the door. This was a big surprise seeing her after such a long time. She warmed me up from the inside. Nienke was tired from the market and was not feeling very well. Walter had to go see a company doctor for a job so i went alone with Estelle to castle "De Haar in Haarzuilens". It was quite a long drive and we got there in about 30 minutes. It was very nice to see. A very mighty castle with some beautiful nature. There was some renovationwork going on but we where still alowed to see inside. There was a guide to show us around. The castle was so big and even inside it was very very cold. There was history told by the guide and Estelle translated it all for me. One interesting thing i learned there in the presentation of the guide was that it was quit clear and i admired the way she was telling it all to us though it was in dutch. We made some nice pictures. I was given some handout on the castle, it was in english so nice for me to read later. After this we drove to a restaurant for some nice hot coffee. This meant a lot for the two of us because when back in Ghana Estelle would always stop all the work at 11 o'clock for us to drink COFFEE in the office.
Then we drove back to Walter and Nienke's place, just in time for dinner. Then we had the typical dutch meal boerenkool with worst from the cow! I thought it was realy very delicious and again prepaired by Walter.
10 minutes after dinner we had to say goodbye to Estelle because we had to go to class with Ruby. A puppy course. This was a very big surprise to see that so much time is spent by the owners of the dog to train their puppy. Also very nice to see the dogs respond and even knowing what is asked of them. I learned a lot and it also aroused my interest in keeping a dog as a pet in Ghana and not only for food! It was very cold outside around -2/3. So when we came back in the house i went to bed immediately. Nienke made a nice hot bottle(kruik) for me to take to bed. It made me nice and warm again.
Day 4 (thursday 03/04)
The next morning i woke up again at 5.15 and got downstairs around 8.15. Ruby was already out and Nienke was also downstairs and made some nice breakfast, porridge! (pap)
Then Walter drove us to Nienke's grandma, in Utrecht. She was really very caring and vital for her 83 years of age. She gave us some tea, chocolate and bisquits. She showed us love as a grandma. After 30 minutes we went ice-skating. This was completly different from what i have ever seen. Ice and people could run on it, with shoes with knives under them. I tried the shoes on and it was funny to even walk with them. I try to step on the ice but it was very difficult to stay up. Walter did all his best to keep me up but it was so difficult but also very much fun. We got a helping-device where i could lean on and this was much better. You can see on the pictures. Still a fell down 3 or 4 times. It was maby 35 years ago the last time i fell down so it was good and very fun. Just when we were finishing the skating there was a machine to fix the ice. This was also interesting to see for the first time. Then we had to drive back to grandma' s place where we left Ruby. Again there was tea and some very nice soup with the meat of the cow, really splendid. After this we made some pictures of me with Nienke and grandma and said goodbye. After this we went to a real western restaurant called MAC DONALDS. I had a big mac burger, fries and a coke. It was a very delicious dinner although Walter explained that it is not very good for a person. Then after we had to walk out and it was very cold again. We ran for a short while to the car. This was fun. Then we got home and i went straight to my room, around 21.00u, it was yet another great day.
Day 5 (friday 03/05)
I woke up at 5.30 and after an hour i came down to help my friend Ruby, i also made myself a nice cup of tea. Then at 9 Nienke joined and made some breakfast. We still talked about the training of the dog. Then i sat down with Walter behind the computer again to tell you all about my days, after this we will go to the center by bike for some shopping and around 18.00u Johan will come to pick me up. We will travel to Zwolle by train. I am looking forward to this. I must confess i have been taken good care of by Walter and Nienke, i am so happy. I am really going to miss them. I wish them all the best and hope to see them soon.
For all of you good to know that my health is very good, no problems what so ever!