The place to be...
Door: ibrahiminnederland
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Ibrahim
11 April 2010 | Nederland, Vlissingen
Wednesday (04/07) I drove from De Meern to Vlissingen with Mariette, it was a very nice trip by car. It took us two ours to reach Vlissingen. When we arrived in Vlissingen it took us like 15 minutes to find the theatre where everybody was waiting for us.
It was joy to see Leroy, Lisette, Joyce and cô waiting for us. It was nice to meet them and already lunch was waiting for us. We immediately walked to the dijk to have our lunch over there. We had a very nice weather with a lot of big ships passing by.
After the lunch we had to move back to the theatre where there was going to be an evening program from the Nurses on Tour so we had to prepare. We had to built a traditional hat. We also helped to arrange the lottery for the evening. We went up to the stage to help built it up. When we finished preparing everything for the evening, we had some time to sit in the bar and I met some of the other volunteers, that was Anke and her dad, Marlieke, Meike, Flori, Mirjam, Imke’s mother (Imke is a volunteer who is in Ghana now, she was such a nice mother) and Estelle. All the volunteers came to have dinner so we could have a little chat. During the program I also met Nicole and Kim very short, I was surprised to see them.
At 19.30 the program started. With a lot of different cultural dancing groups that were there to perform. There were quite a lot of audience around 300. It was a nice evening. I was given the opportunity to address the stage to give a speech about the work of Nurses on Tour in Ghana and Meet Africa as a whole. It is impossible to give details of the evening cause it would take me a whole day sitting and writing. So I would therefore ask those who are interested to contact the Nurses on Tour (info@nursesontour.nl) for a DVD of the evening. And I believe you wouldn’t regret watching it. And it will also support the work Nurses on Tour is doing in Ghana. If you are interested to know more about the work of Nurses on Tour you can have a look at our website, www.nursesontour.nl.
The program ended up around 22.30. When everybody left we were there to clean up everything in the theatre. We went to sleep around 12.
The next day (thursday 04/08) we were up early, around 8.30. We were at least happy to say good morning to each other. We had breakfast with Flori, cause she couldn’t travel back so she stayed at our place. But she left immediately after breakfast to catch her train back home. Also Estelle past the night in Zeeland but stayed with Leroy’s parents. Estelle joined us later to the beach where we walked on our very long and high dunes. It was very nice to see the whole of Zeeland, the sea, and we could see Antwerp (Belgium) and the other side of Zeeland (Zeeuws Vlaanderen). We spent the whole afternoon on the beach, walking around. We were lucky to see how the beach houses were been carried in a truck to place them. Was really quite efficient to see how the trucks were there to place the houses on the beach. We walked to sea line to see whether we could find some of the kwallen. We saw some small kwals lying on the beach. I was the first time seeing them.
After the beach we had to go to the supermarket to shop for dinner. We drove back home to prepare our fish, rice and vegetables. After dinner we watched a movie Joyce made for her family in Ghana. Thereafter we had to go with Estelle to the train station cause she had to go back to Bussum. It was a nice day with very nice sunny weather. We had to go to sleep early so we could have a good rest.
Friday (04/09) the weather was good again. In the morning we visited the windmill very close to our house. It was open for visitors so we had the opportunity to have a look inside the windmill. For me it was the first time to go inside a windmill. We could see the construction of it, which was made from wood. It was a mill for grains. After the windmill we walked over the dijk to show the harbor of Vlissingen. Then Leroy remembered he has a colleague who is living on one of the sailboats. So we gave her a call to see if it was possible the have a look inside her boot. She said she was oke with it, so we went inside her boat. It was nice have a look on her boat. Now I could see how it is possible to really live on boat, cause back in Ghana at the embassy of the Netherlands, when I went for my interview to come to Holland the issue of people living on a boat as a home was mentioned and I said it wasn’t possible. There was also a volunteer in Ghana, Dorien (now back in Holland), who told me she was living on a boat with her husband and I said no it wasn’t true. So it was very interesting I could see this with my own eye cause I was not the only one who didn’t believe living on a boat is possible. So I did my work and now I can explain it back to the community.
We continued our day to the Arsenaal. An aquatic museum. It gave me a very clear understanding of what the sea was like. We could see all the types of creatures who are living inside the water. All the different kind of fishes with their different colors, shapes end so on. We also saw a small movie about the pirates. There were also some of the tools and weapons which were been used by the pirates in wars. It is a nice place to visit. Next to the museum there was also a tower. We went up and we had a very spectacular view of the whole of Walcheren!
After the Arsenaal we had lunch at home. The weather was so nice that we could sit in the garden. After a small rest in the sun we drove to Joyce's workplace. It is a home for elderly people in Middelburg. It was really nice to see the old ones enjoying the sun. I had the opportunity to be introduced to them by Joyce. It was nice to see them in very clean cloths and having their own time. Joyce showed me to her other colleagues. She also showed me one of the elevators they are using for the people who are not strong enough to stand or do things by themselves. Sorry sometimes I’m so much impressed about what I get to see and forget to make pictures of it but I hope to improve this.
Now it was time to have dinner. We went to Joyce parents, who are living in Middelburg. It was nice to see these old ones, cause the have their own style of welcoming a guest. Really very impressive. I felt at home! We had dinner, it was a special dinner we did some wokmetten. For the ones who want to know more about the wokmetten the should search for it in a dictionary or watch the pictures.
It was really a nice meal! After our dinner we had some Ligretto as dessert. Ligretto is a very stressfull card game. I tried it but for now I think it’s better for the youth. But maybe after some practicing I’ll be able to follow them! At the end of the evening we had to say goodbye.
Saturday morning (04/10) we had to leave early to be on time at the sport field. Little did a know Joyce was a referee. She was a referee in a korfball match. She did it good. It was my first time watching this game. After the game we went to Middelburg, to Joyce parents house and waited for Leroy’s mother, Aunt and sister. While we were waiting we decided to wash our car to make it new again, cause the birds in Vlissingen made a mess of the car.
When Leroy’s family arrived we drove to Antwerp and passed through the Westerschelde tunnel which was 6.6 kilometers. I just could not imagine this whole road under the sea for such a distance. I felt unsafe while we drove under the water, so I was happy to see the end of the tunnel. What will happen if there is a whole in the middle of the tunnel and the water will come inside…? You all know that a black man like me can’t swim no magical work here… thank God I’m still living and writing my story.
We arrived in Antwerp and we were right on time for our show. We were in Antwerp to see the tribute show of Micheal Jackson. Which started at 14.00 o’clock. This was a very nice show, it looked real, the music, the dance and of course Micheal Jackson. I hope this ‘new’ Micheal Jackson will tour through Africa!
Thereafter we went to the African market in Antwerp, were we met quite a lot of Africans. We visited a Ghanian shop. It was nice to see this Ghanian products. After the shopping we went to a bar where we had a drink. Over there we met Leroy’s aunt, uncle and nieces who were also going to the Micheal Jackson show. It was time to drive back to Holland. We drove to Kapelle and had dinner over there, where we met Lisette and Leroy’s father. It was a nice meal and a very nice restaurant too. Joyce choosed a meal for me. I eat a steak with mushroom sauce, vegetables, fries and fresh fruit as my dessert.
We drove back home and stopped by Lisette’s home for a cup of tea and for Lisette to pick her car. It was nice talking to Lisette’s parent. We said goodbye to them and we drove back to Vlissingen. When we arrived we had a parking problem. It wasn’t possible to park the car close at home, cause there was a program in the Arsenaal Theater. So we had to park our car at the parking place.
This evening we made a ‘gezellig boeltje’. We watched the movie Blood diamond. It was a very nice movie, but I really hope this was the last time such things happen.
Sunday morning (04/11) we had breakfast. After breakfast the Tongo queen (Ingrid) and her husband (Marco) came to visit. After them Loet and Daphne followed. It was nice to see them all again, it was such a nice morning. We had Milo and talked a lot. Two hours later the queen and her husband had to leave back to their castle in Diemen. The rest of us drove to Kasteel Westhoeven. This was a nice castle with a very big park, also close to the beach. We enjoyed the walk around into the forest and the beach. I had a very nice talk to Loet and Daphne and I was happy to see them again.
Around 17.00 Leroy’s father, mother and his sister joined us. And to my surprise she brought food that we could cook and eat at the park over there. It was a picknick dinner. We made hamburgers with unions and tomato’s. We had a local Ghanian game and Ligretto with us. We also did some aerobics. It was really nice to do because the cold was not friendly to us. It was nice day we had to leave and drove back home, it was around 19.00. We had some tea and some time to have a little chat before Loet and Daphne had to go back home. When everybody left I had some time to talk to Felicia back in Ghana.
A lot of good things are happening in Vlissingen, the place to be!
It was joy to see Leroy, Lisette, Joyce and cô waiting for us. It was nice to meet them and already lunch was waiting for us. We immediately walked to the dijk to have our lunch over there. We had a very nice weather with a lot of big ships passing by.
After the lunch we had to move back to the theatre where there was going to be an evening program from the Nurses on Tour so we had to prepare. We had to built a traditional hat. We also helped to arrange the lottery for the evening. We went up to the stage to help built it up. When we finished preparing everything for the evening, we had some time to sit in the bar and I met some of the other volunteers, that was Anke and her dad, Marlieke, Meike, Flori, Mirjam, Imke’s mother (Imke is a volunteer who is in Ghana now, she was such a nice mother) and Estelle. All the volunteers came to have dinner so we could have a little chat. During the program I also met Nicole and Kim very short, I was surprised to see them.
At 19.30 the program started. With a lot of different cultural dancing groups that were there to perform. There were quite a lot of audience around 300. It was a nice evening. I was given the opportunity to address the stage to give a speech about the work of Nurses on Tour in Ghana and Meet Africa as a whole. It is impossible to give details of the evening cause it would take me a whole day sitting and writing. So I would therefore ask those who are interested to contact the Nurses on Tour (info@nursesontour.nl) for a DVD of the evening. And I believe you wouldn’t regret watching it. And it will also support the work Nurses on Tour is doing in Ghana. If you are interested to know more about the work of Nurses on Tour you can have a look at our website, www.nursesontour.nl.
The program ended up around 22.30. When everybody left we were there to clean up everything in the theatre. We went to sleep around 12.
The next day (thursday 04/08) we were up early, around 8.30. We were at least happy to say good morning to each other. We had breakfast with Flori, cause she couldn’t travel back so she stayed at our place. But she left immediately after breakfast to catch her train back home. Also Estelle past the night in Zeeland but stayed with Leroy’s parents. Estelle joined us later to the beach where we walked on our very long and high dunes. It was very nice to see the whole of Zeeland, the sea, and we could see Antwerp (Belgium) and the other side of Zeeland (Zeeuws Vlaanderen). We spent the whole afternoon on the beach, walking around. We were lucky to see how the beach houses were been carried in a truck to place them. Was really quite efficient to see how the trucks were there to place the houses on the beach. We walked to sea line to see whether we could find some of the kwallen. We saw some small kwals lying on the beach. I was the first time seeing them.
After the beach we had to go to the supermarket to shop for dinner. We drove back home to prepare our fish, rice and vegetables. After dinner we watched a movie Joyce made for her family in Ghana. Thereafter we had to go with Estelle to the train station cause she had to go back to Bussum. It was a nice day with very nice sunny weather. We had to go to sleep early so we could have a good rest.
Friday (04/09) the weather was good again. In the morning we visited the windmill very close to our house. It was open for visitors so we had the opportunity to have a look inside the windmill. For me it was the first time to go inside a windmill. We could see the construction of it, which was made from wood. It was a mill for grains. After the windmill we walked over the dijk to show the harbor of Vlissingen. Then Leroy remembered he has a colleague who is living on one of the sailboats. So we gave her a call to see if it was possible the have a look inside her boot. She said she was oke with it, so we went inside her boat. It was nice have a look on her boat. Now I could see how it is possible to really live on boat, cause back in Ghana at the embassy of the Netherlands, when I went for my interview to come to Holland the issue of people living on a boat as a home was mentioned and I said it wasn’t possible. There was also a volunteer in Ghana, Dorien (now back in Holland), who told me she was living on a boat with her husband and I said no it wasn’t true. So it was very interesting I could see this with my own eye cause I was not the only one who didn’t believe living on a boat is possible. So I did my work and now I can explain it back to the community.
We continued our day to the Arsenaal. An aquatic museum. It gave me a very clear understanding of what the sea was like. We could see all the types of creatures who are living inside the water. All the different kind of fishes with their different colors, shapes end so on. We also saw a small movie about the pirates. There were also some of the tools and weapons which were been used by the pirates in wars. It is a nice place to visit. Next to the museum there was also a tower. We went up and we had a very spectacular view of the whole of Walcheren!
After the Arsenaal we had lunch at home. The weather was so nice that we could sit in the garden. After a small rest in the sun we drove to Joyce's workplace. It is a home for elderly people in Middelburg. It was really nice to see the old ones enjoying the sun. I had the opportunity to be introduced to them by Joyce. It was nice to see them in very clean cloths and having their own time. Joyce showed me to her other colleagues. She also showed me one of the elevators they are using for the people who are not strong enough to stand or do things by themselves. Sorry sometimes I’m so much impressed about what I get to see and forget to make pictures of it but I hope to improve this.
Now it was time to have dinner. We went to Joyce parents, who are living in Middelburg. It was nice to see these old ones, cause the have their own style of welcoming a guest. Really very impressive. I felt at home! We had dinner, it was a special dinner we did some wokmetten. For the ones who want to know more about the wokmetten the should search for it in a dictionary or watch the pictures.
It was really a nice meal! After our dinner we had some Ligretto as dessert. Ligretto is a very stressfull card game. I tried it but for now I think it’s better for the youth. But maybe after some practicing I’ll be able to follow them! At the end of the evening we had to say goodbye.
Saturday morning (04/10) we had to leave early to be on time at the sport field. Little did a know Joyce was a referee. She was a referee in a korfball match. She did it good. It was my first time watching this game. After the game we went to Middelburg, to Joyce parents house and waited for Leroy’s mother, Aunt and sister. While we were waiting we decided to wash our car to make it new again, cause the birds in Vlissingen made a mess of the car.
When Leroy’s family arrived we drove to Antwerp and passed through the Westerschelde tunnel which was 6.6 kilometers. I just could not imagine this whole road under the sea for such a distance. I felt unsafe while we drove under the water, so I was happy to see the end of the tunnel. What will happen if there is a whole in the middle of the tunnel and the water will come inside…? You all know that a black man like me can’t swim no magical work here… thank God I’m still living and writing my story.
We arrived in Antwerp and we were right on time for our show. We were in Antwerp to see the tribute show of Micheal Jackson. Which started at 14.00 o’clock. This was a very nice show, it looked real, the music, the dance and of course Micheal Jackson. I hope this ‘new’ Micheal Jackson will tour through Africa!
Thereafter we went to the African market in Antwerp, were we met quite a lot of Africans. We visited a Ghanian shop. It was nice to see this Ghanian products. After the shopping we went to a bar where we had a drink. Over there we met Leroy’s aunt, uncle and nieces who were also going to the Micheal Jackson show. It was time to drive back to Holland. We drove to Kapelle and had dinner over there, where we met Lisette and Leroy’s father. It was a nice meal and a very nice restaurant too. Joyce choosed a meal for me. I eat a steak with mushroom sauce, vegetables, fries and fresh fruit as my dessert.
We drove back home and stopped by Lisette’s home for a cup of tea and for Lisette to pick her car. It was nice talking to Lisette’s parent. We said goodbye to them and we drove back to Vlissingen. When we arrived we had a parking problem. It wasn’t possible to park the car close at home, cause there was a program in the Arsenaal Theater. So we had to park our car at the parking place.
This evening we made a ‘gezellig boeltje’. We watched the movie Blood diamond. It was a very nice movie, but I really hope this was the last time such things happen.
Sunday morning (04/11) we had breakfast. After breakfast the Tongo queen (Ingrid) and her husband (Marco) came to visit. After them Loet and Daphne followed. It was nice to see them all again, it was such a nice morning. We had Milo and talked a lot. Two hours later the queen and her husband had to leave back to their castle in Diemen. The rest of us drove to Kasteel Westhoeven. This was a nice castle with a very big park, also close to the beach. We enjoyed the walk around into the forest and the beach. I had a very nice talk to Loet and Daphne and I was happy to see them again.
Around 17.00 Leroy’s father, mother and his sister joined us. And to my surprise she brought food that we could cook and eat at the park over there. It was a picknick dinner. We made hamburgers with unions and tomato’s. We had a local Ghanian game and Ligretto with us. We also did some aerobics. It was really nice to do because the cold was not friendly to us. It was nice day we had to leave and drove back home, it was around 19.00. We had some tea and some time to have a little chat before Loet and Daphne had to go back home. When everybody left I had some time to talk to Felicia back in Ghana.
A lot of good things are happening in Vlissingen, the place to be!
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
