The smell of honey cakes, horse shit, burned wood and warm straw. In some villages in France, you can not only smell these things, but you can relive the time in which they were not so uncommon. During August, some villages in the France province of Aquitaine celebrate the time in which these villages came to be. With the weapon of the House Plantagenet and colours of the Duchy of Aquitaine on banners, the old stronghold of Eymet looks just like it has come back from the 12th century. The smells, the customs, the market, it’s like you’re walking through the streets of Eymet back in history, when Henry the Second of England and Eleonor of Aquitaine where the rulers of Aquitaine, Bretagne and Normandy.
Eleonor, Duchess of Aquitaine. It all started with her. When she became duchess, she married Louis the Fourteenth, future king of France. But when their marriage was disbanded, she married Henry the Second, duke of Bretagne, duke of Normandy and two years after their marriage, king of England. The fact that this couple had more influence in the entire coast of France (Eleonors dowry existed of her rights to Aquitaine, which Louis lost when they divorced, and Henry got when they married), was something Louis the Fourteenth, now king of France, didn’t take too well. He declared war to Normandy, Bretagne and Aquitaine, to break the influence of this noble couple. But the couple brought the fortresses to the villages and cities, and during times of peace, these fortresses brought economic welfare to the villages, which stayed loyal to the Plantagenets. Too bad for Louis...
And because of this welfare, the villages return in history during the month of August. With workshops archery and calligraphy for visitors, markets with wood turners, banker masons, bakers and the local ‘curer’ with healing stones and herbs. Apparently, witches didn’t have to be scared to end up on the stake back in the 12th century. Her tilt-cart is covered with scarves, plants and weird looking jars and bowls. The falconers show their birds proudly near the old pigeon house, in a garden full of beautiful blooming sunflowers. There is a bookstall which only sells books with the Dark Ages as subject, there are handmade bags and leather belts, handmade sculptures and carvings, handmade honey and candles and, of course, handmade honey cakes and sugar pies. The stall keepers walk around in perfect looking costumes. The sight, and smell, is almost authentic. Except for the fact that everyone is cheerful and happy, which probably wasn’t authentic in a time of war...
7 augustus 2011
4 augustus 2011
City and Outside - Part 1
Close your eyes and focus on your ears. All around you, you hear voices. The smell of the burnt fumes of cars, apparently, the lights switched to green. Suddenly, you hear the breaks of a bus. Doors open, and people flow out of the giant vehicle in front of you. The sound of their voices, all in different languages, fill your ears. It becomes harder and harder to even hear your own thoughts. A cycle rings his bell, and curses loudly. He almost got hit by a car. The owner of the car sticks her head through the window, and starts yelling at the cycler. “...THE PAINT!!...” It’s all you can hear through the rest of the noises.
Fumes fill up your nose, and mess up your sense of smell. Someone is standing beside you, he (or she, of course) is smoking a cigarette. While cars drive past you, you hear people talking through the phone. Yelling, laughing, sobbing, all in different languages of which a few you can actually understand. The smoker standing next to you flicks the remains of his (or hers) cigarette away. It ends up on the street, where it keeps smoking until there is nothing left. On the other side, a person is laughing loudly into his phone. Suddenly, the traffic light goes green. People start pushing each other out of the way, only so they can cross the street faster. Your head starts throbbing, it is too warm, it is too crowded, the people around you start to annoy you more and more. And just at the point where you can’t take any more of it, you open your eyes.
Beneath your feet, old leaves rustle. Something falls behind you, you turn around. Small rodents fight over a beechnut. Small beams of sunlight fall through the leaves. A robin chirps loudly, it tries so hard to be louder than the old crow a couple of trees further. Your nose starts filling up with the smell of dry trees, damp leaves en fresh ground. A couple of meters away hangs a bunch of breams, so ripe that their almost asking to be picked. Slowly, your head becomes idle, all the pressure floats away, the peace returns.
Fumes fill up your nose, and mess up your sense of smell. Someone is standing beside you, he (or she, of course) is smoking a cigarette. While cars drive past you, you hear people talking through the phone. Yelling, laughing, sobbing, all in different languages of which a few you can actually understand. The smoker standing next to you flicks the remains of his (or hers) cigarette away. It ends up on the street, where it keeps smoking until there is nothing left. On the other side, a person is laughing loudly into his phone. Suddenly, the traffic light goes green. People start pushing each other out of the way, only so they can cross the street faster. Your head starts throbbing, it is too warm, it is too crowded, the people around you start to annoy you more and more. And just at the point where you can’t take any more of it, you open your eyes.
Beneath your feet, old leaves rustle. Something falls behind you, you turn around. Small rodents fight over a beechnut. Small beams of sunlight fall through the leaves. A robin chirps loudly, it tries so hard to be louder than the old crow a couple of trees further. Your nose starts filling up with the smell of dry trees, damp leaves en fresh ground. A couple of meters away hangs a bunch of breams, so ripe that their almost asking to be picked. Slowly, your head becomes idle, all the pressure floats away, the peace returns.
9 juli 2011
Conversations in the train, part 1
“Look at those clothes. Her pants are all, like, ripped up!” The two girls in front of me are giggling. I wonder how they would react if I let them now that I can understand English perfectly. The newspaper in front of me covers my already annoyed face. “I saw people with those kind of jeans before but it’s, like, so trashy to walk around in them.” Grrr… “I wonder where she bought them, probably some cheap store. It’s so funny how Dutch people are always thinking about money.” More giggling. For their information, these jeans come from Levi’s and they were incredibly expensive for a student. And I LIKE them ripped up!! “That bag she was carrying, it’s also torn up. Do you think she is like the kind of person who likes vintage?” I peek at my bag. Alright, it is a bit torn up, but it was my dad’s old bag from when he had to show up for military service. And it’s the only bag that is almost entirely water-resistant I have without being all plastic.
“Well, I’ve seen so many Dutch people who don’t have any sense of style…” Says the girl wearing an all pink outfit for which she paid way too much, and which is about three sizes too small… “Yeah, that’s true. You know what’s funny as well? That they are so terribly bad at speaking English. I mean, come on! It’s like, the most spoken language in the world!” I bet the Spanish and Chinese won’t agree with you Stupid. And I’m really being annoyed with all those ‘like’s in her sentences. I lower my newspaper a bit, so I can look them in the eyes. I’m almost ashamed by the fact that their hair is almost as blond as mine, thanks for confirming that stereotype…
“Well, their newspapers are also soooo boring. I mean, first it is in Dutch which is such an ugly language,” Alright, I can’t deny that entirely. “and furthermore, there are almost no big pictures or big gossip stories in them!” How can you tell? You don’t even speak Dutch! “Message to all passengers, the next stop will be Amsterdam Amstel. If this is your destination, have a nice day!” Finally, my stop. I start folding the newspaper to leave it behind for someone else to read it when the train starts to hit its breaks. When I stand up, I look at the two girls. “Well, this has been a fun ride. I hope you two have a nice stay in the Netherlands. Good day.” The look on their faces made it all worth!
“Well, I’ve seen so many Dutch people who don’t have any sense of style…” Says the girl wearing an all pink outfit for which she paid way too much, and which is about three sizes too small… “Yeah, that’s true. You know what’s funny as well? That they are so terribly bad at speaking English. I mean, come on! It’s like, the most spoken language in the world!” I bet the Spanish and Chinese won’t agree with you Stupid. And I’m really being annoyed with all those ‘like’s in her sentences. I lower my newspaper a bit, so I can look them in the eyes. I’m almost ashamed by the fact that their hair is almost as blond as mine, thanks for confirming that stereotype…
“Well, their newspapers are also soooo boring. I mean, first it is in Dutch which is such an ugly language,” Alright, I can’t deny that entirely. “and furthermore, there are almost no big pictures or big gossip stories in them!” How can you tell? You don’t even speak Dutch! “Message to all passengers, the next stop will be Amsterdam Amstel. If this is your destination, have a nice day!” Finally, my stop. I start folding the newspaper to leave it behind for someone else to read it when the train starts to hit its breaks. When I stand up, I look at the two girls. “Well, this has been a fun ride. I hope you two have a nice stay in the Netherlands. Good day.” The look on their faces made it all worth!
18 april 2011
“Are you familiar with the effects of this product?”
“Do you know how to use this product?” The cashier of the Kruidvat (a drugstore in the Netherlands) points at the boxes of aspirin my mom just layed on the counter. The dose of all these pills together is probably enough to anaesthetize a hippo... To comfort everyone; my mom is not an addict, but she’s starting to get the flue and she doesn’t have time to be sick. And I don’t have time to catch it to.
“Are you familiar with the effects of this product?” They never ask such questions when you buy a bottle of whiskey, or six bottles of wine. And I’m pretty sure that they don’t even think about asking such things when someone buys drugs (and with drugs, I don’t mean medicines). In my opinion are those two way more dangerous than accidently taking two aspirins too many.
“Did you have this product in your house before?” Eh... they’re aspirins, not a bomb! When you take too many without being used to it, you may have a funny afternoon but it will be weak in comparison to half a bottle of alcohol or a good joint. And nobody ask questions about those while on a yearly basis, a lot more people die of alcohol poisoning than an overdose of aspirin. Pure technically is that even impossible. For an overdose of aspirin, you would have to take more than 100 pills right after each other, and after 20 of them your stomach turns inside out because of some emetic in it.
“I advise you to read the instructions before you use the product!” Alright, I will. Now can you check out these three bottles of wine, two bottles cognac and this bottle of Armagnac please? Thank you, have a nice day!
“Are you familiar with the effects of this product?” They never ask such questions when you buy a bottle of whiskey, or six bottles of wine. And I’m pretty sure that they don’t even think about asking such things when someone buys drugs (and with drugs, I don’t mean medicines). In my opinion are those two way more dangerous than accidently taking two aspirins too many.
“Did you have this product in your house before?” Eh... they’re aspirins, not a bomb! When you take too many without being used to it, you may have a funny afternoon but it will be weak in comparison to half a bottle of alcohol or a good joint. And nobody ask questions about those while on a yearly basis, a lot more people die of alcohol poisoning than an overdose of aspirin. Pure technically is that even impossible. For an overdose of aspirin, you would have to take more than 100 pills right after each other, and after 20 of them your stomach turns inside out because of some emetic in it.
“I advise you to read the instructions before you use the product!” Alright, I will. Now can you check out these three bottles of wine, two bottles cognac and this bottle of Armagnac please? Thank you, have a nice day!
4 april 2011
Spring
Spring has finally arrived in the Netherlands. We were afraid it got lost somewhere in its journey, but it finally did find our weird and small country. And you can feel the vibration of it in the air. Birds are waking you up in the early morning, clouds and rain fade away when the sun arrives (I wish actually, because the last couple of days I fell asleep to the sounds of rain falling down from the sky), and people decide it is time to get all that winter dust out of the house. And with winter dust, I mean layers and layers of grey, smothering dust. Moving furniture only clears up more and more dust, but it is absolutely necessary that you do move it. Dust does attract dust, so not moving it and cleaning even in the hardest to reach spots means that you can do this entirely again in two or three weeks. Not that attractive to look forward to…And spring also means big changes, and with that I don’t mean the trees that chance from brown and depressive to green and full of life, or guys who are grumpy and obnoxious for one entire season and suddenly chance into full of life and hormones and being even more obnoxious (sorry, I have some truly annoying classmates…). No I mean changes at home, like the kind of chance that parents decide the entire house has to be painted or that it is time to switch rooms. Because by switching rooms, you have to lift up furniture and by doing so, you’ll find another hundred layers of dust. We changed bedrooms last Friday and I’m still finding dust in my hair and I think there is also way to much dust to be considered healthy in my lungs…
Get up!
You’re laying in the sun, simply enjoying it’s lovely warmth when suddenly a weird annoying noise reaches your ear. You look up, annoyed, what is that terrible sound? And then, suddenly, the world becomes dark, except for a small amount of light. The light is shaped like numbers. Numbers? And suddenly you realize, that terrible annoying sound isn’t a bird or a hurt animal. No, it’s your alarmclock, brutally waking you. You take a swing at the o so hated clock and miss twice, hurting your hand on the table where the thing in standing on. The third time you decide not to hurt your hand even more and just press the off-button slow and gently. The thing is finally silent but unfortunately, you don’t have time to roll on your side one more time. With a angry growl you get out of bed, it’s still terribly dark outside, as well as inside your room. You stumble your way to the bathroom, meeting way too hard and way too many things with your feet, only because human eyes are nothing like the eyes of cats or owls, which would be handy right now...
And then there is the point where you finally are under that nice and warm shower, it ends when you have to force yourself out of it because you don’t have that much time to get to school. Great... In lightning speed you dress yourself, pack your back and stuff breakfast inside your mouth. A toothbrush across your teeth and finding your shoes can be done at the same moment (no, going to school without shoes is NOT an option!!). When you finally won the battle to get your arms inside the sleeves of your jacket you have just enough time left to grab your bag, rush down the stairs and jump on your bike/train/bus/whatever you take to school.
Every morning the same ritual. The question isn’t how you are able to get yourself out of bed every morning, the question is why your teacher is an actual morning person...
And then there is the point where you finally are under that nice and warm shower, it ends when you have to force yourself out of it because you don’t have that much time to get to school. Great... In lightning speed you dress yourself, pack your back and stuff breakfast inside your mouth. A toothbrush across your teeth and finding your shoes can be done at the same moment (no, going to school without shoes is NOT an option!!). When you finally won the battle to get your arms inside the sleeves of your jacket you have just enough time left to grab your bag, rush down the stairs and jump on your bike/train/bus/whatever you take to school.
Every morning the same ritual. The question isn’t how you are able to get yourself out of bed every morning, the question is why your teacher is an actual morning person...
14 maart 2011
The Netherlands and water (the start of my weekly column)
Today will be the first day of my weekly column here on my English blog, otherwise I’m afraid it will die from starvation...
And I dosed it better this time as well, I do my weekly column on my Dutch blog on Friday, and my English one on Monday. Unfortunately, today barely anything happened. Except that I’ve been looking for a ‘water project’ for three straight hours. This has to be a project that should help the Netherlands cooperate with the raising sea level, or water level since my project will be about the water in the rivers. After last winter, the Netherlands was reminded again that not only the sea can be a threat to them. The river Maas overflowed terribly last winter, causing the entire south of the Netherlands to have people evacuated, roads transformed into rivers and the damage was almost catastrophically. Here is the funny part: the Netherlands lies mostly below sea level, and not for a centimetre or two, no for several meters. You would think we would be ready for upcoming water. And we are!! On the side of the sea, not in the ‘hinterland’ were there are big rivers, with their source coming from mountains with snow. When the snow melts, or when it rains very heavily, the rivers overflow mostly in the Netherlands. It happens almost every year and people still keep building houses right next to these rivers, and they still complain when their basements overflow with muddy river water.
So now we have to do this assignment for school in which we do research in a ‘new water project’ that ‘protects the Netherlands from the rising water’. It is difficult because I live in Amsterdam and the project has to be new, so not the renovation of a dyke, and the only places such projects are done lately is around Rotterdam or in Friesland (look it up on Google Maps, it’s too difficult to explain where that is). It means I have to sit in a train for more than an hour and when I arrive, I will have no clue where I am... And it is my special talent to get lost everywhere. Wish me luck (and if you don’t hear anything from me in a week... please go look for me in the Dutch province South-Holland).
And I dosed it better this time as well, I do my weekly column on my Dutch blog on Friday, and my English one on Monday. Unfortunately, today barely anything happened. Except that I’ve been looking for a ‘water project’ for three straight hours. This has to be a project that should help the Netherlands cooperate with the raising sea level, or water level since my project will be about the water in the rivers. After last winter, the Netherlands was reminded again that not only the sea can be a threat to them. The river Maas overflowed terribly last winter, causing the entire south of the Netherlands to have people evacuated, roads transformed into rivers and the damage was almost catastrophically. Here is the funny part: the Netherlands lies mostly below sea level, and not for a centimetre or two, no for several meters. You would think we would be ready for upcoming water. And we are!! On the side of the sea, not in the ‘hinterland’ were there are big rivers, with their source coming from mountains with snow. When the snow melts, or when it rains very heavily, the rivers overflow mostly in the Netherlands. It happens almost every year and people still keep building houses right next to these rivers, and they still complain when their basements overflow with muddy river water.
So now we have to do this assignment for school in which we do research in a ‘new water project’ that ‘protects the Netherlands from the rising water’. It is difficult because I live in Amsterdam and the project has to be new, so not the renovation of a dyke, and the only places such projects are done lately is around Rotterdam or in Friesland (look it up on Google Maps, it’s too difficult to explain where that is). It means I have to sit in a train for more than an hour and when I arrive, I will have no clue where I am... And it is my special talent to get lost everywhere. Wish me luck (and if you don’t hear anything from me in a week... please go look for me in the Dutch province South-Holland).
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