Firefighter Petula

What a week! When you move to a new country, in the beginning everything is just peaches, beautiful, you're in paradise. But then WHAMMMM it's not going so well anymore. In my case, begin without a car feels like confinement! No where to go, except an occasional chat with my 80 year old landlord. She's a realy nice lady though.

And then, walking home from the busstop after a work day, I trip. Of course, I look around and then I step on something. I yelled out, because that was not a nice feeling. I've told myself so many times, when I drop sth not to catch it and when I trip, not to look around! But I did and this time I stepped on a dead leguana!!!! ARRCHTGGGGGGG. I still got the chills when I went to work the next morning...walking in the dark back to the busstop.

Anyways, I figured a day at work would settle my nerves. I couldn't have been more wrong. In the afternoon, the classroom took fire! A short circuit from a lamp and of course, I'm the only one around, except for two students who almost fell asleep in the classroom. So, nothing else to do but use the fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

So, I've got myself a nickname at work: firefighter Petula. My boss joked he would buy me a red car, like a firetruck! Yes, i thought!!!! That's what I needed. Someone to help make me decide on buying the car i saw. It's fire red!!!! So, this afternoon I can pick up my car and not worry anymore about stepping on dead leguans in the middle of the night!

Carnival 2010

One day, I was walking down the street and this is what I saw. Chain a bike to a pole, that I understand but a chair….















A little further down the road, it became a little clearer; i saw a bench…and another one. This must be for Carnival! It’s starting this weekend. After a while I got the picture. You can sit on a chair, a bench or real luxurious a bench covered with branches so you are protected from the sun! How cool is that!

Carnival consists of five parades and it’s something you have to experience. Walking down the street, hearing very load Music, seeing happy people having a drink in the sun, chairs, benches, coolers, people sitting, eating, drinking, laughing, it’s hard to descibe. Ok..a few pictures….

teen parade

teen parade













adult parade

Of course it seems that I’ve been there and done that, but less is true. I’m still a little to Dutch and got a bit of a culture shock really. Of course, I expected when I had to be at my aunt at 10 a.m., that we would leave right away, get to the parade at 11 a.m., see the parade and be at the beach around 3 p.m.

This is what really happened. I didn’t go to bed before 3 am the night before (Soprano’s Peter’s B-day Party). I arrived at my aunt at 10 am, right on time as a real Dutchy. But we didn’t leave for the carnival till noon. That’s when I started to think ‘I could have been in bed for another 2 hours’. When we got to the parade site, we walked down the street a couple of times, waited, drank some water, ate something (great meal by the way), walked down the street again, took some pictures of extraordinary situations:

Expecting VIP guests? The rest of the street looked like this:

The snake is real & alive!

Real Rastaman

But most of all, I waited and waited, waited some more, put in some ear plugs, finished my bottle of water, got more and more tired, couldn’t stand the heat anymore…



By this time it was 3.30 p.m., still no parade and i’m thinking ‘I could have slept for at least another 6 hours! Finally, at 4 p.m. the first group arrives and I’m dancing and taking pictures. Then the second group, a little less dancing and taking less pictures. After the third group, I’m feeling exhausted, thirsty and overheated.


Sorry to admit, but I bailed; I said goodbye to my family and left for the beach. There it was nice and quiet. I bought myself a frozen strawberry, found a comfortable stretcher, lay down and let the warm sun embrace my skin. Just what I needed the afternoon before the first day at my new job. There will be Carnival next year! I’m glad that I know now, what than to expect…

Mi cas in Curacao

This is where I live these days.
It's a cute little apartment; 1 bedroom, a livingroom with open kitchen and a bathroom. Great for me. I've a little porch and a sitting area outside underneath a tree. It's is a nice neighbourhood (mon repos). My grandmother, aunts and uncle live all around me; i'm right in the center of my family. After I've found a car, I'll be shopping for a sofabed!!!

last few days before touchdown

Everything in storage!

Farewell party @ Citizen M - evening before take off

My bed; last night in The Netherlands at Citizen M. I can recommend it to anyone.

I'm packed, I'm ready to go!!

Last and final farewell!!! 7.30 a.m. Schiphol Plaza...

...right before tearful goodbyes.

Touchdown!

I have arrived in Paradise! The weather is beautiful and I seem to have gained luck. I'm already a legal citizen! All my documents were in order and I can request a social security number next Friday. Most people have to wait at least three months to get this arranged. So, instead of spending my first week in line, I have already spend some time on a beautiful beach and took my first dive in the beautiful blue ocean.

I've settled into my cute little one bedroom apartment. It's in a great neighbourhood, or so I heard. It looks fine to me. Tommorrow, I'll continue looking for a car and a sofabed! After that, it's time to party: Carnival.

My life in a suitcase

This is the amount of luggage that I moved from Amsterdam and added to my storage box...it's almost full.

And this is all I can bring to Curacao!

I'm sad to say: this is what I have to leave behind...my little treasure.

family farewell

Saturday, I was supposed to have dinner with my sister; or so I thought! She'd invited all my cousins as well. We had a blast. First we had dinner at poppocatepetl, a mexican restaurant, in downtown Haarlem.

Afterwards, we went for a cocktail at Luxury & Quality, the cocktail bar where my one of my cousins works. We actually ran in to another cousin, so it became a nice family gathering.

For those who are wondering, my cocktail was named Strawberry Vodka sth. Check it out at: Luxury & Quality We took the last train home and missed the last bus; it was a nice walk home walking through the snowy streets of Amsterdam.