Week Two Cultural

Week two already and what a week it was!  This week was Carnival, so for us students it meant NO CLASS (whoohooo) and a week to go and do whatever we want. 

Many of the students took this opportunity to head back to their home countries which left very few of us in The Netherlands.  At first Sarah and I thought this might have caused a few problems but boy were we wrong.  Our Erasmus buddy Joyce from the first semester in Stranmillis wrote to us on Facebook inviting us to spend carnival with her family in their home town of Venray.  So on Monday morning we set off for Venray filled with excitement to experience the mystery of Carnival. 

On the 11th day of the 11th month at 11 minutes past 11, the Carnival season officially begins.  As you can see the number 11 is very important during carnival as the Dutch people believe that it is located between the perfect number 10 and the sacred number 12.  It is also considered the fools’ number which has a close link to the Carnival traditions. 

Heading to the Parade with Joyce

In Venray Joyce took us to see a parade and we quickly realised that the phrase “Ik spreek geen Nederlands” (I can’t speak Dutch) would be our phrase for the day.  The parade reminded me of the Saint Patricks day parades that we would have in Ireland but with a slight twist, everybody gets involved and I mean everybody.  From tiny tots to grannies and grandas everyone celebrates carnival and they all get dressed up in the most outrageous and unbelievable costumes.

We also got to experience the amazing hospitality of Joyce and her family.  They spoilt us all day from driving us to the train station to Joyce’s mum cooking us a mouth-watering 4 course meal full of traditional Dutch foods. (A big thank you to Joyce and her family).

Night time Paint for Carnival

On Tuesday we got yet another surprise when Fieke (another Razzie that went to Stran) invited us to spend the day with her in Nijmegen. She filled us full of facts and even walked with us over the famous Nijmegen Bridge called Waalburg that is built over the River Waal. (Thanks again for a great time Fieke)

Reunited with Fieke 

Amsterdam

Wednesday saw our arrival in Amsterdam and apart from a few “technical difficulties” with the trains we got there (three and a half hours later).   My first thoughts of Amsterdam were that it was a beautiful city and was even more beautiful at night time.  During our stay we got to visit the Anne Frank house which was an incredible experience. Emotions ran high when we walked through the rooms that she lived in and the videos of Otto Frank talking about his daughter really pulled at my heart strings.  This experience showed devastating effects of discrimination and made me think of the world we live in and the discrimination that occurs every day. 

This has been an amazing week for me full of culture and adventure.  Two quotes have helped me through this week, one from Dr Seuss (1990) that states “If you have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose” and another more personal one by my own mum that says “If you have a tongue in your head you can never get lost”.  With the guidance of these two quotes I can assure that my adventures will continue to get bigger and better. 

References

Seuss, D. (1990) Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, London, Random House Children's Books,