One of the women from my French class had a barbecue party earlier this month. As I said in some previous posts, the people in my class all get along really well. Despite the fact that we all come from different parts of the globe (Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Finland, Bulgaria, Italy, England, Columbia, Peru, Brazil, and the U.S. – that’s me) and many of us don’t speak the same language, we have a great time together. We have formed a unique bond based on our common interests to learn how to speak French and to make new friends in foreign country.
The party began at 1:00pm and did not end until 9:00pm. There was singing, dancing, playing instruments, eating, and, of course, a lot of drinking. One of the women from Colombia, Marta, is a professional singer. We have been patiently awaiting her debut in Brussels. We finally got the performance we have been waiting for at the BBQ. She played the guitar and sang traditional Colombian songs. The rest of us danced and played other instruments. It was magnifique!
As if that were not enough, we also got a rock concert compliments of Rick and some of the other spouses. The trio sang covers of American and British bands/singer songwriters - The Beatles, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan to name a few. It was great fun. We created a disc with pictures from five different cameras so there were a lot to sort through. I have included several of them in a separate post.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Koninginnedag In Amsterdam
April 30th is Koninginnedag (Queensday) in the Netherlands. This holiday originally started as a celebration of the birthday of a former queen. Her successor decided to keep the tradition going on the same day because her birthday is in January when the weather is too cold for an outdoor party. Many cities have their own celebrations, but the big event is in Amsterdam. The canals are filled with party boats and the streets with a huge freemarket. There are also several musical performances. Everyone is decked out in orange in recognition of the Dutch royal family--the house of orange. No, the city has not been taken over by Florida Gator fans! However, Rick said that it did resemble a UF football game to some extent. We only had a few hours to wander around and soak up the party vibe. It was very interesting to see, but we could not participate in the party because we had to drive home. It's the type of thing that would be more fun with a group and, of course, if we could spend the night. Rick already tried to get Deloitte to sponsor a boat for next year, but he was told that it is prohibitively expensive.
Keukenhof Gardens-The Netherlands
This magnificent place in The Netherlands is only open during the months of April and May each year, when the tulips are in bloom. It's about 40km from Amsterdam. We spent hours wandering around the gardens. All I can say is oh la la! Enough said--the pictures speak for themselves. Props to my personal photographer, Rick.
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