Home is where the heart is...

It isn't home, but it comes close enough.

Here I was - the Netherlands take 4. Have time, will end up here. Nothing new :) . I see my friends there more than they see each other. Or just as much at least.

This time my journey was taking me to Lebanon by way of the Netherlands. I was super excited to FINALLY, after being Lebanese for 23 years and denying it for 75% of that, embrace my heritage and go to the home I never knew. But first, it was catching up with family and friends time!



Stop 1: Tilburg, somewhere in the South. Such a quaint little town and I loved it! Sister has a super cute apartment there and Mom was visiting too. Mom was leaving on Thursday, so I was planning on staying in Tilburg until then. Mom visiting means shoe shopping, and with only 4 days to go, there was no time to waste! Three new pairs of shoes later, we helped Sister paint her apartment (or should I say they painted and I watched?!), bought a toaster microwave oven (yes, they actually exist) and had lots of paninis. And ice cream... Great times.

Stop 2: Rotterdam! Where else. Most of my friends from Suriname live here. Stuffed my face with Surinamese food, gossip and a good dose of the past on night one. Why does it feel like I was here all along?! Saw my wonderful cousin that lives there the next day, went shopping, saw her brother and baby dog, ate more Surinamese food. We had such a good time together in December and it was awesome to be able to hang again in NL. More friends, more food later on. Then crashed at the last friend I still had to see while here. Stayed up till the sun came up. If I didn't have to get on a train the next morning early we would have never gone to bed knowing us! Wonderful wonderful two days. It's what keeps me going back. Loyalty.

Stop 3: Brussel with Sister! Lets leave that for next time. Too much to say about her haha. Cousin arrived from Miami! Will see her tomorrow, so excited!

Stop 4: Amsterdam! Aunt, Uncle 1 and Uncle 2 arrived the day before we left to Lebanon! Such an amazing day hanging out with them, Sister and Cousin! A bit rainy, but we survived. Aunt and Uncles were staying in this funky designer hotel which I would have LOVED but they were mortified! Haha. It was too much, lol. Look up Citizen M if you really want to know.

That night Cousin, her aunt who lives in the Netherlands, and I went to have the most amazing Chinese food I have ever had! I still dream of it. It was in Chinatown in Amsterdam. Do you deliver to the US?

Then I was off to Blast from the Past who I had not talked to in FOREVER, but who I was getting many texts a day from. Somehow we both made our appointment. Who would have thought. We went out to Leidse Plein and has such a good time! Saw a guy I knew in high school who did not even recognize me! I'll take that as a compliment thank you very much. Had a good time dancing the night away. I miss living here even though I never did.

Stop 5: Schiphol. It's the day we leave, and it brings horrible news. Cousin's brother has been in an awful car accident along with an old friend. We are all scared to death and don't know what to do. Time made it better, and all is well, but that day was a black page in history for us and brought on a scary few weeks. Uncle of course had to go back and he was terribly missed in Lebanon, but we'll all go back again together some day.

A random note - growing in different directions but still being on the same page makes the best friends. Thank you for that conversation we had on friendship.

That's it for the Netherlands Part 1 of summer 09. Stay tuned for more summer 09 adventures coming up! Ann Arbor, New Orleans, Lebanon, Belgium, Netherlands Part 2, Indianapolis.

Signing off from here, there and everywhere,

Ms. Globetrotter