Roet, geel en greun

I’m in Holland. I’ll be spending some time with my Nan, as she is feeling a bit ill lately. But Carnaval has arrived to my town, and the first day i arrived home ‘den optoch’ (parade) is preparing to start! I get dressed in about 5 minutes, try to convince my parents to do the same (which I give up after 5 minutes) and off we go.

The parade is FAB! It's about 18 degrees! Children are all high on sugar and candies, which is thrown out by the millions by the prince and princess of the parade. Initially I help some small kid who hasn’t been able to catch any candy, because some other stupid kid dressed up as an evil pirate is ten times faster. But after a while I get slightly hungry and decide to go for it myself. And there is this big beautiful truck full of princes and princesses… I shout and hold out my hands. These guys must have good stuff to throw, not just some old sticky caramel gum from last year…no…Let’s say I’m hoping for some good quality chocolate or a bag of crisps… but what do I actually catch? A bag of Thai Green Curry with Fish Balls (instant fried rice)!! I cannot believe it!! What the Hell???


Some good news though: the beer cost 80 pence a glass!!!!!!!!!!! Do I have to say more?

After the parade we end up in a small local bar, where I meet Audrey, who becomes my ‘sjoenkel’(dance) -friend and had lost her boyfriend (who appears to be about 50 years older than her!), a woman with a massive Mexican mariachi hat (totally drunk and whose boyfriend lived in San Diego), a man who is convinced he knows me from the counter at the local supermarket, and a guy whose butt has grown to the chair at the bar. I think he only gets up if he needs the toilet (at least I HOPE he does…). He spoke Dutch, so he’s not even a real local (we speak this dialect which sounds like a mixture of German and Danish), and so I decide to make fun of him for an hour of two :) The songs are amazing, and I am shocked to find out how many of the lyrics I still know!!

Seven hours later and we queue up at ‘d’r Ben’, our favourite snack bar for friet and a frinkandel speciaal (you HAVE to try this sometime). I LOVE this place...however, my parents only go there in real emergencies... which was yesterday because no-one remebered their first name by time we arrived there ;) I met a girl who I went to primary school with and I made some more friends, while my food got cold. The whole English ‘eating is cheating’ becomes real, and we decide to go home after 1 last pint with Audrey.

It was a great day!

This morning I still had a green-golden-purple face, and a smallie hangover. Tonight I’ll make my Thai green curry with fish balls. I’ll let you know what it tastes like…Alaaf!