Raising a Lot of Money

In the last post we mentioned about the 2008 Food Fair sponsored by our Church. Well, to their great credit, the total take for the day was 56,000 euros before expenses. This is over 14,000 euros more than last year's success.

This total was announced on the Sunday right after the event, and everyone was very excited. All told, it means that a lot of charities are going to get funded in this next year. It is an amazing testimony to the generosity of the community when in the midst of all this economic upheaval and uncertainty that people still found the money to give.

Food Fair 2008

On Saturday, 15 November, the English speaking international Roman Catholic parish known as The Church of Our Saviour, had their annual Food Fair. It was quite an event, and a wonderful fund raiser for the world-wide charities that this parish supports. There was plenty of food from all the nationalities of the church, from Croatia to Zaire. All sorts of people came together on a Saturday afternoon.

The Food Fair started in 1969 when Terry's mother and a few other parishioners (the English community was quite a bit smaller then) wanted to do a simple fundraiser for the Church. How much money was raised with that simple beginning is now lost (but I am sure that there is somebody in the parish who remembers). Last year over 40,000 euros was raised after all the expenses were paid off, and from the looks of this year is going to be another success.

The Fair kicked off at 12:00 and ended at 6:30. The family got there around 12:30; Mary Ann and JA took the car while Terry and ER rode over on their bikes. By the time we all arrived the crowd had also arrived. Fortunately for both there was plenty of parking for bikes and cars.

After spending nearly an hour together as a family in the book room, we fanned out and explored. ER and Dad had a small bite to eat from the Indian table (ER had an Indian version of onion rings - quite spicy she reported to Terry although the Indians said they weren't spicy - while Terry had a tandoori chicken wing and a potato pastry - also quite spicy. Soon after lunch, ER and Dad split up largely because the crowds were so big; soon ER found some friends from school and stuck with them for a while.

Mary Ann signed up to work the Crafts Table between 2:00 and 4:00 pm, and JA met a friend from school. Meanwhile, Terry wandered around taking in all the sights and sampled some Japanese sushi and African fried rice (delicious he reported).

At 3:00 pm we all gathered at the Crafts Table to figure out what's next. Terry wanted to take one more wander around so ER waited at the Craft Table. At 3:15 ER and Terry biked home while Mary Ann and JA stayed behind. At 6:15 Mary Ann and JA came home with some of the last minute bargains: for 5 euros take all you want from the white elephant booth and half price cupcakes.

This was an incredible event to see how from a humble beginning it has turned into quite an event, in fact one of the major annual ex-pat events in The Hague. In a future post there will be links to the parish web site where some of the pictures can be seen of this event.

And This Year It's (drum roll) Doha!!!

For those who have followed these Chronicles on a regularly irregular basis - about as often as a post is posted - you will remember about this time last year the announcement went out that ER was "Morocco Bound" having passed the audition for the AMIS European Middle School Honor Band. As an 8th grader, that wasn't so hard to do.

This year, competition was in the big leagues. High School is extremely competitive. JA did not make it last year. She was up against the high number of flutes. Miss one note and you're out of competition.

The girls practiced the audition pieces and their scales all summer. They recorded their auditions. Did the best they have ever done. JA was better then last year. The recordings were sent in before our October break. They waited. Results were to be posted on the website November 11.

At school on Monday, November 10, JA and a few others (not including ER) pestered their band teacher to check his email in case the results had been sent out. Indeed, they were waiting for him. He opened the email and read them off. Four of the students had gotten in: two trombones, one bass clarinet and one trumpet.

The trumpet was ER!

Her sister was allowed to tell her the news. ER went to verify it with the band teacher. I got the news moments later texted to me on my cell phone and then the phone calls.

Not only is it amazing that she made it but she also did it with her beat up beginner's trumpet.

JA took the results philosophically. For the flutes, 60 auditioned and they took 8 flutes and 3 alternates - that's almost a 1/6 chance. She knew if she wasn't going to Doha she would be going on an Easter week cruise with her old Girl Scout troop. Neither Terry nor Mary Ann are going to go on this trip. The air fare alone is $2,088 for a round trip direct flight. You can cut that in half by doing two stop overs, Turkey and Bahrain.

Doha is the capital of Qatar which is an Arab emarite on a peninsula that juts into the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia is to the south of it.

We're looking forward to pictures and stories. I hope to get her to write something to put it up on the blog.

Congrats, ER!

The Reese's Have Landed

Peanuts are a New World plant, believed to be domesticated in Peru, made their way to Mexico, and spread their way to the English colonies of North America. Spanish took them to the Philippines where they made their way to Indonesia. The Dutch came to love pinda (peanut) sauce during their years in Indonesia. We think the Calve brand of peanut butter we buy here is better then the brands we've had in the States.

The Spanish conquistadores found chocolate in Mexico and brought it back to Europe. A Dutchman, Coenraad Johannes van Houten, figured out how to make cocoa powder and then be able to make eating chocolate that we know now. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coenraad_Johannes_van_Houten).

Joining these two wonderful tastes was an American invention: http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/reesespeanutbuttercups.asp

So, the Dutch peanut sauce in food and on french fries, and the Dutch love chocolate. But, there's no peanut butter-chocolate candy in the stores. They may have been at the expat specialty stores for an imported price. Several bags were always packed in our suitcases when coming back from our stateside holidays.

Then, last week when I was up at the C1000 grocery store in Wassenaar, at the check out, I spied a large basket of

Each pack had 3 cups, 51 grams. They were on sale for 69 (euro)cents each (normally 1,19 euro.) I don't remember what the listing was for their regular price. I looked on the back expected to find Dutch. Instead I found


(you may have to click on the above picture and blow it up larger to read.) Looks like English, German, Swedish and Arabic. I kid you not. We did not see Dutch at all. What surprised us the most was Arabic.

Looking further below the fold,


we found that the bar was manufactured in Canada licensed by Hershey. If you have any comments or problems, write Hersey in Leatherhead, Surrey, UK.

I brought the candy home and left it on the kitchen table waiting to see family reaction. Double takes were the norm. ER was the most fun when she say it, took a few minutes and then realized what she was actually looking at. We will keep our eyes open to see if this was an odd basket or if they are here to stay. If they emigrate to the Albert Heijn chain, then we will know they are here to stay.

A Visit from Massachusetts

Terry's parents, Anne & Jim, and sister, Kate,made it back to The Hague for a visit in September. They arrived early the morning of September 14. I dropped him off near the train station at 5:40 AM so he could take a bus to Schiphol airport to meet them and drive them down to the house. They arrived on Northwest Airlines from Bradley Airport, Hartford, Connecticut.

They were tired. Not easy at 86 to make such a trip. All went well and they arrived at our house. Beds were ready for them. Fresh flowers were in the living room plus plenty of food to eat.

The first day was getting over jet lag and talking. Saturday was touring around and seeing the old house where they lived for 5 years from 1968-1973. Here's a picture of it. There was enough room for 5 kids, 2 adults, a cat, and two dogs. Numerous are the stories that Terry has told of the pet and childhood escapades that took place in the house. No one was home so they couldn't go in. Looking through the windows, they saw that it was being renovated.



Sunday was going to Mass. The parish is the same as 35 years ago but the building was different. Now the parish, Church of Our Saviour, has it's own building. Back then, space was rented at St. Aloysius College.

Early in the afternoon, we rent for rijstafel (rice table) at the Pink Flamingo, a restaurant near to the house. Back in the old days, it was called appropriately Java. The enclosed glass portion of the restaurant we ate in was not built back then. It was lovely to be able to enjoy a meal and the sun. JA took this picture of us to commemorate the day so she's not in it.

A rijstafel is an Indonesian buffet very popular in Holland. The Dutch plantation owners in Indonesia introduced it as a way of sampling the native cuisine. The size of the tafel was often given a number by the number of servants who brought in the dishes. The cuisine is spicy and tangy. This was the first time that JA and ER had experienced Indonesian food outside of chicken satay with peanut sauce. They enjoyed it.

In the evening we celebrated Terry's birthday a day early with tompoucen, a dessert with inch and a half of whipped cream between two thin pastry layers and a thin layer of icing on top. Our landlords, Frans and Madeleine, came up to meet the family. Revealed that night was Zoey playing in their garden while we were on vacation. What prompted the revelation was Zoey wanting to run into their garden through a gate when ER and Kate had taken her out for a walk.

Monday while the girls were at school and Terry at work, all went down shopping to Van Hoyetemastraat to pick up flowers to take to a friend's house the next day, Dutch cheese to take to the French son-in-law, bread from the baker as well as a cake to celebrate September birthdays. Anne frequently shopped this street during the five years they were hear. Not much had changed.

At night we sang happy birthday again to Terry, JA and Anne and all the September birthdays in the family. Terry and JA blew the candles out.

On Tuesday, Anne and Jim went to visit old friends still living here. Starting with coffee and ending with a long lunch, they talked themselves out reminiscing and sharing stories. Kate and MA explored downtown and picked up everything on Kate's shopping list within an hour. Kate found a long walking poncho to protect her from the rain when she had to take care of her animals while it was raining.

On Wednesday, October 1, the three of them loaded up the car and headed down to Paris to visit another daughter, Cara, and her family. We'll get to see them again on Tuesday when they come back on their way to the airport back to the States.

We miss having them with us. It was wonderful to see our new home through their eyes and through their memories. The years in Holland were wonderful for the Smith family. We hope that our years here will be wonderful too.

Happy 17th Birthday!

JA turns 17 today! She is excited about the upcoming year and all that is going to happen. The picture above is her locker at school. Some friends along with ER decorated it. It was the first time that she had a birthday decorated locker. She even has a birthdate buddy at school! Maybe even a couple.


Here we are in the evening at the house celebrating with cake. I found birthday napkins and plates that had "Happy Birthday" (yes, in English) to bring home and use. There were 3 candles on the cake. It's a Sacher Torte, very rich, thin layers of chocolate cake with a raspberry filling and then a light chocolate filling. The icing is like a chocolate fondant.


ER saw that a hair was by one of the candles. When she pulled the hair, the entire candle came with it. Melted wax had attached the hair to the candle. So while the picture looks as if the candle is suspended in mid-air, it's really not.

**********

Forgot to show you that JA got her hair cut the end of August. Here it is before it was cut.

And here it is after it was cut. It was about 12 inches long. Much easier to wash and dry.

Two other times she cut her hair she sent it to Locks for Love. She's not sure what she'll do with this cutting. It took her about 18 months, I think, to grow it since the last cut. This cut is shorter then the last one.

You Don't See This in Annandale

We live down the street and canal path from the Dutch National Guard barracks and stables. Civilian stables are also near us so we are use to seeing horses being walked down the street, bike path and canal path.

This afternoon, ER looked out our front window and saw two police SUVs and 2 motorcycle police soon joined by a third. They were not letting any bikes go down the bike path heading up the N44, the bike path near our house that had been under construction for the past month. Something was up.

Suddenly we saw this procession coming down the path:


The walked down the street at right angles to us towards Clingendael. Park.



Dark horses and light colored horses...



At the end of one section of horses was a Palomino which ER found amusing as it was the only one in the line up.

You always know that the procession is over when the police bring up the rear. These are the same SUVs that were waiting for the horses at the bike path.

When MA was driving yesterday, she saw tanks being transported down one of the streets. On the way home, traffic was stopped so two large trailers of horses could be brought across the main road from the road through the woods into the barracks.

Parliament opens on Prinsjesdag, the third Tuesday of September. This year the date is September 16. Queen Beatrix will ride in a golden carriage pulled by white horses from her palace in the center of The Hague to the Binnehof, the Parliament building. There she will open Parliament and give the Dutch version of the State of The Union address that also includes the legislative agenda. She does not compose the text but reads what is given to her by the government.

Prinsjesdag is a holiday for the Dutch. They come downtown to line the parade route and watch the horses parade by and try to catch a glimpse of the Queen and her family. The crowd wears as much orange as they can, the Dutch color. Amazing to think that those horses lived so close to us.

Everything's Coming Up Roses!-Catching up on Smithski Happenings

The girls and I returned to The Hague from summer vacation a month ago. Yesterday they began their third full week of school. Already it feels like they have been in school forever. So much has happened:

ER is biking to and from school. ER has decided to go native and bike the 8 km (5 miles) to school. Ends up being almost 9 km because she goes a bit out of her way in order to meet up with friends to have company for part of the way. She started biking on August 25. She has taken the bus a couple times, once because her bike was in the repair shop. She has been blessed with dry weather during most of her bike times. One time, on the way home from school, she rode through a downpour to her friend Eva's house. She left her bike there and I picked her up. The next morning she bussed to school then biked home from Eva's house. She is very good about calling us along the way as to where she is.

"Gypsy" Both girls tried out for the high school musical, "Gypsy," and made the cast with several parts. JA plays Miss Cratchitt, a secretary with 37 lines and the mom of a tap dancing star-wannabe - just two costume changes. The tap dancing is appropriate as JA learned to tap dance last summer for the musical "42nd Street" (with 10 costume changes.) ER plays a Hollywood Blond, a dancing girl at Minsky's, and the mother of a lion tamer. This means, of course, that Mary Ann will be helping out with costumes and feeding the cast.

Class Schedules. JA is taking AP Human Geography, AP Statistics, English 12, Performing Arts (Band and Choir), IB Music Year 2, Dramatic Arts I, and IT Foundations (because she has to take it in order to graduate, normally taken by Freshmen, the only upperclassman in her class and she has to do a PowerPoint presentation on research about colleges with parents grading.) She made 1st chair for the flute section. She also gets to help with 7th grade band as a shadow for her band teacher which involves anything he wants her to do. She is enjoying it which is good since she wants to go into music education.

ER is taking Dutch II, Geometry, Performing Arts Ensemble (Band and Choir - yes, same class as JA), Western Civiliation in Transition, and English 9. First semester she is doing IT Animation, PE and Environmental Systems I for Science. For the second semester, she'll do IT Programming, Health and Chemistry 1. She made 1st chair for the trumpet section.

Honour Jazz Band. ER has started practicing with ASH's honour jazz band on Monday's after school. She finds the music challenging - especially the rhythms. Her first concert is September 10 playing before the high school open house. We'll have our chance to try out our new video camcorder!

On Being a Senior and College Application Info Night. Senior events have started. Senior Moms made cupcakes with whipped cream frosting on August 28. The next treat is scheduled for Sept 10. Seniors received a copy of their transcripts to make sure that the school had all their courses on file to send to colleges.

Then, "On the 12th day of senior year, my guidance counselor gave to me... a schedule to apply to college on time." On September 4 - the 12th day of class - Mr. Loy, the counselor responsible for helping the seniors be admitted to college and university, held an information session for all seniors and parents. He and the registrar explained to us the college application process especially as it applied to deadlines and sending materials to the colleges from the counseling office at ASH. The request to send materials to colleges/universities should be in their office a month before the due date to allow for enough time to compile the file and to send the information in the mail.

JA wants to do Early Action for George Mason, deadline is Nov 1, which means she needs to have her paperwork into ASH around October 1. Catholic U.'s early action deadline is November 15. Mary Washington is a little later, January 15. JA has already started filling out the online application for GMU and ran into trouble. She's applying as a American with a foreign address. She needed a State abbreviation. She found out from Admissions that she needed to put in "FS" for "Foreign State." It is curious that many colleges/universities are sending her information as if she were a International (meaning non-American) student because her high school is in Europe.

Fall has arrived. Fall actually arrived when Terry came back in July. Most of the summer was in the low 60's/high 50's with rain and wind. We had a lovely weekend Aug 30/31 - right before the Dutch kids went back to school. We are also losing about 4 minutes of sunlight each day - 2 in the morning and 2 at night. Today, sunrise was at 7:08 am and sunset will be 8:10 pm. Only tans around are from those who went to sunnier locations for holiday. And it is so Fall - furnace on in the morning; 70s and sunny in the afternoon.

Back-to-School Fair Addendum. Last week when I was doing last minute prep work for the fair, I was playing a lot of Gregorian Chant. When I select chant, my family knows that I am really stressed.

Thinking of you all as you survive Hanna. Enjoy the sun and warmth.

Bait, Hook, Reeling In - Then the Fish Fry

Here's the story why I (Mary Ann) have not posted an entry since August 23.

First background: Back in Annandale, a dear friend offered me the advice to never accept an envelope from Mary S. because it meant taking over an annual event. While in Annandale, I volunteered for Girl Scouts, the parish Women's Group with its variety of activites, and at the girls' schools. I also worked part-time for the John Carroll Society which involved managing different sorts of events, mostly a Sunday Mass-brunch-speaker triad several times a year. I was over involved. When I moved to The Hague, all that went behind me. I was careful just to volunteer to teach 7th grade religious education, go to Girl Scout Committee meetings, help with the costumes when ER was in the middle school musical and just hang out and get to know the moms.

That's how they found me.

THE BAIT: It started last May. At a high school Parent Advistory Group meeting, Martha sat down next to me and said, just in general conversation, "The PTA is really worried that the Back-to-School Information Fair isn't going to happen because no one has volunteered to chair it. There's plenty of people willing to help." I remembered that I really enjoyed going to that fair my first September here, finding out all kinda of information about churches, clubs, businesses, sports that were available to the English-speaking community.

THE HOOK: I had to leave the meeting early. Susan follows me out and says, "Mary Ann, did anyone talk to you?" I said, "About what?" Susan, "Oh, nothing, I just wondered." I suddenly knew what this was all about - I was being targetted to chair the committee for the fair! Someone had figured out that I can do this kind of stuff. Over the next week, I mulled it over, wondering whether or not to say something, mentioned it in passing to Terry without seriously discussing it, prayed about it, thought of who did I know that would help me.

REELING IN: A week or so after that, the parents who went to Morocco for the Middle School Honor Band concert had a reunion dinner at Melissa's house. She put together a wonderful slide presentation of our trip with captions, special effects and music from the concert. We had fun reminiscing, sharing photos and stories. One of the moms, Dana, was moving in the summer. She also was the outgoing PTA president.

As we stood outside saying good-bye, Dana in her soft persuasive Texan drawl, said to me, "You know, we really need a chair for the Back-to-School fair. It's really important for the new families. Mary Ann, would you consider helping out?" By that time I knew I had not just been hooked but was reeled in. How could I say no to Dana who had traveled the road with us to Casablanca and Fez and who was now heading off to Calgary? I said, "Ok." I was reassured that there was a whole binder of notes that would tell me what to do and should not be a problem at all. Several people had volunteered to help just waiting for a leader.

I met with the three former co-chairs. The binder was passed on along with lots of verbal explanation. I took copious notes. I pulled my friends together and divided up the tasks. I needed a couple organized types, a couple creative types and someone around for the summer to pick up mail from the school. Melissa and Martha filled the bill for the organization, Maryann and Diane for the creativity and Lora Lyn was around most of the summer. We met before summer vacation and assigned tasks.

When I returned mid-August, I started putting the details together and discovered that the binder was not as complete as I was led to believe. In the middle of getting the girls organized for school, and helping as a parent welcomer, I was putting together all the last minute details for the fair. The week before, I met with the other principal players, the caterers, security, concierge, my committee. Finally the day, September 6, came - time for THE FISH FRY:

The Sports Hall (gym) featured almost 100 exhibitors from all over the Wassenaar and The Hague municipalities. ASH PTA clubs recruited volunteers. Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Churches, dance clubs, sport clubs, women clubs, art clubs, quilt shop, photographers, chiropracters, English-book stores, import stores with products from England and the U.S. The libraries were holding a used book sale. The school store was open for supplies and ASH wear. The athletic booster club had their shirts for sale. You name it, and it was probably there.

While the parents were busy seeking out information, their children had their faces painted, ate popcorn, ice cream and other foods, watched movies, listened to the band "Soundcheque" composed of talented Seniors. Preshoolers could be dropped off for babysitting. Juniors and Seniors needing service hours signed up to lead the activities as well as setting up and cleaning up the sports hall and cafeteria.

I managed the events in the Sports Hall which included demonstrations of dance, judo and martial arts. I even had a little fun. In this picture, I'm the one on the left with the white shirt, red apron and name tag learning how to do a Scottish country dance.

JA roamed around and took these pictures and others. Terry spent the whole day walking around and talking to people.

He said it felt like a John Carroll Society brunch: the week before with its long hours, helping me with last-minute preparations, and then on the event day picking up the odd papers and forms from tables during the clean up.

So many people complimented me on what a great success the fair was, so organized, so busy. There were a few complaints from exhibitors. A few no-show tables. So like a brunch. Even the physical let down once I got home, heading to bed and just wanting to sleep. Bless Terry's heart for making dinner that night and tonight, Sunday, too.

It's over for another year. The up side is that I don't have to worry about being asked to chair any other PTA event.

What's next on the agenda? Girl Scout registration and troop organization this Wednesday! Oh, and cleaning my house.

She Did It! - and other news

We are proud to announce that JA pedalled her bike today. Part of the problem had been that the seat was too low and her knees kept hitting the handle bars. Much better now because of the longer space between pedals and handle bars. Terry took her out to one of the bike paths in the park with light bike and pedestrian traffic. They pedalled up and down several times. After the first time, it just takes, practice, practice, practice. Who knows? Maybe before we leave we'll take a biking tour somewhere in Europe - sleeping in hotels each night, of course.

On another note, the gemeente tore up a good stretch of the bike path from our house up towards ASH. The detour route goes along the other side of the highway which is through a wood and past the Queen's house. I actually like it much better. The ride may take a few minutes longer; scenic views always do. We are looking forward to the new bike path. The old one was constructed from paving stones set in sand. The stones wobbled as we rode on them and slowed us down. We're hoping for new material with a low coefficient of friction and not simply new paving stones set in sand.

The microwave in our combi-oven went out although the oven part will worked. Remember our oven? It's just big enough for a 9 x 13 pan. Our Sieman manual is in three languages none of which is Dutch or English. I did find a manual online for a similar model. It describes how one can program the oven to microwave and hot air cook to cook a single dinner. Too much for me.

Our landlord pulled out the old unit to take it to the shop for repair. He replaced it with a temporary combi-oven. All the labeling is in English but it came with no instruction book. The only brand/model info on it looks like "SWAL." Googling the name brought up nothing related to an appliance. We are operating it by trial and error. We have figured out the microwave part. I understood the oven enough to bake some rolls. I'm going to try cupcakes tomorrow.

New challenge: This oven can fit an angel food tube pan with about an inch around it. Different dimensions than the Sieman because the new oven has the controls on the right side while the other oven had the controls over the top. Only my small pans fit in it, namely, only a pan that bakes 6 cupcakes. Always a challenge. I hope the other oven is fixed fast.

Did you know that the signal from a Wii-mote can bounce off of white walls? ER just did that and knocked down 7 pins while bowling. JA made 3 strikes while reclining on the couch. We brought a Wii back at Easter and a WiiFit at summer. The whole family is enjoying it. ER and the WiiFit are best buds; she unlocked all the exercises.

Before we left for home leave, we filled out the card from the electric company with the readings on our meter. They evaluated the cost of the electricity we had used over the past year. It seems that we used three times the amount they billed us for (bill = 95 euros/month). So, we are paying 330 euros per month for six months to pay off last year's bill. AND, our new monthly bill is around 300 euros. Well, at least at the end of next year it won't be such a big shock. Good thing the euro is just under $1.50.

School supply shopping today. Far few choices then in the States. No sales like 25 cents for 100 sheets of filler paper. Have to watch the binders to get a 2-ring one and not a 23-ring by accident. Came away with just what we needed. No matter where you go to school, buying new school supplies is always fun. ER selected her first school agenda (assignment book) as all her assignment books up till now were provided by the school. She's hit high school big time.

Here's wishing you all a great week!

A New School Year Begins

Yes, is is the first day of school again. For the first time in three years, JA and ER are going to be at the same school. Well, they were at the same school technically last year but since the middle school and high school have different wings and principals, it was sort of different schools. This year, they will be at the same assemblies and be on the same schedule. And MA will only have one Parent Advisory Group meeting per month and only check one bulletin board to read a day. It is sad that this is JA's last first day before college.

Don't they look awake? They were out of bed by 6:45, had eggs for breakfast and were waiting for the bus at 7:35. Because the other two families in our neighborhood moved, their bus time has been moved up 3 minutes so they are scheduled to be picked up at 7:41 and need to be out there at least 5 minutes before that. They did pretty well today.

While they waited for the bus, ER pointed out the familiar sites. A single then a pair of bicyclists coming down the street, the same ones we saw last year. The delivery trucks coming out of the senior citizens complex near us. However, the most familiar site is....

Zoey in what Terry calls the "forward command post." That's the window in our bedroom that looks out onto the street the bus comes up. We lock Zoey in the bedroom on our way out because sometimes the doors are left open as teens fly down the steps to get to the bus on time. Zoey waits for the bus. When she sees it pull up and then leave, she jumps down and walks to the door waiting for someone to let her out.

Here comes the bus down our narrow street. Last year the municipality put in speed bumps (drempels) on our street to slow down the traffic. This is actually a two way street with room down the middle for only one lane of vehicles when cars are parked on both sides. Fortunately, there's not a lot of traffic so rarely do two cars get caught in the middle facing each other playing chicken as to which one is going to back up first.

Yes, that is a luxury bus that they are getting onto. No yellow school buses here. They have to put their seat belts on. Today's bus was set up as 4 seats around a table, 2 facing forward and 2 backwards.

Wednesday is an early dismissal day at 2:45 pm instead of 3:0 pm. The girls came home with lots of stories to tell. They have returned to a familiar place with known characters (both students and teachers.) It's going to be a good year.

3200 Kilometer Milestone

Today Terry hit another milestone on his bike...3200 kilometers or 2000 miles. The feat was accomplished this morning as he was passing his office window before entering the compound. And to celebrate this achievement the weather was absolutely wild: the wind is reportedly blowing around 50 or 60 miles per hour off the beach all day and around 7:00 pm this evening the sky opened up and the rain came down in an absolute torrent.

Unfortunately there is no camera to record this event. Maybe later in the week he will get an opportunity to take a picture in order to get a sense of the place.

It is still hard to believe that Terry reached this milestone. Certainly his doctor was very happy to hear the news when Terry had his annual physical in June.

Let's hope we can report 4800 kilometers soon!

Back in the Netherlands

The girls arrived back in The Netherlands on Friday, 8/8/08. Interesting Fact: we arrived last year on 7/7/07. Terry and Zoey were happy to see us again.

Seven weeks of home leave is not a long time. At the beginning, you are aware of the limited amount of time but the end is not really in sight. You fill up your calendar with things to do, with people to see. Still the mundane intrudes: cooking, laundry, driving. Then suddenly, the days drop away. You haven't seen everyone you wanted to see, haven't done everything you want to do. Fortunately with home leave, we know that we will have the opportunity at Christmas to see those who we could not connect during this trip and collect the clothes we left behind.

We took the almost 10 pm flight on Thursday from Dulles airport to Frankfort, Germany. We booked too late so were not able to be on the non-stop from Dulles to Amsterdam. We had one hour between landing and take off on the Lufthansa flight from Frankfort to Amsterdam. Fortunately, we had a tail wind and arrived a half hour ahead of time.

Our friends drove us to the airport which meant that we were dropped off at the departure floor. Rental car shuttles drop off at the ground floor for arrivals. That way we had to figure out how to go up a floor with all our luggage. A later flight meant check in was easier, fewer people. We could not do "self check in" because of transferring planes. We did receive boarding passes for the second leg of our journey. Going through security went well. We walked a ways to the mobile lounge that took us out to our terminal and walked some more to our gate.

Taking a flight four hours later had its advantage. The cabin lighting was subdued to stimulate night. Instead of a snack service, the cabin crew went straight to dinner efficiently served. Outside of "Prince Caspian" (viewed once by ER), no other movies tempted us. We slept a bit. About 1 am Eastern time (7 am Netherlands time) a beeping alarm went off waking many of us. The flight crew searched through the overhead bins for the source. It was finally found to be the Ipod of the woman sitting next to JA. ER slept through it. We enjoyed the breakfast snack of apple croissant and yogurt.

We disembarked in Frankfort in the C section of Terminal 1 and kept walking to find our connecting flight in section A. Our bags were checked through to our destination so we did not have to go through baggage and customs at this time. We walked and walked. Finally reached passport control. The guard cared more about our residency permit then our passports. As a result, we have no stamp of entry into the country.

After passport control, we entered the Frankfort terminal. It felt narrow and windy. Recognizable stores lined the sides as we walked. No frits (french fry) stands though. Since we were in the public area, we needed to go through a security check point to once again have ourselves and our carryon items scanned. This time, both ER and MA had to be wanded because we beeped while walking through the first detector. It was ER's first time. ER's shoes, short boots, had to be put through the scanner. After that, we found our Lufthansa gate with time to spare and waited to be called for boarding.

Boarding the plane was an adventure again. We waited to go in with the second call. We walked through the door next to the gate, down stairs and into a bus. We waited in the bus as it filled with more passengers. The bus drove us through the tarmack to our plane, a 737. We climbed stairs into the plane. We were seated in the emergency exit row which means more leg room but no under seat items. The bins near our seats were full. The flight attendant found space in a bin further back.

The hour flight from Frankfort to Amsterdam was uneventful. Our snacks must have been favorite German ones nicely packaged in cellophane with a small bottle of water. We saved most of the snack for later since we planned to have frits for lunch. Upon landing, we were almost the last ones that disembarked as we had to wait to get our carryons until those behind us had exited.

We arrived at Amsterdam at the same time as several other planes from across Europe. Since we had entered the European Union at Frankfort, we did not have to go through Passport Control here. All four luggage belts were going with people stacked around waiting. Our luggage came off of belt 1. ER collected 5 of our 6 bags while JA found a luggage cart. (For international flights on United, each person can still take 2 bags weighing less then 50 pounds for no charge.) We waited for the 6th bag to arrive but it never did. Oh yes, 1 of the 5 bags had the "TSA opened for inspection" card inside.

MA had brought her Dutch cell phone along so was able to call Terry and let him know the situation. JA and ER waited with the luggage while MA filed a claim. Actually, with the hour window between the two flights in such a large airport, we felt blessed that we only missed 1 bag instead of more. Several people were in the same predicament. It was good to know that we were not alone. We were given a file number, website to check and a phone number to call if we had heard nothing in 48 hours. Once the bag was found, we would be called to set up an appointment time for delivery.

Terry greeted us outside the luggage area and bought us frits for lunch. He and JA had it with sate (peanut) sauce. ER and MA had them without. They were delicious. We took the train to Den Haag Centraal Station then a taxi home. We were able to stay up most of the rest of the day. JA and ER were early birds; MA slept till Noon on Saturday.

We heard nothing on Friday. JA regularly visited the website and saw that the bag was still being tracked. This bag contained our WiiFit which was hard enough to find in the first place. Finally early Saturday evening we received a call that they had our bag and could deliver it the next day between 2 pm to 6 pm. The bag arrived today, Sunday, at 2:30 pm, all intact, not even TSA inspected.

We are glad to be back with Terry and Zoey. It has been a long month with the family separated by the Atlantic Ocean. The girls have been in contact with come of their friends who are already back. School starts on August 20 so there's plenty of time to adapt to the time zone changes. MA and JA will help with new family orientation for the high school this Tuesday. We heard there are 6 new seniors and 29 new freshmen!

We haven't exhausted all the tales of living in Holland. And there will be more new adventures. ER has entered the 9th grade in high school and was accepted in the ASH Jazz Band. JA is a senior with all the exciting and terrifying events of the next 10 months. At the beginning of this new school year, MA resolves to post on a more regular basis since she's sure there still will be something new and exciting happening each week. Plus there's still last year's trips to blog about.

Best to all as you finish your summer. For those on the Fairfax County Modified Secondary School calendar who start school August 18th, we feel your pain. For those not on the modified school schedule, enjoy your last weeks by the pool, the beach and sleeping in. Labor day comes early this year.

Summer 2008 - Home Leave

This blog has been quieter then usual for the past month because we were preparing for home leave and then experiencing it. We all flew out on June 18 which was a treat since we did not do that at Christmas. Terry went back on July 6. The girls are returning August 7.

While in Virginia, we are staying with our dear friends, The Moores, who have again graciously opened their house and lives to us.

How are we keeping ourselves busy? Well....

• We visited our doctors and dentists to get bodies, eyes and teeth checked. Three teeth cleanings, one crown, two sealants, one orthodontic check, three eye doctor visits, one well woman visit, one well man visit (and a partridge in a pear tree.)


• In the course of her dental cleaning, JA found out that what was bothering her in the back of her mouth was her wisdom death. The bottom two had popped out, the top two were descending. We decided to get them out while here. This morning she had surgery and is currently resting.
  


• Visited Terry's family in West Springfield, Massachusetts for a week in June.
  


• Spent 4th of July in Culpeper, Virginia with friends, food and fireworks.


• Spent a long weekend in Sharon, Pennsylvania with Mary Ann's cousins visiting favorite stores and eating familiar foods.


• JA is in a production of "42nd Street" sponsored by the youth ministry of a local parish. She's learning to tap dance and sing. It's her first experience being on stage in a musical.


• ER is visiting with friends, one who lives just down the street from where we are staying.


• Ate at Noodles and Silver Diner.


• Saw "Prince Caspian" twice, "Kung-Fu Panda", "Nim's Island", and "Wall-e." Looking forward to catching more movies before we go.

Still to go is the performance of the musical beginning on July 24, more movies, some dining out, lots and lots of visiting with friends, a computer class for ER to learn Alice (a 3D programming language by Carnegie Mellon), a drama workshop for JA and shopping for needs and wants to take back.

Zoey, our cat, survived our absence being taken care of by our wonderful neighbors. She has let Terry know how upset she was that we "abandoned her" by nibbling his toes and keeping him up at night. She's settled down.

What do we miss the most? Being able to bike to store, church, friends, etc. Otherwise, it is great to be home!

Congratulations, ER - You're Now in High School!

On June 11 in the evening, ER graduated from 8th grade. To be more precise in ASH terminology, she promoted from 8th grade to 9th grade. You see, when a school goes from K-1 (or pre-K) to 12th grade, a student does not officially "graduate" until senior year and leaving to college. Before that, they just change wings in the school at educational transitions.

Still, it is a major accomplishment to leave behind middle school and enter high school. Especially when one does it in a foreign country, away from dear friends and a beloved school, and in a secular setting. ER found her niche in classes and in the arts - music, drama and drawing. She made friends. She learned to ride a bike and can't wait to commute to school next year on two wheels. She's traveled to Morocco, Aberdeen and Switzerland. Hiked up mountains, dipped her toes in the North Atlantic, played in an international honor band, sang with an international choir. She is reknown for her art work. Language arts was her favorite class, algebra her least. She transferred role playing from the computer to the Role Playing Games Club every Friday in the school library.

She is also respected as a person of convictions who is not afraid to stand up for herself. She keeps at the task even as she struggles. She cares deeply about injustice and wants to correct it. She holds her own in a discussion. She is in the process of retraining her friends as to proper language in her presence (aka slapping them on the arm when they swear.)

The ceremony was lovely. The exercises were in the school's theater. Since there were 90 students, tickets were limited to three per graduate. The theater was packed. The girls looked lovely in their dressers and there really high heels. Many of the boys were in suits - a few suits were complimented by white tennis shoes. The girls always look older, almost ready for college. The boys look like they are dressing up in their fathers' clothes.

The Master & Mistress of Ceremonies (Gustaaf van Oosterom and Verane Gross) and the two giving speeches (Shreya Chatterjee and David Kelly) were selected by the class. All four performed to expectations giving a few laughs along the way. The comic timing of the speech deliverers was impeccable. Two teachers presented the annual 8th grade retrospective slide show complete with appropriate music. It began with a scene from Frankenstein cutting to the math teacher's head being unwrapped (as it lay on an Algebra textbook) and the teacher coming up slowly saying "Homeworkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk....homeworkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk." They made a point of featuring every student in both posed and candid shots. The laughter coming from the 8th grade section showed that they had hit the right tone. The slide show was especially poignant because after 30 years teaching, the beloved science teacher, half of the powerpoint team, was retiring.

All 90 of them received their diplomas with grace and poise. And none of the girls tottered on their heels! It was a pleasure to clap and wish them well.

After the ceremony, parents and family left so that the now high school freshmen could have their party, dance the night away and eat food (note= do not eat 'heathy' mushroom pizza. Your mouth will burn).

Congratulations, ER. You have grown into your own person, developed your talents and found a niche. Although your certificate says promotion on it, we know you have graduated to a new role in life, a new chapter in your adventure. We pray for you all of God's blessings and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to get your through. We love you very much!

JA Lost in The Hague - And It Wasn't Her Fault!

Whenever JA takes the bus for the first time by herself, she has an adventure. The first time she went up to ASH by herself and had to transfer buses, the first bus missed the second by a minute and she had to wait 30 for the next one. However, she got to help an English family who was visiting Holland on vacation. That was the day of her placement tests for english, math and french. So she was late. The first time she took the bus home from ASH after a flute lesson, she had an adventure. Before her flute lesson, she had her favorite juice drink that cost a euro ninety. On the bus, she found out that the ride cost a euro in addition to four strippen to get home because it was rush hour. She was short 30 cents. The bus driver refused to do an extra strippen tradeoff. Finally, a young (freshman) knight in armor, Robert L., came to her rescue with a euro coin.

Today, she went to the main library downtown in The Hague. And she had an adventure.

Bus 18 is just two blocks from our house. Very convenient. It runs every 15 minutes during non-rush hour and very 10 minutes during rush hour. The stop after Centraal Station is a block from the main library.

JA had CDs and music due tomorrow. She decided to go today. Since ER was having friends, JA chose to go down by herself. She checked her time, left the house around 3:34 pm, just as ER and her friends were getting home. A block away from the stop, the 3:37 bus pulled up. Fortunately there were a half dozen people getting on. She ran a half block to the bus. Right before boarding, she tripped, having her hands land inside the bus on the ground with dropping her wallet, loosing her shoe under the step and then retrieved it. She told the driver she was going to Centraal Station. It's easier that way then saying the stop's exact name. She stood up the whole trip.

The bus reached Centraal Station. All but three or so left the bus. JA thought that was kind of weird but it made sense because a lot had suitcases, so it was presumed they were going to Schipol. The bus pulled out and JA sat down for a bit. She pressed the button to stop and then stood up again. The bus kept going. She didn't know where the bus was going at all - it seemed to pass the stop, but then it seemed to be going a whole different route. JA thought that she was going to end up at the end of the line - Risjwik de Schilp. Finally the driver spoke over the intercom, "Hollands-Spoor, " and he stopped the bus. JA exited with one other person. She had no idea where she was. There wasn't a normal Bus 18 stop. It was the 26/28 bus stop!!

So what does she do? Pull out her trusty cell phone (found after almost 3 months but that's another story) and called ...... The Mom. ER or one of her guests picked up the phone and made JA think she had the wrong number. ER passed the phone to Mom when JA, with panic in her voice, "This is important." She saw a Clingendael bus drive past which the doors actually opened but she didn't trust it.

The Mom tries not to panic since the daughter already is. She calmly talks to her as she walks downstairs to find her magnifying glasses and the map. Found, she walks back upstairs for some quiet (rather noisy with 11 young teens in the room.) The Mom finds Hollands-Spoor on the map and starts giving directions.

First step: "Where are you?"

"By Haagse Hogeschool. And MegaStores."

"Don't go towards Mega stores. Read me one of the street signs."

We can't read Dutch street signs - only spell them. She spells one out. The Mom finds it on the map. Okay, now how to orient her?

"Face Hollands-Spoor"

"What?"

"Face the train tracks. Do you see train tracks?"

"No. There's water here too."

(silent "Aargh" and prayer raised.)

"Oh, yeah, now I see."

(Thank you guardian angel). Okay, take the street and go to your right. Tell me what street you come to.

JA walks, talking to me the whole time. She comes to a new street, spells the name. YES! That's where she's suppose to be.

"Now, go to your left towards the train tracks."

"Okay, I'm walking. I'm going into a tunnel. Oh, the wind!" The wind also made it hard to hear her on her cell phone.

"That's good. You're suppose to."

"There's a sign that says Centrum."

"Good. Go in that direction."

"It says 2 kilometers!"

"You won't be walking that long. Keep looking for signs to Centrum. Or Stadhuis or Bibliotheek."

We went on like that for awhile. JA trying to read signs and spell them out. Came to one fork. "Right or left?" "Left." That took her over a canal. "Okay, turn left so that the canal is on your left side and buildings on your right." "Okay."

This stretch was the scary part. As JA was trying to read and spell signs to me, someone made fun of her. She was scared. She kept moving. She said a prayer and the ones who were bothering her seemed to disappear. The weird thing was that he said, "I'll see you at the library." JA froze when she head that. She then realized it was a similar man who creeped her out the last time she was at the library. For some reason, JA thinks that it was a trick placed by the Devil, but thanks to be God, he went away. (Thank you again, guardian angel.)

Finally, she got to the intersection where she was suppose to get off the bus. The streets were starting to look familiar. A block away was the library. She had made it. She was thirsty but wanted to do the library work first. The whole operation took 38 minutes, or rather 37 minutes and 38 seconds on the cell phone ... which in all due respect was unbelievable, not having a map in front of her, being given directions over the phone, and MA and JA spending five minutes or so trying to figure out where she was.

At the library, nothing seemed to be right. She couldn't find the piece of music that Tami, her flute teacher, had sent her down to look for. Second of all, she could not find a CD that had the piece she was looking for. She ends up checking out CDs of Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Peer Gynt, Handel's Flute Sonatas, and The Magic Flute. The three operas are complete. Not bad of a borrow for only five euros! (about $7.89) Not bad for, if she bought them individually, would have cost her $127.41!

When she was done, she went to the grocery store to pick up something to drink. Then called The Mom for the way home.

"Okay, how do I get to Centraal Station?"

"Is your back to Albert Heijn?"

"Yeah."

"Don't cross any street. Make a right and walk down like you're walking away from the library."

"Okay."

At the next intersection, "I'm seeing a Burger King."

"Don't cross the street. Make a right turn. You'll pass the American Bookstore in a little bit." And she did. And a subway. And where we had dinner the first weekend we were in The Hague. She and I talked on the way. She didn't ask for any more directions. She knew where she was because she remembered going that way when she went with Dad back to Centraal Station the last time she went to the library.

She made it to Centraal Station, got on the bus and came home, never more relieved to open the front door around 7:00 pm. She had an adventure and got home safe.

Alert: Blog Correction & Switzerland Project

One of my faithful readers brought a glaring error to my attention concerning one of the posts we wrote on Morocco.

ER wants everyone to know that she made SECOND chair of the trumpet section, not third chair. The number three refers to the fact that the first three chairs were all girls. The change has been made to that post for subsequent readers.

ER also wanted you to know that she survived the Project 8 trip to Switzerland. After exams are over and she gets her pictures back (we used disposable water proof cameras just in case of lots of rain) she will put up text and pictures for a personal account of what happened. In the meantime, here is a brief synopsis of her trip.

Sunday, May 25 - arrive at school at 5:45 am along with her other classmates (and their sleepy parents) - about 90 in the class. climb onto the noisy bus (girls). The stinky bus had boys. 14 hour bus ride to Leysin, Switzerland with bathroom breaks and dinner at McDonald's in Switzerland. Carry suitcase up 9 flights of stairs to room on 3rd floor of hotel. Good practice for mountain climbing.

Monday, May 26 - up and out early packing lunch for the road. Group is lead by Seal, an awesome Irish counselor. Team building activities in the morning. Mountain biking in the afternoon - most dangerous part of the trip because of rocks in the road. Just got away with a few scratches, and sat out the most dangerous part.

Tuesday, May 27 - Rafting in the morning for the group. ER chose to sit out, did some shopping with her math teacher and helped to take care of the teacher for her group who was sick. Afternoon was high ropes and saving herself from a couple harrowing experiences, but also a lot of fun. Evening camp fire and skits.

Wednesday, May 28 - In the morning, living with nature where they had to build a shelter with minimal materials. They had a small tarp and rope. Afternoon rock climbing which was the best part of the whole week. Climbing on real rocks was easier then practicing on the rock climbing wall at school. Evening disco dance where the counslers, students and teachers went crazy.

Thursday, May 29 - All day hike up the mountain. The chalet elevation was 1440 meters. They went up paths to reach an elevation at the summit of 1980 meters. Found snow along the way and had a two hour snowball fight. Did the hike in record time (2 hours 45 minutes). After dinner, got on the bus at 7:30 pm for the all night bus ride home.

Friday, May 30 - Arrived back at school and was picked up by the mother at about 9:30 am. Went home, took a nap, made it at 3:50 pm to the last Role Play Game (RPG) Club for the year. Adreneline pumps up so able to get on computer and connect with friend in Virginia. Finally crashes.

Details to follow.

Licensed to Drive Dutch Style

Back in February, I blogged about my experience in buying and registering a car. I promised to talk about getting a driver's license and here is that story.

A brand new driver in the Netherlands cannot begin the licensing process until the age of 18. He (or she) would then learn to drive through a driving school. I can just hear all the parents of teens collectively sighing. That's right. A learner cannot be in a car with anyone else except a driving instructor. And probably learning to drive a stick shift at the same time. I have heard that the course of study is about 2500 euros. The learner needs to study the theory, pass the theory test (45 out of 50 questions right), and receive a theory certificate. Then he can take the driving test. I have heard that the theory test is very hard.

If you come to The Netherlands as a tourist, your American license allows you to drive. When an American become a resident, you have six months to obtain a Dutch license. If you work at the Embassy and then you can keep your American license. When we didn't have a car, having a Dutch license didn't matter. Once we had a car, it mattered.

Fortunately, we fell into two important categories: we had American drivers' licenses and Terry's project had received a 30% ruling. We don't totally understand what the 30% ruling is except that it has tax advantages and we didn't have to take Dutch driving lessons or do theory and road tests. There was paperwork and fees.

I (Mary Ann) went through the process first. I went down to the Stadhuis (municipality center) and picked up the first form, an eigen verklaring. The form was in Dutch. It cost 19.55 euros. Fortunately, through Monday Morning Networking, I had a translator available. The form requested personal information (name, address, birthdate, phone number, Burgerservicenummer - like a social security number), license category applying for, and medical information. I had to answer 10 questions "Ja/Nee" about whether or not I had one or more of 10 medical conditions that would pose a problem for driving. If I answered "Ja," I needed to go to the doctor for an examination and signature. That part was easy since I had no medical problems. I signed the form and mailed it off.

Two weeks later, right before we left for Easter break in Virginia, I received a letter from the RDW (equivalent to Department of Motor Vehicles) that I was approved to go on to the next step in the licensing process. I was to go down to the Stadhuis in The Hague with the letter, two passport pictures (Dutch style - both ears showing but no teeth showing), my residency card, the 30% letter and my current valid license. I put off doing that until after we came back from Virginia. Good thing I did.

I finally found the time April 23. I gathered all my paperwork, my photos and my PIN card for payment and headed back down to the Stadhuis. I took my number and waited my turn. Fortunately, all the clerks are proficient in English. I handed over each item as requested. When I got to my Virginia license, she said, "You know I have to keep this." I sadly nodded and said, "yes" as I pushed the license toward her. She paper clipped it to the paperwork. I went and paid 43 euros.

After payment, she said that I would get a call in two weeks to come and pick up my license. Alarmed, I asked what I'm suppose to do about driving? She said I wasn't suppose to be driving. But, I say, I have to pick up my daughters and drive them. So she punched a few computer buttons and printed out a letter stating that my current driver's license is being held pending processing a Dutch license. She signed it and placed a municipality stamp on it. (If I was aware of this part, I would have come down and turned in the second set of paperwork when our car was out of commission because of a clutch problem. I'm also glad I didn't do it before we went to Virginia for Easter break or I would not have been able to rent a car and drive.)

Needless to say, I drove really, really carefully the following weeks obeying all signs especially posted speed limits.

I looked at the calendar and figured that 2 weeks included Queen's Day (April 30) and Ascension (May 1&2)holidays so I should add an additional week onto the wait. I anticipated getting a call around May 14. No call. Then again, I had given them our home phone number and I had not been home much during work hours. Getting anxious about the process and needing an official paper for my residency permit renewal, I went down to Stadhuis on Tuesday, May 20.

I was told that I could pick up my license from the cashier. At the cashier, he asked me if I had gotten a letter from the RDW? Looking confused, I shook my head. He went to look through a box of alphabatized licenses and found mine. My trip was a success as I also easily obtained the official paper I needed.

In the mail later that afternoon, I received a letter in both Dutch and English from the RDW dated May 19 that I had "submitted an application for a Dutch driving license. We hereby confirm acceptance of your application for a Dutch driving license." I could pick it up 5 days from the date of the letter at the municipality where I had turned in paperwork. I had to collect it within 3 months or it would lose its validity. I was glad that the license showed up earlier then the 5 days.

Oh, about the residency permit - the expiration date for the girls' permits are tied to Terry's. Because I am the spouse, mine was only approved for one year. That is the marriage clause, a bureaucratic ploy in case the marriage is one to get the non-working spouse into the country and then separate or divorce. It happens to just about everyone I've talked to. If renewal goes through, the permit will then be for several years.

Morocco Bound - Day 6: The Return

This is the last entry on our Morocco trip from February/March. (Finally!) If you haven't read all of them, or if you've missed one, here they are in order:

Morocco Bound: An Overview

Day 1 - Traveling to Morocco

Day 2 - Rabat

Day 3 - Fes

Day 4 - Casablanca

Day 5 - Rabat Souks and the Concert

Links to our online albums are in the bar to the right. Below is our last blog entry on this trip. No pictures with this one. We hope you enjoy!

Today, we flew back to Holland.

The last day of vacation is bittersweet. We had a wonderful time. We wanted to get back to routine and to see JA although we didn't want to end a lovely week. We packed, had breakfast and checked out. Jalil was there to send us off. And obtain a written recommendation of how well he did which Marc kindly provided.

Two daily flights leave the airport in Rabat: 6:50 am or 2:20 pm. Ron, Rochelle and Alessandra took the early morning flight as do a couple other schools such as Aberdeen since they wanted to get home earlier. We decided that we wanted to sleep in and take the afternoon flight knowing that we would probably be getting home close to midnight. It is amazing to think that the airport opens only three times: in the morning when the plane leaves for Paris, in the afternoon when the first flight comes in from Paris and then returns to Paris, and late at night when the last flight comes in from Paris.

Our driver and bus were waiting for us. We loaded up and in and headed over to the Ibis Hotel to pick up Jim. Next, we went to the Rabat American School (RAS) to pick up our musicians. Traffic was practically non-existent this beautiful morning, what we would consider a typical Sunday morning in the Virginia or The Hague. Their host families were to bring our students to the school at noon with a bagged lunch. Slowly our children trickled in mostly as pairs. Our van was filled with students and bags. A student from the American school in Lagos needed a ride. Since we had a free seat, we fit him in and off we went.

This ride to the airport occurred during sunlight. We viewed the suburbs of Rabat as we moved away from the city's center. The ride was not as wild as our Tuesday night arrival. We pulled up, unloaded and rolled the suitcases over to the terminal. Again, the terminal was considerably smaller then the one in Malta.

X-ray machines greeted us as we entered. Down went the suitcases and we walked through the security gate. Mary Ann's suitcase was tagged because to the operator it didn't look right. The x-ray operator's English was not clear so it was a matter of trying to figure out from the picture what was the problem. She finally figured out it was the two collapsed umbrellas lying end to end at one side of the suitcase.

We arrived at 12:40 pm. The counter opened at 1:00 pm. We waited in clumps at the counter. The families had their children with them. Marc had the unaccompanied children. Jim decided that he could take care of himself.

Marc had checked us out and had our tickets confirmed over the internet that morning back at The Hilton. ER was sitting with us which she was not pleased about. She made it clear through the event that she did not want a parent to come and hear her for the Middle School Mixed Voice Honor Choir in Aberdeen. She wanted to do that trip on her own. Just as we had to fill out a form to enter the country, we had a form to fill out to exit. Fortunately, we had plenty of time in line to do that.

Meanwhile, the group from Lagos, Nigeria was in front of us. As they were waiting for the counter to open, the director was instructing her students to take the clothes and their toiletries out of their suitcase and put them in their backpack. They had to spend the night in Paris however their suitcases were going to be checked straight through to Lagos so they would not have access to them while at the hotel. They all needed their AMIS shirt to wear the next day. The director had all the passports in hand and called one at a time up. And almost invariably, the student had not taken out the items he or she needed and was taking care of the transfer at the counter before checking the suitcase.

The scales were far from accurate, barely working. The flat top often had to be lifted off and repositioned to zero out the measurement before the suitcase was weighed. All bags were under the 20 kilogram limit. Our bags were tagged with a “short transfer” tag since we were changing planes at Paris. Otherwise, the check in was uneventful.

Off we went to Customs, a single stand with a guard who took the form that we filled out. Next onto Passport Control where our passports were scrutinized and an exit stamp placed on the page opposite the entry stamp. Our carry on when through another x-ray. We theorized that the x-raying of bags at the entrance to the building may have been to identify any artifacts smuggled out of the country.

The main and only waiting room turned out to be the size of one gate at Dulles airport. All the seats were filled, mostly with honor band students from The Hague, Lagos, Singapore, Frankfort, London (the largest group with 14 students) and Luxembourg. Students, backpacks and instruments were all around. The students stayed mostly with their school but some interaction between schools occurred.

So, every airport has a snack bar and duty free shop, right? Rabat was no different. They opened as the waiting room filled up. They could be best described more as kiosks then shops. Duty free was a basic selection of items including candy and wine at exorbitant prices: a 430 grams (15 oz) bag of M&Ms was 85 dirhams (= 7.72 euros = $11.60 US!!!). Everyone was trying to use up their dirhams on candy or drinks or snack bar snacks. The restrooms were constantly cleaned by an attendant. The extra change went into her basket.

The plane coming in from Paris was 30 minutes late. We queued and watched as people deplaned. We watched the refueling, the catering truck and our luggage being loaded. Finally we were able to walk across the tarmac, walk up the stairs and find our seat. Right before take off, the flight attendant walked from the back of the cabinet to the front, her hand raised behind her, spraying a container behind her. Dana said they were fumigating the plane. It did not smell pleasant and dissipated quickly.

The flight out of Morocco and to France was uneventful. We were served a meal, again, no pork products in it. Landing in Paris was totally predictable.. We landed, sat and waited…and waited. For about 10 minutes. It turned out that no one was at the airport side to open the door. A few people had to make some very quick connections. As we deplaned, we saw attendants with signs for “Zurich” and “Frankfort” collecting those who needed to get to their plane quickly.

The signage in Charles DeGaulle airport is not clear and the size of the place immense. Fortunately we had a lot of time. We were swept along with people from other planes heading to the nearest Passport Control. The first person from our group that reached security discovered that we were in the wrong line. We were in Terminal 2F and needed to get to 2B – not the way through that checkpoint. We backed up and double checked the signs. Off we trooped again.

We followed the signs and reached the transit point to board a bus to be taken to Terminal 2B. There was plenty of room on the bus (it was about 9:30 pm on a Sunday night). The bus had a screen that we could follow our route around the exterior of the terminal. Back inside the terminal, we went through Passport Control – we were the only ones in line and passed through quickly. Next security for our carry one items. And a great surprise: Our gate, D35 was right by security. We did not need to walk any farther.

Our plane to Schiphol left 15 minutes late. We walked the stores, got a drink, stopped by a restroom. The girls were delighted to be able to drink out of a water fountain. Although we booked through Air France, this leg of the trip was handled by KLM their partner. The plane was bigger then the one we flew from Schiphol to Paris. The flight was only about 45 minutes. There was barely enough time for the flight attendants to pass out a drink and cookies. They were collecting trash as we landed.

We had entered the European Union (EU) in Paris so did not have to go through Passport Control at Schiphol. We picked up our bags, found our pre-booked taxi and drove off. We stopped at ASH where all but the Smith family disembarked. We got to meet the parents of Lars and Ho-Young who had not attended the concert. The taxi driver drove Terry, Mary Ann and ER down to their house in The Hague. We got home around 11 pm. JA and Zoey, the cat, were delighted to see us.

The three of us made it through the trip without any stomach problems. However, 3 students and an adult were sick afterwards, not sure from what.

We enjoyed our trip, watching the Middle School Honor Band Concert, seeing a different culture and continent. Right now, “one time be enough” for Morocco. Our next adventure will be going back to Virginia.

Morocco Bound - Day 5: Rabat Souks and the Concert

Saturday would be an easy day since we intended to stay in the Rabat area as the band concert was in the evening. We met Melissa, Dana and Brian for breakfast at 9 AM – definitely a leisurely morning given that the past three days we were already on the road at that time. After breakfast we packed ourselves into a Grand Taxi (large sedan that fit 5 people in a crunch) and headed down to the Medina and the souks (markets) of Rabat.

After a wild ride (we could not tell if the doors actually locked!) the driver dropped us off near the Oudaia Kasbah, the old gate where we had started the tour on Wednesday with the kids. This time, we crossed the road and entered the Medina. The Medina is the section of town that includes the souks (markets.) In Fes, the souks also included craftsmen who would make their sale goods in the back like the tanneries and the linen souks. Surrounding the street with the souks would be residential and other work areas. Ethnic and religious groups would be separated. We started at the end of the street of souks and worked our way into the Medina.

Passing stores, we didn't know whether to buy or keep looking. The first store of carved wood pieces hooked us in and we bought. Items were not marked with prices. We asked. While the guidebook talked about bargaining, we weren't ones to bargain. And soon we also realized that we should do the bargaining on price before they started wrapping the merchandise. The clerks in the store polished all the wood items with vegetable oil till they shone. We picked up a few souvenirs for friends back home and for ourselves, we ended up with a kleenex box holder with an inlaid wood pattern.

As we came out of the shop, we spotted several ASH students. This was the first time we had seen our children for several days. We ran into them as they were heading out back to the bus to go to the school for one last practice before the big night. For the past 2 days, all band members were intensely practicing in sections and together for the final concert. Their one time out on the town during the day was this Saturday morning when they were taken by bus down to experience the souks. That's why we did not go to the souks on Wednesday. ER soon found us.

She caught us up on what was going on in her life the last few days:

ER is second chair trumpet. The first three chairs of trumpets are girls. On Friday they practiced for five hours, played a concert for the school, and then practiced another hour. Her lips were sore especially since “Magnificent Seven” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” were intensely high. She was staying with a Moroccan family that had a driver and a maid. The maid had taken the pillow ER brought with her and she was trying to track it down. Her host student, FZ, was great as was the other girl from a school in Zurich. On Wednesday they had dinner at FZ's house. On Thursday they went to T.G.I.Friday's. On Friday they had sushi. As a group they went to the Hassan towers that morning and she had pictures of the ASH boys climbing on the pillars and jumping down. When they visited the Mausoleum of Mohammed V the boys were climbing up all the pillars and Jonathan climbed all of them up to the top except for the tall ones with the lights. One night the other girls stayed up until 1 AM but she conked out earlier.


(in the picture to the left, ER is in the middle, second row from the front, in the dark blue and white striped shirt. Her face is profile to us.)

ER loved the bargaining that went on in the souks. She found a scarf for her sister and bargained it down to 10 dirhams lower in price. She and another student were trying to find a joint gift for their friend but could not find anything in their price range even with bargaining. She warned us about the women who were “molesting” others by painting henna designs on their hands and arms and then demanding money. When she saw them coming, she said, “No” and moved off quickly. We saw the effects on the arms and hands of a few ASH musicians. Soon all the ASH kids with Mr. Yarnell as the herder showed up and we saw them off to the bus and we moved on.

The adults walked further into the souk. At one store, Melissa bargained fiercely for daggers for her boys getting two for almost the price of one. The Dana and Brian picked up souvenirs along the way for those back home. Mary Ann wanted to get a scarf for ER as a remembrance. ER had said there were several stands down the street. Mary Ann went to one shop, saw one she liked, asked the price, and made a counter offer that wasn't accepted. As she was thinking about what to do, Melissa called out, “Mary Ann, there are other shops down here.” Mary Ann put down the scarf and walked out to the other store leaving the shopkeeper behind. A much better deal was found.

The women, shopped, walked and chatted in front and the men followed behind carrying bags. Terry was glad to have Brian to talk to so he was not counter cultural by himself. Walking through the Medina, we saw stores for any kind of souvenir item you can think of. The prices were all about the same. Stores for carpets (the ones we saw in Fes were much better quality), kaftans, belly dancing costumes, leather, wood products, metal, antiques, lots of scarves since so many of the women wore scarves over their hair, not much pottery or mosaic. In the food area, sheep heads and hooves were displayed along with live turtles. One box of turtles had lettuce leaves to eat; the other had no food or water.

We discovered that we had started in the tourist area because as we walked into the Medina, the stores shifted from local crafts to what was needed for everyday living: shoes, clothes, dish ware, electronics. One of the stores looked like a Blokkers, a store in the Netherlands sort of like K-Mart but without clothes, appliances and automotive items. This long street was the place to shop and people were out on the Saturday morning shopping and socializing.

Almost at the end of the market, we cut across a side street and came out where the taxis were. We debated whether to get one grand taxi or two petite taxis (maximum 3). Melissa hailed one driver and said “Rabat Hilton.” He said, “60 dirhams.” Since it cost us 40 to get down there, she said, “40.” He said, “50.” We accepted the price and stuffed ourselves into the taxi. In the backseat those by the door crowded in the middle afraid that their respective door would open. No worries about seat belt in that car.

After a wild ride, our driver took us to The Rabat Hotel. We shouted at it, “The Rabat Hilton. The Hilton!” One of us had a logo item with an address on it and he then understood. He weaved us through a parking lot that didn't really look open, almost jumped a curb and we went on our way. Not sure where he was taking us, we all silently prayed until we saw the Hilton looming ahead. He let us out, gave us the packages from the trunk and we gave him the 50 dirhams. We probably paid too much but he made less then he thought he would since he had to drive further. The incident confirmed the wisdom of pre-booking transportation for that night.


The five of us had an a la carte lunch on the Hilton's patio. The sky was blue with sun, a light breeze was coming through. We weren't bothered by insects. We explored the Hilton's gardens taking pictures to remember it by. Coming across the swimming pool, we found Rochelle, Ron and their daughter sunning themselves. Alessandra was in the pool – the only one brave enough to take it on as it was not warm. All were well underway to going back with pink skin.

We relaxed through the afternoon. Our bus arrived for us with our driver from Fes and Casablanca. We were very happy to see him. Since Marc was with us, he rode shotgun again; the driver appreciated having someone who could speak his language.

The concert was held at a theater down the street from the Rabat American School. We entered, saw our students, took pictures, and found seats. We were promised a CD of the concert. The guest conductor, Edward Elkins, came from the Saudi Aramco Dhahran School. The other bands teachers who accompanied their students conducted sectionals for the different instruments

We did not have a camcorder and took video of the two songs ER wanted us to. We posted them to YouTube so you can hear them. Remember, the video quality is really bad – the music is what is important. All of the pieces were excellent. If the imbedded videos don't work, links to the YouTube site are below:

Magnificent Seven video (3-1/2 minutes)



Pirates Encore (1 minute)




(If you can't access the YouTube videos above from the blog, you can find them at:

Magnificent Seven http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as2UrrON3To

Pirates Encore http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovQ9KuTtjyU

It was an emotional experience to realize that these over 60 musicians of 17 different nationalities came from 17 schools as close as Rabat and as far as Singapore. Where else would they have met each other? It testified to the power of music and excellence that brings people together for three intense days to make music and have a taste of a different country.

At this time the New York Philharmonic Orchestra was in North Korea performing. We saw the report on the monitors while waiting for our plane in Schiphol. And just recently this May, the Chinese Orchestra performed for the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, at the Vatican. Music does bring people together.






(A picture of the section of the band where ER was. See her third in from the director.)










After the concert there were more pictures. The parents of the Rabat American School organized a small reception of cake and drinks for us. Our students were elated at their performance and relieved that it was over. They went back to their host families for one last night of fun. We went to dinner.

Our driver took us to the same restaurant in the Medina that the band directors were taken to the night before. We were met at the entrance into the Medina by a man dressed in traditional garb carrying a lantern. We followed him through the narrow alleys and back passages. The walls did not reveal what was behind any of the doors or windows that we passed. It was a warm and comfortable evening. A few individuals were out. It was mainly quiet and deserted.

We reached the restaurant. Behind a rather non-descript door, the elegance inside could not be imagined: it was enough to take your breath away. The restaurant was small with four tables that seated 6 people each. Our party took two of the tables. The couple from Munich joined the 10 of us from The Hague for dinner. In the front were musicians playing Moroccan music on traditional instruments. The music was not intrusive into our conversation but was pleasant background.

The owner of the restaurant was a French woman who took our orders. When MaryAnn gave her order, she confused “entree” thinking “main course” with “appetizer – something to begin with.” The owner was impatient with us in explaining. She had trouble with both tables and broadly erased any order that was changed. Finally, our orders were taken for food and wine. We had lamb dishes and couscous. We tried a couple different kinds of wine. Dessert was Moroccan pastries.

Our servers were dressed in traditional costume also. Before our meal, to wash our hands, they poured perfume water over them and we dried them with a towel. After dinner, we were given a few drops of a scent to freshen the hands. Part of the entertainment was watching the Moroccan tea being poured. The server was a tall man. He held the tray with glasses below his waist. Taking the tea pot in hand, he started pouring and raised it as high as he could still keeping the stream of liquid filling the glasses. We applauded his skill and he enjoyed putting on the show for us.

The ladies who visited the restroom found that it was decorated in red, almost the feel of a bordello. Mary Ann missed it so cannot personally describe it.

The evening was relaxing, filled with lots of laughter and good conversation. The time went by and nobody looked at their watch. It was the perfect ending to the week.

Dinner came to an end and our guide with the lantern met us at the door when we were ready to leave. Good thing too since we're not sure we could have negotiated the maze of back alleys. It looked familiar but after a dinner like the one we had, nobody could be sure. At the end we saw our driver, tipped our guide and drove back to the hotel.

Because of Marc's presence, Melissa took the opportunity to thank our driver again for everything he did for us. We knew that he appreciated our words and relayed back that it was his pleasure to do so.

Off to our last night in Morocco. Morning would bring our adventure of going home. Marc had already checked to ensure that we would have transportation to the airport. We would believe it when we saw it.

You can find our pictures from this day at: http://picasaweb.google.com/madmochowski/08March1RabatAndHonorBandConcert