Hi ho, hi ho it's off to the Nertherlands we go!

Driving from Belgium...

 

It's a wee bit flat. There's absolutely no unused empty space.

Bikes and horses are not so uncommon... No cars allowed on this street.

Cast A rides into town! (Leslie our Dance Captain thrilled!)

I spent Wednesday at a school. This is the primary parking lot before school

Just after lunch...

Rain is common here and all citizens are prepared for wet weather!

We played hide and seek...

Linda from Taiwan loves her bike...

I can’t believe it’s April. The days and miles continue to melt under our feet as this journey rolls along. It’s been another week full of new memories to be cherished… eerie orange-yellow dances on the black pavement, the shimmering light flickering in the rain as the whirl of rubber whisks me toward home in the spring rain late Saturday night. The city glows a glint gray and black in the night, streetlamps reach out the arms of their light flowing around us along the banks of the canal… 

This is the headquarters of Uniliver.

 

We spent Thursday at Uniliver, one of the world’s largest companies. Their products reach over two billion people, (owners of Skippy, Axe, and Dove to name a few brands) and are also our sponsor here in Wassanar. They gave a short presentation on their long-term goals, which was focused primarily around reducing their global environmental impact. Interestingly, based upon the facts they gave us, almost 70 % of the impact comes from the consumer’s use of their product rather than the creation, transportation or disposal. For example, they make a lot of shampoo and most of the environmental impact is from the energy needed for the hot water we enjoy.  In short, their biggest challenge will be to teach the consumer to be more efficient in their use of the products. (So take shorter showers!!)

Rotterdam, destroyed in WWII is now a major industrial center.

Miran from Denmark in the back of a double-decker

Things are smaller here... like the tunnels...

Cast A arrives at our Community Service site, Dunea a water company...

We're excited to be riding bikes.... :-)

Especially Jody, our operations manager!

Wisps’ of gray vapor curl around black and green lace brush entwined in the murkey white sand dunes. The gentle hush of ocean swells echo gently against the harsh wind that cuts across our faces. Our fingers stiff and slow with cold stubbornly brush away grains of sand uncovering red rusted iron, shards and shells left from war decades before…

One of the ponds where water for Wassanar is filtered.

Shelsea from CA and Packo from France/Mexico.

Students and staff searching the dunes...

For iron and waste from WWII....

Nearly everything black is rusted metal...

Looks like this once its been dug up.

Bottom; Kyla from Texas, Walker from China. Top; Joyce from the Netherlands, Joelle from CA

April has arrived and spring ushers us into her arms with gray mists most mornings. She sends us to bed weary from the chill and yet still finds ways to warm us in the midst of it all with the occasional burst of sun and blue. Yesterday was one such day—lazy clouds drifting amidst a sea of blue, finally a day for shorts as we paint and scrape away debris at a youth center. It doesn’t take long before my face is splattered with white paint… A short walk from our restoration efforts is a village green covered with children and students. We play soccer and tag, our students and staff intermingle with the youth and before long it’s hard to distinguish who is 11 the childlike glee leaping sporadically through the group… 

 As always there are more stories to be told alas there is never enough time... so here are a few photo's from today's adventure in Delft. Fun fact... nearly 80% of the buildings were burned to the ground in the early 17th century so most of the buildings are only 300 to 400 years old...  the "old church" as it's called (not seen below) was built between 1200-1600 CE...

Enroute to Delft we ran across some cute children...

They squeeze kids into the most interesting places on bikes...

De from CT and our neighbors.

Outside of The Prinsenhof where the Prince Orange was shot in 1580.

Host brother, Hijse, Di and Daniel.

Nieuwe Kerk, Delft. (The old church) Built 1396-1496

 

Love it up. ~d