Then and now, Bert and Adrie. Both pictures were made on the exact same spot, 35 years apart, but you cannot stop progress so everything has changed.
The old box
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Category Archives: Family and friends
Fathersday
Today is fathersday in Spain. Alex (with a little help from his mother) got me this beautiful picture! Naturally I was very happy with this very nice gift. The photo was taken on the Canteras beach where Alex was just checking out the local scenery.
Back to Leiden
The situation in Spain is very difficult at the moment. There is a very high unemployment rate and if your lucky, and have a job, there is a lot of uncertainty. After years of employment people suddenly get contracts that last only a month. If you are sick at the end of the month you are automatically without a job.
After quite some debate we have made a decision to do whats best and try to create more stability for our family. We wanted the security of two incomes in these strange times of crisis. After months of searching for a job here in Gran Canaria I took a gamble in the Netherlands. This turned out to be a lucky shot and one week after sending my CV and a phone call I got myself a nice contract for half a year. A contract worth more that three times a similar job here in Spain.
Of course it was a very difficult decision. My family will remain (for now) in Las Palmas and we will have to see how we fill in our future together. I’m going back home to Leiden and start there the 1st of April. The positive feeling of returning to my roots, my family and my friends is however overshadowed by the nearing goodbye of Alex and Ana. Even though I know the goodbye is only for a while and there are lots of ways to keep in touch, it is still painful to think I will not be there for Alex in the middle of the night when he wants his milk.
It is a big change for us, but we are confident it is the best thing we can do for our future. I’m heading back to Leiden (first to Noordwijkerhout) and then we will see where the future leads us. See you very soon!
Climbing stairs
Last week Alex had another checkup where he also got a few more vaccinations injected into his little leg. During the checkup they asked us if Alex knew how to climb a stairs. We did not really try this with Alex but there had been a few times that Alex liked to go up and down some stairs with a helping hand. We said that stairs for Alex were no problem, and a few days later Alex showed us that he really did master the art of climbing!
Visiting
Time flies. An time flies even faster when there is family visiting. Alex loved the visit of his niece and nephew and uncle and aunt and so did we!
Mommy
Alex has been saying daddy for a while, but now he also mastered mommy. He even knows his mother is called Ana.
Sick
After our nice visit to Madrid we are once again home but this time with a very sick child. On the flight back his temperature slowly went up to around 39 degrees and the only thing we could do was keep refreshing him with a wet towel. Once we landed we headed directly to the hospital where Alex got a big shot of antibiotica.
Now a few days later Alex is getting better. He is sleeping better and he even finds the energy to play a little every now and then. Still he is not his original 100% and sometimes needs to be held, just to show him there are people that love and protect him.
Alex and the crocodiles
Since the end of the world did not occur Alex got in the mood to take a little more risks. He wanted to visit some crocodiles. Luckily for his there is a big park with crocodiles (cocodrilo park) right here on Gran Canaria near Agüimes and they claim there are more than 300 crocodiles walking around the park. During our visit we could even touch a few little crocodiles and Alex liked this a lot. In the park there were a lot more animals like chickens, rabbits, parrots, snakes, dear, monkeys and more and Alex at times didn’t know where to look. Some of the animals like the chickens and the rabbits seemed to be in high risk to end up as crocodile food but this is maybe just my incorrect assumption.
The ark itself was very charming. It was almost the opposite to a normal commercial park. The tickets to get in were cheap. The food was priced normally and the park was big enough to spend a couple of hours. The park is closed on Saturdays and open the rest of the week from 10:00 till 17:00. At 1 they feed the crocodiles which is like a show and afterwards there is a clown performance.
Surprisingly, the personal was not commercially trained, but they were ‘real’. The boy that was clearly there to take our picture with some parrots did not even bother to make a picture. He started telling us about his parrots and that sometimes one of them bites. One female parrot could be held by men, but did not like to be held by women. We were allowed to pet the parrots and continued our stroll through the park.
An older Canarian that worked on the park took some time to tell us about his work and his relation with one of the apes. In his time working at the park he had developed a relation with one of the apes,Judith, and now he trusted the ape and the ape trusted him. I have never seen a person talk with so much emotion about his relation with and ape and even enter in a discussion with said ape. This was very nice to see.
We liked the park a lot and will return for sure.
Alex and the end of the world
When we told Alex about the possible end of the world he did got a bit scared. Quickly he put on his special camouflage.
Jamón
Alex found his first addiction. A very typical Spanish addiction even, jamón! In Spain it is even normal that vegetarians make an exception for a nice jamón, and enjoy a nice slice of cured salted pig meat without any problems.
Alex also developed a taste and spends quite some time looking at the pigs leg and asking for little pieces of the tasty jamón. In Spain the people are convinced that jamón is one of the most healthy foods available so his current meat addiction is not a problem at all.