This past Saturday I volunteered at an International Peace Festival. The festival was held at a local church and was free to anyone who was interested. Luckily the weather was nice because I was housed in a tent outside helping with the children’s activities. Although the turnout to the event could have been better, a sizeable amount of people did show up throughout the day. The event offered African dance lessons, yoga sessions, and choir performances. Tables from different organizations such as Amnesty international gave out leaflets and balloons while volunteers and visitors enjoyed Dutch, Middle Eastern, and African refreshments. I was able to practice my basic Dutch with the children who came to the tent to make crafts and get their faces painted. I also met quite a few nice people who were interested in what I thought of the Netherlands. One of them may have even given me a lead on a job. The end of the event was quite beautiful. During the course of the day, people filled out postcards with their wishes for peace (mine was for peace in Africa-the entire continent). The postcards were tied to helium filled balloons and after what I assume was a moving poem (it was in Dutch) we released the balloons. I hadn’t released a balloon in years after hearing the damage it can cause to sea turtles, but was easily persuaded to briefly forsake my favorite sea creatures for this cause. It was a truly nice and fitting way to end a special and gezellig event.
The girl in the front with the bun in her hair and the purple balloon is Eva, my Link match. We regularly volunteer together and she helps me in my attempts to understand the Dutch culture.
This was my balloon to release although it had someone else's peace wish.
No matter how many attempts were made, this balloon did not want to be freed.
The nice weather continued on Sunday and after a “delightful” run through the forest, Gearoid and I headed to the local park with a friend. We brought refreshments, novels, and sheets and found a shady/sunny spot to lie out. Gearoid being of delicate Irish skin opted for the shade of a tree while I soaked up the sun. After about half an hour we had to adjust our set-up 3 feet to the right so that Gearoid could remain in the shade. The sky was blue, the grass an extraordinary green, and the park was populated enough for us to partake in some people watching but not so overcrowded that we could hear other conversations. After about an hour and a half, our peace was disturbed by big vans with trailers driving across the green lawn. Our initial annoyance was replaced by excitement when we realized that the trailers were filled with giant hot air balloons. We watched most of the set up (it takes a long time to get a balloon ready to go up) and made it home in time to see the balloons pass over our house.
The grass felt absolutely amazing. The first 10 minutes we were there, the tree of us just kept sighing and exclaiming with pleasure over the weather and the wonderful grass.
"What is that giant picnic basket in the back of the trailer?" That's what I silently thought in my head right before Gearoid exclaimed that it was a hot air balloon.
We regularly see balloons from our patio on nice days but it was cool to see them actually being prepared to fly.
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