Well I guess it is true what they say about riding a bike! You never forget how. Jozé and Zeki had a small bike for me and yesterday we went for a ride. I had so much fun. It has been many many years since I tried to ride a bike. Mainly because of my back injury and the length of time it took me to heal. But maybe also because around Southern Humboldt there are no bike paths and getting around by bike is very difficult and even dangerous.
I went with Jozé and Zeki to a friends home for dinner last night. Their friend Oboe prepared Indonesian foods for us and it was very good. I had never tried Indonesian foods before. After the dinner we attended a housewarming party for some other friends. They had taken a multi-unit townhouse and made it one house. It was like a castle. It had 8 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 kitchens, many rooms for entertaining, 2 terraces, and a gardenspace on the bottom floor.
The people at the party were very friendly and I met several expatriots there. Some people from Canada and a man from New Mexico. I did notice one very big difference between the Italians and the Dutch at this party. In Italy I am of average size. Here in the Netherlands, I am a little shrimp. I was by far (4 inches) the shortest person at the party! I think that the average height for Dutch people must be about 6'2". We danced, ate and drank wine for many hours and walked the bikes back home because I was a little tipsy. lol
Also I noticed yesterday that the sun sets much later here. 10:30pm! When I checked the maps I could see the latitude here is about 53. I think this is the farthest north I have ever been. Jozé says the sun sets at4:30 in the winter time.
Some pictures of the beautiful birds I have seen here:
The Trumpeter Swan
A Mud Hen in her nest with her babies
A parrot introduced from India.
The doves here are twice as big as the doves in Italy or America.
These ducks are similar to the mallards at home. But I think they have a much longer beak.
And here a good shot of the Nile Geese.
I am trying so many new foods here... breads, cheeses, wines, beer, pastries and cookies. I wish I had room in my luggage to bring some home with me to share with people. But I am already so overloaded I think I will just hurt myself if I try to bring more.
I will try to write one more blog post before coming home on Tuesday. My love to all of you... my friends and family.
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