Back Home in Holland

Back home.

I left 10-05-2004 to make a one year trip to Canada and the USA. I came back 03-08-2009 with the visuals of 23 different countries on my retina. In more then five years I traveled from Alaska to Argentinia. Not really in one line, but zigzagging sideways and up and down. I lived nine months in Calgary with Graham, in total I spend three months with Ed on his boat Ketevara sailing down the Pacific coast of Mexico, one month I enjoyed the splendor of the Colorado Autumn with Chris, one month I tried to learn some Spanish in San Pedro de Lago Atitlan in Guatemala, I hitched to Norway from Holland for a month with Zeph, I spend one month commercial fishing on a little island in Alaska, I lived six weeks with -32C in the Yukon, one month I spend in romantic Paris with Zeph, followed by three months in the jungle in Costa Rica and Bolivia captured my heart and made me live in a forgotten little town called San Lorenzo for six weeks. The last month I hitched with Marie to Slovenia and Italy. The rest of the time I've been on the move almost every day.

The Buttery Blue and the Silver Spirit were my homes for twenty months, I still miss them every day. It's without doubt my favorite way of travel. I slept in hundreds of different beds to wich I was invited and almost a year in my tent. And my backpack has been my only possession for about two years. I took 13 flights, owned two cars, traveled by boat, train, hitch hiking and a lot on foot. I met more people then I could ever count and most of them still cross my mind every time. I have a bad memory, but I will never forget the gratitude and hospitality from all those.

Back to my parents in Baarlo, to the house I've been born in, the womb where all my love has grown. Where I can recieve and give without question.

I spend one month with them, taking it very easy. The weather was fantastic this August and so it was very relaxing to just go with the flow, organize what needed to be done (insurance application, my first mobile phone, meeting friends, getting my future house deal-done and networking for a job). It was getting-used-to to all those rules. They say Holland is a free country but I've never had so many obligations I had to take in consideration.

So I decided to get my new bike (my mums old one, taped up and with my India-bells) to Utrecht, 150km away. It was the best thing I could do to kick-off from 'being on the road'.

Off to Utrecht.

From 12pm Thursday till 2pm Friday I biked throug little forrests, along sloten through a flat landscape. A very different one from the mountains I'm used to by now. Holland is beautiful in it's own way, but pretty boring in another.

Dutch fletness with windmills here and there.

Also Dutch 60-year old woman invite you to sleep in their home on the dike, and so I came well rested in Utrecht.

I've only spend some time here with Siebe, a boyfriend I had who studied here. But the city had always held a very positive feeling with me. It's the only reason I knew I wanted to live here.

A super nice friend, Frederike, helped me finding a squatters room where her boyfriend had lived before.

The famous Dom in the heart of Utrecht.

Utrecht has lots of grachten, canals. Autumn has started in Holland so the trees are changing color and the leaves are starting to fall.

And don't miss the millions of bikes, an impressive, mind-blowing sight in this biggest student-city in The Netherlands.

The Old Windmill, First on the skirts of town, now all surrounded. We're growing fast.

Back to School.

It took me one month before I got Luc, my 'houseboss' (the guy who squatted the place five years ago with his sister) to make up a little go-commer, so I just organized everything and knocked the door one morning with my parents van containing my eight banana boxes, a big round chair and a 15Euro Marktplaat bed.

We moved in. My parents the biggest help in the world. It was so nice to create a home with others instead as normal on my own.

So this big building was born in 1912, to serve as a primary school, it has done so for a long time and still there is a creche on one side of it.

The other side, 2/3 of it, Stood empty for five years before Luc and Magda occupied it five years ago.

In about eight days we moved his stuff out, cleaned a poster wall, painted white and two hues of green, moved my stuff in, my mum cleaned, my dad build a kitchen around the coldwater sink, I decorated and collected furniture from the street. Besides that I was offered many hand-me-downs from people who knew I was gonna live here, so cool!

This is my classroom!

You enter......

....... and see there my travels unfold in decorations.An old classroom from 8.5m by 8.5m with a sealing of 4m. The huge windows from the first floor look out over the Majella park on the other side of the busy street (it's never quiet here, something I miss a lot). Already more then 20 people have had tea with me on the couch.
The highlight is my bed. It's absolutely amazingly cool. It's always full moon in my nest and if you can't sleep you may pinch yourself on my dad-made spinning-wheel so you vanish in 100years of dream-rich sleep.

It's great living here, I would never have thought it would look like this so quick. The first while I felt like a stranger to my own house, especially when friends came visit, but now that I've danced her in it starts to feel homey more and more. Maybe I should give it a name. 'Mathu's Place'

For the activities held in this building, mostly Tango-Salons and private parties, and the costs it carries, we, living here, all help in sustaining it. We pay a small 'rent' and electricity + water + internet costs. We try to make a cultural centre and so a stronger vote to keep the place to ourselves.

http://www.v420.com/

There is one point of shame to my home: you have to wear lots of my own knitted socks, scarfs and hats because it's pretty cold in Winter-time. The heating system worked with oil but has failed many years ago. The leaking tank has been dug from the schoolyard with organization of Luc and Magda.

In the five weeks I've lived here so far I met my new school-mates a little. Luc lives here full time, his sister Magda only one or two nights after her Tango nights. Micha and Lyske live downstairs of me, Ibrahem from Senegal has lived here for 4 years too. And then there are two classrooms occupied but the people don't live here.

Micha and Lyske have given a swinging Rock 'n Roll party because they both finished their education. She flew to Equador and Peru to travel with a friend for six weeks and in Febr they go to India. Like that, you never stop traveling even if it's through someone else.

A job has finally worked as well. I started to be ready with decorating when the urge to be productive and earn money took over. Other things had occupied my mind before. Within one week I was working full time at the 'Winkel van Sinkel'. A huge Grand-Cafe with many different possibilities. Lunches, patio's, a tapas night restaurant, weddings, club/disco's, dance matines and more. I don't think I'll get borred here very soon. And because we work here we may take free Salsa lessons. I'll start this Thursday, I'm curious how much all those boys in Latin America have taught me.....

So it's all going smooooth. My home-number is 420;) and I will amaze everyone with how much I love to be here. I've been a few Saturdays to town to find my new danceplace besides my huge room, to drink some beers, I've had already some sleepovers with mum and friends, I start to know where everything is and the best of all, the reason, love is back in the air. While my favorite season is showing it's beauty through my window I still flutter around and within. I can't think of anything to wish for and say thank you.

I did make one more trip before work took over. A hitch to the beach. It went really fast, I got dropped off in Scheveningen, the most popular beachtown in Holland with the Pier and it's beach parlors.

A 25km walk trough the dunes brought me to Katwijk aan Zee from where I hitched back. But not after a fresh dive in my own brown North-Sea.

Life is one big trip!

It's the only thing I will answer when people ask me if it's difficult to be back. What is being back. who goes back. Can we not only go forward? Where I am right now is not were I was two minutes ago, let alone five years. It's not important where you are or what you do, it's important you do and enjoy while you're at it. Dear friends,

Life is different now, I do the things many of us do in my own way and so my website will be less frequent. I would love to ask you to write me to MathuBloom@hotmail.com for personal responces and to visit de Vleutense weg 420 if you are somewhere near. I would love to have you for tea and diner.