Teeuwsen.com

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Jez (aka Jeremy)
Happy Birthday to you

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It was a great day.

Tags: Katie, Keith, Wedding
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Ok, we have had some significant hosting issues this year and in particular over the last 3 weeks. I just finished moving our site to a new hosting company. Let’s see what happens now…

Tags: hosting
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Strike Strike Strike

I have never seen so many strikes in my life. It seems that each company associated with this project wants to have a strike. Just as soon as one is done another starts. Today I left the construction camp to walk across the strike line to catch up with my driver and head into the office. Well in previous days they just lifted up the rope and I walked under. Quite friendly all things considered. However today they had the road filled with rocks and trees into a giant barricade and there was no chance of getting across. Not quite so friendly. I think I am going to have to head out of here a day early to make sure I make it to my flight back to Canada at next Friday. 🙂

Tags: madagascar, strike
Posted in Madagascar | 1 Comment »

Charlie & Yvonne’s Netherlands Trip

Kim, Judah and Finley brought us to the airport. We flew to Amsterdam via Minneapolis arriving in Amsterdam at 11:00 the following morning. Customs, retrieving our baggage and car rental (a small Fiat 500) went smooth. Using the GPS (necessary in the Netherlands since the roads are not straight, they change names, and there are many canals) we drove to Utrecht and found the B&B we were staying for the next 2 nights. We walked downtown but had to watch out for the bicycles since we nearly got run over a number of times. The room at our B&B is on the 3rd floor and the stairs are very small and very steep. Also it was good that we were not very tall since the toilet was in a room less than 1 meter square.

On Sunday we drove to Leerdam to visit my Aunt Annie, Uncle Jan and 2 cousins and their wives (Jan & Gerta and Joop and Jenny). We had a very enjoyable visit and learned to greet others by kissing alternate cheeks 3 times. That evening we went out with my cousins to a wok house and it was very interesting to hear Dutch spoken in a Chinese accent. We also arranged to stay at Jan & Gerta’s for the next 2 days.

Uncle Jan, Charlie, Yvonne, Aunt Annie

On Monday we drove to Jan and Gerta’s in Wageningen. They took us to visit Gerry in Bontebrug and from there to where my father was born in Gendringen. It was very interesting to see the barn and house in one building. From there we drove through the Hoge Veluwe National Park before returning to Jan & Gerta’s.

“Bergeind”

Tuesday we drove out to see the polders in Flevoland and Noordoost, Weerribben National Park before stopping in Sneek. From Sneek we drove across the Afsluitdijk to Andijk to see where Yvonne’s father was born. From Andijk it was back to Wageningen via the Markerwaarddijk. That evening we went to “Murphy’s Quiz Night”. Fortunately the questions were in English as well as Dutch.

“Honk” Charlie, Gerta & Jan

On Wednesday we drove to Leerdam to spend a couple of days with Joop and Jenny. We walked to the Glassworks and walked through “all” the shops nearby. After lunch we drove to the Biesboch National Park and toured through the area and small museum which taught about the reed harvesting and resistance during the World War II. The next morning we went to the market and toured the fire station. That afternoon Yvonne and I drove to Kasteel de Haar where we were fortunate to get a tour in English since we were the only ones on the tour. When we returned I had to buy a new camera since my old one would not work properly. That evening we again visited Aunt Annie and Uncle Jan.

Kasteel de Haar

Charlie, Joop & Jenny

On Friday morning we headed to Amsterdam. On the way we stopped to refuel our car since we were dropping it off at the rental place. Even with the GPS we had problems finding our way back to the highway and Yvonne thought we would end up in a canal when we met a truck on a very narrow road on top of the dike. It was very busy driving into Amsterdam on a long weekend but we eventually found the rental place (parked on the sidewalk since a fuel truck blocked the entrance) and found our way to our hotel. The next two days in Amsterdam we walked around downtown, walked through the flower market, toured the Rijksmuseum and the Heineken museum.

On Sunday we walked around the Vondelpark before we met up with our river boat cruise. Before boarding the ship we toured the Zaans Schans open air museum where we toured a working windmill, a wooden shoe factor and cheese factory. That night the ship sailed to Nijmegen. The next day we toured the Marshall Museum and Liberty Park in Overloon. That afternoon we sailed to Kinderdijk where we walked along the dike to look at windmills.

Monday night we sailed to Antwerp in Belgium where we had a tour the next morning and a tour of Brussels that afternoon. Tuesday night we sailed to Gent and toured the medieval areas of Gent in the morning and Brugge in the afternoon. Wednesday night we sailed to Middelburg where we went on a walking tour. From Middelburg we sailed to Veere where I toured the Delta works while Yvonne walked around Veere. When I got back she gave me a quick tour of Veere as well. Thursday night we sailed to Rotterdam and instead of touring Rotterdam we went directly to the Keukenhop Gardens. On the way we were given the history and information from our guide about Rotterdam so we did not miss much. The gardens are a very impressive place which took us 5 hours to walk through.

From the gardens we met our ship at Schoonhoven. Friday night we sailed to Hoorn where we toured Edam the next day. From Hoorn we sailed to Amsterdam where we went on a canal cruise.

On Sunday it was time to pack up and head home. We had a great trip, had very good weather considering the time of year.

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Ok, the pictures are going to have to wait till I get back from Madagascar. In the meantime I am playing around with an org chart program that I am adapting to be a family tree. Check it out on the About page.

Tags: Family Tree
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Well the hosting company had a major blow up of some kind and teeuwsen.com and all the other sites were thrown back in time by a year. It’s a sad day. Not sure what is going to be recoverable and what is not, but we will see…

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Congratulations Keith & Katie!

< lost picture 🙁 >

Now all that is needed is the date… 🙂 One of Keith’s top priorities.

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Well it seems we are just rotating between cyclones and riots. Unfortunately the riots have started again in Tana. I have a couple of pictures, but they are not ones I want to share. It is really quite sad for this country. Today they called for medical students to come and help in the hospitals and for people to come and give blood. Here is a picture of people in the streets today.

< lost picture 🙁 >

Posted in Madagascar | 1 Comment »