Vincent

VINCENT 2007




In March, we went on another holiday, this time to Nepal. At first, we were not overly enthusiastic. In school they had asked me, why we went there in the first place, as it was totally the same as Bangladesh? That must depend on your origin or viewpoint, because it appeared totally different. The climate, the landscape, the people and even the religion are different. But maybe the Nepalese food is a little like Bangladeshi food. Not that we had much chance to try it, as we went, in Kathmandu at least, mostly to international restaurants, where we tried to steer our parents in the direction of pizza as often as possible. We did a lot of fun things, like wild water rafting, elephant riding, even elephant bathing, a bit of trekking and so on. My mother forgot the sunscreen when we were rafting, so I ended up like a half-Indian with a red head and neck and red legs from the knee upwards, because I inherited my quick-burning skin from her.

Of course, Nepal is famous for its temples, and I had to quickly establish my position in this respect. Already in Dhaka we started fighting about the upcoming cultural activities, to be performed in this holiday. A few months ago in Lankayan we bargained, that for every enjoyable activity, I would hand in a credit for a cultural activity. As we did a lot of diving, the balance halted at minus 6; minus for me, that is, so temples to be visited, which would have been a lousy start for any holiday. Initially I tried to decrease the balance by looking very angry, because I know my mother to be a conflict-evader. This time, however, no luck whatsoever. We saw all six temples within the time span of one day, but still, I had to work on the future, so I told my mother that in order to get a credit, I first had to know what the "nice" activity was about and if it was worth a credit, otherwise I would perhaps prefer not to participate at all. I still don't know why my mother was sighing and moaning heavily about that proposal - perfectly understandable, wasn't it? The weather was great furthermore and in 10 days, we covered a large part of the country. As you can see from the picture above, we got a very close look at the rhino's; here we are on our elephant watching the male rhino chase the girl he likes most.
In April, my mother went to Bangkok with Elodie and guess what she brought back - a brand new MacBook, for herself. What should a mother of almost fifty years old do with equipment which is clearly meant to please adolescents, that is a miracle to me. It has a built-in camera, with which you can do many kind of tricks. Underneath you can find some output, and it clearly shows the truth: my mother is a monster! OK, she did buy an iPod for me, but compared with a MacBook...

In May, our school organized "ISD Idols". We (Victor, Elo and I) also decided to participate. Even though it seemed, none of us had passed the first round, in the end Victor and me were invited to sing in the finals, At first, it looked as if I would not be able to participate, as I was suffering from the "Bangladeshi food revenge", but I managed to drag my poor body out of bed just in time and performed a song together with Victor. Our voices are not too good, unfortunately, so we did not win the first prize; but we got an award for "most entertaining participants" as we jumped up and down the podium like crazy goats.

Two days too late, on the 7th of December 2007, Sinterklaas arrived in Dhaka. Obviously, it is a long journey coming from the Netherlands. The poor man sweated his head off, dressed in his usual thick read coat, the Black Peters were dressed in long sleeved sweaters and black woolen tights, even though the temperature was at least 30 degrees Celsius. Our Dutch ambassador decided to host the party in the garden, which did not help either. Also, I got no presents, because Sinterklaas decided that I was too old. So next year, lets skip this party. A part I did not want to miss, was our farewell from Bangladesh. Friends, food and drinks in the Dutch Club and a rock concert on the tennis court by me and my friends. We hired some equipment and even my mother was dancing. Then on the way back to The Netherlands, our suitcases got lost for 6 weeks and our boxes for two weeks. That must have been the silent revenge of the Bengali. Unfortunately, my amplifier was in one of the suitcases. My mother remained positive for some weeks, but then even she gave up and let me buy a new one, obviously a nicer, bigger and louder one. Two days later word came that our luggage had been found. So having two amplifiers suddenly meant, that I had to get a second guitar as well, also nicer and louder, not necessarily bigger. In the meantime I have succeeded and am working on my popularity as "The Dutch Rock Star" on media like You Tube. "Apologize" from Timbaland is one of my favorites, but I am not apologizing for the learning mistakes: just wait and see!

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