On Monday the big crowds went back to the mainland and the island throbbed with a slightly more serene beat. Perhaps that is why people were more interested in sitting and chatting and letting the bustle of the last few days wash past.
Things got off to a good start when these guys showed up with a bottle of that beautiful Terschelling Cranberry liquor. This is potentially the reason why most of the islanders walk around with a smile on their faces... liquid gold and perhaps Holland's best kept secret. These guys also have officially the best jobs in the world as defined by UNESCO 1993, they get to visit parties and warn people about the negative effects of drugs (Hmmn, I hope I understood that correctly - I think if you were trying to sell drugs this could be an interesting disguise). NO, put that thought out of your mind! But you don't get to meet such warm and open-minded people every day, so we had a nice hang out together.
This is Nadja and her friend. They are in fact helpers for the festival (I think it may be their first Oerol), they offically have the second best jobs in the world as definded by WHO, UNESCO, EU, VERENIGDE NATIES and Britney Spears Society. They have to make friends with people (Hmmn, I hope I got that right - it would be the perfect disguise for Human Trafficers). NO, these guys were genuinely gold!
Meet Pipa, he's the black and white one at the bottom, Pipa seemed to enjoy the air inside while his owner was happy to sit outside and watch.
Meet Ulissa from Groningen. She is a nurse there and had all sorts of insights into the way people live the way they do and presumably why it's a good idea to look after them when they're not so well. I always find it strange to meet medical people or officials outside their official lives because when we meet them in a hospital (or somewhere in their official capacity) their profession and their uniform commands such a respect that we don't see them simply as a person with needs and wants and dreams like everyone else. I think Ulissa sees the shape of the world pretty similar to the way I see it.
Dunja & Yvette are from Utrecht, this is a picture of the Katoen store that (either Dunja & Yvette) owns with her boyfriend. I've been hearing good things about Utrecht so will make sure I put this shop on my list of places to visit.
Meet Marry, the first person I've met with a name that looks like Marriage. Marry (apparently it is an East-Holland spelling of the name) has young eyes for a reason, she is often looking at the world from a low-down perspective working with the complex minds of children. I was secretly hoping she might have some guidance for me too, I'm often wondering why the sky looks so blue, why trees are so silent and why some faces always under the shadow of a black cloud*. If I was the richest man alive I would hire someone to go and find these things out for me.
* See below for an insight into this question
Some more visitors.
And this is someone who loved Terschelling so much she and her boyfriend came here last year for a secret marriage. Well, not so much secret as just a personal one without friends and family, something that was just for the two of them in a place they really loved. When they returned home they had a big party for their friends to celebrate too. Terschelling has just earned itself the label of Las Vegas of the North Sea!
'And there's you, a little black cloud in a dress', one of my favorite lines from a Billy Bragg song and this was a wonderful sight to find in the middle of a forest.
