Slowwwwwwwwwwwwwww

This week is going to be a little slow. As there are rainy seasons and dry seasons, winter breaks and summer breaks, so too is there a short, one-week vacation for all children in grade school and high school here in the Netherlands. What does this mean for me? It means that I'll be taking a break from my usual weekly activities in the buurt centruum (neighbourhood centre) because all regularly scheduled activities have been cancelled for the week. This fact has made me take notice of a couple of things. First, the majority of people who attend the activities and use the buurt centrum are women (typically with young children). While this may have appeared obvious to anyone who has previously walked into the place, it's something that I have taken distinct notice of, during this week (she says as tumble weeds blow through the doors of the neighbourhood center. There is literally no one is around!). Second, the majority of activities at the neighbourhood centre are directed at adults rather than children (there is at least one recent exception to this as a group has started children’s identity workshops). Although I thought that the majority of women would bring their children to the centre for their usual activities, this appears not to be the case. Instead, activities for children have been moved to a different location (see below).
photo

As for myself, I'll be changing scenery and joining my volunteer group at the Bergweg station (in the Hofbogen lijn) for 'Villa Zebra', which is a series of children's activities for two to three hours held in the morning and again in the afternoon. The first day that I'm scheduled to work is this Wednesday and I'll be interested to see whether or not the same women that use the buurt centruum will attend the children’s activities in the station. The difference between these two activities (in addition to the ones noted above) is that the buurt centruum provides services free of charge, whereas one must pay to take part in these children's activities. Parents must pay per child in fact. While the cost is still quite low, it will be interesting to see how this difference affects who is able to participate and who is not.

Overall, this vacation has affected the pace of the neighbourhood reminding me of the weeks leading up to the Christmas season here. I usually look outside my window in the early morning, where I can typically see mothers and fathers hoisting their children onto their bikes and cycling off to school and/or work. This morning, my street was a ghost town as I suppose both parents and offspring enjoyed a later wake-up time. While it is not yet time for me to take another vacation (but it’s coming up…) this shake-up to the weekly scheduling is a nice change.