Don’t spread the bullshit
Since the pandemic started I have seen family members and friends on and off social media latching onto conspiracy theories in a never-ending cycle. What I found funny at first, like believing there is a magnetic chip in the anti-covid vaccine because your government is trying to control you or that this whole thing is…
Stemmen op 17 maart 2021 – gedaan!
Vandaag heb ik voor de eerste keer in mijn leven gestemd. Niet in Libanon, waar ik vandaan kom, maar in Nederland. Vier jaar geleden, toen ik net naar Amsterdam was verhuisd, kon ik niet stemmen. Ik twijfelde tussen GroenLinks en D66. Dit jaar heb ik naar bijna alle debatten tussen de verschillende partijen en hun…
Corona: happier dogs
I never thought I’d witness an actual pandemic in my lifetime. I mean, the last one was the Spanish flu in 1918! Although life is currently not normal and after coronavirus has passed, we may find that life never fully returns to “normal”, it has slowed me down; in a good way. It made me…
Beirut is broken
One month after the devastating explosion in Beirut, the terrible news keeps coming: people still trapped under the rubble (one thought to be alive!), others missing, more than 150 dead and 6000 injured, hundreds of lost pets and countless restaurants, cafés, shops and other local businesses completely destroyed. Since I left Lebanon four years ago, I never felt as sad and angry as I…
Big in Japan – Part IV
(This is the last part, I promise) A long time ago – I’m getting old – in my second year in high school, I had to choose a branch of study. I originally selected maths and physics but because we were only two girls students enrolled, the school did not agree to start a class.…
Big in Japan – Part III
Have you ever watched sumo wrestling? When I heard of the grand sumo tournament happening in Osaka I thought I needed to get tickets. They were sold out online so the only way was for me to get up early in the morning (five a.m.) and queue hoping for a ticket. And it worked! The…
Big in Japan – Part II
Kyoto station is out of this world. It is an attraction eleven stories high, packed with shops, bars and quality restaurants with views over the city. It has a very futuristic design with a curvy metal roof and “sky walkways”. You can walk slowly up there and enjoy the stunning night view of Kyoto. Underneath…
Big in Japan – Part I
Going to Japan was a “not anytime soon” type plan for me. It is a bit out of the way (12 to 14 hour flight from Amsterdam), it needs time and money. But it happened that I had all that this year and I thought: it must be a sign. Yeah, I’m one of those.…
A year in pictures
Looking back on the past twelve months: family time, travel, celebrations, love and nature
Ghent
Imagine you’ve finished work on a Tuesday afternoon, and three hours later you suddenly find yourself in a different country. All you need to do is hop on a train from Amsterdam to the medieval Belgian city of Ghent – or ‘Hent’, as pronounced in Flemish which is a very cute version of Dutch. No…
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Life in Orange 