everything is going so well!

[mekyria]

This weekend was family weekend. Saturday the women of my mothers side of the family did a workshop 'dancing through feelings' which was fun. very basic moves, but every dance had a different feel to it. A little bit to goddess dance for me at times, but fun nevertheless. Afterwards we had a typical family meeting with the men, sitting around chatting and (ofcourse) eating. My grandmother from my fathers side wants us to eat at parties because that's 'gezellig' (see footnote). With my mother's family it's the other way around: being around them is so much fun that you keep on eating little bites without realizing how much you had. The food was made by an indonesian lady who is a friend of the family and who made the most delicous saté EVER! tender meat, tasted like it was roasted over an open fire and with pieces of onion inbetween. We want to do a workshop together about preparing Indonesian food this year, after all, it's in our roots :) Spending more time with my family is one of the things I want to do this year. I grew up with birthday parties, family meetings and sleepovers all the time. I didn't spend much time with them in the past five years but having so many 50th birthdays to celebrate last year made it clear to me that my family won't be around forever. My nieces and nephews are adults now, and every member of my family does something that's fun and unique. I could spend hours listening to the stories they have to tell.

Oh, the TNT guys knocked on my door to deliver my kick-ass bellydance swords!!
these are the ones
So I'm putting my old sword on sale, and start practicing with these. They're really heavy but so much cooler then the swords you can get in the Netherlands. It had an extra customs bill but overall the price is very good.


Sunday's dinner with my father went well. We got to meet his new girlfriend whom I had a really good conversation with about theatre and literature. I got a bonus from my grandmother that went into my 'savings for Egypt' fund and I didn't even felt guilty about being a less then perfect granddaughter/daughter and still getting money.

*note: 'gezelligheid' appears to be a typical Dutch expression, unfortunatly less well known then 'apartheid'. We like to huddle together and play old Dutch boardgames, or just hang out and chat. It's about feeling at home no matter where you are, emjoying the company. A mixture of fun, cosy, and comfortable and good old Gouda cheese..

Comments

[bluemoonsaga.livejournal.com]

ssiiigh i miss sword dancing. those are cool !! tina

[mekyria.livejournal.com]

why did you stop sworddancing? I know that the tribal troups over here certainly knowck the fun out of sworddance (we've seen 6 groups perfrom a sworddance during a tribal event, only one of them was really good) but as a cabaret gall you can get away with it for shows and such too :)

[bluemoonsaga.livejournal.com]

Egyptian style doesn't do it & became identified as tribal. iiiff i get hired anywhere i'm gonna do it again cause people like it. bb

[mekyria.livejournal.com]

no, egyptian style doesn't have sword or veil. Over here most gigs are for the GP who give squat about the BDP and love it if you get creative. I safe my 'correct' choreo's for BD public and use my own mix of BD for other performances.

[artemisia-danst.livejournal.com]

whoopsie, i went in academic mode there!!! but living in two languages as i do, it's really interesting how some words really have no translation at all.

[mekyria.livejournal.com]

:) that's the fun of writing/speaking multiple languages! 'gezellig' is very hard to explain in another language. fascinating and educational at the same time *grin* I can spnd hours discussing stuff too, I try to constrain myself every now and then.