Fingers of Love

On our way back to Holland Martijn and I decided to try to catch an earlier ferry to France. Unfortunately, to take the one we wanted we had to pay a bit too much so we took the following one that was free. We thus had some time to kill in Dover and drove up the White Cliffs for some beautiful views.

English family reunion

As my mother is an only child our English family is not that extensive. This year we spent an evening with some of them. Quite a few I hadn't seen for a very, very long time! It was also a chance for Nana to see her cousin Pam again as well as her children.

Boxing Day

As on Boxing Days past we spent the afternoon and evening at family friends. A real English Christmas for us would not be the same without it! Besides the food, wine and some more presents this year saw the introduction of the Nintendo WII and the family engaging in some heated virtual tennis matches!

Traditional Christmas

For most of our lives we have celebrated Christmas in Bristol with our Nana. This year was the first time in many years that the whole family was back together for the traditional English Yuletide celebrations with delicious turkey & cranberry, roast potatoes and stuffing. Of course the crackers and paper crowns could not be left out either! Above my Nana, sister Melissa and her son Luca.

The White Cliffs of Dover

Since the opening of the Chunnel we have used it to get from France to England. This time, however, it turned out cheaper to go by ferry. It's just a 90 minute boat ride to the White Cliffs. Whilst waiting for the departure we had plenty of time to make touristic photos of our resident Chilean, my brother-in-law Cristian.

Back to Blighty

Today the long journey to England begins. First an eight hour flight to Amsterdam, a quick dash home for a shower and then by car to Bristol. I'll be travelling with my sister Daisy and my two brothers-in-law Martijn and Cristian. A traditional road trip!

No Trini weekend

My friend Cati from Trinidad, who I haven't seen in three years, planned to come to Paramaribo this weekend. It had taken some doing to get the weekend off work (she works for an engineering company and does a lot of work on offshore platforms), but the idea was to arrive tonight and go back on Sunday night. Unfortunately Cati arrived back on land later than expected and consequently arrived at the airport a bit later, albeit on time to check in.....Or so she thought. Despite being at Piarco Airport an hour before take-off, she was not allowed to board eventhough she only had hand luggage.

Aruban delegation in India

The visit of the Aruban Prime Minister that we helped initiate is taking place in Delhi and Bombay. The first articles have appeared in the Indian media. Newspapers such as Economic Times, the largest business newspaper in India, and the web based news sites have carried stories about the visit and what Aruba has to offer Indian businesses.

Aruba offers Indian cos easier access to US, EU

(PTI 10/12/2007) NEW DELHI - Aruba, an island in the Caribbean sea with access to the European Union and US markets, today said it could act as a logistics centre for Indian companies looking to tap those regions.

"We want to make Aruba a logistics centre for the Indian companies. We have the necessary infrastructure and an agreement for duty free movement of goods to the US and the EU markets," Aruba's Prime Minister Nelson Oduber told reporters here.

Citing an example, he said Aruba imports sugar and ethanol from Brazil, adds value to the products and moves them duty free to the US and the EU.

"We are in contact with many Indian companies from the sectors of infrastructure, energy, pharmaceutical, information technology and aviation," he revealed but refused to divulge their names.

Oduber said he would meet businessmen from the aviation industry tomorrow in Mumbai.

The Prime Minister invited corporate India to set up shop in the country's upcoming Free Zone. "If you register in the Free Zone, you would be liable to pay only two per cent tax on profits and zero import duty," he said.

Also, the country is expected to float an open tender next year for exploring its natural resources such as oil and gas, in which it is expecting the Indian industry to participate.

Swimming competition

Today Satish's daughters (Kiran, Sajni and Shivani) had a swimming match. Held in one of Paramaribo's country clubs, Oase, all the swimming clubs came together to compete against each other. Supported by mums and dads, and the odd Anglo-Dutchman, the kids took to the water. It was a long event though. it started at 16.00 and ended after 21.00! Unfortunately the three ladies did not win any of their heats and did not return home with a medal. Their times, however, were above average so there were smiles all round on the way home.

Telco war

The mobile telecom war has started in Suriname. The incumbent Telesur, operating under the brand name TeleG, has been confronted by the marketing might of Digicel, the Caribbean's largest and fastest growing mobile provider. The general public has a love-hate relationship with the former monopolist with many complaining about the bad service and high prices. Now that Digicel has entered the market, Surinamis are flocking to the shops to get new sim cards and phone. With entry level pre-paid packages including a phone starting at SRD 70 ($25) who can be surprised. Telesur is trying to improve their image by playing the nationalistic card and claiming they are number 1, but that is not catching on, despite the lower per minute prices they offer. People are so fed up with Telesur that they do not compare prices. Later this month the war will intensify when the third provider, Uniqa, launches. They have been advertising that they will offer more minutes for the same money. Uniqa will probably also offer cheaper calling rates to Holland and the Antilles, which for many will be an interesting proposition.

Sinterklaas in Suriname

Sinterklaas, the Dutch version of Santa, has had a turbulent history in the former colony. When Desi Bouterse ruled the country during the military dictatorship in the early eighties, the celebration was practically outlawed as being a colonialist festival. Nonetheless, Sinterklaas and his Black Peters still come to Suriname to bring children presents albeit that December 5 is not an official holiday. Not everybody is happy with the festival though. A white Sinterklaas with black Peters is viewed by some as racist. The kids, however, don't seem to mind and just look forward to their presents and sweets.

Rainy season

The rainy season seems to have started, although not with the usual gusto of years past. Whereas it was generally the case that it rains all day, causing flash floods and general traffic disorder, rain now appears to come in measured doses. The sky does remain cloudy though, giving me that Dutch autumn and winter feeling when I look out of the window in a heavily air conditioned room!

Off to Aruba

Our flight back to Suriname leaves from Aruba instead of Curacao. At 9.00 we say goodbye to Bonaire and Little Bonaire and head for the touristically most developed of the Dutch Antilles.

Asses????

Just an insider joke for the family....

Idyllic

If only I could have a view like this every day!!

Caribbean Christmas

Even Frosty the Snowman comes to the Caribbean during the holiday season. The tropical weather is a bit of a problem though....

Off to the Antilles

Tomorrow morning Anand and I, accompanied by Vasco Tonch, the guy we are working for at the moment, are off to the Dutch island of Bonaire to meet with the director of DIGH, a Dutch financial institution that finances housing projects. We plan to speak about setting up a project development company that will provide projects around the Caribbean for DIGH to finance. Additionally, there is a get together on Bonaire of Caribbean housing associations and the director of DIGH will introduce us to them so that we can promote the steel build houses that Vasco Profiles makes. That the meeting is in Bonaire is very advantageous because a couple of steel build houses happen to have been built on Bonaire already so it will be easy for us to show people around the houses and answer all their questions. Before we arrive in Bonaire, however, we will spend two days on Curacao. Daisy is still there, so I hope I will be able to meet up with her as well. On our way back to Suriname we will spend a day in Aruba to meet with the director of an aruban bank that has shown interest in our trust company and financing projects in Suriname. The trip won't be all work and no play, I'm sure. I have packed my swimming trunks and intend to enjoy the white beaches and clear Caribbean water!!

X-mas all year round

Paramaribo has a few strange shops. One of them is a chain of Christmas shops that sell santas, rudolfs and fake snow all year round! To make up for the fact that Christmas comes only once a year, the shops also carry products for Divali, Id, Sinterklaas and other religious holidays.

Early morning goodbyes

By chance we called Suriname Airways' information number to see if Daisy's flight to Curacao would be on time. To our great surprise we were told that the flight was not scheduled to leave Zanderij at 10 am, as stated on Daisy's e-ticket, but at 6 am! This meant leaving home at 3.30 in the morning for a check-in an hour later. Memories of early morning departures to Bristol came flooding back .

White Beach

Suriname has little in the way of beaches. To give the locals and the tourists that traditional tropical feeling an artificial beach was made a couple of years ago: White Beach. Situated just over half an hour outside of the city on the banks of the Suriname River, White Beach is a mini resort complete with cabanas, palm trees and a restaurant. An ideal place for a relaxing day!

Special sister

Daisy, Rebekka and I have always thought that our sister Melissa was a very special sister with a cocktail of qualities...

Shopping in Paramaribo

Shopping should always be an enjoyable experience, but for Bremmers it can be hilarious! Whilst walking through the main shopping area of the city, Daisy and I browsed many a clothing shop and ended our shopping excursion in Kirpalani's, Suriname's largest department store. Looking through all the extremely low priced items there were quite a few that made us laugh...

Let's Tube

My digicam has the functionality to record directly into YouTube format. This had to be tested...

Health & Beauty

This weekend the Health & Beauty Fair was held in the Paramaribo conference centre. The venue is in the heart of the colonial part of town, but the building itself is an ungly reimagining of a colonial building. With not much to do in the city, the fair itself was packed. Local representatives of cosmetic and wellness companies showed their wares and gave people the chance to sample new products. Anand, Daisy and I went home with some free shampoo samples, moisterising creme, toothbrush and soap.

A dark Divali

On the day that Hindus celebrate the victory of Light over Darkness, the skies over tropical Suriname are not their usual blue with a hint of cloud. Since this morning it has rained on and off. It's the first time since my arrival here that it has rained that much. Even for the locals it is unusual weather for this time of year. The 'small' rainy season is supposed to start in a couple of weeks, but perhaps climate change has come to Suriname too...

Cocktails anyone??

After a hard day's work and an afternoon of being a tourist a cocktail at 't Vat is an ideal way to relax the body and mind.

Brother & Sister

On her first day in Suriname Daisy and I casually strolled through Paramaribo and relaxed a while on the pier overlooking the Suriname River at the Torarica hotel.

Family reunion Part 3

As part of her travels in this part of the world, my sister Daisy has come to Suriname to visit me. She'll be staying for two weeks. Flying in from Miami via Curacao and Trinidad she arrived around midnight at Zanderij, the international airport that is about 45 minutes drive from Paramaribo. Although I still have to work during the week, I hope we'll be able to do some fun things and see a bit more of Suriname together.

Surinami art

This weekend the national art fair was held in Paramaribo. Welknown local artists and new up and coming ones exhibited their works of the past year. The majority of art consisted of painting, but woodwork, photography and ceramics also were to be seen. What struck me was that many of the painters were of Javanese background and that there were hardly any Hindustani artists.

Ashes to ashes

Today Satish was cremated according to the Hindu traditions. Before the actual cremation a remembrance service was held at the family home where friends and family could pay their last respects and Hindu rituals were peformed to ensure safe passage to the afterlife. Like the two evenings before, many people attended. After the service we went to Weg naar Zee (Road to the Sea), the place where cremations take place that is about 30 minutes from Paramaribo. Cremations are usually held around the same time every day. When we arrived another cremation was also being prepared (up to 6 can be done simultaneously!). Everything is done in the traditional way. The coffin is put on wooden planks, piled about 1.5 metres high. On both the pile and the coffin Indian style butter (ghee) is poured and other items are also placed in the coffin as offerings. The pile is ritually lit and left to burn. The people witnessing the cremation usually stay an hour or two, but the pile generally smolders until the next morning.

Remembrance

This evening the traditional Hindu baithak (wake) was held at Satish's house. The baithak gives family and friends the opportunity to pay their last respects and remember those they have lost. During the baithak, that usually lasts an hour, the pandit (Hindu priest) recites verses from the holy books to ensure that the soul has safe passage into the afterlife and receives blessings. Tomorrow the baithak will be held again with further verses recited.

Satish Singh (1958-2007)

With great shock and disbelief we received the news this morning that our friend and partner Satish Singh died in Amsterdam today. This weekend we had already gotten the news that Satish had suffered a severe stroke. As it turned out it was a brain anurism with a clot the size of an egg. The doctors had never seen one of this size before. Apparently Satish had had it voor several years with having any problems. Despite two operations, of which the first seemed to have a positive effect, the pressure build up and blood flow in the brain was too much. Anand and I are helping family and friends as much as we can in this difficult time. The cremation will be on Sunday.

Opening Vasco Profiles

Today Vasco Profiles, the company where we are working at the moment, held its official opening of the office and production facilities. Several ministers, dignitaries, family and friends were invited to witness the occasion. Above the two main shareholders of the company, Chris van der Vossen and Vasco Tonch, during the ceremony. In true Suriname style the speeches were kept short so there would be more time to eat and drink! And, indeed, the food was delicious!!

Hindustani Wedding

Today I had a chance to witness the first part of a traditional three day Hindustani wedding. On the first day the parents of the bride go to the house of the groom's parents to request permission for the marriage. Family members join both families for the ceremonie, as well as vegetarian food and non-alcoholic drinks. Hindustani weddings in Suriname are generally 'sitting parties' whereby people basically sit around and talk to their friends and family. Although for the other two days there is often a live band (a hint of modernism at an otherwise traditional event), people don't really dance or otherwise seem to have fun. Actually, many seem to come to wedding because they feel obliged to and to been seen!

Polyglots

Most Surinamis speak at least two languages: Dutch and Sranantongo. Sranan Tongo's lexicon is thus a fusion of English, Dutch, Portuguese and Central and West African languages. It began as a pidgin spoken primarily by African slaves in Suriname who often did not have a common African language. Sranan also became the language of communication between the slaves and the slave-owners, as the slaves were prohibited to speak Dutch. As other ethnic groups were brought to Suriname as contract workers, Sranan became a lingua franca. Besides Dutch, that is the official language that is used in schools, government and media, many Surinamis speak a third language, that of their ethnic group or country of origin. On the streets of Paramaribo one can hear Sarnami Hindi, Javanese, Chinese, Portuguese and English. This is also reflected in the television stations one can receive. There are several Hindustani channels, a couple of Javanese channels and programmes from Brazil, Holland and the Caribbean. Suriname is truely a multi-lingual society!

Job interview

Dew, a friend of Satish, works for the insurance company Clico (www.clico.com). This Trinidadian company entered the Suriname market nearly ten years ago when it bought an American owned life insurance company. Although Clico is the largest insurance company in the Caribbean and is known for its quality products and service, the Suriname market has been a tough nut to crack. Several Trini managers have tried to boost the performance in Paramaribo, but to no avail. The Suriname operations are now run from Guyana, with the manager coming to Suriname twice a month. For a couple of years now Clico Suriname is looking for a general manger for their General Insurance department. Satish applied for the position last year, but was told in the interview that he was too highly qualified, despite not knowing much about insurance! Dew was highly surprised and decided to speak with the Chairman of Clico, Lawrence Dupry, about taking over management of Clico Suriname. Duprey asked for a business plan and reasons why he should hand over management. Dew felt that the current Guyanese manager doesn't want to have a new GM as it would undermine her position and possibly lead to a pay cut as she is paid for both Suriname and Guyana (US$10,000 per month!). When the last job vacancy was placed in the newspaper two weeks ago, Anand and I decided to apply for the job to aid Dew in his plan. If one of us doesn't get the job Dew has additional arguments to present to Duprey. So we each slightly adjusted our CV and applied for the position. To our great surprised we were both invited to. It turned out we had been the only people that had applied!! We decided that we would both take a different approach. I would be the consensus builder that would welcome continued involvement from Guyana and who would have a reasonable salary indication (€3000), whereas anand would be the experienced manager who would turn the organisation inside out. Both interviews went well but lasted less than 20 minutes. Now we have to wait and see....

Relaxing Suri-style

This weekend marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Although the three major muslim organisations couldn't agree on the start of Id al-Fitr (two decided on Saturday, the other on Friday), the government proclaimed Saturday a national holiday. Muslims and non-Muslims alike took the opportunity to come together and relax in Suri-style: lots of food and plenty of booze (or 'sopie' as it is known in sranantongo). We headed for Republiek again with Satish and his family to celebrate another daughter's birthday to which friends of the family were invited as well. as the day passed and more alcohol was consumed, te discussions became more political and more heated, particularly with regard to possible presidential candidates for the coming election.

Suriname during WWII

Suriname played an important, if unknown, part in World War II. The bauxite that was mined in Suriname ended up in the fighter jets and bombers of the US Airforce. One might say that with Suriname the war might have lasted much longer! The war also come to Suriname, albeit on a very small scale...the result of which can still be seen in the Suriname River. During WWII, the 6,000 tonne North German Lloyd cargo ship Goslar was scuttled in the Suriname in order to prevent it from falling into Allied hands. The wreck has never been removed and remains visible in the middle of the river.

Running in the family

Travelling runs in our family. Give us an excuus to go and our bags are packed. My uncle Marius, who was in Suriname this last week sent me a photograph of his father, my grandfather Rolf Bremmer, in 1951. It looks like he is just about to board the plane from Amsterdam to Paramaribo (via Portugal, West Africa and Brazil). On the back of the photo, however, it states that it was taken during a tour of Schiphol Airport!

Javanese market

Suriname is a truely multicultural society. The population comprises of people of among others African, Amerindian, Indian, Javanese, Lebanese, Brazilian, Chinese and European descent. Many groups have their own organisations, schools and shops. Every Sunday the Javanese have their market in Paramaribo North where they sell vegetables and clothes. The Javanese are very musical people with a preference for sweet love songs. no such songs at the market though...The King ruled supreme! you have to love those Elvis ballads...

Suralco

This morning we to Suralco, the Suriname arm of Alcoa. Suralco has mined for bauxite for more than 60 years and is in many ways the mainstay of the Suriname economy. We were there to look at a site for three steel houses that Suralco is considering for their staff. If Vasco Profiles passes all the checks and if the price is right, there could be more houses to be built in the future.

New abode

After a month in a small and not so cosy place we have shifted to Share Apartments, a small apartment complex in Paramaribo North just a stones throw from the Ma Retraite Mall. We now have seperate bedrooms (yeah!), a large kitchen/living room and bathroom. The bedrooms have air-conditioners, which makes the Surinami nghts easy to deal with. Next door is a Chinese supermarket (most supers here are operated by recently immigrated Chinese) that is open until at least 10 pm...very handy! I think this is where we will stay to live for our time here.

Family reunion Part 2

My youngest uncle, Marius, organises internships for students of the Hanzehogeschool in Groningen. Many of them go to the Caribbean and Suriname. He visits them twice a year and he happened to be in Paramaribo this week. We met at the Krasnapolsky hotel in the centre of town, had a drink and then went to the Waterkant, the river bank where one can have delicious food and enjoy the scenery. The Javanese bami was great!

Paramaribo by night

On our way back home from the InCar office we decided to take a little detour through the city. Many parts of the city are quiet at night. The colonial part of town has mainly offices and little in the way of nightlife. Shining beacon in the otherwise slightly dark city is the Presidential Palace above. Formerly the residence of the Dutch colonial gouvernor it is now the office of President Ronald Venetiaan. It is situated on Independence Square, formerly known as Orange Square (Oranjeplein).

Suriname Dutch

Although Surinamis have spoken Dutch for a couple of hundred years, it was only in the last year that Dutch became the official state language and Suriname joined the Dutch Language Union (Nederlandse Taalunie). The Dutch people speak here is beautiful. In many ways it is slightly old-fashioned for us European Dutch speakers, as Flemish tends to sound to us. Nevertheless, Dutch is a living language here that constantly develops new words and expressions. Today I heard a new verb on the radio news. The item was about the first day of school and how young children deal with school. It concerned toddlers ('peuters' in Dutch). In Surinami Dutch when toddlers go to school they toddle ('peuteren' in Dutch). Whereas we tend to say: "toddlers go to school", the Surinamis say "the kids toddle".

Republiek

The people of Paramaribo love the outdoors. Whenever they get the chance, they leave the city and head to the woods or rivers. After our outing to New Amsterdam we joined Satish and his family for an afternoon in Republiek, a 45 minute drive from the city. In a swamp area several plots of land have been developed alongside an artificial creek. People have built holiday homes on the banks of the creek and come there to swim, fish and generally laze about.

New Amsterdam

Perhaps the Dutch had visions of a new Manhattan when they started New Amsterdam, just across from Paramaribo. Initially established to protect the Dutch colony from the English, it was quickly turned into a sugar plantation. Despite the name, it never became a large settlement like its North American namesake.

The flow of concrete

Our partner is extending the building that houses not only the Paramaribo InCar office but also the roti shop Moti Mahal (great food!!). Once everything is completed Moti Mahal will be turned into a larger restaurant, a wine store will be added and new offices will be built. Before the end of the year everything should be completed.

Suriname birthday party

One of the daughters of Satish, our partner in Suriname had her birthday party. All her friends were invited, as well as family members and friends of the family. Besides balloons, music and cake a Suriname party requires lots of food! No one goes hungry in this country it seems!!

Allergy: Day 10

Since yesterday all the outward signs of my allergy have disappeared. No more swollen hands & face, no rash and terrible itchiness. I even seem to have slimmed down a bit (of course not eating very much this last week helps in that regard too ;-)) I still have one more day of meds to go and hopefully that will be that.

Yom Kippur

Suriname has a long and varied Jewish history. Many of the first plantations that were established during Dutch colonial times were done so by Jewish entrepreneurs, many of whom came to Suriname from Brazil after the Dutch were kicked out there. Whilst the Jewish population now is very small, there are still many signs of their former influence, such as the Synagogue in central Paramaribo, the many former plantations and the area known as the Jodensavanne. One should also not be surprised to find people of various shades with Jewish ancestors or Jewish names. In fact, one of black guys working here has a good Ashkenazi name!

The beautiful Synagogue above will not be filled to the brim for the High Holy Days as many a shul will be around the world, in fact it is often hard to get together enough men for a minyan on a Friday and there is no full time Rabbi to lead the congregation. Nevertheless, even in this part of the world a day's fasting and atonement will be done in the age old tradition, albeit in a more relaxed Caribbean way....

Allergy: Day 5

After seeming to get better the allergy came back with a vengeance....swollen face, arms and hands covered in itchy lumps. So, off to the doctor who prescribed me more powerful medication: Prednisolon. Seven days, six tablets per day. One advantage though, meds in Suriname are dirt cheap. it only cost me SRD 15, around 4 euros. Long life bulk generics from India!

BillDirect

The second part of our Suriname trip started today with a meeting with the guys from BillDirect, the Barbados based billing solutions company. Together with Surpost, the national postal company, we have teamed up to provide convenient billing to Surinamis. The official launch should be in a couple of weeks and most utility companies should be on board.

Allergy

To my surprise during the weekend my hands have swollen up and red, itchy lumps appeared all over my body. The question is: what did I eat that caused this? Or was I stung by some strange tropical insect with a taste for a pasty white Anglo-Dutchman?? Anyway, the doctor has given me a shot to reduce the itching as well as some anti-histamines to take care of the allergic reaction. Let's hope it doesn't come back!

Indo Fair

Suriname is the only country in South America and the Caribbean that has a large Javanese population. The origins lie in contract labour in Suriname after the end of slavery. Initially Indian labourers were brought to the Caribbean but after the British stopped this practise the Dutch brought people from their colony Dutch Indies, the future Indonesia. The Javanese now constitute around 15% of the Suriname population.

The past week the 7th Indo Fair was held to promote Indonesian products.

Four seasons in one day

Suriname has four seasons: a large & small dry season and a large & small wet season. The current season is the small dry season. Despite the name, this does not mean that there is no rain. At the end of the day, just before we planned to leave the office the rains came pouring down....

The wooden city

The traditional building material in Suriname is wood. Many of the colonial style buildings are made of tropical hard wood that is usually painted white. The centre of town has been a Unesco Heritage Site for some years now and is slowly being restored to its former glory. Outside the centre old school private residences are it worse condition....hopefully that wil change as Suriname's economy grows...it would be a shame if these historical buildings perish.

Ramadan

Like co-religionists around the world, the Suriname muslims have started the holy month of Ramadan. The muslims here can be devided into two groups: those of Indian origin and those of Javanese origin. Unlike other parts of the world, and even the rest of the Caribbean, religious fanaticism seems to have passed this part of South America by. No Al Qaida supporters here. Also, many mosques allow men and women to pray together...another sign of the easy going nature of the Surinamis.

Dude, where's my car???

As Dutchmen we are pampered by the public transport system with its comfortable trams, busses and trains. Not so in Suriname. Although there is a privatised bus sector with small Japanese vans shuttling people around town and into the hinterland, there is no easy route from my Suri home to the office. So as part of our package we requested a car...it turned out to be a Chevvy!