Summer's here! Again...

These last two days have been unusually nice. Temperatures have been very summery. But, alas, it does not seem to last. The rains are approaching again. Dare we hope for an Indian Summer???

The kid loves tech

Today I was babysitting my nephew Luca. Uncle Ben played with Manny, as he is also known in the family, changed his dirty nappy and gave him a serious amount of food. Luca is quite fascinated by the telephone. Perhaps it is because he sees his dad with a Blackberry almost permanently attached to his head or because he is trying to emulate his mum. In any case, Manny is intrigued by the back lit number pad, the beeps when pushing the buttons and the voices that sometimes come out of the handset. And he lets Uncle Ben use the phone as well.

Where's the summer???

Less than a day ago I was in the tropical heat of Suriname. Touching down in Amsterdam I was confronted with grey skies and low temperatures. It truly has been a terrible summer this year. Let's hope the autumn will be nice....

Crumbling history

Paramaribo has many wooden houses that were built in the nineteenth century. In the historical centre many are restored, but elsewhere in the city quite a few are in very bad shape. Slowly they are being restored as well, but quite a few house people who can't afford to spend what little they earn to restore their home. It would be a shame if these quaint houses would be lost.

Trusssst in meeee....trusssst in meee......close your eyes...

The jungle is full of snakes, but they rarely venture onto camp sites. This one is quite harmless, but some Surinami snakes can be quite poisonous.

Rain and flood

Although the dry seasons has supposedly started, the skies opened halfway during the evening and the rain didn't stop until the morning. Consequently our campsite flooded as the creek burst its banks.

Jungle camping

Today we are going camping in the tropical rain forest. In three off road cars we head out into the wild. Our camping site is about three hours drive from Paramaribo.

Every Surinami loves his hammock.

Our camp site is situated on the banks of a creek. Local Amerindians have developed the site and facilitate the guests.

Once the camp fire is lit and the bottles of brandy and whisky are opened the stories begin.

Many Surinamis love to hunt. Our friends are no exception, so they set off into the forest to hunt for deer, pigs and rabbits. Unfortunately they returned empty-handed and drenched by the rains.

Ministerial meeting

This morning we had a meeting with Gregory Rusland, Minister of Natural Resources, to discuss the possibilities for Indian mining companies in Suriname. Through our Indian partners we have been approached by one of the largest Indian mining companies to see what the opportunities are for mining bauxite. The meeting was arranged by our current client, who has strong political connections, although we had already met Mr Rusland a couple of years ago when he was dean of the university. The meeting went well, we were able to present ourselves and the Minister gave us some useful information to pass on the our Indian friends. For this occasion we went in full business outfit (dark pin striped suits and tie), which can be quite uncomfortable in the humid tropical climate!

The wedding, day two

Having been to the Business Idols taping, we arrived at the wedding party quite late. Most people had already left, but there was still plenty of food, drink and good company. A well known local band was playing Caribbean hits until deep into the night and at the end of the night I even stepped onto the dance floor! unfortunately, all the hot shots, such as ministers and the president, had left already, so no photo ops this time.

United Business Idols 2008

Our friend Sonny (the bald Hindustani gentleman in the last photo) is a jury member for Business Idols. As the name suggests, it follows the Idols concept but for business ideas instead of music. Candidates have to present their business idea and the finalists get help with preparing their business plan and how to present it. Tonight was the semi final in which 40 candidates had one minute to present their idea. Only 12 people could go on to the final on November 29th.

The candidates had a wide range of ideas, varying from a taxi service to a sheep farm to making paper from banana plants. The ideas were judged on feasibility and the candidates on presentation and entrepreneurial drive.

As the Idols format dictates, the jury members are typecast. Sonny was the sympathetic jury member, whereas the other man, a Belgian, played the Simon Cowell role. All in all a fun evening with a couple of interesting ideas that hopefully will be realised.

Project Sultan

Especially for my ABN AMRO friends, the Suriname version of Project Sultan.

Suriname's wedding of the year

Tonight we went to the first night of Suriname's wedding of the year. An intimate affair for family and friends (just 600 invitees) with copious amounts of food & drink as well as one of Suriname's biggest bands, the Kasimex House Band.

One of the guests of honour was the president of Suriname, Ronald Venetiaan. we were introduced to him by our client, but unfortunately we weren't able to get a good photo op with the prez. He should be at the big party (1000 invitees) tomorrow, so I should be able to get a pic.

Ticket to the tropics

After nine hours, sweet & sour chicken and Indian dahl, several bottles of wine that were hidden away to be enjoyed another day and movies that could not be watched because the sound system wasn't working, we arrived back in Suriname. This time taking a different approach to Zanderij airport than usual, giving us a great view of the coast and the Suriname river.

Taking to the sky

In just a couple of hours I will board a KLM jumbo to head off to Suriname. After about 9 hours we will arrive at Zanderij, the international airport outside the capital Paramaribo. Seats in row 11 have been reserved, but hopefully we will be lucky enough to be moved forward into the nose of the plane to enjoy the business class seats (but unfortunately not the business class service).

Last days

These last three months I have been working at the ABN AMRO bank in Amsterdam on a project relating to the break-up of Holland's erstwhile largest bank. The bank was bought by RBS, Fortis and Banco Santander, who have been dividing up the spoils this last year. As Fortis will now be the largest bank in Holland, the European Commission decided it had to sell part of ABN AMRO in order to create a new competitor. Consequently, part of ABN AMRO has been hived off and sold to Deutsche Bank. I have been involved in monitoring the clients of the part that has been sold. It has been a great couple of months, but I am looking forward to focussing on Suriname and the projects there.

Back to Paramaribo

Next week I will be off to Paramaribo again. Just a short visit this time, 12 days. The reason for this whistle stop tour is two-fold. Firstly, the daughter of one of clients is getting married. As our client is very well connected politically, the president of Suriname and several ministers will be at the wedding, as will many top business people. This will be a great opportunity for us to shmooze and network. Secondly, if all goes to plan the financing agreement for the new hotel of our client will be signed during our stay in Suriname. Being our first major project, we have to be there for the big moment! As is usual, we will also be running around meeting people, discussing new business opportunities and enjoying the tropical weather.

The mummy returns, again

Tonight I went to see the new Mummy movie with my friend Arne. We also saw the previous two Mummy movies together, so the trilogy had to be completed. As with the previous films, the story is somewhat flimsy and the characters two dimensional. The special effects are up there with the best of them, but compared to Indiana Jones films the Mummy, both in acting and storytelling, is a definite modern B-movie. It's an entertaining two hours, but perhaps more a movie to watch on dvd than in the cinema.

Gotham rollercoaster

The Batman sequal The Dark Knight did not disappoint! Batman Begins was a great film to kickstart the franchise and set the stage for a more realistic Gotham. The sequal turned up the heat a couple of notches without becoming too over the top. Heath Ledger was a great Joker, the crazed arch-nemesis of the Caped Crusader. Gone are the campy Jokers of yesteryear, enter a deranged psychopath that is unpredictable and ruthless. Too bad he won't be making appearances in future films.