No photos of Simche or Moisei exist.
You can find more information on my web site http://www.levins.info
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Remembering 18 August 1941
On this tragic day 71 years ago more than 100 adult men of Lapichi were executed by the Nazis and the polizei. Among them were my great-grandfather Simche Levin and his eldest son Moisei Levin. The rest of the Jews of Lapichi, several hundred women, children and the elderly, including my great-grandmother Chaya Levin, her daughter Dasha and her 3 little sons, her daughter-in-law Fanya (Moisei's wife) and her 2 little boys, were murdered in April 1942. Their memory will forever live in my heart.
No photos of Simche or Moisei exist.
You can find more information on my web site http://www.levins.info
No photos of Simche or Moisei exist.
You can find more information on my web site http://www.levins.info
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Remembering Grandma Sonja and Grandpa Semyon
Today is my late maternal grandmother Sonja's birthday. It's good to remember her. She would have turned 98, but she died 6 years ago. To tell the truth, I was always a bit afraid of her. I probably thought she was too strict, or actually too distant. I always said "Вы" to her, never "ты" (respectful "you" instead of casual "you"). But at the same time, I liked to visit her, liked her dinners and her compotes. Of course, I came also to visit my Aunt Natasha and my dear cousin Zhenya, who lived together with grandma.
As a kid, I was proud that she and her husband (my grandfather) Semyon were Communist Party members, the only party members in our family. Grandpa would tell me his war-time stories, how he, as an artillery officer, would go on reconnaissance missions with his men, and how they would have to hide somewhere for days and eat horse meat. Grandpa was the head of the department of Geodesy and Cartography at the Technological Institute in Minsk. He never completely recovered from his wounds sustained during the war and died in 1984 when I was 11 years old. I guess I was even more afraid of him than of my grandma.
Grandma didn't say much. She would read her newspapers or watch TV. She'd inquire about how things were going with me. But she wasn't the kind op person I'd turn to to talk about my inner life and things that were really important to me. She was a strong personality, highly respected by everybody. I heard the stories of how she, in her late 20's, struggled and worked hard in evacuation during the war with two half-starved small kids, how she'd spend most of her free time after the war to study and learn.
I liked the food that she cooked, especially the fruit compotes with dried apricots and raisins. This is one of my most vivid memories from childhood :) Another memory of her is how I would enter the backyard of their house and see her sitting on a bench with a neighbor, while my then small cousin Zhenya would be playing outside. And the characteristic smell in the hall of the house, and how in the last years of her life she could barely walk and would lie down on her sofa for hours and think her thoughts. She remained very clear-headed until the end.
Rest in peace, dear grandma.
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| Aunt Natasha, grandma, my mother Lora Levina 15 July 1999, grandma's 85th birthday |
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| me, grandma, my mother Lora Levina 15 July 1999, grandma's 85th birthday |
As a kid, I was proud that she and her husband (my grandfather) Semyon were Communist Party members, the only party members in our family. Grandpa would tell me his war-time stories, how he, as an artillery officer, would go on reconnaissance missions with his men, and how they would have to hide somewhere for days and eat horse meat. Grandpa was the head of the department of Geodesy and Cartography at the Technological Institute in Minsk. He never completely recovered from his wounds sustained during the war and died in 1984 when I was 11 years old. I guess I was even more afraid of him than of my grandma.
Grandma didn't say much. She would read her newspapers or watch TV. She'd inquire about how things were going with me. But she wasn't the kind op person I'd turn to to talk about my inner life and things that were really important to me. She was a strong personality, highly respected by everybody. I heard the stories of how she, in her late 20's, struggled and worked hard in evacuation during the war with two half-starved small kids, how she'd spend most of her free time after the war to study and learn.
I liked the food that she cooked, especially the fruit compotes with dried apricots and raisins. This is one of my most vivid memories from childhood :) Another memory of her is how I would enter the backyard of their house and see her sitting on a bench with a neighbor, while my then small cousin Zhenya would be playing outside. And the characteristic smell in the hall of the house, and how in the last years of her life she could barely walk and would lie down on her sofa for hours and think her thoughts. She remained very clear-headed until the end.
Rest in peace, dear grandma.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
70 years ago on this day ...
... my grandfather Aron Levin was killed in action at the age of 34 while serving as a private in the Soviet Army at the Volkhov-Leningrad Front. I related what I know about grandfather Aron in my previous post about my father a few days ago. Since then I spoke to his niece and my aunt Sofiya Kozlova, who told me what she heard about him from her mother and Aron's sister Berta Levina. I learned from her that Aron was a playful boy who used to make and play jokes on other kids.
I also possess letters that Aron sent to his wife Dasha from the front line.
Aron Levin (born 1908) is said to have inherited his father's entrepreneurial skills. But his life was cut short at the age of 34 as he was killed in action on June 28, 1942, at the Leningrad-Volkhov Front after drafting into the Soviet Army as a private. He didn't know that his father Simkhe (68) and his elder brother Moishe (39) were executed by the German Wehrmacht (regular armed forces) in August 1941 together with some 60 other adult Jewish men of Lapichi. In August 1942 the rest of the Jewish population of Lapichi (mostly women and children) were executed by the Nazis and local collaborators. Among them were my father's grandmother Chaya (64), Moishe's wife Fanya (28) and her 2 sons Genya (4) and Zyama (1), my father's aunt Dasha (31) and her 3 sons Gerik (5), Roma (3) and Zyama (10m), and some other relatives.
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| Aron Levin |
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| Aron (left), his wife Hana, and his siblings Musya, Samuil and Berta Levin Vitebsk, 8 September 1936 |
I also possess letters that Aron sent to his wife Dasha from the front line.
Aron Levin (born 1908) is said to have inherited his father's entrepreneurial skills. But his life was cut short at the age of 34 as he was killed in action on June 28, 1942, at the Leningrad-Volkhov Front after drafting into the Soviet Army as a private. He didn't know that his father Simkhe (68) and his elder brother Moishe (39) were executed by the German Wehrmacht (regular armed forces) in August 1941 together with some 60 other adult Jewish men of Lapichi. In August 1942 the rest of the Jewish population of Lapichi (mostly women and children) were executed by the Nazis and local collaborators. Among them were my father's grandmother Chaya (64), Moishe's wife Fanya (28) and her 2 sons Genya (4) and Zyama (1), my father's aunt Dasha (31) and her 3 sons Gerik (5), Roma (3) and Zyama (10m), and some other relatives.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Tribute to My Father on His 75th Birthday
My dad was a quiet, kind, pensive person. I remember he would often sit and look into the distance, oblivious to what was going on around him, thinking his thoughts. I remember how I, as a small boy, was climbing all over him, listening to his heartbeat, exploring his beard. He was rather short, rather full-bodied, not the kind of father to brag about to your school friends. But he had beautiful big eyes and beautiful long black eye-lashes (that both me and my sister and my daughter inherited from him).
But above all he was a decent man. He never complained, never shouted at us kids, never said bad things about people in their absence, was polite and considerate in his dealings with people, yet firm in following his principles.
My dad was born on June 22, 1937 in Vitebsk to Aron Levin and Hannah (Dasha) Pukhovich. His grandparents Simkhe and Chaya Levin lived in the small Jewish shtettl of Lapichi, some 100 km south of Minsk. Simkhe had an entrepreneurial spirit. In 1904 he went to work in New York City as a laborer for 2 years together with his two younger brothers, but came back to his family in Lapichi. Together with his wife they set up a small shop. Simkhe travelled around to buy agricultural produce from local peasants, he also set up a small candle manufacturing business and sold candles to churches. Simkhe and Chaya had 6 children: Moishe, Aron (my grandfather), Dasha, Bertha, Samuil and Musya. After the Russian revolution Simkhe and his family were declared lishenets, which meant that they couldn't vote, couldn't be employed by the government, couldn't receive higher and technical education and were subject to other restrictions.
My grandfather Aron Levin (born 1908) is said to have inherited his father's entrepreneurial skills. But his life was cut short at the age of 34 as he was killed in action in late June 1942 (almost exactly 70 years ago) at the Leningrad-Volkhov Front after drafting into the Soviet Army as a private. He didn't know that his father Simkhe (68) and his elder brother Moishe (39) were executed by the German Wehrmacht (regular armed forces) in August 1941 together with some 60 other adult Jewish men of Lapichi. In August 1942 the rest of the Jewish population of Lapichi (mostly women and children) were executed by the Nazis and local collaborators. Among them were my father's grandmother Chaya (64), Moishe's wife Fanya (28) and her 2 sons Genya (4) and Zyama (1), my father's aunt Dasha (31) and her 3 sons Gerik (5), Roma (3) and Zyama (10m), and some other relatives.
The Germans invaded Soviet Union on the day of my father's 4th birthday. They swept over large areas of Belorussia and Ukraine in a matter of days. My father and his younger sister Polina survived thanks to their aunt Musya (then 20 years old), who rushed to Vitebsk from the burning Minsk and persuaded Aron and Hannah to evacuate immediately to the East. Misha and Polina were the only children in our family who were born before the war and survived the war and the holocaust, their 11-month-old brother Solomon died of typhus in November 1942.
My father's maternal grandfather David Pukhovich was arrested by the NKVD secret service shortly before the war. He presumably died in custody, date and cause of death remain unknown.
My father's family returned to Minsk in 1944. His mother was trained to be a Yiddish (Jewish language) teacher before the war, but she couldn't find a job after the war as the teaching of Yiddish was effectively banned. She had to settle for a job as a shop assistant. My father's surviving aunts Bertha and Musya and uncle Samuil were supporting them in all possible ways.
He was a good student excelling in most subjects, but above all in math and physics. One of his former fellow students related to me that my father didn't have many friends at school because he was very serious and far ahead in his studies. Once he met my father just the day before an exam as my dad was going to the movies. When asked: how about the exam?, my father simply replied that he had already learned everything. According to this fellow student, my father was quite uncompromising at school and quite bold towards some teachers. He never participated in any official committees.
After school he applied to the prestigious MFTI (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology). He had all the needed qualifications but was not admitted based on the application interview. He had to apply to the Technological Institute in Minsk, where he started his scientific work in Theoretical Mechanics. As a student he volunteered to the Virgin Land Campaign (Целина) in Kazachstan, where he contracted malaria and barely survived.
Apart from science he had a passion for music and played the violin in an amateur symphony orchestra. He married my mother Lora Barshay in 1964 and my sister Lena was born in 1965. By the time he was already a Candidate of Technical Sciences (degree equivalent to PhD) and was working on his Doctoral thesis, which he completed in 1973, the year that I was born. However he was not allowed to defend the thesis as the communist party committee of the Polytechnical Institute refused to give him a positive characteristic.
In the late 1970's he had a chance to emigrate to the United States, but he decided not to, probably out of fear of becoming a refusenick, fear of not being able to find a job and reluctance on the part of the rest of the family.
All this time he taught Theoretical Mechanics at the Belarusian Polytechnical Institute in Minsk, often teaching some 20 hours a week. Although some students would laugh as he would introduce himself and his foreign-sounding Jewish name: Moisei Aronovich, I heard from many of his former students (some of whom were youth leaders at the summer camps that I went to) that they really liked him, because he was respectful and fair to them. My father once told me that the purpose of an oral exam (which was a common practice at the time) is not to show the student what he doesn't know, but to discover what he knows about the subject.
But his real passion was research, which he conducted mostly in his spare time behind his desk in our small 1-bedroom apartment. He wrote some 70 scientific articles, was awarded several patents, and wrote a book summarizing his research. He was one of the first scientists in Minsk to use computers (ALGOL and FORTRAN programming languages) for his research and calculations.
He eventually managed to defend his thesis in Leningrad in the late 1980's and to publish his monograph The theory of deformable wheel rolling with the prestigious Moscow "Science" publishing house. Yet all the troubles he had to go into undermined his health. He died abruptly in March 1993 at the age of 55. His Professorship Certificate came in by post after his death.
I owe a lot to my father. My interest in science, computers and foreign languages, which played probably the most significant part in my success in life, were due to a large extent to him, as I often went with him to his computer center, learned from him to program our micro-calculator, and we would often listen together to the BBC World Service in English on our short-wave receiver. He was also instrumental in helping me develop my musical abilities.
But to be frank, as a teenager I didn't pay much attention to my father. I was busy with my own life, my own growing up, my own interests, which is probably typical of that age. At times I was disrespectful. I was taking him for granted.
His death was a severe shock and left me with a profound sense of loss and guilt. I missed him badly. I missed his warm hands, his embrace, his presence. Those were difficult times with the Soviet Union having collapsed and new economic realities taking place. I lacked self-confidence. Who could I go to for advice, love, understanding? How was I to navigate the rough seas of life?
I lamented the fact that I was given so many opportunities while he with his talent for science was denied so many. It's so unfair that he couldn't realize many of his ideas and inventions, that he didn't live long enough to enjoy deserved retirement and rest, to watch his grandchildren grow.
Yet I believe that his legacy will live in his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And I see it as my duty to pass on his memory and the memory of our forefathers to the future generations of our family.
P.S. For more information about the Levin family of Lapichi, please take a look at my website http://www.levins.info/
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Tribute to Aunt Musya Levin
My late father's dear aunt Musya Levin passed away yesterday in New York City at the age of 90. In June 1941 she essentially saved my grandfather Aron's family by rushing to Vitebsk from the burning Minsk and putting her sister Berta, brother Aron, Aron's wife Hannah and their small children Moisei (my father) and Polina on one of the last trains to the East.
Within a few days all of the present-day Belarus was flooded by the Nazis. Almost none of the remaining Jews survived the war. Among the victims were many dear members of our family, including Musya and Aron's parents Simche and Chaya, their brother Moisei, his wife Fanya and their 2 little children, their sister Dasha and her 3 small children.
Musya, Berta and Aron's family settled in a small village of Yurgamysh, Kurgan region, east of the Ural mountains. Aron drafted into the army and was killed in action in 1942 at the Volkhov/Leningrad Front. When they returned to Minsk in 1944, Musya and her late husband Zalman Lelchuk (as well as her sister Berta and brother Samuil) took good care of Aron's family. She was a unifying force in the family, a warm, caring person, always ready to help. In the early 2000's she emigrated to the US, where she died yesterday.
Deep gratitude and respect. And may she rest in peace.
To read more about those events, please visit http://www.levins.info
Here follows in Russian a tribute to Musya's life from her children Anna and Arkady and from her niece Sofa Kozlova, daughter of Berta Levin:
Дорогие родные !
Within a few days all of the present-day Belarus was flooded by the Nazis. Almost none of the remaining Jews survived the war. Among the victims were many dear members of our family, including Musya and Aron's parents Simche and Chaya, their brother Moisei, his wife Fanya and their 2 little children, their sister Dasha and her 3 small children.
Musya, Berta and Aron's family settled in a small village of Yurgamysh, Kurgan region, east of the Ural mountains. Aron drafted into the army and was killed in action in 1942 at the Volkhov/Leningrad Front. When they returned to Minsk in 1944, Musya and her late husband Zalman Lelchuk (as well as her sister Berta and brother Samuil) took good care of Aron's family. She was a unifying force in the family, a warm, caring person, always ready to help. In the early 2000's she emigrated to the US, where she died yesterday.
Deep gratitude and respect. And may she rest in peace.
To read more about those events, please visit http://www.levins.info
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| Musya Levin and her husband Zalman Lelchuk Minsk, 1969 |
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| Levin-Lelchuk family, Minsk, 1987 Musya Levin is 3rd from the right |
Дорогие родные !
С глубокой печалью сообщаем, что любимая всеми Муся Симховна Левина закончила свой жизненный путь 5 мая 2012 года в Нью Йорке не дожив месяца до 91 года.
Трудно найти слова, чтобы отдать дань глубокого уважения этой энергичной,красивой, жизнерадостной женщине, преданной матери и жене, труженице, лидеру большой и дружной мишпохи Левиных и Лельчуков.
Ее готовность помочь близким и неблизким людям являет редкий образец доброты.
Она в 20 лет ушла из горящего Минска и добралась до Витебска, где жила семья брата Арона и сестра Берта, и заставила их эвакуироваться.
Она вместе с мужем помогала встать на ноги Мише и Полине, была всегда рядом с сестрой Бертой , Софой, Максимом и Любой.
Она вместе с мужем помогала встать на ноги Мише и Полине, была всегда рядом с сестрой Бертой , Софой, Максимом и Любой.
Вместе с Залманом Ароновичем вырастили отзывчивых, дружных детей,радовались внукам.
У каждого из нас в памяти много примеров ее заботы, добра и отзывчивости.
Светлая память !
Аркадий Лельчук
Aннa Лельчук
София Козлова
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Life is beautiful!
Last week was again full of life! Apart from work, which I enjoy very much these days, I did a lot of interesting stuff:
Monday: 1 hour of spinning lesson and 45 minutes of strength exercies
Tuesday: DevNight at Delta-N about Windows Azure cloud application platform
Wednesday: My Russian friends Konstantin and Sergey came over. We had a great sushi meal, and then talked a lot about programming, so that they left at midnight! It was a very enjoyable eveing!
Thursday: The book club at our local library. We talked about "Het Diner" by Herman Koch. A masterly written novel with a great plot, but, in my opinion, still lacking the depth of the Russian classics. The club was led by journalist Dolf Dukker, who did it very well. His theory why this book becase a best seller, contrary to other Koch's book is that it combines the 4 essential elements of human nature: food, territory, procreation and one other that I forgot. We had a great discussion, and the time flew! The next book is "Two Caravans" in June.
Friday: Went with Anne Sophie to the Ridvan celebratioin in The Hague. Anne Sophie mad herself at home and played with many different people. But she was dead tired when we got home.
Saturday: First a great workout, then shopping, and then I spent the whole evening playing with the kids on the playground opposite our house. And there they were: my Belarusian-Ukrainian-Jewish daughter, a Moroccan girl, a Hindustan girl, 3 Dutch kids and another boy (I'm not ever sure of his origins), all playing together having fun, oblivious of any ethnic or age differences. We played tag and charades and even danced (they asked me to bring some music, so I brought a portable radio receiver). I often take part in their games, because my daughter is still too small to play unattended. But it also creates a fine feeling of community as I'm getting to better know the people in the neighbourhood (both kids and adults).
Sunday: Cleaned and washed the car, then a spinning workout. Then off to Amsterdam to meet an old Oslo University friend from Lithuania, Sarunas, who was visiting Amsterdam for a weekend. We talked a lot (as did Anne Sophie) and enjoyed a nice lunch at the Vondel park, after which I took them to the airport. Then we went to Lena's birthday in Leiden, ate some good food, talked and played some games with our Russian-speaking friends.
And now a brief summary of my sporting stats:
- 3 home-to-work commutes
- 6 hours of fitness
Monday: 1 hour of spinning lesson and 45 minutes of strength exercies
Tuesday: DevNight at Delta-N about Windows Azure cloud application platform
Wednesday: My Russian friends Konstantin and Sergey came over. We had a great sushi meal, and then talked a lot about programming, so that they left at midnight! It was a very enjoyable eveing!
Thursday: The book club at our local library. We talked about "Het Diner" by Herman Koch. A masterly written novel with a great plot, but, in my opinion, still lacking the depth of the Russian classics. The club was led by journalist Dolf Dukker, who did it very well. His theory why this book becase a best seller, contrary to other Koch's book is that it combines the 4 essential elements of human nature: food, territory, procreation and one other that I forgot. We had a great discussion, and the time flew! The next book is "Two Caravans" in June.
Friday: Went with Anne Sophie to the Ridvan celebratioin in The Hague. Anne Sophie mad herself at home and played with many different people. But she was dead tired when we got home.
Saturday: First a great workout, then shopping, and then I spent the whole evening playing with the kids on the playground opposite our house. And there they were: my Belarusian-Ukrainian-Jewish daughter, a Moroccan girl, a Hindustan girl, 3 Dutch kids and another boy (I'm not ever sure of his origins), all playing together having fun, oblivious of any ethnic or age differences. We played tag and charades and even danced (they asked me to bring some music, so I brought a portable radio receiver). I often take part in their games, because my daughter is still too small to play unattended. But it also creates a fine feeling of community as I'm getting to better know the people in the neighbourhood (both kids and adults).
Sunday: Cleaned and washed the car, then a spinning workout. Then off to Amsterdam to meet an old Oslo University friend from Lithuania, Sarunas, who was visiting Amsterdam for a weekend. We talked a lot (as did Anne Sophie) and enjoyed a nice lunch at the Vondel park, after which I took them to the airport. Then we went to Lena's birthday in Leiden, ate some good food, talked and played some games with our Russian-speaking friends.
And now a brief summary of my sporting stats:
- 3 home-to-work commutes
- 6 hours of fitness
Nutritious & Delicious!
I'm starting to wake up really early (about 6 a.m.), and getting a lot done. Almost every morning I make a delicious breakfast for my family, before I get off to work. Here are some of my healthy breakfast recipes, which me and Luda and Anne Sophie enjoy very much:
- 2 bananas
- an orange
- half a mango
- 1 cup (frozen) wild blueberries
- 1 table spoon ground flax seeds
- a celery stick
- some organic (frozen) spinach and kale
- half a cup of pomegranate juice
Mix all of this in a high powered blender. Takes 15 minutes to make. Nutritious and delicious! I make this for my whole family 2 times a week. My daughter loves it and calls it "daddy's cocktail"!
- 1 cup of frozen wild blueberries
- 1/2 cup of rolled oats (havermout, овсяные хлопья)
- 2 table spoons of ground walnuts
- 1 table spoon of raw sunflower seeds
- 1/3 cup of pomegranate juice
- 2 sliced bananas
Combine everything in a cereal bowl and microwave for 3 minutes. It's really delicious and very healthy. All three of us love it!
Fruit & Berry Smoothie
- 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup strawberries
- 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
- 1/2 cup soy milk
- 2 bananas
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
Blend all this in a high powered blender until creamy and smooth! M-m-m ... A real feast for your palate! I was hesitating whether to add a celery stick, but decided not to.
Enjoy these recipes and let me know what kind of delicious and healthy food you make!
Blueberry Smoothie
This is my favorite breakfast. Ingredients vary slightly depending on what is available. This week's ingredients include:
- an orange
- half a mango
- 1 cup (frozen) wild blueberries
- 1 table spoon ground flax seeds
- a celery stick
- some organic (frozen) spinach and kale
- half a cup of pomegranate juice
Mix all of this in a high powered blender. Takes 15 minutes to make. Nutritious and delicious! I make this for my whole family 2 times a week. My daughter loves it and calls it "daddy's cocktail"!
Quick Banana Breakfast to Go
We love this, and it only takes 8 minutes to make! So if you're in a hurry, try this:
- 1/2 cup of rolled oats (havermout, овсяные хлопья)
- 2 table spoons of ground walnuts
- 1 table spoon of raw sunflower seeds
- 1/3 cup of pomegranate juice
- 2 sliced bananas
Combine everything in a cereal bowl and microwave for 3 minutes. It's really delicious and very healthy. All three of us love it!
Fruit & Berry Smoothie
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup strawberries
- 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
- 1/2 cup soy milk
- 2 bananas
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
Blend all this in a high powered blender until creamy and smooth! M-m-m ... A real feast for your palate! I was hesitating whether to add a celery stick, but decided not to.
Enjoy these recipes and let me know what kind of delicious and healthy food you make!
Monday, April 16, 2012
What a Week!
This past week has been great in many respects, including social life, sports and work! Here is a brief summary of the events:
- Starting from Saturday, April 7, we made 4 visits to friends and got one visit ourselves:
- Hedda's birthday at Hedda & Jasper's place was really "gezellig" (nice). Anne Sophie didn't want to leave at 9:30 pm :) She was talking to everybody and reading books with different people!
- Sunday April 8 we went to Yura, Lena & Vadim for the Easter dinner! Vadim got to use my car to practice his driving skills! Anne Sophie couldn't wait for Vadim to get back and she played all evening until 11 pm.
- Monday, me and Anne Sophie went to Yura, Lena and Vadim to play more games and for Vadim to practice some more driving.
- On Thursday after work, Delta-N (my employer) arranged for an info evening and delicious meal at Flamengo's, on the beach of Kijkduin.
- On Friday we had a friend over from Leiden.
- Saturday and Sunday was the museum weekend, so we went to Naturalis, a science museum in Leiden, with Anne Sophie's school friend Yanna, and the next day to the Museon in The Hague with Yanna's sister Paula. Both museums were great fun, with lots of kids activities, but also a lot of interesting information and exhibits for adults. In the Museon, there were also workshops about plants and planting your own flowers and vegetables!
- We spent the Sunday evening with Marty and Peter, parents of Yanna and Paula. We had a superb dinner and great conversation, while the three girls were having a great time playing together.
- Sports:
- 1 bike commute to work
- 5h 15min of fitness!
- Work: I am currently working on a very interesting project, developing a web service for a customer. I am employing some innovative technologies and writing a lot of unit tests, which I enjoy very much!
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| From What a Week! |
Friday, September 23, 2011
Anne Sophie Turned 4 Years Old!
Last Sunday, 18 September 2011, at 19:35 our precious daughter Anne Sophie turned 4 years old!
How can I express my feelings for my daughter? She is truly our best friend, the love of our life, our faithful companion in our travels and our everyday life events.
She may appear shy to those she meets for the first time. But that usually only lasts a few minutes. She is cheerful, playful, funny, smart, enthusiastic, she loves to play and laugh and run around! Her life force and love of life shine through her entire being.
She is resilient as she can walk long distances without complaining and she usually doesn't cry or complain when she falls or bumps against something or hurts something. Yet she is a sensitive child and can burst into tears when she sees other children cry. She almost never cries in order to manipulate, so if she does cry, I know that she needs immediate help and attention.
She is daring, yet cautious. She can climb all kinds of rocks and stairs and frames, but she is extremely careful at where she sets her feet and she would immediately ask for help when she realizes she's in trouble.
Anne Sophie likes playing all kinds of imaginative role plays with her toys. It's so much fun watching how she plays the different roles by changing the tone of her voice. At one point she plays a little child and at another point she is a mother or a father or her play group teacher. An interesting thing is that she doesn't play with dolls, but with her toy animals. And yes, in those plays we can hear so many things we tell her played out on her toys, which is a great learning experience for us!
Yes, she is our great teacher. When I sometimes get cross with Luda, Anne Sophie would tell me in a calm, almost mentoring voice: "Папочка, не надо сердиться на мамочку" ("Daddy, don't get angry at mummy.") She can also tell other children what they may or may not do.
She is enthusiastic and curious about the world. I like it when she asks "What is this? Why is that? What did they say?" She likes counting and reading letters and doing puzzles.
All in all, she's an enjoyable, lovable, "easy" child! But of course there are some things that need our attention:
How can I express my feelings for my daughter? She is truly our best friend, the love of our life, our faithful companion in our travels and our everyday life events.
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| Anne Sophie |
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| with grandma's Ukrainean cat |
She may appear shy to those she meets for the first time. But that usually only lasts a few minutes. She is cheerful, playful, funny, smart, enthusiastic, she loves to play and laugh and run around! Her life force and love of life shine through her entire being.
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| in daddy's shirt on the beach! |
She is daring, yet cautious. She can climb all kinds of rocks and stairs and frames, but she is extremely careful at where she sets her feet and she would immediately ask for help when she realizes she's in trouble.
Anne Sophie likes playing all kinds of imaginative role plays with her toys. It's so much fun watching how she plays the different roles by changing the tone of her voice. At one point she plays a little child and at another point she is a mother or a father or her play group teacher. An interesting thing is that she doesn't play with dolls, but with her toy animals. And yes, in those plays we can hear so many things we tell her played out on her toys, which is a great learning experience for us!
Yes, she is our great teacher. When I sometimes get cross with Luda, Anne Sophie would tell me in a calm, almost mentoring voice: "Папочка, не надо сердиться на мамочку" ("Daddy, don't get angry at mummy.") She can also tell other children what they may or may not do.
She is enthusiastic and curious about the world. I like it when she asks "What is this? Why is that? What did they say?" She likes counting and reading letters and doing puzzles.
All in all, she's an enjoyable, lovable, "easy" child! But of course there are some things that need our attention:
- She likes to go to bed late, I mean really late. She usually gets into bed at about 10 p.m., but then she still wants to play a bit, she wants us to read a book, etc., so it's not unusual that she falls asleep at around 11 p.m., which is of course very late, especially as she is starting school in a couple of weeks. I'm afraid she'll be a late riser, just like her mum :)
- She likes to watch her cartoons either on DVD or on the PC, which is fine, but sometimes she spends too much time doing that. At least she doesn't watch television, in fact none of us do as we gave up our cable TV several years ago.
- She can be very stubborn about what she wants or doens't want to do or eat.
- She doesn't like to clean up and put away her toys (who does?), so our living room often looks like a mess. On the other hand, she gets really enthusiastic when all three of us do the cleaning up together! Just the other day we were giving our kitchen a serious clean-up, and Anne Sophie joined in with all her passion!
On Sunday we had a great birthday party for her with many guests, presents, games, lots of food, and a puppet show that I did together with a friend! It was a really simple story about an elephant that went missing from the zoo, but the kids really loved the show, and I am thinking of using it more often for both entertainment and educational purposes!
In just over a week, Anne Sophie is starting to go to school. It's no ordinary school, but a democratic school based on the principle of natural learning. We are all very excited, and I'll keep you informed about the developments!
In just over a week, Anne Sophie is starting to go to school. It's no ordinary school, but a democratic school based on the principle of natural learning. We are all very excited, and I'll keep you informed about the developments!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Time to Learn and Time to Give
This is a place holder, where I would like to describe my meeting with Georgi (Jora) Ivanov as he and his wife and daughter were visiting with us in the last weekend of August.
Jora is an extraordinary fellow. He is a theater actor and director in Brussels, Belgium. We are related, as his sister Natasha is married to my uncle Oleg, my mother's brother. Natasha deserves a post or two by herself. Suffice it to say that she is one of the kindest, warmest, best people I've ever met. She is also mother to my beloved cousin Zhenya.
One of the things that Jora said to me that especially touched me was "There is time to learn and time to give."
Jora is an extraordinary fellow. He is a theater actor and director in Brussels, Belgium. We are related, as his sister Natasha is married to my uncle Oleg, my mother's brother. Natasha deserves a post or two by herself. Suffice it to say that she is one of the kindest, warmest, best people I've ever met. She is also mother to my beloved cousin Zhenya.
One of the things that Jora said to me that especially touched me was "There is time to learn and time to give."
Friday, July 15, 2011
Biking to the Corner of Holland, thinking about my Grandma
After the exceptionally bad weather of the last couple of days with storm and rain pouring in buckets non-stop for more than 24 hours, today's crisp sunny weather was a welcome relief! Because I did some overwork earlier this week, I took the afternoon off and set out on a training bike ride. Due to the pretty hard western wind, I first biked against the wind westwards to Wassenaar and then south-west along the coast to the Hoek van Holland.
Biking in the dunes is sublime. It's good to smell the sea air, the flowers now in full blossom, the occasional pine trees that smell of home and my childhood summers in the woods of White Russia. From the dunes of Meijendel one suddenly emerges into the urban world of Scheveningen with its numerous cafes, hotels, casinos and busy traffic. But quickly, the city is left behind and is replaced by the dunes of Kijkduin. From there, there is a long beautiful ride through the wide, green dunes of Westland, then past the many green-houses to the Hoek van Holland, literally translated as the Corner of Holland. It is indeed an almost right angle formed by the coast and by one of the major arms of the river Maas, which serves as entry to the port of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe.
I stop to admire the huge cargo ships entering and leaving the port. The waves are pretty big and there are some surfers around waiting for a perfect wave. I start biking back along the same route. It is nice to bike with the wind! I feel like going for a swim, but most of the beaches are too busy for my taste. I finally stop at the beach of Meijendel. There are no people around and I plunge into the sea naked. The water is pretty cold, but I feel invigorated, with every cell of my body alert and alive with wind and waves.
Last 16 km through Wassenaar, Voorschoten, and along the Vliet canal are not so hard. It's 82 km in less than 3.5 hours, not too bad!
Today is my late Grandma Sonja's birthday. It's good to remember her. She would have turned 97, but she died 5 years ago. I was always a bit afraid of her, to tell the truth. I probably thought she was too strict, or actually too distant. I always said "Вы" to her, never "ты" (respectful "you" instead of casual "you"). But at the same time, I liked to visit her, liked her dinners and her compotes. Of course, I came also to visit my Aunt Natasha and my dear cousin Zhenya, who lived together with grandma. Rest in peace, dear grandma.
Biking in the dunes is sublime. It's good to smell the sea air, the flowers now in full blossom, the occasional pine trees that smell of home and my childhood summers in the woods of White Russia. From the dunes of Meijendel one suddenly emerges into the urban world of Scheveningen with its numerous cafes, hotels, casinos and busy traffic. But quickly, the city is left behind and is replaced by the dunes of Kijkduin. From there, there is a long beautiful ride through the wide, green dunes of Westland, then past the many green-houses to the Hoek van Holland, literally translated as the Corner of Holland. It is indeed an almost right angle formed by the coast and by one of the major arms of the river Maas, which serves as entry to the port of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe.
I stop to admire the huge cargo ships entering and leaving the port. The waves are pretty big and there are some surfers around waiting for a perfect wave. I start biking back along the same route. It is nice to bike with the wind! I feel like going for a swim, but most of the beaches are too busy for my taste. I finally stop at the beach of Meijendel. There are no people around and I plunge into the sea naked. The water is pretty cold, but I feel invigorated, with every cell of my body alert and alive with wind and waves.
Last 16 km through Wassenaar, Voorschoten, and along the Vliet canal are not so hard. It's 82 km in less than 3.5 hours, not too bad!
Today is my late Grandma Sonja's birthday. It's good to remember her. She would have turned 97, but she died 5 years ago. I was always a bit afraid of her, to tell the truth. I probably thought she was too strict, or actually too distant. I always said "Вы" to her, never "ты" (respectful "you" instead of casual "you"). But at the same time, I liked to visit her, liked her dinners and her compotes. Of course, I came also to visit my Aunt Natasha and my dear cousin Zhenya, who lived together with grandma. Rest in peace, dear grandma.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Holiday on Fuerteventura!
The long Dutch winter is over, the days are getting longer, my spirits are getting higher, and I feel an increasing urge to write and share!
So, we just got back from an unforgettable 8-day trip to Fuerteventura, the most eastern, second largest, but one of the least known Canary Islands.
Once again, we travelled at a very short notice: we booked a last-minute package holiday (flight & board), just 2 weeks in advance. It was a ridiculous price of 200 Euro per person, so we didn't have to think twice. I did a thorough preparation by borrowing 4 books and a video about Fuerteventura from the library. I read extensively and was very much intrigued by the island.
It's always exciting to find out whether a place meets your expectations. Fuerteventura turned out nothing we had expected, but nonetheless absolutely fantastic.
Day 1 (March 31):
Leaving the cold, rainy Holland behind, we boarded an early 4.5-hour long charter flight, with Anne Sophie falling asleep almost immediately and having slept through most of the flight. As we approached the destination, we could see the volcanic craters of the neighboring island of Lanzarotte.
As we left the airport, we were met with the warm summer breeze and lots of sun. Our daughter loves buses, and the 40-minute bus ride from the airport to our hotel in Corralejo in the very north of the island was really fun! We saw a landscape we never experienced before: stones, desert, solidified lava, mountains, volcanoes, emerald sea, little vegetation and a lot of wind. Beautiful and foreign!
Our apartment/hotel was quite OK, nothing out of the ordinary, pretty basic, but good enough, with lots of light and beautiful colors, and mostly English tourists. This is low season, so we didn't see great numbers of tourists in Corralejo or elsewhere. We spent the rest of the day wandering in the small traditional center of the former fishing village, and then took a pretty long walk along the western boulevard, with Anne Sophie running around wildly to and fro, trying to climb the lava stones and all kinds of ladders and climbing frames set up along the boulevard. There was wind and beautiful sunset and great view of Lanzarotte and of the small neighboring island of Isla Lobos. We ended up in the centre of the town, eating delicious local tapas (with adorable Canary small wrinkly potatoes and Mojo sauce) and listening to the local musicians.
Day 2 (April 1):
Our rule is to always buy local produce as much as possible. It is usually the most delicious food you can get. Due to the arid climate, not much is grown on Fuerteventura, but the local Majorero goat cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and especially bananas are really good. So these would be the bulk of our breakfast and our take-away sandwiches for lunch. It was Friday and we were planning to go to the neighboring Isla Lobos, but the glass bottom boat was out of operation on that day, so we decided instead to take a long walk along the beach.
We started out pretty early and, as always, we realized too late that our extremely white skins we burning. The only one with good amounts of sun lotion was Anne Sophie, but Luda and me were in for a couple of days of burned skin. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the walk and ended up on a fine beach with lots of kite surfers showing off their mastery of the wind. Anne Sophie enjoyed running away from the approaching waves with her usual lots of laughter and screaming and squealing. Then we played in the sand and got back home pretty tired but very happy!
Day 3 (April 2):
I picked up our rented car early in the morning and we went off to explore the island. We drove to La Oliva (former capital) with a beautiful Canary-style church and went on to see the famous House of the Coronels, impressive and majestic in its colonial beauty, set against desert-like mountainous landscapes. In the House you can learn a lot about the history of the island and about the day-to-day life on the island in the old days. Then we drove through the interior of the island, with moon-like landscapes, gorgeous mountains, windy passes and small villages towards another former capital, Betancuria, a small, picturesque town established by the first Spanish colonizers under the leadership of Jean de Béthencourt. From there we proceeded to the west coast at Ahuj, with black sand beaches, cliffs and caves that can be reached through a narrow path along the cliffs. The sun was already starting to descend and the sea and the waves glistening in the sun were magnificent.
We drove back in the direction of Betancuria and stopped at Vega de Rio Palmas, from where we embarked on a hike along a dry bed of a stream (barranco) towards the tiny white chapel (Ermita de Virgin de la Peña) situated precariously on a side of a beautiful gorge. At the altar hangs a painting showing the discovery of a statue of the saint which now stands at the main church. This statue was brought to the village by Jean de Bethencourt. Shortly afterwards the church was totally destroyed by 'Jaban' the pirate in 1593 but the statue was hidden so well that it was only rediscovered in the 17th century. It was along this stream that Jean de Bethencourt and his army marched upstream in the 15th century.
Pretty tired and hungry after 2.5 hours of walking we got into the car and went looking for a restaurant. The restaurants in Betancuria and La OlivaOliva and Corralejo
Day 4 (April 3):
The next day we decided to explore the volcanoes not far from our base in Corralejo. We drove to Las Lajares and walked about 12 km along a series of bigger and smaller volcanoes, which arose as a result of eruptions some 8000 years ago. We walked past Montana Colorada, up to the perfect crater of Calderon Hondo. This is where Anne Sophie started to show character. When we started climbing up to the edge of the crater, she insisted that she wanted to walk along and not to be carried in the baby carrier. I was quite stunned as she walked all the way up the steep path, with me, of course, holding her firmly by the hand. Anne Sophie had a lot of fun at the viewing platform with lots of squirrels running all around her, while we enjoyed the beautiful view of the crater and of the glowing hills and mountains of the northern part of the island.
On the way down, there were a couple of stone huts, which turned out to be restored dwellings of the early inhabitants of the island. While Anne Sophie was running in and out the rooms of the houses, we learned how the people of the island prepared (quite sophisticatedly) the ground to make it fertile.
We continued to the Bayuyo volcano, but couldn't quite decide which one it was. Only on the way back did we notice the path up to the volcano. Luda decided not to go up to the Volcano and continued back, while the two of us went up. Yet halfway we turned back, because the wind was getting very strong.
We drive to the picturesque coastal village of El Cotillo. We visit the lighthouse and walk on the solid lava, in which small puddles of sea water turn into salt. We end up on a wonderful white beach with a small beach restaurant and delicious fresh Gallo (chicken) fish. Anne Sophie is playing and running around in the sand and shallow sea water.
It was a nice day with a lot of sun and wind!
So, we just got back from an unforgettable 8-day trip to Fuerteventura, the most eastern, second largest, but one of the least known Canary Islands.
Once again, we travelled at a very short notice: we booked a last-minute package holiday (flight & board), just 2 weeks in advance. It was a ridiculous price of 200 Euro per person, so we didn't have to think twice. I did a thorough preparation by borrowing 4 books and a video about Fuerteventura from the library. I read extensively and was very much intrigued by the island.
It's always exciting to find out whether a place meets your expectations. Fuerteventura turned out nothing we had expected, but nonetheless absolutely fantastic.
Day 1 (March 31):
Leaving the cold, rainy Holland behind, we boarded an early 4.5-hour long charter flight, with Anne Sophie falling asleep almost immediately and having slept through most of the flight. As we approached the destination, we could see the volcanic craters of the neighboring island of Lanzarotte.
As we left the airport, we were met with the warm summer breeze and lots of sun. Our daughter loves buses, and the 40-minute bus ride from the airport to our hotel in Corralejo in the very north of the island was really fun! We saw a landscape we never experienced before: stones, desert, solidified lava, mountains, volcanoes, emerald sea, little vegetation and a lot of wind. Beautiful and foreign!
Our apartment/hotel was quite OK, nothing out of the ordinary, pretty basic, but good enough, with lots of light and beautiful colors, and mostly English tourists. This is low season, so we didn't see great numbers of tourists in Corralejo or elsewhere. We spent the rest of the day wandering in the small traditional center of the former fishing village, and then took a pretty long walk along the western boulevard, with Anne Sophie running around wildly to and fro, trying to climb the lava stones and all kinds of ladders and climbing frames set up along the boulevard. There was wind and beautiful sunset and great view of Lanzarotte and of the small neighboring island of Isla Lobos. We ended up in the centre of the town, eating delicious local tapas (with adorable Canary small wrinkly potatoes and Mojo sauce) and listening to the local musicians.
Day 2 (April 1):
Our rule is to always buy local produce as much as possible. It is usually the most delicious food you can get. Due to the arid climate, not much is grown on Fuerteventura, but the local Majorero goat cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and especially bananas are really good. So these would be the bulk of our breakfast and our take-away sandwiches for lunch. It was Friday and we were planning to go to the neighboring Isla Lobos, but the glass bottom boat was out of operation on that day, so we decided instead to take a long walk along the beach.
We started out pretty early and, as always, we realized too late that our extremely white skins we burning. The only one with good amounts of sun lotion was Anne Sophie, but Luda and me were in for a couple of days of burned skin. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the walk and ended up on a fine beach with lots of kite surfers showing off their mastery of the wind. Anne Sophie enjoyed running away from the approaching waves with her usual lots of laughter and screaming and squealing. Then we played in the sand and got back home pretty tired but very happy!
Day 3 (April 2):
I picked up our rented car early in the morning and we went off to explore the island. We drove to La Oliva (former capital) with a beautiful Canary-style church and went on to see the famous House of the Coronels, impressive and majestic in its colonial beauty, set against desert-like mountainous landscapes. In the House you can learn a lot about the history of the island and about the day-to-day life on the island in the old days. Then we drove through the interior of the island, with moon-like landscapes, gorgeous mountains, windy passes and small villages towards another former capital, Betancuria, a small, picturesque town established by the first Spanish colonizers under the leadership of Jean de Béthencourt. From there we proceeded to the west coast at Ahuj, with black sand beaches, cliffs and caves that can be reached through a narrow path along the cliffs. The sun was already starting to descend and the sea and the waves glistening in the sun were magnificent.
We drove back in the direction of Betancuria and stopped at Vega de Rio Palmas, from where we embarked on a hike along a dry bed of a stream (barranco) towards the tiny white chapel (Ermita de Virgin de la Peña) situated precariously on a side of a beautiful gorge. At the altar hangs a painting showing the discovery of a statue of the saint which now stands at the main church. This statue was brought to the village by Jean de Bethencourt. Shortly afterwards the church was totally destroyed by 'Jaban' the pirate in 1593 but the statue was hidden so well that it was only rediscovered in the 17th century. It was along this stream that Jean de Bethencourt and his army marched upstream in the 15th century.
Pretty tired and hungry after 2.5 hours of walking we got into the car and went looking for a restaurant. The restaurants in Betancuria and La OlivaOliva and Corralejo
Day 4 (April 3):
The next day we decided to explore the volcanoes not far from our base in Corralejo. We drove to Las Lajares and walked about 12 km along a series of bigger and smaller volcanoes, which arose as a result of eruptions some 8000 years ago. We walked past Montana Colorada, up to the perfect crater of Calderon Hondo. This is where Anne Sophie started to show character. When we started climbing up to the edge of the crater, she insisted that she wanted to walk along and not to be carried in the baby carrier. I was quite stunned as she walked all the way up the steep path, with me, of course, holding her firmly by the hand. Anne Sophie had a lot of fun at the viewing platform with lots of squirrels running all around her, while we enjoyed the beautiful view of the crater and of the glowing hills and mountains of the northern part of the island.
On the way down, there were a couple of stone huts, which turned out to be restored dwellings of the early inhabitants of the island. While Anne Sophie was running in and out the rooms of the houses, we learned how the people of the island prepared (quite sophisticatedly) the ground to make it fertile.
We continued to the Bayuyo volcano, but couldn't quite decide which one it was. Only on the way back did we notice the path up to the volcano. Luda decided not to go up to the Volcano and continued back, while the two of us went up. Yet halfway we turned back, because the wind was getting very strong.
We drive to the picturesque coastal village of El Cotillo. We visit the lighthouse and walk on the solid lava, in which small puddles of sea water turn into salt. We end up on a wonderful white beach with a small beach restaurant and delicious fresh Gallo (chicken) fish. Anne Sophie is playing and running around in the sand and shallow sea water.
It was a nice day with a lot of sun and wind!
Day 5 (April 4):
On day 5 we drove all the way to the south of the island with short stops in Antigua, Pajara en La Pared, with the fashionable Morro Jable as our final destination. From there we drove another few kilometers on a gravel road and started on our day trip along the valley of Gran Valle up to the beautifl mountain pass of Degollada de Cofete, which in the old days used to be the only way to the small village of Cofete. As we start climbing up, Anne Sophie asks for a walking stick and walks along. She really enjoys climbing! There's lots of wind at the top of the pass, we can hardly stand upright. But the view on both sides is magnifiscent. If we had more time, we'd go down to Cofete, but it's getting late and we walk down back to the car, with Anne Sophie refusing to get back to her baby carrier. We sing along as we walk and the time flies!
We drive along the beautiful wide white-sand beaches of the East coast and stop in a small coastal village of Tarajalejo for a delicious meal of fish soup and fresh local fish. German tourists are everywhere. We enjoy the small beach, Anne Sophie is playing with a cat and a local boy. Life is wonderful!
We drive along the beautiful wide white-sand beaches of the East coast and stop in a small coastal village of Tarajalejo for a delicious meal of fish soup and fresh local fish. German tourists are everywhere. We enjoy the small beach, Anne Sophie is playing with a cat and a local boy. Life is wonderful!
Day 6 (April 5):
It's time for a glass-botom boat trip to Isla de Los Lobos! We leave early in the morning with the first boat. For Anne Sophie this is probably her first boat trip. She is secure in my lap. She likes the boat, but is a little cautious. We disembark and head directly towards the volcano of Montana Lobos, the highest point of this small, uninhabited island, which used to be a home to a rare sort of seals. We climb up the volcano along a steep narrow path, with Anne Sophie climbing along, using a walking stick! The view of the island as well as the view of Correlejo and of the remaining half of the crater are magnificent. We walk down, with Anne Sophie's hand firmly in my hand.
We board our glass-bottom boat for a sea trip. We watch the shoals of fish swarming in the clear waters under the boat. There is an opportunity to put on a mask and swim in the sea next to the fish. I grab the chance along with two other young men. It's fantastic!
We return to the Isla de Lobos and spend the rest of our time on the beach of a quiet lagune. There is no one around and we sunbathe and swim naked - wonderful! We take the last boat back to Corralejo and spend the evening in the cosy centre of Corralejo enjoying ice-cream, night-life and live performances by various local artists.
We board our glass-bottom boat for a sea trip. We watch the shoals of fish swarming in the clear waters under the boat. There is an opportunity to put on a mask and swim in the sea next to the fish. I grab the chance along with two other young men. It's fantastic!
We return to the Isla de Lobos and spend the rest of our time on the beach of a quiet lagune. There is no one around and we sunbathe and swim naked - wonderful! We take the last boat back to Corralejo and spend the evening in the cosy centre of Corralejo enjoying ice-cream, night-life and live performances by various local artists.
Day 7 (April 6):
We drive a few kilometers to the east of Corralejo, park by the white-sand dunes and walk away from the sea in what looks like a real desert. White sand is everywhere. We climb and slide down the sand dunes. Anne Sophie is enjoying it immensely. What a feeling! I've only been to a desert once, which was in the Judean desert. I liked it there, it had small plants and bushes and so. But this desert is just sand, lots of it, sand everywhere. There are no people around. Only sand, sun and wind. We walk slowly, no rush. Peace.
We walk back to the sea. The wind is so strong that there are no people on the small beach. Luda settles in behind some stones. Anne Sophie and I run from the waves and play in the sand.
We drive to the west-coast town of El Cotillo. There are surfers all around the beach. We choose a restaurant with a view over the far stretching cliffs of the coastline. We see the surfers in the distance struggling with the waves. We eat freshly caught queen fish (at least that's what they call it) and some goat meat. The ice-cream is also delicious. There is a little boy who comes to play with Anne Sophie. They seem to be perfectly al right, even though they don't speak the same language. We meet the mother, who is a Canarian from Tenerife. We talk to some international girls who surf and hang out with surfers. One of them, a Czech girl, is a surfing photographer. She tells me I should try surfing. Maybe! It sounds like lots of fun!
The sun is coming down. Anne Sophie and I climb the roof of a stone barn to bid the sun farewell, our last sunset on Fuerteventura.
We walk back to the sea. The wind is so strong that there are no people on the small beach. Luda settles in behind some stones. Anne Sophie and I run from the waves and play in the sand.
We drive to the west-coast town of El Cotillo. There are surfers all around the beach. We choose a restaurant with a view over the far stretching cliffs of the coastline. We see the surfers in the distance struggling with the waves. We eat freshly caught queen fish (at least that's what they call it) and some goat meat. The ice-cream is also delicious. There is a little boy who comes to play with Anne Sophie. They seem to be perfectly al right, even though they don't speak the same language. We meet the mother, who is a Canarian from Tenerife. We talk to some international girls who surf and hang out with surfers. One of them, a Czech girl, is a surfing photographer. She tells me I should try surfing. Maybe! It sounds like lots of fun!
The sun is coming down. Anne Sophie and I climb the roof of a stone barn to bid the sun farewell, our last sunset on Fuerteventura.
Day 8 (April 7):
Everything comes to an end. It was our last day on the island. We drove down to the nameless pass between Valle de Santa Ines and Betancuria. From there we started our last hike: first a steep climb to the cross of Morro de la Cruz and then a picturesque walk along the mountain ridge to Morro de la Fuente Vieja. Along the way we saw many beautiful small flowers, we saw eagles in the sky, and the view of the west coast was majestic. On the way back, Luda decided not to climb up to the cross, but to traverse the mountain along the northern slope. I begged her not to go that way, but she did and so I went along with Anne Sophie in the backpack. I must say at certain points I thought that I can easily fall down and the slopes were quite steep. So slowly, step by step, we managed to get to our car. I was really angry at Luda that she insisted on taking that route. But all's well that ends well. On the way back we visited a local goat cheese factory in Tindaya and bought some cheese for home. We went back to Corralejo, spent a couple of ours on the beach, with Anne Sophie and me building sand castles, delivered our car, boarded the bus to the airport and flew off back to Amsterdam, with Anne Sophie sleeping all the way. We arrived at 3 am and got on the night train to Leiden, where we parked our car.
But our adventures did not end there. The car wouldn't start because the battery went empty (even though I didn't leave any lights on). So we had to wait for about an hour before we got help from the car assistance. We got home at about 6am, and being tired and confused, I left two of our bags outside. Luckily our neighbor was walking out his dog, saw the bags and brought them home. All's well that ends well. It was a fantastic holiday, and we'll surely be back on the Canary Islands!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Happy New Year - 2011!
May the new year be better than this one for all the people of the Earth! May we all live in peace, love and harmony!
Some cherished moments from 2010:
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| From Anne Sophie, Jun - Dec 2010 |
Some cherished moments from 2010:
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Dad's birthday
Today my dear father Moisey (Misha) Levin would have turned 73 years old. There is something mystical about these digits 7 and 3 this year. My father was born in 1937. I was born in 1973 and I am turning 37 this year. Well, if you think about it, it is not quite so mysterious:
1973 - 1937 = 36. 36 + 37 = 73. 1973 + 37 = 1937 + 73 = 2010.
1973 - 1937 = 36. 36 + 37 = 73. 1973 + 37 = 1937 + 73 = 2010.
Every year on this day I remember my dad (actually, I think about him almost every day). Often I can't help crying, when I think about him and about his early, sudden passing away.
Strangely, the image that comes to my mind most often and most vividly is that of me (being 15 or 16 years old) hugging him tightly and trying to lift him up. Another one is of me at the age of 4 or so, climbing all over him and playing with his beard as he is sitting in an armchair, looking into the distance, thinking his thoughts. Yet another thing that I can almost feel in the present is the touch of his warm, bread hand against my hand.
I also vividly remember the morning of Sunday, March 28, 1993, the day when he passed away. He was in a cheerful mood, was concerned about my studies and offering to help. I just told him that it's ok, that I can handle it, and went on puzzling over a piece of mathematical research, which I never really finished ...
He was a good man, a father and human being to be proud of. I'll write more about him some day. Rest in peace, dear papa.
Strangely, the image that comes to my mind most often and most vividly is that of me (being 15 or 16 years old) hugging him tightly and trying to lift him up. Another one is of me at the age of 4 or so, climbing all over him and playing with his beard as he is sitting in an armchair, looking into the distance, thinking his thoughts. Yet another thing that I can almost feel in the present is the touch of his warm, bread hand against my hand.
I also vividly remember the morning of Sunday, March 28, 1993, the day when he passed away. He was in a cheerful mood, was concerned about my studies and offering to help. I just told him that it's ok, that I can handle it, and went on puzzling over a piece of mathematical research, which I never really finished ...
He was a good man, a father and human being to be proud of. I'll write more about him some day. Rest in peace, dear papa.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Roses in Roosendaal
This morning we went to Roosendaal once again. Luda and my mom went to buy some more clothes at the Mexx sale, while Anne Sophie and me went to walk around the town. We had really good luck, and not only because the weather was good.
Today Roosendaal's main square was also the venue of a Roses Festival, with lots of flowers, music and cheerful people. By the way, the name of this town, located near the Belgian border, means Rose Valley, so I guess this was no coincidence.
Anne Sophie and I had a really good time. She was running around the square, danced to the music of the brass bands, played with other kids, and entertained the people around her with her smiles and dancing. In between, she ate strawberries (they are now at their best) and some rice cookies.
I managed to do all the important groceries at the market and at a nearby organic shop. While I was shopping, Anne Sophie fell asleep, just in time for us to go and pick up the ladies and go home!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Anne Sophie is 1 year old!
Time flies and last week our dearest Anne Sophie turned 1 year old! Celebrations lasted 4 days and started on Thursday September 18, her actual birth date. Dad took the afternoon off and went for a long walk with Anne Sophie to the De Horsten estate. In the evening, about the time of the actual birth (19:35), the three of us went to the pond in Leidschenhage for a small birthday picnic by the fountain.
The next day, Anne Sophie was receiving a company of our good Russian-speaking friends. We had a great time together. But when dad went to put the tired baby-girl to bed, he accidentally himself fell asleep, which did not prevent the guests from enjoying the rest of the party :)
The following day we got a visit from Katja, Ronny and their 10-month old son Zhenya, as well as their two nieces. The kids were having a great time, especially they enjoyed playing football, or rather headball, with a balloon. The game went like this: the fathers would hold the babies in their hands and would let them pass the balloon to each other by hitting it with their heads. This gave rise to lots of excitement and laughter.
On Sunday morning, dad and Anne Sophie again went to De Horsten for about 3 hours. They found some very fine mushrooms, of which mom made a very delicious soup! In the afternoon, we got another birthday visit, this time from Ira and her 6-month-old son Lucca. We ended up singing Russian songs from our youth, letting the children play and enjoy each other's company.
On a different note, in the past few weeks we've been walking and biking a lot. Anne Sophie really enjoys both, and seems very busy watching things as we are passing by and trying to make sense of them. She is now actively trying walking, by holding on to different objects in the room, mostly the couches. But she is still afraid to take that first step with nothing to hold on to.
Dad, that is me, has been reading several books on child development. But mom says: just go and play with your kid, for by the time you finish those books, she'll be a grown-up :) Well, dad's way of doing things is that he first reads how to do something and then does it. The problem is that this reading may indeed last forever and result in nothing practical :) The books are really good and I'll talk about them in a different post!
The next day, Anne Sophie was receiving a company of our good Russian-speaking friends. We had a great time together. But when dad went to put the tired baby-girl to bed, he accidentally himself fell asleep, which did not prevent the guests from enjoying the rest of the party :)
The following day we got a visit from Katja, Ronny and their 10-month old son Zhenya, as well as their two nieces. The kids were having a great time, especially they enjoyed playing football, or rather headball, with a balloon. The game went like this: the fathers would hold the babies in their hands and would let them pass the balloon to each other by hitting it with their heads. This gave rise to lots of excitement and laughter.
On Sunday morning, dad and Anne Sophie again went to De Horsten for about 3 hours. They found some very fine mushrooms, of which mom made a very delicious soup! In the afternoon, we got another birthday visit, this time from Ira and her 6-month-old son Lucca. We ended up singing Russian songs from our youth, letting the children play and enjoy each other's company.
On a different note, in the past few weeks we've been walking and biking a lot. Anne Sophie really enjoys both, and seems very busy watching things as we are passing by and trying to make sense of them. She is now actively trying walking, by holding on to different objects in the room, mostly the couches. But she is still afraid to take that first step with nothing to hold on to.
Dad, that is me, has been reading several books on child development. But mom says: just go and play with your kid, for by the time you finish those books, she'll be a grown-up :) Well, dad's way of doing things is that he first reads how to do something and then does it. The problem is that this reading may indeed last forever and result in nothing practical :) The books are really good and I'll talk about them in a different post!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Crawling, brushing teeth, travelling
Things have been pretty hectic this summer, and daddy found no time to write up any decent story on behalf of Anne Sophie. We've been busy redecorating our apartment (now it is finally finished!), and dad was away for 3 weeks in Indian Himalayas, and there was something to do every evening (walking or biking with Anne Sophie, bathing her, etc.) and every weekend (visiting places). And even though we have given up our TV subscription and haven't watched any TV (and no olympics!), time is still a rare commodity.
Well, enough excuses, for today our Anne Sophie has turned 11 months old. She has learned and experienced many new things:
Well, enough excuses, for today our Anne Sophie has turned 11 months old. She has learned and experienced many new things:
- She started to crawl. Her way of crawling is pretty peculiar, as she tries to crawl with both hands and both legs at the same time. But it works out quite well! And she can crawl very fast if she really wants to get something. On the other hand, she'd rather not crawl if she doesn't have to :).
- She achieved mastery in controlling her baby walker. She can stop and turn exactly where she wants, and she can step over thresholds, by lifting the walker a bit, to go from one room to another. But the use of baby walkers is actually discouraged, so we use it very sparingly.
- Anne Sophie also actively tries walking. While she still needs support, she vigorously makes steps in the direction she wants.
- One of her favorite activities is brushing her (steel only two) teeth with a baby brush. I guess she likes massaging her gums, where her other teeth should be coming out very soon.
- "Reading" books is another favorite activity. This is also one of the easiest ways to calm her down - just give her a book! She grabs a book, often upside down :), turns pages, points with her finger at pictures and letters and even pretends that she is reading by saying things in her own language. I try to read her a story or two every evening before she goes to bed.
- Anne Sophie already has words for certain things, like "ku" or "quo" for a cow, horse, goat, deer or anything that looks like that; "mama" is usually a call for something that she badly wants like to eat or to get up; "baba" is for grandma; "tata" is for photos; she often says "papa" but I am not sure if she really means me :). She also says words that resemble Russian words for a bird, thanks, etc.
- She also started to travel around a bit. Last weekend we went to Brugge en Brussels to show grandma some fine places in Belgium. The main attraction that weekend was a huge flower carpet, made of fresh flowers on the main square in Brussels. Anne Sophie withstood the trip very well and seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, especially the children's playground and the swing in the park just across from the Royal Palace in Brussels. There were children of all kinds of backgrounds and languages playing together, and Anne Sophie was staring at them all the time with great interest!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Did you say "mama"?
Another month has passed by. Anne Sophie has been celebrating her 8 month (245 days) birthday today! It has been a wonderful day. Let me describe it to you in detail.
Anne Sophie woke up at about 6 o'clock in the morning, about the same time as papa. To let mama have some rest, we sneaked out of the bedroom and went to play in the living room. After waking up Anne Sophie is generally very good humored and she can play by herself for an hour or so. Papa used this opportunity to check the news and read a little. At about 7 o'clock, we went into the kitchen to do the dishes from the last night's 19 Day's Feast. Papa would do and dry the dishes, while Anne Sophie would watch him closely and wonder what he is doing. Then we went back to the living room to play and listen to a Russian-speaking radio station (by the way, Radio Svoboda is a very high quality radio station).
Because mama was still sweetly sleeping in her bed, we decided to go for a run together. The sun was shining, the birds were singing in the brisk Sunday morning air, and there were no people or cars to be seen. Papa was jogging and pushing a lightweight stroller, in which Anne Sophie was sitting and looking around. We jogged for about 45 minutes with two small breaks for Anne Sophie to watch the rabbits in park Schakenbosch. On the way back she fell asleep and slept until we got home, despite the occasional bumps in the road.
Then all three of us prayed together and had breakfast. After that papa had to go to a hardware store (which was luckily open on Sunday) to buy some stuff to finish the plumbing job that he had embarked on the day before but had not finished. After a couple of hours our new sink cabinet in the bathroom was finally installed and working! Anne Sophie would occasionaly come up with mama to see what dad was doing.
After lunch the three of us biked to the nearby town of Voorburg, where mama went to a flea market, while papa and daughter biked to a children farm (kinderboerderij) near the town center on the Vliet. There were all kinds of animals there: deer, sheep, goats, rabbits, Guinea pigs, roosters, chickens, and even peacocks. But our Anne Sophie was actually more interested in all the children running around and feeding the animals.
On the way back home, she fell asleep in her bike seat, and papa had to use his finger to cushion her head, to prevent it from bumping agains the handle bar. In fact, she enjoys biking very much!
After dinner we phoned aunt Lena and grandma Lora. Then Anne Sophie had an extra long bath, in which she played with all kinds of rubber toys. After the bath, papa gave her a massage, then mama breastfed her and put her to bed.
Papa played and sang some songs to her, red a story from a fairy-tale book and then finally both of them fell asleep :)
All in all, it has been a wonderful day!
Statistics:
- Height: unknown
- Weight: 8 kg
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that now Anne Sophie often says "mamma", when she wants attention or some food. Shall we say that this was her first word?
Anne Sophie woke up at about 6 o'clock in the morning, about the same time as papa. To let mama have some rest, we sneaked out of the bedroom and went to play in the living room. After waking up Anne Sophie is generally very good humored and she can play by herself for an hour or so. Papa used this opportunity to check the news and read a little. At about 7 o'clock, we went into the kitchen to do the dishes from the last night's 19 Day's Feast. Papa would do and dry the dishes, while Anne Sophie would watch him closely and wonder what he is doing. Then we went back to the living room to play and listen to a Russian-speaking radio station (by the way, Radio Svoboda is a very high quality radio station).
Because mama was still sweetly sleeping in her bed, we decided to go for a run together. The sun was shining, the birds were singing in the brisk Sunday morning air, and there were no people or cars to be seen. Papa was jogging and pushing a lightweight stroller, in which Anne Sophie was sitting and looking around. We jogged for about 45 minutes with two small breaks for Anne Sophie to watch the rabbits in park Schakenbosch. On the way back she fell asleep and slept until we got home, despite the occasional bumps in the road.
Then all three of us prayed together and had breakfast. After that papa had to go to a hardware store (which was luckily open on Sunday) to buy some stuff to finish the plumbing job that he had embarked on the day before but had not finished. After a couple of hours our new sink cabinet in the bathroom was finally installed and working! Anne Sophie would occasionaly come up with mama to see what dad was doing.
After lunch the three of us biked to the nearby town of Voorburg, where mama went to a flea market, while papa and daughter biked to a children farm (kinderboerderij) near the town center on the Vliet. There were all kinds of animals there: deer, sheep, goats, rabbits, Guinea pigs, roosters, chickens, and even peacocks. But our Anne Sophie was actually more interested in all the children running around and feeding the animals.
On the way back home, she fell asleep in her bike seat, and papa had to use his finger to cushion her head, to prevent it from bumping agains the handle bar. In fact, she enjoys biking very much!
After dinner we phoned aunt Lena and grandma Lora. Then Anne Sophie had an extra long bath, in which she played with all kinds of rubber toys. After the bath, papa gave her a massage, then mama breastfed her and put her to bed.
Papa played and sang some songs to her, red a story from a fairy-tale book and then finally both of them fell asleep :)
All in all, it has been a wonderful day!
Statistics:
- Height: unknown
- Weight: 8 kg
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that now Anne Sophie often says "mamma", when she wants attention or some food. Shall we say that this was her first word?
Friday, April 18, 2008
First tooth and Swimming under water
Today our Anne Sophie is turning 7 months old! The months of her still very short life fly past very quickly, and we enjoy the many beautiful days and experiences that they bring to us:
Anne Sophie continues to grow as a joyful, smiling, curious, lovely little girl. In the past month, we have witnessed the following developments:
Anne Sophie continues to grow as a joyful, smiling, curious, lovely little girl. In the past month, we have witnessed the following developments:
- She can now sit very well.
- She is getting her first little tooth, which is just barely showing at the moment, but is clearly touchable and can bite.
- Anne Sophie has been swimming under water with her dad, of which we also have some pictures.
- She talks quite a lot and sometimes she appears to sing.
- She smiles and laughs a lot!
- She likes to grab something and then use it on something else to see what the effects are of the interaction of two objects, in other words, she is heavily involved in her "scientific" experiments. :)
- She has been meeting children of about her age, but she does not seem to react to them the way she does towards adults (perhaps, they are just less interesting, because they barely move and almost never talk :)).
- She now reacts differently to different adults: to some she smiles, to others she cries.
- Height: 65.5 cm
- Weight: 7.55 kg
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Growing up with Anne Sophie
Papa (me) has been very busy lately with his work and his little daughter, that's why he hasn't posted anything for a few weeks. But despite lack of time, I'd like to write briefly about our progress and show some pictures of Anne Sophie!
What can I say? Anne Sophie is a sweet, good hearted little girl. She needs and gets a lot of love and care from mama, papa and grandma. But I can also say that she takes care of them too. You might ask: How is that possible?
She often enjoys talking in her own baby language. Sometimes I think that she thinks to herself: "These adults are not developed enough to understand what I am saying. But never mind, they'll learn to understand as they grow up."
A few days ago
Let's pray that she "may be trained, grow and develop, and appear in the utmost beauty."
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