I had the pleasure to participate in the International Meeting of Servas in Holland from the 1st to the 5th June in Lage Vuursche, south of Amsterdam. With around 17 countries and 107 people participating, the success of this meeting was almost assured .But the commitment, energy and joy that the organizing team from Holland put into it, made this event an unforgettable one.
I'd like to express my gratitude towards Arnoud, Rine, Ginger, Carla, Fritz and so many that had the patience to draw a very interesting program and an impecable catering.
The venue was at the Nivon House, a volunteer organization that has this big house that accomodates people from different parts of Holland and the world. The rooms were shared and I shared my room with a woman from Romenia and another from Italy. So in my room we spoke everything from portuguese to italian, english and sometimes even french. The meals were prepared by the dutch volunteers and sometimes everybody was required to help cleaning dishes or helping with the food or drinks What a wonderful way of making ourselves ueseful and making friends!The days were filled with various activities such as a workshop about plastic fusion, presentations about countries (Korea, Taiwan, Switzerland, France, Spain, etc), dance classes (sevillanas), a visit to Amsterdam and a visit to the flower auction from where all the flowers are sent to the rest of the world, a presentation about the dutch landscape, the windmills and the reason for their existence, etc.
CARLA KRISTENSEN, NS SERVAS PORTUGAL
