For my final day in Holland, it only seemed fitting to do the most Dutch thing possible: bike ride for three hours. My Uncle Paul and I set out this morning around 11h to complete our tour of the Kunst op de Raam (art on the river). We traveled from St. Hubert to Grave, biking on road, dirt, grass, and once traversing through an entire cornfield to see the furthest piece. Honestly, not all the pieces were worth venturing to and we tended to agree on which could've been created by our five year old selves. Nevertheless, we saw them all and were proud of ourselves for spending the day as active art consumers.
I was happy to see more of the country (it is breathtaking beyond what my descriptive writing is capable, see Nature by Henry David Thoreau) and spend time with my dear Uncle Paul. The few times my cousin Nick and I have had a moment to talk, we always end up discussing how strange it is that we didn't grow up knowing each other. I don't know how many of my friends are aware of this story, since I'm sure it seems that the Dutch de Kuypers have always been a part of my life. Unfortunately, they haven't been and I only knew of their existence through family stories until Nick and I found each other on Facebook. A year later, when I was 18, a sort of family reunion happened.
Although we grew up with my brother's sister, Aunt Sam, being a very important part of our lives, my Papa had not seen his brother Paul in 20 years. When we all met in Holland in the fall of 2012, it was a teary weekend for the adults and a game changing one for Nick, Montana, and I. All of a sudden, we had this whole other family and new cousins. It was better than Christmas.
If you look at the pictures from our first dinner together, you would have no idea that we were meeting for the first time. It just wasn't like that awkward weird thing. It was like "Oh my goodness you actually exist what are you like I want to know everything about you."
It didn't take long to learn that the Dutch de Kuypers are some of the kindest, gentlest, and loving group of people. Their bond with one another is infectious and I will always jump at the opportunity to visit. So when I saw that I had to fly through Amsterdam to get to Nairobi, it only made sense to stop here for a week.
This is only my third time spending time in the Netherlands and the first time by myself. You could say we don't know each other that well, but that doesn't mean we don't understand each other. Family is family, and although I get sad sometimes that I grew up without Paul's family, every conversation is enriching. We have our entire lives to catch up on. Getting to know your adult relatives as an adult yourself is a new experience.
Check my flickr soon for more pictures from the past few days: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98491013@N02/
I was happy to see more of the country (it is breathtaking beyond what my descriptive writing is capable, see Nature by Henry David Thoreau) and spend time with my dear Uncle Paul. The few times my cousin Nick and I have had a moment to talk, we always end up discussing how strange it is that we didn't grow up knowing each other. I don't know how many of my friends are aware of this story, since I'm sure it seems that the Dutch de Kuypers have always been a part of my life. Unfortunately, they haven't been and I only knew of their existence through family stories until Nick and I found each other on Facebook. A year later, when I was 18, a sort of family reunion happened.
Although we grew up with my brother's sister, Aunt Sam, being a very important part of our lives, my Papa had not seen his brother Paul in 20 years. When we all met in Holland in the fall of 2012, it was a teary weekend for the adults and a game changing one for Nick, Montana, and I. All of a sudden, we had this whole other family and new cousins. It was better than Christmas.
If you look at the pictures from our first dinner together, you would have no idea that we were meeting for the first time. It just wasn't like that awkward weird thing. It was like "Oh my goodness you actually exist what are you like I want to know everything about you."
It didn't take long to learn that the Dutch de Kuypers are some of the kindest, gentlest, and loving group of people. Their bond with one another is infectious and I will always jump at the opportunity to visit. So when I saw that I had to fly through Amsterdam to get to Nairobi, it only made sense to stop here for a week.
This is only my third time spending time in the Netherlands and the first time by myself. You could say we don't know each other that well, but that doesn't mean we don't understand each other. Family is family, and although I get sad sometimes that I grew up without Paul's family, every conversation is enriching. We have our entire lives to catch up on. Getting to know your adult relatives as an adult yourself is a new experience.
Check my flickr soon for more pictures from the past few days: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98491013@N02/