Image via: Oskari Kettunen aka "aokettun" on Flickr
Picture wooden buildings with red tin roofs, many buildings with peeling paint, interesting architecture…that’s a start. People are very friendly here, and ask me how I like Paramaribo. And when I say I do, some say, “Paramaribo likes you, too.”
Image via Janine aka "janineomg" on Flickr
Got up this morning when I heard the birds singing and people talking out on the porch downstairs. My first order of business, after breakfast (discovered I absolutely LOVE fresh papaya!), was to find the bookstore and buy a map… Next on my list was to book a trip into the rain forest (Monday).
Wandered around a bit; found the Palm Garden and the Presidential Palace…and the big wooden church of Sts. Peter and Paul… If I get a little used to the layout of the city and where things are today, then I can zero in on something tomorrow.
Today it rained — a SUDDEN shower that lasted maybe two minutes. I happened to be enjoying a cold drink out on the porch of TwenTy4 at the time.
I have my ticket! (happy dance)
I will be going to Suriname in March 2012!
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Saturday, November 5, 2011 a friend and I left early, early in the morning to drive to St. Charles Community College for the Missouri Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Missouri Confluence Conference 2011 in Cottlesville, MO (near St. Charles).
Now that mouthful is out of the way, I have to say that the SCBWI conference was well worth attending. I definitely enjoyed hearing writer Suzanne Morgan Williams (author of Bull Rider)! She had lots of good stuff to give; I took lots of notes. One thing that resonated with me was when she was given the advice to just do research on the internet instead of traveling to where her subject lived and worked, she didn’t agree and went anyway. That’s me right now––trying to raise funds to travel to Surinam to do research for my book about Maria Sybilla Merian, a VIP when it comes to early science. And while we, as writers, always hear “Write what you know,” Suzanne says, “Write what you want to know.”
Suzanne believes that stories and books choose YOU to write about them. Her questions to the conference attendees are:
A useful tip for finding an agent or editor came from Quinlan Lee, an editor with Adams Literary:
Don’t think I’ve ever thought of actually mentioning that. Hmmm….
There was so much more; it’s all still whirling around in my brain. Thank goodness I took notes!
I’ve been trying to improve on what little Dutch I know, mainly adding to my vocabulary. And I’ve discovered something baffling. Words that have an interesting sound are more likely to be retained. For instance, the word “fietsen” which means to bicycle. Now I don’t plan to bicycle in the rain forest. Or even in the city of Paramaribo, for that matter! And I’m sure I won’t find anything in the old Dutch records of 1699-1701 about bicycling, either. Yet that word clings to my brain while more useful words just slide right off. What’s up with that?
Found the iron ring
Not only is this fountain beautiful, so is the wrought-iron fence around it!
To see more photos of this fountain, go to www.chasingcaterpillars.vox.com
I stepped off the plane at the Frankfurt airport full of eager anticipation. Only two weeks to find out all I could in two cities. Our exchange daughter, Anke, met me at the airport. We dropped my backpack and suitcase at her apartment and she took me on a streetcar-train-walking tour of Frankfurt so I would have a basic idea of how to get where I needed to go. I bought a week’s transportation pass which includes both the streetcar and train.
The next morning Anke went back to work, and armed with a city map and notebook, I set out to find the Römerberg. It took me a couple of minutes to establish just where I was when I arrived streetside from the train (which runs under the city in that area).
The Römerberg. I knew the three buildings comprising the Römer were the old city hall and designated places for official functions in the 1600’s, the time period of my research. Fanning out from the Römer was a large open space, which in earlier times was the main market place and where the twice yearly trade fairs were held. This market area was the Römerberg, very much a misnomer. I laughed when I realized that this slight uphill slant was called a mountain (berg). But it did provide a natural ampitheater for viewing public events.
It was disappointing not to be able to see the exterior of the Römer. The three buildings were covered with scaffolding and some kind of material as some kind of work was being done to them. But there are plenty of pictures in books and on postcards that show the exterior.
Frankfurt is a very modern city. Its skyline is often compared to that of New York City. I knew that the only way I might get a sense of the 1600’s would mostly be in the various museums.