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April 16th:
Sen's Return!
 We were happy not to have to eat so many pizza's any more!
Actually Toroa and Tama had both been cooking some meals. Here Toroa and Tama invented a new game with the metal chess pieces Sen brought for them from a market in Iran. We were just so glad that Sen had a great time and came home safe. |
April 1st: Toroa's drawing of their swimming lesson with Sen. Currently we take turns taking them to the swimming pool once a week.
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In Sen's absence, Toroa started wearing a dress! He claimed that it was a kilt and gave him greater manly freedom. The boys wrote reports about for Sen to read. Here are Toroa's April 4th: Friday we went swimming at night. It was very calm, we swam for an hour. Today I floated without a board. My mother kept telling me to keep my legs strait. I went in the deep end al the time. Tama swam for the first time. It wasn't very far. In addition, it was dogpaddling. I were a kilt now. It is amazing how much freedom Scots have. |
Toroa doing homework in his kilt.
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Tama's sketch for a game about flying which Sonja was working on for her work.
Here, Tama thought up the butterfly flight.
Play The flight Game. |
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More of Toroa's reports April 7th: Yesterday we went shopping at the Albert Heijn. Mum spontaneous bought lots of stuff. Later that day we went to the market. She told me to buy some tomatos, when I turned round she was gone. I looked for her and found her. She had bought about 5 kilo's of food. We also went to the weggeef winkel (give away shop) to bring some clothes. After that we went to the university's library to bring some books back. On the way back I had an extra 3 kilo's of food on the back. It was enough to make the bike tip al the time. April 9th: Last night we went to a Bah�'� feast. Because mama was working we went with Arash and Hannah. At the feast we said prayers and ate some food. |
Drawing by Toroa, April 7th.
"Busker at the market", drawing by Toroa, April 7th.
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Afterwards we got on the computer and watched 'Artificial Intelligence 2'. Because it didn't fit on one CD it went on two. When mum come we hadn't finished so we brought it with us. While we watched it we ate chips. The movie is about the future when the sea level has risen. Because there is not enough food they made robots. Then they made a robot that has feelings it is about how he survives. At school today we got a letter about sport day ,dat is the day that we all sport for a day. Last year it was cancelled.
Tama's version of April 9th Last night we went to a Bah�'� feast. The subject was heerlijkhijd (deliciousness). I suggested making a new feast of honesty. We played our instrument. I played a piece with my recorder, that way I did my music practice. Toroa played a piece with his violin. After the meditative part of the feast, we went and watched Artificial intelligence. It was too long to put on one CD, so it was put on two of them. Sonja had to go to work and came back at about ten a clock. At school, I always play tennis for entertainment except on Wednesdays. This is because I like soccer, but when it is not Wednesday our class is officially not allowed to play soccer. Usually we play soccer anyway and the highest grades kick the ball as far as they can away. Tama - April 11th: Today our gym teacher was sick. My teacher, as you probably know is very mean. He decided to make us work instead. He does that every time and all he gets is a revolt in the classroom. Soon they will be putting traps down were only the teacher walks for revenge. In addition, he made us walk for more than an hour. We went to another school where one of the teachers was doing a play. The children that were in the school apart from us had watched that same play in the morning. I think that school is better because the teachers do the play's, not the children. Also I think my teacher can get a job as a slave driver. P.S. revolts rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Toroa - April 11th: Today the gym teacher was sick, so we had gym from another teacher. First, we played 'Iemand is em niemand is em' In that game there is a ball, if you are hit by it you are out. If it hits the ground first, you can safely pick it up. When Arzu was out she said 'Fuck you'. Arzu is a teenager and she has a rude attitude. Today she was suspended for 2 months. We rearranged the classroom and everyone poked at the testing egg. We are doing a test with that egg. We put an egg in acid to see what would happen. April 12th: Today I hung round on my bike in the middle of the night and it is not my character. You see we went to the swimming pool at 20.00. There we swam for an hour mum said that I swam much better this time. This time mum forced me to go in the girl's dressing room. I felt very weird about hanging round I cannot explain the feeling. 
Drawing by Toroa of himself hanging out on a street corner on a Friday night at about 9.30 p.m.
April 14th: Many people were sick in total there were about 20 people at the Bah�'� Children's class. When we were in our classes, they decided to put a few classes together. First, we said some prayers (BORING!) Then we got a piece of paper. On it were texts and questions (HELP!). After that we made a calendar, we put stickers on holy day's and the start of a month. Later we stood up on the podium and sung. Tama stood in front of me and then I pushed him away. After the classes, we danced in the hall. Tama got weird and did not dance. April 15th: I noticed that I am becoming more of a teenager for instance, I don't pay attention in class. Today mum worked so we were alone and got a microwave diner. We played some weird game made by Tama. Moreover, he cheated he broke his own rules. 
"School Sports Day", drawing by Toroa, April 15th.
Tama - April 16th: Yesterday we had gym but I forgot my gym trunks. Therefore, I sat on the side. I had good luck because they had to run around the gym-arena (another demonstration of how mean the teacher is). |
| April 18th: Then Toroa took the train after school to come to our party at work. It was to celebrate the start of our own department - The Internet Department. We had also moved up a floor and here is my new office, shared with Dennis, our student. A shower curtain is drapped over my computer. |
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It was a fun party and everyone did something on our theme of a red "go-live", including a red carpet, paper curtains, red kisses (see Toroa's cheek), red nibbles and I made a drink in a fishbowl called 'red'.
Toroa's report - April 20th: Two days ago, I went to a party after school. The party is in Hilversum so I had to go on the train. The party started at 16.00, I was there at 16.30. I got the mobile, some cash, and a ticket. When I was on the train, I nearly got out at the wrong stop. Because the stop didn't look familiar, I called her work. When I was in the building I went to the elevator. When I was on the right floor, I saw some red ribbons. When I went there I saw a party. Then I started to look for mum. I found her working witch is unbelievable. I had lots of fun and around 18.00 we went to eat with some people. We went to a pizzeria and got huge pizza's. Around 21.00 we went home. Yesterday I went swimming at the swimming pool. There I tried to dogpaddle, first I did it with a floating belt. After that worked I did it without. Tama is very good at diving, because he cannot float. We went to the doctor and then I pulled down my pants. Now I have to go to the hospital so that they can make me radioactive. (Toroa had been limping so we had an x-ray made of his knee. It seemed to have healed itself.) Tama's report - April 20th: Yesterday I learned how to swim under water. There are two problems with underwater swimming. One is when you get out your hair goes on your face. The other is that if you do not come above the water you drown. After I learned how to swim underwater, I played piggy in the middle with some other children. April 21st: |
Toroa, Tama and I went to Rob's to celebrate the First Day of Ridvan with the other Leiden Bahá´ís and the star of the day was 2 month Robin! |
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View from Rob's window
We then walked down along this canal to the city centre for a boat tour.
Toroa's Report On Sunday 21 April, it was the first day of Ridvan. Therefore, we had a party at someone's house. We went to a circle of houses with a yard in the middle. There were many cats in the area; the people we met had two. There house was cool, there was a bed on stilts in the living room and they a hang mat in the yard. First we chatted, at cake and drunk juice. After mum left we played a game, it took nearly two hours to play. I didn't win but neither did Tama. There was going to be a diner but they cancelled it. |
While waiting to go on the boat we ate and drank!
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April 25th: Art in The Hague Sonja went to The Hague for the day. First I visited the gallery, Quartair where Swedish artists had installed work. |
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WAYS OUT to find the right way in (critical utopists) This was the title for an exhibition of work by 5 artists in STROOM also in The Hague. They organized a seminar on this theme with some of the artists giving talks and being interviewed. |
| ESA The Water Vapour channel of an infra red photo of the earth. |
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| Recents images of the artic showing a large piece of ice breaking off. |
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Ocean Earth are a collective of artists based in New York who are concerned about how we use the earth's resources and how governments provide information to the public about this. |
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Sonja and Dillemuth, a German who is researching utopian groups. |
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Left to Right: A STROOM employee, Nils Norman (UK) with his Geocruiser coach behind, Josephine (U.K.) and Dillmuth.
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Toroa's Report, April 24th: Today I discovered that I had a scar. It's on my leg, it came there when I scraped the skin of with my toenail. When I woke up today something dript on my hand. I thought it was snot, but when I had a look, I saw it was black. Tama pulled open the curtains and the blood turned red. I said to him to get a towel but he didn't. After I said it 3 times his brains understood. The blood was dripping fast onto my hand, afterwords my hands were red. I got a packet of tissues, just in case it would start again. At school it did start again, but I only used one. |
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April 28th: For the feast of "Beauty", Tama and Toroa decorated each of the letters of the word "Schoonheid" on our livingroom wall.
Then for the meditative part of the feast Sonja showed slides while Toroa and Tama put things (including drawings) on a low table, turned on a lamp (with burnt the cloth drapped over it) and played music. 
Dancing during the feast. Albertina is our visitor from Brazil. Toroa's Report, April 29th: Saturday a visitor from Brazil came here. She could just speak English and she could not remember things well. When she arrived, she left again to a huge garden. She came back late in the evening. The next morning we were up first, she was sleeping in the workshop. When she woke up properly, she had a shower. After words, she dried her hair with a hairdryer. In the afternoon, we went to go shopping with her. She wanted to buy everything in the shop. We tried to stop her so she only got to buy three bags.  Family portrait on the other side of the living room taken by Albertina.
The green drawing on the wall behind is a copy of Cezanne's Bathers, which Tama made an improvement on when he was 6 years old. Note: The red nail polish from the 18th of April still hadn't chipped off my nails. Choose another month |
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