The people in Suriname deserve to be written about in a separate post. They are just awesome. When we go out with Aga, they always smile, say 'hi', wave or stop for a little chat. This is so nice and friendly.
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| "Hello baby" - and he didn't mean ME :) |
A few days ago I realized that I know more people - neighbours, shop assistants etc. - in Paramaribo than in Cuijk, where I have lived for over a year! What does it say? Well, I think I don't have to comment it...
For example, I go for a walk with Aga everyday - or Bob - and I meet more less the same people, they wave, so I stop, talk to them, they usually have children around. They talk to Aga who is delighted when people want to listen to her stories. I talk to them - like this girl with a month old baby in her arms - so cute! With lots of jewellery on. The baby. Earrings, bracelets, necklace... all golden. Weird, but I guess culturally conditioned. The baby girl had a blue mark on her forehead which looked like the Indian tilaka - I asked if she was Indian, but the mummy claimed that her ancestors were from India, but she doesn't know about them and she is Surinamese. I realized that I have to be very careful here when I ask about where people are from...
People look very interesting, so many nations, so many languages, so many cultures. Amazing. And they all live in peace. The population is slightly less than half a million, in a country that is 4 times bigger that 15-milion Netherlands. According to the website:
Ethnic groups: Hindustani (also known locally as "East Indians"; their ancestors emigrated from northern India in the latter part of the 19th century) 37% Creole (mixed white and black) 31% Javanese 15.3% Maroons (their African ancestors were brought to the country in the 17th and 18th centuries as slaves and escaped to the interior) 10.3% Amerindian 2.6% Chinese 1.7% white 1% other 1.1%Religions: Hindu 27.4% Muslim 19.6% Roman Catholic 22.8% Protestant 25.2% (predominantly Moravian) indigenous beliefs 5%Languages: Dutch (official) English (widely spoken) Sranan Tongo (Surinamese sometimes called Taki-Taki is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others) Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi) Javanese.
So, as you can see there are pretty equal proportions between 4 religions... It is possible!
Some people, as everywhere, have pets. It is quite common to have a pet bird and hang its cage on a street post or in a garden...
or sometimes to take it for a walk. Seriously! :)
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| I'm not sure if the guy liked the fact that I took a photo of him... |
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| ...but this guy totally loved it, as it was HIM who asked me to take a photo 'of him too' :D So I did.
There are also the dearest and nicest people - the ones who we meet almost every day. But you can read about them here: niutatek.blogspot.com (you can email me for the invitation if curious).
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