haralddavidse@gmail.com

verloving

2010-05-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

2009-11-19T05:09:00.000-08:00

adios amigoʼs / goedemorgen Nederland.
adios amigoʼs / goodmorning netherlands.

the spain experience is over.
iʼm vey thankful to God, my friends that helped me being there and oasis trails for a very beautifull year.
iʼm back in the netherlands.

by the end of october we closed the hostel for the winter season.
my girlfriend Anne, my mother and my brother came to spain to pick me up.
we spent one week packing and siteseing.
the ﬁrst week of november we came back to the netherlands.

there was a lot to get done here aswell.
ﬁnding housing in utrecht.
registrating at the townhall / adres changes.
ﬁnding work, and start making money quick.
all of that is now ﬁxed.
everything is a big change of course.
new phone number.
new adres.
straighting out lots of stuff.
bankstuff, company stuff ect.

iʼm ofﬁcialy registered at my girlfriends adres.
thatʼs where i will receive my mail, and where we want to live in the future.
until we get maried i live in “groenekan”.
at the moment i live in a treehouse.
http://tussenhemelenaarde.com/ ( iʼve told you that a lot has changed).

we are working on getting a camper soon.
we can have the camper on the same campsite/ adres.

be welcome, or we can come to you with our camper, go somewhere and catch up.

work

after these wise words from our prince, i looked for work right away.

for now i work on the market” vredenburg” in utrecht as a “ bike parking supervisor”.
i do that on wednessday, friday and saterday.

on tuesday i work at the vwe, on the “veemarkt” in utrecht.
http://www.vwe.nl/
behind a desk, registrating licence plates and car papers, of cars that are sold to east european car dealers.
(an other of those big changes, black pants, white shirt and “lak schoenen”)

in the mean time iʼm aplying for a job at “stampottogo”
http://www.stamppottogo.nl/
they are opening a new take away place in utrecht, and have contacted me to be involved.

it has been a very long time since youʼve heard from me.
i can just say, that a lot of good was going on, to much to tell in this way.
but i hope to update yʼall in person not to long from now.
iʼm not leaving for a while, so it should work out to meet.

2009-05-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

for the english speakers/ readers

here you have the translated version of the last blog

thank you lianne

The renovation of the hostel is done.
The cleaning is finished, too.
Everyone who came to help out, thank you so much
It really is an progression for the pilgrims.
when it’s cold, we can just turn the heat up a bit, and the showers are fantastic too.
Some people came to Monjardin and helped with cleaning.
Which also has been much appreciated.

Marijn and Marijke (head of the organisation) and Alie Bulten (my colleage for this season) have come to Monjardin on March the 23rd. The first week they were here, we were still busy getting the hostel ready for the pilgrims.

We have a house now in Estella, where Alie and I live.
Every now and then extra volunteers will stay there too, when there won’t be enough space in the hostel, or when the dividing of the rooms won’t work out.
I myself have a room on the first floor (ground floor) of the house.
On the second floor (eh, first floor, for some among us) there’s the kitchen, the living room and an extra scullery(?) where we can do the laundry and let it dry.

On the top floor are three bedrooms
One for Alie, with her own bathroom (but she’s already made it available for guests)
Then there are two smaller bedrooms for volunteers, or for when Alie or I will have guests staying over.

The view from the balcony is amazing.
We look at the west, so we can see the sun go down over the mountains.

Now the hostel is open again.
In general it hasn’t been very busy yet.
a few weeks ago we have had about 10 pilgrims a day.
We did have some really cool conversations though.

For example there was this family from Germany
They told us that, three years ago, the son of that family passed away.
Now they walked every year in the week of easter a part of the camino, in remembrance of the son. Who had namely passed away in the week of easter.
Every single of of them had their own bond with the son, and could process that in their own way. They actually walked a few hundred meters away from each other. In the evening they were really comforted by the meditation.

Some days later there was a man who had witnessed the same meditation.
He wrote in our guestbook, that for the first time in his life he had “had contact with God.”

Often we ourselves don’t notice whether people really have been touched by what they experience in the hostel, and then it’s really cool to find out by for example the guestbook.

Anne has come to visit several times.
It is quite special, how we can be involved in each other’s lives.
She has got quite an intense job too.
Anne workt for the organisation(?) Timon, and accompanies supports youth in their family situation.

In the evening Anne and I try to Skype, which isn’t always easy now it’s high season.
We both have an intense life.

I would like to ask you to pray for our future.

The first volunteers were a couple from Hungary.
They have been in the hostel for ten days.
Now there is a young woman named Sarah, from the States, who wants to start a hostel in Santiago de Compostelle with some friends of mine.
Faith and Nate have worked in the Shelter in Amsterdam in 1997, and now they lead the team that wants to start a hostel in Santiago (not connected to Oasis trails.)

There also is a retired couple now.
Theo loves tidying up, so I’ve estimated his skills in it much higher than mine.
I have eagerly made use of that, with great success. The attic and the cellar are now ready to prepare food on the floor, and to eat from the floor. You can also now actually find your food. Maartje has spent many hours i the kitchen these days. Both of them speak French, and the Lord has used that, to fill our house with French people. Very gezellig.

So, above the pilgrim rooms is an attic.
Theo and I have made an extra place to spend the night for when I will spend the night at the hostel. We had to lay extra electricity wires, and I had to level the floor to be able to place a bed on it. There also is an extra desk now, for when one of us needs a quiet (separated) working place.

The wine cellar behind the pilgrim rooms has been rebuilt into a place to create and fix things, workshop-like. The storage room is now entirely dedicated to food.

I myself am still doing many odd jobs
In a building like ours, you can always find something to do, and you have to leave things just as they are.

The village is also more and more coming to life.
People know who I am, and there already is more contact.
We have also had positive contacts with the other hostel.
Which also is an answer on prayer.

Navarra is also very beautiful now.
Very different.
I had put up a thermometer in the sun in the front of the building.
One day it showed it was a 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 F), in the sun and out of the wind, mind you. The next say it snowed in Monjardin.
Also a few weeks ago, Anna was here
The first day we enjoyed sitting in the sunshine, and the next day we went to Urbasa by car, to the north. They were clearing snow, there was 30cm of snow (about 12 inches) I think Urbasa has an altitude of max. 1000 meter (0.6 miles)

Life here remains hectic and variable, often we don’t know in the morning how the evening will go. Alie and I really appreciate that. We have dealt with this more often in our lives, and can live well with it. At the moment we’re busy trying to plan as much as possible. Which is really funny. It definitely isn’t my strongest point.

Today I have a day on which I have put fixing things and other tasks aside, for the first time. Volunteers are cleaning up now, and I am going to send you an update. Sorry for the long radio silence. It has been very busy. Alie and I had made a new schedule, in which we planned in time to do these kind of jobs. Not. Honestly, it is a matter of going on from 8:00 in the morning till 22:00 in the evening, and then I really need the siesta in the afternoon to be able to stay on my feet.

We have been short of staff for a while.
Alie hadn’t been well for some weeks, too.
Now she’s working again, but her ankle is still painful.

I also had to go to the Netherlands because an aunt had passed away.

All these things led to extra work pressure on the team.
It all went very well, but it definitely was hard work.

So now we hope (like we did before) to get and keep a bit more control on our schedule. We’re hoping to be able to do some extra cleaning tasks, and pick up our jobs and tasks behind the screens. They really have been piling up. It is important to stay focussed on the ministry. With all the hustle we would quickly forget.

The hostel is now full every day.
The meals are also popular.
The pilgrims are quite positive about the fresh vegetables and the good meals.
Our breakfast is much appreciated too.
At many places they get fries as a meal, and a piece of french bread as a breakfast.
We definitely do a bit more than that.

These last few months I haven’t had time for Skyping in general.
Some of you have asked for this
I hope to pick it up again soon.
The siesta from 13:30 till 15:30 would be the best time for that.
Just let me know my email, when would be convenient for you.

My pictures are on my picasa website again
http://picasaweb.google.com/haralddavidse 
I hopre you’re up to date again from how it’s going here
The work is very intense, and I can entirely throw myself into is
Which is fun, but tiring too.
Now we hopefully have arrived at a quieter time.

Greetings,

Harald

2009-05-19T01:43:00.001-07:00

it has been three months since you’ve got any news
i’ll first do my update in dutch, then the english version still has to follow.

het is weer drie maanden geleden dat ik iets van me heb laten horen
het is dus weer tijd voor een update.

nu doe ik eerst een nederlandse versie, en de engelse versie moet dan nog volgen

de renovatie in de herberg is voorbij.
ook de schoonmaak zit er op.
al die mensen die zijn komen helpen, hartelijk dank
het is echt een vooruitgang voor de pelgrims.
als het koud is, gewoon de kachel iets hoger draaien, en de douches zijn ook fantastisch.
ook zijn er een aantal mensen naar monjardin gekomen, en geholpen met de schoonmaak.
dat is ook erg gewaardeerd.

marijn en marijke ( hoofd van de organisatie) en alie bulten( m’n collega voor dit seizoen)
zijn op 23 maart naar monjardin gekomen.
de eerste week dat ze er waren, zijn we nog bezig geweest met de herberg klaar te maken voor de pelgrims.

we hebben nu een huis in Estella, waar alie en ik wonen.
ook zullen daar wel eens extra vrijwilligers verblijven, als er niet genoeg ruimte is in de herberg, of als de verdeling van kamers niet goed uit komt.
zelf heb ik een kamer op de begane vloer van het huis.
op de eerste verdieping zitten de keuken, woonkamer en nog een extra bij keuken, waar we de was kunnen doen, en kunnen drogen.
op de bovenste verdieping zijn drie slaapkamers
1 kamer voor alie, met haar eigen bad kamer( maar ze heeft die badkamer ook al beschikbaar gemaakt voor de gasten)
dan zijn er nog twee kleinere slaap kamers voor de vrijwillige staf, of voor als alie of ik een gast op visite hebben.

het uitzicht van ons balkon is geweldig.
we kijken op het westen, en zien dus de zon ondergaan over de bergen.

nu is de herberg weer geopend.
heel er druk is het over het algemeen nog niet.
de laatste weken ongeveer 10 pelgrims per dag.
wel zijn er al hele toffe gesprekken geweest

er was bijvoorbeeld een gezin uit duitsland.
zij vertelden ons, dat drie jaar geleden, de zoon uit het gezin was overleden.
nu liepen ze el jaar in de week van pasen een deel van de camino, om de zoon te herdenken.
de zoon was namelijk ook in de week van pasen overleden.
elk van hun had nu zijn eigen band met de zoon, en kon die op z’n eige wijze verwerken.
zie liepen dan ook een honderd tal meters van elkaar vandaan.
‘s avonds waren ze erg vertroost door de meditatie.

een paar dagen later was er een man die en zelfde meditatie had bij gewoond.
in ons gasten boek schreef hij, dat hij voor het eerst van zijn leven” in contact was gekomen met God”

vaak merken wij zelf niet of mensen echt geraakt zijn door wat ze in de herberg mee maken, dan is het erg tof om dat via bijv. het gasten boek te vernemen.

Anne is nu een paar keer op visite geweest.
het is erg bijzonder, hoe wij betrokken kunnen zijn in elkaars leven.
ook zij heeft een vrij heftige job.
Anne werkt voor stichting timon, en begeleid jongeren in hun familie situatie.

‘s avonds proberen Anne en ik te skypen, dat is nu in het hoog seizoen niet altijd even makkelijk.
we hebben beiden een intens leven.

ik zou u willen vragen om te bidden voor onze toekomst.

de eerst vrijwilliger waren een echtpaar uit hongarije.
zij zijn voor tien dagen in de herberg geweest.
nu is er een jonge vrouw genaamd Sarah, uit Amerika, die in Santiago de Compostella een herberg wil beginnen met een stel vrienden van mij.
faith en nate hebben in 1997 in de shelter in Amsterdam gewerkt, nu leiden zij het team dat in Santiago een herberg ( los van oasis trails) wil beginnen.

ook is er nu een gepensioneerd echtpaar.
theo houd van opruimen, en dus heb ik zijn vaardigheden daar in veel hoger ingeschat dan de mijne.
daar heb ik dan weer gretig gebruik van gemaakt, met een daverend succes.
de zolder en de kelder zijn nu geschikt om eten op de grond klaar te maken, en om van de grond te eten.
ook kan je dan je eten terug vinden.
maartje heeft deze dagen vele uren in de keuken door gebracht.
beiden spreken ook goed frans, en daar heeft de Here weer gebruik van gemaakt, door ons huis te vullen met fransen.
erg gezellig.

boven de pelgrims vertrekken is dus een rommel zolder.
daar hebben theo en ik nu een extra overnachting plaats gemaakt voor als ik blijf overnachten in de herberg.
er moest nog extra elektra naar toe gelegd worden, en ik heb de vloer vlak moeten maken om er een bed te kunnen plaatsen.
ook staat er nu een extra bureau, voor als een van ons een stille ( afgezonderde) werk plek nodig heeft.

de wijn kelder achter de pelgrims kamer is nu tot knutsel kamer verbouwd.
de voorraad ruimte is nu geheel toe gewijd aan voedsel.

zelf ben ik dus nog steeds veel aan het klussen.
in een gebouw als het onze, kan je bezig blijven, en moet je dingen gewoon laten zoals ze zijn.

in het dorp komt ook steeds meer leven.
de mensen weten wie ik ben, en er is al meer contact.
ook zijn er al weer positieve contacten geweest met de andere herberg.
dat is ook een antwoord op gebed.

Navarra is ook nu erg mooi.
erg verschillend.
ik had een thermometer op gehangen in het zonnetje voor aan het gebouw.
op een dag gaf die 27 graden aan ,in de zon en uit de wild wel te verstaan.
de volgende dag sneeuwde het in monjardin.
ook een paar weken geleden, was Anne hier.
de eerste dag hadden we lekker in de zon gezeten, en de volgende dag zijn we met de auto naar Urbasa in het noorden gegaan.
daar waren ze sneeuw aan het schuiven.
er lag daar 30 cm sneeuw.
ik denk dat Urbasa op max. 1000 meter hoogte ligt.

het leven blijft hier hectisch en wisselend, we weten vaak ‘s morgens niet hoe het ‘s avonds loopt.
dat waarderen Alie en ik zeer.
wij beiden hebben dit al vaker in ons leven mee gemaakt, en kunnen daar goed mee leven.
nu zijn we bezig dingen zoveel mogelijk te plannen.
dat is erg grappig.
het is zeker niet mijn sterkste kant.

vandaag heb ik voor het eerst een dag waar ik het klussen en de andere taken aan de kant heb gezet.
nu vrijwilligers zijn nu aan het schoonmaken, en ik ga jullie updaten.
sorry voor de lange radiostilte.
het is hier erg druk geweest.
alie en ik hadden een nieuw schema opgesteld, waar we tijd in hadden geplanned om dit soort klussen te doen.
nou mooi niet dus.
eerlijk gezegd is het gewoon van ‘s morgens 8 uur tot ‘s avonds 10 uur door gaan, en dan heb ik de siesta ‘s middags echt nodig om op m’n voeten te blijven staan.

dit is ons uitzicht uit ons appartement

we zijn een tijdje een beetje onderbemand geweest.
ook is alie een paar weken in de lappen mand geweest.
nu werkt ze weer helemaal mee, maar heeft nog pijn in haar enkel.

ook ben ik nog een keer naar nederland moeten komen voor het overlijden van een tante van me.

dat alles heeft er toe geleid dat er extra werk druk op het team was.
het is allemaal prima verlopen, maar het was zeker door werken.

nu hopen we( zoals in het verleden) dat we iets meer controle gaan krijgen/ houden op ons rooster.
we hopen weer wat extra schoonmaak taken te kunnen gaan doen, en onze klusjes en taken achter de schermen op te kunnen pakken.
die klussen en taken stapelen zich aardig op.
het is belangrijk voor ons dat we de bediening voor ogen houden.
door de drukte zou dat er snel bij inschieten.

de herberg zit nu elke dag vol.
en ook de maaltijden zijn druk bezocht.
de pelgrims zijn erg te spreken over de verse groente en goede maaltijden.
ook het ontbijt is zeer gewaardeerd.
op veel plaatsen krijgen de pelgrims patat als maaltijd, en een stuk stokbrood als ontbijt.
wij maken er toch echt iets meer van.

voor het algemeen skypen heb ik de laatste maanden geen tijd gehad.
sommigen van jullie hebben mij ook om gevraagd
ik hoop dit weer snel op te kunnen pakken.
de siesta van 13.30 tot 15.30 is daar het beste geschikt voor.
laat het maar weer weten via email ,waneer het jullie schikt.

m’n foto’s heb ik weer op m’n picasa site staan
http://picasaweb.google.com/haralddavidse

ik hoop dat jullie zo weer een beetje op de hoogte zijn van hoe het hier verloopt
het werk is erg intense, en ik kan mij zelf er helemaal in storten.
dat is leuk, maar ook vermoeiend.
nu hopen we in een iets rustigere tijd aan te komen

hartelijke groet

harald

2009-03-20T03:49:00.000-07:00

het is al weer lang geleden, ik vertel zo wel waarom.

er is erg veel gebeurt, en we hebben het druk gehad hier in monjardin.
in de eerste week van december, zijn marijn (hoofd van de organisatie) en een vriend van hem, hier heen gekomen om het hostel voor te bereiden voor de renovatie in januarie.
we wilden de badkamer voor de pelgrims verbouwen en cv aan leggen.
maar eerst hebben we een allsebrander geinstaleerd.
de was al een heel avontuur in zich zelf

in de algemene zit ruimte, haddan we alleen een open hout vuur als verwarming.
de schoorsteen was een gat van 120 cm by 30 cm.
de meeste warmte ging dus ook gelijk omhoog het dak op. i.p.v de kamer te verwarmen.
dus dat gat hebben we gedicht met een metalen plaat.
toe hebben we een allesbrander gekocht, met een schoorsteen pijp van 1 cm doorsnee.

nu denk je mischien bla bla bla, waarom de details.
ok, niet alles ging ok.
toe ik die schoorsteen pijp omhoog stak in de schoorsteen, kwan die naar beneden vallen en snee een pees in mijn pols door.
ik moest dus naar het ziekenhuis,en omdat ik compleet onder het roet zat en heel vies was ,moest ik daar 3 dagen blijven.

alles geneesde erg snel, maar ik kon niet veel zwaar werk doen.
ik verzorgde het eten, en deed het schoonmaken.
marijn en z'n vriend sloopten de oude badkamer, en begonnen het opbouwen van de nieuwe badkamer.

13 dec zijn we naar nederland toe gekomen
eerst ben ik een week in amsterdam geweest, en was instaat om veel vrienden te spreken en een goede tijd met hun te hebben.
daarna ben ik voor 2 weken naar m'n ouders in zeeland gegaan.

in de laatste dagen van 2008 ben ik weer in contact gekomen met een oud staflid van de shelter.
we hebben toen eerst afgesproken om intensiever contact te houden over skype, en ik kan u nu mede delen dat we een stel zijn.
ik ben heel erg gelukkig.

in januarie zijn m'n vader, m'n oud huisgenoot uit amsterdam, en oud klasgenoot van de lagere school ( 24 jaar geleden) en nog een bevriend echtpaar uit amsterdam, met me mee gekomen naar spanje.
in 2 weken zijn we er in geslaagd om een nieuwe badkamer te instaleren en cv aan teleggen.
het is echt luxe voor de pelgrims.

op de laatste dag voordat marijn en m'n oud huisgenoot terug moesten naar nederland, kregen we pas de tussenwanden binnen voor de badkamer.
dit hield in dat we de hele nacht door moesten werken om die te instaleren.

toen begon de schoonmaak.
een vriendin uit amsterdam, die erg van schoonmaken houd, kwam op visite.
ze kon haar lol op.

we hebben toe alle kamers schoongemaakt, en zijn toe nog een dag naar san sebastiaan geweest.

in dit seizoen, dat er niet zoveel pelgrims zijn, komen er vrienden van mij, maar ook vrienden van de organisatie, om te helpen met schoonmaken en organiseren van het hostel.
het is een leuke balans van ontspanning en werken.

een groep vrienden van me uit amsterdam, hebben geld bij elkaar gelegd en hebben een mountain bike voor me gekocht, nu kan ik op de fiets naar estella.
dat duurt ongeveer 15 min.

nu begint het seizoen met de pelgims weer.
het was een beetje afwachten, we wilden weten of er meer pelgrims in maart de route zouden lopen.
ik denk dat er wel pelgrims zijn ,maar dat zij op de grotere steden focussen.
ze slaan in de winter en het vroege voorjaar de kleinere dorpen over om te overnachten.

tot nu toe is het dus stil geweest hier in monjardin, nu gaat de gekte weer beginnen.
ik heb er zin in, maar moet nog wel om schakelen.

bedankt voor nu en tot later

harald

2009-02-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

2009-01-29T04:22:00.000-08:00

Long time no seen, i'll tell you why, in a bit

A Lot has happend, we had a bussy time here in monjardin.
The first week of december, Marijn (head of the organisation) and a friend came to prepare the hostel for renovation.
We wanted to renew the bathroom and install central heating.
But first we installed a wood stove in the main room.

That in it self was a advanture.
In the main room we only had an open fire place.
The cimney was an open channel of 1 meter by 30 centimeter all the way to the roof.
A lot of heat from the fireplace would just go straight up to the roof.
So we closed of that big hole with a sheet of metal.
Then we bought a metal wood stove, with a 10 centimeter cimney pipe to the roof of the house.

Now you maybe wondering why i give you all these details.
Well......, not all went well.
When i put that chimney pipe in to the big chimney, it came down and cut a tendens in my wrist.
Since i was covert in soot i had to stay in the hospital for 3 days.

(for more picktures ,look on my picasa site)
It all healed very fast, but i was not able to do a whole lot.
I took care of the food and cleaning, while Marijn and his friend took out the old shower and the rest of the bathroom.

Half way december we all went back to the netherlands.
First i went to stay in amsterdam and suroundings for about a week.
I was able to meet a lot of my friends, and spent quality time with them.
After that, i went to stay with my parents for about 2 weeks, untill the fifth of january.
It was a Very good time in the Netherlands.

In january my dad, an old classmate of mine from kindergarden (called peter) and a befriend couple that i know from Amsterdam, went together to spain.
We did the whole rip in 2 days, we stay overnight in tours, and continued the next day.
In the following 2 weeks we where able to install the central heating and a new bathroom.
This is going to be such a blessing for the workeres and the pilgrims

The last day that marijn and my friend where here, we received the deviding wall, to be placed in the bathroom.
This ment that we had to work all trough the night.

After that an other friend came, she loves cleaning.
There was a lot for her to love.

We cleaned the main rooms, and went for a day to San Sebastian.

At this moment there are 3 different friends visiting me herein monjardin.
Two girls from the netherlands and a lady that lives here in navarra.
The 2 dutchies go back tomorrow, and the lady will stay for an other while.

Then halfway february theres an other Good friend visiting me.

In noverber i was blessed with lots of solitude, now i'm blessed with lots of friend.
There's no way of speaking in terms of better or worse, I thank God on my knees for both.

A group of friends from amsterdam had put money together and fixed me a mountain-bike.
Now i can go to Estella in about 15 min. by bike, the way back takes about 25 minutes.

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written.

you can skype me about these other things.

2008-11-26T08:55:00.001-08:00

een korte meededeling.
ik kon mijn mobiele nummer weer activeren.
dus 0034 652 106 171.
ik heb mijn geluid uit staan.
telefoontjes uit nederland zijn te duur.
maar nu kan iedereen me texten.
bijv. als iemand wilt skypen/ msnen/ etc.

a short message.
a was able te activate my mobile phone number.
so 0034 652 106 171.
international phone calls are to expensive for me
i switched off the sound. but now you can text me.
in case you want to skype/ msn or facebook etc.

2008-11-24T01:11:00.000-08:00

me again

not a whole lot has changed i guess.
so i just inform you about some things that did change.
it's snowing now, that's one thing that changed.
second, the number of pilgrims went down to one each other day.
i do have a good time with them.
sometimes there is more then one pilgrim staying, but mostly it's one on one conversations we have.
that leads to very intresting talks.
there was a lady who worked with the elections in the states, right after she came to walk the camino.
then there was a man from the canary islands, he was going to join the french legion.
he walked from sevilla to here in navarra, and had to go to marseille

these days the pilgrims ( that came)
came in at about 6
first we drink a cup of tea, talk about there walk that day, and how it wen.
then they go and fresh up a bit.
in the mean time i fix a meal.
we have a meal untill about 9.30, then i clean up and prepare the breakfast.
during the day i reorganise the rooms one by one, and work on my spanish.
on mondays, i meet up with the spanish pastor ( Abel) from Estella.
we read the Bible together.
he reads the english niv, and i read the spanish.

last saterday i was invited for a american thanksgiving meal, with the family who run the church in tafalla.
it is so good to have these friends around me here.
they all opened up there homes for me, invite me for meals, and just times to get out of the hostel.

i think i enjoy the solutarie life a bit to much.
i lock my self up here in the hostel.
in itself it's a good thing.
i needed a time to be on myself
reflecting.
when there are no pilgrims i watch a lot of podcasts
mars hill church sermons
sermon index. com
richard wurmbrand
gladys aylwards ( from "the inn on the sixth happiness")
and a spanish course called
"coffeebreak spanish"
done by a scottsman, very funny, so it's a more relaxing way of learning spanish.

we have a dutch to spanish "loi" course, here in the hostel, and that's more formal

this is a picture of a mans conference i went to a while ago

don't look for me, i'm way in the back, i just wanted to show the people i met here.

please let me know by email if and when you want to skype, then i'll get online.
otherwise i'm offline, because i'm all over in the hostel, and not behind my mac all day.

that's all for now folks
i hope to be back in the netherlands about the 16th of december.
then on th 5th of january i'll go back to spain.

maybe we can meet up

let me know

2008-10-30T04:27:00.001-07:00

hi

the last weeks it has been very slow in the albergue.
we had an average off 4 pilgrims each day.
we did have some friends from amsterdam to visit.
sam and nynke came first, then a few days later francien and her sister hilmar came.
we went to do some day trips, and worked together in the albergue.
i’ve put the pictures on my picasa web site.
it wasn’t the happiest thing to say goodbye

last update i uploaded, i talked about the brethren church we visit.
this weekend the brethren church organized a guys weekend.
i went there on friday afternoon, until sunday 13.30
it was good to make friends there, and listen to a lot of spanish.
they where all very eager to help me with my spanish.
i felt very welcome, i mostly helped out in the kitchen
there where people from all over navarra.
a lot of bask people too.

now martin en greet are leaving to belgium.
that leaves me here alone.
in a few weeks marijn will come and help me.
then we will make plans for this winter.

more things start to become clear to me, what it means to live here in spain.
i was reading oswald chambers “my utmost for His highest”
on 25 of october, and it described my feelings spot on.
http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/my-utmost-for-his-highest/10/25/devotion.aspx?year=2008

i’m not down or disappointed, i new it wasn’t fully real to me yet.
so many things are just different.
the concept of siesta, the language, the peoples behaviors and ways they deal with things.
but also my life has changed.
i have to do things different now.
and like i said, it’s all good, i just starts to sink in a bit more.
i know that God has called me for this, so i can just move on, step by step.

things like, people ask me, why didn’t you study spanish before you came?
for me, i just took things step by step.
i came to monjardin in april, it became clear to me that this would be my next thing to do.
together with my friends in Amsterdam, we worked things out.
and now i am here.
for me it is clear that God was and is with me on this new journey,
He will lead me now as well.

i’ve been here in monjardin now for a few days on my own.
the first day i didn’t have any pilgrims, then last tuesday i had 11 pilgrims.
that was nice.
firts 1 lady from london walked in, she told me that some more people would come.
it kept me bussy that evening and next day.

for the first time doing the whole thing on my own.
normaly we split it up among 3 or 4 people.
then in the afternoon i had to do some shopping.
i feel like a house-man now.

yesterday i had 1 pilgrim.
no breakfast guest this morning.
easy cleaning.
i’m doing some laundry and emailing.
reporting to home front.

can i ask you to check out skype for me.
it would be great to talk on skype

it started to snow here on the mountains higher then 600 meters.
i can see some snow top mountains from my lounge room window.

i have a great time here, thank you for your support

2008-10-07T01:57:00.000-07:00

first week in spain

yesterday we said goodbye to one of the staffmembers.
for me that was the first time, now here in spain.
i've installed my room, and have my first day of today.
the hostel feel home to me.
we have about 15 guest every night, what still keeps us busy.

the daily schedule is as following:
one of the staffmembers serves breakfast at 7 until 8
then the staff eats breakfast and have a bit of team time.
after breakfast we clean the hostel.
then every couple of days we need to do shopping in estella.
we keep siesta in the afternoon until 3.30.
then the team come together again and have a prayer time.
at 4 we open the hostel for the guest.
some of us then serve the guest and check then in and have them pay for there stay and meals.
at 7 we eat and at 9 we have a evening meditation with the guest.
after the meditation, the one who serves breakfast next morning, prepares the room for breakfast.

for your information, siesta is for us the best time to connect with the homebase
or let me know by mail that you wanna skype/ chat/ facebook, what ever

sunday we went to a brethren church in estella.
i was good to meet some christians we can contact in the area.

i've put up some new pics on my picasa page.
and i've installed msn

the weather is still pretty good
yesterday 24 in the day and about 18 in the evening.

( that was a hint/ invitation)

talk to ye later

2008-09-02T04:22:00.000-07:00

time is now really coming to an end here in amsterdam.

coming thursday( 4 Sept.) i'll have my goodbye party at the Willemsstraat.
even writing it down feels weird.
but most of you who read this, know how that feels.
now i feel it
(it's not the best part about leaving)
i'm exited about what God has for me in spain.
big challenges that i need his help on.
as Jacob Kops told me last week," you'll learn to pray, when you do this job"
i believe that.

my house mate Ian, is gonna take me to spain on saturday 27 september.
i'll start the following week in the hostel

8 nights to go as night-man.
the nights have been hard on me the last months.
it has been good, i had a lot of great contacts with guest and staff,
but the hard part became the sleeping during the day and switch over to sleeping at night.

that will be one thing i won't miss.

i will be sick because of missing my people, but i a way nothing chanced.
in the past, people moved on from amsterdam, either from crossroads, or the shelter, to there new place.
now it is me who is leaving.
goodbye sucks both ways.

what helped me a lot the last 8 years that i was night-man,
was that i had a small group of friends around me that was consistent.
people at crossroads and true-out the country
i'm specially thankful to those people

that's all for now
hope to see you, or talk to you later

harald

2008-08-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

dec. ’96

i would help out in the “Eben Haezer”

youth hostel ministry over chrismas, for about 2 weeks

now i want to invite you for my goodbye party

september 4th at 5 o’clock at willemsstraat 33 amsterdam

on the first of october I'm gonna get started in spain.

before that, i want to say goodbye to you and explain what is going on in my life.

finger-food and drinks will be provided

so 04 sept. 5 pm ‘till 8 pm

willemsstraat 33 amsterdam

i’m thankful for my time in amsterdam

and want to thank you

2008-06-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

new times seem to come up for me

as some of you already concluded after reading my last blog, my focus is now on moving to spain.

in my last blog you can read how i met with the organization called oasis trail.

my plan last time when i went to spain was that i would just go for a break.

i would work in the inn in spain for about 2 weeks, get to know the work and the people.

then i would go and walk a part of the camino ( pilgrim route).

then i would go home and make my conclusions here at home.

there was nothing here in amsterdam that pushed me away, so i would have the time to sit down with some good friends, and talk things over.

it's a big step for me, and i love what i do here in amsterdam.

i've been working in the shelter jordan now in total for more then ten years, and wouldn't have mind to continue for an other number of years.

also crossroads, my home church for about 12 years, isn't easy to just leave behind.

but to continue with the story, as i was in spain, things just start to fall in to place.

the whole ministry felt like a custom made suite.

i feel at home, the hostel feels like my living room, and every day i can invite people to come and have a meal with us.

show hospitality to the pilgrims, and just be available to them

the scripture that i still feel very strongly is about eliah

1 kings 19

4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers. 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, Arise and eat. 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you. 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah? 10

my hope is to host people in this place where they can meet with God.

to make my self available for God to reveal Himself through us.

here i'll give you a google map link to find out where we are.

villa mayor (de monjardin)

Hi, I'd like to share a Google Maps link with you. Link:

no pictures this time

i'm still working on all the details, but just wanted to share this with you, and will keep you updated, when more things become all clear.

thanks and hope to meet up again

2008-04-24T04:17:00.000-07:00

Hi bloggers

Last time I wrote (I think) was during the renovation of the shelter Jordan

Lots has happened since.

In the hostel a lot has changed.
Here you see the bathrooms in its lowest state.

I might give you an idea of the intensity of the renovation

Also the dorms got some serious beating up, we changed 2 dorms in to 5 smaller rooms, on each floor

Also the alcoves got turned in to small rooms

Here you see the reception (?)

The whole kitchen got knocked down and rebuild
For the final state (of art) I have to forward you to
http://www.shelter.nl/

In the weekends we try to set up men-night again.
Twice a month we come together
On Saturday night we have a relax evening where we hang out and do relaxed things.
And two weeks later on Sunday night we come together and have testimony night.

In crossroads I’ll still continue my custodian job and help out with some practical things/ fix ups
Another new thing that changed for me is “oasis trails”.

Last November a friend and old college, his wife and I met up in the community house of the shelter.
We had some small talk, and made an appointment to meet up at their place.
Just to meet up after a long time.
So, in December I just went there for a meal.
As we had that meal they shared about oasis trail, and how they liked it.
They showed me pictures and told me stories.

Then he said,” you should try it too, it would really fit you.”
I told him I was to busy, renovating the shelter Jordan, but maybe after that would be over I could take a break.

As I went home, I gave it some more thoughts.
I talked to some more people that told me the same
”you should try it too, it would really fit you.”

My friend (Bogdan) invited me for a meeting with the board of the organization.
I really liked the meeting, and said that in April I would go to Spain to work in the albergue (inn) for a month
So now I’m here.

Oasis trail is a Dutch organization that runs an inn in Spain, in the area close to Pamplona.
The inn serves about 25 guest a day with a meal, a bed and breakfast
It’s in a small mountain village called “villa mayor de monjardin”
Pronounced Bilja major de mogarden (as far as my Spanish teachers where able to teach me)

These are 2 of my Spanish teachers together on the swing

They are girls that live in the village.
During the week they are in boarding school, but in the weekend they come home to villa mayor.

I really enjoy the time with the people here.
The times we spent with the pilgrims are very special.
We here so many amazing stories, its weird to write these down like this, but I hope I can share them with you in person some time.
So many people that are truly seeking for God
(As far as we can see of course).

A number of times I heard people, from all kinds of backgrounds, tell us that they we’re so amazed, how little they hear about God on the Camino.
During our “Jesus meditation” we invite the pilgrims to experience the love and forgiveness of Christ.
With that we gladly sent the on there Camino

This is our kitchen, with Jan my collegue.
This is how we serve breakfast. He is married with Coby
Here you see them together doing reception in front of the inn
(look at the ruin on top of the mountain)

This is the view they had during there reception shift

This is one of the dorms

We serve breakfast from 7.00 till 8.30.
Then the staff has their breakfast all together.
After breakfast we clean all the beds
(The pilgrims only stay for one night)
We clean the restaurant and the bathrooms and do shopping in the next town called “estella”.
Then we have lunch and siesta till 3.30.
After siesta the staff comes together to pray and to divide the work.
About 2 people check in the guest, and two prepare the meal.

One day a week we’ll have a day of.
For my day of I went back against a secondary Camino, back to Estella.
I wandered around a bit, came trough a deserted village

I saw lots of orchids

and rosemary

On the way back I bought some food and walked the common Camino from Estella to Villa-Mayor.
Along the way it rained a bit.

I was able to shelter, so didn’t have any trouble with it.
When I came to the monastery of “Irache”, it really started to rain hard.
So then I took my dinner break in the gate of the church.
This is the monastery (where we by our wine)

Oasis trail still needs workers
Now you know what we do.
So if you want to come just follow these signs

Or the following signs

And from all directions you can see this ruin on top of the mountain
Climb the mountain and then look down direction south

Then when you are on top, you look down and you see this village

Follow this sign and ask for us

I hope to be here some more, so maybe we can work together here in Spain

2007-12-05T13:42:00.001-08:00

just to update again, a bit

as you maybe heared, the hostel is now closed for renovations.
most of the staff left around the same time, some of the stayed for thanksgiving and left after that.
first (after closing the hostel) the staff and other workers, cleaned out the whole hostel for two days.
in the evenings we ate together at the willemsstraat.
for me this was a special time.
it reminded me about the renovation we had in '99.
The week after we had thanksgiving.
the lst weeks i've been doing some small fixing jobs at the hostel, while the construction workers redid the hostel upstairs and in the kitchen
(for pictures check my picasa web album)
besides that I've picked up my custiodiun job at crossroads again.
( i think this is my fifth time, i've picked up that job)
i still really like that job, and deep inside never left it.

my gardening job is still running ,but on low fire for a moment.
so far i was able to fill up my time at the hostel( what i prefer).
ian luyk( the former nightman at the jordan)and i are sharing now schinkelstraat 23a with antony northcutt( some of you might know him from last year), a former cleaner, and now friend. both of them are a good encouragement to me
antony stays in my room and ian has his room( formerly belonging to maarten, pauline and after then jaco van loenen)
first jaco moved out, and i was left with the whole place to my self.
(kind liked that idea). so i moved half of my mess in to the other room, so we where able to have a whole room for breakfast on saterday, and visitors to come over for dinner.
sounds good hey.
next thing i know is that ian moves in( i've invited him for months) and antony comes 2 days later.
now my idea was that i would have some time of to sort this all out, but things in the hostel didn't allow me to sort things out.
the funny situation happened, that my stuff filled up two rooms.
ians stuff filled up the walkways in the house, and antony's stuff was on top of that.
besides that we had breakfast on Saturday, i worked the weekends at crossroads, and weekdays at the shelter. so we had a mess at the schinkelstraat.
( not a new thing)
so on day ian and antony convinced me to at least clean up this mess before a new saturday breakfast.
so that Friday ian and i got started, for one hour.
that both of us desited," we NEED to go to ikea ( for dinner).
so thats what we did, we got some more junk, had a good ikea meal, went home and cleaned till one in the morning.
we love the baidgelers life

an other new love in my life is.....................
facebook.
i love it, and even check it.
you'll find me there, check it out

for the rest no winter sport for me this year, I'm trying to get out of debt ( with the help of some good friends of mine).
then still setting up the company, to support myself in missions, and keeping my self out of trouble financially .

life is good, really

no pictures here this time, just check the picasa link

talk to you later

gr harald

hdavidse@jordan.shelter.nl
haralddavidse@gmail.com

phone landline : 0031(0)20 6757502
phone mobile : 0031-(0)6-1855-7542

http://picasaweb.google.com/haralddavidse

http://harald-davidse.blogspot.com
http://haralddavidse.blogspot.com

http://www.shelter.nl/
http://www.xrds.nl/

2007-10-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

time 4 a new update

when i look back, to see what to write about, then it looks to me that not a whole lot has changed in my life.
still nightman at the shelter (of course) one week on one week off.
the other week i'm still doing gardens ( exept today, it rains a bit)
probably going back as a custodian at crossroads pretty soon.

for the last couple of months i did some weekend shifts at the shelter during the day, what i liked very much.
it was good to be at the hostel during the day, to see what happens then.
i helped out in the kitchen to prepare the food, or behind the reception
( people helpd me, training me).
things i never do during the night.

jaco ( the kitchen manager at the shelter jordan) has left the schinkelstraat, so for now i have the place for myself.
some good friends of mine gave me a dinning table, that i'm really happy with.
so i use that second room for my visitors and the saterday breakfast/ brunch.

my turtles came back into he house, they where freezing outside ( in this dutch summer)
i think they are much happier now

my garden is one big mess.
The rabbit and guinnee pig are dead, and the plants need replanting.
i'm happy with the house inside.
when i got the house, i prayed that it would always be available for God to use it forHis purpose.
Well, for the last while my part of the house was not available( sorry jaco).
now it's ready again, and would like to keep it that way.
(a bit more space helped to organise it)

okay i'm on my way to a garden to maintain, hope to see you soon

Harald Davidse

for email:
hdavidse@jordan.shelter.nl
haralddavidse@gmail.com

phone landline : 0031(0)20 6757502
phone mobile : 0031-(0)6-1855-7542

http://picasaweb.google.com/haralddavidse

http://harald-davidse.blogspot.com
http://haralddavidse.blogspot.com

http://www.shelter.nl/
http://www.xrds.nl/

2007-06-17T16:37:00.001-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.nl/haralddavidse/HaraldDavidse

2007-01-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

it's a good thing i saved a copy of my password and login name somewhere, so i can create new postings here.
happy new year and all.
two months of just my old shelter schedule is great
one week i work as a nightman, the other week i'm doing my own stuff.
visiting friend, working as a gardener in my own company or cleaning up my house.
in that order.
i think it's time 4 me to leave Heineken.
so many things that where important to me, i had to put aside because i had to work weird hours.
it was a good time to work at heineken, but a bit to much( heineken hi hi).
maybe i can work at ikea( if you can pray for that).

for the oldies that know guido (clinton), he has a new adres
he lives already for almost a year in this kind of nursing home, just around the corner from where i live
here is his new adress

guido clinton
mentum kliniek suriname plein
suriname plein 35
1058 GM
amsterdam

it would be great if some of you that know him, would sent him a card or so

i'm going to switserland on a snow trip again, this time i'm on the prep. team

last december we had to go there to check things out for one week.
now we go back in the last week of february with about 55 to 60 people.

i'm doing house keeping and hikking
( haralds hikking and housekeeping holiday )

the saterday breakfast is still going great.
i'm really thankfull for that, it gives us a great time to just connect on a different level
every now and then people stay for the whole day to go and do something together or just to watch a movie, or come back for dinner.

thats what is going on in my life these days, so i thought to let you know

harald

2006-06-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

i don't know if you guy's still know me( or want to know me) after such a long time,but here i am with a new update

last september i've decited to do something ( more) about my financial situation.
i started a gardening business for my self, and the way to start it up was to first make some money, working as a job-agency worker at heineken ( i guess you heard about this dutch company before).
the work at heineken worked out pretty well, they are very flexible with my shelter schedule, and i can basicaly work as much as i want.
so i decided to keep on working at heineken.
i still have the gardening company running, and i still do some little jobs here and there, but.......

the result is that i am working one week on at the shelter as nightman from sunday evening till thursday morning, have the weekends of ( i have quit working as custodian at crossroads), and work the next week at heineken.

at heineken i start working at 6 in the morning till 3 in the afternoon ( officialy sometimes a bit more).
i really started to like the contacts with the colleges at heineken, so that is what kept me there.

the work is not all that interesting, filling up roll containers with kegs of beer or crates of other drinks.
it is weird to be so occupied all week, normally i would work one week on, one week of, and the week at the shelter would be my busy week.
now that is just the other way around.
the week that i work at the shelter is the week that is more relaxed compare to the week that i work at heineken.
i need my weekends of.

i'm really grateful to marco who has organiz
ed breakfast meetings every saterday at my place at the 2e schinkelstraat.
that way i see a bit more of the staff out side of the shelter.

the first 2 weeks of may a couple of us went camping in zeeland again.
first i went down there to set up with some old staffmembers, they stayed for one night and the next day they went home and resent staff came the same day to replace them.
that way about 10 people came out to camp
it was a blessed

. at home things start to fall more in to place as well
my pigeons and the guinea-pig and the rabbit are out side.
( to much mess, to much smell, to much noise)

josh suggested me to buy a water pipe and at heineken i've brought a empty beer keg that i turned in to a bbq.

down the street i've found an old bathtub,so we made a pone out of it.

i'm happy

feel free to come and check it out
we have a place to stay for you

harald

2005-08-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

i should be taking care of my mailing job right now.

i like this a lot more

this morning i did my book keeping, and came to the conclusion that i need a secretary.

if you have any surgestion please let me know

( lunch coffee and tea ( making ) incl.)

2005-08-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Thought this was rather funny……………

>A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a
>particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they
>spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was
>difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left
>Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the
>following day.
>
>The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he
>decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one
>letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the
>email.
>
>Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her
>husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following
>a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages
>from relatives and friends.
>
>After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow's son
>rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer
>screen which read:
>
> >>> >Subject: I've Arrived
> >>> >
> >>> >Date: October 16, 2004
> >>> >
> >>> >I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now
>and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones.
> >>> >I've just arrived and have been checked in. Everything has been
>prepared for your arrival tomorrow.
> >>> >Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as
>uneventful as mine was.
> >>> >
> >>> >P.S. Sure is hot down here!

2005-08-22T03:34:00.000-07:00

sollene is back for a bit.
that gave me a good evening last week
thankfull to hang out again
just to let you old staff know, if your planing to stop by in amsterdam you have a place to stay here at the schinkelstraat 23 a

it gave me an opportunity to stay over at the willem. again after 2 years.
sunday was fun, a good balance between work and attending the church service.
( mostly I only attent or work in sunday service)
this week my peds are moving out of my room in to the garden.
from then on i can not blame those poor animals anymore for the smell in my room.

and .... my parents are getting us a dishwasher.
so this place is going to be pedsmell and dishes free.
we still need some fixing for the dishwasher to be done so....

next week i'll get my videoprojector back so we can have videonights again

a prayer request

if you can please pray for my new job that i'm initiating

hope to see you guys soon

2005-07-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

this is middelburg
this is the view out of my parents place front window, maybe i can show it sometime to you.

check out this website, i like it a lot
i think i like this.
just give some updates