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Antwerp, Belgium
Welcome to the new, and improved version of Heaven in Belgium. I am Jientje. "Jientje", like the boys name Gene, followed by "chu"? "Gene-chu", that's how you pronounce my name. Yes!!!!That's it!! So now you know huh? I am an addicted blogger. I was born and raised and am still living in Belgium. Yeah, the "this-is- Tuesday-so-this-must-be-Brussels" kind of Belgium .. There, you see? Maybe you couldn't find it on the map, but at least I'm trying to change that a little by sharing lots of pictures. I really love to cook and create new things, like this blog for instance. I am a mother,a grandmothe and a wife too! They say I'm a traveler, and a photographer. Well that's just what they say, I love to make pictures, but I am far from professional ... If my English is not perfect, that would be because it's my second language. I do hope you'll forgive me any possible misspellings or strange vocabulary ... Now, as a result of all of the above, I get way too little sleep and my days are always much too short!

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Heaven is in Belgium

Monday, November 26, 2012

The Sinterklaas Parade in my Town

Lots and lots of little children together with their parents or grandparents were gathered in the main street of my town Saturday afternoon. They came to see the Sinterklaas parade. Sinterklaas is a holy man, a friend of the children, a colleague of Santa Claus, let's say. He lives in Spain, but he arrives in Belgium at the end of November, and on the evening of the 6th of december, he brings toys and sweets to all the children.
I did not want to miss the parade, so I was there with my camera ...







The black faced men are the Zwarte Pieten or Black Petes. They are the helpers of Saint Nicholas. They help Saint Nicholas to distribute all the gifts and candy on the 6th of December. But above all, they have to keep an eye on the children to make sure they're good. When I was a kid, Black Pete told me he would come and fetch me and put me in a big brown potato bag if I did not finish my soup. I had many nightmares and sleepless nights over that!






But now, all they really do is throw some candy ...









... and pose for me!






10 comments:

Unknown said...

So much fun!!! But who are the "black face" ones? Whom do they represent?

Carletta said...

Looks like fun! You got some great shots from the day!

http://www.p-ter.net said...

Een reeks om van te snoepen!!!
Gr.
P-TER

Jay at The Depp Effect said...

Ooh, how colourful they are, and how very black! Quite a contrast to their wonderful costumes!

I'm glad you got out there for the parade - there's another bit of cultural history I've learned about Belgium.

Anonymous said...

Happy, Happy New Year 2013! xoxox

Lynette said...

What a fun tradition. I do enjoy reading and viewing your photos.

Carletta said...

Just dropped by. Hope all is well with you.

Robynn's Ravings said...

Just checking in as I've been blogging again for a month or so and am now trying to figure out who else is still out here or gone. I see you've been gone from blogging for nearly a year but I can't bring myself to take you off my blogroll because when I was out here I ALWAYS enjoyed your photos so much of a place that seems so far away and yet calls to me. Hope to see you again someday and I'll just drop in from time to time and peruse the old photos and catch up on what I missed while I was away myself. :) Peace.

Marina said...

Check my blog, please! It's important!!! Thank you !!!

Louisette said...

Lovely photos sinterklaas parade.

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