Deinze

We have spent 2 days in Deinze.  Yesterday was laundry day. We were promised some sunshine so I washed a few t-shirts, etc, by hand and left them festooned around the railings to dry then went to the laundry with the sheets, etc.

There was another young lady in there with a 1 month old baby and we got chatting.  Turns out she is from Syria.  She studied in Italy (she teaches ceramics) and her husband is an advocate.  She arrived here with her 2 older children just over a year ago.  She is studying Nederlands because she must speak it reasonably well to get a job as a teacher.  Her husband cannot work here as an advocate but hopes to get work “with computers”.  She didn’t talk about the war in her country much, apart from saying they fled because of the war, her city was bombed and her brother-in-law severely injured.  She even invited us for dinner next week but unfortunately we will be gone by then. Interesting.

On my way back to the boat I heard a cacophony of horns, hooters and sirens and a convoy of over 50 trucks (horse without trailer) drove along the canal and into the main road.  It turned out to be Truck-fun day!  The trucks were gleaming with polish, LED lights and various other decorative bits. Pity I didn’t have my camera.

Today it has rained all day.  We watched the F1 Grand Prix, read books, and went for a very quick walk between showers.