One Road- Ariann Mieka

As I bit into the vegetable roti , I knew it was going to be an amazing weekend! This Roti tasted authentic and as L informed us, it kinda was the real deal as this particular roti shop, Roopram Roti Restaurant, had a branch in Trinidad! There was even a branch where we lived in Den Haag, which I pondered happily as I chomped down on the flavourful treat! Verse iTal and I were currently in Amsterdam as he had two gigs there that weekend. L & D graciously offered to let us stay at their home and the roti’s L bought for us was just the beginning of their amazing hospitality. We ate quickly and headed down to “ Debalie ” where Yard Vibes was hosting a screening of a Jamaican film followed by an after party where Verse was set to perform. The event went well and we really enjoyed the documentary “ Journey to Jah ”, featuring reggae stars Gentleman and Alborosie .   Verse performed six tunes, which included his new song “ Want No Part .” The crowd enjoyed the songs ...

Reggae and Sushi may not be a popular combo but as it turns out it makes for an amazing Sunday afternoon! When Verse told me about this event during the week I was extremely curious. All I knew was that he was performing and there was going to be a Japanese chef whipping up some sushi goodness. As we got off the train in Amsterdam that Sunday afternoon, the adventure began right away as we had to find the ferry that would carry us across the river to the location in Amsterdam Noord (North). I guess in all my trips to Amsterdam, I had never exited the train station through this side as I didn’t even realize there was a river behind the station, let alone more land to travel by ferry to! When the ferry arrived a mass of passengers in a huge clump walked and rode off on their bikes and motorcycles. Everyone seemed to be in a big hurry. An equally sized mass of passengers walked and rode on in a similar fashion. I moved along, among the clump, giggling to myself, as I had no id...

It's my birthday. It's been my birthday in this time zone for 6 hours and now that it's 6am here, it's officially my birthday back home also! I basically just went to bed (at around 4am) but somehow my wish to wake up and greet my birthday again became a possibility when I started to stir an hour ago. I do not want to say it out loud (it makes it official) but I'm fighting a cold. It came on yesterday evening and I've been trying desperately to make it go away before my birthday began. Nonetheless, it's still lingering as if missing my birthday was not an option. This unwanted guest might be what made me wake up at 5am. I lay in bed, my eyes tightly shut and tried to breathe deeply and send loving messages to my nose and throat. For a little while I got a bit of relief. Eventually, I opened my eyes and was greeted by the first light creeping into the dim sky. I stared out of the large glass windows and watched as the universe slowly began to paint gentle wis...