On Sunday, May 5, I gave my first lecture in Amsterdam. For me, this was very exciting. I had no idea how many people would come, but I hoped to meet many readers and website visitors in “real life”. Fortunately, the first guests arrived at the building of the Vereniging Ons Suriname well before the start time.
Delano & Colleague Ir. Amanda Sheombar receive the 1st copy
While one volunteer was already ready to sell tickets, I was received by Delano, with whom I had been in contact for quite some time. The room was also ready with chairs, a projector, a screen, a lectern and a microphone. Everything seemed to be in order, but unfortunately the cable to connect the projector to my laptop was missing. As a result, there was no image and I unfortunately could not start on time. Still, it turned out quite well because by the time the cable was delivered, the room was completely full. From the corner of my eye I saw that chairs were even being pulled out.
I must say, I found myself in very pleasant company. When the first copy was presented to my role model woman Ir. Amanda Sheombar, they listened attentively. Ir. Sheombar, born in Suriname, studied Chemistry at the Technical University in Delft, did an internship in Suriname, worked at the Isla refinery in Curacao and is currently Product Quality Advisor at the Rotterdam Refinery of ExxonMobilals. In addition, she is also a very sweet mother of two adorable children.
After an admiring applause for this “natural” example woman, the audience was silent and palpably sympathized with the presentation. At first, my questions were answered cautiously, but as the story progressed, people started to loosen up. At the end, when it was time for questions, the audience went wild. A number of visitors even had very good tips. For example, it was explained how to use Aloevera or Simpre Visi, that you can use lemon to lighten your hair and that you can use orange juice to make your hair grow. Yes, that last one was also new to me.
The audience roars with laughter The Afro novel
The participation made it a cozy, snug and cheerful gathering. The highlight came when an old acquaintance told that people in Suriname used to use the leaves of the plant “op i koto” (up with that skirt) to take care of locks. Asfa, also a volunteer at the association ons Suriname corrected him and shouted: That thing is “tap i koto” (down with that skirt). Then the audience literally doubled over with laughter.
Although there were mainly women present, there were fortunately also men. The only young man with an afro was striking. He wanted to know why I only addressed women while men also have frizzy hair. I was happy, very happy with his presence and also his question. Women still have the image that men, especially dark men, do not like frizzy hair. The audience was able to witness that this is not the case. The beautiful afro man was not only among frizzy women, he was also proud of his hair and even felt excluded. That is not necessary, because in my first book there are also men on the cover and men are also interviewed on kroeshaar.com. Only women are on the cover of the new book, because the threshold for us to go from relaxed to frizzy hair is very high. That problem does not exist with men. They simply cut their hair short. But men, to prevent other misunderstandings, I would very much like to involve you in kroeshaar.com and all events related to it.
The entrance ticket was immediately a lottery number. The prize was a complete set of hair products from Kemi to
transformation to support and the hair calendar. Frank Consen draws the winning number. And the winner is…..
After the lecture there was quite a line of people who wanted to have their book signed and introduce themselves personally. I must say that I really appreciated this. It is always nice to meet readers, website visitors and other interested parties in person. I look forward to your emails.
There were still more questions
My thanks to the Vereniging Ons Suriname for a very good organization. It was nice to get to know Delano and the other volunteers with a heart for the association. In addition, Haydee Sheombar deserves more than a big compliment. The photographer has once again taken beautiful pictures. Take a look in the album. Last but certainly not least, I would also like to thank Astrid, my dear friend from the uitburo. She helped me flyer in the gate, came to pick me up, took very good care of me during the lecture and afterwards took me to eetcafe de Draver for a delicious Surinamese meal. May 5, the day of the lecture was a complete success for me. I hope for you too.
Astrid Curry Readers