Categories
in the netherlands

dear people,

 

if you have to pick a time of the year to come around, do it on the 30th april. spring is well settled in, lots of flowers to look at and then boom! queen’s day. it was celebrated last saturday (hence on the 29th, because sunday is not a very good day to party – everybody know that) and was great – lots of people in the streets dressed in orange, concerts in the city’s main square, and the best of all, the free market. imagine all kinds of people selling all kinds of stuff in the streets. from kids to grown-ups, from junk to amazing treasures, food, drinks or just playing music. amazing! why don’t we have such a thing in portugal?!

well, me, joy, heye, nurcan, lulu and levi found a free spot on the sidewalk to lay our wallets in the beggining of the afternoon and we were imediatly flooded by curious looks and interesting comments. the boys stayed in the middle of the street, chatting and subtly diverging people towards us. the girls (from portugal, thailand, china and turkey) smiled and showed the wallets. lulu spent the afternoon trying to say “portemonnaie!” and her cute chinese accent made people laugh and approach us.

we had all kinds of costumers, from little kids (who had probably just finished selling their old toys somewhere else) to grandma’s, couples in love, crafty chicks, even mothers who would come and let all of their 5 kids choose their favourite one. we even had people coming back for more to offer to loved onesn or telling us about which milk they drink everyday, how it was such a nice idea. we made a website (www.pantominas.com) about the project and some general instructions to make wallets and we slipped it into them.

it was perfect – three hours later, only a few wallets were left from the initial 160, and we came back home tired and happy to the bones.

nurcan even got a xmas themed present from the lady selling stuff next to us, just because “we attracted so many costumers”. :D



(this last picture was taken by a dutch guy :| a very tall specimen.)

Categories
in the netherlands

guerrila style

the queen’s day is a big holiday in holland, with many parties and activities. it’s the day to celebrate the dutch pride: they dress up in orange and wander around town, having fun.
one of the activities going on is the “free market”, where anyone can sell anything they’d like on the streets.

now, everybody has always said to me i should try to sell those little wallets i make out of milk/juice cartons, but i never really did because i thought it was unfair. i’ve learnt it from rosa, which learnt it from someone else, and though there’s not really a patent on these things, it just doesn’t sound right.

what changed? well, not much i suppose. but me and joy, we just thought we could give it a go and sell them this one time, since it is actually legal on that day. for whatever (though always low) amount we charge, people get a tetrapack wallet and a recycling lesson to teach their kids. we have some neat ideas to make them unique and special, and we think it’s worth the shot.

in the end, we plan to buy something for everybody in the floor – they’re all very commited in helping it work. that’s what i like in these people. you set something up and all of a sudden you’re surrounded with enthusiasm and helping hands.
i love you all!

anyway, phase one is now set: we’ve drawn and painted some papers to spread on the 13 kitchens on this building, hoping that people will help us collect as many cartons as we can. wish us luck!

the cow parade

ps – i drawed the cows, joy, heye and levi painted them and joy took the picture. :)

update: in the first day, i gathered more 14 cartons, all around the building! :D plus one this morning. this is going to be fun!