Ten rare things in my house

Everybody has something in his or her house, that sometimes races eyebrows or curiosity by visitors, or even other family members. I walked around my house to see which items in my home apply to this description, and came up with more then a dozen, so I listed the top ten.

10.My late Mother's "Dyarusu" chair and table: A"Dyarusu" chair: translation:"Jealous" chair, is "jealous" because only the owner of the chair may sit on it, not the rarest thing in Suriname, but some visitors from other countries find it curious.

9. A bracelet from Ghana

I have a "son" in Ghana I never saw, i met him online seven years ago he was only 15 years old but it clicked between us and we still have a good mother-son relationship, and he sent us presents ever since this handmade bracelet was a present he had sent for my husband on his birthday.

8. I bought this kitschy rose in a bottle for my husband as a Valentine's gift. He taught it was funny....

7. Dutch wooden shoes, I always wondered how they would feel on my feet, so a friend from Holland who visited us surprised me with this pair. I only wore them once........awwww!

6.A Prasara ssibi, is a broom from nature, actually it fell from a big tree. It is said that this broom protects from bad spirits, and most Suriname people have one in their home. Preferably right above the entrance of our homes.

5.A bottle of molasses, about five years old, the bottle is half full, or half empty and still in use.

4. An uninvited guest who terrorized me for months,

a lizard who came into my house, and lived "underground" until i found a" lizard catcher", a young man who hunted him, with just a string of threat, and released him on the street. Everybody was happy!

3.Grandmother's koto a koto in Suriname is the traditional dress of the decedents of former slaves. My grandmother was born in 1883 just 20 years after slavery ended in Suriname, she died in1960 when i was 4 years old. I can't remember her, but she left me this koto I really treasure it.

2. Four piece artwork "Book" by Ronald in 't Hout, Netherlands (1953 -).

The principle is the book in steel (second from right), with the lines of the book displayed on canvas (left), found materials (second from left) and chipboard (far right).

In late 90s bought in a friendly gallery in Dordrecht.

1. Manuscript on parchment: 4 pages from an approximately 13th (?) Century Bible (damaged by water).

The koto was created by the wives of the formal slavemasters

to be absolutely sure that every part of the female slaves bodies were covered. But the female slaves made this dress as attractive as they could,and nowadays there are many modern versions of the Suriname koto. In this video you have an example of the many ways the original koto has changed