{"id":164840,"date":"2024-03-06T16:15:49","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T15:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=164840"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:12","slug":"eyebrows-at-breakfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/03\/06\/eyebrows-at-breakfast\/","title":{"rendered":"Eyebrows at breakfast"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have fifteen minutes. Perfume, earrings, sunglasses, dress. I touch up my lipstick on the metro: red with a golden changeant shimmer. From Leuvehaven, I quickly make my way to the deli. I slow down as I try to overtake\u00a0three kids. “I think being \u2018in love\u2019 with someone is just way too grown up for Year 5.\u201d \u201cHow about just being sweet on someone then?\u201d, another suggests.<\/p>\n

\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPauline Wiersema<\/a>, \t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

When I finally walk in, he\u2019s already there: the guy who responded to my personal ad in the Groene Amsterdammer<\/em>. Luckily, the smile plastered onto my face hides exactly how much of a rush I was in. He looks nervous.<\/p>\n

An acquaintance who always looks like she has just walked out of a skincare<\/em> advert takes our order. I may have chosen this place to show off all the extraordinary people I know. I\u2019m curious how she sees my companion: he\u2019s young and has a pair of eyebrows that add an extra layer to any eye contact. We make light work of lunch \u2013 my breakfast \u2013 despite the physical effort involved. The bagels are almost impossible to cut. We spend hours drinking tea. We talk about our regal dreams and about the dog that was just wheeled into the caf\u00e9 in a pushchair. Occasionally, I glance over his shoulder at the waitress.<\/p>\n

A procession of elderly people on an audio tour is just passing as we emerge from the deli. Led by a guide, they do not seem to see us, just the city. Entranced, they just about run us over. \u201cThey look like they\u2019ve been allowed out of the old people\u2019s home for the first time in years\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n

A potential romance can have the power to reset your gaze \u2013 just like for this group of wayward old-timers who have to get used to the tall buildings of Rotterdam. I silently wonder whether I\u2019m not clinging to a fantasy (with exquisite eyebrows) just because I\u2019m bored with my current situation.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t yet gone to sleep when I order a croissant and a cow\u2019s milk cappuccino in Altstadt<\/em> Delfshaven the following day. I just had to witness the last moments of club Poing \u2013 yet another cultural beacon to disappear into the night. My black make-up has smudged and melted down my face, and my red lips are completely gone. A young father casts a disapproving look at me and my panther-print dress.
\nThen I get a message from my admirer with the exquisite eyebrows: \u2018Lots of love from up North\u2019. It\u2019s someone tentatively bearing their heart to me \u2013 and now it\u2019s my turn. I try to focus \u2013 but suddenly I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m looking at.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t

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