Beachclub Indigo

In Dutch, beachclubs are called 'strandtenten' and that is exactly what Beachclub Indigo is: a tent on the beach. The focus at Indigo lies definitely on the terrace, which is beautifully done with a bric à brac feel to it: a wrought iron gate, totem poles made out of seemingly random junk and walls made out of wood in different colours and sizes. When you go inside, that same feel is continued and, like I said, the roof is made of a tent. That means it must be quite cold when the weather is not good - and one does get the feeling Indigo is more geared towards the good days than the not-so-good. It's at that part of the northern beach where the clubs are more party-oriented and the fact that it doesn't have a playground stresses that it caters mostly to young clubbers than to families.

It's a late Wednesday afternoon when we arrive here and we've already got quite a busy day behind us. I woke up early this morning and took the train to Amsterdam to join a friend who had to go the hospital for chemo therapy. That sounds quite depressing (and it is), but I've come to enjoy these days as well, because they're full of pleasant chatting and laughter - if that makes any sense, because in the end, there is of course nothing really enjoyable about the situation. That same friend got baptised last Saturday and that was quite an interesting experience for Rihanna Gaga, who came along and had her first ever church service. She wasn't too impressed, spending most of it trying to climb the church benches - during the sermon I was almost literally wrestling with her to keep her in check, but I guess it was already something that she remained quiet throughout it all.

Anyway, after spending my morning at the Amsterdam Medical Centre, I travelled back to Scheveningen to pick up Rihanna Gaga at her school and we had a quick lunch before heading to the dentist. She'd been there several times already, but this was the first time I accompanied her. It was a marvellous place, with a large waiting room with lots of toys. Already quite familiar with going to the dentist, Rihanna Gaga started playing right away and then the dentist came and we went in. At first, Rihanna Gaga resisted the dentist's attempts at chit-chat - this was a new woman and she seemed reluctant to open up to her - but clearly experienced with getting children in the dentist's chair, the dentist managed wonderfully in the end. Rihanna Gaga dutifully opened her mouth so that some of her teeth that needed it could be coated while the dentist kept entertaining her all through her work.

So sitting down at Indigo's lovely terrace, both of us are quite tired. It's time to relax a bit. The weather is wonderful: large clouds hang over the sea, and it's windy, but there's also plenty of sun and Rihanna Gaga tells me about school. She still has trouble saying goodbye to us in the morning, but apart from that, things have much improved. She is now going to her old daycare on those days that we're at work and she really loves it. When we come to get her, she's all smiles and laughter and being with the friends and staff members that she trusts helps her to build confidence. We also contacted her teacher at school to ask her to give her a bit more space and time to come to terms with having to shake the teacher's hand every morning. Luckily, the teacher was understanding. And, of course, the moment she didn't have to do it anymore, Rihanna Gaga started to shake her teacher's hand out of her own volition (which can be taken as a didactic lesson for all involved).

At Indigo, Rihanna Gaga plays with the toys she got at the dentists (small nothings: a tiny plastic moose and a plastic ring with a pink heart on it) and tells me she wants an apple juice. I order a beer for myself, as well as a finger food platter (€19,50) to make the afternoon even more enjoyable. The platter has all kinds of stuff: shushi-like salmon rolls, bitterballen, bits of cheese, toast with tuna salad, grilled vegetables and I wouldn't say the quality is impressive (it's all a bit too greasy for me), it's still tasty and pleasant enough - and there's something for each of us as well.


Apart from us, there are few other people. An English family with two children catch Rihanna Gaga's attention and before long she's running around with their two year old boy. After a while, both of us go to the toilet and when I leave, Rihanna Gaga runs to me, crying. When I ask her what's wrong, she tells me the boy is leaving. This is quite common these days: the littlest thing can unsettle her. She's quick to cry, and easily slips into anger tantrums as well as hysterical fits of laughter. One more sign that school is having a big impact on her.

When she has calmed down, Rihanna Gaga lounges lazily on the couch while I have a whatsapp conversation with some fellow parents. There's two boys that Rihanna Gaga knows from daycare and school that we like to invite over to come and play with her and the dad of her best friend sends me a picture of a toy that I brought with me from Prague. Apparently he found it in his daughter's bag. This solves a mystery: where is the mole that I gave her? For a few days we couldn't find it, but apparently it went to stay with her friend. Rihanna Gaga, who until now has said she has no idea, looks a bit caught in the act and says she knew it was at her friend's place all along.

 My girlfriend phones me and asks where we are. I tell her our location and she says she'll be with us in a bit. When she arrives, she has a beer while I take a ginger tea and Rihanna Gaga has a chocolate milk. The sun is setting beautifully over the clouds, the sea and the beach as we lounge, in no hurry to go home. Behind us, the staff is preparing tables for a charity event: this evening, children of families who are subscribed to food banks are invited by the beach clubs to come and eat out, a wonderful initiative I think. The children arrive with some mothers, all wearing a red t-shirt with a print of the event on it. Mostly immigrant children from the inner city, and they remind me of how segregated The Hague is. The entire city is made up of black and white quarters of which the latter are divided into poor and rich ones. And Scheveningen is a largely white community - in Rihanna Gaga's class, for instance, there is only one non-white boy - with poor and rich neighbourhoods that hardly mingle. The children are cheerful, playing happily on the terrace and beach. And although Rihanna Gaga watches them with interest, she's too tired by now to join their play. It's clearly time to go home and we get up to pay and leave.