Crash and burn

For all of you who are familiar with the layout of western Europe, walking and riding bicycles is the main form of transportation. Thanks to the church, I have the option of doing both. We typically walk half the time, and ride our bikes half the time. After going to the movies with Levent and his friend Mauresia last night, we jumped on our bikes and started heading home. It was kind of a windy night, and pedaling was slow, but I was determined to make it all the way back. And I almost did!

Right after I crossed the main intersection near our home, a big gust of wind came and I lost control of my bike. I knew there was no hope of recovering, so I willingly allowed gravity to take control. And boy, did it! I landed face first on a brick road. I was more scared than hurt, cause I knew I had done some serious damage. Daleena flagged the next biker down, who helped me to my feet and walked with us till he knew I was okay. Taking after my dad, I made jokes the whole way home, having no idea what my face looked like. I just knew there was blood all over the place. While walking down the street, we passed a man who was out walking his dog. He stopped and asked if I had fallen, and told me I needed to go the hospital, that my nose looked like "ugghhhh"...or some noise similar to that. Then he asked if I was drunk. I assured him I had not had any alcohol at all. Apparently, sober people don't fall off their bikes very much here!

So we got back and I washed my face to see an extremely swolen lip, a cut up and swollen nose, and two loose teeth. Not good, I thought. We ended up calling Etienne, who came rather quickly and took me to the emergency room. Once there, the process went extremely fast. I was told they couldn't do anything for me, that I would have to wait until the swelling goes down until they could tell if my nose was broken or not. They also told me I needed to go see a dentist as soon as possible. Etienne stopped to get me some pain killers, took us back home, and gave me the number of several dentists I could call.

Today, my face is...well...kinda ugly! I can't eat solid foods, due to my loose teeth, and looking at me, you'd think I got hit by a train! But other than that, I'm not in much pain at all...I just feel awkward. We called the dentist, and I am going in first thing tomorrow morning. They told me I should have most of the swelling down by Friday. If I am not happy with the way my nose looks at that time, then I am to make an appointment with the nose, ear, and throat specialist to get it fixed.

All this to say...I'm fine! And I probably won't be posting any pictures of myself anytime soon. :) But it was bound to happen...I gotta learn how to ride a bike right sometime! Love you all and know that I'm still alive and kickin'!

Back from Belgium!

What a fun weekend! Daleena and I just got back late last night from spending the weekend with Jessica and Kristy in Ghent. It was so fun! Before we left, though, we had dinner with Pieter and Levent. We all met at Levent's house, then walked to the center for some Turkish food (simply because Levent, the one in the middle, is from Turkey!). Afterwards, we went back to Levent's house for some coffee and chocolate. Seems I might become a coffee addict after all. Levent invited us to the movies on Friday, but since we were going to be gone, we're going to go with him on Monday night.

So Friday morning, we took the train to Ghent. We arrived half past 10, to see Jessica and Kristy waiting. Then we spent the whole day touring! The city is extremely beautiful, with amazing architecture all throughout. There is a place in the city where there are 6 cathedrals extremely close together. We were able to go through one, and it was just humongous. I can't even explain how fun it was just to see the city - SOOOO different from Oklahoma! Don't even try to ask me which picture is what...I couldn't tell you! But I thought I would post several pictures so you can see it for yourself!! The bus system in Ghent is a little messed up...but other than that, the day went pretty smoothly. Anyone we asked for help was more than willing to give it to us. At the end of the day, we went to see Mission Impossible III. I definitely slept through half of the movie. Tom Cruise is exciting and all, but not enough to keep me awake after all that walking!


Saturday, our main goal was to go on a canal ride and eat a Belgium waffle. Thankfully, we were able to accomplish both! The weather was insane, though. I was crazy enough not to bring a jacket to Belgium, so I just about froze when it started pouring rain and hailing. Yes, hail...for no reason. And then it was sunny again. Crazy weather! Fortunately, we were inside eating panini sandwiches for lunch and drinking cappucino when this happened. So we were able to wait it out. Then we went on the canal ride. It was cheap, fun, and extremely informative! We were told about several of the important elements of the city and what different buildings represented and were used for today. Here is the canal we rode down. Under the bridge you can see a covered boat. That's what we rode in! After the canal ride, we got a belgium waffle - my favorite! If you come to Europe, you must go to Belgium, for the waffle, if nothing else. While you can get over 30 different toppings on the waffle, the plain one is my favorite. Don't even think about the IHOP belgium waffle. It does not even compare.

We got back late Saturday night and took a taxi home. Church service this morning was extremely good. William taught class on the battles of sin and Remco preached on God being our Shepherd. Rene took us out for a spin in his car afterwards to buy time until Bertine came to pick us up. Bertine took Daleena and I 30 minutes away to Papegaaienpark. It's basically a parrot zoo, which I had never heard of before. The birds were gorgeous! We got nuts at the entrance, so were were able to feed them all throughout. Although it was a parrot zoo, there were extremely random animals there, as well. I believe there was a kangaroo, a ram, a deer, goats, flamingos, and much others. It was a lot more fun than I anticipated, and a great place to take Veerle in the fall!

Anyway...Marlo was supposed to stop by tonight, but something came up and he wasn't able to. Lucky for Daleena, I volunteered our cooking services to him for Tuesday night dinner. Seeing as how he is allergic to cheese, we're lost as to what to make. Cheese makes the dish! We'll figure it out. It'll be nice to see him again. I met Marlo my first summer here and we've been good friends since. He's 24 and speaks great English. I had a few reading sessions with his mom last summer, but she got to busy to come towards the end. We should have fun again.

Well, I have so many pictures I want to post, but not enough room on this site. So soon I will put them in albums on shutterfly and send the link your way. Hope you all are doing well!!

Good times...

This week has been a fun one! Sunday morning I got to see everyone that wasn't at the Wednesday night bible study. There were tons of hugs and summaries of the past year. Roy from Germany was the speaker during service. He's a retired preacher and comes to preach at Eindhoven whenever several of the men are away. After church, we had lunch together, or a potluck...where we got to talk to more people. Jan and Nita had invited us over for the day, and so after lunch, we headed to Best, a town outside of Eindhoven. This is one of their daughters, Nadine, and me, riding in the car to Best!

We spent the day at their house, playing ping-pong and badminton, riding bikes, throwing a football, and watching Home Improvement...the only TV we've watched since we've been here! They took us to dinner the Pancake House, which was right across from the wooden shoe museum. It was a beautiful night and we enjoyed a nice dinner together. It was good spending time with the family.

Monday we had 5 reading sessions. We have not had as great a response as we have had in the past, so the church has ordered 10,000 flyers and is going to place more ads in the newspaper. The sessions we are having with people are wonderful, but just not enough to fill our days. Shahram (one of mine and Mandy's readers from last year) had us over for dinner. It took us an hour to walk there (which definitely built up an appetite), but the dinner was well worth it. We got to play darts afterwards, and were able to get to know him a little better. Thankfully, we were able to catch the last bus of the night home, so we did not have to walk back.

Tuesday, I had 2 readers, and Daleena was scheduled to have 3. However, two of them ended up calling and rescheduling. Daleena was disappointed that they didn't show, but was glad they rescheduled. I was able to see Lourdes and her daughter Priscilla again from last year. We were mutually excited that I was back, and Priscilla, who is my age, is wanting to hang out with me after my reading sessions during the week. We met at the very end of last summer...and while we hit it off immediately as friends, we were unable to spend time getting to know each other better. So I hope that during my time here, I am able to develop a strong friendship with her. It is nice to have another girl my age that I have a lot in common with!

We had our first party last night, and according to Remco, it was quite successful. We had two readers show up...Shahram and Bertine (one of Daleena's readers) and several church members. We played "skit in a bag"...where you put random objects into a bag, split everyone into groups, and give them a time limit to come up with a skit using everything in the bag. Both groups were extremely creative and really got into it. Bertine surprised me with her level of comfort in performing in front of people she did not know. We all had quite a few laughs. Bertine told Daleena this morning that she really enjoyed it and will be back next week. Good!! That's why we do it!

Today I met Remco at Town Hall to complete my au pair paperwork. I recieved a sticker that guarantees me 6 months stay in Eindhoven, and will be receiving something else in the mail that will guarantee me a year. It was exciting! Remco bought me a mobile phone on Sunday for personal use, and we went to open up a bank account after leaving Town Hall. I now have my own bank account (with no money in it, mind you :) ), and my own cell phone. How crazy is that??!! I will be enrolling in Dutch classes soon (to begin in August), so that I can communicate with others easier, and will be purchasing a form of transportation with an engine (either a car or moped) before August.

In just an hour, Daleena and I are headed to the centrum to have dinner with Pieter and Levent, two of my favorite gentlemen in Eindhoven! Then we will be leaving early tomorrow morning to head to Ghent, Belgium, to see the LST team there....Jessica Estes and Kristy...someone...don't know her last name yet. But that's all for now....I'll have more to say after the weekend.

Houdoe!

The first of many...

I'm so excited! I'm here, things are going fantastic, and I found a wonderful site to tell you all about it (more or less to save me from sending everyone individual emails about the same thing)!

Daleena and I arrived in Amsterdam Wednesday morning, safe and sound, with all of our luggage (such a blessing!). Paul Rambags, a member of the church, picked us up there. We sat down to have a drink in the airport, where we witnessed one of many important soccer games to come. Fans were everywhere, making as much noise as possible! It was fun to watch! We then drove back to Eindhoven, and arrived around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It was so good to see the surroundings again and remember the past two years. It's so beautiful here!

Now fastforwarding to the information meeting....

On Thursday night, we had the information meeting at a hotel where everyone who responded to the ad in the paper came to find out more and sign up for their first reading session. Veronique and Remco had a list of 25 people who had called with interest. That was exciting! With my returning readers, we would have well over 30! But when the information meeting began, only 8 people showed up. These 8 people are so wonderful, though, I can't wait to get to know them. They are so open and friendly towards us already, not even knowing us. One lady offered to lend Daleena a small bike, seeing as how she is a little shorter than average :).

So we began our reading sessions on Friday. I was only able to read a half day, though, as Remco and Vero told me to meet them at the foreign police to apply for my residence permit. But, as predicted, the foreign police sent us over to the town hall (no one seemed to know where we should go to turn in my application). Once at the town hall, we were immediately attended to and my application was reviewed. As she went down the checklist of requirements, we had everything!....except for my passport photos and Remco's money. I had completely forgotten my passport photos (as it was not in the list of things to bring), and Remco forgot his money (which was more than he had originally expected). So together, we managed to make another appointment for next Thursday. :) However, after leaving Town Hall, Remco and Vero felt extremely good about the meeting, and were surprised at how quickly it went. It seems they might let me stay, after all! The rest of the day was spent calling those people who responded to LST and were unable to come to the information meeting. We were able to reach a few people, and left messages for some. We will try again on Monday.

Today, we had more reading sessions. Pieter brought me flowers for my graduation, and I was able to see Wil and Shahram again from last year. It seems Shahram is interested in coming to several of the parties, so I look forward to that. Tonight, we had dinner at Paul's house, to which he served herring, the traditional Dutch "treat". Raw, I mean, fermented fish. Thankfully, dinner after that was extremely good. Tomorrow, we will see all the church members, and spend the afternoon/evening with Jan and Nita. And eat at the pancake house! I'm so excited!!!