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!!!