Whoops!

Yes, yes...I know. It's been more than three weeks since I've last posted. I seemed to have misplaced my USB cord (to transfer pictures from my camera to my computer), and I find posts without pictures rather boring. I have one now, but my computer is not letting me put them in my post. So here we go...

Well I didn't go outside for 5 days after I busted my face. After all, I don't need another reason to prove I'm American in the streets of Holland! Hans took me to the dentist the next morning, where I discovered that I had both broken and fractured my front teeth...but not bad enough that they had to do a root canal. The dentist, Alexander, ended up putting a wire on the back of my teeth to stabalize them, and told me I could not bite down with my front teeth for one month...but they would heal themselves. So that was good. At this point, I should be getting the wire taken off my teeth on Wednesday and I should be back to "normal". :)

Daleena's mom flew into Amsterdam on the 27th. We took the train to Brussels, Belgium, the next morning, where we walked, and walked, and walked...and also met two other American couples! One from Wisconsin, and the other from...we'll say Colorado (although I don't really remember). I have the habit of stopping and asking people where they are from if I hear the slightest bit of English. It's a rare occurance in these parts. Anyways...they were very nice people. I got my characature (?) drawn in the middle of the street of Brussels. It looks absolutely nothing like me...but it was fun!! I asked him to ignore the scar on my nose...he said "I see nothing". Ha!

The World Cup started shortly after this. I can't even begin to explain what it is like during a game here. I was walking down the street, coming from the grocery store one day, when I heard an eruption of cheers from all directions. I had no idea what was going on. Maybe a fight. Maybe Holland won a game. But, no....not a fight. Not even a celebration of a win. It was a goal. Nothing more than a goal. Made, of course, by the Holland team. I would say it was comparable to the SuperBowl in the states...but it's so much more. Everyone in the COUNRTY is fixed at their TV for 2 hours straight, rooting for one team. It's amazing...it's fun...I love it! Just to give you an example of what the people look like here, Daleena, her mom, Destiny, and myself decided to become one with the soccer fans over here. I think we look pretty good. [picture not included] Not quite as orange as most, but definitely comparable to the more conservative fans.

Last Saturday, one of my readers from last year, Pieter, treated me to a day in Amsterdam. We hopped on the morning train, and spent one of the hottest days of the year walking around in Amsterdam. We didn't see anything "touristy", as I had no desire to walk through a museum...but we watched the people. As Pieter says, "the best way to learn about the city is to watch the people". And so we did. For about 12 hours. During that time, we passed a Hard Rock Cafe. I didn't even know one existed in Europe! I got so excited, I don't think Pieter knew what to do with me. We went in to have dinner, and I was overwhelmed with the feeling of America. The service was American, the menu was in English....there was fresh brewed iced tea, and FREE refills!! I think I about died when I asked the waiter if they had cheesecake, and he said yes. I was loving it!! Now, before you think I'm ready to jump on a plane back home, let me just say that we are spoiled as Americans when it comes to our meals in a restaraunt. Why should we get 10 glasses of tea, when we only pay for 1? Why do we insist the waiter/waitress returns to our table 4 times to ask "Is everything okay?" so that we may answer as a broken record "It's great" or "Yes, thank you!"? What's wrong with flagging down the waiter when we actually need him? I'd much rather work in a Dutch restaurant than any in America. Their job is so much more realistic!

Anyway, as we left the restaraunt, we walked past a life-sized chess board! This was also exciting to me...and for what reason, I do not know! If we didn't have to catch a train back right then, I would have stayed to play a game. Although, I don't think it's as easy when the pieces are so big...you can't really see the whole picture! But it looks fun! And this is an artsy picture [picture not included] I took while waiting for the train to come. The sun was setting, and the light was coming in all fun-like. Anyway, I thought it was cool!

This past week, I had 4 new readers. All very nice and fun people to talk to. Tomorrow, two of the ladies I have been meeting with said they are coming to church for the first time. I'm excited about that! I hope they do. And I have been asked to teach the 12 year old class, as well...so I'm looking forward to that. Mellisa comes on Tuesday, so Lucinda and I will be driving to Amsterdam to pick her up. It'll be good to have some company again for the next 6 weeks!

There's more to tell...but this is enough for now. I should update more frequently now that I have the USB cable again (and my face is back to normal!). Catch you later!