real Dutch

There were so many potential titles for this blog…

Sheep!

bikes on bikes on bikes

bread on bread on bread

4 Masses in 40 hours

Women’s Retreat

…to name a few.

My weekend in Holland started very early on Friday, April 20^th. Actually, it should have started early on Friday, but really it started late on Thursday because I couldn’t fall asleep! At 12:45 I gave up on trying (I had been trying since 10:30), hung out with some flat mates, and took an hour nap at 2. My taxi driver picked me up at 3:45 sharp to take me to the coach to get to the airport… After a worker had to direct me to the bus stop, my morning went smoothly.

On the other end, Elske picked me up in Eindhoven, Holland where we wandered around until it was time to pick up Amy and Lauren from the train station. 

I know these 3 girls all from my summer as a missionary at Covecrest. Elske was a year round missionary, and Amy & Lauren were doing the same 6 weeks as me. So, after we were all reunited we headed to Odiliapeel, Holland where Elske and her roommate live in an old rectory connected to a church. We went grocery shopping and had our first Dutch meal: bread and bread and bread! For multiple meals we ate this dark Dutch bread with some sort of spread: either peanut butter, nutella, or butter. Most of the time, on top of the spread, we put these chocolate sprinkles! Real Dutch.

From there we went and saw a WINDMILL, went and met a cloister nun (Sister Bernadette-I’ve never met a cloister nun before) who Elske knows, and headed to her parents’ house for another dutch meal in Uden, Holland.

Dinner was a sausage dish and a potato with onion and carrot dish: it was pretty plain but really good. For dessert we had some sort of vanilla, caramel cream that was really really good, even though I don’t really know what it was. And then we had ice cream-sort of in the style of a Carvel’s ice cream cake (her dad has quite a sweet tooth). Neither one of her parents spoke any English, so Elske was our personal translator. It made conversation a little awkward, but her dad was really funny! Maybe the language barrier added to the humor, but he would say something, either one English word, or something Elske had to translate, and he had us all laughing!

After dinner we went to church for daily Mass and then back to Elske’s for a girls’ night. We feasted on snacks, baked these delicious chocolate muffins (cupcakes), painted our nails, and did face masks.

Saturday, April 21^st was an early morning as Elske was singing in the Cathedral in s'-hertogenbosch, Holland for Mass for a Power of Fire festival for confirmation teens. We hung out a little, and then Elske and her brother Frank gave a talk to the teens. 

The whole festival was really cool to witness, even though we didn’t understand any of it. We were meeting Elske’s friends all day long, and some could speak English better than others.  After visiting the “Shroud of Turin” exhibition in the Cathedral, we headed to Utretch, Holland, to meet up with more people! Here we met the Brothers of St. John (Brother John Mary Jesus, Brother Clements), a visiting Sister from France, and three teens that have been helping with Life Teen in Holland (Roberto, Caroline, and another girl). Brother John Mary Jesus celebrated a vigil Mass for us, the Brothers provided us dinner, and then we all headed to the Michael W. Smith concert: Symphony of Life!

The concert was unbelievable! I really had no idea what to expect, but it looked like it was in a conference center with 10,000 people there and a full orchestra to play with the musicians!! There were 3 Dutch musicians, and then Michael W. Smith. The first three all spoke Dutch so someone helped translate for the three of us, but they sang in English, so I found that interesting! The concert was really something else!! 

After that we headed back to the Brothers’ community for some drinks before we headed home. They served us beer out of their own personal keg- such a different experience! By far Holland is the most culturally unique place I’ve been…with the food, language, and everything!!

We didn’t get to bed until two that night and had to be up early on Sunday, April 22 to take Amy & Lauren to the train station. My flight was until later so we headed back to Uden for Mass, which ended up being a First Communion Mass, so that was another cultural experience! Then we had lunch with Elske, Frank, and his girlfriend back at their parents’ house. Another cultural food item: bread, cream cheese, salmon, & lettuce. Another one is how they eat boiled eggs: they hit the side with a knife, cut off the top, and then scoop the egg out with a special spoon! They were amused with my attempt to cut it, but I did it!

After that my weekend in Holland was over! At the airport I bought slippers that look like the wooden clogs, some delicious stroop waffles to take back to my roommates, and before I knew it I was arriving back in London! It was a relaxing, religious, whirlwind of a weekend!! I didn’t know if I’d ever see Elske again once she left America, and there I was, visiting her in her own home!! Holland was such a great, and different, experience!!