Pancakes, Movie Nights, and Races... Almost like home.

Everyone always asks me what food I miss here, and on Friday when I told the next door neighbor, Marijka (sp), that I miss American pancakes, the first thing that she said was that I should come over to their house the next morning so we could make them. So on Saturday, I went to the grocery store (all by myself!), and picked out everything that we needed (all by myself!). The thing is, I don't think they actually sell baking soda in any of the grocery stores here. And self rising flour worked fine when I made chocolate chip cookies. Naturally then, I figured that self rising flour would work for the pancakes too. Well, they didn't work all that great, but in the end we did still have pancakes. The batter that we made looked just like the regular batter. I guess that's sort of obvious though, since baking soda and baking powder don't really make the batter look any different. And the pancakes still looked normal when we put them on the frying pan. It was just after they had been frying for a while, and the batter didn't really rise at all, and never bubbled very much on the top. In the end, we had lots and lots of pancakes, and they were kind of a mix of Dutch and American pancakes. Also, we didn't have any maple syrup so we put "stroop" on top, which is kind of like syrup, but it tastes better in cookies, and not so great on pancakes. They were all right though, and with butter and sugar they were pretty good. And you know, I figure it's a good lesson. Because I'm here to learn Dutch, and learn about the Dutch culture. Really, I shouldn't have been trying to make American pancakes in the first place. I should have been learning to make Dutch pancakes!

After we made pancakes in the morning, Taiana (my host sister, if everyone doesn't know that already), Marijka, and her daughter Pip, drove to a bigger city called Alkmaar that's pretty close by. Marijka and Pip went to the market, and Taiana and I walked through the big shopping street in town. I say walked, because we did go in the stores, and we did look around, but I didn't actually buy anything. It's just so hard, because I want EVERYTHING that I see in the stores. I can't pick just a few things to buy because there's so much! All the stores sell a ton of different types of cute boots, and bags, belts, skinny jeans, long shirts, and scarves. Everywhere you go it's like fashion central. So for now I'm being responsible and holding back a little bit on the shopping. For now. We came home from Alkmaar pretty early in the afternoon, because Taiana had a handball tournament later in the afternoon, and we both had homework. She was totally shocked when I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. I'm not really sure why though, because she was eating this chunk of meat that she had fried for maybe five minutes. It was pink almost all the way through... but to each her own, I guess (or whatever you say).
Later in the afternoon, Milja came home from Amsterdam, where she walked the 16km Dam tot Dam race that I would run the next day. She told me everything that I found out on Sunday when I actually got to do it. "En heel mooi dag," was her description I think. Which means "a lovely day."

On Saturday night, I rode my bike over to a friend's house in Akersloot. She lives just a few blocks away from us, and we usually bike to school together in the morning. Anyway, she was having a big group of girls over to watch Twilight. Most of the movies that they watch here are American actually, and of course Twilight is a classic. Even in the Netherlands! There were eight girls there, I think, and they all brought food, and pastries, and candy. One of the girls works at a bakery, so she brought this whole plate of croissants, and scones, and apple turnovers. Oh my gosh, it was amazing. Then of course there was chips, candy, and pop. Also they had these tiny cookies that apparently they eat mostly around Christmas. They taste a little bit like gingerbread, but I have to say I actually think they're better.
The movie night was nice though. I can't really understand a lot of what the girls say when they are talking to each other- they talk so fast- but it's nice just to be there and be included.

Sunday:
Dam tot Dam loop, 16.24 km (10 miles), from the middle of Amsterdam to a town called Zandaam. 45,000 runners. I went with a group of men from this company called Forbes, that makes floor tiling. Somehow someone told them that I wanted an entry, and they had a spot, so I ended up going with them.
The race was a lot of fun, there's people everywhere, and we ran through these small towns on the brick roads. The people in the towns had strung up flags between the houses, and they were all playing music and clapping as we ran by. And so many runners! The whole atmosphere was really nice.
As great as the race was, it made me miss doing the Short and Fat a lot, since that was this same weekend. The atmosphere was the same, but it wasn't the same people, and it wasn't the same place. I guess you just can't have it all though, because I know that next year when I'm racing the Short and Fat I'll be thinking about Dam tot Dam and wishing I could be there again.

Tot laater!
I hope you're all having a great fall.
xoxo