FYI

For everyone who has just been dying to know.... I passed the Dutch test! 78 out of 83 points, so it wasn't as much of a problem as I thought is was going to be. Whew! I'm so happy that's out of the way. Not that there's any real consequences for not passing the test, but like I said before: I would have been SO embarrassed.


Since it's almost next weekend, I think it's about time to write about last weekend. Friday night was another non-fitness night for Milja. When I first got here, she told me right away how she likes to go the the fitness center every Friday after work. Well, that hasn't happened in about two months. T'here's always SOMETHING, and even though I won't take the blame for every Friday she didn't get to work out, I do have to say I'm probably responsible for the majority of them. I had worked out earlier in the day, so by the time Milja came home I was completely showered and ready to go watch salsa dancing in Amsterdam. Anita loves things like salsa dancing and concerts, so we all (Milja and me, Anita and Isabel, and Anita's friend and her daughter) got tickets to go watch some salsa dancer in a theater on the Leidseplein (sp?). Basically the only place's I've really been in Amsterdam are the Dam, where the main shopping street is close to, and the Red Light District. The two most important places, right? I'd never been to the Leidseplein before, and I don't know if it's just a really different part of Amsterdam, or if everything changes at night, but I had another one of those "I'm SO in Europe right now" moments. There were lights all through the streets, and all of the restaurants and cafes were full of people. It's hard to explain; there's not just one thing you can point out that makes it feel so Europy (yes, I just made that word up), it's more of a feeling. And the feeling was definitely there. Before we went to the theater we ate at a Mexican restuarant. I was a little bit surprised at how many English speaking people there were walking through the streets, and ordering food in English. I guess not all of the tourists that come to the Netherlands come to Akersloot where I can see them.

After eating we walked to the theater and went in right in time to sit at the last of three tables. Other than that it was standing room. At first we thought we were really smart for coming so early and getting a table, but as soon as the theatre started to fill up we realized that we had to stand up anyway, or we wouldn't be able to see anything. Once the dancers started, though, I forgot that I was standing up, because watching them was so interesting. The group was about five girls and three guys. A few of the girls could speak enough Dutch to tell the crowd what was going on, but all of the songs were in Spanish. The beat to salsa music is so fun to listen to- you don't get bored at all. And watching them dance is amazing. When they first walked into the theater the girls just looked like normal people, and after they started dancing they were incredibly beautiful. Their dancing has inspired me to be a salsa dancer in my next life- since we all know it's definitely not going to work out in this one. My favorite song? First, the one about bon-bons, because everyone likes chocolate (I take mine liquor free though) and second, the song about going on a diet. They sang about all of the amazing Dutch foods that make them fat when they come here, and how they always say that they're going to start on a diet... tomorrow.


Saturday was a quiet day. I slept in, went to the fitness center, did a little bit of homework, and grocery shopped with Milja. For dinner we ate fish by Opa, and everyone was in bed early. On Sunday, Milja, Peter, and I drove to Haarlem to do a walking tour of the "hofjes." Haarlem is another big city about half an hour away from us with the car- in the same directino as Amsterdam. "Hofjes" are houses from the olden days that are all really small and built around a type of courtyard. I did learn a little bit more about the "hofjes" than that, but I don't want to explain it innacurately, so I just won't try at all. When we first got to Haarlem in the morning it was all misty outside, and there was no one on the streets at all. Everything was so quiet and pretty, and we looked at the houses on the canals, and all of the hofjes. The "I'm SO in Europe right now" feeling came back again for the second time in the weekend. We took a break about halfway through the morning and sat in a cafe, then kept going on the route. The streets got a little bit busier as we went along, and before we went back at the end of the day we went in a few of the stores that were just starting to open. In the afternoon we watched Taiana play handball and Opa came and ate dinner with us.

Another important thing this week: I finally started running with TDR again. The physical therapist wrote a two week program for me, so I get to go to the practices, but not do all of the same things that the rest of the girls on the team are doing. I don't feel like I'm doin very much; the training plan involves lots of slow repeats and lots of resting, but I guess it's important to start slow. Mostly I'm just happy not to be spending my Tuesday and Thursday nights on the stationary bike anymore. Or worse- in front of the t.v. Hopefully it won't take too long to get back in shape, and I'll stay healed and inury free!