Dancing, Wine, Carnivals...

And again, so much to tell...

I danced in Tilburg, again, this time with a man named Paul Estabrook. It was just a ballet class like any other. I showed up late thinking the class had started at 11 like the last week. However, it started at 10:30. Good thing I got there at 10:30 so I only missed the first two exercises. 

Random house in the country

Countryside of the Netherlands

Later that evening (it was a Tuesday) we went and visited with Marijn's friends Marian, Karel, and their daughter, Janey. We sat and talked for almost three hours! Most of the conversation was dominated by the problems and abuses of the church in the Netherlands and the differences between that and the church that Christ created (more of a community of faith than an institution). Many people have lost faith in the church here because of the lack of integrity and the hypocrisy that has been prevelent for many years. The Netherlands used to be a Christian Nation--but because church became a ritual to attend instead of a Christ centered, community-based, mission-outreach center, many lost interest. I hope and pray that one day the people will regain their trust in the church and that the church will one day become Christ-centered, reaching to all those in need (both physically and spiritually). 


On Thursday I went to Amsterdam to take modern with David Zambrano from South America. His entire class was about taking in and putting out energy. There was a lot of going "into the earth" and coming up again. After over an hour of this, I couldn't physically go up and down without pain in my shoulder so I sat out and watched, preparing myself for my next class.


Ballet was with Shirley Essenboom, an alumni leading dancer of the Netherlands Dance Theater (!!!). I was a little nervous going into her class but I didn't want my nerves to overtake my dancing. I was at the barre where she was teaching so I was consistently moving out of the way for her to teach the rest of the class. She was very petite and had incredible flexibility. She had a sweet voice and tender way of teaching the class. I enjoyed her class and hope to take one again in the future.

Marijn and I with our friend, Dave

Friday night, we headed out to our friend Pete's (with the kids) house. There are so many Petes that I have to specify for myself which one is which...we were hanging out with his wife and two daughters as well as our friends Joost and Mandy. We enjoyed h'orderves and wine while watching an ice-skating show and talking about all sorts of topics--I hardly understood the conversations as they were in Dutch. I picked out some words here and there and some was translated into English. It was a relaxing evening, though, with lots of laughing. Pete talked about his soccer hooligan days and we all laughed with him. It was a good time!

Around this time of year (Friday-Tuesday), people of the southern parts of the Netherlands celebrate Carnival. Carnival is an event with parades and celebrations throughout the course of a few days before Ash Wednesday and the arrival of Lent. People drink and party, dressing in crazy costumes. It's very similar to Mardi Gras but lasts a lot longer. We did not celebrate...we went to Amsterdam instead!I will tell more about that in my next blog.

Another random house in the Netherlands

Tot ziens for now!

February 27th

O dear there is so much to tell! Marijn and I have been so busy getting work done and traveling all over the country. We are having a blast but now is the time for reflection! There will be multiple posts on what has happened as there is so much to say.

Hugo and I having loads of fun

February 27th was a big day for Marijn and I. We went to a Power Lifting Competition. It was my first and it happened to be one of the longest (lasting about 7 hours). Each competetor has three chances at three exercises to get their maximum weight (only lifting, pushing, or squating the weight once each chance). At the end, each competitor's highest scores of each exercise (Squats, Bench Press, and Deadlifts) are added together to give a total score.

Our friend, Joost, competed at this competition and we were all so excited! We met at his house at 7:45am to eat breakfast and drink coffee. Then the group (7 total) drove an hour and a half to Alkmaar. Once we got there, it was pouring down rain and our car (Hugo, Marijn, and I) couldn't find parking. When we finally did, we had to walk a good bit. Naturally, it was cold in the gym where the competition was being held. Poor Mandy, Joost's girlfriend, was already sick and being wet and cold did not help! But our spirits were high!

Manon and Mandy sitting and waiting

Joost did wonderfully! He squated 245kg, bench pressed 155kg, and deadlifted 265kg (a national record for his age and weight category!!). He jumped and cheered after his last deadlift. He'd been working hard in the gym for that one.

"There is no point in being alive if you cannot do the deadlift." -Jón Páll Sigmarsson

The other competitors were quite impressive as well. Joost's coach squated 340kg (that's nearly 750 pounds!) and Deadlifted 310kg. And there was a young lady who deadlifted 195kg and attemped 202.5kg (she almost got it!). Watch out Josie, don't want the ladies beating you at the gym...wasssuuuuupp!! It was a long competition but it was definitely fun! I've posted some videos but please keep them to this blog. Don't post them otherwise!

 

Joost Deadlifting 265kg

 

Girl Deadlifting 195kg

Man Squatting 340kg

When Marijn and I returned we went straight to a birthday party of our friend, Robin. He turned 23! We went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant that was buffet style and the price included all drinks. We hung out with a good group of friends. I had a load of fun trying to communicate with two of the girls as they hardly spoke English and I hardly spoke Dutch. They were trying to explain cucumbers to me for a good five minutes. I also wanted to tell them that my butt hurt from driving in the car and from watching powerlifting all day. I said, "Mijn reet doet pijn" which means literally "My ass does hurt". I was close enough. But I was also loud enough that all those waiting in the line for meat turned around and looked at me and smiled. Yup, I'm the American in the crowd.

We had a blast, though, eating and talking. Robin was so happy to be surrounded by friends. He was so kind and paid for everyone--that's more customary here. He was just thankful we all came out to celebrate. We then went to Erics and Vanity's place to play with the xbox connect. I dominated dancing with Lady Gaga, level hard. Vanity dominated at the water slide game...or whatever it was :) Robin watched and laughed. Marijn refused to dance. Instead, him and Eric drove the car. Haha it was loads of fun!

We came home and called mom who figured out how to use gmail. We had already called her, dad, James, and Marie altogether before we went to Eircs to wish mom a happy birthday. Now that mom has a gmail account, I can call her whenever! Great news :)

Well this is long enough...doc! (bye)

Living Amongst the People

Yesterday, Marijn and I celebrated one year woooo!! We went to McDonalds and then watched the Godfather. It was very chill and relaxed. Next weekend we're going to see the Netherlands Dance Theater to finish our celebration. I got Marijn a photo album of all the places we've traveled to together. Marijn got me three CD's--two Regina Spektors and O Brother Where Art Thou? :)

Last Friday we went to downtown Nijmegen to see a friend, John Hayes, play live in a bar. He is actually a member of the band "Mother's Finest." John was good! The bar was not-so-much. We didn't stay long. Joost, Mandy, Hugo and I then walked around Nijmegen awhile trying to figure out what we wanted to do next. We ended up at a Turkish restaurant. O. My. Goodness. It  was good! Marijn and I had €8 for the night and we spent it all at this place. After we ate, we walked straight back to the car. It was below freezing, windy, and there was a lot of moisture in the air. We were so cold. We got back to Druten and decided to go to a bar for some drinks. The Shakira song "Africa" was on and I wanted to dance but I would be the only one...didn't stop me. I danced for a good portion of the song. Then we left. No I wasn't drunk--I had one drink. I was just having a good time.

Go Mies Go!

The menfolk--Marijn and Pete.

The next morning we went to see our Pete's (our friend) daughter, Mies, play voetbal (soccer). She's 7-years-old. It brought back vivid memories of Joy and I playing soccer together. We were a dominating duo...or maybe we just thought that? Anyway, we had a good time. We were freezing cold--even Marijn! Which I thought was incredible...he's never cold. I hung out with the

My friends!

10-year-olds and sang my new song with them (head, shoulders, knees and toes). One of the girls spoke all the English words she knew. Amongst her words was the phrase "Charlie bit me." We had a good time.

On Sunday, we were picked up by our friend Ton to go to church in Duiven. This particular church met in a high school. It was a descent size--about 200 in the congregation. All the songs were in Dutch although one song was a tune I recognized. I was able to sing along in English the words I knew--"come, now is the time to worship." Marijn and I were introduced to a woman who was originally from San Diego, CA. She met the Lord when she was 19-years-old. When she was 20, she went on a missions trip to Belgium and met her husband. Instead of finishing school, she and her husband got married and they moved to the Netherlands. Now he is the pastor of this church and they've been married 20 years. Her English, she said, was going but she was able to keep up conversation. She thinks in Dutch, dreams in Dutch, and speaks dutch. She was very sweet.

The sermon was all in Dutch but Marijn was able to translate for me. It was about the Lord's faithfulness in our lives. He used a story about David to demonstrate. David's power and all his men, everything that made him great, was nothing without the Lord. The Lord is what made David so powerful--the Lord and His faithfulness. It was a great message. Even though I didn't understand what the Pastor was saying, I could tell that he captured the congregations attention.

Sunday night, Marijn and I went to visit our friend, Angel Face Pete, and his girlfriend, Mira. We talked a lot about America and about music. Pete is a musician--Blue Grass. He talked about a trip to Virginia he's going to take. It will be to a blue grass festival near Roanoke. Pete also showed us the guitar case he made and a really intense rubber band gun. What creative friends we have :) Then Pete and Marijn played guitar together for a while. Marijn sang Johnny Cash--huge fan. They are a good duo.

Currently, Marijn and I are addicted to his Nintendo. We have been playing Super Mario 3 for way too long...

Off to defeat more Koopa's. Tot siens for now!

So cold! Keeping warm at the game

God's Squad

Wow am I behind on updating you! Lot's happened this week. I'm going to put it in list form and try to keep it short...noooooot. I'll do multiple posts.

Amsterdam Centraal

So. Many. Bikes!!

1. Dance in Amsterdam: Marijn and I traveled again to Amsterdam on Tuesday (the 15th). It took the usual three hours to get there and I barely made it this time. We decided to get there at 10:45 instead of 9:00 so we didn't have to wake up at 5:30am again. I had a rough dance day. First I had contemporary, or modern, with Sara Wiktorowicz (she's from America!). We did a lot of improv (a weakness of mine) and initiation focus. It was a lot of fun and I was sweating by the end. She mentioned that she noticed it was new for me but that I attacked well and she was excited to see improvement throughout class. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'd been working on that kind of dance for a couple years...

More bikes!

Then came ballet with Carmen Rozestraten, one of the founding members of Lines Ballet, directed by Alonzo King...nbd. She definitely was tall and lean like most Lines dancers and was a phenomenal teacher. I coward like a little girl--stupid mistake. But I still had fun and gained a lot of good insight on gaining long lines. Coming out of the studio, Marijn and I agreed that the training was wonderful but the commute (Total: 6 hours a day) was a little ridiculous...and expensive.

Amsterdam Art

We reached the tram stop and usually wait for tram 17. I remember hearing that tram 7 was also good to take when coming to the studio. Tram 7 showed up first and I was convinced it would take us back to the station. Marijn felt otherwise but I was positive! I was wrong. We ended up in a pretty shady part of Amsterdam and had to take Tram 14 back to the middle of the city. Then we had to walk about half a mile to the Amsterdam Centraal Station. We followed behind Tram 17 into the station. I felt really bad that my mistake now made making late for his work out plans back in Druten. I offered to buy him a cup of coffee from starbucks on my card since we had to wait for the train. I knew it would cheer him up. But then after I offered, I realized I did not bring my wallet. What an awesome fiancée I am. We didn't get on the train until 2:53 and weren't home in Druten until 6:10. We were supposed to be home at 5. Oops.

Dance in Tilburg

2. Dance in Tilburg: I found a new studio about an hour away called Danshuis Station Zuid. The commute by public transportation was only half that of going to Amsterdam and it cost half as much as well. The classes were a euro cheaper. We went on Thursday. We drove since we had the car that day and got there at 10:10, anticipating a class at 10:30. They changed classes to 11 recently and hadn't updated the site. The lady at the front was very sweet and offered us coffee and a place to sit.Tilburg is like the American south--very friendly and laid back. It was a nice change to Amsterdam. The ballet class that I went to was very small--only 7 or 8 people as opposed to the 20-25 in Amsterdam. The teacher, Csaba Kvasz, was very friendly and funny. He laughed a lot but had a wonderful class. For some reason, his class exhausted me beyond anything. I felt like I couldn't catch my breath and I almost didn't do the last combination (a grande allegro). I think it's because I already danced three hours earlier that week and my body hadn't fully recovered. Still have some mono left in me.

Mosque in Tilburg

After class the Teacher asked me if I was ok. I had to laugh and told him I'd been sick for a while and was trying to get back into shape. He thought maybe the class was too fast for me until I told him I was from America and he said "O! All the classes are very fast there!" Great. Cool. Not my day. :) A lovely dancer who had a baby seven months ago and hadn't danced for almost a year was struggling. But you could tell she would get back into soon and she would be just fine--such beautiful movement! And her baby was too cute. I had the worse headache of my life after that class and had to lay down with my jacket over my head in the car. It took a couple hours before it finally went away....So annoying. I was so exhausted.

I had a great time though. Lot's of laughing. Marijn, once again, was the man and drove all around with me. I have the best guy! Sorry ladies.

Bridge opened.

Bridge Closed.

3. That night Marijn and I drove to our friend Ton's house so that we could travel together along with our friend Marcel to a God's Squad meeting. God's Squad is a Christian Motorcycle Club that started 40 years ago in Sydney, founded by a Godly man, John Smith. It now has chapters all over the world.

Marijn, Ton, Me, and Marcel

The drive to Ton's was about a half hour and then to the meeting was about one hour. I've seen all of the Netherlands...not really but it felt like it! We met in a clubhouse, had a beer and some chips, and talked with friends. Wow, what testimonies! It was neat to hear how the hand of God quite literally pulled these men out of the lives they were living. Talk about a life change from booze and drugs to one of discipleship. Although these men were huge, tattooed, and incredibly intimidating, they were kind-hearted and easy to talk to. And they loved the Lord with all their heart and were ready to proclaim the gospel to the world.

The bikers

I met a young lady who was also a dancer. She was part of the worship team dance at her church there in town. She invited me to attend a class (every Wednesday) but the commute might be a bit much. If we're on that side of the country again I may join. She was so sweet :)

We were there for a couple hours. It was a neat experience. I've never been around so many bikers before. Marcel was cracking jokes (half-serious) about how much America bugs him. Sweet man, big heart.

More Netherlands fun to come....

Marijn--what a goober...and super handsome too

My dancer friend, Ghea, and me

Super happy Marijn and Ton

 

A Castle!

Old Church in a little village

Close up

Sweet pathway...worthy of a picture

O, just a wedding in a castle...nbd.

Windmill!

Stop lights to help the blind by clicking loudly

A few pictures

Cheesy Ellie Pose

Marijn in Druten

By a Dukes Estate in Druten

One Year ago...

A year ago yesterday Marijn and I met. Crazy times! There I was in my own home living life single and happy and in walks Marijn with his cute accent and his big grin. Little did I know that I'd end up choosing to spend the rest of my life with this Dutch man. Wow, does the Lord work in mysterious ways or what?! And currently? I'm sitting in his room in his home town typing away on a blog about my trip to Europe--a trip I never imagined I'd make. Thank you, Lord, for giving me Marijn. And thank you, Marijn, for choosing me and for giving me a year of great times and a lifetime to look forward to. I love you :)

We went out to eat on Friday to celebrate Marijn's huge accomplishment, getting a top grade on his assessment and internship. There is an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant, drinks included (even beers and wines, what?). Marijn ate at least 22 ounces of beef and two plates of salmon along with two plates of Chinese food, a plate of desserts, and a cup of coffee. I had two plates of food and a bowl of ice cream...weak. We then watched "Despicable Me" (again!) at our friend Mandy's house. "It's so fluffy!!!"

Yesterday, Marijn and I met up with a friend, Martijn, for some coffee and conversation. He's coming to America for the wedding! So exciting. I told them both about spoon and fork jewelry and they thought I was joking. Taking on a defense I explained that I used to have a spoon ring and a fork bracelet that I loved. I lost one and the other broke and I was so sad when that happened. I said I bought one in Scotland from this incredibly artsy woman who made all kinds of things out of every-day objects, such as silverware. Still, they had a hard time believing me.

When Marijn and I got back to the house, I immediately showed him pictures of this jewelry.

 Jewelry

He was in awe! He then proceeded to grab a fork and bend it to his liking...then researched how to complete a bracelet...then he and I went to the workshop with my ideas and his talents and proceeded to test out our skills. A little rough...but! We had so much fun! And we want to finish our bracelets.

Today, Marijn's at work and I'm getting my own work done here at the house. I'm learning a lot of Dutch and my communication with his parents is improving immensely. We're going to listen to a podcast when Marijn gets back since we were not able to attend church today. Also, the services are in Dutch so it will be difficult when we do go to understand what's happening. More to come! And some pictures too!

Phrase of the day:

"Hoofd, schouders, knie en teen, knie en teen!
Hoofd, schouders, knie en teen, knie en teen!
Ogen, oren, mond, en neus!
Hoofd, schouders, knie en teen, knie en teen!"

(Head, shoulders, knee and toe...etc....)

tot ziens! (bye!)

Friends and Injuries

Things I forgot to mention about yesterday:

1. I was the only student in ballet class who showed up in pink tights, a leotard, and hair in a secure bun like a newb.
2. TCU dance faculty: Thank you for preparing me, as well as all dancers who go through your program, for the world of professional dance. You know what you're doing. I felt well at home amongst professionals. I owe you all a high five and loads of hard work when I return in the Fall...and some cookies.

I had a fun day today! I got to visit some of Marijn's classmates who soon became friends of mine as well. We met them in the city of Nijmegen at their university for some coffee before heading over to visit another friend. This friend, who I will call Extreme Fearless Man (EFM for short) just arrived home an hour earlier from being in the hospital for 10 days. He was a finalist in the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship and on his last training day, flying down the ice around a curve, his skate hit a niche in the ice. His body turned and his leg did not. He broke his femur in two places, hit the wall, flew into the air, and came down on his face breaking his nose. They put screws and a rod in his leg to help put it back together (I say the x-rays...yeesh) and EFM cracked his nose back into place (it had been the 5th or 6th time he had broken it). After 10 days he came home to a hospital bed. After telling us all of this he then says he'll heal, train some more, and go back next year to compete. Hence his nickname.

We spent a good couple of hours at his place in a beautiful part of the country (I thought). They called it "out in the middle of nowhere" because the nearest town was 6 minutes away...I thought that was close enough. It was green everywhere. He was near a dike in a country home overlooking water. I especially loved the kitchen because it had cream-colored cabinets with yellow trim and it looked so Dutch I smiled. It was a beautiful view! And he had a sweet dog...also Dutch-looking.

We had a good time! I appreciated that they all spoke English quite well. It was easy conversation with lots of laughing. Great day :)

Marijn and I were planning on heading back to Amsterdam tomorrow but I'm sore to the bone and have the hardest time walking up steps. Pretty sure my lower legs and ankles will never feel the same and my neck feels twisted out of whack....Feels so great. Below is the link to Red Bull Crashed Ice.

Phrase(s) of the day: Heb je lekker geslapen? (Have you slept well?); Ik heb lekker geslapen (I have slept well.) 

Red Bull Crashed Ice