Today Tracy and I are planning on riding bicycles to the nearest village that has a bus system. It will take us about 25 minutes to ride to this town (whose name I cannot spell..Bergham, or something like that..) but it all depends on whether it is going to be extremely windy and rainy. If it is, we will stay home. We want to take the bus to Groningen. I like Groningen and want to spend more time there. We went there on Thursday but only stayed a couple of hours. I had my first taste of mosterd soeup (mustard soup) there and am hooked.
Friday night we spent quite a bit of time at a nearby bar. Ridiculous conversations were had and we actually ate chicken nuggets, which seems very un-Dutch/Frysan. I spent most of the night talking to this guy who happened to be sitting next to me at the bar. I admit that I was pretty drunk (which is just something you DO when you are here) and we were arguing constantly about everything under the sun, but still having a great time. The bar was still open at 3:30 am, which amazes me. None of us know what time we went home (now, don't go worrying about me...I wasn't THAT drunk, just having such a good time, that time seems to vanish..)
Saturday was spent mostly lying around in our pajamas, talking about how stupid we all acted the night before, and in general, paying for our excesses.
Yesterday we went to Drachten because Hans had to check something at the school he works at (he is the concierge, which I cannot explain)..He gave us a tour of the school, which is for developmentally and behaviorally challenged youth (ages 12-18). They had been on vacation all of last week.
We drove around the countryside some more after leaving Drachten. I HAVE to build myself a Dutch-style brick house at some point in my life. I absolutely love them. We drove through a little sanctuary for cranes. They made their nests up high on all these telephone pole like structures and all over you could see 2 giant cranes in the nest, guarding their eggs. Many people have so many assorted crocuses growing in their yards right now right alongside bright yellow daffodils. I cannot wait until tulips are really in full bloom. They are my favorite flower, after all.
After driving through the countryside we came back to Eastermar and decided to walk down to the local bed-n-breakfast. On the way there, we walked by a backyard and lo and behold, they had a horse in their backyard. I was surprised to see that. Cute horse.
The owner of the bed-n-breakfast was very nice. Once again I had to awkwardly explain in English that "I'm sorry but I don't speak Dutch. Do you speak English?'" after she started speaking to me in Frysan (which is a very different kind of Dutch in case I haven't explained that before now)..I had delicious hot chocolate and a piece of apple pie that happened to also have currants and little bits of dried apricot in it. Everything was absolutely delicious, as usual. I think I may have to move here (ha ha...I'm half serious, though!)
Last night we put more air in the blow-up mattress I'm sleeping on, and ate a delicious (if not very heavy) traditional Dutch casserole type thing that Tracy made which had ham, cheese, mashed potatoes and a Dutch vegetable (whose name escapes me) that was slightly bitter in taste. I talked to Larry for a bit on the phone and lounged on the couch in a food stupor, listening to music and talking to Tracy and Hans.
This weekend (Saturday night) we are going to visit one of Hans' sisters who happens to live on a houseboat. We'll spend the night there. It should be really fun. I'm having a great time!
