Happy Easter!!

*my easter treats: chocolate from belgium, a chocolate egg from dajo and antonia, and a party favor from church*

Happy Easter!! Today to celebrate Easter, I went to church (Zij is opgestand-- he is risen!) and then had lunch at Dajo and Antonia's house with a couple of people from the Bible Study. It was so nice to not eat alone, and especially to eat with them since we didn't have a Bible Study last week, and it would be my last time to see them. I heard good news there-- Antonia is pregnant! They'll make wonderful parents. Easter here is different than I expected. The town was more quiet on this morning than any other Sunday morning, although I thought I would see more people out and about going to church and to breakfast. The University closes for Good Friday and the Monday after Easter, and a lot of people have vacation from work, so I guess people go on vacation. On Good Friday they have a giant bloemenmarkt, a flower market, in addition to the normal market. The entire square was filled with flower vendors, and huge crowds of people were out buying plants, fruits, vegetables, fresh fish and bread. It's one thing I will miss here-- on the way home from class (if we get out early) I can pick up some fruit, fresh and cheap! It was strange not to be home for Easter, but altogether it was a nice day spent with lovely people. Happy Easter!!

*Kristina and me at the Easter flower market*

*tulips!*

*Easter lunch at Dajo and Antonia's house: Howa, Leeanne, Dajo, Antonia*

*After lunch, Happy Easter!!*

*the two engaged American girls!*

Root Canal

For the past couple of weeks I have had a mild toothache. But the past two days it has hurt so badly that I can't sleep, and the pain spread across my jaw, my neck and my ear. I had a dentist appointment scheduled, so I just had to wait it out. Well today I went, and they informed me that a filling I had gotten over the summer was too close to my tooth's nerve, and so was slowly killing it, which placed a lot of pressure on the surrounding nerves, hence the pain. So, I had part 1 of a root canal (the drilled a hole, took out my nerve and put in a temporary filling). Next week I go back for the permanent filling, on my last day here. I'm glad the problem is solved-- hopefully there will be no more pain!!

Belgium!!

Last weekend I went to Belgium-- specifically to Antwerp and Brussels. Belgium is famous for chocolate, fries, beer, mussels and waffles (French fries actually originated in Belgium).I tried all of the above (except for the mussels) and have to say that there is definitely a reason why Belgium is famous for making them!

On Friday we (Olga, Kristina, Anitha and me) left very early in the morning to take a train to Antwerp, where we would meet Ryan. Unfortunately, we got on the wrong train during part of the journey, but fortunately, our fine was reduced from the original 60 euros to 18 euros because the ticket man felt bad for us. We arrived in Antwerp with beautiful weather and spent the rest of the day walking around the city, eating fries and drinking beer. The city seemed kind of small, but very beautiful.

*Beautiful architecture!*


*Anitha, Ryan, me and Olga with the cathedral of Antwerp behind us*

*in the grote markt*

*the castle in Antwerp*


*detail of the city hall*


*in the city park*


*a real belgian waffle!*

Friday night we met Liesbeth, who most of us had met in Milan, and went back to her house for a traditional Belgian meal, which was stampot (I think...) a beef in thick gravy sort of dish, salad and french fries. We stayed up late talking with Liesbeth and her father. It was strange to see Liesbeth outside of Milan at first, but after a little while it was great to see a familiar face and catch up with everyone.

*Liesbeth's house*

*Anitha and me on our bed-- I was given the American blanket*

Saturday we woke up and took the train to Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Brussels is bilingual in French and Dutch, with French being a bit more common, so I was even more tongue tied than usual. I did say the very very few French phrases I know, but luckily everyone speaks excellent English. Belgium is also the headquarters of the EU, so it has a very international feel.

We spent the day walking through the city, but it definitely wasn't enough time to see it all. That night Liesbeth's parents cooked a traditional Dutch dinner for us (soup, chicken, potatoes, and leeks in a hollandaise sauce), which was delicious. It was nice to be in a family home, complete with a dog, instead of a hostel. Her family were wonderful hosts, cooking dinner, setting out breakfast, giving us comfortable beds to sleep in, and even giving each of us a key chain from Brussels.

*beautiful buildings in the grote markt of brussels, which is rumored to be the most beautiful main square in Europe. Unfortunately, they were filming something in the middle, so most of our views were blocked*

*detail on one of the buildings in the grote markt*

*mannekin piss, the famous fountain of a little boy peeing. they dress him up every few weeks. i heard he has a "sister" statue, of a little girl peeing but we didn't have time to see it.*

*mmm chocolates..... there were fancy homemade chocolate stores every block. they should rename belgium heaven.

*delicious Easter eggs*

*de beurs, the stock exchange of belgium*


*a beautiful square*


*The Atomuim, a replica of the atom of iron. You can go to the top and view the city from a distance.*


*the atomium*


*queen's palace*


*one of the cathedrals*

Then Sunday, we traveled back to the Netherlands, said goodbye to blue skies and hello to rain. We stopped in Rotterdam on our way back to Groningen for a few hours, but it wasn't my favorite city. It was very modern and rainy.... but the harbor was nice so I'm glad I went.

*easter decorations*


*City hall of Rotterdam*

*at the harbor*

*the rainy harbor*

*Anitha by one of the famous bridges*

Melted slippers

*whoops*

Yesterday as I was sitting by my computer, my feet felt cold, so I decided to sit with them much closer to the heater. I guess I didn't realize how hot the heater was, because later when I moved my feet, they were a little stuck... then I saw the melted rubber and recognized the smell of burning rubber. Whoops! I melted my slippers a little......

*the slippers, now deformed*

*the heater with additional rubber*

Tonight a lovely dutch girl named Janneke invited us to her house for a Dutch dinner! We'll eat something called Stampot. Then, tomorrow I am heading for Belgium for the weekend! A few of my friends and I will travel to Belgium to visit Liesbeth, a girl we met while in Milan, and tour a couple of cities. I hope they make good waffles.

I can't believe I only have 2 weeks left here. The time has flown by, and I'm really sad to leave Groningen. It's a beautiful city and it has a really peaceful atmosphere. Maybe I'll come back for my thesis.....

Copenhagen!

*Rosenborg castle*

Last weekend I went on a short trip to Copenhagen, Denmark. It was regal and lovely and relaxed. On the streets extremely talented musicians played violins, accordions, guitars, etc., so there was a nice soundtrack to the excursion. Copenhagen is the hometown of Hans Christian Anderson (author of The Little Mermaid and other fairy tales) and had a lot of memorable aspects: Little kids were dressed in 1 piece snowsuits (even though it was in the 40s), there were castles, harbors, lots of statues, old churches, different money (danish kroner). We were only there Friday-Sunday, and so there wasn't a lot of time to explore. But the impression of the city was a very elegant one.

*detail on a building in the main square*


*statue of Hans Christian Anderson, who was from Copenhagen and authored The Little Mermaid and other children's stories*

*part of the Tivoli gardens, which were closed for winter*

*main harbor*


*the little mermaid statue, a tribute to Hans Christian Anderson*


*beautiful church tower*


*by the canal*


*the Queen's home-- the dome is modeled after St. Peter's cathedral in Rome, and is surrounded by 4 palaces (1 of which is under construction)*


*watching the changing of the guard outside of the queen's palace*

*outside of Rosenborg palace, the original winter home of the kings*

*a crown, part of the king's treasury inside the palace*

Yes We Can VOTE

All of you Ohioans go out and vote today! I did, and I'm an ocean away, so you can too.

We Are The Ones Song

A song by Will.I.Am. from the Black Eyed Peas based on hope for the future with Obama.

Schiermonnikoog

*flag of Schiermonnikoog*

On Saturday I went for another day trip-- this time to the Frisian Island Schiermonnikoog. The entire island is a national park, full of rare birds and pleasant beach views of the North Sea. You get there by ferry, which I was a bit nervous about since the last ferry I rode for a long time resulted in me heaving my breakfast overboard. But this ferry is HUGE and incredibly comfortable. It felt like an upscale cafeteria on a boat.

We arrived on a day in which winds were strong. Very strong. Weather warnings on the news strong. When we walked off the boat, we learned very quickly that in order to walk in the direction of your choice, you have to slant your body forward and horse step instead of walking normally. There was no hope of nice hair. Most of my pictures were blurry from the wind "bumping" my elbow.

We tried to walk across the bridge to get to the island, but a policeman stopped us and pointed out that we might die, and we should take a taxi. We wisely followed his advice.

Then we walked around, found the beach and the lighthouse. We walked beside thatched-roof houses in the village and then hunkered in for the afternoon at a restaurant. We had poffertjes (mini pancakes with powdered sugar on them), french fries and cocoa. A very healthy lunch!!
Later on, we found some whaling things-- a harpoon and a whale clamp were part of a children's playground and a blue whale jawbone served as a gate to a sort of town square.

Before the return ferry, we walked a bit more and bought books at a used book store. We didn't see the sunset, but I can imagine it was gorgeous. It's a popular destination in the summer and I can see why.

Our return ferry was delayed a bit, since the taxis couldn't cross the bridge to get to it due to high water. Eventually, the water went down a little, but as we crossed the waves crashed into the tires and we drove through a lot of water... I'm glad I'm not currently in the North Sea.

*trying to stand on a cliff-- the wind is blowing me backwards!*

*lighthouse of Schiermonnikoog*


*my glasses were so dirty from the wind blowing sand in my face*


*me and a harpoon*

*Ryan in a whale clamp*


*me under a blue whale jawbone*