I arrived at the station in Haarlem (which, btw, the Harlem in NY was named after because the Dutch were the first settlers of that area) at 2 pm. As I walked toward the front of the building in search of Lieselotte (we were supposed to meet at 2 pm), I heard someone behind me say “Lauren!” I turned around and there was Lieselotte. I was so excited to see her I left my bag and ran to hug her. Everyone around was smiling at the happy reunion. Lol
We stored our stuff in lockers at the station and walked through the center of town, going into stores, stopping to get lunch, and catching up. It was very funny because Lieselotte and I so often are drawn to the same piece of clothing or say the same things.
In one store we each got something - she got a really cute dress for 15 euros and I got a skirt for 10. Everyone we told afterward was like “wow, what good deals!” Lies and I also realized that we can share our shoes and clothes now, which is very exciting (of course she can’t wear my pants and I’d have to roll hers up since she’s so tall). We even have the same exact shoes, but hers are black and mine are brown. Haha
At about 5 we got our things and went to her aunt and uncle’s house so she could pick up the rest of her things before we went to her old neighbor’s house (we were staying with them). The old neighbors are named Kristy and Ton and they have three kids, one of whom is studying abroad, one girl (Mica) lives nearby, and their son (Koonz) lives in the house. Homes here are very tall and narrow. For example, this one is three stories (as are most) with a kitchen, dining, toilet, and living room on the first floor, then 3 rooms on the second floor plus a bathroom, then the third floor has 4 more rooms. We are in the a bedroom on the 3rd floor in the girl who is studying abroad’s room. It is very comfortable and Kristy and Ton are so nice. When we first arrived here Mica was visiting her mom and she’d brought over some sort of pasta casserole stuff which we ate for dinner. We then watched a short film of them riding African elephants when they were in Cape Town a few weeks ago, and then we watched a movie of them going into a cage in the middle of the ocean with GREAT WHITE SHARKS!!! It was so scary looking - I would never do something so crazy. Lol
The next day (Friday) we rode our bikes to Lies’ cousin’s house - we got a little lost so it took us about 45 minutes, but it was a nice ride. However, finding a bike to fit me was rather difficult considering my legs are shorter than everyone’s here. In the end I had to borrow 17 year-old Koonz’s bike and I had to start pedaling before I could sit on the seat and then get off the seat and hop down before I actually stopped otherwise I’d fall off. Lies’ cousin Esther has 3 little girls, 5 months, 3, and 5. I got to hold the baby most of the time and I was sooo happy! Lol I haven’t held a baby since I left home, so I was in 7th heaven.
After we got back to Kristy’s she made us dinner which was really great - tomato soup with meat in it, garlic bread, and
salad. Right before we ate I ran upstairs to get something and smacked my left shin and knee into the wooden part around the bed really hard and was in so much pain. My shin has been rather painful ever since (especially walking up and down stairs). After dinner Lies and I rode the bikes to her aunt and uncle’s house (from the day before) and we sat around chatting with them and her cousins Nadina and Yeniza as well as her uncle from Hamburg who Lies had never met before. It was funny because they were speaking a mix of Dutch and English and occasionally her uncle would start speaking German and only Lies could understand since she took German in school. Eventually they were all just speaking Dutch and it was getting so late that I fell asleep. At about 12:15 Lies touched my leg to say it was time to go and I jumped and everyone laughed. Luckily Kristy and Ton’s house is right around the corner so even though it was dark and cold, the ride was only a minute.We slept in on Saturday and then got ready and rode the bikes to the Haarlem centre where we met almost her whole dad’s side of the family. There were about 40 people total. We were split up into 6 groups of about seven and sent on a scavenger hunt sort of thing (answering questions and following a specific route around). Of course all the questions were in Dutch, so I wasn’t much help, but occasionally they’d say “we need to count the shudders” or the trees or whatever, so I’d do that. Lol My team was made up of two aunts and 3 cousins (Daan, Haram, and Cos). Daan is 20 but looks 16, Haram is his 18 year old brother who looks 20 and Cos is their cousin who is almost 22. I mostly talked to Daan and Cos, and their English is pretty good, though definitely not great.
Our team was the first done by about 20 minutes (because, though I couldn’t speak the language, I was the team cheerleader encouraging us to write the stuff down and keep moving). We thought the hunt was about who got one first and had the right answers, but apparently it was just about the right answers, so we killed time waiting for the others by walking around the outdoor market. I got a hot waffle thing - it is basically two large round flat waffle cones with caramel inside (a Dutch specialty) - and some fresh orange/kiwi juice. Later at the picnic we learned that our team won the scavannger hunt (getting the most questions right). :)
After everyone reunited we took a bus to Lies’ Aunt Nicolette’s house. Cos (one of the guys on my team) is her oldest son of three. They have a
large field by their house and when we arrived some of the others were already setting up the volleyball net. Yes, we played volleyball - a bunch of Dutch people who pretty much only play soccer were trying to play an American beach sport. Needless to say, it was pretty funny and pathetic. Of course, I can’t talk because I suck at volleyball too. My team was #1 so we played first and then Lies and I were bored so we grabbed an extra ball to kick around. Eventually some of her cousins joined us and we were playing keep away and just messing around. It was a lot of fun, even though I’m terrible at soccer. I liked running around and getting energy out. Of course, since we were the only two girls, we were roughed up a bit (I fell flat on my back twice - both due to Daan I believe, who is quite the joker and doesn’t understand that girls are more fragile than guys). Since it was a field it didn’t hurt though and by the time we went back to the house I was sweating and we were all laughing and feeling more comfortable with each other. They’d more or less accepted me as a cousin, which
was fun.When we got to the house all the cousins around our age gathered very tightly around one long picnic table. Lies was across from me next to Haram and Daan was next to me and I can’t remember everyone else’s names around us. I do remember looking at all of them and noticing how beautiful all their eyes were All their eyes were either blue, but all looked different. Haram’s were probably the most amazing being a turquoise color, but all were very lovely. Of course, none had hair dark like mine. Oh, and guess what? Lana from Smallville is their second cousin - her last name is Kreuk like Lieselotte. How cool is that?? Throughout dinner (which was hamburgers
(no buns) and grilled chicken on sticks and fresh fruit and potato salad) Daan was teasing me and punching me and such and all his cousins were teasing him in Dutch about how he had a crush on me. At one point I had something he wanted (a piece of bread maybe) and he was trying to get it and I started falling off the bench and instead of helping me up he kept pushing me and I fell flat on my back between the two picnic tables on the cement and all the adults at the table behind me turned around and were looking down at me and trying to figure out what just happened. I’m pretty sure I turned beet red. Some sort of yelled at Daan for being a bully, but in general Lieselotte said “that’s so Dutch” - I.e. they play jokes and sometimes take things too far.
After dinner Nicolette brought out ice cream popsicles. I had a pear flavored one and I was so enjoying it and all of a sudden I caught Haram giving me an odd look and I said “what?” and he said “You eat your ice cream very sensual.” hahaha After that they all started talking about this, in Dutch, and the entire table looked at me, and again I felt my cheeks turn all red. Later we had little chocolate sticks and Haram gave me the same look and I just glared at him. Those are the only 2 foods I don’t wolf down because they are my two favorite desserts to I like to savor them. Around 9:30 pm Lies, Nedina, Yeniza and I left to catch the bus back to Haarlem.
As we walked along the very narrow sidewalk toward the bus I said to Lieselotte, “I had a really nice day to--” and right then my left foot fell off the curb and I went down on my right knee and palms hard. It hurt really badly and took me a minute of half laughing half crying to even stand up again. My hands had a little road rash, and my knee got a bit skinned through my jeans and no doubt started to bruise. I felt like Anne of Green Gables when she twisted one ankle and then the other one a little later (since I’d hurt my other leg in almost the same area the day before). Anyway, I limped on to the bus stop and by the time we got back to Haarlem I was feeling well enough to ride the bike back to Kristy’s with Lies.
Overall it was a really fun day though, and it was so nice to be involved in a family reunion, even if it wasn’t mine.That night Lieselotte went to a disco Tec with her cousins, but I stayed here because I didn’t want to stay out so late. I’m sure glad I did since she didn’t get back until 4:30 am! Today we didn’t wake up until 11:30 and then around noon Kristy and Ton took us to two little Dutch towns. The first was a former fishing village 100 years ago when the South Sea of Holland (which is really to the west) was still salt water. It was dammed 100 years ago and is now a huge fresh water lake, so the fishing village turned into a tourist village. The homes are very old and classic
Dutch style and there is still a harbor with many sailboats. I bought some great souvenirs for fairly cheap and I tried this thing called a frikondale which is basically a fried hot dog, and a bite of eel (which as cold, oily and really gross), and real Dutch Gouda cheese from the town of Gouda and these other things which were like fried mozzarella balls but instead of mozzarella inside it was like a creamy mixture of milk, wheat and corn with meat. After that we went to this other town that has the biggest wooden shoe in the world and many windmills. We got to watch the shoes being made and take pictures with the big one.Kristy and Ton dropped Lies and me off at the
train station where we then caught a bus to Aunt Nicolette’s house to help them eat the left-overs from the day before for dinner. First we had wonderful homemade chicken soup and then the hamburgers, chicken and potatoes from the day before. I talked to Cos about all the places he should visit in America and we explained couch surfing to the whole family. After dinner they taught me how to play this Dutch card game which is like a cross between bridge and spades. I thought it was rather confusing since the J and 10 were often worth the most and there were other weird rules, but it was interesting. Kristy and Ton picked us up after dinner and now we are home. Lies has been downstairs chatting in Dutch with them and some other neighbors as I write this. Now I’m very tired and tomorrow we go to Amsterdam so I should get going.
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