Written April 18th, 2009

Yesterday we went to Amsterdam for a day trip. It seemed to be exactly the motivation i needed to take more pictures. We walked around a lot and sat a lot. It was really nice and peaceful. I met a bartender at a cafe who was super nice and translated a whole dutch newspaper article for me word by word. He also gave me an apple juice on the house. Frank and I walked through a market but we were walking so fast. I also had the best McDonals carmel sundae of my life. Frank made me buy the giant super expensive pizza for dinner on the train but I guess thats alright since he bought most of my drinks. We got back around 11, walked home, and went straight to bed.
The next day we woke up and drove straight to Dordrecht, the town where my uncle grew up. That car ride took tolerance,they all did. At least that time we listened to the radio. We first went to the tennis club where he used to be a member. Man was that awkward for me. There were a bunch of tournaments going on and everyone was wearing their collard shirts and pleated skirts and I'm wearing a t-shirt and a super long skirt. I felt so out of place the whole time. Plus my uncles phone started to ring real loud while he was up getting tea for us during a match and everyone was looking at me to turn it off. He kept callinghis family during the matches too which I thought was a bit rude. His sister said we could come visit so we went over htere and I instantly liked her and her husband. They were so sweet and friendly. They had such a nice house too! We talked outside and had some delish spring rolls and amazing homemade vegetable soup. I even showed them my house on google earth. Then we left to walk around the city which was mostly a harbor. Later we ended up at a pub and sat outside in the sun and talked to Frank's old frineds. This guy from London who had been living in Holland for 30 years came and sat at our table. It was nice to talk to someone who first language is english. He helped me figure out my trains to Maidstone. He has travelled all over the World and knows India so well. We talked about India alot since I would really liek to go there. He gave me his contact information and we discussed drug policy. We ate at the pub and everyone laughed because I ordered a kids meal. I feel like it might be more normal for me to do that in the states? Then we had the hr long drive home but Frank drives so slow EVERYONE was passing us. The next morning we could kind of sleep in since we were going to a party at the community center that didnt start until one, although we got there an hr early. It was SO hot in the sun, which iw asnt expecting and I got tannish/burnt. Nobody talked to me at the party after introducing themselves. I think it would definitely be different back home. I was so hot and bored. Eventually we left after seeing the bird house and Frank's friend took us into town. We looked for headphones for my phone but that failed. We got bitterballen and I got a tosti and then we went to Le Pompe, aka the coolest pub in town. We sat for ahwile and then Dennis and Noa showed up with their guitars. They played just for us and it was lovely=) They said I really have talent and that they wouyld pay money for some of my pictures=) It was just the encouragement I needed. I was glowing. Its so hard to believe in yourself but so mucvh easier when others beleive in you. (ah, I keep getting the train ticket guy mad because I subconciously put my feet up on the seet in front of me-woops!)We walked home a bit late and fell asleep real fast, the sun seemed to suck all the energy out of me. We woke up yesterday morning and drove back to Dordrecht. We met up with his sister at her house again because we were supposed to go together to Kinderdijk where all the windmills are. Well, Frank couldnt figure out anything else to do so he came with us too and kept talking in the backseat. We drove around the breathetaking dutch countryside for awhile and went to a breeding spot for storks, where they make their nests. It was odd to see such big nests on the roof. We had some ice cream, drove through the countryside some more, and arrived at the windmills. I thought it was so silly how popular they were, but they were still neat to see. We went on a hf hr boat ride and I got some sweet shots. Afterwords I tried a Fristi, a yogurt drink that usually only kids get-it was super yummy! We drove back to Sanda's house and I had some FANTASTIC dutch cheese. We sat in the sun for a while until Wil got home from work. Then he searched my train stuff for me and we ordered some dlicious chinese food. Their soy sauce is really indonesian! Weird. They showed me beautiful albums of their Australian vacations and we talked about the Peace Corp(they had never heard of it). Frank and I drove back home and listened to a "hippy" cd on repeat. We went home and I put all my pictures on his computer and went to bed. I woke up today at 7:20. Im pretty good at waking up early to pack when I have a train to catch. He drove me to the train station and we said our goodbyes. Goes>Roosendal>Antwerp>Lille>London>Maidstone. Im excited to go visit Nick. I like being with people my own age, especially ones that speak English so I can talk really fast! I bought a bunch of Belgian waffles and some classy belgian chocolate. I also bought my last warm belgian waffle and got it with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. It was so sweet it made my tummy hurt! I super duper hope I dont have to pay extra to go to London. The kid next to me is taking ten million pictures out the window. It reminds me of Chelsea alittle. I wish my half dreads didnt look so dumb. Id like to think Im getting pretty good at this train thing.
Goodness the passport lady interrogated the shit out of me. Where was your passport stolen? How are you paying for this trip? How do I know Nick? What do my parents do? Belgian chocolate really is amazing. These 2 fancy boys in their 20's are talking about the book Blink in front of me. I need to re-read that. Im sick of trains today. Id kill for some Motorola headphones. Why do I get the dumb seat between windows? Oh man, I forgot about British plugs. Ugh, Im still grumpy i missed my first train, Id be there by now! There is such a loud family on this train.