My adventures on the train

Sorry! I'm getting lazy about posting new stuff. And since I'm still feeling lazy, just pictures will have to suffice to sum up this last week. Who wants rhetoric anyway?

The Markt, where vendors fill every Thursday during the General Market

The General Market on Thursdays hosts over 150 stalls, including clothing (american flag clothing is rather popular here),

One of the many cheese vendors, where I spent  €28 (~$35) on cheese and shredders (eek!)

Musical organ pulled by the draft horse

Classic Dutch treat: StroopWafels (syrup waffles).

Waffles made from two thin crispy waffles with a caramel filling.

I buy all of our fruit for the week
from these - really inexpensive.
For instance, a kilo (2.2 Ibs) of organic
donut peaches =  €2.5 ($3.12) 

Leggings for sale at the market

At the market, you can get everything from melons and cheese,
 to hair products and make up

more hair accessories, even fake hair extensions,
sunglasses, scrunchies...

and even pet supplies.

I ended up having a very busy weekend with lots of traveling on the train. On Saturday, I visited Margot in the very south of Holland. In the morning, I said good bye to the boys at our doorstep and took off in the pouring rain to catch a 9:30 train for Vlissingen. I bought a round trip ticket from a cashier, then found some flowers to buy for Margot. From there, I only had a few minutes to get to my platform to catch the train. On my way to the platform, I realized that I had lost the ticket somewhere in that short time, and ran back to the cashier. "We can't just reissue you a ticket; that's not how it works," he told me. He then ordered me to go look for it where I had bought the flowers - no luck. So I went back to pay another $50 for a ticket, when the cashier ushered me to follow him. "Come with me," was all he said over his shoulder as he walked briskly to the platform. By then my train had pulled up, and trains only stop for 60 seconds at each stop. He told me to jump on and that he would tell the conductor to take me to Vlissingen, but that I would have to buy a ticket home. Whew!

Margot's dogs kept wanting to crawl up onto my
neck. I awkwardly posed for a picture anyway

Train travel through new countries is the only way to go. It's absolutely wonderful and I try and ride the train every time I visit a new country. It's so peaceful and it takes you through some of the most dramatic landscapes the country has to offer. I arrived in Vlissingen, met Margot (she was shocked to see that I was no longer blonde), and together we ran to catch the ferry to the province of Zeeland. Once on the other side, Margot drove me through the countryside to have lunch at her sister's house. After lunch, Margot took me to her house to feed her 3 dogs, and show off her paintings to me (she is an art teacher and is preparing for her own year long exhibition starting today).

Margot's work

 

I thought that I would try and rest on the
train after what I thought was the end of my day...

Ride on a small ferry boat. Da, Zeeland!

So my plan was to leave Zeeland in enough time to catch this neighborhood street party happening on our street so I could meet all of our neighbors on Schutterstraat, but that didn't quite pan out the way that I had planned. When the train pulled up to my stop in Delft, I was ready at the door to jump off. But to my surprise, the doors never opened, and after a minute, the train continued on to the next town. On all of my previous hops on and off of the train, the doors always opened. Little did I know, you have to press a button to open these doors. So I got off in the next town, Den Haag. Instead of waiting for the next southbound train (which would have been the smartest thing to do), I decided to walk back to Delft. I hate waiting for buses to pick me up because normally, no matter the distance, I can walk to my destination in less time than waiting for the bus. But that's Seattle. This is another country where I don't speak the language, let alone know how to navigate myself from one town to the next on foot. I didn't even have a map, but I do have a strong aversion to waiting for modes of transportation when I have two perfectly good feet. Well I learned my lesson.

Lost, I took a picture of this map at a bus stop to help me find the way.
Too bad my camera died 15 minutes later

I took off, headed South East, expecting it to only be a 20 minute walk, tops. Two hours later, soaking wet from the downpour, I gave up and jumped onto a bus I had no idea where it was going, but knew I could ask the driver for help. He took me to the closest stop where I could wait for the next bus to Delft. I sat in the cold rain for another hour (patiently waiting this time), kicking myself for being so confident in my pedestrian ways. By then, Claire and Alex had grown concerned and were on the phone, trying to save me. But by the time they could figure out where I was exactly and how to get there, the bus had arrived. For what it's worth, I wasn't too far off, and if it wasn't for all of the construction, and water ways, deterring me from finding a direct path, I think I would have made it sooner. At 10pm, Alex brought me over to the party to meet the friendly neighbors and watch the end of their boules tournament.

On Sunday, the whole family went to a bbq at Claire's Uncle Frank's house. Because their car only holds 5 people, I needed to take the train. That morning, I caught a train, northbound this time, to Amsterdam (50min ride). I then took a tram through the city to Claire's Aunt Bernadette and Uncle Jorge's apartment, where we three, plus two more cousins, Bo and Gabby squeezed into a tiny car and drove 30 minutes to Franks. There I met many of Claire's relatives, but not all (she comes from a family of 7, and her mom comes from an equally large family). Because Bernadette and Jorge were not headed back to Amsterdam, however, I needed to figure out how I was getting back to the train station. Luckily, Aunt Tia interrupted the conversation at the end of the night and said, "Excuse me, but I think that we need to be giving some attention to how Chelsea is getting home tonight." I looked over at Claire and Alex and said with a smile, "Why thank you, Tia." and everyone started laughing. Everything was discussed in Dutch among the family, and in the end I guess I ended up kicking Bo out of a car headed to Amsterdam. Claire's cousins, Tashi and Tycho (spelling?), who are not much older than me, and their Thai partners, welcomed me into their car and they dropped me off at the train station. They also offered to take me out and show me around Amsterdam while I'm here - yay!

And that was my fun but exhausting weekend! Hopefully I can steal some of Claire and Alex's pictures of the bbq.

I should probably join a gym...

This park has a mote!

If I'm going to keep eating ice cream, cheese, pastries, wine, and bread at the rate that I am here in Holland, I should probably look into membership at a local gym. I'm not kidding. The servers at Plan B ice cream parlor recognize me, and as I walk around Delft with my ice cream cone, I wonder if it would be better or worse to be a "regular" at a bar or an ice cream parlor (and you HAVE to choose because either is necessary when an au pair). Tonight, Claire shooed me away from cleaning up after dinner, and insisted that I take my first break of the day. I literally sprinted to the nearest place that sold chocolate. After loading up my purse with chocolates from Albert Heijn (grocery store), I then went en route to the Oude Kerk (Old Church) where Alex has brought home delicious pastries from a French bakery nearby (the chocolates, btw, were for when I came home later to eat with the parents. duh). When I couldn't find this heavenly bakery, I bit my lip and made the walk of shame to Plan B where I was greeted with a knowing smile from the very cute server. My excuse is that I'm practicing my Dutch with her. I was reading someone else's blog today about how to make iced coffee (thanks to good ol' time-waster, Pintrest) and was offended by her remark, "...and if you're bad like me, add a splash of half and half." If adding cream to your coffee makes you a bad person, then my fulfilling diet has earned me a ticket straight to hell. Just the other day at Ikea, I bought a side of whipped cream to stir into my coffee...okay, maybe I have a slight problem, but I'm not a bad person.

Another growing bad habit of mine here in Delft is, now that I have A BICYCLE!!!, I like to go out riding at dusk and really perfect my voyeurism skills (now this might warrant the title of "bad"). It is so interesting to peer into other people's windows to catch a glimpse of what their homes are like. So far, the conclusion from my observations is that residents of Delft are somewhat affluent and keep a tidy household, making it all the more fun to study their interiors from the sidewalk.

Claire with Jasper in front of his school on the first day!

The big news of the week is that Jasper started kindergarten on Monday- he's so brave! And every day he's coming home with new words and phrases that he learned in Dutch at school. Reasonably so, Claire and Alex's nerves were on high in anticipation with the first day of school. Will Jasper make any friends? Will his teacher remember to repeat things in English? Will Jasper feel comfortable to ask his teacher for help? Where's the bathroom? Will his lunch be similar to other children's lunch? Will Montessori be conducive to him building a social life? etc. When they arrived at the end of the day to pick him up and take him out for ice cream, they found Jasper diligently working at his desk. After a few minutes, Jasper looked up, gave his parents a smile, and a thumbs up for satisfactory. Whew! And so far, so good! Now the hunt is on to find the perfect place for Annika and Oliver.

Oliver adds chili pepper to the guacamole

While Jasper is off at school, Alex at work at University Delft, and Claire working from home, I get to hang out with Oliver and Annika. This duo is pretty magical, and I thoroughly enjoy spending time with each of them. One morning, Oliver helped me make guacamole, because the night before he had decided to stick his thumb through one of the avocados, and that's when I realized that they were on the verge of going bad. Oliver is as goofy as he is analytical, which I appreciate, and Annika is so sweet and wonderful to be around. My heart flutters every time I lay eyes on her. It's hard to call what I do here, "work."

The boys explore a fort that we found at a park

Which is why Claire and Alex had a conversation with me tonight about needing to schedule a regular break time for me. They're incredibly intuitive and know me well enough that I would continue to work around the clock without requesting some 'me' time, but can also sense a burn out coming. It's easy for me to feel compelled to help out every hour of the day when I live with the family, and feel more apart of the family than I do as an employee working at my job. But there is tremendous value in structuring a little break in the day, and knowing when I am done with my 'shift' at the end of the day, so to speak. I realized today, as I walked the boys to a park during my third straight week without much of an afternoon 'off', that having a little break every day, or day off once a week would be beneficial, because otherwise I don't think that I am EVER going to want to have children of my own - seriously, too much selfless work. So as our routines get settled into place, I'll be able to have more time on my own to explore.

And that is why I have, indeed, looked into taking a Zumba class once or twice a week, and it may very well be at the gym, which would balance out my lavish diet. Who am I kidding, I'm not giving up the ice cream any time soon.

The fort at the other side of the mote

Jasper helps his younger brother ride the zipline at the park

Go Jasper!

How Jasper gets to school every day

Montessori classroom

A candidate preschool for Oliver includes gardens, chicken coop, and bunnies!

(mostly cover band) Jazz Festival!

What a great day!
A rough schedule of my wonderful happy excellent day:
8:00 finally roll out of bed after laying around, enjoying the luxury of sleeping in
......stretch, shower, eat breakfast of greek yogurt, muesli, fresh strawberries and donut peaches, sample the oatmeal and settle the debate between Claire & Oliver (do the raisins taste like nutmeg, or lavendar).

O is ready to rock

10:40 shopping on my own. Mission: FIND mozzarella cheese for pizza. Meandering about the town's center, I am delighted to walk through an scope out the flea market and Saturday farmer's type market. I loaded up with kilos and kilos of more fresh fruit. I ducked into a cheese specialty shop and bugged the very sweet young clerk about finding my precious mozzarella. No luck ("Is there anywhere in Delft that I can get mozzarella that's not soft?" I ask. "No," she shakes her head). I walk out with a jar of wet mozzarella, parmesan-reggiano, and sun-dried tomatoes instead. I find a very cute kitchen/bath shop and purchase an ariated pizza pan, then walk out of the shop balancing the many kilos of fruit, now leaking mozzarella jar, and other tubs of pizza fixings on top of my new pizza pan, smiling because of the warm sun shining on me and smitten with how darn cute everything in this town is.

12:15 Arrive home to have lunch with the family, who had just returned on their own outing of buying a bike seat for Oliver, and a shark tooth for Jasper that he found at the flea market. Success for all shoppers, today.

Annika's first concert!

1:00 Hang my laundry out to dry on my balcony, then set up a lounge area also on the balcony for me to sit and read in the hot sun while sipping many glasses of lemon water. Beyond the terrace is the sound of the Jazz Festival in full swing, and I look forward to exploring it later with the family.

2:00 make pizza dough

4:45 Take off for the Jazz Festival with the family. We find a stage where a young band is covering various songs from the 60s (i.e. I got sunshine on a cloudy day, You make me feel like a natural woman). While stoked to see that most of the musicians are wearing sunglasses while they play, Oliver covers his ears to muffle the noise. We all get popcicles and continue to wonder from stage to stage, scattered about the streets of Delft. I kept a tally of the number of bands covering Stevie Wonder songs. I end up leaving the group early to find the final ingredients to our pizza dinner (no feta, but I found fresh basil and Holland's version of shredded mozz. cheese in a bag).

Add caption

Covering "You make me feel like a natural woman"

6:30 We sit down to have a pizza and pasta dinner with our staple, "Change the World or Go Home" glass of rose. While very different from my pizzas back at home, I am satisfied with how the pizza turned out, and look forward to making more on a weekly basis. The boys loved the cheese pizza!

8:30 After cleaning up, I head out alone to check out more of the Jazz Festival. It had cooled off a little bit now that it was dusk, and I enjoyed snapping photos of Delft at sunset. The little streets and markt was now bustling with beautiful jazz lovers, from the very young to old. 

9:30 When my tired feet brought me home, Claire and Alex traded me places, and went out to enjoy their own jazz walk.

10:45 Rank the best bands and count the Stevie Wonder tally with Claire and Alex before heading to bed. 

Poffetjes! Dutch small fluffy pancakes

This lively band covered Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, & yes, Stevie Wonder

This band covered my favorite, Ella Fitzgerald

Chickens, and Ponies, and Goats, Oh My!

On a sunny summer day, we took a walk through the woods and emerged to find a petting zoo, complete with chickens, pigs, goats, miniature horses, birds, guinea pigs, rabbits, calfs, and sheep. It was the second time that the family had been there, but the boys insisted that I come along on this trip. While walking among the miniature ponies, I found myself uttering information to the boys about horses that I didn't know that I still had filed away in the recesses of my mind. For example, one of the boys asked about the scabby looking thing on the inner leg of one of the horses, and suddenly I was informing everyone, "Well, when horses first originated on the planet, they were born with a second toe, and today, it's located on every horse's inner thigh, just like that one." huh? Where did that come from?! How did I remember that from childhood, but can't remember things that I want to learn but can't retain in my adult brain?

After our outing to the farm, I took several trips to the store (we're doing this many times a day until our pantry is decently supplied) to attain the ingredients for peanut butter cookies. After recently being introduced to the site, Pintrest, a social network of images, I guess my new thing is finding recipes that sound good based on their pictures displayed on Pintrest. The other day I made pasta with garlic gravy, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil for dinner, and late last night, after everyone had gone to bed, I just had to make "The Best Peanut Butter Cookies Ever", also inspired by a photo from Pintrest.  They turned out pretty tastey, despite not having any measuring instruments, an enigmatic convection oven, and an unfamiliar (gluten-free) recipe with only 5 ingredients.

Earlier in the evening, until much longer after we all went to bed, we were serenaded by the beginning of "Jazz Festival" here in Delft. We look forward to hearing it all weekend.