What's Happening in the 'Plein

Greetings all :)

We're finally getting back into the swing of things here. Going on vacation while in the early stages of moving to a new country really sets things back in the "settled in" department. It took about a week for us to get out of the jet lag and back into sleeping all night. It doesn't help that the sun doesn't really get up and shine until around 10 am. I thought these two pictures illustrate the lack of light pretty well. I had to check the camera to see when I took each one because I had them confused. The completely dark one is at 8 in the morning, and the one with the peek-a-boo sun is about 7pm. Totally messes with my mind...

When we got home, our quiet corner of Holland had turned completely holiday themed. It started with an ice rink where kids skate in bright orange rented skates, and if they aren't too strong, they get what looks like a blue walker to help them keep balanced. Next came the carousel complete with music and flashing lights. The next day (Saturday), Matt and I tried to go to the grocery store because, not having a car, you can only carry so much at once, and we hadn't made enough trips yet to stock the kitchen to my liking. At 10am the town square was just about desolate. I only saw one other person, and she was just walking from one of the apartments over to where you can recycle glass. The garbage by the apartments only have trash and paper recycling. We thought the grocery store should have been open by then, but nope...everything was under lock down. Matt and I thought maybe it was because of the holidays. But, were this California, and the week before Christmas, most things would open at 7am for early sales opportunities.

We rolled back home, a little disappointed at not being able to buy juice (sap), and took a nap. When I woke up, I took out the trash, and when I got down stairs, I decided to try the store again. If the Albert Heijn was still closed, I knew I could hop on the bus and get to another shop that should be open. To my total shock, the Stadsplein was crawling with people. Everything was thrown wide open, and literally stuffed to the gills with merry makers.

And, now someone has installed bumper cars, a donut shop, one of those stalls where you throw darts for prizes, but the stall was just called "Cherokee"... All the hustle and bustle had almost swallowed the star center piece, the carousel. Today when I went out to check if the organic "bio" market still ran during holiday hours, everything was in full swing, market included. There is some serious atmosphere going on in this town... It must have been tough for those commercial makers to get a slot with the square empty. Just before we left for Jamaica, we saw it air. It is indeed a commercial for the local lotto, but it was interesting to see our street and our shopping center front and center on the TV. I recorded a smidgen to show ya'll. Who knows at what point the clip here was actually shot, but when Matt and I were watching, we stood behind these guys walking, and to their right. And the doorbell they ring is on our walk to the bus station. I've seen Walnut Creek on the news before, but not in something like this. For some reason, this piece of fiction is way more interesting than actual news... go figure.

Ugh! It's after midnight again!!!!