Boat time in Holland

 So I am writing sitting in the living room, beside some steep stairs, with a canal in the front yard and some sheep in the back yard. I also had some apple flappen and poffertjes today both are delicious Dutch treats that involve icing sugar. This is life in Holland. I am spending a week here in Holland with Mom and Dad on my way to Kenya. We arrived Friday afternoon. The flight was delayed two hours before we got on and then delayed another  1 ½ hours after we got on, then it was an 8 hour flight. It was a long time for me to sit still (those of you who know me well know sitting still is not my strong point).

I called this trip "Boat Time". I have not yet gotten on a boat, and despite all the canals I don’t know if I will get on a boat but still this whole week is my "boat time". During the missionary training course I took in Colorado, a month ago, I learned that before the age of air travel missionaries used to take a boat. Boats took time which had its advantages such as no jet lag, but it also had the advantage of allowing the missionaries to process their departures, grieve their good-byes and anticipate there new life they will soon be embarking on. Now a days one hops on a plane and makes it to the destination 20 hours later, exhausted and still having not processed what they have left nor having been able to prepare for their new life. So spending a week in Holland is my boat, not only can I get over jet leg I also have time to process things. As a bonus, I get a week to spend time with my parents, I will miss them greatly over the next 2 years and this week is creating great memories.

So I will continue to be a tourist in Holland this next week. I have already spent some time in Den Hague seeing the Peace Palace, international court, the Queen's palace and Parliament. I also saw a stunning painting done by Mezdag: a panorama that it is 14m high and circles all around you with a circumference of 120m, the biggest panorama in the world you stand in the middle of it and it feels like you are really in the village of Scheveningen. I am not much into art but this was phenomenal. I have also been to Delft and saw 2 churches with lots of royalty buried in them. They have the old church and the new church. The new church is 200 years newer than the old church with the new church being built ~1400 and the old one in 1256.
 

So I will end this post now I will share some pictures in a few days but right now my camera is 1 km away at Oma’s (grandma’s) and I am staying at the neighbours.