Hello!
I don't have a lot of pictures, so I thought I might just come on here and say I'll be posting again when I get the pictures, but I might write a bit about what I've done, too, and then just follow up with more when I get the pictures!
First, my weeks have become very structured and regular. On Mondays, I'm usually elsewhere doing school visits - this past Monday I was up in Groningen, which is reeeaaaally far in the north of Holland. It took me almost three hours to get there. It was quite a trip for one day!
At work, I've been working on getting ready to call parents, and yes, this week, I started calling the parents of kids with and without ADHD to participate in my study. It's pretty interesting! Most of the parents are really receptive to my calls, and are even willing to try and speak Dutch with me when they need to. It's been very reassuring! It's still a huge challenge, though. Every time I get on the phone I sort of have to admit to myself that I will probably embarrass myself. It's hard, to call people over and over again, knowing that each time, you're going to have someone who thinks you're just slightly off your rocker on the other end of the phone!
But I had a super-powerful week last week, and called something like 20 people, and got around 10 who were 1) home, and 2) interested in the study. Which is a lot of people for 1 week! I need 40 kiddos overall - 20 ADHD, and 20 controls. Keep your fingers crossed!
This past weekend, I went to the Delta Works, in the south of the country on Saturday. The Delta Works is this giant feat of Dutch engineering, that controls the amount of water that flows into and out of the country at all times. Because most of Holland is under sea-level, they need an ingenious solution for when heavy storms and rain come from the Atlantic. The Delta-Works, a massive line of dykes, dams, and sluices that stretches across the entire bottom-half of the country, is that solution. Really cool. Like, reaaaaallly cool. I got to go inside one of the sluices. It was GIANT. With huge mechanical arms that move these giant metal barriers that allow water to flow in or out.
On Sunday, Melissa and I hosted a "Fall Party." I'm told celebrating fall is a very American thing. Perhaps it's because of Thanksgiving. But man, I love fall! I see every reason to want to get together and celebrate it! Cooler weather, the beautiful leaves, sweaters, cute decorations, pumpkin, warm soup, bread. I mean, who doesn't love all of those things? Crazy people. So, yes, we had a wonderful fall party with some of the other Fulbright girls. We made baked mac and cheese, baked brussel sprouts (surprisingly good), mulled wine, pumpkin cornbread, and baked brie with caramelized apricots. Not bad for a fall get-together, huh!? We also made cute pumpkin and leaf decorations, which I intend to just keep up in the living room forever.
This weekend has been really laid back. On Friday, I just came home and made home-made sweet potato (zoet aardappel) gnocchi (they were very, very good), and on Saturday I cleaned, and watched "Kung Fu Panda 2," and went to a big Italian dinner, hosted by my international group. The Italian dinner was delicious - although it ended with a tiramisu that had been liberally doused in rum. It still tasted good, though...and like real rum, it just got better the more you ate of it...
Today has been the slowest of the weekend days. I worked on my homework, and made some more potato gnocchi. I worked on a project I've been kicking around for a while. My life is extraordinarily relaxed right now. I'm taking it for what it is - a gift from God.
I'm glad you're feeling relaxed and happy there and not homesick all the time. That is so good! And I'm really proud of you for being so brave to be on the phone with parents all day long and having to speak a brand-new language with them, not to mention all of your school site visits where you are answering so many interesting questions from kids. You are really learning a lot, and I think people are really enjoying having you there too. :)
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