Adventures in Amersfoort

Today has been the busiest day in the Netherlands so far! We started the day getting some more b-roll at the castle, and as part of that we got to see a pastor recording one of the Bible programs TWR distributes in Dutch, which was pretty sweet. 

After we left the castle, Harry and Eileen took us to a windmill (how awesome is that sentence?). Then we visited a cheese farm and got to sample some, well, cheese. I tried some pretty fantastic 5 week and then 5 month old cheese. These people know how to do food. 

Harry and Eileen then drove us to the town they live in, Amersfoort. Our first stop was Van Gogh Frites, a fries place that just won an award for the best fries in the Netherlands. They served them to you in a cone and you had a choice of several different sauces, including mayo, ketchup, and peanut sauce. My kind of place. Then we got to explore the city, which dates back to medieval times. History nerd wannabe that I am, I loved seeing all the old houses, churches, and walls dating back hundreds of years and hearing some of the stories behind them (and getting some b-roll, of course!).

The most interesting story took place in the 1500s, when a group of guys decided to pull a prank on the town. They had a huge party, got 400 men drunk, and got them to drag a bolder into the middle of town. After about 16 years of it just sitting there, the town decided just to burry the thing. Then, in 1903, they unearthed it again, displayed it in town, and had a bolder festival every year. Amersfoort became known as Boulder City, and countries from all over the world have sent boulders from their countries for the people of Amersfoort to add to their boulder collection. England even sent them a piece of the London Bridge! How random, but entirely fantastic, is that?

When we finished touring Amersfoort, we headed to Harry and Eileen's house for their interview. I'm super thankful that Tyler was around that day since he was able to help us with a couple of lighting issues we ran into. Even so, we definitely prayed our way through several difficulties. Just batteries, memory cards, audio, the sun... minor difficulties. But Jesus worked everything out in the end! 

After filming, we headed to supper at a dutch pancake, or pannekoek, place. The pannekoeks were a cross between crepes and pizza, and you picked whatever toppings you wanted. I got bacon, cheese, and tomatoes on mine and dipped it in the syrup stuff. Tasty! Joel, a pretty young staff member we met from TWR Netherlands came to eat with us, and it was great to get to hear more about the Dutch language and culture from him and a little about his life as well. I'm loving getting to meet and spend time with all these awesome Dutch people!

We drove to another Dutch couple's home once we finished eating to get back to work. This interview went off without a hitch, plus I got to try a Dutch gingersnap, two very encouraging things. Dirk, the guy we interviewed, is a TWR listener and now volunteers with them even though he works full time. He and his wife me serving with the youth group at their church, so it was great to hear some of the ways God is using His people in this area. 

I am now going to reward myself for this entry with a Dutch pastry and some photo editing,  (of course it's not 1 am...) so be looking out for photos on Facebook! Tomorrow's our day of touring Amsterdam, so we're all looking forward to that. Pray that this little break is good for our team and energizes us to finish out this first step of our video projects well on Friday!