Spoiled by friends...

I had already been spoiled by various friends in Amsterdam a week earlier…with yummy dinners, wonderful company and genuine interest in my work abroad, but this past week I was spoiled once again by a group of friends in Arnhem.

It began on Saturday afternoon when I was warmly welcomed by Mirjam and her 8 week old son, Jafeth. What a cutie; within a few minutes he was snuggled up in my arms. Later that evening Mirjam, her husband Stephan and I made our way to Zwolle for a concert, where we met up with more friends of mine (both sisters of Stephan): Jacqueline (her husband is in South Africa for 2 weeks and her 2 sons were sleeping at her parents’ place) and Miranda. They decided to treat me to a Christmas concert put on by Inside Out (a black gospel choir) and Ralph van Manen. It was a fun evening and had a very Christmassy atmosphere.

On Sunday I went to Jacqueline’s church, where her sister-in-law, Carmen, and husband Sjoerd were leading worship. They are also good friends of mine. We spent the rest of the day hanging out together as a group and everyone continued to spoil me. We went to a pancake restaurant for lunch- a very Dutch thing to do- with a 101 different types of pancakes to choose from; delicious to say the least. After that we went for a stroll in Sonsbeek park (the park I used to live near). It was beautiful weather; so quite enjoyable and a bit nostalgic. Then we went back to Stephan and Mirjam’s place where we had a great pizza dinner! But slowly people had to leave to go home. Later Stephan, Mirjam and I watched a movie and talked some more. I really loved being able to cuddle with their baby often- he’s starting to chat a bit and is full of smiles!

On Monday, after a quick visit to the dentist (which only took 10 minutes thank goodness) I met up with Miranda at her place. And she then spoiled me once again by taking me out to a really fancy little place in Sonsbeek park for lunch. After a lovely lunch it was time for me to head back to Middelburg again.

It was SO GOOD to see friends again, but also a bit sad to know that I only see them 1-2 days out of the year. That’s one thing that would be nice to change!

Thanks Stephan, Mirjam, Jafeth, Jacqueline, Justin, Denzel, Carmen, Sjoerd and Miranda! You guys are amazing!

(You can find links to their blogs on the bottom right of my blog)