Wednesday, March 12, 2008

testing, one two, one two. Anyone out there?

I have been trapped in my house for almost 3 days now because of the weather. (So, yes, I've resorted to blogging.) Normally, we just have drizzley rain here in Holland but some mother of a storm is raging through and the wind is OUT OF CONTROL. I'm afraid of being blown away if I step a foot out the front door.

So, anyhoo, I thought I'd relate this nice little story from my first days here in Den Bosch:

Martijn had returned to Enschede for a few days, and I was left alone to wander around my new city. I didn't know a soul, so on Friday night, I decided to step out and see if Carnival had officially unofficially started. (Officially, it doesn't begin until the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, but excuse me, you can't really stand between people and their need to get rip-roaring drunk, now can you?)

I was strolling around the pretty downtown area, taking in the revelers and brass bands already whooping it up in the street, when I saw two young guys in suits walking my way.

Oh, ah ha! I thought. Here comes the infamous drunken flirt that I'd heard was a major part of Carnival. These guys must already be lit.

They swerved over to my side of the street and said to me in Dutch, "Hallo. Wij zijn van de Kerk van Jezus Christus van de Heiligen der Laatste Dagen."

I'm sorry, WHAT? You're WHAT?

Mormons. From Utah, no less. Out of all the people I could meet in my new city, I get railroaded by two young, fresh-faced boys on their missionary trip. And they'd picked me as the sinner they needed to save.