ok so this week! hmm.. we actually spent a lot of time knocking doors this week (which we dont normally do) to change things up a bit.  im trying to figure out what is the most productive use for missionaries time in this area.  every area is different, even if its only 20 minutes away. this country is super interesting. there is a different dialect every 30 mins basically and the accents are so different in every part that even the people in the same country have a hard time understanding each other.  i think thats why this language is so hard for missionaries because everyone speaks it differently.  but ive really come to love it. last night we had a stake fireside about missionary work and people came up and shared experiences they have had with reactivation.  it was fun to try to figure out where each person was from based on their different accents.  im in the den haag stake (the hague) but it covers from den haag all the way to the top of north holland (above amsterdam). there are only 4 stakes in our mission so they each cover a pretty large area and people have to travel pretty far to go to church functions. most people dont have cars either so for example in our ward if you live at the top of our boundaries and dont have a car it can take around 2 hours to get to church since the bus system isnt as frequent on sundays. dedication. 
a family we had dinner with this last week shared this video with us that you should check out. its called "the difference between holland and the netherlands" on youtube. its hilarious how confusing this "country" is.  holland is only a very small section of the netherlands.  
people always ask about food too.  food depends on the season here but since its winter almost every meal consists of a kind of meat (some kind of sausage or giant kind of meat ball usually), potatoes of course, and a green, usually spinach or other greens that we dont eat very often in america so i cant think of what you would call them in english.  then you cover it all with a thin sort of gravy (usually just the juices from the meat).  ive never had a "bad" meal here but after a few winter months you get sick of potatoes and meat.  they also make this mashed potato dish that is just a potatoes and other veggies mashed together.  so its just another variation of the everyday foods.  there is also of course the strong indo influence here in with food so we also eat a lot of rice dishes (nasi) and noodle dishes (bami) that are filled with indo spices and greens. i love indo food! they use this sause called saute saus that is basically a sort of peanut butter fatty yummy thing that you put on your food.  makes everything taste good but your boday (well mine) doesnt love it after :) i definitely dont go hungry here! 

ok thats the cultural 101 for this week :) hope you all had a great week! it was sunny for a little last week but the rain and freezing weather came back yesterday and we even got a little snow.. spring will be here soon though i hope! 
love you all!
<3<3
zuster j