When we decided to stay in Paris an extra day we gave up Belgium. Of course we did change trains in Bruxelles and went through the town on the train but we basically didn’t visit the place. It was too bad. The train wound it self north, slower than the train that brought us to Bruxelles that clipped along going more thant 300 KPH.

The country side was beautiful, think Lord of the Rings but flatter. The train stopped in Rotterdam and we had 10 minutes to switch trains. We ran outside and took some pictures.

What can I tell you about Rotterdam? It looks nice by the train station. Rotterdam is also Bean’s home town. As in, Bean from Ender Game is from Rotterdam. From where we were it didn’t look like there were gangs of pre-pubescent adolescents roaming the streets stealing. Go figure.

We ran back in side and jumped on the train to Utrecht. When we arrived everyone spoke english. It was uncanny, see incredible. I still don’t really get how an entire nation can just pick up a foreign language that has no roots in that country. We asked the pretty girl in the bus that was going to let us know when our stop was how she learned english.

She looked confused and said, as if it were nothing, “I took it in school.” Raise your hand if you took a 2nd language in high school, keep it raised if you learned to actually speak it in that class.

That’s what I thought.

I guess all movies are also shown in english with dutch subtitles. I can see that helping but still, make everyone fluent?!

We got to Sylvia’s house around 7 and met Evanne, one of her room mates. The house that Sylvia lives in actually has 15 students living there. They all seem to have their own rooms and it’s mixed gender. We hung out with Evanne who showed us around. Another room mate got home while I was playing one of their Guitars. He got out his, Evanne got our her harp and we jammed. I never even knew there was such a thing as “Jazz Harp” but there it is and it’s awesome.

We recorded one song that came out ok and I will play upon request for those that wish to hear a Holland Jam. Sylvia showed up at the very end so we have our whole greeting recorded as well. I hadn’t seen Sylvia in 4-5 years so it was really good to see her again and hang out. She was sorry that she got there late and even more sorry that she had to go to bed early for work in the morning. Good night Sylvia.

Evanne didn’t need to be to bed and actually needed to make pancakes. So we stayed up with her and made pancakes into the wee hours of the morning.

Tomorrow is Sunday and after church I’ll get some pictures of architecture and that sort of stuff.

Getting to Holland in the morning actually took longer than expected. We missed the earliest train that we wanted to take and then found out that all the places had been reserved on trains for the next few hours. So settled in to wait three hours for the next available train.

Travel Tip: If your train requires reservations get it done early and you won’t be stuck in the train station waiting.

Gary watched a movie on my laptop and I decided to go wander around Paris. I didn’t really know this part of town so it was an adventure. And then tragedy struck. You see being in a strange city in a faraway land by yourself can do a lot to eliminate inhibitions. Things you would normally never do all of the sudden seem normal. This combined with little sleep and strange schedules makes for a volatile cocktail comparable in effectiveness to being slipped a roofie.

In my wanderings I saw a man with three tiny foam pads (the size of a palm) he was mixing them up and then challenging the watchers to guess which one had white painted under it. I thought it was so urban; classic even. I stopped to watch, I didn’t have anything better to do.

Something happened, I was good at it! I knew where it was every single time. People where winning and loosing money left and right but I could tell where it was without fail! It was almost laughable. Of course I knew there were people that ran operations like this that cheated and we’re very good but this guy must not be very skilled. At least thats what I told my self.

The operator enticed me to put some money down which I said no to. Of course not, everyone knows that I don’t gamble. Pretty soon I forgot that it even was gambling. I knew with certainty where it was every single time.

The operator again asked me to show him 10 bucks. I opened my wallet, all I had was a 20. Not that it mattered, I knew where the mark was. I pointed triumphantly. This guy was so excited for me to take his money that I figured I should let him give it to me.

He flipped the designated pad and I stood mouth a gape as 20 euros slipped from my hands. I stumbled off wondering what in the world just happened. Had I just gambled? Once more had I just lost and not just lost but twenty euros. My internal calculator went mad, 5 Kebabs, 14 pastries, 1 jacket, 13 baskets of fries. I used to play this game when I was a missionary converting my euros into what I could actually get for them. There it was, 5 meals, gone in a second.

Travel Tip: Never think for a second that a street gambler isn’t hustling you. Don’t stop, don’t look and for heaven’s sake don’t reach for your wallet.

This is normally a bad idea but I went back to the stand still amazed at what I had just done. I don’t gamble and part of me felt consoled thinking that I paid 20 euros for the lesson why. I watched some more and once again I saw where it was every time. I wanted my money back and I might have tried to win some back had I had any cash, thankfully I didn’t.

Travel Tip: Don’t carry a ton of cash on you. It will minimize your losses to mind controlling gambling or being jumped which is practically the same thing.

There were now more people and I was standing directly in front of the proprietor of the cardboard box. I could see everyone. He mixed the pads and invited bets. I knew where it was. The man running the game leaned over to his right to invite a bet from someone standing there. While he was thus distracted an arab dude to his left peeked under the pad and then placed a bet. The woman next to him saw what he was doing and bet with him. 40 euros.

Now I had a choice. Let the robber get robbed and his just desserts or be honest and tell on them. I figured I’d already lost the right choice card earlier when I decided to loose 20 euros so as the operator pulled 40 euros out to pay I stopped them. I told him that the arab dude cheated and not to pay them. He thanked me and the Arab dude looked like he didn’t know what to do. He muttered that he hadn’t been cheating.

The game ended and the operator started to walk off. I stopped him and he gave me 10 euros for pointing out the cheater.

Life tip: Honestly pays off

I headed back to the train station 10 euros poorer with a cool story and no desire to ever gamble ever again.