Sunday Dinners at the Aay's

Here's a little glimpse into something that has been going on the entire semester but I have just now captured with photographic evidence! On the Sunday nights that we are not recovering from an excursion or some other outing, the Aays will have our little clan of Calvin students over for dinner. I always, always appreciate the chance to 1) eat a delicious home-cooked (apartment-cooked?) meal, 2) eat in what feels like a real living room, not just the bedroom/living roomkitchen that is my own room or the kitchen/community space/cesspit that is my floor's kitchen. And the dinner company is pretty enjoyable, too :)
We have been led through a grand tour of Dutch cuisine at these dinners. We have had hutspot, pea soup, boerenkool, and even the "Dutch" favorite, Indonesian food. For dessert, we have tried mergpijpjes, negerzoenen, bokkepootjes, and dubbelvla (yum!). As you can tell, we have eaten well!

Yesterday we enjoyed soup after a wet, dreary day. Sarah dishing up a bowl:







































Yum!


























Sometimes the conversation turns to some shocking topics...



















Nah, I'm kidding. Those are just the looks you get when you pull out a camera. We are a happy bunch. Especially when dessert is brought out. Action shot of the dubbelvla!



















What a good looking bunch!




















Dinner at the Aay's is one of those great little things that happens here a lot but I don't necessarily take the time to document because it is just an "ordinary" thing. But since I have only slightly more than a month left here (yikes!), I want to get these things down in writing, because they matter as much as a trip to Rome or a crazy orange holiday. So, here's to the small things, like Sunday dinner with friends, that make ordinary days in Amsterdam brighter! And thank you, Prof. and Mrs. Aay, for feeding hungry college students many times in the past few months. We appreciate it!




















-- I told you this picture might show up on here ;) --