spring break adventures

with daniel visiting for spring break, i had both an excuse to take a significant break from my work teaching (so that i could be a good host) - and also an excuse to do things that i normally wouldn't. and so my spring break was filled with a number of adventures:

- we went to a Whitecaps baseball game (the Whitecaps are a minor league baseball team - a "farm" team for the Detroit Tigers). they're pretty good, but what made the experience was the need to take several blankets along, and all of the random events/games that happened in between innings (like throwing hotdogs at the crowd, doing the chicken dance, watching strange races, etc.)
- we visited the fish ladder in Grand Rapids (you can see the previous blog entry for the pictures)
- we went out to Lake Michigan - and delighted in the peace and beauty we found wandering through the dunes and woods in PJ Hoffmaster state park.
- we ate well. we went out once (to a Mexican restaurant) but most of the time we cooked at home, being more creative and a bit more grand than we would normally - simply because we had the time and energy. Kristin joined us most of the time - and we ate at the kitchen table, which is a bit unusual for us here. (it's only honest to admit that it's mostly thanks to daniel that we ate so well :)
- we walked. a lot. i think i know the neighbourhood better now than i ever used to! but it was also delightful to see daniel's reaction to the neighbourhood and the houses - such a difference from downtown Amsterdam!
- i "taught" daniel to drive :) being from Amsterdam, he'd had limited opportunity to drive a vehicle (and it's crazy expensive there to get your license so a lot of people don't get one - and it's not necessary). so we practiced in a couple of parking lots, and he managed to do a pretty good job handling the car (a standard at that), and i didn't fear for my life nor the well-being of the car (most of the time at least :). and i liked knowing that i could provide the opportunity to do something here that would have been almost impossible to do in Amsterdam.
- we puttered a lot - watched some movies, tried to learn to salsa dance from a dvd (it went okay - although trying to follow the hip hop dance exercise video was a lot more amusing!), i did some grading, daniel read some and teased Newman, and we just spent time relaxing.
- and i introduced him to the peace and wonder of St.Gregory's Abbey for the last few days of his visit. by that time, we had begun the biggest adventure of spring break: the process of ending our dating relationship. during his visit, we had come to recognize that as much joy and delight as we had being together as a couple that it was better for both of us that the relationship end - that it would be hard for both of us to be fully honest and fully ourselves if we tried to continue simply as we were. and so at the monastery, we walked and talked and walked and prayed and walked and talked. i finally got to see most of the monastery grounds (it's huge) - and we both said good-bye to dating each other.
- the adventure continued: just as we were getting prepared to say good-bye (and i was getting ready to process his visit and mentally prepare from spring break mode to go back to teaching), we discovered his flight had been cancelled! we negotiated a much better ticket and schedule than the one they had originally changed him to - but the compromise was that he'd stay another night (although he'd fly out of Grand Rapids instead of Detroit). and in knowing that daniel would certainly be welcome to stay with me longer, we recognized how much the time at the monastery had been instrumental in healing much of the awkwardness and uncomfortable-ness of ending a relationship. certainly the sadness had not gone all away, nor will it disappear quickly - but nonetheless, i am filled with hope that i will have the courage to open my heart and my eyes to whatever adventures might be before me next.