So today was another early morning. We had to be up and ready for breakfast at six. It took 3 hours to get to Amsterdam from Maastricht. Some took the train to Amsterdam and the rest, five others rode with Kent and Leslie… and had a chance to ride the ferry into the city:] We started off sight seeing. Most saw the seven floor library filled with escalators and an awesome view at the top. Overall, Amsterdam was a chaotic city… all under construction, cars and bikes flying everywhere. And of course our group dodging it all. It seemed like turning one corner made all the difference: the red light district. Before going through, Kent consulted P-Jeff and told each of us that we didn’t have to walk through if we didn’t feel comfortable. But the girls paired up with the guys all around. As we walked through we prayed for the girls and the district itself. I (Mason) felt a particular darkness in that area. Last year in Greece I felt God call me to work with human trafficking victims, and though I’ve done a lot of research on this topic, seeing this first hand was completely different than anything I would have ever expected. Although it was hard I’m grateful I was able to go through this area and I believe it was a big eye opener for many people other than myself and I’m sure everyone will be glad to share about their experiences when we get back. Not spending too much time there, we quickly made our way back to a boat tour. It was an hour ride and took us around the city in and out all the canals and opened up into the bay.

We headed over to a cafeteria for lunch. Ate some pretty good food and then went shopppppppppiiiiiiing! (“I am Mason deFilippo and I approve this message”) We hit a bunch of stores, looking for jerseys, souvenirs, and other European goods. (: *insert mason’s teen girl squad “mmmmmm” sound effect. We had a good couple hours to look around. P-jeff bet Glory (our translator/helper person) that if he played his guitar, he couldn’t make 20 bucks in euros in ten minutes… we are still waiting to see if he was successful. (unsure of how to put this, mason proudly chimed in “BROUGHT HOME THE BACON!!”)

We ate some grub at a really good Italian restaurant! We left there and were surprised by spotting the “I am-sterdam.” We were suddenly filled with energy and our inner tourist came out… mason was free running on top of it all. We got tons of pictures, don’t worry.  (Mason insists on correcting all of my vocabulary issues… typical homeschooler). From there, we headed over to ANNE FRANK’S HOUSE (Sorry mom they didn’t allow pictures, but I’ll describe it for you when we get back, Mason) We got ice cream, got on the train, and returned to the hostile. Currently we are still awake and are considering pulling an all nighter, seeing as we would have to get up in 2 hours anyway. We love you all and can’t wait to see you when we get back tomorrow evening.

Mason and Deanna

P.S.       Dad they didn’t have any Amsterdam mugs at starbucks, so I’m going to try to get one when I’m in Dusseldorf tomorrow. (Mason)

P.S.S.   mommy, I miss you. Hope the floors are going ok. And grad party prep. Thanks for  all you do. (: boyfriend, way to wait til the very-almost-last-day to give me shout                                                       out. Shayna, Brooke, Miranda: you all have a little something coming your way from Europe (Deanna)

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