3.October: Leids Ontzet

This is me at 2am last night; after two days of not sleeping.  I had good reason to do this.  Yesterday, you see, was the 3rd of October, the most important holiday in Leiden.  In 1574 Leiden was under siege.  The country was under Spanish control, and Dutch rebels had been fighting them.  The Spanish were ruthless, and wiped out entire villages to stop the rebels.  The rebels, called the Geuzen (peasants), flooded the fields around Leiden to weaken the Spanish forces camped there.  It was October, after all, and camping in a foot of water is no fun, even when it's warm.  So, on October 3rd, 1574, the Dutch fleet managed to defeat the Spanish fleet, and the soggy Spanish in the fields fled.  Leiden was freed!  The Geuzen rushed in with herring and white bread to feed the starving citizens, and a boy looting the Spanish camp found a pot of potato and onion stew, called Hutspot, and that was also served to the people.  Traditions begin.  Every year on 3.October the people of Leiden eat herring and white bread, and Hutspot to celebrate the city's freedom.  Leids Ontzet:Leiden's Relief.

The party actually starts on the 2nd of October.  It's amazing.  The streets literally fill with people, so thick you can't move.  There is music and dancing, in the streets, and a fair with rides and games.  I went out with a huge group of people (mostly Italians, but there were a few Germans, and an Iranian guy, Farhad.)  We wandered the streets (in the rain) and ate olieballen (oil balls: think funnel cake balls) and danced and enjoyed the evening.  At some point Farhad and I got separated from the group, so we went to the fair and rode the rides and watched the games.  Farhad had never been to a fair before (!) so it was amazing to experience something so common through the eyes of another.  :-)  We met up again with the group, plus a few people from Taiwan, and a guy from Korea.  Fred (Taiwan) and Yoon (Korea) both told me that I must come to their countries and teach English.  They then fought over whose country would pay me more.  They both agreed I should not go to China.  :-)  The newly reunited group spent the rest of the evening playing at the fair and dancing in the street discos.  :-D

I took a nap and woke up at 6am.  ISN-R organized a tour of the city's 3.October activities in English.  We went to the town hall and sang the city's anthem, and followed a procession through the streets to hear the Mayor speak about the history of the town and to make fun of Spanish people.  We ate the traditional herring and bread breakfast (sort of like Sülze the taste is actually ok, it's the texture that makes me want to die.  Very gooey.  Urgh, yuck.)  We went to a museum of Leiden history and got to see artifacts that were looted from the Spanish camp!  Spanish playing cards from 1574!  There was also the original pot that the Hutspot was found in!  Cool!  We watched street performers.  The best was a woman dressed in red on a red ball as tall as I am, dancing with a puppet 3m (10ft) tall controlled by a man on the street.  Amazing.  (I found out today that my mom used to do this sort of ball-dance!!  I mean, without the puppet man, but... !!!!)  There was also a parade, which was hilarious, and a lot of fun.  

I then went home and took another quick nap, and then hit the streets again.  Back to the fair, back to the dances, back to the day.  :-)  Jan Claus (Italy-Holland) and I went to the fireworks that ended the festivities.  I adore fireworks.  I don't know that I'll ever get tired of them.  I love the colored ones, I love the sparkly ones, I love the ones that buzz and scream like angry insects.  I love them all.  But my favorite ones are simply flashes of light, and a loud, heart shaking boom.  Just light and sound.  Jan Claus and I went back to the fair and played the games and ate olieballen and talked and laughed and laughed.  He studies archaeology and is interested in religions and how they interact, so we had a lot to talk about.  I finally got home, and chatted for a bit with my mom, before mustering the energy to climb into bed and sleep at last.  

Leiden, trots van Nederlands steden

Parel van het Hollands land

Stad van heden vol verleden

Stad van werk met hart en hand

Plaats van dromen en van daad

Waar ieder blijft en niemand gaat

Leiden stad van denken en doen

Stad van mijn hart door nu en toen

(Leiden, pride of Dutch cities

Pearl of the land of Holland

City of the present full of the past

City of the work of  heart and hand

Place of dreams and of deeds

Where everyone stays and no one leaves

Leiden, city of thinking and doing

City of my heart through now and then.)

I wore the traditional white scarf.  I wore the traditional red and white fingerless gloves (no fingers so you can still eat the herring.)  I ate the traditional herring.  I sang the traditional songs.  I jumped into the culture of this place, and I caught a glimpse of Leiden as it is.  I'm beginning to really love this little town of dromen en daad, of denken en doen.