It's Kermis -- not Kermit!

Traveling carnivals seem to abound in Holland. They go to really big towns and throw a really big party there -- like Uden or even bigger: Oss. They come to little towns, and have four or five small rides -- like Volkel. Kermis is what these things are called. And, they come in the late summer to this part of the Netherlands...and because this is a Catholic area, they come again right before Lent.

I stayed away from the ones at Uden and Oss, having been to the German version (which was part of the pig roasting festival -- go on, ask me what I was doing at a pig roasting festival...not eating pig). These are big, crowded, loud, and tend to attract non-locals, who might be interested in picking a pocket (though with my purse and my baby sling forever intertwined, mine might not be the easiest pocket to pick.

I have heard from friends here that you can take your child on whatever ride you think that s/he might enjoy. This includes babies. And, sure enough, at both the one in Germany and the mini-one in Volkel, there are no signs saying that you must be this tall. But, the mini one in Volkel really had mostly tame, kid appropriate rides (there were about 5 rides, and three of these were: the little airplane ride, where you go in a circle slowly, up and down; bumper cars; and a small carousel). There were the traditional Carney games (hoops, water guns...), and then there were the big tents and live music at the bars and restaurants in town.

Eric and I felt simultaneously too old and not old enough. We looked around, covered our ears from the noise, and came home (if we were older, we could have turned off our hearing aids -- and probably would have ponied up some dough for Eileen to ride the rides).

This is the perfect place to announce that I had never seen a port-a-urinal (this is a hexagonal, unenclosed thing) located on a village street, in the parking area for a church before. I guess, you drink enough, you feel confident about peeing in public.