So…the huge arts and culture festival that I have been planning happened last weekend and it was amazing. We had about 10 bands playing on one big stage, and small acoustic jammers and forum speakers on another stage. Mingled through out were food vendors, a wandering youth circus, art activities, demonstrations, and  the art market.

So many people walked through the entire day. Some families, some solos, some with dogs, and all in all I feel it was a great success. There were amazing performers through out the day including a belly dancer who did battle with four breakdancers to the song “Galvanize” by the Chemical Brothers. If you can just picture that in your head it should bring a smile to your face.

The whole day was just filled with community involvement which was so nice to help organize. Even though I am not a permanant resident here, I feel like this is my community for now and I should support it. The head of Pine Street raved about it and Christie who was coordinating the entire thing, thought it turned out great. We talked for a bit the next day when I went in to help her clean up and she had already started thinking of things to do differently and how to do it next year.

For helping out so much on planning it, the head of Pine Street has given me free entry into a ceramics class, so I can use the studio for free and work on the wheels. I hope that I can make some work and then sell it at these art markets that are held every saturday in Glebe. It was so nice though, to be appreciated when I did not expect anything in return for helping out.

The other night I got to meet two of my sisters friends who she lived with in Adelaide. Alex and Alex (better know as German Alex and Oxford Alex) They are so nice and so much fun. The three of us went out in Kings Cross and hung out in their hostel before hand and I met another fabulous girl named Gemma from England. She was so so much fun as well!

Well I have to run…

Lauren

Last week I mainly worked on one of my essays the whole week. Friday and Saturday night I went out with friends however I think everyone is stressing out or tired because the vibe wasn’t as lively as it normally is. But doing all that work on my essay made me feel better about my travel plans this week.

Monday I had a “class trip” to Tate Modern for my postmodernism class. Some of the paintings/scupltures were impossible to make a comparison between what we had read and learned in class though others I could actually see some sort of connection. I think it was a good idea to try and link the concepts were were learning and reading about with something more visual. It helped, in my mind, to link the concepts more within the arts and bring it to a broader plane. After our trip I headed to Liverpool St. Station and met Cris there. We took Stansted Express to the Airport and waited for our flight to Zadar, Croatia.

When we landed at Zadar Airport, we realized that we must have been the first or one of the first Ryanair flights to land at Zadar because we were greeted in the airport with food, drink and music. From there it was a quick bus ride to the central bus station of Zadar. We then got a local bus to our guesthouse. The flight from London to Zadar was £44 for the two of us and to stay in the guesthouse for the two of us for two nights was around 60euros.

In the morning when we woke, we walked to the old town of Zadar which is situated on a peninsula. We crossed the footbridge (which at night is illuminated like the Millennium Bridge) and entered the the main square where we had our first 8kuna cup of cappuccino (about 70p or $1.40). After going to the information centre we walked down the main street. Our first stop was the roman Forum and Church of St. Donat which is the very emblem of Zadar and on the cover of the map and various other tourist information. From there we walked to the northern edge of the peninsula to look at the boats and coast. There was construction at the northern tip of the island, it felt like they were preparing for the influx of tourists that are expected to come, especially since Ryanair has just started flying there and the £ is so strong at the moment. We stopped off at the sea organ, a newly deviced tourist advice and also nice way to enjoy the sea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_organ). It was there we ran into a couple- a guy from Chile who is going to be working in Croatia, and a woman from France- who were on our bus the night before and we chatted to when confused and trying to figure out where our guesthouse was. We agreed to meet them for lunch an hour later.

Cris and I continued walking down the promenade or The Quay of King Petar Kresimir IV under a sunny cloudless sky. The water was really clear and the area around the promenade had several benches in the shade with nice freshly planted flowers. We walked to the edge of the promenade and noticed a school was situated there and we remarked upon how the surrounding area is so beautiful, who would actually stay and not skip school everyday? We turned and walked along the edge of what I think were castle ruins to the Land Gate and Fosa bay area. The Land Gate had a lion on it which looked familar and only after reading the book we bought about Zadar on the plane did I realize that it was the symbol of Venice, which goes along with their history. I learned that in the past Zadar was under Venetian control several times.

We then met up with the couple from earlier and had lunch at this place near the Forum where we got calzones literally the size of your face for 15kuna (about £1.50 or $3). We had seen people, who looked like students, walking towards us with them and they smelled amazing so we followed our noses. Then Cris and I got cappuccino at the Forum caffe bar (funny because our Forum bar on our campus doesn’t have roman ruins!) and filled out postcards. Later on we saw children running and playing among the roman ruins as if it was a typical playground! After chilling out in the cafe a bit away from the scorching sun we got a mandatory ice cream for 5kuna (about 50p or $1) and then headed to the southern part of the peninsula outside the Land Gate to explore the small but neatly kept park. We returned to the promenade to watch the much acclaimed Zadar sunset only for it to be blocked by clouds. By this time we had a good grasp of the city and walked around to find a place to eat. We ended up eating out for 200kuna (about £20 or $40) which included appetizer, 2 main meals and drinks. We tried some Dalmatian smoked ham (Zadar is in the region of Dalmatia) because I had read about it in a guidebook (we also later ended up bringing home some Croatian beers such as Ozujsko and the famous liqueur of Zadar- Maraschino- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maraschino ). I got pasta with scampi because I figured the pasta would be good as a result of Zadar’s Italian influce and some sort of seafood because of the promixity to the sea. After dinner we walked outside the city walls along the port and then back across the footbridge and into the city walls to get ice cream. From there it was a 20 minute walk or so back to the guesthouse.

The next day we checked out and left our suitcase at a place in the city. To begin the day, like naughty schoolchildren, we bought ice cream and went around the market. It was a real market, not a “London market” so there was mainly vegetables and a few cheap clothing and bags, though Cris bought the mandatory fashionable pair of sunglasses. We then settled down for a cappuccino, deciding that since we’re on vacation and it’s more than affordable we were going to have as much ice cream and pizza we could handle. I had mapped out the areas of Zadar we had explored the day before and decided to walk through the areas we hadn’t already seen. We walked back towards the promenade, walked passed the Franciscan Monastery (stopping at one of the many free WCs on the way) and then came out onto the main street where we bought ate and an amazing pizza and calzone. We then walked back towards the area around the school that we saw the day before, browsed one of the many boutiques, and then settled down for a Croatian beer at a Caffe and discussed what else we had to do before leaving. This of course involved more pizza and more ice cream, before heading to the book store to buy a book about Zadar and Damatia. These books would have been perhaps more handy the day before to discover what we had really been seeing since we didn’t really have much information on Zadar- the guidebook had very little and the tourist information centre was only stocked well with maps. However the new, modern up and coming vibe of this old city with the mark of Romans, Venetians, Turk invaders and later the bombs of WWII and then bombs of Yugoslavia has resulted in a relaxed Mediterranean vibe is sure to be soon invaded by tourists. It was something I could feel, perhaps because of the construction and renovations, the change I could see from the pictures in the book based on now only 4 years later. It felt good to be there now but I have a feeling it might be unrecognizable and much more crowded in 5 years from now.

It was a short but amazing trip and I would definitely go back to Zadar as well as to other areas. I’ve now had about two days to adjust to being back in North London, but tomorrow I am going to Oviedo, Spain. This will mark the end of the my travels for now since next month will be devoted to essay writing for my deadline on May 21! So I’m enjoying this all now, in light of the fact that soon the only place I’ll be travelling to is the library!

The weather here is gorgeous.
It’s about 70 and sunny. all of the flowering trees are in bloom, and pollen floats around like a slow snowfall.
All of the restaurants and caffes in the piazza have put out their outdoor tables, so all of italian social life happens in the open air this time of year.
The atmosphere helps keep me relaxed.

I’m still a bit worried about exams and such, but all the other foreign students keep telling me not to worry so much. I’m trying. I really am. It’s just the compulsive student in me.

Oh and by the way, security did catch me. They came to my door yesterday with the cleaning ladies and made me sign some form.
One of my block-mates Nadja is going to come with me to try and sort it out. We went early this morning, but a lot of people are off this week due to the holiday.
Again?
Yes.
This week is the 62nd anniversary of Italian freedom from the Nazis, so it’s an official holiday. I feel like i’m never in class. (this partially contributes to my test anxiety. that and the whole second language thing.)
I may go to a festival in Pesaro, a nearby town, tomorrow.

Also, this weekend i think we’re visiting San Marino, another nearby town, for a day trip with some of the students from Finland.

After that, my next planned trip is for May 4-10 to Sicily. I hope to hit Palermo, Mt. Etna, Taormina, the Valley of the Temples, and Licata, where my grandmother’s family is from. it should be fun and full of beach time.

Oops. Just signed on to write another entry and I realized that rather than posting this one I had just saved it. Sorry for the delay…. 

Wow. Time has been going by so fast here. We have less than two months and there are still so many things that I want to do yet I never find myself feeling bored at all. I do seem to be having trouble finding the time to blog though. Sorry for that. But now it’s the beginning of vacation and I have no plans for the rest of the day so I figured it was the perfect opportunity for an update.

The weather here in Besace has been amazing. Some friends of ours who study at the Fac (the regular university) showed us this park that’s pretty close to where all my classes are. It’s so amazing. It’s right on the Doubs which is the river that surrounds the city on three sides. Now that the weather is nice though it’s filled with people and there’s almost always a drum circle going on and a whole group of people who juggle. It really makes me appreciate being here. I feel so lucky to be given this opportunity. I suppose there are parks like that certain places in the US but the point is that there’s one here with me and it’s a place to enjoy the sunshine and sit with friends. It just has such a feeling of community about it.

And other things are going well. Last weekend there was a trip organized through the CLA to visit four castles in the Loire Valley. We left at around 6 in the morning saturday and stayed on the bus for a long 7 hours before we reached Amboise where our hostel was. We only had a little time to settle in before we headed off to the first Castle of the trip, Chenonceau. It was my first trip to a castle so I was pretty excited. The whole thing is built over the river and is absolutley gorgeous. It was packed with tourists though. I suppose that’s understandable as it is one of the most famous castles. It was built in the fifteenth century and has been used continuously since then. In WWI it was a hospital for wounded soldiers and it WWII it served as a way to sneak from occupied territory to unoccupied territory.

The grounds were gorgeous too and it was such a beautiful day. I walked around the gardens and along the river and enjoyed the sunshine until it was time to leave. We went back to the hostel where they served us dinner and we spent the rest of the night wandering around the town of Amboise. It’s so small and beautiful but completely dominated by a huge castle in the middle of town. But that was for the next day.

So we woke up and our first stop for the day was Azay-le-rideau. It was smaller than Chenonceau but beautiful nonetheless. Only one floor was really open for viewing and we didn’t have a guide or anything so again we finished early and spent the morning laying around the fields outside. We went back to Amboise and had a chance to get some lunch before a guided tour of the castle that was right there.

It was interesting to have a guided tour but not as exciting because it seemed like less of an adventure. At all the other places we got to explore but at Amboise we just had to follow the guide. We learned some cool stuff though about the symbols that were everywhere and the political marriages that took place and such. The grounds, of course, were also beautiful. That’s actually the place that Leondardo DaVinci requested to be buried. His house was in the same town but a little farther down. When the tour was finished I went down there with one of my friends.

His house was soooooo amazing. The first part, the actual house part, is not that interesting though it was sort of cool to see where he worked and developed all of his amazing ideas. The basement was a little cooler since there were models of a bunch of the stuff he had invented and sketched. It was the grounds that were the best. There were working models of tons of his inventions. A paddle boat you could take out on a small lake, water pumps, bridges, cannons, geometrical forms, copies of his paintings hanging from trees and even a lifesize version of his flying machine. He certainly was a fascinating man.

That was followed up by a wine tasting in the cave (basement) of the castle and then back to the hostel for dinner. I was so tired at that point from so much walking around that all I could bring myself to do was read a little before passing out until the next morning. When we woke up we had to pack since it was our last day and we needed to check out of the hostel. So we loaded onto the bus and headed to the last and largest castle, Chambord.

I can’t even begin to describe this castle. It was literally breathtaking. We didn’t have a tour guide for this one but it might have helped since it was so huge getting lost was easy. It took a long time to see everything and even then there was a whole section of the second floor that was closed off for renovations. It amazed me to read some of the stuff about it too. Like that Louis XIV only even went there once or something ridiculous like that. I mean, I suppose he was Louis XIV but still, I can’t imagine possessing something that magnificent and only going there once.

As usual the day was finished off by sitting around on the huge lawns and enjoying the (still) beautiful weather. There were bikes and boats available to rent but we didn’t really have enough time to do either. I can’t wait though because my family is coming to visit me when school gets out and we’re going to go back there. I really want to rent a bike and ride around the grounds. They’re huge and gorgeous. It really is like a fairy tale. It kind of makes me wish I had been the Queen of France. Of course I would want to have avoided the whole beheading of the monarchy thing, but to live in a Castle like that would certainly be a dream…..

Beautiful Wine Glasses…looking out from our hostel

Heleen and I at the Vineyard

Wharf at St Kilda

Melbourne Aquarium

Mornington Peninsula Beach Houses

Melbourne coffee…MMMmmmmm…

So to continue on my Melbourne Trip….

Thursday….got up and had an amazing breakfast consisting of cappuccino and toast with avocado, egg, cheese and bacon…mmmmm…yum yum yum. Found out about these huge markets, called the Victoria Markets, they are amazing. There are tons and tons of vendors selling everything and anything you could ever need, plus tons of fruit and veggie stands. Its kind of like Paddys market here, but not as busy and rushed. I bought these amazing stones, called Amonite. They are stone on the outside and then when you slice them down the middle it has stone inside that reminds me of a fossil shell. So beautiful. After the market, we decided to go check out the aquarium, which was supposed to be fantastic. Well…it was!!!! So many different types of fish and creatures. The tanks were so big and beautiful, at one point I just sat down on the ground right next to it for about a half hour to gaze at all of the life in the tank. Got some great pictures of the fish and sharks. At the end of the aquarium Heleen and I were both so hungry and walked to get some soup we had seen the days before, we got a big container of soup and then went to a French Bakery and had a ham and brie sandwich made, we split everything and sat down in Federation Square eating and people watching again, for the remainder of the day then headed back to the hostel, because we were planning on going to Phillip Island to see the fairy penguins on Friday.

Friday Morning, got up at 645 to see when the train and ferry went to Phillip Island, well the only ferry went at 830 and the train got to the ferry at 845 so we ended up not being able to go. Went back to sleep for a few hours and headed out to Mornington Peninsula. This was a totally cute place lined with small brightly painted beach houses, funky shops, and restaurants, miles and miles of beach, and a few tiny fishing towns on the way. We took a bus down the peninsula and got off on a random stop and just decided to walk the beach all day until it got dark. As we got off the bus we saw a really funky hippie shop and went in. I got a crazy tie dyed dress and Heleen a skirt!!!! We walked and walked along the beach taking tons of pictures and watching the families play with their kids and their dogs. Totally cool and cute!! The bad thing…I dropped my camera in about an inch of water and now its done for. My pictures are ok, which is good though. Right before sunset we found a little bit of beach to sit down and enjoy our dinner which consisted of bread, cheese, grapes, and passion fruit. Saw the sunset and then headed back to get a bus where we met two sets of people who were so interested in where we were from and why we were here. It was nice to share our stories with them. Got to the hostel and crashed. So tired!!

The last day…we got up and headed into Melbourne for the last day, walked into the “little italy” part of Melbourne and had amazing Gelatto. Then walked and headed to the Melbourne Museum. It was a really cool museum, for one because it was free for us to go because we are students and two because it was more of a history of Australia, which was really nice, along with lots of science and evolution exhibitions and other interesting places. We had to scoot off soon though because we needed to get the tram back to our hostel and then catch the bus back to the airport. Well, just our luck we got on the tran with more than enough time to get to our hostel and the tram in front of ours broke down. We jumped out of the tram and started speed walking/ running to our hostel. Finally getting there we grabbed all of our stuff, ran outside and tried to flag a taxi down, but there were no taxis, so we hopped back on the tram, got to the place where our bus was leaving from and ended up missing it by 2 minutes.(we saw it pulling off as we were running down the street). So had to get a taxi to the airport which was so incredibly expensive, Heleen and I were so upset, but we made it to our plane and slept for the hour or so ride and got off and arrived back in good ol’ Sydney that evening. What a great week!!!

I will post pictures soon…but I have to get them onto my computer…

Cheers—

Lauren

After my 2 week vacation, it’s back to stress stress stress. On the day i left the US to come back here, my house flooded from all the rain, and VATech happened.

Everybody here’s talking about the VA Tech shooting. That whole situation is so bizarre. I never thought it could happen in a college, but i guess if you have mental issues it doesn’t matter how old you are.

My time assignment to sign up for classes ended up being the time i had to be at the airport, so i got there, paid for internet, but found that i didn’t have the code that advisor’s give for signups.
I ended up calling my boyfriend and talked him through the process.
I still didn’t get the classes i need though.
I guess i’ll have to try getting the instructor’s permission for a few of them.

Also, i’ve been dodging school security, at least until may 1st hits.
Apparently, we were supposed to leave our key with the people who work in the lobby. However, i was never told, because when i moved in i received no information whatsoever. They put up signs about it after i left, so i didn’t see those either. The reason it’s such a problem is that if you didn’t leave your key, they’re charging 50 EURO (about $70). That’s more than we get charged at NP for losing your key. It happened to my friend erica, but she said that the deadline to pay it is april 30, so if i never receive a letter or anything else, i won’t have to pay.
Here’s hoping…
(If i do, i’m definitely going to someone’s office to fight it.)

I am now super sick. It kills me because the weather here is so nice, but i really don’t even want to get out of bed. The school doctor isn’t here until tuesday, so i’ll have to tough it out.

I have to go make some tea.

Hi all—

Just got back from a fabulous week in Melbourne for Autumn break! It was FANTASTIC! Here is abit of recap…in parts

So got on a plane today to go to Melbourne with Heleen today…got up really early 4am and the plane left at 6. Got to see the sunrise. It was beautiful, took lots of pictures. Got into Melbourne and met a really nice tram driver who told us how to get around. We got to Coffee Palace backpackers and found that it was a huge hippie hostel. Everyone here gets really really drunk every night of the week. Checked in to one bed…woo hoo for saving money. Headed down to St. Kilda beach where there were some markets going on. Bought a spoon ring, handmade soap, and handmade lip balm. Went to the pier and looked around the beach, then headed off to the botanical gardens. Gorgeous and there were so many people, out and abut—just hanging. Later in the evening we decided to go to Brunswick street and have dinner. Not as cheap as we thought, but ended up having some really cheap Indian food. It was delicious. It was tons of little dishes served with pita bread. We went back t the hostel and sat in the St. Kilda bottleshop and had 3 beers. We booked a wine tasting tour for tomorrow, so that should be a lot of fun   Oh and because Melbourne is famous for coffee we started taking pictures of every coffee and rating them on a scale of 1-10    HAHA

Got up early to go wine tasting today. 99dollars for all day. We got picked up right from the corner of the hostel and it was about an hour ride to the vineyards. The first vineyard we got to was an old family run vineyard that only bottles a few cases a year. This is where we actually learned how to taste the wine. First–you look at the color of the wine…red, white, rose. Then you smell it. What can you smell…berry, citrus, wood…etc. Then you swirl it around, this helps to put more air in the wine which in turn brings out the true flavors of the wine. Then smell it again, and have a small sip. Next a larger sip and this is when you start to swirl it and swish it in your mouth. You want to be able to taste it in all of your mouth. We learned the difference between red and whites…red comes from red grapes and so does white (not from green grapes as you and I probably thought.) Got to taste about 7 different wines there and we were off to the next vineyard. This was a larger more commercial vineyard, known for their red wines. We tasted again about 8 and had a gourmet lunch consisting of roasted vegetables and salmon, and of course a glass of red wine. We later found out we were on the tour with the dancers from the contemporary ballet Swan Lake. They were awesome   Off to the next vineyard, we were greeted by a young very nice guy who took us through there wines and then off to the last vineyard, Domain Chandon which is a huge sparkling wine producer (a.k.a. champagne) There we had some cheese, chutney and bread and a glass of sparkling wine. Heleen and I took wine glasses and some champagne glasses for souvenirs. Took a power nap on the ride home and got back into Melbourne and had a cappuccino. Then found a hotel with 10 dollar burgers and a beer. DELICIOUS   After dinner we grabbed a bottle of wine and headed down to federation square and sat and watched everyone and drank. Great day

Day three…Got up went and had an amazing breakfast at a small café called Café 97. Went back into Fitzroy to do shopping…with the money that I did not have. I actually did not buy anything, and we headed back into the center of the city. Walking around we found the Center For The Moving Image and checked it out   Hey its free   It would have been good but Heleen and I had already seen it. It was a great show though. Left and went exploring down the little alleys. We found an amazing gourmet chocolate shop and went in with just enough money to buy 4 chocolates each. They were 90dollars a kilo. WOW WOW WOW     After that went to go grab a boost juice, which are so amazing and cheap for fresh squeezed juice and an energy booster    Then headed back to the hostel and got some goon(box o’ wine) and sat up on the rooftop hanging out with everyone in the hostel. Met some great people from Germany, Scotland, Ireland and a few other places   I LOVE HOSTELS

Wednesday…got up at a decent hour and decided to go do some gallery hopping. Started off getting our usual breakfast and coffee and then grabbing a tram into the city. We decided to go see the National Gallery of Victoria, which had contemporary art, international art and older artworks. We also got to see an amazing exhibition on the art of Bollywood. I learned a lot about the movies and the Bollywood culture. It was very interesting. Next we went to go find somewhere to have a beer and ended up at a small brewery, called the James Squire Brewery. Got a sample paddle and tasted about 7 beers. They were all really great, but my favorite was the Porter, which is a really dark beer, that has a sweet chocolate finsih   MMMmmmmm   The International Comedy Festival was going on the week we were there so we decided to go see a show called “The Delusionists”. It was sketch comedy and was well worth the 10dollar tickets we bought!!! After the comedy show we headed back and decided to go out to Indie night at one of the local bars. It was a lot of fun, they played older music from the 60’s 70’s and 80’s!! Great Times!!

More to come!!!

 by Penny Schouten

If you do not have a passport and are traveling abroad this summer, please apply for one immediately!

The U.S. State Department’s Passport services unit is experiencing a major backlog in processing applications. Rather than taking the usual four to six weeks, routine applications or renewals are now taking 10 weeks. Even the more expensive expedited service takes about three to four weeks.

Additionally, because the service uses a centralized system, travelers cannot get their documents faster by submitting applications directly to a regional processing facility. Historically, January to March is Passport Services peak period for processing applications.

Although the agency hired extra help, the anticipated surge due to Phase I of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was far larger than expected. As of Jan. 23, 2007, every U.S. citizen must have a valid passport to fly between the United States and Mexico, Canada and other Western Hemisphere countries.The National Passport Information Center lets applicants check on the status of their applications online. The Web site also provides telephone numbers and e-mail addresses to contact customer service representatives.     

Before I left to Amsterdam I went to XFM’s Big Night Out and Acid Monkey at Seone. XFM was amazing, it couldn’t have been a better night. My feet were killing me the next day after dancing for 5 hours and I had bruises on my knees from falling (the floor was slippery and at Brixton Carling Academy it slopes down in certain areas near the main stage) but it was worth it! New Young Pony Club took the stage first, they were alright but The Rumble Strips were much better. The last band to come on was The Enemy who weren’t that good and so we set off led by Damon to find the “4th room”. The stage area was one room where the bands performed and later a DJ. Then near the main entrance there was another DJ playing older songs from The Clash, The Cure, Sex Pistols, etc. Upstairs in another hallway was another DJ playing newer sort of stuff (Cris and Damon heard a new Bloc Party remix), but that only makes 3 and all the information we got said that there were 4 rooms. Damon was convinced that there was a 4th room and that he found it last time he went to Big Night Out. We never found it and it became the mysterious 4th room but it was still an amazing night. Raggy had a friend visiting from Norway, who had just arrived that afternoon before we headed out, and she enjoyed the night as well.
Then that Saturday a group of 11 of us went to Acid Monkey at Seone (the name of the club, I think I was told, is just its postcode spelled out-SE 1). It was a cool venue with two large rooms. One was more intense with the psychedelic trance and the other room had couches with more relaxed trance and they even sold chai tea. In between the two rooms was a tunnel like room that connected the two where there were people selling things. We said in some ways it reminded us of Camden, and it definitely had a sort of NP vibe to it! I’m glad I went because I had a much better time than I thought I would, even if at the end I was really tired and we didn´t get home until 8.30am. This really didn’t matter so much because all I had to do the next day was pack to go visit my friend who’s studying in Amsterdam.

I got up early on Monday and probably spent more time in the airport than on the actually flight which was around 45min to Eindhoven, from there I took an hour and half bus to Amsterdam. I fell asleep for most of the bus ride but woke up just as we had arrived in Amsterdam, saw all the houseboats and instantly liked the city! I met up with my friend Monica in front of Centraal Station and we went back to her flat (her on bike, me walking; though I got to borrow her friend’s bike for my whole time there so I got to experience the city as the locals do). There were some touristy things that I wanted to do but I also wanted to just see her and catch up and do whatever she normally does since when/if I go back she won’t be there to show me around and so I might as well take advantage of this “local knowledge” now, plus I can always go back and do the touristy things later. So that night we met up with some of her friends and went to this movie night- Cinemanita- which she goes to frequently. It reminded me of when we used to go to Film Club in high school, so it was a good way to spend my first night. We watched a short film first and then this strange Argentinian film called Fuego. Fuego was actually banned in Argentina and we watched an introduction by John Waters for it first which gives some insight into how truly bizzare this movie is!

The next day Monica had class and so I took the map she had left for me and the bike and went to the Van Gogh Museum which was pretty cool. It felt nice to already be exploring the city on my own and on a bike (and I didn’t get lost, it was easy, like she said “just follow the canal”). She met me at the museum after class and then took me to the residential area where she was doing an essay on the architectural style. We then went to a market and ate french fries with mayonnaise. I didn’t think I would like this at first but it’s how the Dutch eat them and the mayo tasted different which was actually really good. The day before I had also tried stroopwafels which are amazing syrup waffle type cookies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroopwafel) I brought two packages home with me and one is gone already! That night we went out for Chinese food in Chinatown, then went back to her flat and I met some of her friends. Her room is huge compared to mine and she shares her kitchen with 3 other people. Their kitchen was really cozy with a couch and TV (I haven’t watched TV in months! And Dutch sounds almost familar and similar to English but also sort of silly) and a balcony with an amazing view! We decided that we didn’t want to go out to a club or anything that night and so we just went to a cafe and got dutch apple pie (which is a lot thicker than American apple pie- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_apple_pie) and cappuccino.

The next day we went to a photography museum called Foam. Monica has this card which you pay €20 and get into museums for free (I don’t know which are included and which aren’t) though for students it was only €5. There were three exhibits- one about eyes and photographs that were collected where eyes were either closed or obscured; then a really powerful one by a photographer named James Nachtwey that had photographs from Iraq, 9/11, Eastern Europe in the 1990s, as well as famine in Sudan and Somalia in 1992-1993; the last one was a guy who took pictures of Barcelona’s backstreets. We then went to Dam Sqaure where the royal palace is and lots of tourist shops so I could buy the necessary Dutch wooden shoes accessories. We walked around some more and then went home to make dinner for my last night there (which seemed to have come so fast!)

My last morning there we got up early and got breakfast- what else but dutch pancakes! We joked that I’ve eaten all the typical Dutch light/snack foods, she then told me about some of their more hearty meals. The pancakes were good, really thin almost like a crepe. I still had awhile before bus left so we sat down near a canal and talked for a bit and then went around some more of the stores. By the time we said goodbye and got on the bus I couldn’t believe that I was leaving already I had gotten used to so many things (like bikes!) and really enjoyed my stay and the city! I really liked how to get anywhere all you needed was a bike (and a good sense of hearing to dodge other bikes, trams, motorbikes and cars!). I also felt like because of Monica I got a sort of “artistic tour” of Amsterdam since we mainly went to art museums and she would point out architecture and such. While in the airport I finished reading a book for class and thought about the places I’m going to take Monica when she comes to visit next month.

Yesterday was Friday and although the Forum was still closed a group of us got together at The Goat to catch up since over these past two weeks we’ve had off for Easter, everyone’s been all over the place. It was nice, as always, to see my friends after coming back from a trip away. Today, since the weather’s still nice we’re planning a picnic at Robbins Hall (a short distance from my residence hall) to take in the sun while it’s still here. We don’t want to be tricked like awhile ago where is started getting nicer out and then we were blasted with another week of cold! I feel a little out of sorts I guess because I haven’t travelled away for that long in awhile and also because we’re still on vacation but that’ll all change on Monday when school starts up again!